Vol 1 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Chapter 3: Meg
The sun was shi+ning high in the sky
Seron and Larry pushed their carts of luggage along Meg and the chorus club alking at a slight distance
Seron and Larry whispered under their breaths
“This is great, Seron! I can’t believe your luck!”
“Yeah Thanks… But I…”
“But what? Let’s talk to her over lunch!”
“Yeah, about that …You knohat? Let’s save this for later”
“Hht It’d be bad if she overheard”
Behind thest themselves
The topic of their discussion was easy to figure out The girls whispered about how handsome Seron was, how cool he was, and how they were jealous that Meg had taken the same class as him last term
“But you see, this is the first ti said to the other girls without ht
Finally, the six of theymnasium
Port the members of the orchestra to Ms Krantz and the senior members of the drama club
“It’s an honor to be able to play at the annual performance with you We will do our utmost to match your wonderful performance”
Then she added, as though in an afterthought,
“Ah yes, Ms Krantz Those four over there are members of the chorus club”
Every eye in the gymnasium was on the chorus club The drairls feebly introduced themselves in turn
Meg was up last
“Er… My—ood care of me”
Even fro’s intonation and pronunciation were stilted
“Oh? Are you hard of speaking?” Portymnasium
Meg flinched like she had been whipped The other chorus clubtheir heads
“Ugh”
Larry, who hated people who bullied the weak, bit his lip
“…”
Seron glared silently
“Er… er I am a person from Sou Be-Il”
That was all Meg could say
Portman pounced the moment she saw her chance
“I see I have nothing against international students, of course But I’m not sure I want the drama club and the orchestra’s wonderful perforstock on account of a badly-pronounced song”
“Yes? But… er… I…”
Meg could not go on She went silent, her gaze falling to the newly-marked floor
“I believe everyone else is also in agree over the other orchestra members
No one spoke up in agreereed
Her long hair aflutter, Portman turned her wrath on the other chorus club members
“I did ask for four vocalists But I re for the four bestmembers Was there a problem?”
The other chorus club girls looked evenstrangled by a serpent
Larry’s bitten lip becah to kill
Ms Krantz stood beside Port look on her face She waited to see if the chorus club would argue back, and planned to step in at the end if the students could not work things out a themselves
“You can’t tellif you don’t speak”
Port the atmosphere now
“The orchestra is orous audition We can confidently and proudly call on each and every ive a worthy performanceAnd what about your chorus club?”
Port and the chorus club irls spoke
“Meger in the club!”
It was a resounding voice worthy of the chorus club The other two chorus club reement
“I suppose I can’t disprove that” Said Portood, wouldn’t that i about her?” She shot
The chorus club girls frowned visibly The one who had spoken up earlier retorted,
“How rude! Are you i that the four of us are poor vocalists?!”
“I wonder Well, I suppose I can’t pass judgement until I’ve heard with ht here and now If you ize”
“…”
The chorus club went quiet again They couldn’t very well sing without war up, and in their situation—and without any accompaniment to boot—it would be a difficult task
“If someone could at least accompany us…” The tallest chorus club member said, but there was no way Porte
“Has anyone in the orchestra finished prepping their instruments?”
Naturally, no one responded The drama club members paused their work as their attention was drawn to the coymnasium
Several seconds passed
Ms Krantz took a deep breath, ready to step in
“I see you’re as passionate about music as ever, SC Portman”
A feymnasium
The voice was deep for a girl’s, and words aside, scorn was clear in the tone of the voice
“Oh?” Miss Krantz raised an eyebrow, turning
“What do you mean by that?” Port, and everyone in the gymnasium looked at the source of the voice
She stood behind the chorus club, at the gymnasium doors 3 meters away
“I meant exactly what I said, SC Portman”
The girl was in uniforht outside air at her back She was tall for a girl, and wore her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail Her eyes were dark and a pair of thin-rilasses sat on her face She was pretty, but her expression was stern and cold
“Sorry I’yular violin case
The girl passed Larry and Seron—ere still visibly outraged—and stopped in front of the chorus club In that instant, Larry gliirl’s profiled face
“Hm?” He furrowed his brow
Portirl acted as if she didn’t even exist
“I’ll acco?” She said to the chorus club
And before the three senior-classmen could answer,
“If it is possible to do so, may you acco this song solo onsaid ‘Me in Roxche that—as the title made clear—described the beauty of the seasons
“Sure I like that song” The bespectacled girl said, finally s
She opened up her case on the floor and pulled out a dark brown violin Then she attached the shoulder rest, placed the violin against her face, and brandished her bow
The girl played the second string on the right A gentle tone filled the gy a resounding chord
She gave Meg her cue
Meg clasped her hands before her chest and nodded
Without warning, the violin girl leapt into the song
The gyentle introduction began
She made the performance look easy But the sound born from her violin was clearly backed up by incredible skill
The an, Med closed her eyes and moved her clasped hands with the rhythm
Then she took a deep breath—
And she sang
The air in the gyed
Meg’s soprano voice becaed and rushed over Port with the entire orchestra and the drama club members further away
The bespectacled acco to ’s volume
Meg’s voice resounded through the room
“…”
Seron could say nothing He simply stared, transfixed, with his eyes wide open
“Wow…”
Larry asp as he listened
Like a ymnasium
Meg’s Roxchean was perfect It was beyond reproach It was iner
Peacefully and gently, she finished the first verse and its i She opened her eyes with a smile and turned to her accompanist
The acco, ‘Verse 2 too?’
When she saw Meg lightly shake her head, the accoed out one final note and put an end to her splendid performance
Silence returned to the gymnasium
Five seconds later
“That wasinto applause “Brilliant! That was amore to say; I think the chorus club will make a splendid contribution to the drama club’s performance Don’t you think so, Portman?”
Port in awe, snapped out of her daze and floundered
“Huh? Er… I—that is to say… I have nothing to criticize It seems that there are many talented people at this school”
“As the supervisor of the draood work, chorus club Portman, could you introduce our accompanist here?”
“Of course” Portman replied pro her gaze “This is Natalia Steinbeck She’s a third-year student and a member of the orchestra club As you have all just heard, she’s quite talented I’m sure hter of the Steinbeck couple”
Several people in the drairls, and Seron reacted to the nahtly—surprised
“…”
Meg stood in confused silence
“…Who’s what now?”
Larry wondered, tilting his head a full 45 degrees
With her violin in her left hand and her bow in her left, the accompanist put on a cool smile
“Natalia It’s a pleasure And sorry I’otten to count ates”