Summary: "While the Vocaloids and Boukaroids were always in the limelight, we UTAU were always struggling to find the time that we could step out of the shadows and shine on our own." A story about a stroke of luck that will test the bonds of friendship.
Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid or any of the characters associated with it. Nor do I own UTAU, which belongs to Ameya-P. And then, each UTAU to their creator.
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Without further adieu, enjoy~
"Defoko! Wake up! It's time to go to school!"
I groaned. Morning was simply not my time of day. As I climbed out of bed, I was careful not to wake my little sister. With my slippers successfully put on without rousing the little princess, I walked across our apartment into the kitchen to make breakfast. My mom was already there, checking her e-mail via cell phone while glancing over the paper for the day. She was getting ready to go to work as usual, so I had to make a lunch for myself as well as my younger sister, Koe. I'm not the most amazing cook, but my skills suffice for our three-person family.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Mom smiled.
"Morning, mom." I replied.
"Are you ready for today?" She asked.
"No. Why?"
"This article here." Mom pointed out a section about Pop Show.
"Oh yeah. I think they're going to talk about that at school today."
Every day, I get up at around 6:30 in the morning to get ready for school. After having breakfast and fixing lunch, my mom typically leaves right after that, because she takes the train into the city. Luckily for me, school is relatively close, so I walk in the mornings.
"Don't keep your friends waiting!"
"I won't, mom."
After saying goodbye, I get my book bag together, change into my school uniform and leave. Most mornings, I meet up with my friends, Teto and Momo, along the way. We've been together since elementary school, so you could say we're all pretty close. You can imagine our excitement when we all found out we had all been accepted to Ameya Park U.T.A.U. High School (The acronym stood for something, I knew, but it'd been lost to time, so most of us just call it UTAU High or Ameya-P).
"Good morning, Defoko!" A green eyed girl greeted me cheerfully. Her pink hair was impeccably straight as always. It was typical Momo to be a good dresser.
"Morning, Teto, Momo." I returned, looking from one to the other.
"Hey, did you hear?" Teto blurted. "I hear we're going to start preparation for the contest today."
"I've heard that, too." Momo added. "It'd be nice if they allowed group pieces this time around, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah." I agreed. Ameya-P is a musical school. Most of us planned to go into some sort of singing or band career. Those of us who sang were expected to participate in Pop Show contests, although some years they didn't allow for ensembles. It was a shame that our first year, they weren't allowed, because Teto, Momo, and I made a killer trio when it came to group pieces. Momo sings like an angel. Her voice is perfectly clear and lyrical, but she has trouble holding the same note for a long time. I balanced out that problem. Although my voice wasn't clean like Momo's, I did have perfect pitch. Then there was Teto. She had neither perfect pitch nor a sweet voice, but she had a certain power to her singing that Momo and I could only dream of having.
"I wonder if they'll let us write our own pieces this year." Teto wondered aloud.
"I'm sure they will. They did our freshman year, so I would expect that this year's contest would allow it as well."
"Awesome! I've been working on this song for a while now that I'm sure will blow them away." She jumped, causing her coiled pigtails to bounce.
"Careful, Teto," I smirked. "You wouldn't want to blow them away from giving you a high score, would you?"
"Hey!" Teto snapped. Momo giggled.
On our way to school, Teto usually stops in at the store to buy some bread for lunch. I've never actually seen Teto eat anything besides bread. It's like she's obsessed with it or something. I mean, Momo is a self-proclaimed peach lover, but she never took it to a level like this.
"Is that all you're having for lunch today?" I asked, pointing to the curry bread she bought.
Teto smiled. "Yep! Except, it's a shame they didn't have any French bread today. They usually have French bread."
"I figured." I replied, having noted that Teto bought it every day.
Our school is around the edge of town, across from a city park. It's relatively large, since it's the only public school around with a decent reputation for turning out successful artists. The only other musical schools around are Crypton University (despite being only a high school…go figure) and Boukaroido School of Music. Crypton is an extremely prestigious private boarding school for only the elite musical students. Since it cost a fortune to attend, most of us UTAU's had applied for scholarships. All the rejects decided to either go to UTAU or Boukaroido. Speaking of Boukaroido, they're more about the show than the actual singing or playing, I've heard, because most of them aren't good at singing themselves so they have to be good at faking it.
When you see Ameya-P, it's pretty typical. Nothing unusual about it. Just your ordinary high school. There are people who fail and people who surpass standards. The one person—or rather, two people—who come to the top of my head first in the "surpass standards" category are the Macne sisters. They apparently were homeschooled. After a while, they started a garage band. I heard they even had a producer at one time, so I didn't understand why they would have decided to give up their success and come to UTAU. It still makes no sense to me even now, but I suppose they must have had their reasons. Maybe they just wanted the high school experience?
As sophomores, Teto, Momo, and I had our class on the second floor. We had all known we were lucky when we went to the same school, but on the first day we found we had even more luck than that: We were in the same homeroom class together. Class 2-D. (Teto liked to joke that the "D" was for Defoko. I didn't like that.)
I sat down in my seat and began to look over my Oto planner and waited for the teacher to call role. Oto's were self-tutorial manuals we got at the beginning of high school. They were also like course guides, telling you what you ought to focus on for your level you chose. There were two levels, but three methods in our 's, so there were three different oto booklets: CV, VCV, and VCCV, where VCV was on the lower level and VCV and VCCV were on the higher level. Being the lazy self I am, I only opted for a CV level, but Momo and Teto had decided to work at the VCV level, so when we split into groups during second period, I didn't see them.
My course schedule went like this: Homeroom/Music Theory, Choir, Math, Lunch, Music class, Free period, and then finally, Language Arts. Aside from core classes, Ameya-P is all about learning every aspect of the music industry. We had to take classes in choreography, instrument playing, reading music, vocals, music theory, and so on, so we would be prepared for careers as artists if we chose to.
"Amane Luna!" Our teacher called role. On the opposite side of the classroom, a girl with curly blonde hair raised her hand and said "here". I sat and waited for my name. I was last on the list.
"Utane Uta!"
"Here!" I called. Actaully, Defoko isn't my real name. It's only a nickname given to me by my friends and family. Most everyone else called me Uta.
"Ok. So everyone's here then." The teacher looked around. "Good morning, everyone. I suppose I have a few things to talk about." We all quieted down, knowing what he was going to say.
"As you know, the Pop Show Competition for Future Artists is next week. I expect at least four or five of you to enter. In the competition, you will be expected to sing either a solo or group piece. You will be allowed to write your own pieces, but they must be submitted at least a week before the completion date for review and acceptance."
"Yes!" Teto whispered, doing a fist pump under her desk.
"In addition to an individual score, you will also receive a score that will be added to other UTAU students' scores. In the end, school-wide scores and the winning school of the competition will be announced. The top three singers will also be announced."
"I hope we win this year. Last year was a disaster." Momo whispered to me. I nodded in agreement. Last year, we had been flattened by the Vocaloid school. The students at Crypton are often called Vocaloids in the same sense we call ourselves UTAU's because of the method they use for producing songs, which is likewise called the "Vocaloid method". The singing classes they have are simply top notch. It's no wonder that their singing is so good. That's not the part that ticks me off, though. Vocaloid students write their own music, but they don't actually have to do anything past that. When one is accepted to Crypton, one of a select few companies backs them financially (aside from the cost of attending the school). The company helps Vocaloids pay for producers to mix and choreograph their song for them. It felt a little unfair to us UTAU's, because they had professionals publishing their songs while we were putting together songs ourselves. While the Vocaloids and Boukaroids were always in the limelight, we UTAU's were always struggling to find the time that we could step out of the shadows and shine on our own.
Remembering that, I was lit with a flame of competitive spirit. "I'm sure we'll win this year." I told Momo reassuringly.
"Remember," our teacher continued, "If we make it to state level, the amount of work will be upped. You will be expected then to put together a setlist and show, complete with choreography, an instrumental track, and anything else on this list that is approved to create a concert."
"That would be so cool if we made it that far this year…" Teto stared into space dreamily.
"The final date for music submission and participation is February 26th. Don't forget that the competition is on March 5th. And most importantly, remember that you are not only representing this school, but also yourself and your ability to create music." The teacher finished. "Have you all got that?"
"Yes!" We all answered in unison.
"Good." Our teacher looked around the room. "Alright then, today's lesson will continue our unit on the classical style…"
Momo, Teto, and I often liked to eat outside. Some days, we sat out on the roof, but today we sat in front of the school on a grassy patch. A lot of people sat outside when the weather was good like this, so we weren't the only ones.
"…And so, that's when I decided that anything besides bread was stupid for lunch!" Teto finished with triumph.
"That's…some story." I laughed.
Momo agreed. "I had always wondered why you were so obsessed with bread."
"Hey! I'm not obsessed!" Teto pouted.
"She's just kidding." I told her (although in reality, I did think Teto was obsessed). "But didn't you say you had some sort of song in mind for the competition?"
"Yeah. I did." Teto said between mouthfuls of Curry bread. After gulping it down, she turned to me. "I think it should sound like this. HM hmhm…hmhmHMhmHM hmhm…"
"Uh…I think you want it to go like this, right?" I hummed the notes as she had, correcting the pitch where I needed to.
"Yeah! Just like that! I think we should make it a group song. Like, we could all submit it and sing it together."
"It is a nice tune…" Momo mused. "Group songs are harder to write, though, for sure. You have to put all the harmonies together, and decide if and when to give each singer a solo."
"Aww, come on! I'm sure if we all pitched in, we could have the lyrics and mixing done in no time." Teto whined.
I looked Teto, then Momo. "I'm sure it's pretty plausible. We'll just have to plan out the notes on the piano during music class first."
"So you're in, then?" Teto asked, her pink eyes hopeful.
"Yup." I answered nonchalantly, taking a sip of soda.
Momo was the last one left. Looking defeated, she smiled, and said, "Ok, I'm in too, then. Let's get this song written."
In music class, we continued to practice playing instruments. My instrument of choice was the guitar—I always wanted to play something so typically, well, guy-like. I knew I wasn't a tomboy at heart, but I did have tomboyish tendencies. Momo's was piano. It was so like her to play something proper and quiet. Still, she also did keyboarding and synthesizers, so I suppose it wasn't completely that way. Teto, on the other hand, was a spazz, so drums or guitar suited her well.
After music class was over, Teto, Momo, and I grouped around the piano.
"So." Momo sighed. "I don't know where to start."
"Well, we have these notes, don't we?" Teto played her short humming sequence.
"Yeah, but that's not enough to be a piece." I told her, leaning against the wall.
"Huh…" Teto huffed. "Well then, what kind of song should it be?"
"Something about friendship?" Momo suggested.
"Nah." Teto replied. "That's boring."
"Hey," I snapped, blowing a strand of purple hair out of my face. "Don't knock it until you try it."
"No, maybe Teto's right." Momo said quickly. "The judges always like something more emotional, don't they?"
"That's not necessarily true," I thought aloud, "But I'm sure it could help."
"Well then, why don't we do a love song?" Teto asked.
"Ok then. Go and decide it yourself when you ask for our opinion, will you?" I grinned.
"H-hey! It just popped into my head just now, is all!" Teto protested.
"Alright, alright. That's fine." I laughed. Teto was just so fun to tease. She knew I didn't mean anything of course, but it was easy to get a reaction out of her.
"You guys!" Momo got our attention. "I thought we were going to plan this song out this period!"
"Uh, right." I said quickly. "Have you got anything yet?"
"No…" She said. "How about this?" Momo tapped out a few notes on the piano.
I sighed. "This would have been easier if you had had some lyrics in mind, Teto."
"Uh…well, I kinda do…" Teto shifted around, then sang the notes softly. "Yoru no…chuushajou de…anata ha…nanimo…iwanai mama…"
"A parking lot? At night? With no talking?" Momo wondered aloud. "What could happen that has to do with love there?"
"Well, it could be a sad song." I piped up. "What if it's a breakup or something?"
"I guess that's true…" Momo considered this for a moment. "How's this sound then? Maybe someone saw their boyfriend or girlfriend with someone else?"
"Now we're getting somewhere." I smiled. "They saw their boyfriend with someone else and now they're confronting them?"
"Yeah. That's what I was thinking. The breakup part, anyway." Teto thought for a moment. "What if 'she' doesn't want to break up with her boyfriend? Like she doesn't believe this is happening to her?"
"Yeah…So how's this sound…?"
We actually made a lot of progress during Free period after all. The first verse was near complete, and we had gotten the basic notes down. I could go home that evening feeling accomplished. As Teto, Momo, and I walked home, we talked about our pieces that we were going to sing for solos.
"I was thinking about singing 'White Letter'. I know it's not an original, but I like it a whole lot, and I know it well, too…what do you guys think?" Momo asked.
"Anything you sing is perfect, Momo. In other words, I think that'll be fine." I told her.
"What about you, Teto?" She asked, turning to Teto.
Teto stared into space for a moment. "Mm…I think 'Confront! You Look So Cool!' would be good, wouldn't you think?"
"It would certainly show off your voice well, wouldn't it? That's one of your best songs." Momo encouraged her.
"Ok! That's what I'll do then!" Teto turned to me. "Hey…Defoko, you haven't told us what you want to do yet."
"Oh! Uh…" I stuttered. I had never given it much thought throughout the day. "Yoake no Inori?"
"That's the one you wrote last year for our final project, isn't it?" Momo asked. "It was really beautiful."
"…Thanks." I scratched my head. We passed my apartment complex and stopped. "I guess this is it for the day…so see you guys at school tomorrow!"
"Yeah! See you!" Teto said in return. Momo just waved.
As I walked up the stairs to my apartment, I couldn't help but feel, well, blessed with such good friends. I wanted to think that someday, we would make it big together. I had always thought that our days in highschool could be the best of our lives, and that we would be able to stick together, even when it got hard. Because UTAU's stick together, right?
I couldn't have been more wrong.
So…how was the first chapter? If it felt too slow, I PROMISE that the second chapter is better. Promise!
You might notice that my version of "school" isn't really like anything real school out there. Oh sure, the school design in my head, as well as the students at the school, may have Japanese influences, but I'm not trying to make it set in Japan. Nor anywhere else. You might call it a fictional city, but then that's how all of them work, right? Actually, this idea of "school" is based upon other Vocaloid fanfiction I have read.
I guess the way I worked with acronyms, Oto's, and CV, VCV, and VCCV didn't make sense all the time, but I'm trying to get as many aspects of Vocaloid and UTAU into this story as I can. Such as the fact that more people who have Vocaloid go professional than those who have UTAU, the fact that Vocaloid is so expensive, and the fact that the Macne series is meant to be a plugin for GarageBand.
Also you may have noticed the "Vocaloid Method" I mentioned. The idea is comparable to the idea of the Suzuki method, or any other music teaching method: it's a unique method that helps people get better results.
How songs will work from now on: If I post the lyrics or a translated name in the chapter, I will post it at the top with the disclaimer. All titles will be in romaji if they are still in Japanese. I will also use English lyrics if I can find them.