CIRCLE YOU CIRCLE YOU
Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid. Or the song.
In a small abandoned warehouse deep in a forest, there is a group of kids. They all play with themselves every day. One day, there was a girl of the age of 14. She was walking around the deep and confusing forest. She had just gone to go get some food for her and some of her friends she was camping with. She ended up getting lost and it was late in the day. In a couple of hours it was going to get dark and she didn't want her friends to be waiting long with their stomachs growling, never mind her own stomach.
"Ugh! I think I already passed this tree before!" The 14 year old Starr said. "And that big rock, too! Why did I have to go get food? I have a horrible sense of direction." She walked around angry at herself. "I'm starving…" She said with her stomach growling louder and louder the longer she went without food.
Starr looked around her surroundings, her long, curly, pink hair swaying in the picking up wind. She knew it was getting late and she needed to get something to eat! That was when she wondered off to one section she didn't see yet. "Maybe I'm getting closer to the campsite! But… I didn't get any food yet," Starr said thinking of what her friends would say if she came back empty handed. "But I should see if this is my campsite anyway so then I can make a trail so I can follow the trail back and not get lost again," Starr said thinking up a plan. She walked farther in the new section.
"Whoa, this is definitely not the campsite," She said mesmerized by what she witnessed. There, standing before, was a huge warehouse. It looked almost abandoned though. "I wonder if anyone's here," The pink-haired girl wondered. "Hello? Helloo?" Starr called out to anybody there. She waited a few moments then she decided to leave. She turned around, her hair flowing in the wind again, when she heard children coming her way. "Huh? Kids?" The children ran out from the side of the old, chipped building laughing happily.
A small blue-haired girl with her hair in 2 ponytails ran out leading the 2 other kids. They almost looked like twins because of how uncannily they looked like each other. They both had blonde hair, the girl's hair down and hanging just above her shoulders. The boy's hair looked like it was in a small ponytail with his bangs flowing crazily above his forehead. The girl twin looked like she was missing her left arm and the boy twin had bandages around his head. Some creepy kids but they seem so innocent! Starr thought. They ran up to Starr smiling.
"Hi Guest-chan!" The blue-haired one said with a cute smile. Are those stitches on her face? Starr thought kneeling down to be eye level with the young girl. "Hi! What's your name?" Starr asked politely.
"My name's Miku," She said happily. "These are two of my friends, Rin and Len!" She gestured to the twin-looking children. So Rin was the girl and Len was the boy. They may look creepy but they look like good kids, too! Starr thought as she saw the smiling children.
"I'm Rin and this is my brother Len! He's my twin," Rin said really jolly.
"Nice to meet you Guest-san," Len said shy and quietly.
"Nice to meet you Rin-chan, Miku-chan, Len-kun," I said with a smile.
"You can call us by our first names" Rin and Miku said at the same time. Starr started to look at the big warehouse in front of them wondering if they lived there.
"That's where the rest of our friends are. Want to see the rest of us?" Surprisingly Len said but still quiet and shy.
"Yeah! Come on! Come with us!" Miku said. She reached out her arm giving her hand to Starr.
"Uh… Well, you see I have to be some place…" Starr started slowly. Miku looked down sadly. She put her arm down and shrugged her shoulders.
"I get it… It's probably because if our appearances isn't it?" Miku said looking down.
"No, no, no! It's not that at all! It's just that, uh, well, I kind of have to be same place and…" Starr said thinking about her waiting friends. Make that her waiting and starving friends. "I guess I can do a quick visit."
"Really? Yay! Thank you Guest-chan!" Miku said excitedly.
"My name's Starr you don't have to keep calling me 'Guest' Miku," Starr said to the little girl that held on to Starr's hand pulling her to the entrance of the big warehouse.
"Okay, Starr-chan" Miku said looking back at her with a smile. Rin and Len followed suit. As they entered they turned left and passed a lot of doors that lead to the door at the end. Miku opened the door with her free hand and it revealed a bunch of kids sitting around playing with each other.
"Hello everyone! We have a new guest! Her name is Starr-chan!" Miku said greeting Starr to the group of children. In unison everyone greeted Starr saying, "Hello Starr-chan!"
"Hello everyone!" She said waving with a warm smile. Miku introduced everyone to Starr. There was Kaito, Gakupo, Akita, Kasane, Luka, Meiko, and Haku. They either had bandages on their bodies or some of them had stitches on their faces. Creepy looking or not they all seemed like nice and polite kids.
"Want to play our favourite game?' Kasane asked. She was one of the few that had stitches on her face. "'It's called Circle You Circle You."
"Um, sure! How do you play?" Starr asked.
"It's easy! We choose someone to go in the middle and everyone circles the person in the middle singing the song!" Kasane explained. "You wanna be in the middle?"
"Sure! I'd love to! Then, maybe, you all can teach me the song!" Starr said enthusiastically.
Starr sat down on the floor and the children circled her in a circular chain. They started to sway back and forth then, they started to sing…
Kagome kagome
Watashi-tachi wa kao zentai
de egao o hirogeru
Kagome kagome
Watashi-tachi wa egao de
okyakusama o maru de kakomu
After they finished they all sat down. "Sensei used to play Circle You Circle You with us," Miku said looking down depressingly.
"Sensei would play with us like we were her own," Len said.
"Who's Sensei?" Starr asked.
"She was the person who watched us and took care of us," Gakupo said.
"What happened to her then?" Starr said sort of interested in this "Sensei" person.
"She was the first one to—" Akita started but couldn't finish. Miku jumped over and covered her mouth.
"Heh heh heh," Miku said with a smile and a hand over Akita's mouth. Akita got agitated and yanked her hand away.
"WHAT WAS-?" Akita started but, once again, never finished. "Oh… Nevermind!"
That was weird… Starr thought with a raised eyebrow at the 2 of them. Then she yawned and realized how dark it was through the window. "I better get some sleep," Starr said sleeply.
"I can give you a pillow and a blanket and you can sleep here for the night!" Miku offered.
"No! I couldn't! It's okay I have to go find my campsite anyway," Starr said standing up.
"You can look in the morning Starr-chan! Please stay here!" Miku pleaded with puppy eyes. It looked like all the children wanted Starr to stay there for the night. It's probably their first time having someone new sleep for the night… I guess my friends can find their own food until morning, Starr thought.
"I guess one night wouldn't hurt," Starr said giving them a smile. All the kids cheered simultaneously. Starr felt good making these poor kids happy. She felt a little pity for them considering their condition.
After Luka and Gakupo set up a small blanket bed for Starr they all went to bed in their designated beds. It took a while for Starr to get used to the bed but she eventually did and fell asleep. She was tired after a long day of wondering around the forest like a lost puppy. Well, a lost puppy that was found by 3 small kids and taken in and was offered to sleep with them. Little did Starr know their true selves. These weren't ordinary kids.
Miku got up from her bed and realized that Starr was finally asleep. Thank goodness! I thought it would take the whole night just for her to fall asleep! Then we have to postpone the plan for tomorrow night. I don't think Tanahashi-sensei would like that very much… Miku thought looking at the sleeping Starr. She smiled devilishly and ran into the lab that was down the hall. Certainly, Mr. Tanahashi would be awake working away at his experiment that failed numerous times. Miku pushed the door open slowly peeking in to see if Tanahashi was there. After she saw him looking over papers to see of something was missing or needed to be improved she took that as an exception to walk in. "Hello Tanahashi-sensei!" Miku said with her cute and childish voice.
"Hi there Miku," Tanahashi said not looking up from his paperwork. He had his glasses at the edge of his nose so he could read the complicated equations.
"I have brought another visitor," Miku said changing her tone completely and sounded serious but had a devilish tone to it. This was what made Tanahashi look up from his papers.
"Oh, really?" He said sounding intrigued. "Is she a child, like your selves?" This time standing up and walking toward the young blue-haired child.
"Not sure. Probably around 13 or 14," Miku said shrugging her shoulders.
"She'll do…" He said now lost in thought.
"When do you want me to introduce her to you?" Miku asked the tall scientist that snapped out of his thought to answer the girl's question.
"Hmm… Maybe in the morning so we have the whole day to experiment," He said rubbing his chin.
"Okay! We'll go get you after she wakes up!" Miku said in a childish voice again.
"Good night Miku. Make sure you wake up before the visitor, we don't want her running off now!" He said wagging a finger.
"Understood," Miku said walking out and into the dim hallways that were only lit by the several windows on the walls. The moonlight shone in and on Miku. She hasn't been outside and explored the forest in a long time. The last time was… when she was captured. She shook the thought away and entered the Children's Room as silently as she could to not disturb any one. She closed the door quietly behind her and tip-toed to her bed.
"Miku," she heard Rin call in a whisper.
"Yes Rin?" Miku said back just as Rin did.
"I actually like Starr-chan…"
"I know… But everyone needs to feel how we feel."
"I know, and we don't want to go against Tanahashi-sensei's research."
"Exactly. I talked to him now; he said he wanted to see Starr-chan in the morning so he has the whole day to experiment."
"Oh… Do you know how long it will take?"
"No, but it should take a few hours. Then we can play with her again but, she'll be one of us."
"I see… Well at least we get to play with her… forever."
"That's right, Rin. Now go to sleep. We'll see Starr-chan in the morning."
"'Kay…"
They all fell asleep, the children knowing what would happen to Starr and Starr not knowing what was going to happen to her. Rin actually liked Starr and wanted to set her free from this place but, sadly, she couldn't. She had to follow Tanahashi-sensei's orders.
Miku woke up early. She looked out the window and guessed it was around 6 in the morning. She got out of bed and ate something quick. That was when everyone else started to wake up and followed suit. Wow can this girl sleep! Miku thought angrily. Tanahashi-sensei wanted to see her soon so she had to wake up. Miku took a deep breath to get into her childish and innocent character and shook Starr awake.
"Starr-chan! C'mon wake up! Let's play!" Miku said loudly.
"Wha—?" Starr said sleepily, drool coming from the side of her mouth.
"It's time to wake up!" Miku said shaking Starr again.
"What time is it?" She said getting up and rubbing her eyes.
"It's probably around seven in the morning," Miku said looking at the sunrise.
"Seven? Are you kidding me?" Starr said wide awake now.
"Well, you have a big day ahead of you!" Miku said thinking about what Starr's day was actually going to be.
"Fine, I'll get up…" Starr stood up and stretched. "Where can I get washed up?" Miku pointed to the bathroom across the room. "Thank you Miku!"
Miku's childlike smile turned into a devilish smile as Starr walked into the bathroom.
"Do you want me to get Tanahashi-sensei?" Kaito and Haku asked.
"Yes please. Thanks Kaito-kun and Haku-chan," Miku said doing a little bow to the two.
"No problem Miku-chan," Kaito and Haku said returning the bow.
Kaito and Haku walked out of the room and Miku walked up to Rin and Len.
"Kaito and Haku went to get Tanahashi-sensei didn't they?" Rin asked depressed.
"Yep!" Miku said. "Don't be sad! Now Starr-chan will feel our pain! Everyone needs to feel our pain."
"Tanahashi-sensei also gave us orders Rin, we can't disobey him," Len said quietly.
"I know… I just… don't want Starr-chan to go through it…" Rin said looking down.
"She's going to have to, we can't do anything about it," Len said comforting his twin.
"Len's right Rin, you're my friend and everything but, we can't stop this," Miku said also trying to comfort her best friend. All Rin did was nod, not content with the decision made.
"I brought Tanahashi-sensei, where's Starr-chan?" Haku said walking in with Tanahashi and Kaito behind her.
"She's still in the bathroom but she should come out soon enough," Miku said looking at the bathroom door. That was when Starr opened the door and walked into the room. Speak of the devil Miku thought.
"Starr-chan! We want you to meet someone!" Miku said gesturing to Tanahashi-sensei to come towards the other side of the room.
"Nice to meet you," Starr said bowing her head to show respect to her elder.
"Nice to meet you Starr-san," He said bowing his head. "I'm Tanahashi, and a scientist."
"Hello Tanahshi-sensei!" Starr said with a smile. Why did they want me to meet a scientist? Starr thought.
"He's just going to take you away for the day. You should be back at the end of the day," Miku said. Tanahashi snapped his fingers and 2 young and strong men grabbed Starr's wrists.
"What's happening?" Starr asked scared.
"Tanahashi-sensei is just going to experiment on you. He's going to try an experiment he's been working on for quite some time, and has tried it on all of us," Miku said evilly. "Now it's your turn."
That's right. Tanahashi was trying to create an immortality elixir. He tried it on all the children in the room. They all ended up in failures. That's why some looked different from others. There was one thing that didn't fail, the kids did become immortal but, now they had to live like that for the rest of their lives. They stay like kids forever with scarred faces and missing limbs. After the experiment, each and every one of them were told to lure other people in to try another experiment. That's what Miku, Rin, and Len did. They were actually playing but also on the lookout for wonderers.
"NO! DON'T DO THIS TO ME!" Starr screamed. "PLEASE!" They dragged her out and that was the last time the immortal children saw Starr as a normal girl.
"Who wants to see your new playmate?" Tanahashi said walking in. "I already told her what she has to do and such."
Everyone ran up to the door and Tanahashi opened the door all the way and all the children saw Starr.
"Whoa…" Was all that escaped the children.
"This can't be!" Miku said in tears and fiercely, hitting her fist against the wall. "She looks perfectly normal!" She's supposed to look like us! She should've lost a limb or needed stitches! The experiment actually worked! Miku thought angrily.
"The experiment was a success! I finally perfected the elixir!" Tanahashi said excitedly.
Rin was the most ecstatic about Starr's appearance considering she didn't want Starr to look like one of her friends, or herself for that matter.
"Starr-chan! You look perfectly normal! Can we play now?" Rin said sounding the happiest she had ever been.
"Sure Rin!" She ran over into the corner and played with Rin. Everyone else followed and they all played with the newest member.
Miku was green with mad envy. She looks perfectly normal! That's not supposed to happen! The whole reason why we get kids is because there are supposed to go what we went through! Miku didn't have any missing limbs like Rin. She had stitches on her cheeks and her forehead. Something went wrong and she needed stitches. A lot of them went wrong but some went worse than others and lost limbs. Miku wanted Starr to look like the other children so they can all be equal. Now, everyone wanted to hang out with Starr. Miku was extremely envious of Starr now.
"Starr-chan," Miku said under her breath in such detest it would scare one right out of the room.
That night everyone fell asleep, even Starr because Tanahashi-sensei got a new bed for her so she could sleep more comfortably. Miku now hated Starr, all the hate coming from jealousy. Miku got up and hopped onto the floor. She walked across the room to Starr's bed. There she just stared and stared then scowled at her. And there laid Starr, innocently sleeping not knowing that Miku was scowling in such detest at her.
"Kagome kagome
Watashi-tachi wa kao zentai
de egao o hirogeru
Kagome kagome
Watashi-tachi wa egao de
okyakusama o maru de kakomu"
THE END