Melody of You | Yuzuru Hanyu

3.

The next morning Sophia woke up strangely well-rested, her body usually took some time to get used to the sleeping conditions of hotels. It was probably due to how tired she had been on the previous night but still felt nice.

She ordered breakfast from room service and ate in the comfort of her bed once it arrived. Her mother would have a heart attack if she saw her eating on the bed. Good thing she didn't have to worry about what she thought anymore.

Not long after, a knock raised her attention from her phone. She opened the door and found Akiro looking at her with a smile.

"Good morning, Ohayou. If you don't mind getting ready, we should be heading to the show venue soon. Half an hour good?"

"Hey, good morning. Sure, 15 minutes should be more than enough. Another thing... What should I take with me?"

"Just whatever you need to play, you won't need anything else."

"Okay. Thanks. I'll be ready in a bit."

Just like she said, 15 minutes after their exchange, Sophia was leaving her room and meeting her guide in the hallway with her violin case in hand and a small backpack.

He guided her towards a car and opened the door for her. The trip didn't take too long, maybe 10 minutes. She just followed Akiro's steps into the building. When she entered, a backstage pass was provided to her, it had all of her information and a picture for identification.

Someone clearly forgot to warn her about the freezing risk that was at this place. The cold temperature of the building had a sharp contrast with the summer weather that was outside, making her shiver slightly upon entry.

As they entered the actual venue, the ice rink came into her vision, the whole thing far bigger than what she expected.

"And that's the stage where you will be performing" he said, pointing to her left. "It can't be huge because of the ice, but we hope it's enough for you. The audio quality is usually really good and I'm sure you will be able to adjust everything to your needs with the sound techs."

"Thank you, that's great. I would like to meet them as soon as possible if you don't mind." He started typing on his phone in a frantic rhythm. "And If you can figure out what's expected me to play it would be great, you know, so I can start reviewing the songs"

"Of course, of course. Taking care of it as we speak."

"Thanks" she said as she stepped on the stage for the first time. Sophia carefully examined all of the sound equipment before the techs arrived. She was a bit of a sound geek herself and always found it fascinating to discuss different equipment choices with the techs. You can really learn a lot from them if you take the time.

"Miss Jansen, the techs are on their way and a list of songs will be provided by email in the next hour."

"Okay, is there anything I can do while we wait?"

"Huh?" The guide looked at her with a confused gaze.

A figure dressed in all black entered the venue with skates on his feet. He bowed slightly in greeting as he passed the two of them.

"Oh, Hanyu-san, you should meet Miss Jansen. I think you will be performing together."

"Huh?" The man seemed surprised by the interaction.

Akiro said a few words in Japanese and the other man changed his expression.

"Ah! Yes, I guess." he answered in English while seemingly searching for the words in his head. "It's nice to meet you" he said and bowed once again.

"Miss Jansen, this is Hanyu-san, he is one of the skaters at the show"

Was this the guy her friends mentioned? He certainly looks good, not her type, but not bad on the eyes either way.

"Hello. Nice to meet you, Hanyu-san." She said with a small smile.

The exchange was an awkward silence after, no one saying another word. They were thankfully saved by the sound techs arriving and starting conversation with Sophia immediately.

As expected from the gear she had already seen, the show was very well-equipped. She knew that there wouldn't be any major problems right away.

"What type of sound monitoring would you like to use?"

"I have my in-ear monitors if it's possible to use those."

"Can we see them?"

"Of course" she said taking the case out of her small backpack. Sophia was fairly certain they would work since they were specifically made for live musicians but it was always nice to check.

"Oh, you wear the same brand that Hanyu-san does! Great choice, they will work perfectly."

Sophia stared at the man that was currently preparing to enter the ice, his eyes also turned their way after hearing the exchange. "They are the best I have ever tried"

"Do you want to try and play a little bit? We can soundcheck you already and take some work out of other rehearsals."

"Okay by me"

She took her violin out of the case and checked the tuning quickly before the techs placed a microphone in the Instrument. Sophia placed some resin on her bow and waited for the signal to start playing.

Once in position, the familiar sound of Paganini's Caprice no. 5 echoed in the venue. The sound clarity she was getting on her ear monitors assured her everything would be fine for the actual performance. It was always great to work with sound technicians that knew what they were doing.

It wasn't her best performance, she was just playing around, but when she finished everyone was in silence staring at her in awe. That included the man on the ice who had stopped completely in the middle of the rink to watch her play.

His trance broke eventually and he clapped shyly, not uttering any word.
Sophia bowed slightly in thanks and looked at the sound techs.

"Everything was okay on my side" she gave her feedback.

"Good, we will check the other levels once we have the opportunity with the other musicians. Thank you, Miss Jansen."

"No problem"