Volume 8

"Aila….Please…help me…"

Yosuke waited impatiently in Aila's house. His foot began tapping the hardwood floor of the living room while he intermittently checked his cartoon watch. They were already late to meeting the others for karaoke.

Finally, though, the boy was about to crack. "Aila!" He hollered towards her room. "C'mon! Let's go! We're not going to even get a seat at this point!" He started off to her door, but was stopped when a tall middle-aged man stepped in his way. Yosuke stared up at him for a few moments.

"Well," Kenta Sonnel muttered upon seeing him, "I see that my daughter is keeping you from your plans with her infamous make-up routine." He had a small smile on his face, but it mostly made him look more exhausted. Kenta was a sturdy man with a square jawed face and eyes that were always narrowed, no matter his feelings. His hair was shaggy and black, while his eyes-what you could see of them-were a deep brown. His composure always made him seem to be on guard, but his pupils were always melted like chocolate.

"Yeah," Yosuke laughed nervously. "She likes to do that, huh?" He stood awkwardly, trying not to stare up at the father of the girl he'd almost kissed the other day. The young lad didn't know much about the private investigator, but he did know that he was willing to shoot anyone that hurt his daughter.

"Well, don't let her make you wait too long," he told Yosuke as he started walking out of the house. "You kids have fun."

When Kenta was out the door, Yosuke breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man…" He muttered to himself. When all was quiet again, he heard something strange. It was a bit muffled by Aila's wooden entrance. He slowly stalked to it and placed his ear right against the cold polish.

"…Turned into blind, expectation…" Came Aila's voice. Yosuke had never really heard her sing before and his heart stopped its very beat so he could hear every sweetly saturated word. The tone she held sounded like it came from the body of a 30-something Broadway performer, hitting every note perfectly and wavering only slightly when she changed her octaves. Yosuke felt his fingertips start to warm as he pressed them and his cheeks further into the door.

Then, there was silence right before it swung open beneath him, causing him to fall forward. Aila had stepped out of the way casually and stared down at him. He lifted his head from the carpet and tried to smile.

Rather than saying anything about his eavesdropping, she said, "I'm ready to go, now."

…. ….

They were almost to the karaoke bar that Rise reserved for them, walking closely side by side. Yosuke kept glancing over at his friend, his eyes very contemplative. Aila was pretending not to notice. She'd seemed distracted the entire walk, so Yosuke assumed it was because he'd caught her letting her voice free from her lungs.

"I didn't know you knew how to sing like that," he finally couldn't resist saying. Aila, to his surprise, blushed.

"Yeah. I took some lessons when I was younger," she said vaguely.

"I've never really heard you sing before…why don't you, ya know, belt it out once in a while?"

"I just-" Aila flushed deeper. "I just don't sing in front of others, ok?"

"But you're really good! At least from what I could hear."

Aila turned her face away from him, but Yosuke could see a small reminiscing glint in her eyes.

"Mina used to always tell me that, too. She would always force me to sing for her when we were kids."

"Probably because of how amazing you sound…And I mean it, too."

Aila met his eyes, giving him a small smile. "Thanks, Yosuke."

They opened the door to the karaoke bar and were instantly greeted by their friends' excited faces. Chie and Yukiko had just finished a song together and everyone looked rather relieved to have a new distraction.

"Hey, guys!" Teddie hollered. He pat a black cushion on the lounge sofa beside him, nodding for Aila to take it. She did so and Yosuke plopped himself down on the other side. The two looked around at the place to take in as much as they could.

Aside from the stage, the room was shadowed by slowly blinking strobe lights. The borders of the walls and other propped-up surfaces were lined with pink and green neon strips so you wouldn't accidentally navigate yourself into the drywall. There was a mini bar off to the side of the grouped lounge seats that served what Aila hoped was alcohol-free drinks. The scent of the place was overpoweringly fruity, mixed with the sweat of the over-heated performers onstage. Overall, the scene seemed more like it should belong to a rave than a karaoke party.

"I wanna go next!" Teddie insisted, drawing all eyes back to him. He bounced up and down in his seat, raising his hand high in the air. Then, in less than 2 seconds of his declaration, he grabbed Aila's hand and pressed it to his cheek. "You and I could do a romantic duet together, Lady Aila." His eyes sparkled seductively and he began nuzzling her palm with his nose. Aila couldn't help but simply flush in embarrassment. Yosuke leaned over to Rise to whisper something in her ear, then reached his arm around Aila's shoulders to smack Teddie on top of his blonde mane. Teddie released Aila with a sharp, "Ow!" and started rubbing at his new sore spot. Yosuke calmly rested his arm on the sofa behind Aila.

"Knock it off, bear," he muttered. Rise suddenly hopped out of her seat and ran onto the stage, taking the microphone into both hands.

"Oooookaaaaay!" She yelled enthusiastically. "Let's get this place jumpin'! I'll sing next, but I'll need some help for this one!" She pointed down to the lounge. "Aila! You've been volunteered!"

The girl nearly sprung out of her skin.

"N-no, thank you, but…" She began to insist.

"C'mon, girl!" Rise childishly leapt off of the stage and grabbed her wrist. "Don't be so shy! The great Risette will be there to sing with you!"

In the corner of her eye, Aila saw Yosuke grinning proudly and she shot him a furious glare. He shrugged innocently.

When on stage, Rise threw a microphone into Aila's fist and went to choose a song on the karaoke machine before them. Aila tried to remember to breathe as everyone stare up at her and she wished that she could unfreeze her limbs long enough to run away.

A thought rose from the anxiety in her chest-a memory resurfacing.

"Aila! Let's join the choir club at school!" Mina had said with excitement, waving an audition form in Aila's face.

"No way! That's a bad idea! I clam up every time I open my vocal chords to sing…."

"C'mon! You need to share this talent with the world! What's the point of having one if you can't use it for the better of mankind?!"

Aila had stared at Mina carefully. "You exaggerate too much."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'll make you a deal. We'll audition around the same time and we can support each other?"

"I don't want to, Mina…"

The girl put an arm on Aila's shoulder. "If you get nervous, just pretend you're only singing to me. It'll be like when it's just us hanging out, yeah?"

Rise linked her arm with Aila's, gripping tightly so the brunette wouldn't make a break for it.

"Ready?" She asked with a wide grin. Aila knew she'd never get out of it, so she simply nodded.

"Think only of Mina…" She whispered softly to herself. The song began.

"Everyone has got a secret side." Rise took the lead while Aila waited for her blue colored verses to scroll over the screen. She was always amazed at Rise's voice, as it could carry into the ears of neighboring towns and draw in crowds with its perfect pitches. "A winding path into a door that's open wide. You think you know me, but I'm changing all the time…Cause if I wanna be sweet, if I wanna be wild, if I wanna cry like a child, if I pick up the world in the palm of my hand, I guess that's just who I am…"

The next words were both red and blue, meaning it was the time for Aila to join in. She took a sharp breath.

"This is me, can't ignore it, reaching out, breaking free…" Aila's tone at first didn't mix with Rise's, but she lowered an octave and they were able to harmonize. "Constantly, falling forward. Yeah, I'm just going for it, this is me…"

The next words were only blue and Aila felt herself smiling as she got into the beat that started rising around her.

"Sometimes life is a confusing thing. And when I talk it seems like no one's listening…tried to be an angel but I just can find my ways…Cause I wanna be sweet but I wanna be wild…" As she continued on, she felt it-that familiar bubbling in her chest that became a sweeping wave of adrenaline in the rest of her body. As it swelled within her, her voice grew louder and she started annunciating her words much clearer. When Rise joined back in with her for the chorus, their voices mixed and vibrated the air all around them in perfect synchronization. Their audience was completely captivated by their song and couldn't move until the song had finished. The feeling left Aila shortly after, and she remembered where she was. Her face was flushed from the heat of the stage lights, but it became worse when she saw her friends staring up at her with their mouths open.

"That was amazing!" They all started saying. Rise guided Aila off of the stage, and both girls were swarmed by their friends.

"You guys were great!" Yukiko congratulated.

"You two sounded really good together!" Kanji said with a big smile over his face.

"Aila could give you a run for your money, eh, Rise?" Chie said to the girl. Rise gave her a rather strained smile.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, now," she told the group. Aila giggled just a bit.

"You did good, kid," Yosuke muttered to Aila, approaching her side. She gave him a frown.

"You got me up there, jerk," she said in frustration. Yosuke shrugged.

"You know you loved it."

Aila tried hard not to, but a slight grin was pricking up her lips.

Narukami approached her next, smiling kindly. "You're a really good singer," he told Aila. "It was really nice hearing your voice." Aila blushed.

"Th-thanks, Yuu."

Rise was there in an instant, giving Aila a small glare and tugging on Narukami's arm. "And what about me, Senpai? What did you think of my singing? Great, right?"

Aila drifted backwards towards the stage as everyone chatted excitedly amongst themselves. A wave of nausea hit Aila as Mina's face popped into her head yet again. She had envisioned her the entire time that she'd been onstage, which had helped with her singing, but stung her heart mercilessly. Aila took a deep breath as she tried to push back the tears forming under her closed eyelids.

"You need to share this talent with the world! What's the point of having one if you can't use it for the better of mankind?!"

"Hey." Aila whirled around and looked into Yosuke's face. "Are you ok?"

"I'm great!" Aila lied. She gave him a smile. "I'm just a little bit tired from all of the adrenaline, is all." Yosuke knew she was lying, but couldn't bring her out on it.

"Aila," Narukami called. He'd wiggled free from Rise's attention and her sight. "Nanako and I are going out to the Central Shopping District tomorrow. She would really like to see you…do you want to come?"

Aila beamed at Narukami. "Of course! Sounds like fun!"

Yosuke backed off a bit. He felt a light ping in his chest as his watched his two friends chat. He tried to ignore it and went back into the conversations with the rest of his group. The warm feeling of the girl's skin under his lips made his muscles buzz. Being this close to her in a crowded area made him think of the few moments he had with Aila on the Ferris wheel. His desire to feel her lips had resurfaced, his curiosity peaking as he felt her body heat next to his.

However, as he watched her giggle with his very best friend, he felt his chances slip further and further from his grasp.

... ...

Catch up time! The songs mentioned are not mine. The first is Sky's the Limit (from P4). The second is This Is Me by Skye Sweetman.

Thanks guys! Glad to be back.