There were a few terms Lin set after inviting Miku. They were as follow:
Miss Hatsune Miku must attend said concert with Kagine Lin's insane sister (Miku had yet to meet the girl, but Lin reassured her that his sister most certainly was crazy)
Lin would not be there to accompany her. He had a "previous engagement".
Miku would be in charge of taking care of Lin's cat whenever he wasn't able to. This felt like a rather random request, but she liked cats well enough to agree. Because, come on, it was a Kagamine Len concert.
Honestly, none of these terms bothered Miku too much. She could deal with mentally unstable girls without too much trouble, although Lin had gotten a strange look on his face when he mentioned his older sister. Apparently, she was nineteen, pretty, and in need of professional help. According to Lin, she was the most childish person in existence. However, since the boy refused to pursue the topic, Miku was unable to find out anything else. She seriously hoped this sister of his wasn't as bad as he made her out to be.
This led Miku to her current Friday night location. An entire week after Lin's invitation. It was chilly out, and standing outside the theater where Kagamine Len was set to preform wasn't as fun as one might think. Miku was waiting for the psychotic Kagine sister. She had to pull multiple excuses out of her ass in order to avoid Neru and Teto, who were hell bent on dragging Miku to their dance lesson. Yes, the ever-graceful pair took dance, to Miku's eternal surprise. No doubt they'd have her running in a flurry to fetch water for them. No, thanks. Miku would much rather freeze to death outside one of the best concerts she'd ever have the chance to attend. Speaking of which, if that Kagine girl didn't show up soon, she'd just go on without her.
Maybe the universe decided to cut her a break, because, moments after this thought, a short, blond figure approached from down the sidewalk. It was dark out, nearing eight at night, and Miku could really only make out the girl's bright eyes and a giant bow perched atop her head. As the girl drew closer at a rather fast pace, Miku turned to stare at her indifferently.
The girl was pretty. Blond, with huge blue eyes and smooth, creamy skin. Her legs, which were revealed by short-shorts and crazy orange and yellow striped knee socks, were muscular, fit, and smooth. How she wasn't frozen was a mystery. Did she have a death wish?
In any case, the girl was still attractive. And very obviously related to Lin. Where he had the "I look like a girl" thing going on, his sister was surprisingly boyish. She had almost no chest or curves, and her hair must've been even shorter than Lin's. A bright white bow sat atop her hair, flopping over cutely. She seemed so childish. How was she older than Miku? That idea was ridiculous.
"Hello! You're Hatsune Miku-san, right?" the girl beamed, "I'm Kagamine Rin!"
Miku was sure she had heard the girl wrong. Kagine and Kagamine were similar-sounding enough. All the shouts of "Kagamine Len! Kagamine-sama!" filtering from inside the theater would most likely have caught the name in her ears. Probably. That made the most sense.
"I'm Hatsune Miku. It's nice to meet you, Kagine-san," Miku was actually drowned out as a huge roar of noise erupted from inside. She scowled, and Rin smiled good-naturedly at her.
"Come on, Hatsune-san! I'm sure I kept you waiting long enough," Rin told her. Well, that was considerate. At least she realized how irritating it had been, waiting out in the cold.
Rin led her inside, handing their tickets to the front desk, where a pretty woman with blond hair sat smiling. She handed back to stubs, and Miku and Rin entered the large doors of the theater they were meant to go to, the number marked above the door telling them where to go.. How they had managed to find such a large place inside for a Kagamine Len concert, she had no idea. The concert was due to start in five minutes, and already the audience was unbearably loud. Shouts and passionate cries filled her ears, and despite her hatred of loud people, Miku found a smile on her face. Her spirit came alive with music. Music was love, hate, pain, sadness, beauty, so many emotions and meanings wrapped together. It was amazing, what music could make her feel. An escape from reality was what it offered, and Miku could not turn that down.
She heard her own voice let out a loud cheer as Kagamine Len made his entrance, smiling and waving to his fans. His lovely blue eyes searched the crowd, allowing an even larger smile to spread across his face. He wore a tight-fitting black t-shirt made of stretchy material. His skinny jeans were also rather close-fitting, dark and new-looking. Not a stain or tear marred Kagamine Len's outfit, and he looked just as attractive as ever, his blond hair pulled into his usual messy ponytail. The lights hit his as he stood before the microphone. He waved again, waiting for the absolutely wild crowd to settle down.
"Hello, everyone!" he greeted, and the crowd roared. Miku heard Rin's voice rise above the clamor and meld with the others. Everything was so loud, pounding into her head. She loved it. And she was sure Kagamine Len did, too.
"I'm glad all of you are here! The tickets actually sold out weeks ago! I can't believe it!" he spoke silkily, gently, weaving a beautiful voice through the air. Miku felt familiarity in that voice, but ignored the feeling. She listened to Len sing so much that she felt she would know his voice anywhere.
"Anyway, I have some new people to introduce. We had to hire some new performers. The others' got a bit of a vacation. But I'm sure you won't mind," Len smiled and gestured behind himself, "Over on drums, we've got the ever-amazing Hagane Miku-san."
The pigtailed girl smirked in a surprisingly evil way as applause met Len's introduction.
"For lead and rhythm guitar, we've got the Sakine pairing. Sakine/Meiko are up-and-coming dual idols. If you haven't heard of them, they actually both have the same name, but one of them goes by Meiko and one goes by Sakine. I think Sakine's the younger one," Len explained. Miku already knew this. She always stayed up-to-date about the music world. Sakine, a shorter, younger girl, seemed to roll her eyes from her place beside the older woman with her name, but Miku was too far away to make out her face completely.
"Dear old Oliver is going to be my back-up vocals. For an Englishman, he speaks Japanese fairly well," Len teased the younger boy, who rolled his one eye. He had been in an accident a few years ago, when he wasn't very old and probably just entering the music industry, and lost his eye. Nonetheless, he was adorable, for a thirteen-year-old.
"And, lastly, on bass, my friend Suzuki Aria. She's been playing for about six or seven years, so rest assured, she knows what she's doing," Len grinned back into the audience as they examined Aria. She was a pretty girl, with long, pale pink hair and intense blue eyes. Miku found her outfit… eccentric, but also pretty damn cool at the same time.
"Now, my fans, I'm sure all of you are ready for me to begin, so I'll stop dragging this out," Kagamine Len laughed a bit as the crowd reached its loudest yet. He nodded to Hagane, who introduced her drum line with a flare only she could produce. The beat settled, and the others came in. This Aria girl was good, and Sakine/Meiko preformed just as well. Oliver had a higher voice than Len, but their voice molded well, Oliver trailing behind Len's powerful singing. The song was one Miku had replayed to death, holding the lyrics in her mind. She felt her lips mold to them silently as she moved with the pulsating crowd. Cheers shook her through and through, the guitars and the bass and the drums pounding in her head and against her body. Beside her, Rin shouted her encouragement, pumping a fist into the air. The people around her were too close, heat beating against her, around her, into her, but she didn't care. The music, the wonderful music, was all that mattered.
But all too soon, that song ended and the cheering crowd was all that remained in Miku's ears. There was no disappointment, however; she had the whole night to enjoy this feeling.
The concert drew on, with the occasional few words from Len and a story told here and there. He liked to tell stories. Whether they were true, Miku didn't know. But she pretended they were. Her idol wasn't lying, and she wanted to believe that more than anything else. Because, honestly, the only thing she could rely on lately was music.
"It's been great, you guys. Seriously. I'm so glad everyone is here. But this is the last song, and I hope you all enjoy it to death," Len smiled at the disappointed exclamations from the crowd, "Sorry, everyone. I'm sure another concert will happen before long."
Cheers rose again, and Miku let herself join, her smile stretching wide. To her complete and utter shock, Len's blue eyes found her and he winked. Miku's heart froze in complete surprise, eyes widening. No, Miku was not attracted to Kagamine Len, despite his obvious good-looks. She appreciated his attractive smile and lovely eyes, but she wasn't the type of fangirl to obsess to the point of crushing on her idol. Besides, she already had Utatane Piko. Her feelings wouldn't vanish so quickly.
But the feeling that rose inside her as a response to Kagamine Len's actions didn't vanish as the final song began. Another song Miku knew all too well. Yet another song her stereo had heartlessly repeated to death. Oliver's voice introduced the melody, layered below electronic mixing. The sound flowed into Len's strong voice, the syllables punctured with distortion. Miku had always wondered, who was the girl who original sang this song with him? The girl who had been singing Oliver's part? She seemed to appear in Len's songs a lot, and no credit was ever given to her. Maybe she wanted to remain anonymous…?
In any case, the beat carried Miku away, the meaning of the words lost as the melody was caught in her head. Whatever he meant by his lyrics, Kagamine Len sang passionately, the microphone caught tightly in his hand. Oliver mirrored his passion, letting his simple backup vocals leave their mark on the music. The others, even the ever stoic Hagane Miku, smiled at him. Miku was surprised Hagane had agreed to help Len. She wasn't a fan of performance, or other idols, but for whatever, all the performers seemed to be enjoying themselves. Sakine and Meiko both had matching smirks, and Aria the unknown bassist let her own small smile appear, gentle next to the intense power of the others.
"Go, Lenny!" Rin shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth, pounding her fist into the air. Miku wasn't sure, but it seemed that Len singled her out, smiling and winking. Rin cheered happily, moving with the crowd. At some point, the blond girl grabbed Miku's hand, forcing her to move as well. Miku didn't mind. It had been a long time since she had been part of such fun.
The song ended all too quickly, leaving the crowd cheering and yelling their loudest yet. Len smiled, almost shyly, and attempted to settle the crowd a bit. Their cheers continued for a long time, but eventually the crowd settled a bit, eyes wide and breath ragged with excitement.
"Alright, everyone! That's what we've got for tonight! Thanks for supporting me, and make sure to check out these other great musicians! I think Sakine/Meiko are going to perform in concert two weeks from now, if anyone's interested," Len informed them, his voice far louder than the crowd now that they had quieted, "Good night, everyone! I hoped you enjoyed!" And with that, Len left the stage, leaving cheers in his wake. Oliver followed him, with Sakine and Meiko close behind. Aria, clutching her white Fender bass, gently unplugged her precious instrument and gracefully followed suit. Hagane kicked her stool aside and stuck her tongue out at the crowd, which Miku found amusing.
"That was great! Better than his last concert!" Rin exclaimed, dragging Miku through the crowd. They were both so short, it was surprising they weren't crushed.
Last concert? Miku wondered, Must be some fangirl.
"Come on, Hatsune-san! Let's go wait in the back room!" Rin said. Miku blinked in confusion, letting herself be dragged through the crowd. Rin's white bow bounced ahead of her. That stupid bow. It made the childish girl taller than her.
No one stopped them as the slipped into the lobby and down a new hallway. Miku didn't know where she was going, and she certainly hoped they wouldn't get in trouble. Silently, she stared at the back of Rin's head. She really did look like her brother. Their hair was the exact same shade of blond. Actually, they both sort of looked like Kagamine Len…
Miku's wandering thoughts were shoved into the present as she was pulled into a room. It was a nice room, with a large, comfortable-looking couch and large pictures framed on the wall. One depicted a lovely winter scene, trees shadowed in snow, icicles hanging delicately from branches. The walls were a gentle shade of blue, so light it was hard to tell the color was there. The floor was hardwood, recently cleaned. Miku didn't have time to take in everything before a second door opened, and another person entered. Miku was absolutely astonished to find Shion Kaito standing there.
"Kaito!" she exclaimed, rushing at him. He pounced on her as well, crushing her in a hug.
It had been a while since the two had been face-to-face. Sure, they chatted online and texted, but it was much nicer to be in the same room. He had actually gotten taller, reaching nearly six feet even now. His hair was a bit longer, neatly combed over his head. Apart from that, he was fairly unchanged.
"Why are you here?" Miku asked, looking up at him. Damn. He really was tall.
Kaito smiled warmly. "I was supposed to help Len-san with his concert. Bass, you know. But I hurt my wrist yesterday. Nearly broke it, apparently. So they had me do some easy stuff, since I insisted. I nearly ruined the poor guy's concert. The least I could do, right?"
That was Kaito. No doubt he fell down the stairs or something.
"You're too nice," Miku decided, "It's silly. What did they have you do?"
"Sound set up. I wasn't allowed to carry anything, but I think I helped. Maybe," Kaito let a slightly worried smile play about his lips.
"You probably just got in their way," Miku stated. She couldn't help being brutally honest with her idiot ex. Yes, they were friends, but he was just so dumb sometimes. Kaito let out an agreeing sigh.
"Probably," he replied, "But I had fun being here. Good ol' Hagane and the Sakine weirdoes. Oh, and Oliver. I hadn't met him before."
"And Kagamine-san?"
"Yep." Kaito sent her that cheerful smile of his. Despite his immaturity, that smile made him seem so much older than he was.
Miku was aware that Len and Kaito worked together quite often. They liked to cooperate, it seemed. When Len was just getting started, Kaito, who was older and had started his career earlier than Len, had helped the newbie. They got along, despite the age difference. Len was sixteen, whereas Kaito was eighteen. Surprise, surprise. Miku couldn't believe he was actually older than her.
"Ah, Lenny!" Rin exclaimed as the door that Kaito had entered through opened again. Miku turned to see Kagamine Len, who was busy smoothing down him bangs. He seemed tired, and when Rin tackled him, he just rolled his eyes. Miku's mouth dropped open. How could her companion just tackle an idol so casually? And Len didn't even do anything about it!
"Rin, I'm tired. Seriously. Get off," Len commanded, holding the girl at arms-length.
"Hey, Rin-san," Kaito greeted, "Are you here with Miku-chan?"
"Yep! She's fun!" Rin exclaimed brightly as she latched onto Miku's arm. This made the pigtailed girl very uncomfortable, but that blond had a death grip.
"You're going to break her arm," Kaito laughed, pulling Miku to his side and settling an arm around her. Rin pouted childishly.
"Hello, Hatsune-san," Len greeted. Wait-
No one had said her full name yet.
Miku turned to the boy, her eyes meeting his. She had never been this close to him. Ever. But he felt so familiar, and waves of negative energy blasted cold waves between them. Those blue eyes. They seemed to pierce her. Frosty, narrowed, so very, very familiar.
"Oh, God," she muttered. She couldn't believe it. There was no mistaking those eyes. She hated those eyes.
It was most definitely Kagine Lin she was looking at.