You are standing in the middle of the school hallway, but something seems off. At first, you perceive the walls to be wider than usual. You soon notice that the sense of weirdness is due to the amount of students: it's like everyone decided to come out of the classrooms at the same time and loiter around for no apparent reason.
You notice that you're carrying a huge stack of plates. It's imperative that you take them to the cafeteria right now.
You start walking down the hallway, avoiding the living obstacles in your way. Suddenly, you spot Se Takai-kun a short distance ahead. You sneak after him, using the crowd to your advantage to remain hidden from his view; it's almost like any other day, if there weren't suddenly twice as many corridors to go through before reaching the main doors of the building.
You still have the plates. You're halfway across the school grounds now. You want to keep following him. You sigh and turn to head towards the cafeteria building. You frequently glance back to him as he walks to the gates.
A loud noise startles you so much that you drop the plates. They instantly shatter upon contact with the pathway, entirely surrounding you with innumerable white fragments.
Miku's eyes blinked open as the noise registered in her mind to be the alarm clock. She turned off the contraption immediately, whilst trying to retain images from the dream in her memory. School... Shion-kun... stalking him in the halls. And plates.
"Why... plates?" The sheer randomness of it just begged to be asked out loud, whereas the other possible question was best left unasked.
Don't overthink it. The tealette brusquely shook her head, as a means of forcing the dream's pieces to sink down to the deep, dark bottom of her conscious, where several other dreams following a similar script all resided. Frankly, it was getting quite cluttered, but there were other things for her to concentrate on. Namely, the fast-approaching Midsummer Music Festival.
The after school hours of the last week preceding Kaion Academy's event were comprised of preparations 'til sundown. There was much to be taken care of: deciding the final set list, adjusting the lightings and special effects accordingly, making and mending the costumes, getting all the instruments into tip-top shape and accommodating – sometimes even creating – the choreographies to fit the stage they were setting up in the large field between the middle school and high school buildings. And with much work, comes much improvising.
"Ooopsies, no opening number yet... Hey, Miku-chan?"
"What is it, Gumi-sensei?"
"You'll be first up with Yellow, okay?"
"Uhhh, well, okay I guess... If no one else wants to do it."
"Then, I'll be counting on you. Good thing the costume probably still fits you perfectly."
That's how a large number of things got decided on.
With all the scurrying and hurrying on school grounds to have everything ready in time, it meant lots of working together with music students of all grades and classes from the middle school and high school sections.
For Miku, it inevitably implied bumping into Kaito again. She tried avoiding him at first, she really did: taking different routes while carrying stuff, hiding behind trees when necessary, that sort of thing. But it's not easily feasible when he was assigned to be playing the drums in her songs and he also gave a hand in modifying the choreographies. As an added difficulty factor, she could never really repress that tiny surge of simple happiness she'd feel upon hearing his voice or seeing his stunningly blue eyes and cute face.
It was only a small solace that she wasn't actually ever left alone with him: the presence of others eased the sense of awkwardness dwelling (and ominously thriving) in her mind. Small, since most of her friends were all elsewhere, when they weren't rehearsing their songs. Rin was often in the art room, helping with decorations for the stage – she was pretty decent when it came to the fine arts. Luka was usually occupied with fixing up costumes. Len was around the most, being quite adept at handling the backstage technical side of a concert. Since Miku sucked at drawing anything more elaborate than a spring onion scribble, sooner succeeded at sticking a needle in her own finger than the fabric itself, and got dizzy from just looking at the number of holes on the speakers to insert cables into, that left her doing the various minor tasks that popped up now and then, here and there. Thanks to everyone's strong determination to make the concert a success, they had managed to finish everything by Thursday evening.
In the spirit of it being the longest day of the year, the concert was scheduled to start around noon and last until the final rays of sunlight disappeared below the horizon; it was like a musical accompaniment to the sun's glorious descent across the early summer sky.
Considering it was still a Friday and only two weeks remained before the end-of-semester exams, the teachers insisted on holding the morning classes. It was an idea destined to be doomed: not only were the music students exhausted from the preparations, but so were some of the others as well, who had helped by setting up food stands a short distance away from the stage. The only upside was that everyone was napping at school and thus wouldn't be late for the festival.
Once the bell's chimes brought their studies to an end for the day, the students scrambled out of the buildings to take the best spots in front of the stage. The grassy field was soon strewn with colourful picnic blankets, while the organizers and performers scurried around to make the final checks on all the equipment.
Miku – who was supposed to be first up (since no one else had showed any interest in taking the position following her arbitrary nomination, as they weren't too fond of having the responsibility of starting the concert weigh down on them) after Gumi-sensei's opening comments – was sitting in full attire on a stray folding chair behind one of the tents used as a dressing room, with her knees pulled up and clutching her stomach. It wasn't the first time she had to perform in front of a crowd, but it was the first time she was at the beginning of it: after repressing the irrational worries about it for days, the stage fright had finally caught up with the aspiring singer. Her gaze was fixated on the dirt path in front of her, newly-formed from all the walking around the area, while her head buzzed with demoralizing notions.
I can't do this, after all. It was awfully pretentious of me to take the spot. Yeah, I wanted to decrease Gumi-sensei's problems by one, but really, I've just made it a problem for later! All those people looking at me, expecting me to blow them away with an amazing opening number... that's not something I'm capable of yet! There are so many brilliant, talented students who would be much better suited for it, even if they didn't have the courage to apply for it right away. They just didn't want to seem conceited, I'm sure. So now I, all thanks to my phony helpfulness, am going to single-handedly destroy what we all worked so hard on for the past week. I should never be allowed on stage again! Better yet, I should never be allowed to si-
"Oh, Chibikko-senpai," the familiar voice cut through to her thoughts. She involuntarily snapped her head towards his direction while the rest of her body tensed up, slightly frightened by his sudden appearance. The amount of knots in her stomach doubled. Yay, the last person I'd want to see right now.
"Something wrong?" Kaito inquired after a few moments of silence, with a tinge of concern in his tone. He took a few steps closer to the tealette.
"No, I'm fine," she replied automatically, trying her best to not sound distraught. There was one thing the tealette had mastered that week: speaking to Kaito in a normal voice without squeaking or stuttering, so it reassured her a bit that her acquired skill was applicable under abnormal circumstances, too. It would've been an exaggeration to say they've become friends, but they weren't that estranged from each other anymore, either.
"Why of course, sitting on a chair all scrunched up like a hedgehog is the dictionary definition of being 'fine'. Yep, totally normal," he calmly made his argument, crossing his arms and slightly nodding his head. "I'm taking a wild guess here, but could you possibly be having stage fright?" There was a teasing edge to the way he asked.
"Don't be silly, I have no reason to be scared," she answered with a scoff, turning her face the other way. I don't want to show him such a pathetic side to me... I have to set an example as his senpai. I mustn't doubt myself. As quickly as they had doubled, the knots unravelled themselves, unwrapping a fragment of stubborn resolve. After a short pause, she lowered her feet onto the ground and straightened her posture. "It was just part of my pre-concert routine. Helps the blood flow, you know."
Both of them knew that that was probably a complete and utter falsification, a lame excuse made up in haste. Yet, Kaito had enough delicacy to refrain from calling her out on it.
"Well, I need to get going now, the concert's starting soon. See you later," she said composedly, standing up in a way she hoped to seem full of confidence.
Miku started to walk away from him, towards the stage's location. Soon afterwards, she could hear his footsteps approaching as he easily caught up to her. She looked over to him, clearly puzzled as to why he'd be following her.
"I'm playing the drums in your song, remember?" he replied with a cheery smile, easily guessing the cause of her mild confusion.
"Ah. Right," she hastily mumbled, feeling a little embarrassed at her foolish oversight.
Kaito's presence kept her mind clear on their short walk to the stage.
"Pap-pa-para~!" Gumi leapt onto the stage with the brightness of a supernova, shouting into the microphone the catchphrase she's been using recently. She tended to cycle through them regularly, much to the students' amusement, but this one appeared to be staying for good.
"Yaahhooo, everyone~!" she greeted the audience with a wide grin and waving with her free hand. "It's a gorgeous day for a concert, ain't it? The sun's a-shinin', the summer breeze's a-blowin'... It makes you wanna go on vacation already! But, y'all gotta hold up a li'l longer for that and pass your exams first."
The green-haired teacher casually ambled around as she loosened up the audience, gesticulating with her hands. The speakers projected her voice across the grounds, attracting those who've been loitering around until the start.
"Ah, but y'all aren't here to listen to me spout depressing stuff... No, today's all about having lots of fun and taking it easy! Y'all ready to get this concert started?" she asked them, pointing the microphone towards the crowd up front. She received a couple of lively cheers in response.
"Huh, looks like everyone's still a bit sleepy and not in high enough spirits yet... No worries! We'll fix that right away. I mean really, Hatsune Miku-chan's super-lively song, Yellow, is sure to give everyone a huge boost of energy!"
That was the cue for the tealette to take the teacher's place on stage. As Gumi exited to the left, Miku skipped up from the right and stood in the middle. When she had taken her spot, the band behind her began to play.
At the very moment the first note reached her ears, a joyous grin blossomed onto her lips. Almost as if someone flipped on a switch inside her, her body automatically moved according to the choreography she had rehearsed all week long. All of a sudden, she couldn't wait to start belting out the lyrics to it.
I can do it. It's my song. I know this by heart. And I want to make everyone smile with it.
The festival carried on smoothly without any major incidents (though there were plenty of minor ones), the performers giving their best effort and the audience cheering for them in high spirits. During the planning phase, Miku had taken advantage of her position to make sure that the set list was arranged in a way that allowed the group of friends to watch each other's performances between getting ready for their own. As such, they went on stage at hourly intervals: after Miku's opening act, she sang Sakasama Rainbow with Rin, then the Kagamine twins sang Remote Control, followed by Luka with Just Be Friends.
The hours simply sped by, as they often did during fun times. The fast-paced energetic songs gradually gave way to slower ballads to fit the dusk ambiance. That's when the tealette returned to the stage on her own again, to sing her recently composed song.
Instead of a fancy outfit, she just wore her school uniform and there was no special dance routine prepared; she didn't want anything to distract attention from the message she wanted to convey with the lyrics. Throughout the day, her anxiety had fluctuated between non-existent and all-consuming. At one point, she came close to calling the whole thing off, but then she remembered all the help she had gotten from the others that she absolutely couldn't allow to go to waste because of her sudden changes in confidence, not to mention all the trouble she'd cause by upsetting the schedule. It wasn't just about her original motivation of mending the bond between their trio anymore.
After Gumi announced her to the audience, she walked up to the microphone with trembling legs. There was no sense of familiarity for her to rely on this time to dispel her worrying. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to clear her mind. As a signal to the band members to begin, she used her fingers to count down from three.
"Bokura anna ni naka yokatta no ni
Bokura sanzan asobi mawatta no ni
Toki ga sugite yuku hodo,
Kuchikazu mou heri surechigaunda, aah
La la la la la la..."
Falling into perfect tune with the instruments joining in one after the other, she opened her eyes and let her gaze wander across the crowd, a melancholic smile gracing her lips. She refrained from looking in the direction of her friends; she didn't want to see their reactions until she was finished. Even though Miku tried to concentrate strictly on singing, the lyrics brought to mind all sorts of little scenes and memorable moments from the past two years she had spent with the Kagamines and all that had changed in the past couple of months.
When I started writing this song, it seemed like the brilliant days of our friendship were coming to an end. I wanted them to remember, because it felt like the memories of those times were about to be forgotten, as if they barely mattered in the first place. I just couldn't let that happen; I promised I'd fix things. But after that whole cross-dressing date thing, maybe our friendship isn't in as much danger as I thought. It's perfectly fine that we're making new friends, but we're still sticking together. Our bond is still there, but we're starting to share it with Luka-chan and Shion-kun as well now.
Once the last beat had sounded, a round of applause replaced it. The tealette took a bow and hurriedly left the stage as the clapping died down. She started walking over to her friends along the edge of the crowd and met up with them halfway.
Rin and Len instantly enveloped her in a huge hug from both sides and she reciprocated the motion. There was no need for words to be exchanged between them, not right away at the very least.
The Midsummer Music Festival's last number was Gumi's Yowamushi Montblanc and the teacher wrapped up the event as the setting sun disappeared below the horizon with a short speech expressing her gratitude towards the student body's participation. Afterwards, they quickly got to work and started disassembling everything they had set up. This was a much faster process, achieved in a matter of hours. By then, the night sky was illuminated with stars.
The tight pace of the past few days had the students all tuckered out, to the point where they were just revelling in the blissful feeling of completion before heading home; fighting gravity to stand onto their feet was just too much of a hassle to handle yet, for most of them.
"Hey guys, good work. Here, I brought you something to drink," Miku greeted Len and Kaito, who were chilling near the stage (the one thing that wasn't the students' task to take apart), sitting on the grass.
She sat down opposite of them, presenting a banana soda to the former and a can of iced coffee to the latter.
"Thanks, Miku-chan," Len said, taking the beverage from her and immediately opening it up.
"You're awesome, Chibikko-senpai," Kaito noted with a huge grin as he took his drink. "How'd you know iced coffee's my favourite?"
"Uh, just a lucky guess?" she replied hastily, looking away from him. That was a close one. I only knew about it by accident and happened to remember... She caught Len smirking for a second while he took a long sip of his soda.
"Ah, found you all!" Rin called out to them from a short distance away. Miku turned to see the blonde approaching with Luka beside her. They sat down on either side of the tealette.
"Since when do you get along so well with my brother?" the pinkette whispered to her.
"Huh? Say what now?" Miku retorted immediately, scrunching her eyes in mild confusion.
"You." The pinkette pointed at her friend.
"My brother." She discreetly pointed at Kaito, who was busy chatting with Len to notice anyways.
"Getting along." She showed a thumbs up.
"He's your brother?!" the tealette exclaimed in utter astonishment, eyes going wide and jaw dropping low, while she tried her best to keep her voice low so the boys wouldn't hear her outburst.
No. Freaking. Way. No. Freaking. Way. No... Freaking... Way... No! Freaking! Way!
Miku's thoughts were stuck in an infinite loop. Restructuring the past almost 3 months' worth of memories in light of the new piece of information was an overwhelming task.
"Well of course, you had to have known since you met him when you checked up on him during Golden Week, right?" Luka wondered with all due reason.
And the award for major screw-up of the year goes to Hatsune Miku.
"Uhh, yes! Yes indeed. I did go and see him. Honest! I just, sorta, um, got confused and made some really stupid assumptions..." she blabbered, looking at the blades of grass in front of her and idly twiddling her fingers.
"How in the world did you manage that? When you went to my place, you must've actually talked to him or something, no?" she continued asking about the matter.
"I thought... he was someone else... like, just his friend," Miku clarified, finally turning her face towards Luka and worriedly gritting her teeth as if she had just accidentally broken a prized possession of hers and is really remorseful about it now. "I'm really, really sorry."
"Oh, it's fine, there's no need for you to apologize," Luka assured her, lightly chuckling. "It's pretty funny, actually, how the whole thing just flew over your head. And gosh, your expression was priceless."
After that point, the tealette sort of lost track of her surroundings and just mechanically went along with everything. Physical reality loses its importance in the middle of a mental breakdown.
Shion-kun was Luka-chan's brother all along. My new friend is his sister. It's... happening to me again? Well, in reverse, I suppose. And this time, he's also a close friend's friend. Damn it, I'd be so screwed. I definitely, definitely can't let my impulses take control. It'd be too messy, if things were to take a turn for the worse... Wait what no, where am I thinking. I'm past that already. Actually, I never went there. Nope, not at all. I already turned back a while ago. I really did. And totally not thinking of going anywhere near it anymore.
Damn it, just how huge of an oblivious idiot can I be?
Disclaimer: Yellow belongs to kz/livetune. Miku's song was Limit Friends and it belongs to Koman, the NND code is sm8910415.
Author's Note: I haven't forgotten about this story yet! I fully intend to finish it, because I haven't even reached the scenes that had me wanting to start writing it in the first place... And there's plenty of KaitoxMiku to come, I promise. I can't say anything about when the next chapter will be up, though... This one took so long in the first place because Homestuck (and tumblr) took over my life back in March, so who knows what sort of obsession catches me next.
Anyways, a huge huge huge thank you to anyone still reading it, I love you all :D