I appear to have a sleepwalking problem. This became apparent to me as I had fallen asleep last night in my apartment building, and woke up on a bench in a train station in the middle of Tokyo. In my pajamas. People were staring, but nobody had called the cops yet. That was good. The compass in my head pointed diligently back towards Crypton Towers were the other vocaloids and I lived, but I had a better idea. I never get to go outside by myself. This was a wonderful opportunity.

First I had to find a disguise. No use walking around in my carrot pajamas with my bright green hair sticking out everywhere. You can only say "I'm a cosplayer" so many times and I was pretty sure there weren't any conventions in town today. I slipped out of the train station and into an alleyway. I changed my hair to brown and my eyes to black (all vocaloids come with this; it makes concert makeup easier). The next step was clothes, and money. That would be tricky, but not impossible. I started by holo-projecting an ordinary outfit on top of my pajamas. I wouldn't be able to keep it up too long without food, but it would work for now.

No one was staring anymore. I looked just like them. It was kind of horrible actually, the way I blended in with the crowd. We moved like a thousand tiny robots, scuttling around our pre-determined paths. It made me shudder.

I caught sight of a ¥1000 note blowing around on the street so I caught it. It didn't seem like it belonged to anyone, so I kept it. It'd at least buy lunch. I saw a MOS Burger on the corner and started heading for it when something else caught my eye - It looked like a little karaoke bar. What stood out to me particularly was a poster on the window: "WEEKLY CONTEST! WIN ¥70000!" Conveniently enough, it was this day of the week. Interesting.

I got myself a burger, but there was still a bit of time before the contest, so I wandered around a bit. I found a thrift store. That was odd, most people wanted to buy things new. Still, some cheap clothes would be nice. I was still wearing my pajamas, and it was getting difficult to stop them from clipping through the hologram. I still had about 700 yen left so I figured I might as well try it.

It was remarkably well kept up. I managed to afford a shirt and a pair of shorts, as well as a backpack (which, admittedly, was kind of falling apart). I changed in the bathroom, and looked around a bit more. If I won the contest I'd need a tent or something to sleep in. As I was browsing I noticed the radio was playing "Pandemic" by Yuugou-P. Interesting. Normally they went for the more fluffy pop songs. I was mostly used to hearing my voice on the radio at this point. I started humming along.

"Can I help you find anything?" someone asked, which startled me a little. It was a boy, probably about 16 or 17, wearing an apron with the logo of the store. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. I was just browsing, I'm out of money for now."

"Ah, I see. My name is Maki Kiyoshi. Let me know if you need help with anything." He seemed really at ease. I kinda liked that. I thought for a second.

"I'm Megumi Aya. It's nice to meet you." He smiled, and blushed a bit. I'd never met a human incognito like this before. It was interesting. He was also cute, in a weird, little-brother kinda way. "Maki-san," I said. "I don't have my phone, but could you write down your number for me anyways?"

"Wha- I... sure!" He was blushing harder. I could tell he had a crush on me, which could only get more awkward with time. Great.

Still, he handed me his number on a piece of paper and I tucked it in my pocket. It was getting close to time for the contest, and I wanted to make sure I had time to register.

"I might see you later," I told him, leaving. Whether or not I'd actually call him, I'm sure I'd be able to find him at the store since he works there.

Walking inside the bar, I noticed it was a more traditional one; there was a public stage and the clientele were mostly men of varying ages. Actually, I seemed to be the only girl in the room. This cued more staring. I walked up to the receptionist, unfazed.

"Hey, you lost?" he asked me. Rude.

"I'm here for the contest. How do I register?" I wasn't afraid, honestly. I could fight my way out of here if I needed to.

The receptionist raised an eyebrow at me, but shrugged. "Here's the list. Costs 100 yen to enter." I handed him the money and wrote "Megumi Aya" on the sign-up sheet. He handed me a copy of the song list to look over. "Persecution Complex Cellphone Girl" caught my eye. Perfect. I performed that one at my last concert, and it was still fresh in my mind. I was last on the line up so I sat and quietly waited my turn. Most of the other contestants were adequate at best, and a few were too drunk to stand up straight. This would be easy.

"Alright, Aya-chan, you're up. Whaddya got for us?"

"Persecution Complex Cellphone Girl," I answered simply. The tricky part would be not sounding like myself and blowing the whole thing. As soon as the music started I could feel the choreography coming back. I messed up some moves and lyrics on purpose, and tweaked the gender factor just enough to make it sound like not Gumi. Still, it was obvious that I rocked it. After the song finished the audience was stunned for a moment, and then erupted into cheers. I made a short bow and left the stage. The winner was obvious. As the receptionist gave me my money I could hear some of the guys begging me to come back next week. It was oddly satisfying. I was a god to these people.

I went back to the thrift store and bought a tent and a sleeping bag. I found a secluded dead-end alley and set up camp there, with a wall-hologram in front so no one would see. I made a note to attend the contest next week. Winning felt good. Powerful.

I finally got around to putting this up! This is actually a prequel to a previous fanfic, Love & Fanservice: Unplugged, so check that one out too if you want! This one'll probably be a bit different; I'm experimenting with different styles.