Chapter Twenty-Nine

The minor beat plays as I recognize the song playing through the speakers. What an excuse- they didn't even make their own song. How are they going to get any points in Songwriting class? I wait in nervous anticipation as Neru opens her mouth and takes a breath.

Trapped inside my mind for a dark eternity

With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony

I can't seem to see what is right in front of me

The only thing I know is this shouldn't be

It's really only a second before I realize how much Neru has trashed the song Bad Apple. Suddenly, as she continues singing, red lights begin to flash everywhere as Meiko and Lily strut onto opposite sides of the concert stage as if it's a catwalk. They're wearing even worse outfits than they usually do- thin, skin-tight black dresses with extremely short cuts that show off their figures. I almost roll my eyes. At this point, Yuma has walked away from watching behind me, clearly irritated as well. Wait, but…. Where is Teto? Rin should be here as well, considering that she's probably out of suspension now.

As Neru begins singing the chorus, I instantly hear how nasal and unpleasant her voice is. From the view that I'm looking at her, I can't see the audience's or the judge's expressions, but from the sound that I'm hearing from her, I can tell they're not pretty.

Right when the bass drum hits, Meiko and Lily start to dance- and pretty well, in fact. I confess, I'm a bit jealous that we didn't think to include some sort of dance. Well, we can't anyway, we're all playing instruments. Meiko and Lily spin around the stage in perfect sync- and I admit, they look pretty good as their right legs trace perfect circles on the stage and their arms circle above their heads.

I let out a sigh at the dance break. I'm not really sure what the sigh is of, but I guess it was really audible since Gumi walked right up to me. "What's wrong?" she asks, attempting to whisper. Of course, being Gumi, she completely failed.

"Do you think we'll win?" I ask. Not even I expected the words that came out of my mouth. Gumi raised her eyebrows.

"Do you think they'll win?" she asks skeptically. I shake my head.

"Not a chance!" I almost laugh, but cover my mouth at how loud I was.

"Well, then quit being so sigh-y," she says with a stern shake of her head. I stand bewildered as she walks away from me.

"Yeah Madoka, quit being so sigh-y," mirrors a playful voice that I immediately classify as the one and only Len Kagamine. I turn around as he tugs lightly on my sleeve. "Come on," he says, "Let's talk."

"Talk? I wanna watch Neru's band," I say.

"You mean just Neru," Len clarifies sarcastically. I scoff. "Plus, why would you want to watch them?" he asks, with a shake of his head.

"I just wanna know who we're up against," I protest. Len just ignores me, obviously not believing anything I have to say.

"I'll tell you who we're up against," says another voice, "Just a bunch of preppy girls in tight dresses." Len and I both turn our heads to see an annoyed–looking Miku. I almost laugh again.

"You're right," I sigh, "But don't you want to be able to tell the story of their failure, too?" I joke. Miku and Len exchange a satirical glance. "What?" I ask, only earning a shush from Yuma. I give an apologetic nod. "Sorry, Yuma," I whisper. I feel a tap on my left shoulder and spin around to see who it was. I spin on my heels to see Gumi, who motions for us to follow her. Does nobody want to watch the other bands with me?

Once we're in the hallway, away from the noise from Neru and her group, I wait for Gumi to start talking. "Guys, this is really important," she says with a hoarse voice full of worry, "My arm… is really sore," she says, only using her left arm to motion along with her speech. Her right arm falls limp.

"Gumi, this is no time for jokes," Len says, with a shake of his head.

"Guys, this isn't a joke," Gumi says with a hurt look on her face. The usual sparkles that sit in her eyes begin to quiver. "I accidentally uh… Well, Meiko and Lily… they um…"

"They what?" Miku asks suddenly, her eyebrows narrowing and her eyes widening, creating a look that seems to intimidate the childish Gumi.

"I'm sorry," she suddenly says, bursting into tears. Miku runs up and wraps her arms around Gumi, who is shaking from the sobs. Len and I both exhale deeply at the same time, not sure how to react.

"Gumi, tell us," Miku says softly, parting away from her to grasp her shoulders in support.

"They're such bakas!" Gumi half-yells, stomping her foot. She then sniffs and wipes her tears, only for a couple more to roll down her flushed cheeks. Her eyes are also an intense shade of red, an obvious sign that she'd been crying.

"What'd they do?" asks Miku a second time.

"They… t-they… they threatened me to quit the band!" Gumi cries. I widen my eyes at this.

"Me too- but it wasn't that bad, I mean-" I start, only to be cut off.

"And then they slapped me and stepped on me!" she shrieks. Miku, Len and I all gasp, not sure how to respond. Len clenches his fist.

"As soon as they get off the stage, I'll-"

"Len, no," I say gently, taking his hand, "M'kay? Don't do anything that Rin would do in this situation, it won't help," I tell him as he looks at me in ire. Something in his fiery blue eyes softens, and he exhales, not wanting to argue.

"Gumi, if it helps, we can go watch the next band," says a voice from behind. Yuma. "They're singing a really nice song- It's Ia, Sweet Ann, and Miki."

"Miki?" Miku asks excitedly. Gumi looks down and shrugs, rubbing her arm.

"Ia?" I ask, perking up a little bit. Gumi looks up at me.

"Sweet Ann?" Len asks eagerly. We all turn to look at him in confusion. "What? Someone had to say it," he shrugs. I sigh.

"Gumi? Are you sure you're okay? We could go and watch them together, but I mean, if you're not, we could always-"

"I'm fine," she tells me, moving her left hand back to her right arm. Miku, Len, Yuma and I exchange a tentative glance.

"Alright, let's go." We make our way quietly back down the hall into the auditorium into the backstage entrance. We hear a light, angelic voice echoing through the air as we all crane our heads to see who's singing. Sweet Ann, clutching her chest with one hand and reaching out with the other, is singing wonderfully. I never knew her voice was so…. sweet.

Beyond the setting sun tonight

A dazzling star shines oh, so bright

It falls and falls from cosmic heights

Until you're blinded by the light

The five of us stand mesmerized as her sweet voice pierces through the air right as I recognize that this was the exact song that Teto was singing earlier. Suddenly, she lowers her microphone as the spotlight switches to stage right, in which Miki stands with a beautiful white and navy blue dress. She raises her microphone to her cherry red lips and begins to sing.

Beyond the moon's majestic glow

A girl is lost and all alone

But when the star falls from the sky

The girl is blinded by the light

Miki's voice is smooth, emotional, and heartrending. I listen as she closes her eyes in sadness, revealing her dark blue eyeshadow. As she sings the third line, her eyes jerk open, her cardinal eyes piercing into the hearts of every audience member. Looks like someone's got an A+ in Acting. I watch as she lowers the microphone- and her head as every audience member tilts their head in passion.

Next, the spotlight suddenly switches to the center of the stage, where Ia stands gracefully, wearing a beautiful dress that hangs off her dainty figure and creates a fragile look. She raises the microphone to her mouth and starts to sing.

Whispers and words

Echoing through with an edge of mystery

Warnings and calls

Cascade and fall through the beautiful world

As she sings the lyrics beautiful world, the spotlight fades onto all three of the girls as they harmonize beautifully- Sweet Ann on the bottom note, Miki creating a perfect fifth, and Ia sings an impossibly high note an octave from Miki's voice. I can literally hear the audience's admiring gasps as the entire auditorium is in awe at how perfect their harmony complements each other's lovely voices.

Suddenly, I start to question if we'll win or not. By the look on Len and Miku's perplexed, uneasy faces, I can tell that they're thinking the same thing. Yuma grits his teeth anxiously, while Gumi shuffles her feet in silence. Miki, Ia, and Sweet Ann all continue to sing, their harmony even more flawless than before. Miku sends me a nervous glance. Getting her message, I give her a reassuring nod. She exhales and watches them carry on with their beautiful, soothing song.

Suddenly, each girl freezes in a sophisticated, stellar pose and the piano drops along with the entire song. There's a measure of complete silence. Suddenly, they each open their eyes; yet they stay frozen in their poses as a strange, unnerving, synth arpeggio crescendos, creating a strange, outer-space like feel. Each girl begins to slightly move their bodies as the volume grows. Suddenly, the synth stops and the beat drops as all three girls sing one word in unison:

Meteor

The note that each girl hit was unrealistically high, creating a cosmic feel. For some reason, the song seems to fit the personalities of each girl in its own unique way, especially Miki, who seems to be really into it. The lights in the auditorium drop along with the bass, and colored fog from the top of the stage cascades down, filling the entire stage area, leaving only the silhouettes of each girl for the audience to see. Along with the fog, lights resembling stars paint themselves on top of the ceiling. Some of the kids in the years below us look up in awe- however, Neru and her gang look bored and uninterested as if they'd all seen this before… or maybe even as if they'd done better.

Miku, who is probably looking at the same thing, lets out a scoff. "They're acting like they're going to win," gossips the tealette, crossing her arms over her chest as her cute twin tails fall behind her. I tilt my head and shake it.

"I know, but they're not going to win!" I whisper back, my eyes wide, "If anyone's going to win this, it'll be Ia, Sweet Ann, and Miki."

"You mean it'll be us!" Miku retorts, only earning another silencing shush from Yuma. We both exchange a glance when he turns around. "We really have to do well if we want to beat them for first place," she finishes, a little more calmly.

I sigh as we both turn our heads around to watch the girls finish the song. As the electronic space-like synths start to die out, the girls sing in unison the high notes that had us all captivated in the first place. I find myself mentally singing Meteor with them. The sound is suddenly replaced with one of a ticking clock, which was also the intro to the song. The spotlight fades off of each girl for eight measures, and at the last tick of the clock, the word Meteor illuminates across the top of their heads as they each strike a different pose with closed eyes.

The audience roars in applause. Miku and I both cringe at the deafening sound of the crowd. Ia, Sweet Ann, and Miki all beam proudly as they exit the stage. Oh, crap. We're on next. I bite my lip, pulling at my metallic jacket sleeve as the applause begins to cease. Len looks at me, his eyes asking me something. I look into them curiously. Are you ready? He silently asks me. I breathe in and out, my heartbeat quickening. Gumi stops rubbing her arm and swings her guitar into position. Yuma grasps onto his drumsticks in anticipation. Miku and I both share a look that somehow makes me feel more confident. Everyone soon finds themselves with their eyes on me. I give them all a reassuring nod as we step onto the stage.


- A/N -

Sorry, I left you guys with another one of those cliffies. ;)
Hope you really liked this chapter. It actually came out of one of the rare times that I have author's block (that "rare" part was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell). Oh, and sorry I didn't go into as much detail of Neru's band than I did with Ia's, because... well... there's really no good way to finish that sentence. Anyway, leave a review and stuff (you know the drills... the Teto drills... okay that was a really bad joke), they do inspire me! One last thing, my chapter estimate at the moment is about three more. I hope you guys enjoy the upcoming chapters! :)