As it turned out, that Oni outfit was something just as outdated in fashion as the Jinboari he was packaged with. It was an elaborate blue, and lavender kimono with dragon patterns, over a black surcoat with long, flowing sleeves and tied shut with a black and red sash. New gold LED lights, too, were part of the costume for him to put over his headphones.

Alongside all that was a grimacing black horned mask, which Gackpo was meant to strap on his face or the side of his head. Although he was still admiring his new clothes in the mirror, he was made with the outfit on not too long after arriving home. There was a dusty full-length mirror propped up on the balcony that they used as he adjusted ties and straps.

The wind was sweeping through and everything moved on the balcony, giving the effect that, something dramatic was happening to the onlooker. But for Gackpo, who was not the onlooker, the wind blowing around his kimono and hair was just annoying.

He leaned back against the opposite end of the balcony to press his clothes against something solid. By the glass door, Meiko was looking at him with Kaito, both with squinting eyes and twitching lips. Gackpo opened the glass door again. "Well?"

"Real scary," Kaito lit his second cigarette. "You'll look great singing Enki in that."

He pulled off the mask and ran his fingers along the ridges of the grimacing monster's cheeks. "What song am I singing in Enki?"

"You, me, and Kaito, we're all singing a cover of 'The Ogre and the Maiden.'"

He frowned at her. "But that song only has one singer, doesn't it?"

"Oh, yeah, all alone I'm the star," Kaito mumbled as he chewed on his cigarette. "But our producer shoehorns in singing roles that aren't worth anything, and gives my lines away to someone else, and thinks choruses are all the rage...!"

...As he then pulled himself up off the floor, Meiko stepped back and took a drink from her bottle. "Calm down Kaito, you'll sing solo on the next one," she said, while Gackpo sat down and kept staring at the mask. "Hey! We all have outfits for it. You want to see mine?"

He set the mask down and looked at them both for a brief moment, Kaito brushing off his clothes and grumbling while Meiko's eyes were shining. That face, he couldn't imagine it on a fierce and ugly Oni. Maybe Kaito's. "If you want."

"Okay!" Meiko hurried into the first room, shutting the screen behind her as she undressed. Kaito was now left alone with the moody Gackpo, who was continuing to study the mask on the table with a fascination he thought unwarranted.

Then, as the bluenet started to loosen his shoulders, Kaito saw those violet eyes shoot up in his direction and stare at him. "..." He'd already been shoved once today. And that guy's eyes were so intense. "...What is it?" Still given no reply, Kaito took the cigarette out of his mouth and pulled the packet out of his back pocket. "Do you want one?"

"I have half a joint from McDonalds. I don't need anything else," Gackpo muttered, resting a hand on his palm as he looked towards the screen. Only a faint silhouette of Meiko could be seen.

In the next minute she stepped out at last, dressed in a gradiant red and pink kimono with a sparkling black sash. On her head was strapped a horned mask of her own, colored white. "Ta-da!"

Like her skirt, the bottom of the kimono didn't reach to her knees. Gackpo was starting to realize that she had actual legs. "Huh."

Kaito took his cigarette out again, his eyes narrowing to slits. "Huh?"

Meiko struck a pose, one foot over the other and one arm above her head. "Hey little bro, put your costume on now!"

"I don't want to," Kaito sat at the opposite end of the table. "He's already got an eyeful, he knows the drill."

She sighed, stepping back to normal, "But I really like your costume." As if trying to get the new Vocaloid in on her tactic she met his eyes with hers while she smiled, but Gackpo kept staring blankly as she talked, "Unless you think that Gackpo's looks better on him."

"Of course it doesn't, as the original singer of the song I'm supposed to be the star!" The chair squeaked, and Kaito's feet struck against the floor, until he reached the first room and pulled the screen shut behind him. Meiko brushed a few strands of hair out of her eyes and put the mask aside. "He didn't used to be that grumpy, you know."

She was right across from him. Again those eyes. Naturally, they were shining because of the lights installed behind them, but it also felt like she was projecting herself through those eyes. His own must look so dull; so far, it didn't feel like he had a self to project. Gackpo looked down quickly. "Huh."

"..." Meiko leaned back in the chair, "So, Gackpo...?"

"..." The screen door slid open again.

The Oni on the table also looked like he had nothing to project, and so he, instead, had his lips pulled back and his gold teeth out as if to distract from his round eyes. Gackpo had never seen someone look so painstakingly unhappy.

"Gha-!"

"Look at my outfit when I put it on, you jerk!" His face smashed into the table and knocking the mask down to the floor, Gackpo heard Kaito's voice just above.

Meiko's, too, "Oh, don't be so rude, little brother!"

"Doesn't even look up when I went to all the trouble!"

"That's not exactly his fault."

"I'm going to rip that mask off and feed it to you." Now Gackpo's fierce face, sitting up, was a perfect match for that black mask on the tiles.

Kaito's face, in the meantime had turned as blue and white as the kimono he wore. "Uh."

Meiko scrambled up on her feet as the sounds of those two tearing across the floor sounded through the little apartment. "Wait! Wait! Don't roughhouse! You'll rip your costumes! Guys!"

Note: Whoop, that was a longer break than I planned, apologies! School is taking a lot out of me, so I'll try to keep updating more regularly but yeah. I know kind of where I want this story to go, now, better than before, so hopefully that will help!