Masami Iwasawa is moved by a teammate.

[CrazyCaityCat 65]

Masami had this teammate. Baldur. He was a very interesting person she thought. He came from a place called Faroe and she had never heard of this place in her life. She was fascinated to learn more about his culture mostly because he displayed it so prominently. Before the games he got really excited and started playing Faroese music and chanting along really loud! At first it was a bit intimidating but then Masami found herself really intrigued by this music, and mostly by the passion with which Baldur expressed his feelings by chanting along. She found she really enjoyed listening to him booming his voice in the locker room before games now. She didn’t know what she was going to do exactly, but she was sure she wanted to have people in the locker room feel her passion the same way everyone felt Baldur’s. She was just so desperate to convey her raw emotions and express herself.  

 

After playing their last game and winning, though Masami didn’t feel like she played her best, she sat down in the locker room with her guitar. She began to play, lightly strumming at first, and then began to really get into it. The locker room hadn’t heard her play before, she’d always done it in private or out in front of the rink, never for the team. As she began to feel the music she closed her eyes and let her fingers dance across the strings. She sang a song in her native Japanese, and she could feel her raw emotion inside her in a way that she never felt it when she wasn’t singing. She didn’t realize but the entire team had stopped what they were doing in the locker room and listened to this girl from a far away land sing her heart out. No one on the team spoke Japanese besides Masami, so no one understood the lyrics, but there was no doubt that her song had reached them as she finished the last note on her favorite love song and opened her eyes to see that so many of her teammates were looking at her with wonder in their eyes.  At first, with everyone staring at her quietly, she didn’t know if maybe she had offended them or made them upset by suddenly singing. She realized too that as she had gotten lost in her music she had been singing really loudly. She began to panic, thinking that she should bow and apologize profusely for her rudeness.

 

Just as she shot up and was about to bow Baldur began to laugh. Soon he was roaring in laughter and wiping tears from his eyes. Masami had no idea why he was laughing, she wondered briefly if he might have been making fun of her. She began to feel like her music had been rejected and felt a crushing weight in her heart. If her music was rejected…she didn’t know how to handle that. People often ignored her music, but no one had ever reacted like this before. No one had made fun of her music or rejected it like this. Masami began to feel like she was going to cry. She looked at Baldur and asked him why he laughed at her. His response was to rush over to her, she braced herself for it just in time as it was a shock, and he hugged her. He gave her the biggest, most enveloping hug that she’d ever had. While he was hugging her he said to her that he was just moved by her music and didn’t know how to express it other than to laugh in enjoyment. He said he meant no offense and thought she was an amazing singer and could play the guitar beautifully.  Masami began to cry a bit, she didn’t know why exactly, something about this really was affecting her more than she felt was reasonable, but she just felt so…accepted and that was something she didn’t really have much in her life. As Baldur hugged her he spoke out to the rest of the team and told them that he thought Masami was a wonderful musician and that she should play after every game, and if anyone had a problem with that they’d have to answer to him.

 

Masami did not know what to do with herself. Here was this person, from a culture she’d never heard of, from a different part of the world, complimenting her music. He was even defending her right to play in the locker room. When Baldur finally released his hug she kept looking down at the ground. She realized she was also profoundly embarrassed by his display. She was very, very happy, but also very, very, embarrassed. He put his hands on her shoulders and told her to look at him. When she did manage to look up he looked her right in the eyes and said, “Keep your head high girl, you are amazing and you should know it! Declare it to all the world proudly and I will be there to make sure that they know it is true!”

 

These words were very confusing to Masami but she was very happy nonetheless. Someone had accepted her music, even seemed to thoroughly enjoy it! She felt wonderful that evening, though every time she thought of Baldur hugging her she would find herself looking down and blushing. It wasn’t like she had never been hugged before, but not usually in public, by a person she didn’t know that well. It was a very strange experience for sure. That night she dreamed of being in the locker room playing her music, and everyone feeling it, but then her parents were there. With their faces full of disapproval, obviously barely tolerating her existence, they stared. She woke up in a start, and couldn’t stop her heart beating so fast that it felt like it would burst right through her chest. Eventually she managed to calm down by strumming her guitar and humming. This was her private ritual that she did when she needed to be comforted. Just her, her guitar, and the sound of her voice. That was all she needed for now. That was all she could expect for the future.

 

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[KaleebtheMighty 1,426]

Really cool read! I enjoyed taking a step into your player’s mindset and their passion for music. Thank you for writing this!!

[CrazyCaityCat 65]

Claiming 2/2