Private Finished My Violin, Your Voice

Tomo wasn't in a club anymore that helped her keep up with her violin and dance practice. But then again, Tomo had no reason to even practice anymore. Tomo didn't know what to do in the future, but having a career in music and dancing was out, at least on an international scale. Because if Tomo wanted to do the kinds of things she did then her status as a supernatural would be more than clear. No ordinary human could do high flips and acrobatics while still keeping in perfect tune with violin. It just wasn't possible. So, Tomo had to find something else and might as well stop dancing and playing.

But...the violin was what channeled most of Tomo's magical abilities, and it was something precious left behind to her by Kikuko. Plus, Tomo just really liked playing the violin. It calmed her mind and allowed her to express herself in a way that she was still unable to do with words. So, Tomo kept up with violin and dance the best she could, usually playing in the forest or on roofs of abandoned buildings or any other place private and away from people. Usually.

But today Tomo wanted to hear herself properly, in a space that was built for playing instruments. The music rooms had good acoustics and since it was SA they were also big enough for Tomo to dance as well. Tomo had been training this song for a while now, and she was able to play it nearly perfectly. Now she wanted to make sure of that.
Tomo opened the door to a music room that was rarely used and usually empty. Or at least it had been before Tomo had left. And what do you know, it was the same now. There wasn't anyone around. Even better, the chairs had been cleared away from the middle of the room and to the sides, leaving a wide open space. Perfect for what Tomo had in mind.

Tomo set down her black and yellow plaid backpack to the edge, opened her white violin case with a golden cat on top of it and pulled out her violin. It was old, dark wood and its sound was near perfect. It was Tomo's treasure, and she handled it accordingly. Tomo walked to the middle of the room, delicately settled the violin under her chin and her fingers and bow on the strings. As usual, Tomo was very aware of the two missing fingers on her left hand, but she had learned to play around them years ago.

Tomo did the count in her head, and then played the first notes. A succession of short bursts of sound, followed by one long high note. And then, after the first part...she started to move.
Tomo started with few simple pirouettes, followed by a low sweep where she knelt on the ground on one knee and spun herself around once before standing back up. She then took few side steps, starting to feel the music, and testingly tried doing some high jumps that made her open flannel shirt flap. And all the while as she danced Tomo's eyes were closed, as she focused and felt the music and even hummed along to the lyrics, that this song was missing.

Tomomi was the type to lose awareness of all but her immediate surroundings when she played the violin. Thus, she didn't notice that someone else had entered the room, and didn't even notice when Hikaru first started singing along. Her hearing wasn't what it used to be.

But as Tomo approached the climax of the song, where she had planned to do a flip, she opens her eyes so she can perform the stunt properly. That's when she saw Hikaru, and immediately stopped both dancing and playing. She stared at Hikaru for few moments, her face blank. This was unexpected, Tomo had really not expected to bump into this kid here. For a sec it looked like Tomo might not continue playing. But then, slowly, a small grin spread on Tomo's face and she kept playing exactly where she had left off.

"Come on, kid. Would be a shame to not finish."
Tomo encouraged, and though she kept dancing Tomo didn't close her eyes this time. Thanks to that Tomo could see Hikaru grin back at her and he kept singing, and Tomo firmly ignored the small, vague feeling of fluttering in her abdomen that that invoked. Honestly, the Tomo before would've stopped in shame of someone finding out that Tomo liked to dance as well. Violin was one thing, but dancing? Tomo had thought that was embarrassing. But now Tomo had learned to embrace many things, and this was one of them.

As the song reached its climax Tomo did the planned flip, and naturally landed perfectly without missing one note. Afterwards she gave Hikaru a wink and a slightly smug grin, already knowing that he'd be impressed by the feat. Hikaru was pretty easily impressed, or at least Tomo had concluded as much during the brief time she had known him.

Tomomi played the song with vigor until the end, never stopping the dancing, and when she finished she was bit out of breath. Tomo turned to face Hikaru and pushed her hair back from her forehead.
"Looks like my dark secret has been found out."
Tomo joked and snickered.

Tomomi wasn't surprised at Hikaru's reaction, she knew her ability was extraordinary, even on this island. She jokingly swatted at the fireworks Hikaru created around her with his illusion powers.
"I'm not interested in becoming famous or making a profit. Besides, I would only be able to be famous on this island. Outside of it it would become clear immediately that I'm not human. Do you think a normal human could do what I just did?"
Tomo explained, also slipping into Japanese since Hikaru was doing it. It felt weird to talk in Japanese after Tomo had lived over two years speaking mainly English.
"And if I can't go all the way with all my potential and take the whole world by storm then I won't bother starting at all."
Tomo finished, and gave a self-assured smile.

"What're you doing here, kid? I'm pretty sure you didn't come here just to marvel at my performance."
Tomo asked with a small lopsided grin, and tilted her head a bit. Tomo had first called Hikaru a kid as a joke, and 'cos he had seemed younger than her. Now she knew he was actually a year older than her, but it didn't really feel like that and it was a good nickname nevertheless. Hikaru hadn't at least complained, or maybe that was just him being his overly nice self.

"Again, I don't want to downplay what I can do just for fame or money. I want to go all out or not at all. Besides, a normal human wouldn't be able to play as well as I when missing two essential fingers."
Tomo repeated and shook her head a bit, wiggling her left hand and its three remaining fingers at Hikaru. She was still holding her violin, it was too early to put it away since she had only played the song once. The first time Tomo played something she always wanted to just feel the music and movement, and after that she focused on all the technical stuff.

"I guess I should've guessed that, considering where this is."
Tomo shrugged, and then proceeded to tilt her head in confusion when Hikaru went weirdly quiet, rubbing his neck. Tomo knew that look, he was remembering something. But what kind of memory made him rub his neck? A familiar seething of concern grew at the back of Tomo's head, but she pushed it away. Hikaru wasn't her siblings, he was a friend if even that, and he didn't need Tomo's overbearing concern.
"Well, since you're here, how about leaving that speaker be for a moment and sing the song from just now with me one more time? I was missing lyrics, they give me an idea of the pacing."
Tomo gave a small grin and set up the violin under her chin one more time, slowly playing the starting notes of the song with her brow slightly raised at Hikaru.

It was weird how happy Hikaru got from really simple things. Tomo was honestly kind of jealous of that ability, she herself was bit too jaded and cynical to get genuinely happy from small simple things like someone asking for her to sing. But seeing Hikaru get so happy made Tomo smile, and she threw all that emotion into the song as she played with even more vibrantly than earlier.

Hikaru's lyrics complimented the violin really well, and Tomo swayed and danced along with him. She settled into the same rhythm as him, not really doing as flamboyant moves as earlier either. Tomo noticed the illusions Hikaru drew in the air and she let out a small laugh. This wasn't that bad, it was actually kinda fun. Tomo tried making few small pirouettes and then a leap that ended in her on her knees on the floor, belting out the chorus of the song with her eyes closed. Afterwards she went back to the simple dance moves, grinning happily.

When they finished the song Tomo took a breath, feeling strangely loose and liberated. She often felt like this after playing, after being able to express her feelings through music. Even if Hikaru or anyone else listening wouldn't get them Tomo was happy to express her surprise and happiness and even jealousy through song just for herself.
"It really does sound all different when someone who can actually sing accompanies the music."
Tomo stated thoughtfully and gave Hikaru a lopsided smile.