"My little songbird..."

The girl stood atop the stage, chirping such a sweet melody. Her cheeks were rosy with the happiness of the moment, her body swayed with the rhythm. The words were meaningless, of course. No one cared what she was singing about, but rather, the fact that she was singing at all. Her voice was simply so lovely. There was also the fact that she had recovered from an often fatal disease with little hindrances. She seemed perfectly fine. And, perfectly happy to be singing again.

Rin smiled a cat's smile, gazing upward. That was what the public knew, anyhow. They swallowed that up and vomited it back up to any silly bystander who might listen. The miraculous tale of the girl who survived a horrible disease to continue the thing she loved most. It sounded like one of those tragic yet inspiring movies you find on women-aimed channels.

The truth was a bit more interesting than that.

The girl had died, simply. She was doing quite well for someone in her situation, but of course the odds of her surviving were so small. It was only natural that she fall into that grand majority. She was given a funeral, but a private one. No one who wasn't immediately close to her was allowed to know of it. Rin, of course, had been close to that family since she was small. She had known the Hatsunes since preschool, where she had been in the same class as their two daughters.

You see, their beloved Miku had a twin.

The two were technically identical, and looked the part too. And when one contracted a disease, so did the other. They were perfectly synchronized, save for one detail. One was destined to live. The public, of course, did not know of this twin's existence. When a teal haired, bright smiling girl, with the last name Hatsune, walked out of the hospital, they pounced on it. She could sing nearly as well as her sister, of course, so it wasn't completely off the mark.

Rin, naturally, could tell the difference.

The show finished and the crowd cheered. It had been very well done. Obviously she had been working hard to match her sister. Instead of exiting with the mass of people, however, Rin advanced toward the stage, slipping through to the back. She wished to have a word with Miss Hatsune.

She pushed the creaky door open, entering the dressing room of the pretty bird. There was a rack of clothing, all colorful and fitted exactly. To the right was a vanity, covered in various makeups. To the right of that was a chair, upon which sat a lovely looking girl who wept quietly.

Rin stepped forward with cat's feet, prowling silently. She set her hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Oh gosh Rin, I... I try so hard to be like her. But she's gone. Gone!" The twin sobbed harder. "It's like a disgrace to her. I'm imitating a dead person, and they're just eating it up." Rin bent her knees to look into the poor bird's face, and found a red, blotched mess with makeup streaming down.

"You're doing so well, though. The public loves you. Isn't that what you always wanted?" she pointed out.

The bird looked up. "They love her, not me! They don't even know my name." Her perfect violet eyes blinked. It was the one different between her and her late sister, whose eyes were closer to turquoise. They were rimmed with gorgeous eyelashes, fanning out elegantly. Her cheeks, though, were miserably streaky. Rin reached out to touch her, and found them warm and wet. The bird's rosebud lips shuddered.

"Plenty of people have been famous under fake identities. Isn't this just another one of those cases? They've switched your names legally, and you're exactly the same otherwise. No one knows the difference."

"You don't understand!" The bird swatted her hand away and stood, looking desperate and frustrated. "No one seems to get it. Maybe it's because we were sisters, but this just feels so disgusting to me. I know she would have wanted to be here, singing her heart away. I can just see her now. Why did I have to live, and not her? What's the point?" She snatched her casual clothes from atop a dresser and began to pull off her top. She paused.

"I mean, even you always liked her better. Why not? She was perfect, in every possible way."

The little bird turned and dropped the clothes, sniffling. She nestled into Rin wearing jeans and a bra, obviously not caring about modesty at this point. Rin gazed down at her, not being able to answer. Because it was true? Maybe. Miku was such a lovely girl. Cheerful and kind and beautiful in every way. Why shouldn't she have preferred her over her emotional, crybaby sister?

Even so...

Rin held the delicate bird with such gentle arms. She could feel the girl's perfect form pressed against her, and the dampness from her tears. Even so, she still loved her. Maybe differently from her flawless gem of a sister, but a diamond in the rough is still a diamond. Rin could appreciate that much.

"Shhh. Calm, now."

"I...can't. I can't calm down. It's..." She only wept more, holding tighter.

"You'll never be her. You're beautiful in your own way, though. They can't see that, but I can."

The bird looked up, pink faced. She didn't seem to have any words. If she did, they didn't come out. Her lilac eyes just blinked, wide and curious. Rin decided to continue. "The public? They don't know you. They know and love her, in their own plastic and superficial way. They don't matter. She never cared much for them either, you know? She called them ants."

Her little bird laughed, softly, and she was glad. "It's true! Ants, that she would have liked to step on and rid of, but of which there were simply too many. It was fruitless to even consider. So she aimed to please each and every one of them, so they wouldn't drag her under. Your sister was crafty, but you know that." Rin pulled up a chair, and she and the girl sat down.

"She thought you were perfect, you know? She used to tell you it, but you never listened. She would tell me all about it. Remember the time we did that karaoke session and the rude guy came along, and you told him off? She loved that. She would always talk to me about you, later. You were so charming and funny, and so clumsily honest about your feelings. To her, you were perfection. Beauty isn't just about looks, you know.

"You've tried so hard the last couple of months. I know it's dreadful work, but it makes them happy. And it gets food on the table. (At this, the little bird looked down, smiling.) You're the bravest person I know, and I admire you immensely for being able to do this at all. (Tears. Perhaps she had said something wrong?) Your sister would be proud. You keep pushing on, even though it's just horrible, and look. Look around you. You've achieved success. I know it's not the kind you wanted, but you're on magazine covers everywhere. Little girls want to be like you. People are writing music for you to sing. Isn't this the next best thing? It's your voice, your face they know now. Not hers."

The little bird breathed, hands folded. Tears were streaming down her face. "Now you've made me feel guilty," she said, in that lovely voice of hers.

"And why is that?"

She looked up. "Because I'm to die any moment now."

Rin's heart seemed to stop, for a moment.

"Die".

What?

"I took these things before you came in, and I've begun to feel stranger by the moment. I expect I'll be dead by 8:02 this evening."

Rin glanced at the clock. It read 8:01.

The poor little bird climbed into her arms and lay there, fragile and helpless. Violet eyes blinking with the seconds, round and curious as ever. Rin wished the second hand not to move. For time to stop and let the bird lay in her arms forever, heart beating.

But the universe, as you know, is quite cruel.

In fact, time seemed to pass more quickly than normally. She counted every breath, every heartbeat. Every moment she had left with this girl.

Click.

And the songbird lay dead in her arms.