4. Dance In The Mirror

Haruka turned on the lights as she entered her apartment. She yawned as she walked, removing her purse and accessories. She went straight to her record player, chose a city pop vinyl and put it on. Haruka waited to hear the first notes and then drank some water.

Now, Haruka started her tasks: arranging the accessories and other things she left all over the place, preparing some food and getting her bath ready. She swayed while she worked as the funky guitar infected her neon lit apartment, it was really an upbeat vision. In a few minutes, all that was left was to wait for the food to finish cooking. So, Haruka went up to her mirror, a large full body one, and started dancing in front of it. The drums and bass seemed to accompany her lively swing while she smiled, full of energy, it was clear she would reign over a dance floor. However, when she looked at her own eyes, a gloom veiled her face for a moment.

Haruka looked down and went too have her bath. She left the bathroom door open and let her mind wander as the sound of the songs slipped inside. In her mind, there were clear images of driving a car on a lively city at sunset, then dancing on a colorful discotheque and kissing a man on the beach. "Where does all that come from?" - she asked herself as she realized she never did any of those things, no matter how authentic it felt on her mind. With her arms, she yearned for touch, for a hug, but found none. The water hid some of her tears.

When she left the bath, the record player's needle was already loose and her food was ready. It was artificial like almost all of the food available. Even though it tasted okay, she didn't enjoy it. After eating, she got her guitar and started playing. A few loose chords, melancholic melodies and her quiet singing seemed to soothe her loneliness and get her away from that state of mind. With her music, she was able to ignore the passing of time and feel alive. When she finally noticed it was late, she went to bed.

Before she fell asleep, she felt thankful for smuggling the forbidden guitar to her apartment and she wished. She wished for a brighter future, one she could not fathom, but knew her heart yearned.

***

Kazuki entered his room and swiftly organized everything. His drawers, wardrobe and desk were always exemplary and clean, and he made sure to keep them like this at each day, each week at most. Despite the differences in style, his routine was similar to Haruka's and he prepared his artificial food and had a bath.

After his dinner, Kazuki sat down on his window, it was built in a such a way that he could sit looking down on the streets, protected by a net. The streets were already quiet and he observed the lights, the people and the drizzle. That made him get up, get a blank canvas and start painting. Kazuki never studied painting, but was able to create beautiful impressionistic style works, usually based on the night landscape of Tokyo. This was one of his favourite activities, because while he painted, his mind was filled with images of fields, mountains, beaches, forests and rivers, and also of beautiful cities like Paris and Rome. Lots of places he never saw and never went to, but which were somehow on his mind.

After painting, Kazuki went to sleep, and lying on bed, a thought sprouted: "Sometimes I feel a little lonely here... should I have accepted Haruka's invitation?" It took a few minutes before Kazuki could quiet down this idea and get to sleep.