Chapter 47: 46: New Faces?

Going back a few days prior…

“Charlotteeee, where are you?” A pink-haired girl complained while yawning, dangling off the side of her bed, “Are you ready? The tournament starts today!”

Stretching a little while getting dressed, Charlotte nodded, “I’m ready, the question is are you ready, Vanessa? You’re the one still in bed, after all, no need to be lethargic either, we’re probably not going up against Krystina’s team today.”

Crawling out of bed, Vanessa rubbed her eyes as she pulled on some clothes, “Don’t even remind me of that monster of a team… Honestly, though, I’m already happy with our team, even if I’m not the biggest fan of everyone on the team. Also, I’ve heard that they’re considering letting us reorganize the teams in the later years.” 

Nodding along, murmuring in agreement while flicking on the lights, Charlotte checked her terminal for any last-minute news, waiting for Vanessa to finish dressing. With the tapping of keys filling the sound in the room, Charlotte’s movements came to an abrupt halt. 

Twirling around, Charlotte sighed, crouching down to tap on Vanessa’s now slumped figure, “C’mon sleepy head, wake up~ wake up~!”

Groaning some intelligible words, Vanessa’s sluggish movements started up again, “I’m awake, no need to worry…”

Knowing Vanessa would fall asleep as soon as she turned her back again, Charlotte paused her daily morning terminal reading to help Vanessa get dressed. 

“Did you stay up late again?” Charlotte asked, handing Vanessa some socks to put on, “You were still awake after all when I finished writing an email to my younger siblings, after all.”

Having started to wake up, Vanessa confessed, “I went to bed maybe an hour or two later? I got engrossed with writing a song, kinda lost track of time, and realized it was late… a little too late.”

Chuckling at her little wordplay as Charlotte sighed, Vanessa threw on a jacket, standing up and stretching. Scouring her small cabinet for any snacks as Charlotte checked her terminal, Vanessa was beginning to really regret her consecutive nights of music writing, the feeling of fatigue was starting to outweigh the enjoyment she was getting from all the productivity.

Giving up on the snack search and deciding to wait for breakfast, Vanessa sighed, looking at her roommate and best friend’s eyebrows furrowed, signaling some unexpected developments.

“At least she wakes me up right at the crack of dawn too though,” Vanessa murmured to herself as she combed her hair in the mirror. Tidying up her desk and scattered sheet music she had scrawled out last night, Vanessa sat down by the door, putting on her shoes.

Eyes lighting up as Charlotte sat down next to her, Vanessa asked, “Anything I have to know about?” 

Vanessa would never admit it, but she admired Charlotte, she was diligent, she was responsible, and she was nice. Whistling the melody that she had been working on last night, Vanessa laced up her shoes, standing up with the help of Charlotte, and walking out of their dorm.

“How do you think our chances are looking, Charlotte?” Vanessa asked, slinging one arm over Charlotte’s shoulder, “Ms. Expert Analysis should have something at least, right?”

Tapping her chin while using her other hand to detach from Vanessa, Charlotte answered with a slight hesitation in her voice, “Even though our team is very disjointed, I’d say our chances are looking pretty good as we’re one of the top teams. As long as we don’t run into Krystie’s team we’ll probably manage somehow…”

“Moving on then!” Vanessa exclaimed with a smile, “Where do you want to go for breakfast? We have some time before we need to get going after all!”

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Yawning, Charlotte ran her fingers through her hair, answering, “Let’s just go to the usual place, I don’t really feel like changing it up today.”

Waving to a passing classmate, Vanessa nodded, her eyes wandering around looking at the shops and what they offered, “Sounds like a plan! Who knows, maybe we’ll even run into some people there! Plus, I’ll probably get to play on that sexy, sexy piano again...”

Letting out a sigh in exasperation, Charlotte retorted, “Don’t even try to trick me, you just love that piano don’t you?”

“... Maybe,” Vanessa muttered with a nervous chuckle, pulling open the door and holding it for Charlotte, “I do care about more than just the piano, though, I’ll have you know!”

“Thanks for holding the door~” Charlotte laughed while walking in, “Alrighty, I’ll let you go this time.”

Pausing their conversation, Charlotte and Vanessa walked up to the counter, greeting the cashier. Ordering a set of pancakes and an omelet, Vanessa and Charlotte found a table by the window, settling in while they waited for their order to arrive.

Tapping her pen in a beat, Vanessa mused, “You know, I’m still amazed at how we became friends with Krystina and the others. I’m still excited to meet Erina too~”

Thanking the waiter for delivering their food, Charlotte hummed, “I am too, the pillar families are practically celebrities back in the Yin Kingdom. They’re also so down to Earth, surprising considering… our teammate Haizaki.”

Coughing after eating too much pancake at once, Vanessa held up a finger, motioning that she needed to drink some water before answering. 

“Yeah, they’re really nice! And so pretty too~ I remember watching the attribute test broadcast thing, I was practically swooning~” Vanessa sighed, wiping her mouth with a napkin. Putting down her napkin, Vanessa looked back up only to be greeted by Charlotte’s stern expression.

Withering under Charlotte’s gaze, Vanessa faltered, murmuring, “Fine, I’ll reign it back in…”

“That’s good,” Charlotte laughed, cutting her omelet while breaking into a smile, “nothings wrong with it, but just… Please not right in the morning, okay?”

Nodding with a fake glum expression, Vanessa devoured the rest of her pancakes like it was a speed-eating contest, downing her glass of water before standing up, stretching as she beamed, “Time to play the piano~!”

Laughing as she still had half of her omelet left, Charlotte gave Vanessa a thumbs up as she walked up to the waitress to ask for permission to play on the piano. 

Getting permission to play on the piano, Vanessa radiated joy before sitting down and took a few deep breaths to calm down. Catching the attention of a few other guests in the middle of eating, Vanessa began to serenade the restaurant with sublime music unheard of by the rest of the world.

Before long, rumors would begin circulating that on certain mornings a pink-haired student would show up to a small establishment, serenading the guests with music that let you forget about the rest of the world.