Author: Meh, I bet the performance chapter was pretty boring right?
Mizuno: You make me sound like I'm crying there's no tommorrow! TT
Kiyoteru: So should we release some spoilers to avenge you oka-san? :D
Mizuno: My son is the BEST!
Author: NO NO DON- *shot* x_x
Mizuno: Ok! Dear readers/ reviewers~ There might be a movie and (Crossover)theater play being released quite soon~ So stay tuned! Also thanking TsundereMe for those countless reviews! ^^
(Gomenasai for the very late update... I was suffering from Writer's Block...)
Behind the Scenes
Miku's POV
"Aren't you the one who lectured me about ways to save money?" Gakupo smirked while speaking on the phone. "Well since you're at home, why don't you use your house phone instead?"
Feeling defeated, Kiyoteru let out a sigh.
"... Okay I surrender. You're a sharp one, samurai dude. And Lily's here with me along with her friend as well. They kept tailing me after Lily knew I was out again!" Kiyoteru received a punch from Lily in the face. Minor cracks could be heard (even from the phone). A delicate laughter could be heard as well. "We'll come in. We're just outside the house."
As long as he said that, I noticed that the window had became slightly lighter. Was that a shadow all this time? Come to think of it, Gakupo was a samurai after all. Samurais(?) were known to have sharp senses to be alert to their surroundings. Cool...
As I was pondering over the matter, the door to the living room creaked open. True enough, it was Kiyoteru, Lily, and a girl younger than the both of them with pale orange hair, along with crimson red eyes. "Guys," Kiyoteru spoke in a soft manner, not forgetting what Gakupo said over the phone: Enter silently. I'm sure you don't wanna disturb your oka-san.
"This is Miki. Well Miki's the same age with Miku and Gumi, so there shouldn't be any problem interacting with each other?" I glanced at Miki, she was smiling towards me. Her smile was... Angelic. Seeing her smile can make me forget all my miseries at once.
"Konnichiwa! Watashi wa Miki desu. Anata wa...?" Her self introduction had jolted me back to reality world.
"Watashi no namae wa Miku desu!" I replied happily and shook hands with her. "Hajimemashite."
"So this is where you stay? It's a nice house!" Her eyes were turning green with envy. I never really expected things to turn this way.
"Um hai." I tried to look (and sound) casual.
"I would prefer to stay here than staying at my home... it's never peaceful." Her smile was starting to turn into frown.
"Why? Don't your parents love you?" Curosity soon overcame me again and I tried hard to supress it down. I do not want to make the same mistake thrice.
"...They never stop quarelling. Not even the most trival matters. Then whenever one of them fails the arguement, they would vent their anger on me. See..." She pulled up her long-sleeved collar, revealing scratch marks on her neck, hands and legs. They looked disgusting. Some of the marks were very obvious, red in colour. Just like her crimson red eyes. Whose eye colour could match like a rabbit's eye. I flinched.
"Hey~! Let's get on with practising with our song already!" Gumi's unique pitch had made me forget my thoughts and chased after them who left the house. After all, our 'mission' now is to perform a song for Mizuno-san, to cheer her up again.
As it is impossible to actually practise singing (without good vocals) in the house, Meiko decided to get us out of the house to practise singing. We arrived at a nearby playground where there were kids playing around filling with naive laughters. "This is what I call an 'Ideal Place' to practise such an influential song! A happy song should be rehearsed at a place full of hapiness!" "Shut up BAKAito! I was the one who came up with such a wonderful idea, not you!" Meiko snapped him with her paper fan. "There! You hold the radio for me!"
"...Are they always like that?" Miki asked me with a nudge.
"Well, hai." Even though I lived with them for only 2 days, I could see them fighting each other almost every minute.
"How I wish I could be like the children there..." Rin pointed towards 2 children where they were playing with their parents. The father was carrying one child in his hand to give them a piggy ride on the back, while the mother was pushing the other on a swing. "I never even had a chance to play these kind of things with my parents."
This made me think of the time when I was at Rin's present age. My parents would take me to the playground almost everytime in the evening. Otou-san carries me to the Turnabout (a turntable with handles that alot of people can sit on it and just keep spinning until someone stops it) while oka-san would take pictures with otou-san and I. Once, we went round the neighbourhood to buy toys for me. I remeber one of the toys bought for me is a beautiful Dolphin crystal. The dolphin was sweet pink while the waves were while clear white. "... , no matter what difficulties you face, you must overcome them by all means. Imagine the wave is the obstacle in life and the dolphin leaps over it. You must be like the dolphin: leap over all of them and never turn back." was what my otou-san told me.
It was then I realised the true meaning of what he said. The death of my parents was the wave and I am the dolphin. I have yet to overcome this wave of 'obstacle'.
"Hey Miku! It's your line next! Why are you spacing over there?" Gumi asked annoyingly. "Restart!"
Looks like I was too deep in my own thoughts. I stared at my song sheet for the parts where I'm supposed to sing. "Ichibyou goto ni sekai no dokoka de, Hito ga shini yuki hito ga umare yuku~"
The next 30 minutes went smooth and sailing, only stopping a few times when someone sang the notes at a wrong pitch, or the wrong lyrics. Len was the culprit. "You can't really blame me! Why do I get to sing the english part!" "C'mon, Gakupo and I also get to sing the same thing as you! Stop grumbling!" Kaito frowned. "Well, I can say that almost everyone has to sing some english parts..." Luka looked at the song sheet. "Even the chorus is in english!" Unexpected thing was, while we were rehearsing, some other kids from afar also happened to be looking at our direction. Rin was tugging Len and Gakupo was like: "Are they imitating us singing?" "If that's the case, why don't we ask them to come join us?" Gumi was pulling him the next moment towards the kids. "Very outgoing, isn't she..." Luka wandered at Gumi smiling. I must admit, she is.
Gumi's POV
I got excited when I saw them singing in tune with us! This must be it! I must find out who they are in order to thank them for being our audience!
"G-Gumi... you don't really need to pull me that hard you know..." Gakupo was panting heavily behind me and I noticed that I was grabbing his wrist. I felt my face slightly blushing and let go of his hand immediately.
"Gomen~ I didn't do it on purpose!"
"It's alright. I don't mind." he said reassuringly. "Why are we here?"
He's right. I almost forgot all about it.
"To thank the children there for being our audience?" I glanced at them.
We walked up the small hill and the children were still there. I walked to them.
"Konnichiwa! Are you watching us sing?"
"Hai... Anata wa dare ka?" the girl with black hair asked.
"Gumi." I smiled at her. "This is Gakupo."
"Mizki's my name." She bowed and took out her fan. It was a Sakura fan.
"Where did you get that?" Gakupo asked. Looks like he's interested with that fan.
"During the Hanamusubi festival. My ane-san bought it for me." She opened the fan and fanned herself. "By the way, the peformance is great! ~Nara konna no wa dou? Ima sugu dare ni datte dekiru yo~"
Gakupo and I looked at each other. Her pitch was not just nice, but awesome. The toddler standing next to her kept humming the chorus:Smiling together~ Smiling together~
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Gumi?"
"Hai. I'm pretty sure."
"...Let's ask them to join us singing too!" we blurted out at the same time. Mizki and the toddler stared at us full with question marks in the air.
"Nani!"
"It's like this..." Gakupo explained the whole thing in detail to her. Something must had gotten into her mind and she said: "... I'll help you. Can Yuki tag along as well?"
"Sure! Why not? Let's hurry back and tell others the news!" We sprinted back towards to join the other Vocaloids.
Len: "Saa!"
The place was filled with our voices again. Phew, it was a really difficult moment just now persuading the other members to let young Yuki join our choir. Basically, it's because of the affection of our performance.
-Few minutes ago-
Meiko: "Are you sure you wanna add her to our choir?"
Luka: "But isn't she a little too young?"
Len: "Luka-nee's right! She's even younger than me!"
Me: "Onegai... mina..."
Meiko: "Shouldn't it be the more the merrier?"
Kaito: "That's right! The more the merrier!" *receives punch from Meiko*
Miku: "Haha, not again. But the sound effect may be better if more people are singing with us."
Miki: "Just let them join us! I don't mind!"
Gakupo: "Arigatou Miki- chan."
Kiyoteru: "So the both of you shall buck up then. Ganbatte yo!"
Mizki and Yuki: "Hai~!"
Lily: "Let's not waste any time now! Teru, I'll give my song sheet to Mizki so you with me yours!"
Kiyoteru: "Eh?"
Luka: "I'm playing the music now~" *presses the 'play' button on the radio*
-End of the commotion-
Smiling together~ Will be together~
Smiling together~ Will be together~
End of performance in front of Mizuno
Miku's POV
Mizuno. She cried once again. All of us were in each other's embrace. It was a heartwarming scene. Again, it reminds me of the farewell hug my parents gave me before their went to catch their flight. And passed away.
After everything, we bid farewell to Kiyoteru, Lily, Mizki and Yuki.
"Miki, shouldn't you be going to?" Mizuno asked.
"My parents... I don't dare to face them..." Miki looked down. I told Mizuno about her family condition.
"... Sou. Shall I escort you back home then? I can also have a talk with your parents." Mizuno stretched out her hand towads Miki.
"Miki, just say yes!" Luka encouraged her.
"...Alright then. Sayounara mina." Miki waved at the Vocaloids. All of us waved goodbye towards her as Miki and Mizuno left the gate.
I was the only one who didn't wave. Before I knew it, I already ran Mizuno and Miki, with them looking at me.
"Why? Did you want to escort Miki home too?" Mizuno smiled. Without any second to think, I just blurted a "Hai!" from my mouth.
-Miki's house-
After 20 minutes of walking, we finally arrived at Miki's house. I could feel that Miki is afraid. "Daijyoubu dayo! I'm sure your parents are worrying for you now!" Mizuno winked at her. She reached for the doorbell and pressed. A middle-aged woman came out. "Erm, you're... AH! Miki! Where have you been!" She became agitated at the sight of Miki. Miki quickly hid behind me, trembling like a vibrator. Mizuno then whispered something which I couldn't hear to Miki's mother, which afterwards, her attitude changed.
"Miki... after all of these... gomenasai. I promise Papa and I won't quarrel with each other or vent our anger on you again. Please... come home... Your papa has taken a day's off just to search for you the moment I rang him that you're missing. We'll change. Just... come back to us... ok?" Miki was still on her guard even though her mum was on the verge of tears. The mother and daughter looked straight into the eyes of each other for a good 5 minutes. "...Never" was all Miki said. Mizuno, Miki's mum and I were shocked. Miki opened her mouth once more: "...leave you again. Mama, I love you and Papa very much! I just can't accept the fact that the both of you always quarrel with each other! Whenever I see my classmate's family getting along so well, I would always feel jealous. I would think, why, whyMY family can't be like them!" This comment totally stoned us. "Miki dear! I swear to Crypton god that we will never, ever put you through this torture again! So you're coming home?" her mum was tearing very emotionally. It was crystal clear that her parents also doted on her very much except when it comes to the quarreling part.
"Mama!"
"Miki!"
The two were locked into a tight embrace, sobbing on each other's shoulders. Now it's my turn to be envious when watching such a scene. "Don't worry~ you still have me!" Mizuno opened her arms wide, hugging me till I choked.
"Mizuno-san... I... don't know how to thank you enough... anyway...Arigatou... I'll repay your kindness someday, I'll remeber!"
"Nevermind. I'm just glad that Miki's reunited with you. I shall bid farewell then!"
"Sayounara!"
-Out of Miki's homeyard-
"Mizuno-san?"
"Mmm?"
"Can... can I... go back home?''
"Aren't we going now?''
"I mean, my original home..."
"Why all of a sudden, hmm?"
"'Cause... I remembered something very important inside. I can also take some of my items too."
"Let's hurry then! Before the house is going to be sold to someone else or being demolished!"
This made me panicked. I wanted no, need to get back at least the Crystal Dolphin. It's the last gift my parents ever bought for me. I must retrieve it, no matter what.
-Miku's house-
Mizuno called for a taxi and it drove towards my house direction. She paid the driver and we rushed towards my home. Mizuno's right: there were machines outside surrounding my house, attempting to destroy it.
"STOP!" I cried as quickly as I barged in.
"Hey girl-" the workman tried to stop me, but Mizuno had explained to him. "Please give us 2 hours to pack finish everything. After that we'll leave. Ok?"
"Alright then. ONE hour. Guys, let's go eat our dinner first!" the workers went scrambling off.
Entering the house, I sprinted to my room, searching for the Crystal Dolphin. It was very messy, like searching for a needle in a haystack. I became irritated when I couldn't find it after 20 minutes. "Do you still remember where you put it?" Mizuno entered the room, trying to help me find the item.
Thinking back, I was doing my revision for my upcoming exam. The crystal sculpture was beside me back then. I went for a toilet break and when I came back, the crystal was gone. "Oka-san! Where's my Crystal Dolphin?" "I saw the sculpture nearly falling off the table so I decided to put it in the showcase cabinet. It wouldn't distract you too."
The showcase cabinet, that's it! The living room! Why never had I thought of it before! I rushed to my room the moment when I stepped into the house and totally forgotten about the living room. Running down the stairs, I panted to catch my breath and there was my Crystal Dolphin. I was elated and happy to see it again and I tried to reach out for it. It was placed at the highest level in the shelf and even though I stepped onto a chair, my height was my only disadvantage. "Onegai... just a little more..." I tiptoed till the maximum and I was only a centimetre away from my beloved sculpture. After a few tries, I managed to get it! I was over the moon until I lost balance and started falling from the chair. I screamed. I thought I was going to have a few bones cracked, until I saw Mizuno's hands under me. She caught me from my fall. "M-Mizuno? When were you here...?" "I rushed here the moment when I saw you going downstairs! So I came to your aid~!" Seeing that my Crystal Dolphin was still in piece, I heaved a sigh of relief. "That sculpture... it sure means alot to you right?" "Hai, it was a gift from my parents before they passed away. How much time we had left?" "35 minutes. Oh dear let's start packing up now~! I found a big luggage bag that can store all of your things!"
With Mizuno's help, the luggage bag was filled with my stuffs and some of my parents'. The workmen came back here again and like we promised, Mizuno dragged the luggage bag out with me following behind, the Crystal Dolphin in my hands. After calling for another taxi, the driver helped to put the luggage bag in the car boot. We got in the taxi and it drove off with a 'voom' sound as the first strike of the crane machine smashes my original house. Farewell my house... bye-bye...
After that incident, I was enrolled to a new school along with the other Vocaloids. I met new friends and was helping Mizuno at her workplace. And before I knew it, 8 years flew pass...
The ending's pretty random right? *shot*
That's practically behind the scenes. Author hasn't really recovered from Writer's block yet...
Anyways, hoped y'all enjoyed it! Remember to R&R too!