Hear my Song!
Concert XIII
Need and Sin
"Hey, Yu, who were you talking to?" One of the girls was curious. Usually, the blonde wasn't that talkative.
"Nobody important. And don't call us both Yu, it gets confusing." Grabbing an orange from the table, courtesy of the girl that had just asked her, Yukari involuntarily started to think about her past and, most of all, about her sister. She had always looked up to her like she was a goddess when they were young and it had gotten even worse when she started singing.
Every CD, every poster, every piece of merchandise... it had driven her to the edge of disgust how obsessed the girl had become. Knowing that she was far away in Korea was, if anything, relieving. She hadn't told Miku the whole truth of it.
It wasn't just the business she ran away from, or the heartless money making expectations her parents had. She was also sick of the way her sister behaved. The constant worship had been only off putting at first, but eventually it grew into something she was almost afraid of. Her parents were fully aware of it and didn't care as long as the money came in. The wealth had completely blinded them.
One day, they would realize what they had done to their daughters and possibly beg for forgiveness but it was far too late for that. She knew that her sister didn't care about her parents at all. For her, stardom was all about the money and being like her, Yukari.
"I don't get how Yu can have fun playing outside in a weather like this." The same girl that had addressed Yukari before bend backwards and looked at the ceiling. "This sure beats staying out on the street."
"Whose fault do you think it is it that we're sitting on the street?" The second girl, who had been quiet until now, glared at the redhead that sat across her. "This is all your fault, sis."
"Oh shut it, rainbow face."
"Will you both shut it? I went through all the trouble of buying things with the money we earned so be grateful and give me some peace and quiet." Yukari was in the worst of moods now. Moving back from the table and crawling into her sleeping back, she almost hissed at the other two girls. "One of you stay awake. If Yu comes back, tell her to go home already. She's been here since early this morning."
"Sure, sure." Waving, the redhead glared at the blonde that sat across her.
Hearing the two sisters act like idiots for a few more minutes before she slipped away, Yukari wondered if her own sister was still an obsessed freak or if she had grown out of it. If the latter was true, she would like to make up with her. The former... she'd rather stay homeless.
Slipping away into a dreamless sleep, it wasn't until a few hours later that she woke up again, several loud thuds the reason. Getting out of the sleeping bag, she could saw the sisters fight over the table, pulling each others hair, cheeks and scratching each others faces. Getting up ever so slowly, Yukari emitted a horrible aura of anger. "I assume both of you want to spend the remainder of this storm outside, is that it?"
"Oh put a sock in it. You don't own this place!" The redhead responded angrily while the blonde let go and returned to her seat.
The sound of Yukari's hand hitting the redheads face was loud enough to make the blonde twitch. "You two idiots wouldn't know where to get food, where to find a safe place to stay the night, where to go to make some money or even where you can get a shower once in a while if not for me, so show some damn respect!"
Silent tears running down the redheads face, she couldn't argue with that. Getting up and walking to a corner, sitting down and moping, she put hid her face behind her knees, too afraid she would be completely on her own if she said anything.
Yukari exhaled deeply. She had come across the two girls a days ago, both of them arguing over who would go and ask for money so they could buy food. Just looking at them, Yukari felt sorry. They had obviously no idea how to deal with things on the street, and to make it worse, they didn't know what the town was like either.
She didn't know that much of them. Both had come chasing after their oldest sister and ran away from home. That had reminded Yukari so much of her own history that she wanted to help them. Beside that, she just knew their names, that they were sisters, had very volatile views on music, no idea who she used to be and a few details about their lives and hobbies.
Nobody had inherent talent for living on the street and those who had been horrid at first and were still close to that state. They lacked the attention and finesse to steal, they didn't have the personality to beg and they were overly arrogant for the position they were in. In the end, she had taken them to a bicycle shop that was always overworked and looking for part-timers. Having them polish things was boring and exhausting physical labor, but it was one of the few things they could do. They weren't paid much at all, but it was enough to buy food.
Life on the street was hard and they were slow to understand that. People would look down on you and sometimes, you had to go hungry for a while. Extremely few had the chance to live in a somewhat empty apartment like this. With the sisters she had picked up, something she had regretted a few times already, they were now four people coming and going from this place. Before the sisters, it had almost only been her. The only occupant other than her was a true monster of a man that only sometimes came back to sleep, never arriving before midnight and never staying after sunrise. And still, his appearance kept thieves and molesters away, which was a useful thing to have.
Trying to go back to sleep, as there wasn't anything useful to do when the weather was like that, and sleeping conserved energy, something she wouldn't have to replenish with food, Yukari couldn't find peace, her throat awfully dry. Getting up for the second second time, she walked over to a window that had several nylon strings attached to it. Rain wasn't exactly the most delicious drink but it came free and that was too good to pass up.
Taking the middle string and pulling it up, a bottle that had been hanging out in the rain, Yukari drank as much as she could. While the rain was going on, water was all but a scarce resource for once, giving her the luxury to do that. Putting the bottle bag where it belonged, Yukari walked past the still moping redhead. "Stop crying a river and go to sleep. When this rain stops, we'll have to go and make some money, we're practically out. You too."
The blonde obeyed first and got into her sleeping bag. It smelled awfully much of jasmine, the perfume she had worn the day they had ran away. It was better than body odor at least. Her sister didn't have the luck of having worn perfume.
Laying in her sleeping bag, Yukari felt jealous of Miku for just the tiniest moment. She disliked the girl already.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Resting her head on Luka's lap, both of them sitting on their bed, Miku was in a bad mood. Meeting the former star, she had experienced somewhat of a dampener on her expectations for the future. She doubted that she'd end up like that, but there were problems she had never considered and was now thinking about.
Playing with Miku's long hair, Luka knew when she shouldn't pry. Whatever had gotten Miku all lost in thought was something she needed to work out on her own. Gumi and Lily had, after they all had eaten and listened to some funny stories of Lily's, gone back to their own apartment, deciding to spend the day carrying small things from the old apartment to the new one and possibly finding a solution to Lily's sleeping problem.
"Have you ever regretted becoming a songstress, Luka?" Miku was curious what her much more experienced partner was thinking.
"Several times, yes. It's a lot of work to deal with the press and pretend to be someone you're not. And you know how lazy I am when it comes to these things. It's also often annoying when meeting new people. A lot of them are shallow and only like me because I'm famous." Bending over and kissing Miku's nape, Luka was incredibly happy to have met her. "I'm happy you're not like that."
"Have you ever wanted to run away from all of it?" Miku smiled when Luka flattered her. "I'm happy to have met you, too."
"I wanted to just stay home and become a hermit a few times, but I still went to work later so I can't say I wanted to run away from it. I know you better than to think you're feeling like running away from this, so what brought this on?"
"Nothing serious. I just met someone I didn't think I'd ever personally see. Believe me, I love this line of work."
"You won't after this storm is over. They will want to capitalize on the aftermath of this and there is also a festival coming up. We'll be up over our ears in work. Remember you asked me that one time why I have that really expensive sleeping bag in my closet?"
"You're not gonna tell me that you sleep over at the agency, right?"
"Twenty hour work days are rare but they do exist for us."
"You could have told me sooner, you know? I'd have done some work in advane."
"Most of the time we don't write our own songs anyway. There is a lot of marketing and licensing politics involved that we're much better off without touching. If it wasn't for the blackout, we would probably have spent this entire day working already. But I get to have you use me as lap pillow in exchange, so I'm good."
Groaning, Miku rolled over, looking up at her love. "It's been a while so... I actually forgot what we're going to be doing next."
"You have two solos coming up, I got one. We also have a duet. Gumi also has two solos to produce." Luka was lazy but she was a professional.
"That sounds like I'm going to be working hell hours." Miku turned a little pale. Two songs and a duet was a lot of ground to cover, especially after having already lost a full day of work. It was late in the afternoon by now and the power still hadn't come back on nor had the storm stopped. At least the latter was no longer any big mystery.
Having bought batteries at the convenience shop, Miku had fed them to her radio, which was now silent, to check for any news on the weather and the blackout. While the power was expected to come back on within the next twenty-four hours, the storm was to last for another two days. There had been a very big fuss among meteorologists because of this unnatural weather, but in the end it had turned out that there was a massive drought going on elsewhere and all the rain was ending up here.
"I always hated working the long hours but since you'll be there, it won't be as bad. I'm more worried about Gumi. With what happened to Sonika, she's probably not in the mood to do her normal stuff."
"She's a pro, just like you. Would you let your mood influence what you want to sing?"
"If I did, I would be singing nothing but silly love songs because of you."
Blushing at Luka's words, something Miku wasn't doing that often anymore, a embarrassed but love smitten smile showed on her face. "I never expected that things would turn out like this between us. I never really thought about liking girls before I met you."
"We both won the partner lottery at the same time, full jackpot."
"Aren't you full of yourself!" Laughing, Miku slowly got up with Luka's help, kissing her partner in the cheek before getting off the bed. "Bathroom."
"Keep the seat down!"
Grabbing an extra pillow that was laying on the floor, Miku threw it as hard as she could at Luka, who caught it with ease, both of them laughing.
Falling back onto the bed and yawning, Luka was truly happy. After becoming a star, the only things she had missed in her life were friends she could trust and someone she really loved. Gumi and Lily were mostly filling the first spot and Miku more than filled the second. She wouldn't openly tell her, but Luka counted herself the most fortunate person on the planet, being Miku's lover. She would have give up everything for her. Telling her that would only make her angry, though, so she didn't.
"Miku?!" Shouting from her bedroom, Luka waited for an answer.
"What?" The answer was another shout from the bathroom, through closed doors.
"Is the seat down?"
No answer came and Luka grinned to herself. She liked to tease Miku a lot since her reactions ranged from cute to adorable. Without warning, a large pillow covered her face and someone was getting on top of her. Struggling while laughing, Luka couldn't shake her off. Giving up, slapping her hand twice on the bed, a red faced Luka emerged below a laughing Miku who held the pillow she attacked with in her hands.
With one powerful move, Luka grabbed her partner, forced her off and reversed their positions, her right hand immediately landing on Miku's breasts. To her surprise, Miku didn't resist at all. "Round two?"
"Only because we'll be too dead to do it when work comes in."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Neru wasn't sure she was okay with Haku actually doing something as crazy as participating in a band. She was still so shy around other people that she couldn't see it working out. But watching Neru actually practice on a really old keyboard she owned, she couldn't bring herself to tell her half-sister that.
"I haven't seen you play in a long time, Haku." Laying naked in Haku's bed, Neru couldn't understand how Haku was able to get up and focus on practice so soon after they had slept with each other. Her much more busty partner had already picked up her clothes and had gotten dressed to continue where she had left off before Neru came into her room, really longing to sleep with her.
Haku loved Neru, but she was self-conscious of her problems and wanted to stop being a shut-in. That Lily girl was a bit similar to Neru in how she looked and the way she acted. She didn't feel frightened at all around her. Thinking about the moment the power went out and she clung to her, Haku fiercely blushed. Thankfully, it was too dark for Neru to see it. The keyboard didn't make any sound either, but Haku was practicing reading notes, still able to remember what keys to hit. Their only source of light were several candles.
"I always liked playing. I want to play again." She wasn't quite as shy with only Neru around. Over the last months, Haku had gradually gotten a little better than before. With Miku not around as much anymore, she had to do more things herself, and realizing that she could do them helped her self-esteem. She just didn't think she could ever actually sing again, not even if it was just for Neru.
"Don't over-exert yourself, Haku. Luka will be there and you're not very good with her." Neru was more worried about Haku getting hurt emotionally than anything else. Miku was doing a good job at keeping her girlfriend under control, but...
"Miku and Lily will be there." Haku realized that getting along with Luka would be very hard for her, but she would at least try. Finding the motivation to do it after meeting Lily and Miku asking her personally to help, she felt a lot more secure than she had in a long time. Being needed by Miku and Lily praising her looks had really boosted her self-esteem.
"You're really fond of that Lily girl. Who is she, anyway?"
"Miku's friend. I... don't really know her but she was very nice." Stopping her practice, Haku sighed. It was a lot harder to regain what she had lost by stopping for so long than she had expected. She hoped there wouldn't be any difficult parts for her to play until she got better.
"I'm happy for her that she started to have more friends, but she is really attracting a lot of weird figures." Getting out of bed and walking stark naked through the room, Neru sat down behind Haku, hugging her, both her arms resting just above the silver haired woman's breasts. "And I'm worried about you."
"I know..." Looking a bit sad, Haku knew that Neru worried with good reason. She wasn't good with Luka, barely knew Gumi and Lily and a band would eventually play in front of many people, which would be incredibly difficult for her. Neru had every reason to be worried. "But..."
"You don't want to be a caged bird forever. I know that better than anyone, stupid." Poking Haku's cheek, Neru rested her head against Haku's. "I just don't want you to start flapping your wings from a skyscraper."
"Do you not want me to help Miku?"
"I didn't say that. I'm telling you to be careful and not have too high expectations. And most of all, you shouldn't compare yourself to them. They're used to be the center of attention, you're only my center of attention."
Blushing, Haku found that to be an incredibly sweet thing to say. "Say Neru..."
Making a question hum, Neru kept her position, enjoying Haku's scent. It reminded her a little of the girl's favorite brand of alcohol, one she also very much enjoyed. As opposed to Miku and her friends, Haku was quite a bit older than them, and that too, was something that worried Neru a little.
"Do you think I will... fit in? On Stage?"
"Out of you five, you're the most beautiful, Haku. There will be lots of people that will only look at you while you guys are playing." That was, if they ever got to the point where they go on stage in front of people.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"Cut! Cut!" Angry shouting filled the room. For the fourth time in a row the scene hadn't gone as envisioned. Jumping up, the director angrily lashed out at one of his two stars. "I told you to make it look passionate! Your fans expect you to love each other! What part of that is so hard to understand?"
"It's not you who has to work with this bird brain! I'm trying but how am I supposed to look smitten if her eyes look fucking through me like I don't exist?!" Pushing her partner out of the way, the blonde stepped off the stage, her blue eyes narrowed to angry slits and the echoes of her heels causing everyone else to take shelter. Sitting down in her seat, the girl angrily exhaled, picking up a big plastic cup of coffee and taking a sip through the straw at the top. The liquid barely touched her lips when she looked up. "Who brought this?"
Nobody spoke up. Jumping up, the blonde got louder. "Who the hell brought this?" Noticing that one particular staff member was much more nervous than the others, she threw the cup at him, the hot coffee spilling all over him. "That shit is disgusting! Are you trying to poison me or something?"
"Kim, please, stop that." The blonde's manager finally stepped in. "We'll take a ten minute break!"
"I told you to call me by my damn stage name!" Biting her thumb, the girl sat back down, cursing. "Why do I have to work with that bitch? She's not even Korean! Fucking Japanese cunt! Why do I have to work with her, huh?!"
"Seeu, please calm down. We've been over this. For now, we're pretending she is Korean, just like you!" Her agent was used to her violent temper and nature. She was a first class actress and singer but her temper constantly got her into trouble. She finally made it big by teaming up with another girl.
"It's a fucking disgrace that she gets to call herself Korean in public! Don't you people have no national pride at all?" Glaring at her partner, Seeu wanted to just smack her face in. Of all the things they could have tried, they got popular when they pretended to be lesbians. She didn't have a problem with that by definition but she sure as hell couldn't stand having to do it with a Japanese girl. Nobody could tell what part of Asia they came from under all the makeup and stylist tricks they were covered in.
"And what the hell was up with that meeting earlier? Going to Japan? Huh? Are you fucking shitting me? What reason do I have to go to that filthy land full of Oh, so moe-moe-kyun kawaii! faggots that haven't kissed a girl their entire life?"
"Your songs Bullet and C:Drive Vocaloid have annihilated the foreign music chart over there for the past months and-"
"Big fucking deal. They can't make decent music if their life depended on it."
"Like I was saying, you've been invited and the agency wants you to go because it would be a really big popularity boost if you could get popular in Japan. It would also bring you more fans back home!"
Clicking her tongue so loud and angrily that a nearby staff member nervously walked away, Seeu glared towards her partner again. "I hate her!"
At the other end of the room, Seeu's partner was relaxing in her own chair, going through dozens of images on her smartphone, her gaze dreamy and blissfully directed at the pictures. "Ah, even today you're so pretty..."
A staff member that was new got curious what she was looking at and faked passing by behind her, catching a glimpse of purple hair under a dirty hood. Who in the world had she taken pictures of?
"Hey." Ia's voice took a dramatic dive to downright evil and murderous. "The hell are you looking at with those damn eyes of yours? You better not be looking at these pictures." Looking back over her shoulder, towards the staff member, Ia's eyes were small, narrow slits, her look giving off a dangerous vibe. "She's mine. I'll kill you."
Without losing a single second, he moved away as quickly as he could. Not even five seconds later, Ia was back to being in bliss, looking through the over hundred images she had received that morning. "Ah... you're so cute even naked..." Sucking on her left pinky, she got horny just looking at the images. Nobody could tell from her glassy look, but she wanted to start masturbation right there and then. "Why must you be so cute, strong, smart... ah, you're just perfect, Sis."
Her agent watched from the distance, fully aware of how dangerous her obsession was. Over a year ago, she had started using the money she earned to pay a private eye back in Japan to track down her sister. But that wasn't enough. Unable to go back to Japan, Ia started paying him to follow her everywhere and take photos. She had even gone as far as to bug some of her clothes so she could record her voice and endlessly listen to it. There was nothing she would stop at when it came to her sister.
Plugging headphones into her smartphone, she started one of her favorite tracks, titled Yukari humming a the cutest tune to be ever created. Humming along with it, she looked completely innocent and cute from the distance. But that was a shaky lie. As soon as someone would even look at the pictures of her sister, she was ready to gouge out their eyes. Despite all of that, she was a rising star in the business.
A few seconds after Ia had listened to the track for the eleventh time, it was time to continue working. "Okay, break is over! Get back up there, girls!"
Clicking her tongue, Ia got up. She didn't have anything personally against Seeu, but there was only one person in the universe she liked and nobody could ever hope to compete with her. She knew that she had to do her job though.
Taking her stance, across Seeu, the music was turned on, both of them moving exactly as they had practiced, slowly getting closer. Reaching out first, Seeu looked at Ia with longing eyes, desire wildly burning in them, her arm stretched out.
Taking her hand, pulling Seeu close, Ia held her close in her arms, her eyes like those of a hunter, wild ablaze with lust. Despite it being an act, despite her hatred towards the girl, Seeu's heart beat like crazy while she was being held. Their hands put together, singing the same lyrics together, their fingers locked. Ia was completely merciless when it came to playing with others affection for her or giving them fake affection of her own.
The direction for the song's finale was for them to separate, Ia holding Seeu back, pulling her close and faking a kiss. Pushing Ia away, Seeu faked tears and regret, trying to walk away, Ia's grip on her wrist more powerful than she had expected, forcefully holding her back. To everyone around them, it looked extremely real, but as things were the case with Ia and Seeu, they couldn't have been more fake.
Pulling her back again, Ia decided to pay the girl back for shoving her earlier. Straying from the script, she laid a single hand on Seeu's cheek, her eyes so wild and monstrous that the blonde couldn't look away. When the scheduled gust of wind from the machinery hit them, their long hair creating a storm of strands, Ia forcefully pushed her lips on Seeu's, her eyes still wide open, like those of a beast. Seeu almost panicked when she felt Ia's tongue slide into her mouth. The gaze was keeping her almost paralyzed, unable to push her away. There was no emotion or passion in the kiss. Even a stranger would have kissed her with more feeling to it.
The wind vanished and Ia finally let go of Seeu, only to walk away with a completely nonchalant and uncaring face. "Good job." Her words were empty and shallow, Ia returned to her seat, picking up her smartphone and calling someone.
"That bitch..." Spitting and cleaning her lips with the sleeve of her costume, Seeu was furious and horribly embarrassed. Nobody had seen that the kiss wasn't fake but real. Even if she made a fuss, nobody would believe her anyway. They were all idiots, oblivious to how much of a monster that girl was!
Already out of the room, Ia was on the phone. "Are all the arrangements done? Good. I will be in Japan very soon. I expect things to go as expected." Hanging up, nobody but her knew who she had just called. Being famous gave one the means to pull strings here and there. "Soon, Yu~ka~ri." Smiling to herself, she headed for her room to get her things. She was done for today and she would use the remainder of her free time to enjoy her most favorite activity, watch images of her sister on a large projector she had bought for her apartment while listening to her voice. She had very few video records of her since they were difficult to do unnoticed, but she did have three, each of which she watched multiple times before going to work and after.
Back in the studio were Ia's agent, a middle aged woman, and Seeu's agent, a young woman, both of them fully aware that they were stuck with problem children. "Want to go to the bar? My treat." Ia's agent was worried that Seeu might pull some kind of stunt on Ia that triggered her switch, ending with Seeu in the hospital or worse.
"Sure. I really need a drink now. Seeu?" Looking around, she found the girl almost burning through her chair, so angry was she. "This was originally my song! Why was it turned into a duet?"
"Kim, we-"
"Huh? What the hell did you just call me?"
"Seeu, we've been over this a dozen times. You work for the agency and so do I. We don't get to decide these things, the higher ups do."
"The higher ups can go and fuck themselves silly with a broom or something." Jumping up and walking away, she didn't leave the room without shouting at a staff member who jumped out of the way in surprise.
"They're going to kill each other one day."
"Let's hope we're retired or dead before that happens."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
To their surprise, the town had power again as early as ten in the morning. The rain was still coming down like crazy and driving a car was still impossible. Despite that, Miku and Luka had to get to work. Gumi was getting there on her own while Lily stayed behind. Sitting in the conference room, Miku and Luka were flattened by the load of work that was coming to them. Luka had a dance choreography to learn for the duet and her solo, Miku was freed of the dance routine but had six scheduled interviews, two of which with Luka and one with Gumi, all additionally to two solos and the duet. Late in the briefing of their workload, Gumi's agent showed up, informing them that one of her solos was canceled due to poor emotional state and instead it would be an entirely new song with Miku, pushing her to do two duets.
That was their workload for the next two weeks alone. Miku was happy that they had stopped on the way and she had bought a brand new, high quality sleeping bag. Because she might as well have rented a room at the studio with this workload.
Luka tried to smile at her but was exhausted just thinking of the workload. "Told you." Showing up a few minutes later, Gumi was carrying what looked like a veritable mountain of papers with her. "Same boat as us?" Nodding while putting the papers down, Gumi didn't expect there to be that much work.
Starting work half an hour later, first up was the duet between Miku and Gumi a full PV accompanying the track itself. Sitting in makeup for fifteen minutes already, all of Miku's face was itching and she would have killed to be able to scratch her nose. Already wearing her costume, which was simply a green tracksuit with white stripes along the arms, brown leather gloves, white headphones and a fitting green tracksuit pair of pants and sneakers. The excruciatingly annoying part was the makeup she had to wear. Her skin was to be completely white with additional highlights on her face.
"What does Matryoshka even mean?"
"It comes from the Matryoshka doll that comes from Russia." Gumi was reading up on it. Both of them sat side by side, looking into a large mirror, a skilled makeup artist preparing them. The whole thing would be filmed in front of a green screen with a rather bizarre execution. The company was trying to appeal with the weirdness of the duet.
"Have you put on colored lenses before?" The question was directed at Miku.
"I didn't hear about that. Is that really necessary?"
"There are a lot of close-ups, so yes."
Taking off her gloves, Miku carefully took the small container and even more carefully put the colored lenses on her eyes, blinking a few times to get used to it. "I feel like I fell into a bucket of pain and glue." Miku didn't feel well at all.
Gumi followed the same instructions, quietly and without question. She had more experience than Miku and had gone through similar stages of preparation before. She was wearing a red hoodie, the same brown gloves as Miku, red tracksuit pants and had to deal with the same skin layer makeup as Miku. It would take a very long shower to get rid of that and given their workload, that meant she would likely walk around the rest of the day like that.
Finally getting out of makeup after half an hour of sitting like a puppet, Miku felt tired already. "We looks like freaks."
"The PV won't be difficult as we're not actually moving very much. It is a lot of still shots and a few movements." Handing Miku the papers with the instructions, Gumi was completely in professional mode. Hearing music nearby, Miku knew that Luka was doing the first tone tests for her song. "I'll be right back." She wanted to see Luka at work.
Arriving in the room that was connected to the recording room by a large glass window, Miku picked up one of the headphones and held it next to her head. The music was loud, powerful and guitar heavy. And then Luka's voice set in. To Miku's surprise, it was in English.
"Wash my Blood of Agony – Proof of my Virginity – Wash my Blood of Insanity – Sacrifice of Maiden Head for You." As always, Luka's voice was very impressive. Miku had a lot of respect for her that way. But before the song continued, Luka shook her head, raised her finger and made a circle in the air. The music looped from the start.
While lazy and irresponsible in normal life, Luka was quite the professional when it came to work. Feeling someone tug on her sleeve, it was Gumi, who gave her a scolding look, something she hadn't seen before. "You don't have the luxury of listening in on Luka right now."
Returning to the set and reading the instructions, Miku found it easy to memorize them. The first shot had them stand side by side for a few seconds and shake their heads. Most of what followed was them mirroring each others moves. They would record the song separately later, due to the way the PV was designed their mouths were not supposed to move during it.
Ten minutes passed before the camera men, director and a few other staff members gave the signal that they were ready to go. "I can do this." Motivating herself, Miku was surprisingly nervous.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Having gotten to roughly the middle of the track, Luka did the same gesture she had done over thirty times already at this point, whirling her finger around just before she made a different gesture, moving her hand back and forth in front of her throat. She wanted to take a break to clear her head. Switching rooms, Luka was sweating a lot. It was tiring to sing for so long and repeat the same lines over and over. Grabbing a bottle of water, Luka ignored all the people telling her that she was doing good. Sitting down, emptying half the water bottle, Luka put on headphones and let the track she was supposed to sing play over them, going over her lines.
She wondered how Miku and Gumi were holding up. By now, they had to have finished the PV and go on to record the song. Taking off her headphones after the song had played twice, she left the studio room and took a peek into the one next door.
Gumi and Miku, looking like defeated boxers, were sitting on chairs at the back, looking like monsters from a Hitchcock movie. "Having a hard time?" She was on break as well, so she could afford to go in and talk to them. Walking to Miku and sitting her to her, she petted her head.
"I never thought it would be this hard to synchronize our tempo." Miku had done it before with Luka, but Gumi was completely different. Trying to compensate for Miku's lack of experience, Gumi fell off-tone too often and when she didn't compensate, Miku got off-tempo at times.
"It's not just your fault, Miku. I don't have experience with duets either. We can only keep trying. How are things for you Luka?"
"Difficult. I'm better at Japanese than I'm at English and the entire song is English. It's pretty difficult. A few times my pronunciation slips and then I have to start from the top. You two looks horrifying and adorable at the same time, by the way." Luka was trying hard to suppress a big grin, with only mediocre success, proven by Miku slapping her shoulder.
"Do you have any tips for us, Luka?" Miku wanted to finish the song as soon as possible. She still had two solos and a duet to cover in terms of lyrics.
"Try holding hands." Dodging Miku's hand, Luka raised her finger. "I'm serious. It will help you keep in the same tempo. Also try to stand next to each other, not opposed."
Someone knocked on the door and upon spotting Luka it was clear that he was looking for her. Pointing on his wristwatch, Luka understood and got up. "Try to relax a little. Being tense will just make you go off-tempo, Miku." She didn't need to tell this to Gumi, considering she was already a pro.
Going back to her own work, Luka wondered if they would be able to work it out.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
It was past five when Luka finished and got to studying lyrics, past six when Gumi and Miku finally finished recording, and past seven when they had used the staff showers to get their makeup off. While Gumi was free to go home, work hadn't ended for Luka and Miku yet. A reporter had shown up just then.
Miku and Luka were both waiting in Luka's changing room, where Luka also kept her sleeping bag, the green haired girl every bit as nervous when she had first met Luka. "Miku, breathe. You're starting to look like a titan smurf."
"That's easy for you to say!" She was so nervous that she could barely drink or eat anything despite being really thirsty and hungry. "Don't they usually give us answer sheets for this or something?!"
"Miku, you watch too much TV." Grinning, Luka petted her head. "They only do that when it's a live interview. This is a written article, so they'll be able to just cut things we need to have cut. Our agents generally take care of that."
"I'm still nervous." Miku almost jumped up when Luka suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a quick kiss. Her face fire red, Miku jumped up. "What if she had come in here?!"
"My, that would have been terrible." Luka smiled wide. Making Miku anger was at least one way to make her ease up.
Someone knocked twice and Miku sat down so quickly she almost fell down. "Come in."
While Luka and Miku sat side by side in comfortable armchairs, one of Luka's privileges as the main star, the reporter stood while introducing herself. Miku's body wanted to get up and bow, since it was etiquette to do that, Luka held her back without the reporter noticing it. Giving her a single look made clear that Miku should follow her lead. "Nesiji Kande from Modern Vocals. Please to meet you." Bowing slightly, the reporter then sat down across the two in the remaining empty armchair.
"Pleased to meet you." Answering nonchalantly and unmoving, Luka looked to Miku, who repeated the phrase after her, trying very hard not to give in to the etiquette she had learned. She had slept dozens of times with Luka, shared showers, toothbrushes and all sorts of things with her, so why was she so incredibly nervous just sitting next to her.
"Do you mind if we start right away?" Taking out a small recording device, a pen and a note pad, the reporter had already made several notes and prepared questions.
"Of course, go ahead." Luka was like a different person in front of others. Miku didn't recognize her at all.
"Many of our readers are wondering when and what your next work will be about, Miss Megurine."
"Luka will be just fine. I have in fact just finished recording a powerful song that will with certainty storm the charts with force, if you may excuse the pun in saying so. However, the true highlight of this season is yet to come."
"Could it be the much anticipated next duet between you and our new star, Miss Hatsune? Fans all over Japan have been wondering when we can expect more of her refreshing work to come and, most of all, of course when and if there will be a continuation to your controversial number one hit, Magnet."
A second of silence followed and Miku only realized she had to answer the question herself when Luka blinked twice at her. "Much like Miss Megurine, I also finished recording a song less than a few hours ago. However, it is not a single but a collaboration work between me and Gumi." Trying to imitate Luka wasn't easy.
"I see. I am surprised to hear that you address Miss Megurine by her family name. Many fans have been wondering just what exactly the relationship between you two is. Is there truth to the rumor that Magnet is an coming out?"
When Luka didn't answer, Miku started to sweat a little. "While at work, we let our relationship remain completely professional. When not working, we are friends that get along. I respect her as my senior in the business and so I address her in a respectful way."
"That is very traditionally Japanese of you. Now that the the company has acquired Gumi as an additional singer, do you see her as competition?"
"Gumi is a very good friend to me. We both have different styles and voices, so I see no conflicts between her and me at all."
"What do you think about the companies newest acquisition, Miss Megurine?"
"It brings variety to the business. Her voice is not very suitable to work with me myself, but I can see her and Miku work together very well."
"I see that you have established a first name basis with your co-worker. Is this sorely because of the fact that you are the senior songstress?"
"If you are implying that I am calling her by her first name because there is after all some truth to the rumors about Magnet being true then you are mistaken. It is simply because as a co-worker, I see no need for overly polite expressions."
"A very modern and cool decision. Now, many of our male readers have been wondering what your ideal type of a partner would look like."
"Unacceptable question, cut it from the article." Luka's look was hard as steel and the reporter flinched under her hard tone.
"N-Now, our readers would also like to know some of your favorite things. Food, type of book, music and movies."
Looking to Miku, Luka was letting her go first. She remembered already answering these questions in the past.
"I very much enjoy spring onions, raw or cooked. I can eat them to many things as a side dish." Miku had almost let slip out the words But Luka doesn't like them so I rarely make them for us. She couldn't let her guard down at all. "I don't have a particularly favorite type of book. As long as the author has worked hard, I will enjoy their work. The music that has brought me here, the music of Megurine Luka, is coincidentally the music I preferably listen to. And I go to the movies so rarely that I don't really have any favorites."
"What about Miss Megurine?"
"I enjoy sushi a lot, particularly chutoro. I don't read very much, at most when I travel, and then I enjoy trashy romance novels. They're easy to read and just as easy to put down when something more interesting shows. I can't quite put a finger on what my favorite music would be, but I often listen to works by Sonika Llyoid. I enjoy action movies very much as they demand my full attention."
Miku was incredibly impressed. If a normal person had listed all those things, they would have to deal with all kinds of insults and negative accusations. But the reporter just nodded and accepted it like nothing. The air of a real star, Miku thought.
"As we are coming to an end, I would like to ask you with whom, regardless of their company affiliation, you would like to do a duet."
"Gakupo Kamui. But only for the benefits of bringing my voice to even more listeners."
"I already got the duet I've wanted with Magnet." Miku caused Luka to smile briefly. She was so cute like this.
"The last question: How would you feel about performing Magnet on a live stage?"
"I see no problems with it. We are both professionals, we're not intimidated by the possibility that people might misunderstand acting with reality."
"I feel the same way."
"Thank you very much for this interview." Hitting the stop button, the reporter took a deep breath. "Thank you again. I'll be going now. The article will be published in our next issue."
The reporter was just barely out the door when Miku virtually collapsed into her chair. "I thought my heart was going to give in. How do you stay so calm, Luka?"
"Whatever you tell them barely matters. It's all to appeal to the fans. You can lie straight through your teeth if you want to, but it's easiest to stay consistent and lie a little."
"You're the worst, Luka." Grinning, Miku made a fist and hit her love's shoulder gently. "The absolute worst."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Getting home, Gumi found the lights off and no alluring smell in the air. "Lily?" No answer. Gumi felt very lonely all of a sudden. Working again and really tiring herself out, she was now feeling what a massive hole Sonika had left when she went back to Europe.
Taking off her shoes and going in, she didn't bother to turn on the lights. She realized that inviting Lily, being around Luka and Miku, working hard... none of that could keep her so busy that she wouldn't think of her sister, that she wouldn't miss her.
Reaching the living room, Gumi put down her bag and sat on the couch. She had barely been alone since Sonika left. For the first time in days, there was no one to keep her from thinking about her. And it came all rolling in like a tsunami. The grief, the loss, the regret of not following her, no matter what. If it was so painful to let go, she didn't want to ever let go.
"It hurts... it hurts so much..." Being abandoned, left alone, was the most horrible sensation she had ever felt. Ever since Sonika left, everything had tasted a bit tasteless, every drink had no flavor, the colors of the world were like washed out from the rain, cold and hot were merely trivial detours from normal.
Wrapping her arms around her knees, Gumi put her head against her legs. She could hold it. Not now, when the full realization hit her that Sonika was gone. How many times had she gone through this now? She didn't want to feel like this anymore. If this was the result of loving someone, she could live without the pain! Silent crying to herself, she trembled slightly when memories of the happy moments with Sonika came rushing in. Each and every time she succumbed to wanting to feel that happiness again. Each and every time she gave up on giving up on love because she couldn't give up on her love for Sonika.
She was weak. Gumi thought she was weak and pathetic for not being able to follow Sonika and for not being able to stay away from her. Her indecisiveness only got her hurt again and again. When was she going to grow up, make a stand for herself and make a decision?
Lily was with her and she liked her, but she couldn't think of her as anything but a distraction Miku and Luka had given her to forget about Sonika. She knew the blonde wasn't like that and still she couldn't handle the pain.
Falling to the side, Gumi broke apart, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so stupid... Sonika is my sister... I should have never fallen in love with her... this is all my fault..."
"Even if you're in pain now, you shouldn't regret loving. It is better to love and get hurt than to never love. Your sister must feel about you the same way you feel about her."
"Lily...? You were here?"
"I just got back from buying pizza. I heard you crying and didn't want to startle you."
"Don't I look pathetic right now?"
"I think it's beautiful." Lily was leaned against the backside of the couch, sitting on the ground. "Many people are never able to confront their feelings. Some spend a lifetime never confessing to anyone. Others are unable to accept their own feelings. Then there are those that know and understand their feelings but can't act on them. You found love, you acted on it and you hurt now because of it. There are few people who can show emotion like that."
A bit of silence followed. "I don't think there is anything wrong with loving your sister. Many people are biased because of how society views incest and because there are genetic reasons siblings shouldn't have a child. But society is not who makes you happy or decides what path in life you take, you are. And even if you can't have children, you can still love."
"You're weird..." Gumi's voice was stricken with sadness. She was still crying but not nearly as much as before.
"We're all weird in a way. You're particularly weird because you love your sister. I'm probably even weirder than you because I might love you in the not too far future. Even though I know I'm just here because Luka and Miku wanted me to be."
"How can you be so cheerful all the time if you know all of this?"
"Because I don't fault people for trying to take advantage of what life presents to them. I met you guys and took advantage of that. Now I live with a star. I don't feel guilty about that as all. I'm here now, and you should take advantage of me for all you can."
The room was quiet for a good minute before Lily could hear Gumi get up. Seeing the green haired girl move through the dark apartment, she slowly walked up next to her, sat down and rested her head against Lily's shoulder.
"You should still cry if you're sad. I cry a lot every time I lose friends, even if I didn't know them for very long. Even though there are no tears on my cheeks, I'm crying right now, because one of my friends is really hurting."
"You're so sweet it makes me feel bad..."
Petting Gumi's head, Lily laid an arm around her shoulders, pulling her a little closer. "But even for me, there are things I don't take advantage of."
"Like?"
"My friends. Even though you're so sad and vulnerable right now, there is not a single thought in my head that tells me to make you love me by saying things like I'll be there for you and the likes."
"So cliché..." A tiny smile shooed over Gumi's face.
Sitting there for a few more minutes, Gumi eventually got on he knees and laid her hands on Lily's shoulders, the blonde immediately reaction to that by covering her own mouth with her hand, a sign that she didn't want Gumi to do something in the spur of the moment.
But instead of trying to kiss her on the lips, Gumi kissing Lily's forehead. "Thanks, for being a really great friend." And there was no doubt that she had found a real, true friend in Lily. If after everything she knew, had heard and seen, still stood by her side like this, she could trust her with anything.
"Do you feel better?"
"I feel like shit." Gumi sighed.
"Good. That means you aren't burying your feelings inside. Now lets bury your stomach in pizza." Getting up, Lily pulled Gumi with her.
"You really have the strangest worldview I have ever heard of."
"Makes me unique, right?"
"It makes you a weirdo."
"That's the same thing, Gumi."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Yukari couldn't sleep. Not because it was still stormy outside or because she was still annoyed over Miku but because one of those damn sisters couldn't keep quiet. Getting out of her bag, the air in the room being really cold, Yukari walked over to the left, poking the sleeping bag with her foot twice. "Keep it down with the moaning."
A bunch of red hair popped out of the sleeping bag. "Do it with me."
"No. Now go back to sleep."
Grabbing Yukari by her ankle, the redhead wouldn't let go. "Please!" A loud whisper, she couldn't stand it anymore. "Doing it myself just doesn't work! I haven't had a night of decent sleep in days!"
"What the hell do you normally do?" Trying to get her foot free, Yukari didn't want to get loud and wake the other sister up.
"At the least place I stayed I slept with that college student girl every dew days."
"You can't be serious."
"I'm begging you!"
"No. You're going to make a big deal out of it and ask me to start dating you or something along those lines."
"I won't! I don't even care about dating in general, I just want to be able to get some decent sleep!"
"What about her?"
"I can't do my own sister!"
"Well, I can see why that would turn you off."
"I'd only need you once every three or four days!"
"God, you're annoying. Fine, fine, you can sleep with me. But we're doing it in your bag." Thankfully, they were made for anything but Japanese girls. It was easy for both of them to fit in there.
Crawling into her bag, Yukari could immediately feel how in heat the girl was. Within seconds, the redhead had her arms wrapped around her, their red and purple hair mingling together. "One other favor..."
"What?" Yukari wasn't in the mood to argue endlessly so she just wanted to get over with it.
"Call me Cul."
"Fine, whatever."
Pushing her lips on Yukari's, Cul initiated a powerful kiss that immediately escalated into a competition of whose tongue could overpower the other one. It had been a very long time since Yukari had slept with anyone at all, and she felt almost forgotten pleasures flare back up. Groping the redheads full chest, she felt even a little jealous.
Moaning into the kiss like crazy, Cul slid her hand downward, rapidly starting to take off Yukari's jeans, simply pulling them down far enough to give her room to move. Yukari responded by pulling up Cul's jersey and sliding off her bra, intensely groping her breasts even more now. There was little passion and no love in what they were doing. It was purely to satisfy Cul's physical needs.
Pushing Cul down, Yukari got on top, sliding her tracksuit jacket and the shirt she wore below up before putting her weight on Cul, their now bare breasts touching. Yukari was, despite the lack of emotions, incredibly turned on and her hard nipples pressing against Cul's and her soft breasts only further excited her.
At the opposite side of the table, the blonde, Cul's sister, Mai, who called herself Galaco, was doing her best to keep quiet, biting into the edge of her sleeping bag to stop herself from moaning. Listening to Yukari and her sister have sex was so arousing that she couldn't handle it. Starting to masturbate, she ever so slowly turned around, trying to be invisible.
Finally able to look through the empty space below the table, she saw Yukari dominate her sister, fiery kisses exchanged between them while they rubbed their bodies against each other. Cul was a lot louder than Yukari but whether she was her sister or not, Galaco was incredibly turned on by the sight and the sounds they were making. Putting in a second finger, the blonde bit harder into the bag, drooling over it, her vision getting a little blurry.
At the same time, Cul was almost finished already. She didn't have much in the way of sexual stamina, especially not after having had no sex at all for more than a week. Wrapping her arms and legs around Yukari, Cul forced herself onto the former star, reaching her orgasm just as their lips touched.
Yukari kept going until she reached hers as well, bending over and breathing heavily into Cul's sleeping bag while she came. Breathing heavily and looking at the redhead, she didn't feel anything special. "Done?"
"Thanks..." Letting go of her temporary sex partner, Cul knew that it would be pretty uncomfortable to sleep in her bag that night, but at least she would be able to sleep at all.
Pulling up her clothes the best she could, Yukari got up and back to her own sleeping back. She didn't lose a single word over it.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Gumi was fast asleep on Lily's lap. After eating pizza and watching some TV, the green haired girl had fallen prey to her exhaustion and involuntarily gone to sleep. Letting the movie run it's course, Lily enjoyed the rest of Gumi's beer. As the credits ran, she ran her finger over the neck of the bottle.
She was incredibly sleepy as well and having Gumi lay on her lap wasn't helping. The green haired girl was covered in the blanket from her bed and it also covered Lily's legs and her lap, the warmth making her drowsy.
"I suppose it's okay... to just go to sleep like this..." Lily petted Gumi's head for a bit. "She looks comfortable enough." Putting the bottle of beer on the ground, Lily yawned and leaned against the arm of the couch, resting her head there and closing her eyes. "Oh... the TV..." Half-asleep already, Lily hit the timed shut-off button and put the remote back into the corner of the couch.
Dozing off, Lily petted Gumi's head again. She liked the girl but she wasn't sure she could love her, after all. Seeing how much she loved her sister, she didn't want to step into their world as someone other than a friend. If Gumi wanted her to be something else, she would need to make the first move.
~~~ End of Concert XIII ~~~