CHAPTER 2: Free Time
Usually the whole ensemble would be stuffed into buses at about 1 AM and sleep on the way to another show; blessed be the bus drivers, the unspoken heroes of the crew who would sleep through the evening to be fresh and ready for an all-night drive.
However, there were 2 days to spare before the next concert in Osaka, and the management decided to let everyone spend one night in a hotel with actual comfortable beds for a change. Sleeping in the bus, even with bunks installed, wasn't exactly the definition of 'comfort' and they usually spent at least 2 additional hours in hotel beds in the afternoon anyway, so this was a great opportunity to get as much rest as they could.
Much to her surprise and discontent, Luka just couldn't fall asleep. She was rolling in her bed for half an hour after which she wasn't any more sleepy than before. Annoyed and pretty much awake, she sat up and turned on the lamp on her night stand. She looked at her phone; it was 1:45.
All hotel rooms looked the same to her: tiny apartments with a bathroom, a tv screen and two beds. Luka shared the room with Meiko, but she wasn't there. The pink-haired singer thought she was probably at the hotel bar downstairs.
Luka got up from her bed and pulled out her suitcase. She dug deep into it and eventually pulled out a fluffy white dressing gown which she put on over her purple pajamas. She then opened her backpack and with absolute certainty pulled out a lighter and a half-empty pack of strawberry cigarettes. Smoking was, quite naturally, prohibited inside the hotel, except for the bar; but she knew there was an open balcony at the end of their floor, and that was where she was headed.
She walked slowly through the empty and silent corridor. Her steps were the only sound echoing through the environment, except for a rather loud snoring coming from one of the rooms. Luka grinned for herself; the noise was really absurd in the emptiness.
At the balcony, she lit one cigarette and looked down at the city. Despite the late hour, there were quite a few cars still driving by down there. The neon lights were shining into the night, creating their own constellations. In the distance, Luka could see the arena where their show took place only a few hours ago.
If only people knew everything that was going on behind the stage, she thought and sighed. Too many of their fans just viewed them as de-humanised figures who only existed for their performance. They didn't realise they were all ordinary people like everyone else, only a little more famous. Every one of them was going through their own problems, they too had feelings that could be hurt...
Like poor Kaito. He was desperately in love with Miku and he wanted to hide it from everyone as long as he could, most of all Miku herself. Luka wasn't entirely sure what his plan was, but it looked like he was too shy or embarassed to discuss this with his love interest and was waiting for Miku to confess about her feelings first.
Perhaps he knew deep down that she didn't feel the same way, at least as far as Luka knew. Waiting quietly and hoping for an opportunity was the only thing Kaito could do in this situation, unless he wanted to completely screw things up between him and Miku.
Luka felt sorry for him. She really liked him and wished nothing more for him than to be happy -and with things being the way they were, happiness was a rather difficult goal for him to achieve. That was why she was as friendly to him as she could: she wanted Kaito to see that he's not all alone in this, and that there was more to life than just praising Miku.
Speaking of whom... Miku was almost at the opposite side for Luka. She didn't literally hate her, but... Sometimes it was hard to look at her back constantly. Everything seemed to be about her all the time. She was the real star, the rest of them were only there for the heck of it. Luka wasn't entirely sure why the management didn't kick them all out yet and only do exclusive Miku shows.
And she wasn't one to keep complaining about it, so she didn't have any real answers to why is the show set the way it was, except for "We do it for the fans."
A set of footsteps was getting closer to the balcony. Luka didn't turn around; she thought the hotel personell might be coming to clean up.
She was all the more surprised when immediately after the glass door opened behind her, two women started to laugh quietly. Luka turned her head; in the weak yellow light of the lamp above the door, she recognised the faces of none other than Meiko and Naomi, one of the sound assistants, a small being with short black hair. Both girls were only dressed in t-shirts which were barely long enough to cover their underpants.
"Good evening, Luka!" Meiko greeted her and walked onto the balcony like nothing was out of the ordinary. Naomi followed her a bit more hesitantly, but still giggling.
"Hey," Luka replied with a faint smile. "What's so funny, may I ask?"
"Nothing, really. It's just that Nao didn't want to bother with dressing up, and I was telling her, what if someone sees us?" And they laughed again. Naomi lifted her own pack of cigarettes and offered them to Meiko before she took one out herself. "What are you doing here? Or up, I should say."
"I couldn't sleep. It's the strangest thing, I think my back actually misses the bus bunk."
"Old habits die hard, I guess," Meiko shrudded and took a lighter from Naomi. "Then again, we didn't exactly get much sleep so far either, teehee."
"Hang on, I think I'm missing the point," said Luka. "What were you doing?"
"None of your business," Meiko replied, and they both chuckled in such a way that everything was instantly clear to the pink-haired girl. She felt blood rush into her face, and a thorn of uncomfortable awkwardness pierced her heart.
"Oh, okay. Um. Sorry," she stuttered. "You know, I could have guessed something like this when I didn't see you in your bed, Mei."
"Well," Naomi finally spoke up with her soft and quiet voice; "I may or may not have requested my own solo room for tonight..."
"I see." Luka who's initial cigarette was long gone lit another one. "I'm sorry, gals, this just caught me completely off guard."
"It's fine. We've been careful not to leave any clues," said Meiko.
"How long has this been going on, anyway?"
"God... Must be two months now, is it?" she asked and looked at her apparent girlfriend Naomi who nodded.
"Two months? Wow, you're really sneaky if none of us noticed for so long," the singer smiled. "Unless someone knew and didn't tell me, of course. Which is unlikely."
Once again the two of them laughed; apparently they were in a good mood tonight.
"No, we keep it a secret from everybody. Well, we managed so far," Naomi added and her wide eyes turned at Luka. "Please don't tell anyone?"
She smiled. "Of course not. If you want it to remain a secret, than it stays so."
"Thanks, you're the best!" said Meiko with a wide grin. "I know we can rely on you, with how well you're protecting Kaito from everybody."
Luka breathed out. "Well, since everyone knows that, I think we can agree that Kaito is terrible at hiding his feelings."
"Cut him some slack, I think he has never fallen in love until he met Miku." Meiko turned around, leaned towards the railing and looked at the city below them, unwillingly sticking her white panties out at her companions. Luka quickly looked the other way while Naomi giggled like a little girl.
"Besides, that's not the point," she continued. "I mean, it's because of you that noone dares to pick on him."
"Is that so? Who would make fun of someone for being in love?"
"The twins, for example. Well," Meiko turned back around; "to be fair, Len probably doesn't give two shits, but you know how Rin is."
"Yup." Luka recalled Rin's silly behavior which she resorted to every time there were more than two people in the room. Either she was hyperactive as hell, or just desperate for attention. And it wasn't like she held any grudges against Kaito, either; for all Luka knew, he was like a big brother to Rin -that being one of the reasons why she usually picked on him more than the rest of her colleagues, with the possible exception of her actual brother. But sometimes her words hurt more than she realised, and there were a couple of times when Luka had to set her straight.
"I don't think the twins should have joined us in such young age," she said out lout. "You can tell that they both need their parents. For things like that."
"Things like what?" Meiko asked. Naomi walked towards her and laid her head on her shoulder with eyes closed.
"Like teaching Rin to be more considerate of others," Luka explained. "We know she's just messing around, but one of these days she'll end up actually hurting someone. And people thinking she's a mean bitch is the last thing I wish for her."
"Well, you just kind of confirmed what I said back there," Meiko smiled at her. "You have these things figured out, that's why people respect you. Even Rin."
"You think so?"
"Absolutely! Come on, you're the only one she'll listen to, in case you haven't noticed. You wanted to give her a mother?" She snickered. "You're the best for the job."
"Yeah, I bet I must be a wonderful mom," said Luka and waved her near-finished cigarette in the air. "But honestly, my mom did the same thing. Used to hit me for cursing and stuff like that, but that didn't stop her from doing it herself."
"Yes, parenting is a little bit hypocritical, don't you think?" Meiko hugged Naomi with her free arm.
"Hey, do you think I'm being a bad influence to Rin?" Luka suddenly asked as she threw the cigarette butt off to the bin by the wall.
"I thought we just established the opposite?"
"I know, but I'm not exactly being a saint around her, either. Miku told me the other day that we should at least try to keep our own adult stuff from the twins."
"Well, she's not wrong, I guess. Honey," Meiko adressed her girlfriend who was still lying on her; "if you fall asleep here, I will not carry you to the bed."
"Bzz," said Naomi and straightened her head.
"Go to sleep. I'll be there in a few," Meiko smiled and gave her a kiss. Naomi nodded, caressed her cheek and moved towards the glass door.
"G'night, Luuuka," she mumbled when she was passing the pink-haired girl.
Luka laughed. "You too."
"I hope we're not making you too uncomfortable," Meiko apologised when the door closed behind Naomi.
"Not at all."
"Really? 'cause I could have sworn you couldn't bear loking at us."
"Well," Luka hesitated; "I just wanted to respect your privacy."
"Oh please, there's nothing private about two people kissing. It's totally natural."
"If you say so."
"You sound like you're not very fond of this kinda stuff." Meiko winked. "Is there not a possible mister Megurine with whom you'd like to do this?"
"Nope. And for all I care, there might never be one, either."
"Heeey," she grinned. "You haven't even kissed anyone before, have you?"
Luka blushed a little and looked to the side. "I have. Once. We were drunk and it was awful."
"Oh." Her smile faded. "Sorry."
"Don't be. I don't even remember most of it anymore, even his face." Luka yawned. "Well, I think I'm gonna go to bed too."
"Yeah, just one more thing, before you go." Meiko walked closer to her. "I know you're having doubts about this whole thing we're doing and your role in it... I just wanted to tell you that I think you're essential for the show. Well, not the 'show', but to all of us."
"Well that came out of nowhere," she rose her eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, the thing that we talked about before? That's just as important as being good on stage. People don't throw shit at each other because of you." Meiko patted her on the shoulder. "You keep us together, and we're happy that you're with us."
"Okay, it's way too late for me to start crying, so I'm gonna stop you right there," said Luka with laughter. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," she replied and hugged her briefly. "Come on now, let's go get some sleep."
Soon, Luka was back in her bed, thinking about what Meiko told her. She liked the sound of it: she kept them all together. It wasn't deliberate, she was just trying to be her normal friendly self, like she believed anyone should.
The Vocaloids were a solid school of life to her. When they began doing this together, Luka soon realised that people can appear really complicated on the outside, but she was always willing to make the effort and really get to know them. It was like solving puzzles. Once she understood how her colleagues 'worked', so to speak, it was much easier to be friends with them all. And have an influence on Rin, apparently.
Maybe she really should be more careful around her. Miku was right: Luka, along with some other older members of the group, never had any problems with smoking, drinking and cursing in the youngling's presence. It didn't occur to her before what image does this leave in someone as suggestible as Rin.
Then again, Len seemed to be a lot more reasonable in this matter. His sister probably didn't take him too seriously, or else he'd definitely be able to talk some sense into her.
Luka fidgeted in the bed. She did have some small regrets about lying to Meiko. She actually remembered everything about her first kiss. She was never too much of a relationship person and, on top of that, has been focusing on her career since she started singing. Because of that, it only happened right before her 20th birthday.
The ensemble resided just outside of Sapporo at the time, working on a few new songs and choreographies before the upcoming short tour. Luka remembered those sessions particularly because that was when she confessed to Meiko that she took some ballet classes as a child; they utilised that skill in the dance routine for Dreaming Chu Chu. Everything was done two or three days before her birthday and the show wouldn't start until two weeks later, so she decided to celebrate it on their last evening in the studio. Four hours later, Luka's world was rotating unnaturaly fast. And that actually made the two of them that evening.
They went outside to take a walk. It was in the middle of the night, and even if they met someone, their show wasn't that big enough yet so chances were they wouldn't have been recognised. When they found a playground, Luka climbed up the monkey bars with a childish laughter, only to find out that she didn't know how to come back to the ground. He reached out to her and helped her down. As they were standing there, half hugging, they somehow just looked into each other's eyes, and before their numb, spinning heads even realised that it was happening...
No, she remembered it; and it was just another one of those secrets that she was willing to hide from everyone. Not that it was anyone's business in the first place, but things were simply easier if it stayed between the two of them.
Nobody needed to know that she kissed Kaito.
