- SAKURANO YOMI -
It was almost eerie how empty the hall was. It was afternoon and Sakurano Yomi, a highschool girl, sat with crossed legs on the edge of the stage of a small theatre downtown. The fold-up chairs were neatly aligned, the lamps to the side of the stage were being nudged ever so-slightly by a the after-school drama teacher. In their greeting earlier she had smiled and nodded along, pretending she hadn't heard her friend's, Seiyuu Akihiko, many rants about him. Yomi hid her smile at the thought.
Speaking of Aki, Where is that braggart? Yomi thought, peddling her legs back and forth. Akihiko had promised to help set up, but he wasn't just late, almost everything was already for the show. Within an hour, it would be the first time Yomi would try her verses at a local slam poetry competition. She rehearsed each line in her head, each reverberating her heartstrings like the violin's. Yomi had written closer to her heart than she ever thought she would. She would be baring the back of her mind in front of an unknowing audience... It was a frightening thrill.
Her phone rang in her bag; the vibrations on the platform testing the acoustics of the room. Apologetically, Yomi waved at the drama teacher, before swiping the lock off of the touchscreen and seeing the alarm was set off by Amari Sakura, her friend who was out of town to visit family. “Break a leg!” Sakura's text read; and scrolling down was a picture of her four year old cousin awkwardly giving the camera a thumbs up. Yomi giggled.
Yomi scrolled her inbox once more, just to confirm Aki hadn't sent her anything. Come on, you're kidding me. She sighed, as she pulled up the keyboard. Where. Are. You. Yomi read along silently before sending the message. Aki might have his self-centred eccentricities, but today was important to Yomi and she was sure that, willing to admit it or not, Aki had recognised that when she told him.
“Miss Sakurano, could you help me test the sound?” The drama teacher asked, waking Yomi from her thoughts, as he did his final tests on the spotlights.
“Of course.” Yomi smiled, put her phone back in her back and lifted herself up the stage. She sauntered behind the microphone and took it from its stand. “Test, test, one, two, three. This is your captain speaking.”