XI

Time passed, but my melancholy didn't. There was a hole in me that only my brother could fill. This had a major effect on my school marks - I was pretty smart for my age - even for Yoshi intelligence - and nurtured I could have taken honours in many areas. I was well capable of becoming school dux, though the prestige of the title wouldn't have mattered so much in our small group.

However, with Ark gone, my motivation slipped. There were many times I was at the bottom in some subjects - well, maybe not the bottom, but it felt like it. Syoro Yarapren grew concerned, as any teacher would, and it eventually got to the point in my final year where he decided to come and talk to my parents, unannounced.

I was trying to do homework at the time he arrived, in the evening, at the desk in my room; only mine, now. I had a plastic glass beside me that I would use to drink Mana-created water from. I was staring at the pages for some time - I think it was mathematics - before I decided to have a drink. Finding it empty, I pointed my finger into the glass to shoot water into it, and sighed as the spell failed to connect. I then tried again, and failed. I threw the glass across the room and buried my head in my arms. This was a usual occurrence, but a click of the door catch and footsteps going down the stairs alerted me that someone had been watching. Tear-streaked, I tiptoed to my door and tried to hear whoever it was, but as the Navel Falls View always had raucous noise radiating from the bar (my father took care of that while my mother looked after the inn keeping), I didn't know.

However, the next day he pulled me aside and said, "You must be a very frustrated Yoshi, Dyluck. I saw you last night."

I was thinking of saying, "You sly Chobin," but I did not want any strife with Syoro Yarapren. I was in an ongoing pit of despair - it was more like a trench, and I didn't want to deepen or elongate it. Besides, my parents kept quiet about it the evening before and in the morning - perhaps they were too ashamed to tell me.

"I talked to your parents about your marks and the like, and we've come to the decision that you will stay after school for tutoring."

"Tutoring? Oh no…I've got lessons with Syoro Toripe most afternoons…"

I valued music higher than my learning - it was my escape from the stresses of life.

"We're going to make sure those spells of yours actually work," he smiled.

I didn't like the look of that smile, it suggested overbearing authority.

"You're very strong, Dyluck. Your parents and I don't want to see your talent wasted. You're spending most of your time moping about your brother, and that is taking you away from your potential. Right now, you are set for failure at the end of this year."

"Failure?"

He nodded, leaned towards me and said, "You would have to repeat this year's work."

After staying behind that afternoon and improving, albeit slightly, my skills in Gnome's spells, my mother embraced me as I entered the inn (it was starting to fill for the usual night crowd).

"Dyluck," she sighed, but it was a long time before she said, "you have to put him behind you."

"No!" I cried, releasing my grip and getting out of her embrace. This caused the noise level in the bar to drop slightly - anything like a soap opera will get a Kippoan's attention pretty quickly.

"You need to, Dy," she said again. "Do you know how hard it has been for us?"

Her only answer was the door slamming as I went to the pool and cried. There was now a sea of logs on the way up to it. There, for the first time of many, I would play my potosa and add Ark's bit in on it. I was never going to put him behind me, even if my parents had told me to.

With the extra tuition, I was able to graduate from the school in Kippo. There were no high schools in Kippo, so I had to be sent to one in Pandora City. We chose Luka College, which was a three-quarter-hour's train journey from Kippo. It was to the north of the city, close to the Water Palace whose Guardian at the time of the Resurrection was the school's namesake.

Apart from this, it was the school that Ark was being sent to the few weeks before the flood - after all, he had superior intelligence - so it seemed natural that I should attend. Those who could remember Ark were surprised when I told them I was his older brother - through the sobs, naturally. They also had a plaque dedicated to him in their chapel, which I would visit daily.

I decided to go into high school with a fresh outlook - I reasoned that as nobody would really know me, I would be fine. I was the only student from Kippo going there - my parents had invested money towards it, and my grandparents' deaths in quick succession (none of whom I'd met on my first Yamauchi trip - I would find out why later) had left a generous inheritance. The people at Luka College were more accepting of me than my peers at Kippo were; it may have been their more developed maturity. However, there was still an element of alienation - it took me a little while longer than my human counterparts to gain friends.

We were split into eight groups within the school known as a "tabonopo", each one being named after a particular elemental (I was in Dryad Tabonopo). The tabonopo system was a way of keeping administrative duties, such as roll call, and provided a sense of a mini-community within the bigger one, with meetings and special in-tabonopo awards. The school also held a yearly competition between the tabonopo, contested in many areas, such as music, academics, and sport. Dryad Tabonopo was seen as the leading house of the "bottom half" - i.e. we generally came fifth in everything in my first year. Gnome Tabonopo had the reputation of always, <i>always</i> coming last, while Salamando Tabonopo, Sylphid Tabonopo and Shade Tabonopo were the main rivals for the overall winner.

Though, things started to change in my time there. With the senior students of the last year gone, the music groups had diminished in number, particularly the potosa section. When the word that auditions for the potosa ensemble and the orchestra got around, I turned up. There were a few eyes that gave me sidelong glances and then talked among their little groups of friends, wondering why a Yoshi would try out.

There were a few people before me who had a go of playing tunes that they knew - some were good, some were absolutely shocking - before the conductor, Syoro Ariupos, asked, "Who'd like to go next?"

I stepped up, and winced in my head as the whole room fell silent.

"Well, you're a brave lad," Syoro Ariupos smiled.

He was about the same age as Syoro Yarapren, from what I could gather, and had blue eyes that showed me a feeling that he cared about everyone he came across.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Dyluck Yoshi," I replied. I didn't want my middle name to be known, after my experiences in Kippo.

"Dy…luck…Yo…shi," he said, writing it down on a piece of paper. "Have you got your own potosa?"

I nodded, and showed him it. He took it and scrutinised it.

"What's this?" he asked, pointing at the lever.

"I need it to play, I only have three fingers."

"May I?" he asked, ready to put to his lips.

After nodding, he covered all the holes except the bottom and pushed the lever, then played all the other notes that required the bottom hole to be covered. He was satisfied that the right sound was being produced and gave it back to me. The class was very interested in the fact that I needed that lever.

"Alright then, play me something."

"Any tune?"

"Any tune's a good tune."

After a moment's thought, I decided to play <i>Phantom and a Rose</i>, a sad song which I always associated with Ark. The emotion of loss was in it, and I brought it out greatly.

Before I got to the wagalbo part, Syo. Ariupos stopped me. I looked at him, and the rest of the students there, and noticed how their eyes seemed to be moist.

"That's…really good, Dyluck," he said, wiping an eye. "Who's your teacher?"

"Syoro Toripe."

This took him aback. "Not…Dyluck Toripe? Potosa virtuoso?"

I did not even know that Syo. Toripe's first name was Dyluck until then.

"Er…yes."

"He was an Old Boy of the school, music captain a few years back…you're lucky you've found him, he has exceptional talent."

"I think he found me," I smiled.

Syoro Ariupo gave a silent laugh, accompanied by a few titters from the students, before saying, "Thank you, Dyluck, please sit down. Who wants to go next?"

I sat down next to a boy, who turned to me and whispered, "That was very good, I wish I could play as well as you."

I shrugged in reply.

"No, I'm serious."

He held out his hand.

"Nase Porami," he introduced himself.

"Dyluck Yoshi," I whispered, taking it and shaking it.

"So…Toripe teaches you potosa? You're very lucky."

I shrugged again, out of humility.

"Many people want to be taught by him."

We were silent for a little while before he said, "What Tabonopo are you in?"

"Dryad," I said.

"Same."

We smiled at each other in reply, and soon I had gained a friendship that still goes on today. I was thankful for Nase's company many times during my days as a Lukan, particularly in the times that were to come.