Goodbye, Hello, Who Are You?
Part 3: Kumiko and Alexa
A Dance Dance Revolution Fanfiction
By: Azurite (but people call me Andi, Akachan, Mer, and Baka)
http://azurite.rosedreams.org

Well, if you've gotten this far, then you are no doubt wondering one of these things:
(1) WHAAAT?! Andi wrote a DDR fic!? What about all her *other* unfinished fics? Well you know the story about the thing that never goes away? Ever? Yeah, this is like that. I'd never be able to watch/play (ha ha) DDR again if I didn't write this. So here it is.
(2) O.o How did I get here? What am I doing here? Well, if you clicked on "DDR" in my profile, then you either knew what it meant, and wondered what the heck a poor dancer such as myself was doing with those three letters, or you were like "huh? Dark Dark Rain? Double Dark Rocks?" and just clicked out of curiosity. Well, poor soul, you have found your way to a piece known as a FANFICTION! It's about DDR. Ha. Ha.

Notes and Schtuff:
(1) No, I can't DDR. I have terrible coordination. I can try, but I only embarass myself and my much-better-at-DDRing friends. My fingers are much faster than my feet anyway. -.- Of course, that doesn't help me when playing DanceManiaX any...
(2) No, I don't own DDR-- any aspect of it. Konami owns DDR, and the individual artists responsible for the songs therein own them. I'm not making a profit off this... if anything, I'm giving MORE money to those companies by buying their games, and dumping token after token into the arcade machines to try and play. Key word being try.
(3) Yes, I have written fanfiction before, but no, not DDR fanfiction. This is an original piece... it's fictional (duh. Hence the "fiction" part of fanfiction) and absolutely did NOT happen. I'm just sort of setting it where I am, since I know my area best. ^.~
(4) Yes, I know *some* Japanese. So unless you're a native or have studied Japanese for over 10 years (ooh goody, someone on par with me!) then don't correct me. I may not know kanji all that well, but I know names and phrases like I know the English alphabet. -.- Don't even comment on that last one.

Dedicates: (because I'm a dork)
Amber (waaai, her hair's hella pretty when it's natural colored too!)
Onii-chan (irrational exuberance, anyone? Everyone say wee!)
Sean-chan (*bounce bounce*)
Mike (waaaaaaaai! *pounce!*)
Fred
Joey (yellow jacket dude)
Psycho Joe
Chris
and
Will (YOU RULE, DUDE!) and Grace.

What happened last time:

Akio Kataoka was your normal 18-year-old Japanese high schooler-- until he was killed in a hit-and-run. His girlfriend, Kumiko, mourned for him, but her family was forced to move to San Francisco, California, where she's doing her best to forget her true love...

The only problem is, there's a girl there in San Francisco-- Kumiko doesn't know her yet, but her name's Alexa Dirson. She sucks at DDR, but tries all the same. But one day while waiting at the bus stop, she gets injured in a traffic accident, and when she wakes up, gets a funny feeling... and loses conscious at the hospital after friends visit. When "she" regains consciousness, it isn't Alexa in control, but Akio!

That's right, the deceased Akio is apparently in Alexa's body! But why? And how?

What's more, Alexa just found out that Akio is dead! So maybe she didn't imagine that voice in her head...

And what about Kumiko?!

"You honestly think you've seen this guy before?" The pink-haired Andrea gaped at her pale-faced friend in wonderment. Sure, Alexa'd been acting odd all day... but wasn't she always like that? Sort of...? Besides, since the accident, wasn't her older friend entitled to space out a bit more often? Or perhaps she was just thinking about Matt...

"I..." Alexa made a face, contorting her lips and eyebrows into a frustrated-yet-cute expression. She didn't understand the multitude of thoughts racing through her head, and the jolting of the F-line streetcar wasn't helping much. This was the second time she'd bumped her head into the pole...

"Well, try not to think about it. I bet you just heard his name somewhere or something. Come on!" And with that, Andrea dragged Alexa -quite literally- off the train, since it was their stop.

Kumiko stared at the paper clipping in her hands, then back up at the sign. The bright yellow surfboard decorated with bubble-shaped letters reading 'Pier Side Arcade' was exactly the same as in the advertisement.

Why am I here? It's not like I... it's not like...

Kumiko had never DDRed. She had always been interested in dance, which is what she supposed drew her to Akio in the first place. Yet her strength lay in her academic knowledge-- she was an excellent student, and had always been in the top of her class. Akio had first started asking Kumiko for help -help which later turned into dates- for math, then in English. His grades improved, and his affection for Kumiko grew.

And then...

The young Japanese girl shook her head rapidly to rid herself of these thoughts.

Get over it, girl! He... Akio's gone. And it's just an arcade. Another tourist trap that you're going to have to get to know.

How this excuse passd as plausible in Kumiko's mind, she didn't know, upon later recollection. But it worked for the moment, and so, with her head held high, Kumiko strode into the Pier Side arcade, anxiously looking for the flashing Bemani games she knew too well.

Almost immediately, she noticed the difference in the atmosphere-- as opposed to the barely-crowded, semi-quiet outside of the pier, the arcade was already thronging with people, even now, an entire half hour before the 'Bemani Night' advertised in the paper was scheduled to begin. Games were crammed against every nook and cranny, people sitting against walls, in race-game chairs, and leaning against the hand-holds of the Dance Dance Revolution 7th Mix game at the forefront of the arcade.

Barely a few feet into the darkened area, Kumiko had to step aside as two hyperactive youngsters bounded past her, laughing as they ran out to the carousel. Kumiko looked back at them, annoyance not even crasing her features. Instead, a gentle smile. She wished she could live like that-- see everything as fun. Oh, to be a child once again...

Kumiko walked into the depths of the arcade, standing only a few feet from the MAX 2 machine as an American boy and girl -him with cropped brown hair streaked with blonde, and her with bright blonde hair and a tight-fitting shirt- danced on Heavy to "It's Raining Men." Kumiko suppressed a giggle at the lyrics, then wandered on-- there was an unused BeatMania III 7th mix append machine to her left, squished between a pole and a change machine, at which a boy with spiky hair and a lip piercing -shaped like a bright green pike- was feeding dollar after dollar into the device.

The crowd was beginning to get a bit oppressive, as a short, young boy with gelled hair and glasses bumped into Kumiko by accident.

"Oh, sorry." He apologized, grinning. Kumiko found herself nodding dumbly, rather than replying-- it was amazing how his smile was so simple, yet so sweet. How tragic. It reminded her of Akio.

Kumiko weaved her way through the machines, shielding her eyes from the bright, flashing lights and the people filing in and out of their segregated clumps in the arcade's "zones." In the back, another DDR machine was cycling on its normal "Demo" mode, abandoned for reasons unknown to the Japanese girl. She wondered if anyone played this machine at all, or if it was like one of the others in Japan-- neglected because a step was broken, or because certain songs hadn't yet been unlocked.

Somehow, Kumiko thought with a bit of resignation, things weren't as fun when someone else did everything for you. Wouldn't it be a more plesant feeling to keep trying and playing, and unlock the songs yourself?

Perhaps the Americans thought differently when playing. To them, maybe, it was exercise, or simply a fun way to waste time.

And money. Kumiko stared at the 6 tokens game label, her eyes bugged out. In Tokyo's KonamiLand, DDR was only 100 yen! Here, it was nearly twice that amount! However, Kumiko soon backed away from the machine, as two young women came in through the arcade's back entrance, babbling excitedly.

One had short, cropped brown hair, while the other had a shock of bright pink hair, which reminded Kumiko of the many cosplayers she'd seen on the streets of Tokyo from time to time. While the sight wasn't overly common in Japan, it was common enough not to be a total surprise to the girl here in San Francisco.

"...do Waka Laka, Nori Nori... and www.blonde girl!" The pink-haired girl was finishing as she fished around in her pocket for some tokens. Predictably, she came up empty, and rummaged through her wallet to give the other girl a bill.

"I will not do anything if Matt watches!" The brown girl retorted, her face flaming red. She looked young, but there was a wiseness in her dark eyes that Kumiko could sense immediately. Their eyes hadn't met yet, and all was for the better. Kumiko was content just watching. It was silly enough that she was even here in the first place, considering all the painful reminders she'd gotten -and no doubt would continue to get- about Akio.

If only I'd said I was sorry...

Shaking her head abruptly, Kumiko ridded herself of that depressing thought, and watched from the corner, pretending to be examining the SuperScope game rather than the players getting on the stage.

"It's a good thing you have the handicap of the messed arrows, 'cuz I know I'd never pass these songs otherwise."

"Oh please! You said you got AAs on them on Stepmania!" The pink-haired vixen countered, sliding a token into the machine. The lights on either side of the platforms came alive with color, flashing purple and gold, while a nearby fan started to hum on the floor.

"Yeah, but that's Stepmania! My fingers are faster than my feet, you know!" The girl whined, adding a sigh at the end of her brief rant.

"Uh-huh, sure. Don't even bother to say that your foot-eye coordination or whatever sucks, because I saw you pass before!"

The brunette's face flamed crimson as she stepped onto the left side of the platform, while the pink-haired girl inserted the last of the three tokens required. It was then that Kumiko realized why the crowds were so thick on a Friday-- the 'Bemani Night' advertised reduced the cost of all the BeatMania games by half!

Ohh... Kumiko thought to herself in silent understanding. Almost involuntarily, the thought came: Akio would have been here every Friday if...

If. If he'd lived.

D-Damn it! Why do I keep thinking of him? Why can't I just forget--

Kumiko's thoughts were abruptly cut off as the two girls started dancing rapidly to Waka Laka, the first song in their three stages. The first girl, the brunette dancing on the left, was not as coordinated as her bright-haired friend, but she had chosen to up the speed of the song, though it was already on Light mode. She moved stiffly, but still managed a hi combo of 78 by the end. Yet that wasn't what had drawn Kumiko's thoughts away from Akio.

"Come on, you can do it!" A voice called from the water-scooter racing game on the left of the 7th mix machine. A tall, handsome American boy sat there, elbows on his knees, which were bare since he wore shorts. Kumiko blushed slightly at being caught admiring the young man, then quickly turned her gaze back to the stage.

If the brunette had been stiff before, she was as rigid as a board now, and as she turned around to face the source of the voice, her face deepened from crimson to a deep scarlet. It was obvius to Kumiko that this young man was the 'Matt' fellow that the two girls had been discussing earlier, and the one for whom the brunette had obvious affections.

"Come on, second stage is starting, Al!" The pink-haired girl chastised her friend.

"This is all your fault, Andrea! I am so going to get you for this!" 'Al' hissed under her breath. Her face was still red, but she concentrated on the screen, where the familiar background and starting intro of Nori Nori began to play. Behind her, Matt just laughed jovially, winking at Andrea.

To Kumiko's surprise -and evidently, to Matt's as well- this 'Al' character was much better on this second stage than on the first. In fact, she seemed much more relaxed and focused than before, loosely and subltley incorporating what Kumiko recognized as freestyle moves. She wasn't sure how they did things like that in the States, but the moves that this girl was weaving into her steps were familiar enough to Kumiko for her to pinpoint them. She even knew their names...

No way...

The thought suddenly occurred to Kumiko. The girl had drawn her attention away from the depressing throughts of Akio. She was using moves that only Akio had done before -3000 miles away, in a KonamiLand tournament over a month and a half ago. Yet... something was vaguely familiar about all this, as if a twisted veil of deja vu had encompassed the arcade, and all present were involved.

But... it's impossible! I wasn't here a month ago, and these people are nothing like my friends back in Japan!

Yet when 'Al' finished off the song with a flourish, shaking her head in wonderment at the AA that appeared blinking on the screen -all while Andrea and Matt gaped- her eyes met with Kumiko's-- and the two of them gasped in astonishment.

Ooh! What's going to happen next? Where is Akio? What will Kumiko do? What about Alexa, and the news Andrea brought to her of the death of Akio Kataoka, DDR champion? What of MATT!? ^^ Find out in the next chapter.

I know I know, not much DDRness in here. Well, sorta. But just wait-- more songs, more moves... I have to get all the terminology down.

REVIEW PLEASE~! *huggles*

~Azurite