A Musician’s Tale - Chapter 1

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PR: Aa88

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It was a sunny January day.

 

Skyler and Melodious were on their way to school.

 

“Dio! Sky!” Their mother called them before they got far.

 

“What is it, mom?” Skyler asked.

 

“You almost forgot this.” Catherine handed her son his English essay.

 

Skyler facepalmed himself, “Sorry and thanks, mom, love you!”

 

Skyler kissed his mother’s forehead and ran back to Melodious.

 

“Have a good day at work, mom!” Melodious shouted.

 

“You forgot your homework again didn’t you?” Melodious questioned Skyler.

 

“You knew already?” Skyler put the papers in his bag as they walked.

 

“Maybe…” Melodious said mischievously.

 

Skyler fell back and silently tried to kick Melodious from the back. But Melodious stepped to the side and punched Skyler in the stomach.

 

“Ack!” Skyler dropped to his knees in pain, hugging his stomach.

 

“Never leave any part of your body open. Mom’s words. Remember them!” Melodious smirked.

 

“You have no pity, Dio” Skyler got back up in pain.

 

“You’re the one who struck first.” Melodious said while walking away.

 

“I didn’t even get to strike!” Skyler shouted as he ran after Melodious, still holding his stomach.

 

“Not my fault”

 

Melodious ignored Skyler and kept on walking. Their school was very close to their house thus took them only a little more than 15 minutes to arrive.

 

“Hey, Dio!”

 

A brunette girl with hazel eyes rushed to Melodious.

 

“Um… I wasn’t able to give this back to you yesterday…. So… Um- Here!”

 

It was a pencil that Melodious had let her borrow when she broke hers.

 

“Oh, you don’t have to return it. Actually, my mom bought me another one, look! Now we have matching pencils,” Melodious took out a sleek black pencil from his bag.

 

Melodious always marked his pencil with a red ribbon tied into a small bow. Skyler had a gold pencil with a light blue ribbon tied into a small bow.

 

“O-oh-… o-okay.” The girl went red and got very flustered.

 

“Dio, we’re going to be late. Come on!” Skyler put a hand on Dio’s shoulder.

 

“Okay. Excuse us, Aiko.” The girl got even more flustered when Melodious said her name.

 

“Y-You know my name?” Asked Aiko flustered.

 

“Of course I do,” Melodious answered before following Skyler.

 

“So, what was that?” Skyler asked, smirking.

 

“What was that?” Melodious asked calmly.

 

“Your so dense… Do you like Aiko?” Skyler asked entering the classroom.

 

“What? No.” Melodious sat down on his desk next to Skyler looking genuinely confused.

 

“So you’re telling me that wasn’t flirting?”

 

Melodious shot him a look, “Keep your voice down, idiot. I was just being nice.”

 

“Nice? I’m pretty sure that’s not it. What’s got you in such a good mood?”

 

“Do you remember that new game we asked mom for?” Said Melodious excitedly.

 

“Yeah? And? Ohhh. Wait, how do you know she got the game?”

 

“I saw a receipt for the game in mom’s bag yesterday when she left her bag on the counter.”

 

“Why were you even looking inside mom’s bag?”

 

“She told me to get my new pencil from her bag. So I’ve been in a good mood since then,” Melodious said, smiling.

 

“Nice!”

 

Skyler high-fived Melodious.

 

Then suddenly a huge crowd of girls barged into the classroom.

 

“Melodious! I just wanted to thank you for helping me the other day!” Said, one girl.

 

“Melodious, I made this bento for you! I hope you like it!” Said another girl.

 

The girls crowded at Melodious’s desk.

 

“Pfft, hahaha!” Skyler laughed.

 

“Now, what’s going on over here?”

 

Their teacher Ms. Millen said when she entered the classroom.

 

“Girls, please go back to your classrooms.” Said Ms. Millen firmly.

 

“Y-yes ma’am!”

 

Then all the girls left.

 

“And you, Mr. Evely, you’re very popular aren’t you?” Said Ms. Millen turning to the chalkboard.

 

Skyler stifled a laugh while Melodious turned red from embarrassment.

 

“Now. On to class!” Ms. Millen clapped.

 

After Ms.Millen’s Mathematics class next was History class, which then continued with English and Japanese, before lunch break started.

 

“Are you done yet, Dio?” Asked Skyler impatiently.

 

“Wait a sec!” Dio shouted after swallowing rice.

 

Melodious was trying to finish all the bentos* all the girls gave him plus the one his mom prepared. Of course, His mom’s bento was the first one that he ate.

 

< Aa certain PR: For those who are not familiar with the term. ‘Bento’ means Lunch Box. >

 

“You do know that you don’t have to finish everything now, right?” Asked Skyler irritated.

 

“Fine!”

 

Dio quickly fixed his things and ran out the door. Skyler followed suit.

 

When they reached the outside of the school they were called.

 

“Hey, guys! Over here!”

 

It was Kai, their music teacher’s son. “What took you guys so long?!”

 

Hearing his question made Skyler looked at Dio accusingly.

 

“Never mind that, why did you call us here?”

 

Dio quickly changed the subject.

 

“Have you guys heard? The ‘Bella Notte’ ball is in a few days! Do you guys have a sponsor yet?”

 

Kai said excitedly.

 

“Bella Notte ball?” The twins said curiously.

 

“What’s that?” Asked Skyler.

 

Kai’s eyes grew as wide as saucers.

 

“You guys don’t know about the Bella Notte ball?! No way! Have you guys been living under a rock or something?!”

 

The twins glared at him intently at his reply.

 

“Just answer the question before I beat you to a pulp,” Threatened Skyler.

 

“Okay! Okay, jeez. Bella Notte ball comes once every year and all Musicians from around the world are going to be present as well! Do you guys really not know?” Kai said confused.

 

Sky and Dio looked at each other.

 

“We’ll ask mom about it,” Said Dio.

 

“… Alright, but you need a sponsor to get into Bella Notte,” Informed Kai.

 

“What do you mean by ‘a sponsor’? Isn’t this event for all musicians?” Asked Dio.

 

Kai looked confused then looked at them seriously, “Miss Catherine must have attended before. You should ask her,”

 

And at that moment the bell rang. They quickly sprinted back into the building.

 

“Dio! We gotta run!”

 

***

 

After school, they went straight back to the house eager to ask their mom about this ‘Bella Notte’. 

 

They barged in, but it turned out their mom wouldn’t be back till 5 pm, so they went to the computer and tried to do some research instead but alas, after sometime they still couldn’t find any information about it.

 

Furthermore, the Japanese translation of the word which means ‘Utsukushī yoru’ or ‘Beautiful Night’ in English, is the only information that they could find.

 

“What did we expect to find anyway? If It’s about Musicians, there was never any information…”

 

Dio said from behind, then Skyler replied, “Hey, wanna play the new game while waiting for mom instead?”

 

“We might get in some trouble.” Warned Dio.

 

“Mom bought it for us though.”

 

“Nah, ain’t worth the trouble.”

 

Dio said while plopping down on his bed and putting his headphones on, listening to Canon in D major.

 

“Yeah your probably right. Oh also, It’s your turn to cook dinner, Dio.”

 

Skyler reminded Dio after taking his headphones off.

 

“Yeah, yeah, just give me back those headphones.”

 

Skyler gave Dio his headphones then went to scrolled on his phone. Dio always loved listening to music while he did his chores.

 

“So what’s for dinner again?” Shouted Skyler.

 

“We’re having curry udon* tonight,” Dio shouted back.

 

< ‘Udon’ is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. >

 

After another hour Dio was already done cooking dinner. Then their mom came in.

 

“Hey, it smells good. Dio’s cooking tonight, isn’t he?”

 

She said while entering the dining room.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Asked Skyler insulted.

 

Cathrine laughed, “Nothing, love,”

 

She said and kissed Skyler’s forehead.

 

“Welcome home, mom,” Greeted Melodious as he kissed his mom’s cheek.

 

After Cathrine changed her clothes she sat at the head of the table.

 

“Thank you for the food!” They all thanked*.

 

< ‘Thank you for the food / Itadakimasu’ It is a Japanese way of saying grace for the food. Usually they said it before they start every meal. >

 

“Mom, we were waiting for you for a long time.” Said Skyler.

 

“Oh? What were you waiting for?” Asked Catherine.

 

“You, of course.”

 

“Mhm, Dio?” Called Catherine.

 

“Yes, mom?” Dio answered.

 

“What were you waiting for exactly?”

 

“We just wanted to ask you a question.”

 

“Hm, and I thought you guys were going to ask for something expensive again,” Said Catherine then took another bite.

 

“Mom, are we going to attend the Bella Notte ball?” Asked Skyler.

 

Catherine stopped eating abruptly.

 

“Bella Notte? Where did you hear about Bella Notte?” Asked Catherine tensely.

 

“A friend from school told us about it,” Said Dio.

 

But then Catherine looked down on her food, lost in thought.

 

“Bella Notte” She mumbled.

 

“Well, I haven’t attended Bella Notte in five years… But if you two are curious I’d love to attend again.”

 

Catherine continued with a smile after.

 

“But don’t we need a sponsor?” Asked Skyler.

 

Catherine laughed again, “I ‘am’ the sponsor.”

 

The twins look at her amazed.

 

“So, you two, would you like to attend the ball?”

 

“Yes!” The twins shout in unison.

 

“Oh, by the way I bought that video game you guys have been asking for.”

 

“Double yes!”

 

The twins excitedly continued.