Enjoying yourself?
I certainly hope so. I suppose you want yet another tale. After the last one I'm sure you're wanting to complete the set.
Ah, such is mortal life, to crave that which is untold.
Oh no, I'm not judging you. I quite respect your wish to know more, to seek the possibilities that lay beyond your current perception of the world.
That just leaves a certain individual. She'll get her time in the sunshine, but how about we start with the thoughts of this play's leading man, shall we?
The clock strikes eight on that fateful day in 2018...
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This world… was cruel.
It chewed up and swallowed anyone unfortunate enough to earn its ire, even if they were an innocent cat.
It made it so hard to care, so hard to live.
How did it end up like this?
Maybe it would have been better to have not been tainted like them. To remain blissfully ignorant of the real issues with society.
He saw them. He was disgusted. He would not participate.
“Shouri! Get your ass up!”
Nope, he was staying right here. He wasn’t getting out of this bed.
“Damian, grab him.”
NOPE HE WAS STAYING RIGHT HERE!
“LET GO DAMIAN I’M NOT GOING!”
“THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD”
“AURA!”
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“You look like crap.” Aura flipped the rear-view mirror down to take in her brother who begrudgingly sat in the back seat.
“Keep your eyes on the road,” the boy scolded the driver.
“Fine fine,” Aura chuckled, flipping the mirror back up.
The car was quiet for a moment before Aura went and disturbed the peace again. “You turn eighteen in a couple of days. You gotta do something dude,” she told him.
“Maybe I’ll find a nice hole to fall in,” Shouri grumbled, turning his attention back out the window.
“No dummy, find a Resonator,” the elder sister said brightly.
“I had a Resonator already, never again.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at the blurring landscape.
Aura’s expression clouded. “Seriously dude, you gotta move on. It sucks, I know, but you can’t live your life like this.”
“I can damn well try,” he mumbled.
“I’m serious. You don’t have to be like them. Just find someone you click with. Just look at me and Damian.” Aura patted her Doberman on the shoulder.
“Don’t listen to her kid, she’s a slave driver,” Damian laughed gruffly.
“Shut the fuck up,” Aura chuckled, turning her patting into a light punch in the arm.
“I guess.” Shouri shrunk into his jacket, trying to become smaller than he was.
It only got worse when they arrived at their destination. It was one of the smaller MA Offices in one of the outskirt towns. This one was actually in a little village at the base of a mountain.
The normally sleepy town was filled with Maestros and even more Resonators. Though unlike what one would normally expect seeing so many in one place, there were very few tuners to be seen.
“Just kill me,” Shouri began sliding in his seat trying to avoid any prying eyes.
“Oh, cut it out you drama queen,” Aura rolled her eyes as she guided the car to a parking spot.
No matter what he did nobody was going to listen to him. He begrudgingly exited the car along with his sister and her Resonator.
“I read about this online,” Aura began as they walked towards the MA Office. “Apparently, there are like these meet-ups for Maestros and Resonators to partner up in a more natural setting, kinda like a mixer. They’ve been getting more popular with people our age.”
“You brought me to a Resonator mixer?” Shouri hissed at his sister.
“Yeah! You can meet someone who you click with!” Aura nodded enthusiastically.
“I’m going home.” He turned around but was grabbed by Damian.
“I ain’t going home after listening to you bitch for an hour. You’re staying here tonight,” the dog growled, pulling Shouri into the MA Office.
“I’m staying here? Why?” Shouri wanted to raise his voice, but all his effort was being expended on trying to free himself from the dog’s grasp (it wasn’t working).
“It’ll give you a taste of what being a Maestro on the road is like! It’s so fun! The rooms here are great,” Aura sang as she walked backward towards the front counter.
Shouri gave up and allowed himself to be pulled along with his sister’s whims. At the front desk, there was a man and a bovid Resonator, a cow waiting with a smile to greet the guests. “Howdy! Welcome to the Mt. Wynding MA Office!” the Maestro attendant noticed Aura’s red tuner at her waist. “We’re currently closed to normal Maestro traffic, but the North Riva Solare Office is still operating at normal capacity,” the attendant told her.
“Oh no, that’s okay! We’re actually just dropping my brother off for the event,” she leaned in close. “He’s got a bit of an issue with his will stave, so we had to drag him here,” the elder sister whispered.
The man nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. Well, if you fill out his information, we can get him taken care of. Hopefully, he can find a good Resonator here.”
Aura took care of the forms, knowing Shouri would not do it himself. “There we go!” She beamed proudly at her handiwork.
“Everything looks good! Oh, and he already has his license too! That makes this much easier.” The Maestro handed the tablet off to his bovine assistant who took care of managing the rooms.
“Room 19,” she announced.
“Have him place his hand here so we can register his rhythm to unlock that door.” The male attendant pushed an electronic pad forward.
Shouri trudged up to the counter and did as was asked of him. The sooner he got this over with the sooner he could return to his peace and quiet.
“All set! We’ll take it from here ma’am!”
Aura nodded. She turned to her brother and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Really, please try to find someone. I know it's hard, but it’ll get easier with a partner by your side, trust me.” She flashed him a melancholic smile. He averted his gaze in kind. “Here, this’ll help.” Aura pulled a glowing blue crystal from her jacket pocket and forced it into Shouri’s hand.
He studied the magic rock with apathy.
“I know you know how to use that. Just drain it tonight and talk to some people. It cost me quite a pretty sharp, so I want you to hand that back to me yellow, ‘kay?”
The boy snorted, making no indications he would listen. “Fine.” He would humor her at least and pocketed the crystal.
“Alright! Have fun!”
And with that, Aura and Damian were gone, leaving Shouri with the attendants.
“Bailey, can you show Mr. Tomoshibi to his room?”
“Yessir.”
The cow Resonator stepped around the counter. “Right this way sir.” She motioned for him to follow.
Without much fanfare, he followed the woman into the back. It was laid out like a fancy hotel. The hallways were kept meticulously clean, and some Maestros and Resonators were chatting it up in the hallway.
Shouri cared not to eavesdrop, so he didn’t, focusing on how he was going to survive the night. Despite the pile of dust he called his willpower stave, his curiosity itched fiercely. He wondered what kind of Resonators came to these things. Given it was more of a decision for them than the usual circumstances that forced a Resonator into a Maestro’s ownership, he wondered what percentage of Resonators truly got a choice in the matter.
Rarer Resonators must have an easy time with these kinds of events. Then there were the common breeds like cats who most likely got passed over in favor of their rarer cousins. Shouri held himself at that thought.
Just abandoned and forgotten…
He left the dark recesses of his mind prison upon their arrival at room nineteen.
“Here we are Mr. Tomoshibi,” the bovid turned to the young perspective Maestro. “At around six tonight we’ll be serving dinner for the Maestros in the lobby and then at seven will be the event proper. Any questions sir?” she asked.
“No, thank you for your help. I appreciate it.” He nodded to the cow.
“Aw shucks, it’s no problem at all, I’m happy to help!” The woman beamed, her tail swishing back and forth at the praise. She returned to her work with a small skip in her step. A little gratitude went a long way, Shouri observed.
With her departure, however, Shouri found himself alone with the room. A wave of his hand by the door scanner gave him entry to his accommodations for the night.
The room was nice, he’d admit that. The bed was hilariously big. It had to be bigger than a king size by his guesstimation. The TV was pretty nice too, smaller than the one he had at home, but not everyone could afford the cutting-edge technology. A small kitchen was stocked pretty nicely with all the basic appliances (not that he had any familiarity with their utilization).
There was even a little guest greeting area with a full couch and two plush accent chairs surrounding a wood coffee table. Again, the furniture was nice. Even the carpet was bereft of any staining, appearing to be freshly cleaned. He imagined the cow attendant from before tending to them with a hum and smile.
His final stop on the self-guided tour was the bathroom which surprise surprise, wasn’t bad. It was free of any staining in the bathtub and even the grout was kept to a shiny white polish.
“Huh,” was all he could vocalize. Maestros got to live like this on the road. He could see how so many of them committed to the life.
Thwump!
At least the bed was comfortable.
He had only been up for a couple of hours at most, but his battery was beyond empty. If they expected him to be any semblance of functional at the event tonight they’d let him sleep until then.
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KNOCK KNOCK
“Mr. Tomoshibi! Supper will be served soon!”
Shouri roused from his slumber. He recognized the voice as the cow lady who helped him earlier in the day. Aura must have told them to check up on him. He doubted she was going door to door and telling every Maestro dinner would be served.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
He sat up in bed, the oranges of the setting sun poking through the blinds. He removed the crystal from his jacket pocket, allowing it to roll back and forth in his palm. “Ok,” he closed his eyes focusing on the crystal with his rhythm. As he practiced time and again, he pulled the rhythm out of its trappings and integrated it within his own. The blue slowly faded into yellow until there wasn’t a trace of its original glow.
He loved this feeling of purpose. It was so invigorating, but he couldn’t live on these. The only reason this one worked was he hadn’t had one in a while. “Stupid scale getting used to it,” he complained. The boy hopped out of bed and made his way to the door. He stopped short and sniffed his arm. “Maybe I should take a shower first.”
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A little bit after six the boy took to the lobby, finding it filled with nothing but Maestros. There was an even distribution of guys and girls, many of them already forming little cliques and chatting it up.
He wasn’t here for them. He was here for a Resonator. Or at least he was going to use the push of the rubato crystal so generously provided by his sister to take a crack at it.
As he got his food, he knew not just any Resonator would do. They had to be a duet, they had to match his rhythmic opposite. A weak-knowledge strong-willed Resonator. There had been only one who could properly fill that void in the past.
No one paid him any mind as he took a seat at one of the tables. They just continued their conversation as if he didn’t exist.
“Did you see?”
“No, what?”
“There’s a Renard here!”
“No shit!”
“No no, I saw her.”
“How is there a Renard here of all places?”
Shouri raised a brow. He had a passing familiarity with some of the Prestige rarity Resonators, and the Renards were part of that. A clan of fire foxes, they were known the world over for their raw potential. No surprise that a bunch of Maestros were aiming to court such a hot commodity.
Not him though. He had exactly one thing he wanted from a perspective Resonator.
Dinner wrapped up on schedule and the group of Maestros were taken to the community center in the center of the tiny town.
Shouri grimaced upon entering the building. It was themed like a dance club. He was shocked that people who lived so far out in the middle of nowhere even knew what a club looked like. Not that he could claim familiarity with such establishments himself.
But still.
There was a large dance floor, music was already playing, the lights were dimmed, and there were plenty of half-circle booths with tables for people to chat it up and escape the hustle and bustle of the dance floor.
Of course, there were plenty of Resonators already doing so, talking amongst themselves.
It didn’t take long for the two groups to intermingle. Shouri scanned the crowd but felt nothing from it. Too much rhythm in such a crowded space for him to pick out any one stave.
He deflated quickly. Even with the willful rhythm of the crystal he had taken in, it just wasn’t enough to handle this crowd. The only thing it managed to do was keep him from turning around and leaving. He slid into an unoccupied booth and sighed.
The music was loud, pounding him from all sides, and the idle conversations didn’t help. There was a crowd gathered in the center of the dance floor all excitedly chattering about something. Probably that poor Renard girl, on a pedestal like a piece of meat. He did catch the fluff of her entirely blonde tails, but it didn’t rest the bile that wanted to escape – she was trapped in the middle of the crowd. Now that was something that could get him to leave.
But before he could, a voice hit his hearing – addressed to him.
“Hey there, can I sit here?”
He raised his head, but as soon as his eyes met her’s they widened. She stood just about as tall as he did, but her complexion showed a stark difference in their lifestyles – her skin told the story of a girl who loved being outside, and based on the swim trunks and top she wore her chapters were beach-themed. Water was this girl’s life, that much was certain. The small brown round ears atop her head and the thick tail spoke to her species – she was an otter.
She held a glass in one hand and held her wavy sandy blonde hair back with her other. But her eyes, shimmered blue, the swirling rhythm within telling him she met one of his requirements.
“S-sure…” he scooted over.
“Man, I feel sorry for them,” said the girl.
“Why?” he asked.
“That Renard girl, she’s the head of the clan. I think she just came here to crush some hearts.” The girl giggled.
“Ah,” Shouri nodded.
“What’s your name?”
The two looked at one another in surprise. They had shared their inquiry.
The girl giggled. Shouri couldn’t help his lips rising.
“Shouri.”
“Pacifica, nice to meetcha!”
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It was strange. Shouri hadn’t felt like this in a long long time.
This was the high he had been chasing for so long. He had found it, though he loathed to admit it. Aura was going to give him so much crap about it.
Every future “I told you so” that launched from his sister’s lips were going to make him cringe so hard.
But the big question was… where was he?
“Oh…” he breathed out.
Somehow, he had ended up back in his bed at the MA Office. His head was pounding something fierce and his stomach was not happy with whatever decisions he had made last night. Those weren’t what seized his heart.
What froze him where he lay was the second occupant in his bed. It wasn’t that he was sharing the bed with another. No, it was how he was holding her.
Pacifica slept soundly in his arms, she looked content, and at peace.
Even if Shouri’s heart wanted to beat him to death, he had to admit one thing – this was the best he had felt in almost a decade. He knew his fix was etude. He just couldn’t bring himself to let go.
“Huh…?” Pacifica’s eyes fluttered open as warm drops hit her cheeks. “Oh my god, are you okay?” she sat up in alarm, immediately addressing the Maestro by her side.
He wiped away his tears with the sleeve of his jacket. “I dunno,” he admitted.
“Wanna talk about it?” she asked.
The two sat in silence for a moment. The otter by his side smiled warmly, while he wore open awe.
“Nngh…” Pacifica suddenly grasped her head. “Ow…” she whimpered.
“Head hurt?” he asked.
“Yeah… a bit…” she winced.
Another moment passed in silence.
“Wait…” her gaze trailed up, meeting Shouri’s. Her face rapidly reddened. “Wh-what am I doing in bed with you?!” she shrieked.
“Now you notice?!” he shouted back.
“My neck…” she rubbed the back of her head. “What the heck happened last night?”
It was at that moment the final puzzle piece fell into place in the form of a shimmering blue device that had caught the light of the rising sun. Pacifica’s eyes widened as she pointed at it.
The Maestro turned back and he shared in the Resonator’s realization. He silently grabbed hold of the device and woke it from its slumber.
Shouri Tomoshibi
Resonator: Pacifica
Species: Demi-Human (Otter)
Element: Water
Attribute: Piercing
Rhythm: 95%
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Shouri sat on the edge of the bed while Pacifica took a shower. He held his head in his hands. It was one thing to find a Resonator, but this was an entirely separate problem.
As far as either of the two could recall, they had started chatting it up. Their conversation was lovely as far as they could remember. The one thing that stood out was the fruit punch. That damned juice. The memory of Pacifica commenting on the interesting flavor stuck out like a sore thumb.
Of course, it had an “interesting flavor” SOMEONE SPIKED IT.
“Aura can never find out about this,” he decided.
However, a new problem stuck in his heart.
“I wonder how she feels.” His eyes stole the white paint coating the closed bathroom door. He didn’t want to say it, but he needed her. He felt good with her and didn’t want to go back to how he was before. The discordant will was a cruel mistress, he had felt its sting before. He was more afraid of going back now than ever. Those dark days after she left him…
The main problem was he didn’t know how he’d convince Pacifica to go along with him. He just kind of ended up accidentally becoming her Maestro.
WHY DIDN’T ANYONE QUESTION HOW DRUNK THEY WERE?
He had half a mind to go complain to the front desk about this mess.
That would have to wait, as Pacifica left the confines of the bathroom, some mist escaping with her. “Much better,” she cooed. Though upon catching Shouri in her periphery her face reddened and she couldn’t look at him.
He couldn’t do it.
Even if she was the best thing to happen to him in years, he just couldn’t make that decision for her. The boy stood and held out the tuner for her.
Pacifica slowly turned to meet the device. “H-huh?” she blinked, the confusion pouring from her face. “What?”
“Take it,” he pushed the device towards her.
“Wh-why?” she asked, her tone graced with hurt.
“I don’t want to be your Maestro under false pretenses. We got drunk and-”
“No!” she pushed the device back to him, pressing his hand and the tuner against his chest. “You’re abandoning me?” she asked in a panic. “I-I’m not good enough?”
Confusion was met with confusion. “No no, I just- I want to respect your boundaries, and I-”
“Let me be yours!” she cried out. “Please!” the floodgates broke loose as her desperation poured down her cheeks. “I don’t want to be alone anymore,” she admitted with a squeak, keeping her hands pressed against his.
Shouri remained frozen. It almost sounded like… she wanted to be with him?
“But-”
“Please… I know you’re the right one for me, give me a chance?” She tried to offer a smile, but it wavered as the anguish continued to spill.
The Maestro allowed himself a sigh. “I do want you,” he spoke calmly. “I should have asked you instead of assuming, I’m sorry.”
It was in the next moment he found himself pinned to the bed, being held tightly by the otter. “Thank you, Sho! I’ll do my best!”
The boy cracked a smile. This girl was too much, but he was hers, so he’d deal with it no matter what.