It was Tuesday, Rini and Sakura were waiting in the prep room. Sakura was nervous.
“You ready for this?” Rini asked.
She nodded and smiled.
“Good morning everyone! Welcome to NHK World!” I’m your host, Au Go!” She said with a smile. “Today we got a special guest. Our guess is the winner of the Singing Contest/ She has a beautiful voice. She is also a Mute!” She said with excitement. “Let’s give a warm welcome to Sakura Watanabe and her sister, Rini Ono!” She started to clap as the audience cheered.
The girls came walking out. They were both smiling and Sakura was waving. They set down.
“Thank you both for coming.” Au said.
“Thank you for having us.” Rini replied. Sakura smiled and bowed.
“Ono-san can you let our viewers know why you’re here?” Au happily asked.
“Sure.” She smiled and giggled. “Sakura is very shy and she’s not able to talk to people.” She smiled. “I’m here as her translator. She’ll be signing.”
“This caught me off guard the other day.” She facepalmed herself. “You all were having fun with it.” She gave a mean look and laughed.
“Sorry about that. It happens so often that it’s a joke to us.” Sakura signed and laughed.
“That makes sense.” Au gave them a sly grin. “So Watanabe-chan, where did you learn to sing?” She asked with wonder.
Sakura took a sec to think. “I taught myself how to sing. It was a fun way to relax.” She smiled as she thought about it.
“Did you ever show anyone?” Au had to ask.
“No. Nobody know until Rini took me to Club Dam with my Sisters.” She replied.
“Really? Must have took you all by surprise Ono-san.” Au said.
“I was amazed! We were all speechless! I couldn’t believe my mute sister could sing like that!” Rini said with start eyes and gave Sakura a hug.
“Well Watanabe-san, would you sing for us?” Au asked and bowed.
Sakura nodded and asked for the same song from the contest. She got a mic and her persona changed. The Music started and she sang beautifully. Everyone was in awe!
Elsewhere, someone was in disbelief. Yumi had been watching like she did every day. She couldn’t believe Sakura was on it. Her disbelief changed into Pure hatred.
Sakura finished singing. Everyone exploded in cheers! She was blown away. She set back down and blushed.
“That was astonishing!” She was so happy Sakura sang for them.
They were on their way home and Sakura was beaming. As they walked to the train station, people would tell her how impressed they were. They got on the train and went home.
When they got home, they found Yumi and another lady waiting for them. When Sakura saw her, she froze in fear. Rini saw this and was worried.
“Hello Sakura-chan.” She looked at her waiting.
Sakura was shacking a little. Quietly she forced her voice out and bowed. “Hello Takamoto-sama.”
“I was so shocked to see you on the news. I had to come and congratulate you in person.” She said with a sinister smile. This was the type of smile that looked normal, but made your skin crawl.
“Thank you very much.” She said, trying to sound normal.
“Sakura-chan, I’d like you to meet Yuri Uchida.” She motioned with her hand at the woman beside her. “She is the dean of Tamagawa Academy.” She said with honor and respect. “This is the same school my daughter is going to.” She was beaming.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” She said sweetly. “I was impressed with your singing. I was also surprised that you were already on our list for students we wanted to be at our school.” She said happily.
Yumi looked confused. She didn’t know about this. “She is?” She had to ask.
“Yes she is. She turned us down last year. This is why I came with you Takamoto-san. I wanted to ask her myself this time.” She was smiling. She really was happy to meet Sakura.
Yumi’s eyes had red in them. Sakura know that look. “I see.” Yumi was staying polite.
“Sakura Watanabe, I would love it if you would come to my school. You will have a Full Scholarship if you do.” She said while keeping eye contact with her.
Yumi couldn’t believe what she just heard! Yuri doesn’t just give those to everyone. Only about one to three students a year might get one. Even her own daughter doesn’t have one. She was shocked.
Sakura smiled and looked at Rini. She begone to sign. “Thank you very much. I’m honored. However, my answer is still the same.” She took a deep breath and used her voice to the surprise of everyone. “I don’t want to go to a private school. I like where I am right now.” She smiled. “I don’t want to have to leave my friends and family. Please understand.” Tears were going down her face as she bowed.
Yuri walked over and gave her a hug. “Don’t cry. I understand. If you ever change your mind, let me know. There will always be a place open there for you.” She said kindly.
Sakura looked up and smiled. Yumi and Yuri left. Rini was so happy of her sister. She was proud of her following her own path.
Sakura was walking to the convenience store for some snacks. She was singing to herself. Out of nowhere a hand grabbed her shoulder, differing its nails in painfully. The hand pulled and then pushed Sakura into a wall really hard. She hit the wall so hard that she yelped in pain and closed her eyes.
She was scared. She slowly opened her eyes to she who it was. She froze in terror. Yumi was there and had her pinned to the wall. “You piece of trash!” She yelled loud enough that only they could hear it. “How dare you embarrass me.” Her eyes didn’t look human. They were almost demonic. “You could have just said yes and left my sister for good!”
Sakura was stunned. So that’s why she did it. She was trying to get rid of her.
“I wish your worthless father took you with him. You’re just a stain on the family Name!” With that, Yumi slapped Sakura so hard that she was knocked over. She was now laying on the ground. She was in a lot of pain. She kept quiet.
Yumi looked at her. “Don’t tell anyone about this. If you do, I will make you sorry. I can get your father fired!” Yumi’s face was evil, “Do you understand?”
Sakura said nothing. She was too scared!
Yumi raised her hand once more. “I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND!”
“YES TAKAMOTO-SAMA!” It came out more like a yelp.
Yumi was satisfied with that. She got into her car and drove off. Leaving Sakura on the ground.
Sakura just laid there crying. She was in terrible pain. She pulled herself up slowly off the ground. She put her hand over her right shoulder. It was bleeding. She also had a cut on her lip. Her cheek was swelling up and had cuts from the nails.
Ten minutes later she into the store, barely on her feet. She was a regular her and the know her.
“Hello Watana…” The cashier couldn’t finish. “Watanebe-chan! What happened!” She screamed and ran over to her!
Sakura finally gave into the pain and collapsed to the floor. She looked up to see blurry faces fading into black. The voices calling her name went silent. She had fainted.