Uta's Point Of View
It was now late October. Development towards the play was going along very smoothly! We were doing another run through the script.
Taya made the doll have a certain catchphrase that really stuck out to me.
"Take my hand, I'll take you to a place where miracles happen."
That quote... Taya always said it with such sincerity, yet boldness. Such delicacy, yet confidence... It stirred something within me the first time he spoke it. He didn't stammer or speak with a shy tone at all. It was almost as if... he had this glow to him.
I had begun to see Taya in a slightly different light lately. But... I didn't know exactly what it meant. All I knew was that it made me feel kind of embarrassed and flustered. And warm... very warm indeed.
The other costumes were also being finalized. I got to wear something quite frilly and elegant. It wasn't quite like Taya's, since my character was a poor traveling orphan, but it was certainly sophisticated. It complimented his outfit pretty well!
The songs were all finished. I was practicing really hard with singing my parts. My voice has actually improved a bit, I noticed. Taya basically taught me, in the nicest way possible, that I was basically singing all wrong. Once he introduced to me a more correct way to sing, I realized I actually wasn't all that bad at it.
Taya had been practicing his songs as well. His solo song was very pretty and the tone of his gentle voice went very well with its sound and atmosphere.
He could sing around me, but around other people he got a bit shy. I suggested he pretend the audience was filled with nothing but Uta. This made him start laughing.
"That's so many Utas... We would need a lot of rice to keep them all happy!" Taya joked.
I also noticed that Qingxian was continuing to be difficult. Favor after favor. It wouldn't stop. After the ridiculous house party favor, there hadn't been another totally outrageous one since. However, there have been many small ones. "Turn in this paper for me." "Watch my stuff for me." "Take extra good notes for me."
Given Taya's selfless nature, he didn't turn any of them down. He had many chances to, but he felt that he would wait for another outrageous one to come to turn her down.
"Okay. Suit yourself then." I told him.
"But I'm already wearing a suit." Taya cracked a joke.
"...You know what I mean." I sighed. I felt really worried about Taya. Yet he felt he could joke around.
—
On Halloween evening, we were greeted to an awesome surprise. Halloween was on Sunday this year. We weren't planning on doing anything for it at first. Then Taya suggested we just wear our play costumes all day. I was on board with that.
Anyway, that evening, a knock came at our door. I opened it, and it turned out that Ruko, Ritsu, Momo, and Teto were all at our door in Halloween costumes! They were all here to visit!
Ruko was dressed as a rather elegant-looking pirate, Ritsu was a vampire, Momo was a fairy, and Teto was in a frilly dress and toy-looking make-up, like a fancy doll.
"Wow! All of you, visiting at the same time!" I lit up. I felt filled with excitement.
"This would be the first time all six of us would be in a room together!" Ruko cheered. "Isn't this exciting?"
"Sure is!" Taya said.
"Let's make this an awesome night!" Teto did a little dance.
"All of us had such busy, conflicting schedules, it was hard to find the chance to finally meet up like this." Momo said. "I'm so happy we finally can."
"Likewise!" Taya and I said.
"So, are those your costumes for the play?" Ruko asked. "They look great!"
"Thanks!" I said. "We're actually rehearsing in full for the first time tomorrow, November 1st. Each member of the theatre club is only allowed to invite two non-club people each. I'd like for Taya and I to invite the four of you, if that's possible. That way, you four will be early to see what we've been working on for so long!"
"We'd love that!" Ruko said. Ritsu nodded in agreement, Teto cheered, and Momo smiled, her face lighting up.
"We're all really proud of all the preparation we've done." Taya said, "The actual performance to a large audience will be November 8th. We hope to see you there too!"
"I'm so excited!" Momo cheered. She began to squeeze her little plush pillow. I noticed it was a peach Squishmallow.
"Oh, that is cute!" Taya said. "It's a peach. I personally want the strawberry Squishmallow myself!"
"What would you name it?" Momo asked. "My peach is named Parfait."
"I would name it Swirly." Taya said.
"Aww." Momo said. They began to get lost in their own cuddly, fruity little world together. I began to talk to Ruko and Ritsu about singing.
"So... I can almost get through the first part of Jitter Doll now. Sort of." I sheepishly said. "Until the belting part. It sounds so effortless when you two belt those notes in -ERROR and The Lost One's Weeping... I'm sure you've had years of practice though!"
"It sounds like you are regaining your passion in music." Ritsu said. "It's always good to have something you're passionate about. It gives you an outlet."
"That's for sure..." I said. I smiled. "I really do think it's... all thanks to Taya, and you guys as well. So I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart..."
But before anyone could say "you're welcome," I suddenly heard Taya... shouting?
"Momo, peaches are really not as good as strawberries!" He asserted.
"You are incorrect!" Momo shouted back. "Peaches are juicy and sweet! Strawberries are sour and go rotten quickly!"
"I take it that you've never had a good strawberry then!" Taya yelled. "In midsummer, a fresh, ripe, round, red, juicy berry... in perfect condition. It practically bursts in your mouth with sweet juice!"
"Nuh-uh!" Momo said.
"Oh, yeah!" Taya said.
"Um... are the two of you arguing over... fruit?" I asked.
"Yeah. Basically." They both responded.
"Um. How about this then?" I suggested. "You wouldn't want strawberries and peaches to leave a bad taste in your mouth. But if you continue to argue, that's exactly what will happen."
Taya and Momo suddenly looked apologetic.
"Gee... she's right." They said.
"I think peaches and strawberries are both best." Momo said.
"I think peaches and strawberries are equal and should be friends." Taya said.
Then they cheered and hugged.
I sighed and shook my head. Yet I was smiling.
Taya cooked us all a nice big dinner. Momo, who was also a good cook, did some work too. Ritsu also turned out to be quite helpful in the kitchen as well.
Ruko, Teto, and I sat back on the couch and relaxed. We three were members of the "bad at cooking club." Even if Teto was also in bakery club, well... It turns out that all she really could make was bread!
For dessert, we had a cake topped with sweet strawberries and peaches. Momo and Taya's friendship cake. The flavor of the peaches and strawberries melded together surprisingly very well.
We played another game of Two Truths and a Lie before it was time to wrap up this meeting and the guests were to leave.
I learned that Teto was allergic to asparagus, and that she had a pet poodle named Toto.
I learned that Momo was born in Japan, and that she liked the Japanese idol group Perfume.
I learned that Ruko was a fan of cyberpunk anime, and actually met Ritsu online at first before realizing they lived in the same town.
I learned that Ritsu was quite a formidable swimmer, and was interested in elegant fashion much like Taya, but feminine, such as fancy Victorian-style dresses. He said he hesitated to wear that style because it didn't fit his image much. Taya and I encouraged him to give it a try.
I learned that Taya can actually skate on ice without falling down, and that he was a fan of the anime Cardcaptor Sakura.
My truths were that I tend to eat pizza with rice (don't judge,) and that I essentially made a singing robot version of myself on the computer by recording syllables of my voice, auto-tuning them, and arranging them into a song.
After everyone found out the second thing, they immediately wanted to hear what it sounded like.
"It's... really a big work in progress." I said. "But I'll show you. I decided that Japanese would be the easiest language for this program to sing in, given the nature of the language's syllables. So far, I made it sing a bit of a Japanese translation of Jitter Doll..."
I pulled up the audio file on my computer and gave everyone a listen. A robotic voice that sounded vaguely like me, singing Jitter Doll in Japanese, began to play back. It was perfectly on tune, however.
"Wow!" Ruko clapped when it was done, along with everyone else. "I think you've got some sort of genius invention going on there, Uta. Maybe if it becomes refined enough, we can be able to still make songs with deceased singer's voices by recording their voice samples and putting them to songs!"
"Huh..." I said. "I actually never thought of that! I actually just made this thing because I was bored, and wanted to see whether a computerized version of me could sing better or not... hehe."
"Could you make one with my voice when you have time? I'll gladly record samples for you." Momo asked.
"And me!" Everyone else said in practically unison.
"Whoa there..." I said. "I really need to fix and refine major aspects of this program but... Eh. Why not?"
"Yay!" Everyone cheered. It was getting late, and was time for the guests to leave.
"Alright Uta, Taya." Ruko waved goodbye to us as their party left the room. "See you around soon."
"Okay, see you!" I waved.
"What will you call your invention?" Taya asked me.
"I was thinking since it majorly provides Japanese vocals, I will call it UTAU, meaning 'to sing' in Japanese." I said. "Also my name is Uta, and my last initial is U. So it's a bit of a nod to my name as well. I'm planning on recording many voices for my program, and maybe even if I release it commercially, I'll enable any user to be able to record their own 'UTAU' using their own voice."
"Nice!" Taya said. "This means your voice is the first 'UTAU' ever made. So then... can my voice be the second UTAU ever made?"
"I don't see why not." I said. "I would love for many different voice types to be the voices for my program. You have a really unique voice too, Taya. I like it a lot."
"Hehe, thanks..." Taya blushed a bit.
That night, Taya kept practicing his solo for the final time before the initial recital to a small audience. It won't quite be the big performance, but it will still be a milestone and have a small audience.
I turned in to bed early that night, feeling a bit tired. I began to drift to the melody of the song, and the sound of Taya's gentle voice singing it. He had a very soothing, melodic voice... even when he spoke. He had gotten very good at the song and developed his own style of singing it. Hearing his voice comforted me. In no time, I had drifted off to sleep.
—
The next day...
We were reciting the play to a small audience. Everything went exactly as planned. It honestly felt a bit like a blur, reciting lines that I had said at least thirty times the exact same way before, and going through the same story... it was a wonderful story still, but it had consumed my entire life lately.
I hoped that the actual live performance will feel a bit more memorable. I had a feeling it would.
Nevertheless, we got a big round of applause from our small audience.
"That was fantastic, everyone!" Ruko cheered. I couldn't help but smile a true big smile. Our hard work had paid off. Now we just had to refine it a tiny bit more and perform it to a large audience on November 8th.
—
"Hey guys? I have somewhere to go now." Taya said, shortly after we all began to converse and celebrate our good performance.
"Oh. Okay." I said to him. I assumed he was going grocery shopping. Or something. I did have his number this time though, in case if anything were to go wrong.
"I wonder where Taya is going." Teto said.
"Your guess is as good as mine." I shrugged. "Wanna head back to my dorm room with me?"
I was asking not only Teto, but Ruko, Momo, and Ritsu as well. They all agreed.
"It seems Taya is absent a lot from our meetings here." Ritsu pointed out.
"That seems to be true." I said. "Don't worry, he'll be back soon! I think."
We hung out for a while. Around an hour. I grew worried. Heavy rain began to fall from outside the window. I grew even more worried. I called Taya's phone but nobody picked up...
"Okay. I'm kind of really worried now." I said. "Why did Taya leave? Where did he go? Where could he be?"
I noticed that I was shaking.
Ruko put her hand on my shoulder to calm me down.
"Taya isn't exactly the most... honest and mentally stable person I can think of, so..." I said. "I'm worried he go into something shady. I'm really, really worried. I shouldn't have ignored him randomly leaving. I shouldn't have let him go earlier!"
I didn't notice, but my eyes were filling with tears.
"Taya is lucky to have a caring friend like you." Ruko said, consolingly. "We all care about Taya. Try calling him again. If this persists, maybe try calling the police. It could be what we might have to do."
"Okay..." I said, choking up.
After a few more minutes, I ended up getting a call from Taya.
"Taya!" I answered. "Where are you? Are you okay?"
"No..." He answered. My heart skipped a beat. He sounded like he was in pain! I began to hold my hand to my face. I tried not to panic...
"Taya, tell me where you are." I said urgently.
"I'm at Qingxian's." Taya said. "I was mowing her lawn for her while her family was going shopping... even though I felt my anemia acting up after our performance. I took some medicine but still felt bad. I went through with mowing her lawn anyway... Her lawn is gigantic. And it started raining too, and... I ended up collapsing from fatigue... I just regained consciousness. Her family still isn't home and I'm feeling very faint. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry but I need you to somehow come here and pick me up. I'll tell you the address..."
"Taya." I told him. A tear escaped from my eye. I wiped it away. "I... I'm sorry this is happening... you should've said no, but... Ah. I'm sorry. I shouldn't be scolding you. Tell me the address. I'll have Ruko drive me down."
Taya told me the address to Qingxian's house.
"Anyway, Uta, I'm sorry I'm such a pushover like this... I'm so sorry."
I heard Taya begin to cry over the phone.
"Please don't cry, Taya." I said. This made me start crying myself. "I'll be right there with Ruko."
"Uta, what happened!?" Ruko looked at me, extremely concerned. I told her exactly what happened, and how Qingxian had been taking advantage of Taya all this time.
"Oh no. I'll drive you down right now." Ruko said. "Momo, Teto, you two can stay right here or leave if you want. Ritsu, wanna come along with us?"
Ritsu gave a serious nod.
We hopped into Ruko's car and frantically headed right down to Qing's.
By the time we got to Qingxian's house, Qingxian herself was also pulling up by herself in her own car. Ugh.
I noticed Ritsu giving both the car and Qingxian an intense glare.
Taya was on the porch, sitting in a chair, looking weak and pale.
We got out of Ruko's car and immediately rushed towards him.
"Taya!" I cried out. "Are you alright?"
"Ah... No. I feel so faint..." He said. "And dizzy. I don't know if I can walk... even to the car." He uttered.
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I felt so awful.
"You poor thing." Ruko said. "Hold on to me and Uta. We'll walk you there slowly."
Qingxian was coming out of her car as we were sitting Taya down in the back seat.
"Well, what have we here?" She said as she came out and saw the lawn. "An unfinished lawn job."
This immediately struck a nerve inside me! A huge nerve! Couldn't she see all the pain she had caused Taya!? I wanted to yell! I wanted to scream! But before I could...
"Hey, you big SWINE! You selfish MONSTER!" Ritsu shouted at Qingxian out of pure rage.
Ritsu then didn't hesitate to call Qingxian some words. Certain words that I, Uta Utane, am not permitted to repeat in this text.
"Well!" Qingxian made a disgusted, somewhat smug-looking face. "You're Taya's friend, I presume. I don't see how Taya could enjoy having a friend like you who's such a foul-mouthed barbarian."
"What did you just say!?" Ritsu was fuming. He immediately started to take off towards Qingxian, but Ruko held him back to prevent a fight from breaking out.
"Can't you see what you did to him, jerk?" Ritsu continued to yell. "You've been taking advantage of his kindness for months, worked him down to this condition, and you don't even bat an eyelash! Yet you call ME a barbarian?"
"Please... stop." I heard Taya mutter. "Just stop fighting... please."
"Taya..." I spoke to him. "Qingxian isn't your friend... I hate to break it to you. She caused you all this pain. We're just trying to defend you. I'm so sorry Taya... I know you hate conflict, but... there are nasty people in this world. Nice people like you don't deserve this... I am so sorry."
"Ritsu, please calm down." Ruko said to him. "It's no use talking sense into her. Some people never change."
"But... I can't forgive her for hurting my friend Taya..." Ritsu looked so distraught.
The rain continued to pour. Taya was growing weaker by the second.
"His pulse is weak." I said, my eyes large with anguish. "Should we take him to a hospital?"
"I'm afraid it could have to be our best bet." Ruko said, face still with worry.
"I'll call Teto and Momo and tell them that's where we're going." I said.
"A blood transfusion..." I heard Taya mutter. "When it gets this bad, I usually need a blood transfusion... I need to go to the emergency room."
"We'll get you right there, right now." Ruko said.
In the pouring rain, as the darkness of night approached, we sped off towards the emergency room. I couldn't stand the sight of Taya with all the life seemingly sapped from him. Nothing would feel right again until he would make a full recovery... until I could see his smile again.
NOTE: Sorry I made Qingxian such a selfish (insert profanity here) (I'm trying to keep the language G-rated, even though the story has heavy themes.) Well, I haven't heard her voice yet, but I like Qingxian's design. I just thought the series needed a kind of personality to set the girls apart from all being "nice" girls. Eventually, I decided it also needed an antagonist. I ended up getting a bit carried away with Qingxian. I wanted her to still be like-able, but now she's arguably becoming a bit difficult to like...
Uta Utane being the in-universe creator of UTAU (and by extension, Vocaloid) in the universe of Blue Song was something I was thinking about for a while. I find it would be a really cool nod to well... the entire franchises of Vocaloid and UTAU themselves.