Strawberry Orange Star Night

I. Lentomesto

The whole song fell apart, Fugo thought blankly.

How did that happen?

There was a dull pain in his eye socket, and there were scrapes all over his body.The cool breeze blew past his face, and the hair on his forehead stuck to the corner of his mouth, a little itchy, he wiped his mouth and nose with the back of his hand, brushed away the curly hair, and looked down to find that the back of his hand was covered with blood.

He stared at the blood in rapt attention, until green spots appeared in his vision.It took him a while to realize that the fact that he was able to raise his hand meant that Apache had let him go.

"Fogg, let's go."

Apache's voice came from behind.So, Fugo raised his head and took a last look at the point where Naranca and Mista's figures disappeared.He turned to face his companions, without squinting, and strode away.He didn't make eye contact with any of them, but out of the corner of his eye he could sense the expressions on their blurred faces.He could feel their gazes glued to him, twisted into a tangle of vines, making him feel like a thorn in his back.

What kind of expression is on his face?What kind of embarrassment is it like?He doesn't know, and doesn't want to know.He left everyone behind and strode forward alone, regardless of his care, and his pace was fast, as if in this way he could wipe out everything that happened in the past few ten minutes, crumpled it into waste paper, and threw it into the cold night behind him.

"Fogg! Watch out!"

A cry tore through the sky, and it was Bugarati who caught up.Fugo was pulled backwards.He turned around and threw Bugarati away, causing both of them to stagger.He was about to curse when Bucciarati grabbed him again—a van whizzed by behind him.It was only then that Fuge realized that there was a bright red light on the sidewalk in front of him. It turned out that he had arrived at the side of the road at some point... and was almost crushed to death.

"Have you had enough? There must be a limit to children's tantrums!"

Bugarati grabbed Fugo by the collar, with a sullen expression on his face, and the wind and rain in his usually calm eyes, the signal light reflected on his face, lighting the azure pupils with red light.Fugo stared at Bugarati in a daze for a few seconds, unable to speak.He lowered his eyes.He had never seen Bucciarati lose his temper.

Fugo saw from the projection that the red light had turned green.Bugarati let go of his collar.

"...your tie is missing."

Bugarati patted Fugo's neckline and said while tidying up.Only then did Fogg notice that the tie was indeed missing.

"...Maybe it was ripped off by Nalanja just now." Fuge said. "However, I didn't fasten it properly."

Nalanga's name made him feel like a stick in his throat.

Buccarati didn't say anything, but patted Fugo on the shoulder, indicating that he had sorted it out.Fugo touched the neckline unnaturally, looked over Bugarati's shoulder and looked into the distance.As far as he could see, he couldn't see Apache, Trish and Giorno.

"They are still behind, they should be quite far away. Let's go first." Bugarati seemed to see through what he was thinking.Fugo retracted his gaze, and saw Buccarati's face was calm, as if the previous anger was a dream that never happened.The green light had already begun to flash, so they seized the gap and crossed the road together.

"It's a fine day with no clouds tonight. Look, the moon and the stars are out."

Bugarati's soft voice rang in his ears.Fugo looked up at the starry night.As he said, the moon lifted the night to peep out her bright face, and the stars were like freshwater pearls, dimly adorning the corners of her skirt.The street lamps also turned on one by one, dyeing the endless stars, moons and silver lights with a warm golden edge.

"Yes."

"—It feels like the No.12 variation of Little Star Variations."

"..."

"What do you say?"

"……Yes."

After a short silence, Bucgarati continued to expand the topic.

"This variation is the slowest variation in the whole piece. Gentle and quiet, noble and elegant... The application of the pedal is very important. Looking at Naranja's usual temper, who would have thought that he could handle it so well in this place?" ?”

Bugarati smiled lightly, his laughter was as light as a feather.Fugo was keenly aware of the direction of the topic.

"...Bucciarati, I know what you're going to talk about."

"Of course you are...you're smart."

Bucciarati stopped talking.Fuge looked down at himself step by step through the warm yellow street lamp projection, one ellipse followed by another, and the shadows of the two people were elongated, shortened, and elongated again, and so on.His chest was constricted and he couldn't breathe.Looking at these tireless shadows like the rotation of the planets, he couldn't help but think of the main theme that reappeared repeatedly in the little star, Naranja's outstanding performance, Naranja's radiant smile, and Naranja's violent expression, The fist that rained down on him.

Xingyue is still blinking lazily on the sky, and the silence is like fog.Fugo knew that Bugarati was waiting.The two were silent all the way, passing one street lamp after another, their faces flickering.

"..."

"...he plays very well."

Fugo finally spoke slowly.Buccarati softly agreed with his words.

He was still looking down at his feet, but he felt Bucciarati's gaze resting on him.

"Who would have thought that the waif in the garbage dump...could grow up to this level?"

"——Naranja, you play really well...but I don't play well. Or, I never liked playing the piano since I was a child."

He has been with the orchestra for more than a year and has never mentioned the past with anyone.After confessing his inner thoughts frankly, he felt that his chest was not so uncomfortable.

"This is a piece I used to play in a recital and I screwed it up. Literally screwed it up, I literally screwed up a piano... I lost face to my family. I and My mother had a big fight and was kicked out of the house in the end."

"No, Bucciarati, you don't have to feel sorry for me... Actually, I wanted to run away from home myself. I wanted to learn the cello since I was a kid, but my mother didn't agree. Her hatred of the cello is another story. Anyway, she forced me to learn the piano and the violin...You know, my family is nouveau riche, with only money and no high status. She is an ambitious woman, and she sees me as a stepping stone to her upper class."

It was easier to say these words than imagined, thought Fugo.

"Buggarati, you know that? For music, those outsiders judge the standard is... how fast you play and how high you sing. Oh, and the thing about painting is that it looks like it." Both of them laughed. stand up.

"My mother is such a layman. At that concert, she asked me to play the wild dance of the bees on the violin, and for the piano piece, she wanted me to play the little star. She thought everyone could sing this piece, But the subsequent variations come out one after another, refreshing, and everyone will be amazed."

"I don't know if I hate her or not. Maybe. But I'm sure Naranja hates me. Today, he finished the piece...everyone congratulated him. He looked so happy. He usually Just happy, honestly... he'd be happier if he could."

"Buggarati, I once played Popper's Pixie Dance to him. I think this piece is about him, so noisy and bouncing."

"But I told him..."

"...I said, only a shallow woman like my mother would pay homage to a song like Little Xingxing... But before I finished speaking, he..."

Fugo covered his eye sockets, there was throbbing pain, he couldn't bear it any longer.

"It turns out that it's no wonder..."

Fugo put his hands down, he finally stopped staring at his feet.He looked up at Bucciarati suspiciously.

"What does wonder mean?"

"Naranga only told me...I didn't want to tell anyone else. But if it was you..." Bugarati's blue eyes were filled with pity and sadness.He sighed.

The road home has never been so long.And Fugo finally knew about Naranja's past.

II. Sforzando

Bugarati has gone back to his room to rest.On the way, after he finished talking about Naranja, he almost couldn't bear to rub Fugo's hair.He had never treated Fugo in this way with a child like this.

Fogg sat dully on the sofa in the living room on the first floor of the orchestra, looking down at his knees.

Just now, I grabbed Naranja's wrist so hard.How important the wrist is to a pianist.What the hell did I do.

What the hell did I say?

His mind was in chaos, and he didn't know how long he had been sitting on this sofa.

"... Fugo? Fugo? Fugo!"

Fuge was like a piece of bluestone sinking into the bottom of the lake, and a sound was faintly heard passing through the lake.He raised his head in a daze, and saw the pink girl looking at him worriedly—it was Trish.The companions are back.

He looked around as if in a lifetime, and there was only the girl.Has everyone else gone back to their rooms?

"I called you for a long time, and you finally came back to your senses. Why didn't you clean the wound when you went home?" Trixie frowned, pulled Fugo, and signaled him to get up.He simply stopped thinking about it and threw his brain back into the chaotic void.He obediently let her lead him to the shared bathroom.

After entering the bathroom, he saw himself in the mirror.It's really appalling.The eye socket of the left eye was bruised, and blood clots had formed under the nose, around the mouth and the tip of the hair, which had begun to oxidize and turned dark brown.There were bloodstains on the white sweater, the clothes looked dusty, and the golden curly hair, which was always shining, was also dull and disheveled.

Trish pushed Fugo on the chair.She was at the sink, soaking a towel in hot water.The blood clotted into clots, and it would hurt to peel off hard, so she applied a hot towel to Fuge's face.

"Fugo, I picked up your tie on the ground. I have to throw it in and wash it with the dirty clothes later."

"Thank you."

"And Naranja's handkerchief was also dropped. I brought it back for him too."

"……handkerchief?"

"Yes. Handkerchief." Fugo inexplicably felt a hint of playfulness in her voice.He looked away and stopped looking at her.The heat was almost steaming, and she began to wipe Fugo's face.It just so happened that he simply closed his eyes.

"—she shed tears, alone by the river, singing sadly..."

Trish sang.

Song of Willows.

It's Othello.Although Fugo emptied his brain, he could still react to this in an instant.This is a handed down classic created by opera master Verdi, adapted from "Othello", one of Shakespeare's four tragedies, in which the soprano aria - Song of the Willows is even more famous.

"Oh, willow!"

"willow!"

"willow……"

Desdemona was misunderstood by her husband one after another, and was publicly humiliated by her husband in full view.She had a premonition that her life was in danger, and she was terrified and sang a sad song.The song tells of the tragic love of a maid... Willow!willow!willow!These were the words the maid kept chanting over and over as she washed her face with tears.Desdemona sang another woman's lamentation unrestrainedly, by which she expressed her helplessness and despair of losing love, as well as her radiant loyalty in desperation.

"She sat on the bank with her head on her chest..."

Trish didn't fully concentrate on singing, she just wiped Fugo's face one after another, and hummed the sad aria like a rambling with gentle movements.

Nevertheless, her graceful and soft voice, like smoke and dream, filled the small space sadly, and the reverberation echoed between the walls, like an angel singing, ethereal and mournful.

"—Oh, Willow!"

"willow!"

"willow……"

She chanted it over and over again, each sound getting weaker and weaker.The sigh-like singing gradually faded away.

Fugo was still immersed in the aftertaste of the music.He didn't open his eyes until the towel left Fugo's face, and saw Trish turned around to change the water for the towel by the sink.

"...Trixiu, why is this aria all of a sudden?" Fugo asked hesitantly.

Yangliu is synonymous with broken love, not to mention the storyline of the opera itself.

"...Are you broken in love?"

"No." Trish wrung out the towel, looked back at Fugo, and blinked.

"I'm not in this mood. It's just, um... I suddenly felt it today."

Through the steaming heat, Fuge looked at the girl mistyly, and saw a sly smile on her beautiful face.

"Okay, I wiped off all the dirt on your face for you. Take a shower quickly, it's so dirty!" She put the towel on the shelf and waved her hand to Fugo. "I can put some medicine on you later. Your eyes, my God..."

"By the way, Naranga's handkerchief. I put it on the table outside, with your tie."

Trixie said lightly, left the bathroom, and closed the door behind him.

Why did she mention the handkerchief again?It's really a pot that doesn't open.Fugo frowned.He felt himself being pulled into a ball again.

You should sing me the Queen of the Night aria.The fire of vengeance burns in my heart!What willow are you singing?

……willow……

willow?

Fogg's eyes widened.His bright brain finally started to spin.He stood up abruptly, staggered against the door, flung it open, rushed into the living room in two steps at a time, searched around, and finally found Terry Hugh's folded tie and handkerchief on a low table.

He shoved the tie in his pocket, and his eyes fell on the handkerchief.It was still the same pale pink silk scarf with delicate flowers embroidered on one corner, but it was stained and no longer had a fragrant fragrance.After the performance, Naranja's little face was so red that he could bleed when he received the gift from the lady.

is that so……?Is that so?

Fugo's breathing became rapid.He took out his mobile phone and found Naranja in the address book, with his thumb hanging above the screen, trembling uncontrollably, he still didn't leave.

Caught off guard, the phone suddenly rang.Fugo almost dropped the phone on the ground.He took a closer look and saw that it was a message from Giorno.

"Found the orange. He's all right."