Chapter Two

The One Time Forgot

A deep blue eye child stared up longingly as a cone of ice cream was handed down to him. He smiled brilliantly and started to lick at it as his hand was grabbed and he was led off.

"That's my good boy…" the woman chirped sweetly. She led him some distance in which the two scoops he had were completely licked away and he was now trying to chew on the cone. She stopped before a building that caught the boy's attention. Just outside in the yard a large group of children were playing. "Kaito…mommy has to go." She frowned seeing the confusion come to his face and finally tears were starting to form. The woman kneeled down before him, grabbing the boy's shoulders and rubbed them gently. "You have to stay here until mommy comes back, okay? Can you do that?" she asked.

The boy sniffled and nodded. She brushed back his dark blue lots and kissed the top of his head. "I promise I will come back for you. I won't forget about you, never ever." She pulled him in for a tight hug before pulling away and showing him to the entrance.

He could barely hear the words being exchange between adults but as soon as the woman started to leave he tried holding onto her. "Mama!" he exclaimed. She pulled the hem of her dress from his tiny grip and waved goodbye. "Mama!"

Kaito gasped out, sitting up in a hurry. His heart was thrashing hard in his chest, making it difficult to breathe and sweat had already formed on his brow. He shook his head and rubbed back his hair.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

Kaito shifted his gaze quickly only to realize he had dozed off in the studio. "Oh…more like…unpleasant memories." Kaito muttered in response. He gave a melancholy sigh and stood up.

"Well you look exhausted. You should go home and rest. I'll let the producer know."

"Thanks Leon but I have to get some work done. My new album is supposed to be released soon and I'm nowhere done recording the right sound. My voice is totally cracked and well…I haven't exactly finished the second verse either" he chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Take my advice-don't put so much work into it. Between you and me…I don't think the company will be putting a lot of effort in promoting it." Leon replied under breath.

Kaito instantly frowned, glaring at the blonde haired man. "What do you mean?" He was going to interrogate Leon more on the situation but before he could press the question again, the door to the studio opened. Kaito lightened up as he watched two girls walk in. "Good afternoon Lola, Miriam. Ready to record back up?"

"Don't get all sweet with us Kaito" Lola bit back. She was apparently already in a bad mood and didn't need any fluffy conversation.

"Lola please" Miriam replied, patting the blonde diva on the shoulder. "This isn't Kaito's fault so don't take it out on him."

"What's not my fault?"

Miriam looked at him with her sorrowful bright green eyes. "The company…" she started to sniffle. She was already getting so emotional and Lola had to hold onto her. "We are getting the boot. Our ratings have dropped drastically, the sales of our albums have gone way below production cost and well…we are just too much of a hassle," she explained.

"What?! You can't be serious!" Kaito yelped out. He felt his heart leap up into his throat. He had to admit he didn't know much about his seniors in the field when he got recruited for the Vocaloid Music Agency but he never would have thought it was because they were entirely unpopular.

Leon sighed and nodded, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Let's just face it Kaito, we are barely here. Maybe we weren't made for the music industry. I suggest you start packing your bags soon too. You and Meiko will be soon to follow us."

Kaito bit back a few choice words he wanted to say to Leon. "I won't give up so easily! I'll make the public love me" he insisted. He grabbed his things and rushed for the door. He yelped out as he instantly bumped into another person. "I'm sorry!" He looked down and flushed deep red in the face as he was met with a rather soft looking cushion pressed against his chest.

Meiko giggled and smiled. "What's got you so flustered Kaito? Has Lola been using your muffler as a napkin again?"

"No, it's not that" Kaito remarked as he averted his eyes. Meiko had a tendency to bounce when he stepped back.

"Oh, then was it your performance at the mall? Did it not go well?" Meiko questioned back.

"No, that was just fine. In fact a fan even came onto the stage and sang with me." Kaito pointed out. He wasn't sure she was a fan but Meiko didn't need to know the details. He had his pride to think about.

"Then what's the problem you old sourpuss?" Meiko asked, shoving her elbow into Kaito's side and making him gasp out in pain.

"You haven't heard about the company?" Kaito asked. She nodded nonchalantly, which confused Kaito all the more. How could Meiko be so casual about everything? Her resilience in times of crisis never ceased to amaze him.

"If it bothers you so much, how about we go drink it out!" Meiko exclaimed, suddenly slipping her arm around Kaito's and grinned brightly. "Drinks are on me! Everyone is invited!" she yelled out to get the others' attention.

Before Kaito could come up with an excuse to not go, Meiko had him skipping out the door and down the front steps of the building. The other three walk with less enthusiasm behind.

Kaito gave a defeated sigh as he was dragged along. He paused when they suddenly passed a music shop on the street. "Hey, wait Meiko. I want to check something out" Kaito chirped, slipping free of the girl's hold on him and came inside the shop. He inhaled deeply. There were nothing like the smell of old vinyl records mixed with the smell of new cds. He came over to the new releases on the shelf and flipped through the cases.

"What are you looking for?" Meiko chimed in.

"My album. You know the one I sent out just last month. It should still be up right?" But to his dismay he didn't see it anywhere in the grouping. "Umm, there must be some mistake." He looked over to the sales clerk. "Excuse me, where are your CDs by Kaito?"

The clerk made a weird face and came from behind the counter. "Who?"

"Kaito. You know me right?" He asked with a smile and turned to his good side in a pose.

The clerk only stared at him in disbelief. "Sorry can't say that I do."

Kaito winced at the sudden shot to his ego. "Um well, then do you have the album called History of Logic System?"

The man furrowed his brows and took a once over of the store before tapping his chin. "Oh!" He rushed over toward the back. "There should be a few copies back here" he replied.

Kaito sighed in relief and rushed after the man to the back of the store. But his jaw dropped the moment he saw the large red sign marked "Sale! 75% Off" over the stand. He looked down at the shelf and suddenly went weak in the knees.

"Did you find it Kaito?" Meiko jumped over to take a look. She whistled when she saw just how many of Kaito's albums were tossed in with the sad pile. "Well hot sake, that's a lot."

"T-there must be some mistake!" Kaito exclaimed. "Did you so happen to buy too many CDs? Are these just leftovers?"

The man shook his head. "No, actually we bought the bare minimum. This is about everything. Yeah we didn't get too many request from the customers." The man shrugged and headed back to his station at the counter.

Meiko sighed and patted Kaito on the back. "Well look at the bright side…"

"What bright side?"

"You were worried there wouldn't be any more copies left to buy for your friends and family right? Well there are plenty here. Let's take it all and give it to them" Meiko suggested.

Kaito groaned and crouched down to hold his knees. "I don't have any family…or other friends besides you guys," he whimpered out.

Meiko flushed lightly and looked off to the side in embarrassment. "Oh…well then…how about that drink now?"

Kaito sighed and stood before slowly walking out of the shop. Leon, Lola, and Miriam had already made it to the restaurant and grabbed them a table. Kaito plopped down on to the cushion and laid his head on the table.

Meiko bought the first round of sake, pouring everyone's cup despite their insistence she not. "Lighten up everyone! Just because we are old news doesn't mean we can't make a come back? We are original talent here, the forerunners of Vocaloid entertainment! We can't let them forget us!" Meiko cheered, raising her cup and taking a long sip.

Kaito grimaced. "I'm easy to forget about…" he muttered.

"Who says?" Meiko barked back. "I think you are a swell guy Kaito, certainly more likable than that Gakupo fellow everyone is raving about on TV."

"Everyone…" Kaito sat up and grabbed his cup to take a sip.

"With an attitude like that why even bother becoming a singer? Why'd you come to Vocaloid Music Agency anyway?" Lola huffed out.

The blue haired male stared longingly into his sake cup. "I thought…if I became famous…she would come back. She would see me singing on TV and suddenly remember. " Kaito gulped it down. "She promised she wouldn't forget me…so why didn't she ever come back?"

"Who?" Meiko looked on with concern, setting down the drink. The tone Kaito had was too depressing and was making her sake taste sour.

"My mother…"

The table went silent and it remained so for the rest of the evening with the exception of a few curses, complaints, and heavy duty sobbing from the five washed out singers.

"Forget everyone! Our so called fans!" Meiko screamed out as she came stumbling out of the restaurant on Kaito's arm. She giggled profusely as she knocked him into the wall. He thankfully was sturdier than the other three of them and helped her out to the sidewalk. "Come on K-kaito…" she gulped down a burp that was about to come up. "Tell those jerks off! All of them! We aren't nobodies! We are somebodies! They can't p-push us aside and forget about us! We matter! I MATTER!" She screamed out at the top of her lungs. She fell back onto the curve and laid down, a few tears finally coming down her eyes.

Kaito marveled at it. He had never seen Meiko so emotional. She was always so good at hiding her problems but it seemed even she had a breaking point. He wondered what was her story, what was she hiding.

"Yeah…let's not let them forget about us." Kaito repeated and sat down on the curve next to her. He looked up at the sky. "I wish to not be forgotten, ever again."

Meiko sniffled lightly as she sat up and leaned her head up against his shoulder. "I wished I mattered…"

Saddened as he was, Kaito raised his head and began to sing to the night. He knew what his next song would be for his album at least.

"The voices that I heard are no longer there

An invisible wall blocks my way

The connected threads entwines

While I stayed here unable to move

The sun set and the red moon rose sadly

Left forgotten by time, the nights comes and goes…"

Just off in the distance of the town, another sound came loudly in the night. It thundered through the air and ended with a loud crash. Dogs began to bark and car alarms burst out into cries. A heavenly blue glow that had come falling from the sky in that moment had started to fade from within a small alleyway. As it vanished away, a single person was left in its place. She lied there on the ground, clenched tightly to herself and resting as though nothing had occurred.

A/N: Thanks for returning for the second chapter! It was shorter than I meant it to be but the next one will be longer. Sorry it is coming in slowly. Updates will start speeding up soon. For this chapter's song reference Kaito is singing the song "Time Forgotten One", which is the 26th demo song from Kaito V3. You can hear the music here: watch?v=uYNwVRrOXhM

Please Review! And the Poll for Vocaloid pairings is on the profile!

Next Chapter: Meiko has a troubling secret that pushes her away from the others while it may also be pulling her away from her dream. Meanwhile Miku has woken to a world full of deprived dreamers and makes the first efforts to ease their pain, all the while trying to adjust to modern civilization.