Music of the Night

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Arthur never would have thought that he would be doing groceries while the animal who helped him was the proud harlequin rabbit. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fight he tried to stop between her and Haru?

His ears were still erected, mindful of his surroundings as he visited aisle to aisle for the items he needed. Mostly just some fruits, packets of insects, jam, butter, honey, pickles, three types of cheese slices and of course, tea. He had to rely on his hearing and nose to seek out the items he wanted. He wasn't aware that the harlequin rabbit was still in the store but no where close to him.

Mizuchi was fascinated by how the bat, Arthur could handle himself well when doing such a menial task such as grocery shopping. His two fingers slowly tracing each item on the shelf, tapping some to listen to the content inside the cans and even to an extend had his cloudy blue eyes close to the smell of freshly baked bread at the bakery section. Who knew he could experience all these everyday routine as something so wonderful?

"You know," Arthur's voice made the harlequin rabbit jump. "You don't really have to follow me around to clear your mind. I can be boring at most times."

Mizuchi just smiled at him, wondering if he could sense it. "No, I'm okay. It's just that I am curious at how you can carry and find the stuff you need without having to see."

There's his toothy grin which is scary to some but it meant no harm. "Ears and hands can be my new eyes. I'm almost done so please, if you need to leave now just go. I can find my way back."

Mizuchi said nothing but watched him going to the bakery section and his ears twitched. The expression on his face lit up when he picked up a loaf of bread and listened to it, as if the loaf was like a phone. It was a precious thing to watch his leaf nose sniffing the scent of some cakes and his fur fluffed up.

The harlequin rabbit wondered why she was horrible to him before?

Once the groceries were done, Arthur paid for everything and decided to head back to the arcade. He hoped that he didn't stray too long for Aoba and Bill to notice that he was gone for a bit. While walking, he recognised a footstep next to him.

"So you are a third year?" the Honduran white bat enquired, his hand-wing holding the tote bag.

"I am," he could hear the nod in Mizuchi's voice. "Just this year and I'm finally out of here!"

"What are you planning to do after graduation?"

Mizuchi pondered if she should share her dreams with the bat whom she had tormented before this. But seeing as he meant no harm, she told him about her fashion designer dream and maybe one day become an apprentice to one of the top fashion brands.

"Sounds like you know what you're doing," Arthur chirped. "So forward and confidence in what lies up ahead for you."

Mizuchi at this point, was glad Arthur was blind. Because both sides of her cheeks were tinted with pink from blushing at his comment. But what's nagging her mind was that he and Haru are in the same club. She will confront him about it but so far, nothing nasty came out of her mouth.

"What about you?"

Arthur was quiet for a bit as they walked. "I'm not too sure. I hope I do before I graduate. Sometimes, I feel like all of us are rushing to be what everyone wants us to be but not enjoying the present moment."

...

Once Arthur arrived back at the arcade, he wanted to thank Mizuchi for the company but he could not hear her or feel her presence. Shrugging it off, he waited close to the door of the arcade to wait for Aoba and Bill.

"There you are, Arthur!" a voice boomed. "To think you'd stray off on your own is gonna put Aoba here into a heart attack. Say, you went to the supermarket on your own!"

He could feel a feathered hand touched his shoulder. "Arthur, why didn't you tell both us that you're going to head out."

The bat shrugged. "You two sounded like you were engrossed with the game. So while waiting, I might as well do my little errands before coming back. Seems like a plausible idea."

He could hear his bald eagle friend sighed in relief. "What's important is that you're back, Arthur. We were just thinking of having lunch and maybe stroll around town."

With the three of them agreeing to this idea, they went to this restaurant where all herbivores and carnivores go to for sandwiches and burgers. Now for carnivores, meat is forbidden and a crime so alternatives such as soy based burgers, insect burgers and eggs were used as their meat substitute.

Arthur was happy with his order of his cheesy garlic toasted sandwich which consisted of three types of cheese, buttered on both sides with garlic butter and a bit of grasshoppers. His sides were delicious large onion rings with a drink of ice lemon tea.

"So anyways," Bill continued his complaint about his girlfriend. "She keeps saying that I'm not so sensitive. Geez, I did everything I could for that girl!"

Arthur shook his head and popped two onion rings in his mouth. He was thinking about what song he should play when he gets back. He was mildly surprised that the harelquin rabbit who had bullied him before this is now helping him.

'Mizuchi, huh? That's a lovely name...' Arthur thought to himself.

...

Arthur decided to catch the train back despite the two carnivores' protests. The bat assured both of them that he enjoyed himself and he wouldn't mind doing this sort of outing again. It's just that he doesn't want to lug around his tote bag full of groceries while Aoba and Bill wanted to explore.

When he arrived at his dorm, he quickly arranged his grocery items before playing something on his keyboard.

He was trying to imagine what the harlequin rabbit look like and by judging her voice, he knew exactly what he was about to play tonight.

Needless to say, the campus felt the emotions of the mysterious musician.