Music of the Night

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Arthur was so thankful that he was able to return to classes the next day. 

Despite the fact that he had a day off yesterday, there's no rest when you are a student. He wondered if secondary schools like these are like a practice paper for students to buck themselves up for the real world.

But where does he stand?

He decided not to dwell so much on that idea and head straight to the gardening club, which became a routine for him before attending class. After all, he has packed some breakfast he collected from the cafeteria and has a thermos flask full of peppermint tea to wake him up today.

The soothing, wafting fragrance of the flowers greeted him the second he opened the door that let to the rooftop. He heard humming and the whooshing sound of the plants getting their natural  drink from the water. He still can't understand the incoherent chatter amongst all of the flowers. 

"Morning Arthur!" Haru called him. The bat smiled and his body was like autopilot when it came to tending the flowers. Haru was glad that he looked better, even with the stitch being so faint at the membrane. She was still trying to figure out how to hear her flowers just as easily as the bat was doing.

"So, did anything happen while I was absent yesterday?" asked Arthur, who was petting a flower's petal with a single finger. The dwarf rabbit thought he looked cute, cocking his ears at some of the bed of flowers and moving his mouth a bit without a sound coming out.

"Nah, the same things as always," said Haru, who was ticking off the tasks on her list. "Hey Arthur?"

"Yes, Haru?"

"Can you tell or know what colours are?"

Arthur's head faced hers, those eyes of his seemed to be like a thick fog at night. His expression looked neutral but there was a quizzicality in the mixture.

"Honestly, it's still a confusion concept to talk about. Even if you describe it to me, I cannot imagine it or understand why some objects are related to the colours since I can't put them together like a puzzle piece. An example would be if you tell me that the sky is blue and it's the same like ice, I still can't understand it. You know, because I can't see anything."

Haru never thought that even something as simple as saying the roses are red can be confusing to the bat. She never thought that having the ability to see was something to appreciate until now. Arthur, sensing the club president's disappointment patted her on the shoulder.

"Haru, it's okay. I learnt to accept the fact that I can never understand what colours are but it doesn't mean that I ignore it. To me, I can describe to you what certain sounds are to me or the direction of the wind changing when it howls. To me, I guessed that's my version of colours."

The dwarf rabbit sighed but nodded. Arthur smiled, his eyes were closed as his little leaf-like nose was snuffling about among the new plants she had planted yesterday. She smirked, placed both of her hands on her hips.

"You know what they are?"

"I didn't know you would plant these catmints and chamomiles!" there was a hint of giddiness in his tone. Haru couldn't help but smile at this strange bat. Arthur inhaled the scent of the new plants and nodded, his mouth moving but not a sound was uttered.

'A bat's thing, I guessed,' the dwarf rabbit thought to herself. She wished she could hear what her children are saying. After all, she's the one who planted them and watched them grow!

"I'm sure a bakery would accept these," said Haru. "I don't think either of us know how to dry them up before portioning them in bags. I just know that these two taste good when it's harvested."