For Whom the Requiem Plays | Epilogue 1

[healingbonds]

Chapter 6 << | index | >> Epilogue 2


Location: Concert Hall


Leo: .......


Madara: Thanks for waiting, Leo-saaaaaan! Were you lonely without Mama?


Leo: Ah, Mama... Hey, look, I say this all the time, but if you’re gonna do something, explain yourself before taking action.

It was lonely being left behind with a group of people I didn’t really know.


Madara: Hahaha! Sorry, sorry! But while wandering foreign countries without a penny in your pocket, didn’t you learn that that you can always come to an understanding as long as you’re both human?

Even if you don’t understand each other’s words, humans are your allies. They’re not external enemies. Of course, just because someone is a human, it doesn’t mean you can trust them 100%, but.

They’re the same kind of living creatures as us: with a single brain, we keep track of these inputs called the five senses to control the outputs of whole body.

They aren’t incomprehensible alien species; if you talk to them, you’ll understand.

If you smile, touch them gently, and sing together, you become friends; wasn’t that the case most of the time?

Music exists in every country. And that's how we can come to understand each other.


Leo: That might be the case for you, Mama, but I really had a tough time~.....

I was suddenly sent off to wander around the world even though I’d never left Japan before.

I never felt like I was in danger thanks to the bodyguard-kinda guys Mama arranged for me, but.

I was lost, I got food poisoning, and I couldn’t communicate with anyone.

I was really happy when that alien I met while wandering up north spoke proper Japanese to me.


Madara: An alien? Ah, Leo-san did disappear for a while after saying, “I was abducted by aliens!”


Leo: Yup, I got lost, wandered into a place like a military establishment, and got caught; I seriously thought I was gonna die....

But a charming alien helped me out.

Man, it was really rough being abroad~.

When I came back to Japan for the first time in ages, Ruka-tan greeted me in Japanese—“Welcome home, onii-chan,” and...

She brought me Japanese tea and rice balls. I’m not kidding when I say the tears wouldn’t stop.


Madara: Hahaha! Isn’t Japan a peaceful heaven compared to overseas? It’s safe, and you can communicate with others!

Now you understand how grateful you should be for this environment you enjoyed and took for granted, right?

Or do you still want to flee to somewhere far away?

If that’s how you feel, I won’t stop you; it’s your life, Leo-san—you should live it as you wish.


Leo: Nn~, I’m still thinking about it. Now that I know how big the world is, it feels stupid to mope around in a small school in this tiny country of Japan.

The work you introduced me to at the music company abroad is going smoothly; I’m having fun.

So it might be good to get a job there and work there permanently.

And then someone like Sena—who will have become a great idol—will sing the songs I wrote without knowing that I’m the composer.

That’ll be enough for me; it’ll be more than enough good fortune for a guy who barely escaped death.


Madara: Hahaha! I think Izumi-san will immediately realize that it’s a song by Leo-san.

It’s impossible to “quietly get by without saying anything;” you should tell him what’s going on, you know?

He was really worried, and blamed himself, too: “It’s my fault that Leo-kun broke.”

Eichi-san hid his concerns on the surface, but he also seemed pretty troubled.


Leo: Why does everyone else get to decide that I’m broken.... Well, I guess that’s to be expected~. I really did feel like I fell to the bottom of the pit.

But Mama pushed me forward, and by digging further down into the very bottom of the pit, I opened up a new world.

That place might be hell, but I intend to keep living there.

Cowering is unproductive and meaningless, after all.

It’s a loss for the world if a genius like me wastes my time away without producing any new songs! Wahaha!

That’s what I’ll think as I line up the musical notes one by one.

Trying memories, pain, and sadness—one day, they’ll become the inspiration for new songs. I’ll believe in that, and take steps forward so that I can start once more.

First off, I’m gonna dedicate a requiem to myself, the loser, just like Mozart did.

That guy must be composing song after song in heaven right now, dangit.

I wanna hear them now! But I’m the type of genius who saves the best for last, so!

Wahahaha! For now, I’m gonna spin songs that can only be made on this suffocating earth!


Madara: Splendid! I’ll lend you all my strength, Leo-san ♪


Leo: Thanks, best friend! I love you!

But take it a little easy on me! I keep saying this, Mama, but you’re so strong that when you “lend your strength,” you could cause a huge accident!


Madara: See, that’s the root of my concerns. I wish everyone would grow stronger.


Leo: Wahaha! So long as you have enough muscle to lift a pen, you can compose songs! You can keep living!

Now, for starters, I’d like Mama to play this song I just finished writing... “A Requiem for Tsukinaga Leo” ♪


Madara: Now that sounds ominous. But I guess that’s the point of this concert.

Did I tell you yet? We’re all prepared for a concert, but there aren’t enough performing musicians. Seems like they’re all boycotting because of the cooperative organization’s policies.

That’s why the main sponsor and the manager of the concert hall were troubled.

They asked me, “Can’t you do something about this, Mikejima-kun?” That’s how I got involved.

I never refuse a request—that’s just how I am.

I can pull it off on my own, but... Leo-san, if you’d like, please play a song—even if it’s just the song that you composed right now.

In the end, I tend to always monopolize everything, but. I really, truly love sharing with someone else far more.

Chapter 6 << | index | >> Epilogue 2