Chapter 2 – The Voluntary Recruit

About three weeks—give or take—have passed since Virtual High's rather chaotic beginning. During this time, Matsudappoiyo has—surprisingly—been improving on waking up by himself in the mornings, only in an ironic trade-off of Ron's lunch-hour consisting of a peaceful, sleeping weight on his right shoulder. Poine's circle of friends seemed to have diversified a bit since the previous year; now for the first time, she can't help but think that such a complicated system of friends along with trying to keep up with them all is, overall, a bit tiring. Ura Ron is happier than ever in Big Al's Analytical Mechanics class; since that 4-week grading-period was almost completely dedicated to the massive loads of terminology that were, strangely, effortlessly remembered; thus giving the blonde time to mess around and have some fun. Meanwhile, Poiyo was being kept plenty busy with A.P. Psychology and the dozen or so papers that his professor—none other than Dr. Hiyama Kiyoteru—had him write over that period of time. What's funny about that class—so Poiyo thinks—is that the class isn't nearly as bad as the stereotypes had made it appear to be. It was more so a class of critical thinking rather than lessons out of the textbooks. The sleepy UTAUloid, one day, had asked his professor why; and he ended up sitting though a 5-minute explanation of how A.P. Psychology is actually a philosophy and thinking class in disguise, and that the reason for calling it "A.P. Psychology" was to scare the students into not taking it. Poiyo had walked out of that class bewildered upon finding out the irony of it all. Show-Choir, held at the last class-period of the day by Hatsune Miku—with IA as her assistant—wasn't nearly as large of a class as Ted had predicted before. Already a few performances have been learned and nearly perfected for a school-wide concert.

With the first-week-of-school rush done and over with, the hallways during passing-periods ringed with the occasional talk about the upcoming annual homecoming dance; otherwise known to them as "UTAFEST". Unlike other schools and their minor diddling social festivals, UTAFEST was one of three grand school-wide celebrations. Such effort and pride was taken into each and every one; as if it became a spirit-syncing portion of their culture, so centered around music, performances, the voice, and other affiliated topics of the sort. One that missed out on such an UTAFEST—especially if it be a first opportunity for he or she—would do so crying sooner or later. UTAFEST was something planned relatively far in advance; requiring daily after-school meetings led by the Student Council to discuss the theme, layout, decorations, funding, and any other questions and issues that may arise. Word has it around Virtual High that this year's "Opening UTAFEST" is going to be huge, probably one of the greatest festivals since the school opened.

Another exhausting school-day was almost gone. Clara's Spanish lessons were still ringing in Keine Ron's head from the previous class. His ebony braid had lost a bit of its hold and his face had a hot pink tone from the strict training in Show-Choir. As much as it was annoying that if one person messes up—causing IA to blow her whistle and Miku to stop and restart the music—the fault was a collective responsibility, it was equally worth another 1st-place award on the wall alongside the 10 or 20 more. Not that it was an easy task to keep up the consecutive stream of gold-awards, for the other districts in the NicoNico-community sometimes put up a challenging competition, so they trained for the toughest.

"Alright, everyone, good job today!" IA called out to the class as they held their finishing pose for their last song, "We've got 10 minutes left before the bell rings, so you're free to kinda just do whatever". A vast majority of the students sat down in small groups of 3 or 4 or so and casually chatted about such-and-such things; one of these groups consisted of Poine, Teto, and Ron. Others individuals pulled out a deck of cards from his or her pocket to play a few rounds of Velocity or whatever card-game they collectively deemed entertaining that day, while others gathered around the few to join in on the fun. The class in itself consisted mainly of well-known Japanese UTAU, so stage-directions and melodies were learned at a rate of fair approval. As a plus, the songs that Miku and IA chose for the class were of good taste; and thankfully not the 'classics'; well-known songs that gain popularity a little too quickly and that everyone else likes to make UTAU Covers of nonstop.

The intercom sounded unexpectedly, and the class fell silent and looked up to the ceiling-speaker to listen to the news:

"Good afternoon, everyone! This is Defoko speaking for the Student Council in regards to this year's Opening UTAFEST coming up in the next five or six weeks..." She paused, as if expecting something.

For a short while, faint cheers can be heard through the thick school-walls from other classrooms—maybe even other floors—of the building. Some from the Show-Choir giggled at the coincidence, but were then immediately hushed by Miku. They were all waiting eagerly for this moment.

"...We have decided to make some slight changes in our procedures leading up to UTAFEST along with its preparations, so listen carefully. First off: we moved the time that UTAFEST starts from Friday night after school to Saturday night. That way, you'll have plenty of time to prepare for it rather than being in a 2-hour rush from school to home and back to school again."

The students exchanged glances and nodded in approval.

"Second: The theme that the Student Council took a vote on will require as much help as we can get from the rest of you here at Virtual High. We can't rely on just volunteers alone, so we came up with a solution: indentured volunteers will be selected by the class that students are currently in this semester; and they will be required to stay after school to help contribute to decorations and other features in this year's UTAFEST. On the bright side, however, the students in the classes nominated to volunteer are exempt from any homework that their teachers assign during this time. Students that decide to volunteer on their own are also part of this new policy to a certain extent." Defoko paused again, allowing for the listeners to let the information sink in.
"And now, for the list of nominated classes: Interior and Fashion Design, 2D Art, 3D Art, Piano II and III, the Virtual High Orchestra, Building Construction, Culinary Arts, AP Calculus, and AP Psychology. First volunteer meeting is tomorrow after school in the gym. We look forward to seeing you there. Thank you and have a great day."

The speakers sounded off again, thus ending the afternoon announcements. The whole Show-Choir class sat and gazed around at one another in silence for a bit, then began to question and comment about the UTAFEST decisions left and right; Why so many volunteers? Why wasn't Show-Choir nominated to assist? Doesn't Show-Choir usually perform at UTAFEST? What kind of theme would need Building Construction, Art, and Psychology consecutively contributing to the same thing? One assumption was for certain: This year's Opening UTAFEST was going to be huge. The cacophony the conversations were creating became a bit much; to the point where IA had to blow her whistle to keep everyone quiet and to have their attention.

"Okay, okay, everyone!" She called out, hushing down the remaining talking UTAUloids, "I know there's a lot going on regarding our Show-Choir and the UTAFEST, but Miku and I have a good explanation."

"Let's see, now…" Miku mumbled as she sat at her desk in front of her laptop, skimming a recent e-mail sent from the Student Council, "According to this e-mail, we'll be doing our performances the Friday right before UTAFEST". She looked up at the rest of the class, rather interested. "I suppose it has to do with whatever theme they're doing, or maybe they didn't have the room to fit it in". The students exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. With ironic timing, the anticipated bell rang, and the hallways filled quickly with students excited about what's to come along with simply coming home after a long school-day.

"So… Are you going to be a volunteer or what?" Ura Ron questioned Ron, as he attempted parkour over the couch, making a rough, bouncy landing on the cushions.

"I'll think about it after I help Poiyo here get done with his Spanish homework" The original answered from the kotatsu table that he and Poiyo sat at, "In two days, there's a test on everything we've learned so far, and I need to make sure he's prepared. Go bother Poine or something". Ura Ron scoffed playfully while rolling off the couch and finding his way to the kitchen as Ron casually and carelessly shooed him off.

"Okay, anyway…" Ron brought his attention back to Poiyo, "Sorry about that, where were we?"
"I think we were just finishing up reviewing for the food-unit".
"Ah, yes, that's right… Do you have any more questions before we move on to the grammar?"
"No, I don't think so, but…"
"But…?"

"…Why do I have a feeling that there's words missing from the list that we should know?"
"Probably because you didn't write all the words like Clara told us to do."
"No, no, I have all the words, I mean… like… extra words."
"Like what?"
"Like… What's chicken in Spanish?"
"Oh, um… Huh…" Ron sat baffled slightly, "Hold on, let me see what the dictionary says". He flipped though pages left and right, first by the masses, then gradually by the individual pages to sort out the next few letters of the word, narrowing the range of pages the definition would be hiding in. A likely page was found and the entries were skimmed through for the right word, finding it near the bottom of the page.
"Pollo."
"What, what is it?"
"No, it's pollo."
"No, I'm Poiyo."
"No, no, the definition: pollo!"
"What? What did I do?"
"Nothing! Just… Look". Keine Ron slid the open book over to where Poiyo could see it.
"Oooohh… pollo."
"Yes, Poiyo… That's the word for chicken."

The two of them simply gazed at each other, dumbfounded for a brief moment, from the irony that slowly dawned upon them as something rather humorous. Smiles grew on each of their faces as small, somewhat suppressed, giggles steadily intensified in the passing moments. They joked and commented on the coincidence further—along with mentioning other funny instances in Spanish, such as the hilarious difference between esposa and esposas, and even Ron's name had an unexpected definition in Spanish as well—until they were laughing loud enough for Poine to hear from her bedroom the next floor up.

In what seemed to be a rather interesting night and a slow, tired start that next morning, blurred together in the lapse of time—not entirely sure if it quickened in pace or not—the group of about 10 or so friends rendezvous once again at the big table on the second floor of the school library. Surprisingly enough, even after a few weeks into school, no one below took the few seconds to look up and notice that there was more to the library than that of the crowded first floor. At this point in time, however, there was neither a good reason—nor the motive in the students themselves—to disperse among the other levels of the library; for the word "UTAFEST" rang excitedly among the cacophony of conversation. They talked about the volunteer work; how some were planning to attend the first meeting after school to become official volunteers, while others preferred to take an academic advantage over the physical labor of the preparations, or perhaps some would simply opt out for the element of surprise on the night of the Opening UTAFEST. Another factor mentioned by some that wouldn't attend the Volunteers' Meeting involved a schedule interference; usually from that of a few-hour night-shift in a cute little shop somewhere among hundreds in Downtown NicoNico. Kasane Teto—one in the group of ten alongside the glass-bordered balcony above—was among those that had such a position to occupy; but since she was required by the school to assist in setting up for UTAFEST, she was in a bit of a dilemma. Thankfully, though, the drill-hair girl was friends and co-workers with Miku, who would be more than happy to cover for her shift and coax their boss into arranging the proper accommodations. Every UTAUloid had something unique to say in regards to whether or not they could go or how much of a use they thought they would be.

"…It really depends on the theme that the Student Council is keeping a secret—for some odd reason" Ron's quirky blonde look-alike declared. Such a statement would be sure to raise some eyebrows and cause a chain-reaction to some other good points.
Sora laughed quietly to himself for a brief moment: "Yeah, Ura Ron, what're you planning on doing, cake-decoration?"
"Hey, I can decorate a good cake!" The other blonde responds stubbornly; standing up, leaning over the table, with one hand on it for support and the other pointing to himself for emphasis.
"Yeah? Since when?"
"Since…" He was dumbfounded, and slowly descends into his seat, not so willing to admit it, a slight frown appearing on his face, "Since I began working at the little bakery downtown". He kept a majority of his focus at the edge of the table, trying to avoid most eye-contact with the others. The slightly embarrassed blonde murmured slightly: "I hate admitting it, that sort of thing".
Ruko, more so joyous than usual—whether the cause be the vast influences of excitement from the other 3000 or more students or from a more simplistic factor—came to an epiphany, smiling lightly, pointing to the look-alikes respectively: "Oh~ Looks like Ron and Ura really are the inverses of each other! Ron likes to cook, while Ura does the pastries and deserts! They'd be a perfect team, right?".
"They would be a perfect team if their personalities didn't interfere so much" Ted brings up a good point, his glasses gleaming for a second in the light. The so-called 'twins' would dominate, with unimaginable quality, the task of preparing food for a large gathering of people. If all went well—and by "well", absolutely no bickering or any type of sibling disputes—those enjoying the feast would think of both the main course and the dessert as a fine, rare delicacy; and to later on discover the product came from that of their own people, a surprise within itself.
"Oh, yeah!" Ura Ron laughed, "…Like on the first day of school when Ron and I got into that little slapping-fight and you tried to stop it!"
"Don't remind me…"
"Hey, Ron, you can help out in UTAFEST, can't you?" Poine said with a confident smile on her face, "If the theme is something grand and classy… like… a 5-star restaurant kinda thing, you can be the headmaster chef! I mean, just imagine all the people that'll be there, and wondering: 'Who in the world did this awesome food?'"
Ron was in a somewhat bashful denial upon her boasting about his hidden talents, "Poine, you know I'm not all that great…"
"Are you kidding, Ron? You're amazing."
"No, really, I—"
"Ron…" Poine gave him one of those looks, a silent last warning to shut up for a moment. She leaned in a little closer to him to make a point: "I think that you should go to that UTAFEST meeting… Just to see if you're even the slightest bit worthy of being headmaster chef, okay?". She smiled again for reassurance.
The boy in green was limited in his choice of words: "…Alright. I'll consider it, and… maybe I'll go".
"Good~"

Before he knew it, he was in the practice-studio where the Show-Choir class took place. Ron Keine had never felt so conflicted about such a thing; it was a mental, unspoken battle between his personality—along with his confidence in cooking, or, perhaps, lack thereof—against Poine's rather powerful—yet, strangely motherly—influences to put his talents to the test and to enjoy what is, more than likely, going to be the greatest UTAFEST there ever was. Truly, his decision fluctuated time and time again in both extremes—though the reader may recall the so-called "compromise" made to Poine that morning. "All the talk about UTAFEST… Is it really all worth it?" he would think. Or perhaps, out of a curiosity that gradually wore down his own silent suppression against it, he would come across a contradicting thought: "but what's wrong with having a little fun? Besides, Poine has a point…" The fairly known boy was well aware that the food—in this instance or any instance for that matter—was one of the more important factors in such an event. Considering to converse with Poine about the subject matter again, he is but only half knowingly aware of his excitement for the upcoming UTAFEST. And at the given time, he was more than willing—though he wouldn't dare admit to others or even himself—to settle once and for all the significance of either opportunity cost.

During that time-frame, when the class kept him both physically and mentally busy, his thoughts were generally on temporary hiatus; a relief in some sense, especially since such a festival and the concerns associated with it caused a near-sleepless night or two. On the contrary, with so much talk and excitement from the UTAFEST and all its future participants doing nothing but occupying a majority of the thought-process, the subject-matter became rapidly habitual to mentally dwell upon. When said subject was forced on its momentary leave, his state of mind was almost blank, as if on pause; as if the dizzying control of itself exceedingly suppressed the full potential of the open and high-functioning thought. Yet, surprisingly, considering his aloof condition, the boy with the iconic blue eyes and black braid managed to keep perfectly in-step with the remainder of the show-choir and on-beat with the music that filled the air by none other than a few giant speakers from various locations of the room. And before his own discombobulated perception of time told him so, the lessons and practice were complete for the day, and the class was permitted to relax during the end-of-class smidgen of free time.

Teto and Poine sat down somewhere on the wide open floor with him, as usual, and were then told of his conversation with Matsudappoiyo in the Spanish class prior to the current one. He was, at that point in time, convinced to stay at home; not only to assist Poiyo with compensating for lost study-time, but also to help Poine with watching over Ura Ron while Poiyo was gone. The reader may remember that Ura Ron has a secret fondness of the sweeter desserts—especially that of cakes with both elegant design and taste—and if there be a case in the near-future where the school call upon his little downtown bakery for the task of making one of the biggest cakes ever made, that case would be delayed until about two weeks prior to the UTAFEST itself. Until then, Ura Ron has some free time, regardless of whether or not he should participate in the actual preparations. The boy would be a hassle for Poine to watch and care for by herself, since that quirky and wildish blonde was a handful of responsibility, and seemingly more so for each passing week. At hearing this, Poine frowned slightly—especially at Ron's own extra input regarding his blonde derivative—but, nonetheless, was easily able to elicit some counterpoints and flaws to Poiyo's logic; as it was more than likely from experience. By the end of the miniature lecture, Ron's mindset, once again, was on a complete turnaround due to the partial-motherly influence; willing, once again, to be a part of the UTAFEST, and this time, almost for certain. Sure, Poiyo would be a tad bit confused at the moment he caught sight of Ron and his sister at the afterschool meeting, but all would be settled after some explanation on Ron's part, and then Poine's upon homeward arrival. As for Ura Ron, his behavior patterns when with Poine and Poine alone are neither known nor questioned about.

The bell dictating the end of the school-day rang, and all the students excitedly and rapidly filled the hallways once again, cheering excitedly all within it. The Overseas UTAU must have started their own week-long trend, starting with a boy shouting above the cacophony of voices: "Dear ladies, smile! You're all beautiful!"; followed by a girl shouting in response: "Dear weird boy in space, don't tell me what to do!". Laughter ensued. To Ron watching the revelry unfold from the sidelines, he pondered, for a moment, at the differences between Overseas UTAU and "The Locals" such as himself. Just what in the world do they consider funny, and is it thatmuch different from the humor of The Locals? Ron knew very well that a UTAU could only be one or the other; and that when he or she becomes one of them in particular, that the opportunity of seeing the world in the perspective of the other type is missed. The attempt to try and see the other side of UTAU culture was short-lived, and Ron navigated the hallways through the crowded hallways, as he usually did, to his locker, and then onward to the gymnasium, where the first meeting was being held.

The school gymnasium of Virtual High was probably among the largest of all the NicoNico schooling districts. The main floor was large enough to do almost any kind of sport, or even a combination of some sports simultaneously. Above it, similarly to the layout of the library, a balcony bordered by chrome and glass encircled the whole gymnasium; and at some distance behind the waist-high glass walls were retractable bleachers, all of which were out and partially occupied by the individuals who figured the floor below was far too crowded. Ron looked down over the balcony; and saw that the entire square footage of the gym floor was almost completely covered by a vast crowd of volunteers, including those that were required to be there. Among the crowd, Ron found Poiyo, taking a light nap before the meeting began. It wasn't a difficult task to pick him out, though, since the others surrounding Poiyo sat a small distance away from him, letting him be as he slept. Most of everyone knew of Matsudappoiyo and how he was notorious for taking naps. From the balcony above, the view was actually rather humorous, but not nearly enough to laugh about it. He backed away from the balcony's edge, and found Poine sitting at a convenient area on the bleachers. She smiled in greeting as he sat down next to her.

Time for salutations or small-talk was rather shortened, and a Vocaloid voice could be heard loud and clear from the. Everyone's talking ceased as they paid attention excitedly to the speaker; standing in the center of the crowd up on an elevated podium, stood a few Vocaloids; including Big Al, who was holding a large megaphone.

"Alright, everyone..." He began, testing the quality of the megaphone one last time before officially starting. Poiyo woke up from his nap, and sleepily pushed himself up to a—somewhat—upright sitting position. He could hear a few girls around him say "Awww~" as his eyes blinked slowly.
The gymnasium was in complete silence as they listened to the brunette Vocaloid.
"Good afternoon everyone… And—Wow—We have quite a bit more people than I expected..." He paused for a quick moment, before giving out directions for everyone. "...Okay, so here's what's going down: Those of you required to volunteer should all be here on the first floor in front of me, alright? What you're all doing is going to whatever teacher that teaches the class that brought you here, and they'll take you all to different parts of the building to tell you whatever game-plan they have for you. You'll know what to do after that. Now, for those of you that aren't here because you're required to: After the others are out, you can gather 'round, come down from the second floor—yes, I see you all up there—so that Kaito, SeeU, Gackupo, Kiyoteru, and I can assign you various jobs or put you with a certain group. Remember, you gotta be here everyday after school just like those that have to be here, so if you don't think you can, you can still make it to the buses if you need to get home."

Silence filled the entire gym. Big Al smiled.

"Alright, let's do this!"

The students on the gym-floor went to their corresponding teachers, and Ron could see Poiyo sleepily stand up and walk over to Dr. Kiyoteru. He could see not more than twenty students gather around him, and shortly after, leave for wherever they were heading. Several minutes pass, and after she cacophony of those that are required to volunteer leave the vast gymnasium, the remaining UTAU approached the Vocaloid sponsors in small groups, and were each assigned to a certain Vocaloid depending on his or her individual talents or qualities. Eventually, it was Ron's turn. When the second crowd had almost entirely cleared out, the fair UTAU approached Big Al. With a smile, the brunette Vocaloid looks down at him.

"Hello, there... You're a volunteer, yes?"
"Yes, sir."
"So... Tell me: What's your name?"
"Ron... Keine Ron"
"Oh, you were Gumi's favorite in Trigonometry last year..."
"Um... What?"
"Ah, forget I said that, what can you do, Ron?"
"Yes, about that..." Ron fumbled with his words a bit, "I was considering taking position as... I don't know... Headmaster Chef, maybe?"

Big Al laughs for a brief moment.
"You ought to be requesting that with confidence, boy!"

Ron couldn't exactly figure out a way to respond to that, other than dumbly blinking once or twice. The Vocaloid continues talking to him, casual smiles and all.

"I'm assuming you're talking about cooking, right? Listen, since Meiko is already the Headmaster Chef, I'll sign you up for the next-best position; her first-class assistant. You two can discuss recipes, keep the others little chefs in top-notch shape, whatever it is you chefs-to-be do...". Ron smiled at his comment, "...and if it's a slow day of if everything's running smooth, you can always go to Piko or Roro to help with the little decorations... Does that sound okay to you?"

Nodding, deeply considering the circumstance, Ron can easily agree: "...Sure."

"Alright, go get 'em, tiger. Third floor."

Keine Ron nods, heading out of the gym the same way everyone else did. Perhaps Poiyo is also on the third floor, and Ron will find him and explain why he decided to contribute to the UTAFEST in the end. Surely, Poiyo wouldn't be too upset about the whole ordeal, right? That is, if Ron ever has the chance to see him.

Little does Ron know that any effort to find Poiyo would be hopeless anyway; and that he and Poiyo will never meet with one another after school while preparing the UTAFEST. Poiyo never suspects it, and Ron—thinking that the other would figure out on his own—never tells.

Author's Note: *phew* Another chapter done! Aren't all you readers happy for such a nice, long, chapter? :3
Alright, I have some things to explain, don't I? Yes… Um…
First off, I'm sure you might have noticed a massive change with the style of the writing. That's because I started this fanfic in the summer and by the time I was writing this chapter, I was already in English class reading the Scarlet Letter, Edgar Allen Poe's works, and other works of about that difficulty. Yes, me doing a lot of reading is definitely going to have an influence in how I write, and… If it's a bit strange to you, then I'm sorry.

Second thing, some of the main characters may not be exactly so accurate in personality—Ron being so indecisive, for example—and I'm sorry for that, too. It's difficult for me to think in terms of other personalities, so I might have a small element of myself incorporated into each main character. Again, sorry if inaccuracy bothers you.
Third thing: I went back and edited some little bits of the previous chapter, mainly because I thought some things over, and I ended up redoing everyone's class-schedules along with making a few edits to some of the dialogue. So if you want, you can go back and skim over Chapter 1 to see if you missed anything. (I might end up revising this chapter, too, eventually... orz)
So… Yes. This is kind of where the official plot begins, so right now, think of the previous chapters you've read as warm-ups or prologues to the real deal. I really, really hope you've enjoyed the story thus far! It's difficult for me to keep up with loads of school-work, recording UTAU, and a whole bunch of other things, so thank you so much for your patience, I promise you, I'm doing my best here trying to keep up.

Thank you for reading this far~

~It-Nerd