CRaYon [DISCONTINUED]

Star-Crossed Encounters

  The whole concert hall burst out into enthusiastic applause as Riko stood up and bowed gracefully. As she turned to leave the stage, she could hear the critics seated along the front row praising her performance endlessly. "She'll be world-famous one day!", "The raw emotion she brings out in pieces is simply overwhelming!" and "The amount of talent she posses knows no bounds!"- that last one irked her a little, for she has put in a lot of hard work get to where she is now. As her dress followed behind her, the applause soon faded only to start again to welcome the next pianist onto the stage. Riko gathered her belongings from the waiting room and allowed her eyes to linger on a poster hung up on the wall. It read "Sakurauchi Riko! One of Japan's up and coming pianists!" in bright pink lettering. Sometimes it still amazes her how far she's come despite her great fall from 6 years back.

  On her way to her apartment, she contemplated about her upcoming performance in Tokyo. She hasn't planned yet how she was going to get there and she should really get to it. Already, she was on the platform and was took by surprise when she heard loud applause. She had an intoxicating presence. "Thank you everyone!" There stood a lady with the prettiest pink eyes and the brightest smile. Riko's heart picked up in speed and blood rushed to her cheeks, turning them a light red. She appeared to be a busker, judging by her slightly disheveled orange hair and the open microphone casing in front of her. A few notes and shilling lay inside. The group of people surrounding the orange-haired singer made it hard to see her but that did absolutely nothing to keep Riko from staring. The crinkles near the corner of her eyes and the dimples in her cheeks were adorable and captivating. Riko could have sworn she felt her heart squeeze lightly.

  "Please watch your step." The monotonous voice of the overhead announcement pulled Riko out of her trance as people began to spill out onto the platform. Getting swept away by the crowd into the train, she was unable to turn back to take one final look at her new love interest before the train doors shuttled close and departed the station. Just as her luck would have it, she was pushed far back into the train where it was impossible to see over the sea of people. Riko felt her heartstrings pull at having to let her go and hoped that fate would have them meet once more. Unbeknownst to the pianist, there were a pair of eyes gazing curiously at her silhouette.

.

  The warm air of the café wrapped around her snugly the moment she pushed open the door to the café. With its orange theme and the best orange juice in the region, it's no wonder the café is Chika's favourite. She could hardly hear her own thoughts over the loud chatter in the café which was odd as it was usually much less packed. She didn't mind though and made her way over to an empty booth at the back.

  Noticing a mob of hair, she said, "Sorry, may I sit with you- You!?" Her jaw dropped when the figure turned around abruptly. Suddenly, she found herself in the booth with a dainty hand clamped over her mouth. Struggling in the hope of being freed, You let her go and sighed in relief. "Surprise!" The girl said meekly, waving jazz hands with a small smile.

  You, an Olympic swimmer on the national team for Japan, was Chika's childhood friend. Chika also stayed in the former's apartment- a tall modern building near the Hakata train station.

  They spent the next hour catching up on trivial things like You's winter plans, the conversation somehow spiralling into the topic of Chika's hopeless love. Upon hearing the news, You was extremely supportive of her best friend and claimed she knew just how to get them together.

  Fishing her phone from her duffel bag, Chika could only watch on helplessly as You dialed a number hastily.

  "Rin-rin!" She says cheerily. "How are you doing? Listen, I need you to do me a favour."

.

  You dangled off the side of their shared bunk bed, bathing in the soft white light of the moon. She sighed heavily. "I just can't seem to put myself first for once."

  It was a sentence she has said time and again, her forever lamenting her selfless nature. Since her 1st year of Junior High, she was known as "An angel sent from God" due to her gentle and kind personality. The fact that she favoured wearing white clothing did not help either.

  The door to the small room creaked open slowly and a head full of orange hair peeped round the edge.

  "It's 1 AM! Where have you been?" Smacking Chika over the head with an outstretched palm, You huffed childishly and turned away from the former who was curled up on the floor crying out "I'm sorry!" repeatedly.

  "So, how was it?" You turned around inquisitively. She was bad at giving others the silent treatment too. She disiked being angry- and it was hard to be angry at Chika's puppy eyes.

  Comically, Chika sprung up from the floor and started excitedly. "Amazing! She's way cuter up close! And of course she was freaked out at first but..." Words flowed continuously from the girl's mouth and You could not help the smile tugging at her lips. Something stirred inside of her but she refused to admit her slight jealousy.

  Chika was her one and only dear friend, so surely it was normal to feel such possessiveness over the girl.

  "...and she's asking me to live with her!"

  '...'

  '...'

  '!?'

  You blinked once. Then again. Her face fell after hearing this though it was quickly replaced with a big smile. She wondered if Chika could see the lingering sadness in it.

  She had just came back from Europe. To have her best friend leave her after a day of spending time with her surely is too short a time! You felt disheartened, suddenly remembering that Chika was not hers to begin with and that Chika could do as she pleased.

  That night, You watched the lights of the city flicker on and off, not noticing her phone going off with notifications.