Chapter 27

Arthur was mentally drained from the whole ordeal with Mizuchi's girls.

He thought back about their assumptions of him hypnotising the harlequin rabbit which to him, is absurd since he wouldn't know if he is facing her at eye contact at all. He could only turn his head directly at the sound his ears picked up.

He decided not to think too much about it and fixed himself a nice cup of Earl Grey tea with a little milk inside that will compliment a small plate he placed a bit of the finger tea biscuits. He has some studying to do but his self-care comes first.

After all, a sound mind meant greater concentration for his studies.

He dunk his finger biscuits in his tea as he ponder at the thought of tomorrow. He sometimes wondered if he was far behind in his work or he is too much ahead. Shaking his head, Arthur decided to play a tune on his keyboard to get rid of his frustrations. He knew exactly what to play since he has listed to the original theme from the movie back when he went to the cinema with his dad and Sameer.

He switched the sound of his keyboard from piano to organ.

He started off slow, melancholic to represent the emptiness of the soul that yearned to be found in what he imagined to be a rough sea that could never be calm. The soul felt so alone that he was filled with rage that matched the storm and the sea to release the pent up frustrations he has bottled up years ago.

But then like the sea, the waves calmed down and the soul was finally accepting himself. Loving himself before he could learn how to share and present himself to others.

Arthur almost wanted to laugh because his mind was being too dramatic sometimes.

Little did he know that the tunes he had pressed upon his keyboard was soon heard throughout campus. Those animals felt chill up their spines as the sound of the organ was bellowing out its rage.

...

The next day, Arthur was attending class as usual. Today was geography where this time they were learning about the different types of seas in the world. Arthur loved to listen and imagine the descriptions the teacher was explaining about how each location of the seas had a different current and resources.

He imagined the songs that those places might bring.

The Honduran white bat felt a note being placed in his hand as he was typing notes on his braille machine. He felt up the folded paper in his hand and read wha the braille dot message said"

'Are you okay?'

Arthur smiled at his friend's concern. He turned his head to where he assumed was the bald eagle. Moving his mouth a little, he got a rough estimation of a tall predatory bird animal to confirm his guess on where his friend is sitting.

"I'll explain later after class," he whispered with a toothy smile.

After class, Arthur's ears were swivelling up and down over all of the sounds around him while using his clicks to avoid bumping into anyone. He's a bit relief that no one suspects that he was the one playing instruments at night except his close friends and the drama club. Most of them assumed he was blaring out loud music from his computer.

Even Mizuchi doesn't know that he plays his instruments.

"Hey Arthur!" he heard the call from Aoba coming towards him. "I heard the notes played last night after you went to meet those two girls. What happened?"

So Arthur explained as the both of them walked to the poolside where the water has been drained so that the pool needs to be cleaned. The both of them sat down on one of the stairs. He was still a bit miffed at the whole accusation yesterday.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Arthur," Aoba gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "But you can prove to them wrong. In fact, you just did it with the drama club remember?"

"That's true," Arthur nodded slowly, his cloudy blue eyes was blinking at the realisation. "But Aoba, not everyone can be changed. All of us have our own thoughts and no matter how hard we want everyone to change for the better, we all have our deep roots inside that we learnt from our friends and family that becomes a part of us."

The bald eagle tilted his head at this little bat's philosophy. He wonders how can someone so small like him and think of something that is so extraterrestrial.

"Whatever it is," Aoba smiled. "You're my friend and nothing will ever change that."

Arthur felt so touched by the kindness this eagle has given him since the first day. Any female would be lucky to have a mature and humble male such as him.

"Say Aoba, do you have a girlfriend?"

The bald eagle almost choked on his bottled drink from that sudden question. "W-what? No! What made you think of that?"

Arthur's leaf-shaped nose wiggled in amusement. "Why, you are mature and humble despite us being the same age. Any girl would like you."

"Why the sudden interest in this?" there was a teasing tone in Aoba's voice. "Do you have one?"

Now it was Arthur's turn to have his white fur all puffed up like a cotton ball in embarrassment.

"No! I don't think I have one. Even before coming to Cherryton, we have a rival school across the lake called Selkie School for Gifted Girls. In that all-girl's school, the ladies are very competitive with Gryphon Cross so I try not to get under their nerves."

The both of them had a good laugh before Aoba had to go because of rehearsals in the drama club. Arthur understood this because he too has a an upcoming task at the gardening club with Haru.

...

"I can't believe we've grown so much lavender!" said a muffled Arthur who was carrying three pots that contained the lavender plants. Haru could only carry two as the both of them made their way to the train station.

"Hmmph, it's thanks to your suggestion and my green thumb that made this work," the dwarf rabbit told him proudly. They were taking the train to town so that they could deliver the lavenders to a bakery that Haru's mother's friend has owned.

There was a promised payment for the delivery and the garden grown lavender for the both of them.

"So what would you do with your cut of the money?" asked Haru as she sat next to the Honduran white bat. Arthur pondered a bit.

"Maybe save up to buy a new instrument. I'd like to learn how to play a trumpet. How about you?"

Haru smiled. "Well, I've always wanted this one book I saw in the store about different plants and flowers all over the world with some guides on how to grow them from your own home."

That sounded like something he knew the dwarf rabbit would want. He believed that she could be a very good florist or botanist with her superb knowledge on all kinds of plants. The scent of lavender with the combination of the air in the train was making him sleepy.

Even the sounds from the plants themselves were whispering, as if they were coaxing the bat himself to sleep.

When they eventually got off the train, Arthur followed Haru from behind and focused on listening to her footsteps. He had to blocked sounds from others and the plants to concentrate and it wasn't easy at all!

"Okay, here's your cut!" Haru announced as she placed the money in Arthur's hand. "I'm glad we can sell other stuff besides flowers in our club. Who knows, maybe some of the famous restaurants here might want Cherryton premium herbs for their cookings."

Arthur laughed. "Let's not go overboard."

"Of course! We're gonna start out small first and then this whole thing will eventually grow on its own. Maybe before I graduate, I'm going to teach you how to be president of the club."

Arthur turned his head at her voice. "M-me? B-But Haru, I don't think I've ever been put into that situation!"

"Well, you are going to be the only member in the club after me so it's fair."

Before Arthur could say anything, sounds of rushed footsteps were coming close to them. He could feel Haru standing in front of him and held his right hand-wing tightly.

"What do you want?" Haru demanded.

"I need to talk to him."

That voice....

"Not after what your cronies did to him last night! I've heard all about it with those two whispering."

"Haru," Arthur tapped the Netherland dwarf rabbit on her shoulder. "I'll be okay. It will be just a few minutes so I can meet you at the train station."

Haru was hesitant about leaving Arthur alone with Mizuchi. But seeing the assuring smile from the bat along with those cloudy blue eyes that reminded her of a foggy morning made her to reluctantly let him.

"Fine but if I don't see you at the train station in ten minutes, I'm coming after you."

Mizuchi watched as the dwarf rabbit gave her the stink eye before walking away towards the station. Now that she is alone with the bat, she wanted to apologise to him about her friends' weird behaviours last night.

"Hello, Mizuchi," Arthur greeted her. "So, what would you like to talk about?"

"Look, I'm sorry about what those two accused you off," sighed Mizuchi. "It's crazy how they would think that you hypnotised me. So what I'm trying to ask if you are doing anything this weekend?"

Arthur tilted his head in confusion.

"Not too sure. Why?"

"Well....This is just an outing between us as friends, okay?" Mizuchi told him hotly. "But I found this really good place for noodles and there's a new movie out if you would like-"

"To follow you to?" Arthur asked with a small smile. "That sounds lovely but I will have to check my weekend plans to that."

"Great then!" Mizuchi straightened herself up but her ears are down. "So just let me know and we'll see how it goes."

"Yes and as friends, right?"

"Yeah, yeah as friends! Just the two of us as friends."

Arthur nodded and bid her goodbye but he felt a gentle paw holding up his two fingers, placing a folded paper between them. Confused by this, he felt up the paper and almost wanted to drink chamomile after he read the message.

It was a braille sequence of numbers.