Kawaii princess's Arc

Chapter 5 of 54

The runner's whisper followed her home, but Kawaii Princess knew a glance was not a yes. She untied the white cloth bundle on her table. Borrowed sheet music spilled out, edges glittering with frost. None of these notes were hers. The head scout would want a song no other girl could sing. At dawn she raised a new monument outside the practice hall. Thin ice chimes hung from its arch, tuned to ring with any breeze. A sign at its base read: bring me a melody. Passersby stopped. Some hummed. Some left scraps of paper at the steps. She sorted the scraps for hours and found nothing that felt like her own. Then the wind shifted, and the ice chimes rang a small, bright run of notes. She froze. She sang it back. She sang it again, adding a turn at the end that matched her crown's tilt. The melody locked in her chest like a key. By dusk, two pale ice figures stood at the yard's edge, placed there by a silent runner. They faced each other with a careful gap between — the head scout's mark, watching, not yet choosing. Kawaii Princess set her new tune to paper beneath the chimes. The song was hers. The gap between the figures was not closed yet.