Chapter 162: Spirit Orchestra, Part Six

The day of the concert soon arrived, cloudy and with a subtle chill in the air. That cold temperature was offset, however, by the warmth that all of the humans near Xhez were giving off as she and Rin stood in the line to enter the building where the concert was being held. Elisa wasn't here because she had something to do with her family, something that Xhez noticed was becoming an increasingly frequent occurrence.

There were so many humans that Xhez almost felt suffocated. The sprite bounced on her feet as Rin smiled next to her.

"So, on a scale from 1 to 10, how excited are you feeling?"

"I am not too sure I understand how this 'scale' thing works, but I would say I am feeling very excited," Xhez replied. "How much longer will we have to wait?"

"Probably an hour or so," Rin replied with a shrug. "Maybe more, maybe less."

"Ugh, can we not speed this up in any way? I wish to go in now!" Xhez complained quietly, trying not to draw the attention of those around her. Her disguise was good enough to prevent people from being suspicious, but acting out of line would still have the same effect if she wasn't careful.

"Even if you pulled that off, somehow, the concert wouldn't just start the instant you got in, Xhez," Rin explained.

Xhez sighed as she continued to bounce around, shifting from one side to another.

Leaning in and speaking far more softly, Rin asked:

"Will you be seeing June after this?"

"I hope so," Xhez replied with a slightly saddened expression. "She will be leaving soon."

"Right. You should try to make the best out of it all while you can."

"I will," Xhez nodded. "I will."

At that moment, everyone in the crowd began looking in the same direction. At first, Xhez believed they were looking at her, but she soon realized they were looking behind her. As excited chatting began to spread throughout the line, Xhez began to hear cheers and hollers from people far away. Slowly, but surely, those cheers spread all the way to where Xhez was, until she saw the source.

Driving by them all was June in one of those big, bulky things the humans called "cars" with a hand extended out through one of the windows. She was waving "hi" at everyone with a grin on her face as the others in the car, who Xhez recognized as her bandmates, also waved at the crowd.

Seeing her made Xhez's heart warmer. She grinned and waved back, hoping the woman would see her through the number of taller, thicker bodies around her.

Suddenly, June paused. Her smile went away and instead, the woman squinted as she looked in Xhez's direction, trying to focus. Xhez waved a little harder, as did Rin when she realized what the sprite was trying to do, and, then, June began to say something to the person driving the vehicle.

The car stopped and June quickly exited along with two others.

[Huh? Is she coming to say hi!?] Xhez thought excitedly as the singer walked up to her. The other two who had gotten out kept the rest of the crowd at bay, then, as June went right up to Xhez and said:

"Hey! Come in through the back, okay? I'll sneak you in. You'll get a spot with a much, much better view."

Before Xhez could even ask what she meant by that, June retreated all the way back to her car and got back in. She started waving to the others at the line as though she hadn't even gotten out, to begin with, and, soon, the car was out of sight.

"You okay?" Rin asked and Xhez turned toward her.

"Y-Yes, I was just... caught by surprise."

"What was that about?"

"She said that I should 'come in through the back', but, I do not understand what that means."

"Oh, she wants you to go backstage," Rin declared with raised brows. "Damn."

"Is that good?"

"Yeah. Actually, we should just go right now. Come on, let's see if we can find this back door or not."

Just like that, Rin took Xhez by her wrist and guided her away from the line they'd been standing at for the past hour. They rounded the busy street, bypassing everyone who was waiting to be let in, arriving at the other side of the building. Here, Xhez found June's car parked along with a black door and no one standing outside.

Rin walked up and tried to open it but found that it was locked. As Xhez took some time to breathe now that she wasn't surrounded, Rin knocked on the door a few times. Someone quickly answered.

A bald-headed man wearing black-tinted glasses looked down at them both. He was absurdly tall.

"Um," Xhez quickly said, "June told us to come here."

"... Hold on, let me check with her."

He closed the door before Xhez could respond. She and Rin glanced at each other before the door re-opened a moment later.

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The same man came out, gave them a nod, and stepped aside. Xhez and Rin walked into a dimly lit hallway with a single flickering lightbulb that led somewhere that seemed familiar. Xhez quickly remembered what this place reminded her of. The location she and Rin had visited in Dren where they'd watched that play". The theatre.

Here, June was on the stage with those bandmates Xhez had met previously. Only, they were all wearing flashy uniforms this time. As June saw them, she said something to the others and gestured for them to wait before she walked on over.

"Xhez! it's good to see you again."

June gave Xhez a warm hug before she glanced at the woman next to her. Rin waved at the woman, slightly awkwardly, as June took a step back.

"And, who is...?"

"My sister," Xhez quickly explained to her. "Rin. Rin, this is June."

"Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you," June stated. Her tone took on a different, more eloquent sound to it as she reached out to shake Rin's hand.

"Same," Rin replied quietly. Xhez caught Rin looking back and forth between them, then. There was a slightly foreign expression on her face that Xhez hadn't seen before, and didn't understand. It didn't last, however, before Rin then asked: "is there anywhere I could sit down, maybe? While you two talk, I mean."

"Yes, yes," June nodded. "I'll show you to it. I'd say it's the best seat in the house, actually."

"This is someone's house?" Xhez wondered aloud, but it seemed like June didn't catch that as she strode forward, expecting them both to follow.

They walked through the theatre-like area, heading up a set of stairs and arriving at a second floor that Xhez hadn't noticed. There were only a few chairs here, and all of them were much softer-looking than the ones Xhez had just seen. From here, they could see the entirety of the stage below, along with many of the different rows of seats present.

June spread her arms flamboyantly at the edge by the railing, smirking proudly.

"Quite the view, right?"

"Yeah," Rin replied as she walked forward to look down. Then, she glanced back at Xhez and June. She opened her mouth as though she was going to say something before closing it again and shaking her head. With a slightly quiet voice, she said, "I'm gonna head back down for a bit."

"Right," June replied and Rin quickly left the area. Xhez didn't really mind Rin staying while they spoke, but maybe this was some human etiquette thing that she didn't understand yet.

Once they were alone, June placed a hand on the railing and looked down at the theatre.

"Hard to believe that I'm actually going to be performing here," June stated. "We started this little band of ours performing for friends and family. Now, well, now we've got a whole pack of strangers here to listen to us, some of which traveled to Libera specifically for this occasion."

"How do you feel?" Xhez asked.

"Humbled, mostly. Validated, as well. I've been working at this for a while, after all. Setting that aside, though, Xhez," she began to say, "would you like to spend some time with me after this? We could get a few drinks, walk around town, I dunno. Whatever you'd like."

"Just being around you is enough for me," Xhez replied with a shrug.

"Always so sweet," June commented as she then walked up and placed a light kiss on Xhez's lips. Just a peck at first, but something that transformed into a much more passionate gesture in a matter of seconds. She pushed herself away from Xhez, however, and wiped her lips as she said, "if we start this, I won't want to stop, so, unfortunately, if we are going to... 'do' anything we should save it for later."

"I-I see," Xhez nodded. Her skin felt warmer. 

"... Actually, I should probably go back downstairs and make sure everything is ready to go. I hope you enjoy the show, Xhez. I'd like it if I managed to impress you again."

"I do not doubt that you will," Xhez replied before June gave her a nice hug.

With that being said, she was gone and Rin quickly took her place. The two of them stood side-by-side at the railing, watching the rest of the audience come in from below.

Again, Xhez caught Rin looking at her. This time, she asked:

"Is something wrong?"

Rin quickly shook her head, though.

"No, no... I'm just thinking about stuff."

"Oh."

The conversation didn't progress past that. From that moment, up until the band was good and ready to begin, they remained in silence. Xhez could feel that Rin was still thinking about something, but, if she said everything was alright, Xhez wasn't about to doubt her.

Her mind was taken off of this matter anyway as a bright light was cast on June who took the stage up ahead. The performance soon began, and, yes, Xhez was every bit as impressed now as she was when she first saw her.

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