At night, Nishimiya Shouko lay quietly on her bed in her pajamas, yet she kept tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
The rooms in Aoyama Apartments were almost all the same layout, two bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and one bathroom.
Her mother and grandmother slept in one room, while she and Nishimiya Yuzuru shared another. However, Nishimiya Yuzuru usually preferred sleeping on the sofa in the living room, so she was alone in the room.
She lay on her soft pillow and looked toward the window. The summer night breeze gently stirred the curtains, making the wind chime hanging by the window ring softly.
A faint glow shimmered in Nishimiya Shouko's eyes, reflecting the distant city lights, the countless stars, and the silver moon.
A summer night, when cicadas sang.
Outside the window, the cicadas cried out with all their might, burning every second of their brief lives in brilliant intensity.
*cicada cry*. (ミンミンミン)
Nishimiya Shouko suddenly pushed herself up from the bed. Listening to the cicadas outside, she frowned slightly and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Why could she not sleep tonight?
It felt like... something was different from usual.
After thinking about it without result, she reached for the glass of water on her bedside table. Under the silvery moonlight, everything in the room was clearly visible.
The moment her hand touched the glass, Nishimiya Shouko froze. Her gaze shifted to the hearing aid resting on the bedside table.
The hearing aid...
Her expression suddenly went blank, as if she had realized something all at once.
Then, in disbelief, she hurriedly touched the ear hidden beneath her hair. When she did not feel the rigid presence of the hearing aid, her pupils shrank sharply.
No... no hearing aid.
Then...
She suddenly stood up and went to the window. Standing by the bedside, facing the cool summer breeze, she remained there.
Then, Nishimiya Shouko slowly closed her eyes. In that instant, a flood of complex, lively sounds rushed into her ears all at once.
The cries of the cicadas...
The roar of car engines...
The sound of a television from a neighboring home...
The nyan nyan of Sato's cat...
Every sound reached her ears clearly, so real, so unbelievable. It was as if the once rigid world had suddenly become vivid and alive.
She abruptly opened her eyes and covered her mouth, trying not to make a sound.
Her eyes brimmed with indescribable excitement and shimmering tears.
These were sounds!
She... could hear?!
Everything in the world flowed clearly into her ears. It was so incredible, so hard to believe.
These sounds were so beautiful!
Suddenly, she thought of the afternoon.
Standing by the window, Nishimiya Shouko fell silent. Her hands trembled as she covered her mouth, not daring to speak.
She had been born with a hearing impairment and could only hear certain sounds through a hearing aid.
But the sounds heard through a hearing aid were never truly real. After putting it on, there had always been a constant electric hum in her cochlea, restless and unceasing.
That sound had placed an invisible barrier between her and this already real world. The world's reality had changed, and it had taken away her ability to communicate with others through speech.
When a person experiences the world in a distorted way, how could she ever reconstruct what was correct?
In elementary school, she had once joined a choir, but the sounds she believed to be correct only brought endless ridicule.
Back then, she had been confused and at a loss.
Why?
The sounds she heard were clearly like this. Everyone else's voices were clearly like this too. Then why did everyone look at her that way?!
At the time, she did not understand. She was lost in confusion, until she grew older and gradually came to understand her difference.
And today... fate seemed to have taken a turn.
Nishimiya Shouko hurried back to the bedside, picked up her phone, and carefully opened the music player, lowering the volume.
Her finger hovered over the play button for a long time. Pressing her lips tightly together, she finally tapped it.
(NOW PLAYING: Tsukiakari Funwari Ochite Kuru Yoru)
In the quiet summer night, within the empty room, a gentle melody began to play.
Nishimiya Shouko froze, then tears began to flow uncontrollably from her eyes. No matter how she wiped them, no matter how she rubbed her eyes, the tears kept falling down her cheeks in large drops.
This was a sound she had never heard before, a sound untouched by the distortion of a hearing aid.
Music... was this music?
She had read before that music was the greatest power in the world, the most precious art, the most valuable treasure.
In the past, she had not truly understood. But now, she felt as though she finally did...
The gentle melody lingered in the room, followed by the singer's ethereal voice.
Nishimiya Shouko listened quietly, her tear-filled eyes open, listening again and again...
Suddenly, her pale fingers pressed the stop button.
Silence filled the room. Then, a dry and hoarse singing voice sounded.
Upon hearing her own voice, Nishimiya Shouko's expression turned dazed.
Soon, the singing stopped, and the room fell silent again.
Before long, the cycle of singing and stopping repeated. During this process, joy gradually appeared on the girl's face.
After an unknown amount of time, the room returned to silence once more.
Nishimiya Shouko put on her slippers and hurried out, her footsteps pattering as she moved. After opening the door, she came to the living room, where Nishimiya Yuzuru was sleeping on the sofa.
She gently pushed her, and in an unpracticed but clear tone, she called out word by word, "Yu... zuru!"
"Mm..."
Nishimiya Yuzuru woke groggily from her sleep, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Nishimiya Shouko. Still half asleep, she murmured, "It's Onee-chan... what is it?"
"Yu... zuru!"
"Yeah, I'm here... ah!!!"
Suddenly, a scream shattered the quiet of Aoyama Apartments, startling the sleeping Nishimiya household.
Nishimiya Yuzuru covered her mouth, trembling as she looked at Nishimiya Shouko, her eyes filled with disbelief.
At that moment, a light turned on in the bedroom.
"Yuzuru!"
Nishimiya Yaeko's somewhat stern voice sounded along with the door opening. Before she could say more, Nishimiya Yuzuru rushed to her like she had gone mad, grabbing her hand and pointing at Nishimiya Shouko in excitement.
"Mom, Onee-chan... Onee-chan, she!"
...
Upstairs, on the balcony.
Sato sat in a reclining chair, holding Chocolate as he gently stroked her, gazing at the night sky. Vanilla rested by his feet, sleeping soundly.
The night sky was like a painting, filled with dazzling stars.
When he heard the noise coming from downstairs, a faint smile appeared on Sato's face.
He looked up at the bright, full moon and softly hummed a song.
Tsukiakari funwari, the moonlight falls softly
On a night when it drifts down gently
...
(A/N: Recommended song "Tsukiakari Funwari Ochitekuru Yoru wa," an Ending song from Crayon Shin-chan, very nice, search it on WorldStar, pick the second result, sung by several girls)