Chapter Text
One step…
In the quiet hall save for murmur and occasionally cough from audience, suddenly the orchestra began to play, filling the hall with a swell of music that rose. As the first notes of the symphony reached out to the audience, the few remaining whispers died away, and the only sound that remained was that of the music, filling the hall and wrapping each listener in its own unique embrace.
Two steps…
As the music started, two dancers on stage began to follow the music giving their magic to the audience. Ataru feels his body swayed and twirled to the rhythm, with the audience holding their breath, captivated with performance in front of them. He led his partner on the stage with enchanting and passionate movements that can hypnotic the audience. Ataru had never felt so alive before.
Three steps…
However, as he continued to dance, he could feel his body starting to fail him. He knew it would get worse, so he tried to ignore it, pushing himself to keep going, keep following the music despite the pain.
His legs gave out, and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The audience gasped in shock as they watched him struggle to get back up.
Move
Four steps…
Move!
He commands his body to keep going, keep dancing, but it was as if his legs were made of lead, they refused to cooperate. He could hear his partner calling his name and the whispers and murmurs of the crowd, it made him feel ashamed.
Five steps…
Ataru sat there on the ground, gasping for breath, he tried to get up again, he MUST get up, he doesn't want this. His mind is a mess, tears welled up in his eyes as he realized that his disease had finally caught up to him.
Six… steps…
His breath ragged, hands clenched tightly he can feel the emotion inside him snapped, he feels angry, angry with everything and himself. The show ends with a frustrated scream echoing the hall.
~•~
Gasp!
Ataru wakes up with a start, his eyes met with a blindly white room, it took him a moment to register where he was, the sterile scent of disinfectant and the hum of machines soon made it clear - he was still in the hospital.
"That dream again." Ataru sighs and slowly sits up, he can feel his head throb and wince as he tries to move.
He looks around the room, there's nothing much in here other than a few curtains, a medicine cabinet, tools and machines that sometimes annoyed him. There is only one bed, his bed in the room. Sometimes Ataru felt lonely and thought he should just book a public facility room but he is more happy with the quiet and calm atmosphere.
On the table beside his bed was a device, the black theme that looks like futuristic glasses called "virtual reality" or VR. The world is always spinning and innovation is advancing, there are lots of future items including VR games. A smile tugged on Ataru's face as he reached it, "I think I need to clear my mind."
He puts it on and the device turns on with a hum, bringing Ataru to the world full of dreams.