So, here is the chapter 3. I enjoy writing this chapter so I hope you guys enjoyed it too.

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Chapter 3: A SONG, A CONTRACT AND A MISSION

Right now, my whole body is covered by a pink tablecloth that smell of alcohol and other kind of beverage. I am in a squatting posture, with both of my hands raised up to head level, forming a perfect triangle. I should also mention that both my hands are pretty occupied, where each of them holds a glass of beverage, the left one is icy Coke, while the right one is Hot Cappuccino. And I am also balancing a flower vase on my head. I tell you its pretty easy, once you blend in with the environment.

Yes, people. I am now acting as a piece of furniture you guys called a table.

Why? Blame that girl who is sitting happily at the other side of the room, chatting merrily a group whom what normal people would avoid at the first glance. I am on the other hand is the knight in worn out armour of pink and frilly tablecloth with two glass of cheap beverages as sword and shield, a flower vase as the helmet, waiting for the right moment to rescue a wacko girl in distress.

Boy, I sure hope that right moment will come sooner because my leg is killing me!

Guess I should reflect back what happened that drive me into this kind of mess. Flashback time, please!

Back when I was tailing them, I heard of one them said that they were heading for a karaoke box called 'Siren'. One of the guys, his name is Kinta, called the place and reserved a spot. I know the place so I took a short cut. Better plan first before you venture into the enemy territory. When I arrived at the place, I soon realized that I need some sort of disguise to blend in. Therefore, I slip into the shop by using the backdoor and 'borrow' an attendant uniform. After that, I went to the register counter to check for reservation.

Kinta. Kinta. Kinta. Found it! Room 01. I close the book and make my way to the room to learn the layout of the upcoming battlefield.

"Hey, you! Stop!"

Oh oh! I got caught already?

The man was holding two trays full of juices, probably was heading to one of the rooms to serve the customer. He quickly ran toward me while balancing the trays. It was quite an amazing feat.

"What are you doing, taking a break? We got a lot of customer tonight, so you better no slacking off. Here take this tray and deliver them to room 23. Go now!"

Oh, yeah!My disguise. Phew! I thought I was done for. I was planning to walk away after he left but he somehow detect my plan and stared at me until I had to go straight to Room 23. Damn, the room is so far away from Room 01. After serving the customers, I hurriedly to the room. Hopefully they haven't arrived yet. Thank goodness, they aren't here yet. I scanned the room for place to hide myself.

Behind the sofa? Nah, the hole is too small. Under the table? If I want my feet sticking out, yeah. Pretend as a mannequin? Dude, what am I thinking?

Before I could decide, I heard some footstep and the girl's voice, coming toward the door. Crap, there is no time! A small space created by two sofas caught my attention. I pull the tablecloth, jumped into the small space and cover myself with the cloth.

The door opened as soon I managed to get the position right. From tiny holes of the cloth, I can saw all of them taking their seats while chatting merrily with each other. A guy from the group, who are has the most built body and a scar carved across his right eye sat on the sofa next to me. I felt cold sweat running through my cheeks as I recognized that scary face. He is the leader of the Onimaru gang, Old Man Oda! I heard many scary rumours around him. Just remembering all those stories bring chill to my balls. That's how extremely scary to be seated next to him. And yet the girl can just casually call him 'Big Teddy'.

Ahahaha. This suck. The girl is dead and I am next in line. Why the heck I am trying to be a hero? Guess good man die young huh? God, if I died tonight, I want ten thousand angels serving me in heaven!

They sang a few songs. Typical gang's choice of music. Its all oldies but also in hard rock genre with chivalry as the themes. I still can't understand why Miku can still smiling under this condition.

To make thing worse than it already is, two guys from the gang put the juices on the supposedly 'table', which is me. Luckily, they accurately put them in my hand. When I am just about to ponder of my good luck, a guy put a vase on my head. It seems he want to place his legs on the middle table. Just great. Now I am stuck with balancing two glasses of drinks with my hands and a vase on top of my heads.

Just picture a ridiculously yoga position. That's what I looked right now under the pink tablecloth.

I was just reminiscing of what had happened when a guy screamed over the phone used to call the staff to serve the customer drinks.

"HEY BASTARDS! How you guys do business here, huh? The fucking karaoke machine broke down! Don't tell me we paid our money for this cheap stuff! Who do you think we are, scum?"

Double tap of misfortunes, eh God? Why you have to make it worst? Who knows what would happen if these guys were provoked.

"We haven't heard our princess sing yet. You want me to kill you, huh? You better.."

Suddenly he stopped screaming. Its all maybe because Miku took the phone from him while smiled innocently, causing to guy to stood there speechless. What are you doing, Miku?

"I am sorry for the sudden outburst of my friend," she said calmly, without hesitation, "but it's true that the machine broke down. Can we please change to another room? We can't? That's too bad."

That seems to be the signal of the end of everything. Either the group will go home quietly without causing any ruse, or something terrible and unimaginable would happen.

"But we can still have fun!"

Huh?

"Can you bring something for me? Yeah, right now please." After that, she silently handed the phone to the guy and walked to her seat. What plan she has on her mind to calm this infamous violent group, I wonder?

A staff came and brought along with him a tray of empty glasses, two spoons and a bottle of water. He seems scared enough to wet his pants when he showed up his face. Who wouldn't when you were surrounded by some macho guys who can probably break your neck with just a snap?

After the guy left, the girl arranged the glasses in a straight line on a tray. Then, she poured different amount of water into each of the glasses. She did it very carefully as I can see the tense in her eyes. After that, she took two spoons and hit each glass gently while listening closely to each of the sound they produced. What, you arent thinking to do as exactly as what I think you would, right girl?

She give a satisfied look after listening to all of the tunes produced. Then, she look around the room, and stare at the guys from face to face. She stopped and smiled broadly when she look at Old Man Oda. She picked the tray and walk carefully toward the big boss of Onimaru gang.

"Hey, Big Teddy! Can you help me with this?"

Uh, girl. I dont know what you plan really are, but are you out of your mind? This is the ferocious Old Man Oda we are talking about. Asking for help from this man is a big no-no.

To my suprise, Old Man Oda listen tentatively to Miku's request. He took the spoon and stare at the tray of glasses.

"Thanks you Teddy. Well, the thing is when I sing I want you to hit the the glasses like this." She then hit the glasses in a certain order. A certain melody that is both calming and sweet rings throughout the room.

Old Man Oda raised an eyebrow. Oh oh! Is he annoyed by those tunes?

Miku then smiled and said "Dont worry, Big Teddy! You can do it! Just hit them like these."

Err, girl. I dont think a boss of a ruffian need your encouragement like that. Its like you are treating like a middle schooler. And thats is dangerous. She whistles some tunes, followed by Old Man Oda trying to hit the glasses to match the rythms. It sound off pitch, but it doesn't sound bad at all.

Miku walked to the front and when she saw Old Man Oda face she said, " Hehe! It's fine if you mess up. What important is you have fun. Then everyone please hear me sing!"

A brief moment of silence surrounded the room. This atmosphere. Its what will you will feel before the start of a concerto. Her whisper could be heard by everyone in the room.

"This is 'Melt',"

Then, she finally sing.

"Waking up in the morning, I had only one thought inside my mind, Yes, it was you, Had a cut the other day, so you could notice and say to me, why the new style?, pink skirt flower barette, stick it on my hair then I am going out, Today you will see how cute I can be! MELT! I am melting as I think of you, I love you, and even so, I am to shy to say that, However, MELT! I can't even look at your eyes, how ever will I get my feelings across to you? Its is you that is holding my heart still, Oh, please stop the time, this tear wouldn't stop, but I am so happy right now, that I could just die!"

When she stopped singing, I was speechless. And so are the others. What is this sweet and exciting feeling that started swelling inside of me? She was good, an angelic electric voice that would calm anyone with her songs. I never hear anything like it. And the tunes, I was surprised that Old Man Oda can produce such soothing tunes. Even he himself was surprised of what he had accomplished, it's written all over on his astonished face.

The girl looked at everyone face, one by one and said, "Everyone why don't we sing together? It would be more exciting that way."

Everyone looked at each other. She didn't wait for any response, take a deep breath and continue to sing again.

"Lalalalalalala"

Everyone except Miku is silent, but one of them started thumping their feet to follow the beat,

"Lalalalalalala"

then some started to hit the table with their hand to match the rhythms, and some started clapping their hands,

"Lalalalalalalalala Ahhhh!"

It goes without saying that everyone in the room-except me of course, joined the merry band and started singing too. Miku smiled and continued to sing while Old Man Oda hit the glasses.

"MELT! The time of parting has arrived, though we will meet again, oh until then you will disappear, And again MELT! Oh, God! Please tie us forever, already missing you, I never want, to say goodbye, I take you in my arms and say I love you!, ….in my dreams. Lalalalalalalalala Ahhhh!"

She finishes the song with a bow. Everyone clap, and cheered. They were all happy and satisfied after hearing she sang. To be honest, I too feel excited and want to cheer for her but that would give away my cover. I realized then everyone was having fun, so I turned to look at Old Man Oda reaction.

Err, if everyone is having so much fun, why the big guy trembling? I do so hope he wasn't trembling with anger.

" You guys...this song..."he started whispering, even with that everyone stopped whatever is they were doing. His voice is like the thunder, could be heard even miles away. Was he mad about the song? Well it is pretty fluttery and girly, probably won't fit and will ruin his reputation. I prepared for the worst.

"Princess...that was a great song. PERFECT 10!", he exclaimed loudly while giving a thumb up.

Huh?Huh?

"Ah, that girl in the song, her innocence touches my heart. It makes me remember of me when I was in high school. Both of us had the same problems."

Ahahaha, his reaction shatters all the impressions I had about this guy earlier. Oh, no. Now, he started crying. Everyone smiled at the boss reaction and some are holding their mouth trying not to laugh.

"Anyway, I had fun tonight, and so are my guys. So, THANK YOU, princess!"

I suddenly felt a something was poured on me. It was cold. Actually, it was very COLD!

"COLD!", I jumped abruptly, toring the cloth away then I heard something broke producing a 'CLANG" sound.

Oh. Its just the drinks and also the vase. It seems Old Man Oda got a little too excited and knocked over the glassses I was holding. When I jumped, the vase on my head loss its balnce and also fall down. When I regained my cool, I looked around the room.

Ah, I was discovered.

Please, everyone. Don't look me with such murdering eyes!

The girl broke the silence by exclaiming "MASTER! You came!"

The guys went silent and stared at us back and forth. Ahahaha. This would take long to explain.

Actually, it wasnt. I only have to explain to them with simple words and then Old Man Oda smiled and gave me a pat on the back. Everyone too laughed and smiled. After that, everyone left the shop since the karaoke box broke. The owner apologized and wanted to give a refund, but the Old Man Oda refused and said this.

"No need. We have fun tonight"

They were actually good guys. He even paid for the stuff I broke earlier. Well, I learned something precious tonight. Never trust rumours until you see the real thing with you own eyes. We walked together until we come to a junction. Its time to part ways.

"Well, time for us to go patrolling. Hey little guy, take care of our princess would you?"

"Sure. Hey, Old Man Oda. I got to be frank. I thought you were a bad guy earlier, but I guess you are not. Sorry."

I thought he would be angry, but he just smiled and give me another pat in the back, a strong one this time. Is he angry after all?

"Well, it can't be helped because of what we did. But like farmers, someone have to get dirty with muds, for others to enjoy the sweet taste of rice. You would understand someday."

He is a good guy. I feel ashamed of myself for thinking the opposite.

"Its been a wonderful night. Here is my number. Give us a call whenever you two need help. Well, then goodnight and if fate willing, we will see each other again."

"Bye, Big Teddy!"

They walked away slowly until the group disappear through the night in Tokyo. I turned to look at the girl, who was smiling at me.

"What?"

"Tehee. Master, you came. I am very happy for that"

"Well, I couldn't exactly just leave a crazy brat like you hanging around with them by yourself"

She pouted "Buuu! Master, you are being mean again. But, they are nice guys, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they the way, take this." I handed to her the stuff I bought from the mart earlier.

"What's this? Juices and...LEEEK? Oh, I love this!Thank you so much master!"

She actually likes it. It's so absurd that she kept on acting to stay in character. Her reaction make me blushed a little though. Hey, no hugging.

"Really, thank you, master. If it wasn't for you idea, I wouldn't met them and have so much fun tonight. It wasn't a stage as I imagined but it would do. Yes, I think I pretty happy right now. So, thank you and goodbye."

She turned and started walking away through the distant night. Girl, if you are happy, why the sad face? Urghh, this isn't right. I hurriedly grab her shoulder and stared at her face.

"Oh, for God's sake! Stop pretending already! Where is your enthusiasm? Earlier, you were nagging all the way, asking for stage. And you didn't give up either when people turned your offer to sing for free. So, why give up now?"

"But, master. Its okay. I think I am happy right now, so it's alright."

"Ahh! God! You are so fucking unbelievable! You think you are happy? Bullshit!You don't think emotion, you feel it. Don't you dare say that crap after you gave me that sad face.

"...I am sorry, master."

It doesn't take an idiot to realize that I am being too hard on her. She has this troubled look written all over her face. I drew my breath so that I can regain my calm.

"Listen here, girl. What you did back there, was amazing. So, I don't think you should give up your dream yet. And you should learn to ask help 'nicely' from others. Learn to lean on others, kay?"

She looked at me puzzled and said, "Then, you will help me master?"

"Huh? No, thats..."

Don't give me those puppy eyes. Crap, I am trapped, ain't I?

"Geez, I get it already. Okay, I will get you a stage. I will even get you a hall equipped with awesome sound system and special effects and also full of audience, a band of super musicians to rock you concert upside down. I promised it would be a blast. So, until then, don't give up, kay?"

Dude, I promised a lot, some that seems impossible. Whatever. It succeeded in bringing back the usual smile on her face.

"Thanks master! By the way, I don't know your name yet master."

"Wasn't usually the one who was asking should introduce themselves first?"

"But you already knew my name of course. Its Hatsune Miku."

"You sure like to act as her, don't you? Fine, I shall call you Miku then. My name is Akihiko Sanada, and cut the thing with calling me 'Master'. Just Aki would be fine."

"Alright, Master...ah sorry, Aki."

We shake hand. This is the proof of our contract. As I looked into her eyes, I am determined to do what I can to make her dream come mission start now.

"Well then Miku, when you would like to have your concert?" I said as I pulled my note book from my pocket. I always plan things ahead and jot things down in my note book. Hmm, next month should be appropriate.

"Tonight."

I dropped both my book and my jaw. You are kidding, right?

"And also I forgot to tell you this, but my friends are also coming to perform in the concert."

Huh? There is more of you?

Geez, this is gonna turned up to be a very, very long night, literally.

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Hahaha, looks like Aki would be in a lot of trouble. Well, he asked for it by being too nice. Well, anyway.

Thats all folk. See you next Monday. Oh yeh, I revised this chapter a little in a blog so thats its content can be enjoyed to the max, so check it out. Here is the link:

/2010/07/04/chap-3-from-aftermath-of-39s-giving-day/