Hi guys!
So...this "storyfic" kind of thing came about because I was really into Stargazer, the song and the video.
I started it like in December...and I finally finished it now. XDD
B-but anyways...e-enough about that.
The reason the protagonist's name is Max is because...
I was staring at the video, and for some reason, I felt like his name was Max, so it stuck with me. XD
As for the detectives, if anyone cares, the young one would be Tanaka and the older one would be Kayashima, but I have no idea why. XDDD
At any rate, please Read, Review and Enjoy!
Max wandered through the streets, his orange knit cap pulled low over his forehead so that only the ends of his dark brown hair showed from under it. He had his hands in his pockets as he walked on the sidewalk, lit up only by lights from stores and streetlights. He had a hard guitar case slung over his shoulder, his most prized possession inside. It was cold, but he kept walking until he reached a clear spot on the pavement that he could sit down on. He sat, cross-legged, and pulled out his guitar with a sticker that had a face with a frown on it, a parody of the all-too-common smiley-face sticker. Strumming a few notes for tuning first, he began to play the introduction to a song. People began to stop and watch this strange musician playing his song.
Max gulped. It was approaching the spot where he would actually have to begin to sing. He had practiced for weeks to try and improve his singing. He hoped it would pay off. He played the last chords before the singing began. He took a deep breath.
People grimaced at the loud wailing sound that was coming from Max's mouth. They covered their ears, or snickered, or just left to avoid having to deal with it. The audience began to laugh together at Max, though, as his dissonant singing continued. Someone, a bald man in a white suit, growled and then threw an empty soda can at Max's head. It was thrown with such force that Max fell backwards, still clutching his guitar, as the empty can bounced on the pavement. People laughed.
They could really be cruel at times, Max thought as he lay on his back on the pavement. He heard the audience leaving, ignoring the musician that no longer interested them. He looked up at the sky, the glow of city lights not as bright as they usually were, which meant he could see all the stars.
He was reminded of a promise he had made a long time ago, to his friends when they had all graduated from college together. They had all been drinking, but he had never forgotten the promise they had all made together, drunk beyond belief but full of hopes and dreams for the future that awaited them. Let's fulfill our dreams of catching the stars!
A shooting star flew across the sky and disappeared before Max could make a wish. "Aah...how unfair..." he whispered as a tear slipped down his cheek.
Max shuffled down the bright city streets again, his hands in his pockets. He hung his head. Yet again, he had been unsuccessful in winning over the masses. He couldn't sing, but he could play guitar. But no one would listen to only guitar music. They liked hearing about nonsensical things in songs, like true love, or magic, or rainbows, or something equally over-idealistic. Max hated all of those things. True music was supposed to be from the soul. He had made it his mission to show people that, but they couldn't see past his terrible singing. He winced as the bruise on his forehead throbbed, and he hung his head lower.
Max kept walking, and he realized that he was approaching the Yamaha Music Equipment store, his favorite store in the whole city. He looked forward to looking into the bright store window, eyes shining slightly in excitement. There were always new guitars to fawn over and new audio equipment for him to admire.
He looked into the window and found himself staring at a pair of black boots with aqua green soles. "W-wha-?" He looked up in shock. There was a girl in the window, behind the display glass. He looked to see if anyone else had noticed, but the other people didn't seem to care. He looked back up at her. Her eyes were closed beneath her green bangs. Her hair was put up in two long ponytails that fell to the backs of her knees. Her shirt was gray with ruffled trim the same color as the soles of her boots. Her pleated skirt was black, with a stripe at the bottom that was also that same aqua green. He wondered what she was doing in there. Was she a new sort of musical instrument? Or perhaps a really well made speaker or something, for those guys who liked those sorts of weird things?
While Max was wondering all of those things, he noticed a sign that was hung next to her.
'Hatsune Miku
Vocal music synthesizing software. New!
For Sale: Only 59,610 Yen'
He stared in shock for a moment before he looked back up at her face, her eyes still closed. "Wow...you really cost that much? You must be a nice set of software, Miku."
Without warning, her eyes snapped open. Max fell back in shock, landing heavily on the sidewalk, his dark brown eyes wide in surprise as he stared into Miku's eyes, which were blue, he belatedly noticed. They were a very nice shade of blue, he decided after a few moments of panic. After his breathing had slowed, he stood up and approached the glass again warily. Miku was still standing there, watching him with her blue eyes silently.
As he watched, she gave him a pleasant smile. At least, he had decided that it was pleasant. Max pressed his hands against the glass as he leaned in closer. "You...can you hear me?" he asked. Miku looked at him and smiled that smile again, full of innocence, possessing none of the feelings of judgment that others had at just looking at him. At that moment, it didn't even matter if she heard him or not, or if she knew what he was talking about or not, or even if she was a she or just a piece of software. He hurriedly pulled out his wallet and leafed through it to try and find the money to buy her.
It was sadly empty. However, it was to be expected. He hadn't made any money from his only job, being a street musician, in a long time and what little he made went to necessary things, like food and maintenance for his guitar. He tried looking through every compartment again, hoping that maybe he had hid a hundred-thousand yen bill somewhere, but all his search turned up were two hundred-yen coins. His eyebrows knit together as he looked back up at her smiling face.
He couldn't just leave Miku when she had smiled at him. But what could he do? He didn't have the money for her. All he had was his guitar and its case, and they wouldn't even fetch a quarter of what she was being sold for. He bit his lip. Not that he would sell his guitar in the first place. He looked back up at her, his hands pressed against the glass again. His dark brown eyes met her blue ones, and he realized that within her eyes, he could see another world.
Not literally, though. But he swore that he could see happiness just waiting around the corner for him in her eyes. He saw hope, his dreams, stars, the future, everything within her eyes. He knew that he couldn't just leave her behind that glass window. He had to set her free. He had to take her with him before she, too, lost the stars in her eyes. But how?
He had no money, no means of buying her from the store. There was no way he could set her free from the glass window. All he had was his guitar and its hard case. They both rested heavily together on his shoulder, cutting slightly into his shoulder, reminding him, solidly, that he had better get home to practice more and hopefully win over the masses another day. He looked up at her, his hands still pressed against the glass. "Can you...can you even breathe in there?"
It was a dumb question for him to ask, really. It occurred to him, a few seconds later, that software probably didn't need to breathe. If Miku had needed to breathe, the store would never have put her behind that closed-off window. He stared up at her smiling face. He had to do something. His guitar case suddenly slipped and tapped against the glass with a loud thunk. His eyes widened as he realized that he could have broken the glass window and set off the police alarm with his careless actions.
He could have broken the glass window.
With that thought, he realized what he could do, and suddenly, the guitar case felt a lot heavier on his shoulder.
Perhaps...perhaps he should just give up. After all, he could go to jail for robbery if he stole her. Was it worth it? Even though he barely had any money, he was still somewhat surviving. If he took Miku, his life would most certainly be disrupted. He looked up into her face again. "...do you know what you do to people?" he asked with a shaky laugh and smile. Miku kept smiling that same innocent smile, never knowing what he was talking about, what he had experienced before, what pain musicians like him went through.
He knew what he had to do, even if he would have to become a criminal to do so. He took a few steps back, and Miku stared at him with questioning blue eyes, the smile faltering a little. He bet she thought he was leaving her. Max took his guitar case in his hands by the neck and pulled it back, over his shoulder. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but it didn't matter anymore. He took a step forward and swung his case into the glass window, knowing he only had one chance to do what he was doing now. He had to succeed. He had to.
With a satisfying cracking sound, the glass cracked under the heavy blow he had dealt it. The glass shattered around him, falling to the sidewalk in crystalline shards that crunched beneath his boots. The alarm went off, ringing loudly in Max's ears. The police would be here any moment now. He had just committed his first and probably last crime.
But none of those things mattered to him. He slung his guitar case over his shoulder hurriedly. He reached up and grabbed Miku's hand. She looked at him in surprise, probably still trying to process what he had just done, but she followed Max as he began running down the sidewalk, away from the Yamaha Music Equipment store, the one and only store he had ever actually liked and had defaced just now. Max panted heavily as he ran from the scene of the crime, hearing shouts coming from behind. He ran faster and faster, hearing the voices begin to fade away. He gave a laugh as he turned back towards her. Despite their circumstances and everything, it was somehow fun to him. He had probably gone crazy on the adrenaline from his first ever serious crime, but it didn't matter to him anymore. He laughed.
Miku stared at Max in surprise for a moment, wondering what he was laughing about before she laughed as well. It was "fun", whatever that word meant. Suddenly, Max stepped on an empty soda can that had been laying in the middle of the street and he fell heavily against the pavement as it rolled out from under his foot. Miku looked down at Max in worry, but he gave a sheepish laugh as he sat up. "Oops," he said as he scratched the back of his head as he smiled up at her. She stared for another moment before she laughed as well. She wondered if all humans were like this.
"-so, there me and my band were, about to play, with absolutely no music prepared!" Max said, describing his memory with vivid gestures that made Miku laugh. Humans really were strange, weren't they? "So you know what we did? We started making up music on the spot and pretended like we had been practicing for weeks!" Max laughed at the memory of the fun times, of when music had been his everything, when everything had been as simple as picking up a guitar and playing what was in his heart. Not like now, when everyone had gone their separate ways in search of the place they belonged. Max alone wandered, looking for the one thing that he and he alone could do. "So, Miku..." Max trailed off. "Um...can I call you Miku? That is your name, right...?"
Miku stared for a moment, tilting her head to one side in confusion before she realized what he meant. She nodded and gave him a smile. "Yes. It is." Max looked surprised to hear her speak, staring at her with wide, confused eyes. "I can speak a little..." she replied, embarrassed at his reaction. "S-since you know my name...what...what is your name?"
"Mine? Oh, it's Max-" Before Max could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a shout.
"Hey, you! Thief!" A fat, gruff police detective with a lot of stubble in a beige trench-coat pointed at him from down the block, toting a rather stout body. "I've finally found you!" He was accompanied by a younger, thinner and taller partner who stood behind him. "You'd better not run!"
Max looked at the two policemen approaching with a look of despair. There had been so much more he had wanted to do, so many more things he had wanted to talk about to Miku, so many more words he had never gotten the chance to speak. He turned to Miku with an apologetic smile. "Sorry...guess our time's up already."
Miku gave him a disappointed look. "What? It's over already...?" She had wanted to talk to him more...
"Yeah..." Max looked at the two detectives, who were almost caught up to them. "The cops are here to take me in for stealing you." The young musician gave her a sad smile.
Miku frowned as she looked at Max, then at the two detectives, then back at Max. She didn't want her "fun" to end already.
Max bowed his head as he sighed and held out his wrists for the detectives to cuff him. He really didn't want to stop talking to Miku yet, but he couldn't drag it on any longer. He couldn't involve Miku much more in his crime. "...take me in, guys," he said to the detectives.
"...no!" Max and the detectives stared in shock at the sudden cry. Without warning, Miku grabbed Max's hand. "Let's run!" she said excitedly as she started to run away from the startled detectives. Max could do nothing but follow after her in confusion, watching her laugh as she ran.
"Hey! Get back here!" the older detective yelled as he started after them. However, with a loud crack, his back locked. The younger detective had no choice but to stay behind with him and watch as the perpetrator and Miku ran.
Miku laughed as she kept running. This was actually strangely "fun", running from the detectives with Max. She didn't want it to end. Max, following along behind Miku, couldn't help but crack a smile at the unbridled joy she had. "Hey-" Max suddenly stumbled and fell heavily to the sidewalk. "Gah!" Blinking the tears out of his eyes, he pulled down his sock to reveal a huge bruise forming on his ankle. "...looks like it's no good," he said, shooting an apologetic smile up at Miku. "Seems like we can't run anymore."
Miku gave him a dismayed look. "But...I don't want our "fun" to end already!" she cried. Max didn't want it to end either.
"Sorry..." he replied. If only there was something he could do... The reassuring constant pressure of his guitar case pressed against his back. Of course! There was something he could do! After all...she was Miku, wasn't she? He gave her a smile, sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk. "Our fun doesn't have to end here." She gave him a confused look as he pulled his guitar out. "Here, have a listen," he said with a chuckle as he began playing the opening chords to a song that he hoped she knew. Taking a deep breath, he began to sing...or at least attempt to.
People who had been walking around them covered their ears at the horrible screeching that came from his mouth. Miku listened to the noises that Max claimed was singing for a while with an uneasy look before she finally realized what he wanted to do. She gave a smile. If he had wanted to do something like that, all he had to do was just ask her! She stood, taking a deep breath, closing her green eyes, her lips curled in a smile.
Softly at first, she began to sing, continuing the song, putting her own words to Max' melody. People stopped covering their ears and stared in stunned silence. Max stopped singing to listen to her voice. He even forgot to play the guitar as he stared. Then, with a smile, he returned to playing the guitar, accompanying her voice. Smiles eased onto the pedestrians' faces at the words and the sweet melody. Max laughed as he finally realized how the melody of his song should sound, and he sang alongside her voice, his voice no longer painful to people's ears.
"Hey, I think we found them!" the older detective called to the younger one as they came up to the back of a crowd gathered on the sidewalk. He could hear the faint sounds of a song being played. He stared at the people, who actually seemed to be enjoying themselves, jumping along to the beat, singing along, clapping. "What is going on?"
"I don't know, but this song is really catchy!" his partner shouted as he jumped in the air, obviously enjoying the song.
The older detective turned and opened his mouth to say something to make them all stop, but seeing the joy on everyone's faces, he found that he couldn't. He gave a sigh of resignation. "Oh well...it couldn't hurt anyone if we let them sing for a bit..."
Max had never thought he could have so much fun before. He couldn't keep himself from smiling as he sang with Miku long into the night. Glancing up at the stars, he could almost swear he saw a shooting star fly by. But he didn't even bother to make a wish; he was already doing what he had wanted to do most.
"Thank you, thank you!" Max and Miku bowed and thanked their audience as they dispersed. Their impromptu concert in the streets was finally over. Max turned to the two detectives who remained, even after everyone else had left. He gave them a rueful smile. "Sorry I ran like that... You can take me in now, guys." He held out his wrists, and this time, the older detective closed the cuffs around them. Not without some regret, though.
Miku watched sadly as the two detectives led Max away. They didn't even let him take his possessions with him. She couldn't say anything because she didn't know what she could do. "...Max..." she called out softly, almost desperately.
The musician turned at the sound of his name as he tried to keep his emotion off his face. But looking at her face, he couldn't help but give her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Miku! This is what should happen." He chuckled. "But please take care of my baby while I'm in jail, okay?"
Miku tilted her head curiously as she tried to figure out what Max meant by "his baby", but she realized it soon enough, and a smile broke onto her face. She nodded deeply. "I will, Max!"
People wandered through the streets on the sidewalk lit only by lights from stores and streetlights. They passed each other and never thought more of it. They hardly glanced into the Yamaha Music Equipment store window, but if they had, they would have laughed.
Hatsune Miku, the most expensive piece of equipment in the store, wore a well-worn acoustic guitar around her neck, something that most definitely didn't belong in that window. However, even though her eyes were closed, she was still smiling sweetly, and the sticker on the guitar that used to be frowning had turned into one that smiled.
A shooting star flew by in the sky, and deep inside her heart, Miku made one silent wish: that one day, she could make music with Max again.