Kaito

Kaito held an empty cup in his hands and yawned. His single room apartment was a dismal gray this morning, enough to let him know that his next ten-hour shift would be dreadfully boring. He closed his eyes and imagined that he had managed to get another four hours of sleep. Maybe then the bags under his eyes would go away.

He placed his bowl on the box in the corner of his room and promised himself that he would do the dishes when he got home tonight so that he wouldn't have to eat his rice out of a cup again. A mirror leaned against the back wall beneath the window, threatening to fall over if anyone stepped too close. Kaito brushed a hand through his blue hair to make it look semi-decent, then threw on a coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck. It was a cold day in Tokyo and he had no intention of getting sick. Being sick meant being out of work. Being out of work meant no money. No money meant no life. He was definitely not in the mood to start slumming it out again, especially since he was going to be alone this time around.

Kaito stared at the floor as he walked out of his apartment. He softly hummed to himself as his feet took quick steps down the three flights of stairs to the bottom floor. The front door opened with a loud squeak as sunlight illuminated the tiny entrance hall. Kaito looked up from the floor. Strange. It had been gray outside just a few minutes before. He shrugged. Who was he to argue with nature? He took a few more steps outside before he began to notice why everything was so different.

Where am I? he thought.

Rin

"Did you see the cast list yet?"

"I got in!"

"I can't believe it! She got cast as the lead?"

Rin felt a flutter of hope as the exclamations of her classmates rushed into her ears. Maybe she had done it this time! Maybe she had finally gotten a role in the school musical. It would be her shining moment! She closed her blue eyes and softly hummed to calm herself down. She had to be humble. Nobody liked a gloater.

The crowds of students soon drifted away from the notice board, allowing Rin to finally open her eyes and see the results of her audition. She scanned the list of students and roles. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. She couldn't see her name anywhere. After all that work, weeks of practicing all alone in her room rehearsing the same song over and over again... What had she done wrong? She closed her eyes and hummed to herself to prevent the tears that she could feel building up. This wasn't supposed to happen!

Rin turned around and sprinted to her teacher's office. There had to have been some kind of mistake. That had to be the only explanation. She had done so well, so why hadn't she seen any sort of result for her endeavors?

"Sensei!" she called as she knocked on her teacher's door. "Sensei, I have something to ask you." Her teacher opened his office door and looked down at the blond little girl standing before him.

"What is it, Rin?"

"Why didn't I get into the show? You know as well as I do that my audition was perfect! What happened?" Rin bit her lip to both stop herself from rambling and prevent the tears that she could feel welling up again.

"Rin, I'm sorry," her teacher sighed. "You should know this by now." He took a seat at his desk and indicated for Rin to take a seat in one of his extra chairs, but Rin remained in the doorway.

"Listen, Rin, you know this as well as everyone else here. Having you in a production can't work. You…" The teacher paused as he tried to think of the right words to say. "You know as well as everyone else that you don't harmonize well with the other students. Nobody can keep up with your vocal range. It's incredible, but we encourage a group approach to our productions. You haven't found a way to fit the bill yet. That, and there is the issue of your…" His voice drifted off to incomprehensible mumbling.

"The issue of what?" Rin asked, but she felt that she already knew the answer. It had been bothering her for nearly her entire life. She couldn't believe that such an impediment could ever exist.

"Rin, I don't want to be rude, but there is the issue of your… appearance. You don't look like anybody else here. Our shows need to look believable, and having a girl with blond hair and blue eyes is such a distraction that people might stop paying attention to the show. You know we can't-"

"Stop. I understand." Rin took a step back and gave a small, courteous bow to her teacher. "Thank you for at least allowing me to audition." With that, she turned around and began running down the hall. She felt like she needed fresh air. The double doors of the school flew open with a shove of her hands as she rushed outside and crumbled to her knees on the grass. Sobs began to wrack her body as she curled up and let her emotions out.

At least the grass is soft she thought to herself as she tried her trick of counting her blessings in a weak attempt to cheer herself up. Her eyes flew open as the significance of the thought hit her. She sat up and rubbed the salty tears from her eyes as she looked around. She had always lived in an urban environment. Grass was something that only grew in parks.

"Where am I?" she mumbled to herself.

Meiko

Meiko slammed her shot glass on the bar and shook her head.

"Another! And make sure you put some kick in there next time. I'm so tired of these wimpy drinks. If I'm going to drink, I'm going to drink hard, got it?" she growled. Her tousled brown hair shrouded her left eye as she glared at the terrified bartender.

"I think that's enough for tonight, ma'am," the bartender squeaked as he took the glass away from Meiko. Meiko reached out and snatched the man's wrist, dragging him closer so that he could smell the alcohol on her breath.

"I said make me another. And give it some kick! I'm sick of all these weak drinks. Do you really think I can get drunk off a few little glasses of cider?" she dropped the bartender's wrist and began to hum impatiently. He scurried to fill up another cup and slid it across the bar to her before quickly disappearing to the storerooms in the back. Meiko gulped down the glass and slammed it on the bar.

"Now that was a lot better." She looked around at the rest of the people in the bar and glared at anyone that gave her weird looks. She came here to get drunk, not be gawked at.

"Hey you!" A man tapped Meiko on the shoulder. She turned around in her bar stool and fixed him with one of her meaner glares. That's what it felt like to her, but really it just looked like she was squinting. The man held back a laugh as he began to talk again.

"Are you that Meiko chick? Didn't you- "

"I don't want to hear anything about those days." Meiko stood up and balled her fists. "I'm washed up here for a reason, now go away before I make you!"

"You're really going to give an old fan some crap like that? Jeez. No wonder you washed up."

"I said leave!" Meiko pulled her arm back in preparation for a punch, but someone grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground before she could make any other moves.

"Let go of me!" she screamed. "Let go so I can hit him! You didn't even let me hit him!"

"You've had enough, now you need to get out of here before you tear the place apart," the man that was holding her said. Meiko instantly recognized it as the voice of the manager. She was thrown out the front door of the bar before she could manage to think of a considerable retort for him besides fuck you.

She landed on a soft patch of grass and felt like she was going to vomit. Maybe that last drink was a little too much for her. She looked up from the grass and nearly fainted.

"I must be really, really drunk."

Miku

The roar of all her fans was music to her ears. Miku took her final bow on the stage before prancing off like the superstar diva that she was. Her herd of assistants, stylists, and handlers all congratulated her on another great show as she made her way back to her private dressing room.

"Great show, Miku!"

"You were brilliant tonight, like a shining star!"

"I have never heard your fans scream louder, darling!"

"Did you hear that last note you hit? I'm sure no one else can do that!"

Miku waved off the compliments as she finally got through the throng and entered her dressing room. She slammed the door behind her and fell into a luxurious divan. The entire room was lined with flowers, chocolates, and plates upon plates of leeks from her adoring fans. She knew she would eventually throw most of it all out, but it was still a wonderful feeling to be so loved. She smiled and began to hum to herself. Everything was so perfect. She had the perfect fans, the perfect friends, the perfect body, and the perfect diva life. It couldn't get any better than this.

She stood up and put a robe over her schoolgirl costume. The humming stopped as she decided that now would be as good a time as ever to let in one of her many stylists to clean the makeup off her face. She didn't want to get acne from leaving on all those oily products on her. Opening the door to her dressing room, she opened her mouth to call out for her stylist. Not a sound came out.

Where am I? she thought. Her dressing room door slammed shut behind her.