Chapter 4: This is a Brand New Day

MELODY

Mmm, it smells like sunlight’s near
And I just brushed the clouds with cheer!
So up I go, the day’s brand new
With skies to chase and songs to do!
The buildings shine like sugar glass
I wave hello as I walk past
The breeze is giggling through my hair
It’s silly, no one else is there!

I twirl beneath a chandelier
Of morning stars that disappear
And say, Good day! to empty air
I wish someone could answer there…

Brand new joy! A sparkling start!
I’ve got a song and open heart
I’ve got a skip in every beat
A tap-tap-tap from happy feet!

Brand new joy! Just me, just now
I’ll dance alone, I’ll learn how
Who needs a crowd to make some noise?
I’ve got myself and brand new joy!

I sing to birds that aren’t quite real
But sometimes, that’s just how I feel
A world of light, but still a blur
It’s bright, but still, it’s just a her

I paint the wind with humming tones
I build a throne of cloud white stones
My kingdom made of melody
But what’s a queen with no decree?
Brand new joy! A shining day!
I’ll spin the lonely dark away
I’ll write a song in every street
Until the silence admits defeat!

Brand new joy! Just me and sky!
But still, I wonder… why, oh why
Can’t someone join this morning’s grace
And fill this song with second place?

I see a shadow in my dream
A second voice, a soft esteem
Someone out there, made of tone
Someone else who sings alone…

Brand new joy! It’s still my own
But it’s a little less alone
A song is nice, a voice is grand
But what I’d give… to hold a hand

La-la-la… hmm-mmm…
I’ll sing again tomorrow’s sun
And maybe then… you’ll come as one."
For all my life, I’ve been living by myself in this empty world.
But now—now I know I’m not alone anymore.

Someone else exists here.
Someone with the same passion as me.
Someone who can sing like me.

Or… maybe not here exactly.
When I tried to touch him, my hand passed right through him, like he was intangible, a dream carved out of starlight.

For a moment, I thought it was just my imagination. But then he screamed.
He actually screamed and ran away.

His reaction… was to me. He saw me. Someone finally saw me.

I can still remember his voice, his song, and his face.
His handsome, human face.

It’s etched in my memory now, replaying like a refrain I can’t stop humming.

I’ve been floating for a while, through the cloudy blue sky brushed with sunlight.

Is this what they call cloud nine?
Because that’s where I am.

I laughed. I sang. I spun through the air, dizzy with joy.

For the first time in forever
I’m not alone anymore.
I’ve been waiting here for a while now, in this little record station, but he’s nowhere to be found.

I should’ve followed him last night, but I was too overjoyed to move, too overwhelmed to react.

Since then, I’ve searched every corner of this town.
Willowmori, the place where I met another person.

But there’s no trace of him anywhere.
Did he go to the city across the bridge… Hoshivalle? Or maybe he only appears at night?

Honestly, I don’t care.
Because deep down, I know he’ll come back.
He has to.

Oh, I want to see him again.
As soon as possible.

I’ve waited all my life to find someone like me.
So if I have to wait a little longer, I can.
I just hope he doesn’t take too long.

To think, after everything, after decades of wandering empty streets and singing to no one, I finally found another person.

But… how did it happen?
Why now?

Was he here all along, hidden in this town I’ve passed by so many times?
I’ve traveled the whole world, Russia, America, Japan, and beyond — and yet, the one I was meant to find was right here, in this place.

In this abandoned structure… beneath the same night sky.
———————-
I’ve been waiting for two whole days, and yet… there’s still no sign of him anywhere.

I know I said I could wait, I meant it, but a part of me keeps wishing he’d come sooner.
Still, when I think about it… he did scream in terror and run away.

Did my presence scare him?
Am I… that frightening?

I can’t let that be the reason he avoids me.
I have to do something. I can’t let him slip away again.

What do I do? What do I do?

After all this time, I finally found someone — someone real, and because of my face, he doesn’t even want to look at me. Doesn’t want to be near me.

No… I can’t let this opportunity escape.

So, I decided to go to Hoshivalle, maybe I could find something useful there.

I once read that women wear makeup for special occasions, like a "date."
And this has to count as one, right?
So, I’ll need to wear makeup too.
The problem is… I’ve never done that before. What if I mess it up?

They also say girls wear dresses on such days… or am I overthinking it?

The mall in Hoshivalle is huge, endless rows of colors and lights, but everything here costs so much. There’s this brand called Maestra that makes everything look expensive and… unreachable.

I may be alone in this world, but I don’t like taking things that aren’t mine.

Still… oh, this plain white dress. It’s beautiful.
But ten thousand yen? That’s too much.
Maybe I should just focus on my face instead.

I was about to look in a mirror, to see what needed changing, when suddenly…

That feeling hit me.

The air around me turned sharp and hollow.

Oh no.

Without another thought, I ran out of the mall and into the street.
Then, I began to hum, softly at first, letting the melody lift me upward, higher and higher, until the city lights became a blur below me.

From above, I could sense it clearly, the presence of a Hollow.
I deepened my voice and let the hum grow heavier, echoing from my chest like a heartbeat turned into sound. The melody carried me higher, past the rooftops, past the glass towers. until I was soaring above even the tallest buildings.

But then, a sharp pain shot through my head.
"Ah—!"

The note cracked, and my voice trembled. I wavered midair, slowly drifting downward until the world stopped spinning.

What was that?

When I opened my eyes again, I saw it, the source of the Hollow.

Below me stood a massive structure, grand yet worn, like it had survived a thousand symphonies and a thousand storms.

Amadeus Academy.

It looked like a place caught between centuries, its architecture stitched from both past and future. The outer walls were dirty yellow, like aged parchment. Grand arched windows from another era stood beside sleek metallic panels that hummed faintly with modern life. Ivy crept across digital billboards, holographic lights flickered against stained glass.

And from within… I could feel it.

The Hollow’s presence, thick, trembling, endless, radiated from the very heart of the academy.

Each meter I floated closer, the pressure deepened, wrapping around me like invisible strings tugging at my soul.

Usually, Hollows appear only three times a year, small, weak, easy to dissolve with a single song.

But this…

This was nothing like that.

It was stronger. Wilder.
The kind of Hollow that could silence entire worlds if left to grow.

And yet… something about it felt familiar.
When I entered, I wanted to marvel at how beautiful the inside looked, but the Hollow’s presence quickly reminded me of my task.
I had to vanquish it before the pain became unbearable.

So I began to hum softly as I walked through the golden halls.

"Mmm… ahh…
Sing, little hummingbird…
Even if you forget,
the song remembers you.
Mmm… ahh…"

Still, I couldn’t help but glance around.
This was a music academy, Amadeus Academy, where talented students from all over the world once came to chase their dreams.
I wondered how it felt to study here, to live in a place made entirely for sound and soul.
I bet many were once excited to be here.

The Hollow’s presence grew heavier. I needed to focus.
I ran through the hallways, still humming, until I found the source.

It was inside a vast performance hall, an enormous space surrounded by curved rows of empty seats.
At its center stood a grand stage, like the one in Willowmori, but larger, more alive, as if it could once hold a whole orchestra.

And there it was.
The Hollow.

It had already spread across the stage, thick and dark, consuming the air.

I ran forward.
I began to sing again.

"Mmm… ahh…
Sing, little hummingbird…
Even if you for—"

My voice broke. I coughed.
The Hollow was growing stronger and now it was hurting me.

What’s happening?
Why can’t I sing?

I fell to my knees, gasping.
My hands trembled against the cold floor as the sound pressed harder into me, stealing my breath.

No… not now.
Not when someone finally came into my life.
I never even got to ask his name.

And then—
I heard it.

A symphony.

A song. No, only music.
The same song from that night.
A familiar guitar riff cutting through the darkness like sunlight through clouds.

I looked up and there he was.

He stood on the stage, under a soft white spotlight, his hands moving over the strings, his voice trembling but clear.

He was humming the same melody I once heard beneath the stars.

And somehow… I knew the words.

Without even thinking, I sang along his rhythm.

"Not perfect white
Not surgeon clean
Just messy, flawed and true to me…"

I didn’t know him, but through this song, I could feel him.
I could understand a part of who he was.

"Maybe there’s someone who’ll hear
A voice like mine, and draw it near
Someone who knows how silence sings
And dares to strum these muted strings…"

That was him. His story. His heart.

"Not a doctor, not a king…
Just someone real who makes me sing…
Through… muted strings."

And that song—
that imperfect, human song—

saved my life.
You saved me again, my Running Man.