Sidenote: Just recently Miku Expo 2018 Europe has been announced -Vocaloids are coming over to Europe for the first time in history! I'm so happy but probably won't end up going because I have no Vocaloid fans among my friends lol. But if any European fans are reading this, you shouldn't miss your chance! Just google 'Miku Expo 2018 Europe', there's an official website which you should keep an eye on. (I would post the link here but fanfiction net doesn't allow that. :/ )
CHAPTER 14: Robots With Feelings
Having been forced to practise so many 'new' songs with the band in such a short time span actually created a stronger bond between the singers and the band members. By the time the Budokan show came around, they would be all hanging out backstage like old friends. The all knew that this relaxed atmosphere wouldn't last forever; the next tour -even if the company hired the same musicians -would mean going back to the original plan, with every single step planned with precision for maximal effect. It was only the desperate measures of these desperate times that allowed them all to just enjoy themselves.
It was a good sign that just a handful of tickets had been turned back in after the announcement. The vast majority of people were curious enough to come and see what was going to happen.
The big guys in the management took a pretty long time to consider their idea of performing the two shows without Miku. Rin didn't completely agree with their point of view, but somewhere in the back of her head she knew well that they had to look at the lucrative side of their actions first. Without the money, they could all go back to their old boring lives.
The important thing, though, was that they ultimately agreed to everything. There were just a few rules -no profanities, very little crowd interaction (like hell, Rin thought), and nobody was supposed to say the reason why Miku isn't a part of those two shows. By some miracle, the word hadn't gotten out. The official statement that the management made was 'medical reasons', and even though the fans immediately began to come up with endless amounts of their own theories, the company thought it was best when nobody actually knew what the girl was dealing with.
Speaking of dealing with difficulties, Rin's phone rang mere minutes before she was supposed to go on stage. She had been receiving a lot of unpleasant phone calls and text messages, and she was running out of what little patience she had in the beginning.
"No," she said to the voice at the other end, slowly and loudly. "For the last time, stop trying. It's not happening."
"But..." Ichiro pleaded. "We had such a good time together! Are you really just gonna throw it all away like this?"
"That was before I saw what a dick you were."
"It was a mistake!"
"What was a mistake? Calling me a bitch for not fucking you while my friend was about to die?" Rin had no sympathy for his pseudo-apologies. "That wasn't a mistake, that was just you being an asshole."
"I was upset, ok? I didn't know what I was saying!"
"And you're telling me next time you're upset with me it's gonna be any different? I don't believe that."
"Why don't you just give me another chance?" he exclaimed angrily. "I deserve that!"
"Tell that to someone dumber than me. I don't want to be with you if I can't rely on you."
"Fucking- fuck you, then! I don't need your-"
The twin simply hung up on him and muted her phone. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. She didn't want to have Ichiro on her mind now -she had work to do.
Maybe she would have been more merciful if he actually told her that he was sorry. But all he did was try to lay a guilt trip on her. He was so sure he had Rin wrapped around his finger, but that was where he was horribly wrong.
Someone's arms slithered around her shoulders from behind and pulled her in for a hug. There was only one person that gave Rin these sorts of hugs.
"I'm fine," she said, but grabbed the arms with her hands so that they wouldn't let go.
"I know you are," she heard Luka's voice above her head. "I'm just sorry you still have to deal with him."
Rin let out a single emotionless chuckle. "I guess I should be grateful that he didn't tell anyone what happened with Miku."
Her friend released her, and the twin turned to face her. It was a little strange to see Luka not wearing her canon outfit to the show; but everybody agreed that there was no need for their costumes since they weren't representing their android personas. The woman decided to wear the most simplistic clothes -a blue short-sleeved shirt, white trousers and sneakers. To top it all off, her hair were tied into a ponytail. Even Rin, contrasting to Luka in her angry-punk-kid looking shirt and a pair of torn shorts with two small chains attached to them, had to admit her friend looked cute. No wonder Kaito has been drooling over her the entire afternoon.
"Are you wondering what it's gonna be like?" she asked her and looked towards the stage.
Luka smiled. "Not really. If anything, I know we're gonna have fun. Especially Kaito. The poor guy is about to sing Resonate, I still can't believe that."
"Oh my god, yes," the twin laughed. "That's such a Miku song! Although it could have been worse."
"Like what?"
"Like Cinderella. That would just be gay."
"That's mean," said Luka, and they both giggled. "Hey, Kaito!"
"What?" the boy who just emerged from the hallway backstage came close.
"We were just wondering why you didn't choose to sing Cinderella?" Luka teased him with a grin which would make devil himself proud.
Kaito pretended to be upset. "Ha-ha, very funny. You know, it's been really hard to come up with songs that weren't too... girly."
"Come to think of it, you're right." The pink girl absent-mindedly grabbed a single wisp of stray hair and twirled it around her finger. "Miku mostly sings about love or partying. And beating bullies."
"You mean Raspberry Monster? You know, when I first heard it, I thought it was about drugs." He smiled. "I'm glad you're doing that one. You already look like a raspberry. More than Miku, that's for sure."
"Did you just assume my hair's flavor?"
"Maybe. You can call me Blueberry, I wouldn't mind."
"Wow, Blueberry Monster, I love it!"
With the two of them immediately getting lost in their own conversation, Rin was beginning to feel like the third wheel. But she was sort of amused by it. "Is that a play on words, Luka?" she said out loud innocently.
Both of them blushed a little bit, confirming her suspicion. Luckily for them, the crowd cheered at that exact time; when the three of them looked, they saw that the lights on stage went out, which meant that the show was about to begin.
"You're dumb, both of you," the girl said, trying to cover up her loss of pace. "I'm gonna go tell Mei and Len that we're about to start. See you soon!"
"Bye!" said the twin. Kaito only smiled and waved, and Luka swiftly turned around and walked away.
The instrumental intro began to play. Sammy peeked around the corner and nodded at Rin. It was her time to shine.
"Kaito?" she asked before leaving. "Can I tell you something?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure," he said.
"Just... promise me you aren't gonna let Luka slip between your fingers, ok?"
Kaito's eyes widened as if he had been caught doing something bad. "What do you mean?"
"Cut the crap, dude, please. She likes you, you like her, and you both deserve to be together. So my point is, if you fuck this up, I'm gonna murder you in your sleep." Rin snickered. "Okay gotta go now, bye!"
"You little-" he started, but she was already hopping towards the stage smiling ear to ear.
"This isn't over!" Kaito at least shouted after her.
No, it isn't, she thought. I told you that we were gonna laugh one day, Luka.
In all fairness, Rin was only half serious when she first said that. She always knew Luka and Kaito were getting along, and it made sense in her head that they would end up together. But seeing that it was actually happening was still a little surprising.
Too many things seemed to be happening lately. Miku's issues kicking in, Ichiro turning out to be a douche, her friends falling in love so unexpectedly... It looked like in life either nothing was happening at all, or everything at once.
One thing at a time, Rin. The girl quickly checked her surroundings. Bellatrix was sitting in a guitar stand right out of the people's sights, waiting to be picked up later in the evening.
Everything was ready. Rin inhaled deeply and took a couple of steps to reach the stage, waving and smiling at the fans who roared in excitement.
They cheered even louder when she decisively grabbed the mike stand and began to sing one of Miku's earlier songs, The World Is Mine. They immediately began to sing along with her, proving that they came to have a good time regardless of whether the turqoise star was there.
Just a few seconds in, Rin already knew that this would be a night they would all remember for the rest of their lives. Everyone, the performers and the fans alike, felt the lighter atmosphere and reacted accordingly. The musicians weren't standing in the back as always; those who could moved closer towards the edge of the stage and towards the crowd, making the ensemble feel like a regular band, with Rin being its regular singer. The people were slightly more responsive: rather than sitting back and listening -except for the freaks in the front rows who were always going crazy -they jumped, waved, yelled, and overall enjoyed themselves. Just like she always pictured it. If it were possible, she would come down there and give everyone a hug.
After the first song they jumped right into The Lost One's Weeping which was Rin's own song for a change. And it was definitely more fitting to her angsty outfit. At least she didn't have a fake guitar this time.
The last chord struck, and the fans yelled excitedly. Now was the time to simply introduce Len who would immediately walk on the stage, but Rin intended to use this rare opportunity to do something she had wanted since the very beginning of the ensemble's existence.
"Konbanwa!" she said into the microphone. "Good evening, Budokan!"
The crowd responded with an adequate roar. Saying hello at the beginning was usually Miku's job, and to Rin, it only felt right to take over this responsibility since she started off the show on this evening. Besides, she rarely got the chance to say anything to the fans.
"How are we feeling tonight, are we feeling good?" she continued.
"Woo!" the people answered. The girl smiled widely -she certainly feel amazing.
"So," Rin breathed in; "as you know, this show is different from what you can usually expect from us, and I just gotta say, I'm so happy to see you all here tonight despite the circumstances, so thank you so fucking much for coming!"
"Yeeeah!" said the crowd. The twin also could have sworn to hear someone yell "We love you, Rin!" which made her grin even more.
"I love you too," she said in the general direction of that voice. "You know, it does kinda suck that Miku can't be here with us today, but what matters is that we love her, we love each other, and we love music, am I right?"
While the people were busy screaming, Rin glimpsed over to the side. All of her remaining colleagues -Luka, Kaito, Meiko and Len -were standing there, just out of the crowd's view, and couldn't have been more proud of her. Even Sammy, standing behind them all and gesturing to her to move on already, was smiling.
"Speaking of people who we love," the twin continued, "let's welcome my brother Len to the stage right now, shall we? Len Kagamine, everyone!"
The boy arrived, people cheered, and the band played the twins' unofficial theme song, Remote Control. After that song was done, Rin waved again and ran away to let her brother carry on -until it was his time to pass it up to Luka, and so on.
Not many people knew this, but writing a setlist had always been a science of its own. A good show had to have a delicate balance of old hits and newer or relatively undiscovered tunes that had to be introduced. At the same time, different songs obviously had different moods, and it would be contraproductive to play, for example, three sad lovesongs in a row. The performers needed to have maximum attention from the very beginning to the very last note, and that meant there were only so many ways to build a setlist. The management had a couple of people dedicated to carefully thinking about a specific potential that every song had, and then putting the setlist together piece by piece to meet the standards.
In the case of the Vocaloids, this was also the reason why Miku's five or six song sections were intertwined with the rest. New face appearing on stage was one of the ways to keep the crowd engaged. And even now it seemed reasonable not to have everyone just do all their songs at once and pass the mike.
Besides, this schedule arrangement allowed Rin to pull one more trick out of her sleeves.
"Crap," she said some thirty minutes later. Kaito was just finishing Resonate -which he completely nailed in the end -and the twin was supposed to go back on stage right after him. Her guitar was hanging on her shoulders. "I feel nervous. I never feel nervous."
"Hey." Len pat her on the back. "It's no different from what you already do. Except you won't have a band behind you this time."
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm afraid of," she snickered. "All eyes on me and Bellatrix."
"All eyes have always been on you anyway," her brother pointed out. "We know you can do this."
"Yeah, yeah. I guess it's just... This is the first time for just the two of us. You can't not be nervous before that."
It wasn't after she saw Len holding some intense giggles inside that she realised what she just said. The siblings laughed together.
"Have I ever told you that I'm glad I have you, bro?" Rin asked. The music stopped, and in a dim lighting all the musicians discretely began to disappear from the stage.
"I don't think so," Len replied. "But, same."
"Alright," said Kensuke, the drummer, who was just squeezing past them; "it's all yours, princess. Break a leg!"
"I will break yours if you call me 'princess' one more goddamn time." She smiled and walked in front of the crowd again. They greeted her, and all lights were shining on her.
"Well, um," Rin spoke to the microphone; "this is the first time ever I've done something like this, so let's just jump right to it before I freak out." Some people chuckled and wooed. "This is Tokyo Teddy Bear."
Performing a couple of songs unplugged was her own idea. Aside from being eager to introduce Bellatrix to the fans, she figured the band might also appreciate taking a short break in the middle of the show. And it was a nice change of pace. After the first verse, her voice stopped shaking and Rin really put her heart into it. And so did everyone else: when she didn't have the band behind her, she could really hear that enormous mass of people singing with her. It was quite a goosebumpy feeling. And Tokyo Teddy Bear was such a great song to play like that, too.
"You're amazing, thank you so much!" she yelled after the last chord, and the crowd screamed back and clapped frenetically. "I really wish Miku was here to see this.
Actually," Rin got an idea and reached into her pocket quickly. "Wanna say hi to Miku real quick?"
"Yeeeeah!" they answered. Obviously.
"Okay," she said and tapped on the screen until video recording was ready. "I'm gonna need everyone to be really quiet right now. Just wait for my cue."
Still facing the crowd, with only the abandoned drum kit in the background, she hit Record and smiled.
"Hi, Miku!" she started. "I hope you're doing great! I've got a couple of friends here with me right now who would like to say hello. Say hi, guys!"
With that, she turned around so that the camera would show all the people in the audience. As predicted, they went absolutely crazy. The twin couldn't help but scream into the camera along with them.
"Alrighty," she pressed on after the video was saved and the phone back inside her pocket. "With that out of the way, I would like to give you a song that me and Miku usually perform, it's one of my all time favorites -and I'm gonna bring back Luka to help me sing this, come on out, Luka!"
Needless to say, the entire evening was a tremendous success on all fronts. And of course they saved the best for last -as a small surprise for the end, the five Vocaloids practised a special rendition of Hand In Hand. The crowd reaction to that was so amazing that the friends agreed directly afterwards to persuade the management into doing something like this again in the future -having all six of them, including Miku, appear in the end to say goodbye all together.
"I wanted to tell you," Meiko suddenly turned to Rin as they were walking inside the living room; "you nailed your little speaches! You're a natural."
"Well thank you!" the twin beamed. "I just wanted to talk to everybody like a friend. Us and them, we're all in this together, right?"
"Hey, sis, can you show us that video for Miku?" Len asked. Rin reached into her pocket, took out her phone and played the whole thing while her friends were peeking over her shoulders.
"Do you think she'll like it?" she said when the video was over.
"Are you serious? Of course she will!" Kaito ruffled her hair; Rin rolled her eyes, but did so with a smile. "The only downside is that we're not in there too."
"We can fix that right now! Stand behind me, everybody!" she exclaimed and held the camera up.
And that little selfie, with the five of them smiling exhaustedly but happily into the camera, was one of the most treasured pictures Rin ever took.