Hear my Song!
Concert XV
Paparazzi and Breasts
The last day had been a disaster to put it plainly. She understood what westerners meant when they said Jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Could the situation get possibly any worse? Ia couldn't imagine anything, short of seeing her sister's mutilated corpse right in front of her.
It was all the fault of that stupid guy. Putting something in their drinks, what was he thinking? And now she had to pay for it, too! Laying flat on her back, rolling over her couch, she could still smell her despite cleaning the couch several times in different ways. She would get a new one.
But really, for things to turn out like this? She hadn't expected that...
If silence could be deafening, then Ia assumed that the situation she was in right now was very much a prime example of it. She and Seeu were waiting in the same conference room, for over twenty minutes now, without saying a word, just staring at the table. Their agents had been so incredibly angry that Ia expected their heads to literally catch fire any second.
Being put in the conference room so they could handle the nuclear fallout of their actions, Ia wasn't feeling too good. Not only because of what happened last night but because she didn't actually dislike her agent and work, just the relation to Seeu both of them brought.
A staff member eventually showed up, looking like he had just traversed a den of lions, tigers, a pack of wolves and several bears, to bring some food to his cubs. Handing each of them today's issue of a tabloid, he quickly made his exit.
Reading the title page, Ia felt even worse than before, downright sick. "Wanna take a guess why they're mad?"
"What is there to guess about you stupid cunt?" Throwing the tabloid on the table, Seeu didn't even want to look at it. A big close-up of Ia taking Seeu, in her arms, up to her apartment, both of them unable to take their hands off each other.
Going to the actual article, there were images from the club, blurry images shot from the front seat of a taxi that presumably followed theirs after they left the club, all the way up to her apartment room. And then a few more of them leaving together, Seeu wearing Ia's clothes.
Going by the looks of it, Ia was looking at the prospect that her career was going to be over after this. I didn't matter to the public and the press if they had been drugged or not. "I can't wait to see you flipping burgers. If they're even going to hire you."
"Forget killing myself, I'll kill you if I lose my job over this!" Hissing at the girl on the opposite side of the table, Seeu didn't want to be reminded of what happened. Ever again.
"You're welcome to try." Smirking, Ia shot a glare towards Seeu, intimidating the girl. Going back to reading the tabloid, she couldn't even find any mention of Gakupo being there. It would be impossible to prove they were actually drugged until they involved the authorities and that was just even more bad press at this point.
It was one thing to pretend to like each other on stage for the fans, and most of them were probably aware of it, but to have their private lives publicly exposed like this was a disaster. South Korea wasn't exactly the most tolerant country on the planet in regards to homophobia. The worst part was that she didn't even feel anything but the blonde.
Finishing the article and reading the rest of the newspaper out of boredom, Ia went back to waiting for another fifteen minutes before someone finally showed up. And what an amount of someones it was. Their agents and several agency higher ups came in, sitting down one after another. Ia and Seeu both felt the impulse to get up and escape but the stares of their agents wouldn't let them.
"First we'd like to hear an explanation." The vice-president of the agency was there himself, asking questions.
Ia went first. "I found Seeu in the SheyShay and challenged her on stage. This is nothing new, we have both been there many times. I was called to the VIP lounge where I met Gakupo, who had asked to meet me, and supposedly, also her." The atmosphere changed a bit when she mentioned the star."
"Continue." The vice-president was unfazed by this turn of events.
"Eventually, Seeu came up as well and we were both served a drink he ordered. I didn't notice anything when I drank it. After that, there is a massive hole in my memory and I can't recall anything. The tabloid probably did a good job at covering it for all to see." Ia wanted to spit in the face of that asshole that had possibly ruined her career.
"What she said is pretty much right. I was dancing, was challenged and stepped down from the center stage a bit later. I was called up as well and I remember everything up when we were served drinks."
"I do not need to know the details of what happened inside your apartment, Ia." The vice-president cut her off just as she opened her mouth to explain. "I will explain things to you two. There has been a surprisingly mixed answer to the article. We have had many complaints but there were also callers that have offered new working contracts due to this. After talking this over with your managers, the decision is ultimately yours. I personally do not care what the relationship between you two is as long as there is no violence. You can either stand up, walk out of this room and that will be it. You'll be done as an idol and won't have to deal with each other possibly ever again."
"My gut tells me we're not going to like the other option much more than quitting."
"You should have thought about that before getting involved in shady business like this. Do not mistake this for an opportunity. This is damage control. If all is said and done, you will still have suffered damage to your reputation."
"What's the other option? I can't go back to being some dumb country girl."
"You will from now on uphold the act of lovers at any time the press can see you. This will mean that you will live together, for pretenses. You can have separated bed rooms but not separated apartments. You will act as lovers in public and be marketed as such instead of it being a minor factor that would only show on stage. It is that or quitting after last night's chaos."
Seeu almost started crying. Slamming her fists on the table, she jumped up and was well on her way out the door before her agent spoke up. "Are you sure, Seeu? Is faking a relationship really worse than losing your chance at fame and money?"
Gritting her teeth, the blonde took the handle of the door, and opened it. The doorstep had turned into a cliff for her, one she had to jump off. Trying to take a step forward, she couldn't. She had worked so hard, endured so much... she just couldn't thrown it all away. It was all her fault! Entirely her fault!
Not moving from the spot, Seeu shed bitter tears. She hated that girl! She hated her so much! She wanted her to die already! But she couldn't go back to being a normal girl. Not after all of this. People would laugh at her and the bullying would be much worse than what that bitch did. Nobody would hire her, even if she managed to graduate. Her grades had always been average, so what chance did she have to land a job that wasn't terrible?
Ia sat in her chair, looking like a ghost. She didn't care at all about having to fake a relationship. She bullied Seeu that way in public wherever they met already anyway. What really worried her was the chance that in some way her sister would catch wind of the pretend-relationship and think it was real. She absolutely couldn't stand the thought of Yukari thinking she would ever have eyes for anyone but her. But quitting? She would have to go back to Japan, live with her parents in Shibetsu, Hokkaido, unable to pay the private eye to take pictures of Yukari or even go to Tokyo to see her. That was even worse than the possibility of Yukari misunderstanding something.
"I'm in. I don't like it, but I'm in, if we still get to go to Tokyo." Raising her hand slightly, Ia let out a huge sigh. This was very much not her idea of how that visit was supposed to happen.
"The visit cannot be canceled or postponed unless one of you falls seriously sick."
Seeu's agent was making her way to the blonde that still stood on the doorstep. She wanted to walk out of the room to spite Ia and to avoid having to play house with her. But the abyss beyond the cliff, the doorstep, was endlessly deep and dark. Opening her mouth and whispering, Seeu felt like she was selling her soul to something much worse than the devil himself.
"She'll do it." Her agent was relieved but also worried. The relationship between the girls had always been not good but this was much worse than it had ever been.
"Then we're done here. You will sign a new contract tomorrow and your agents will handle your new apartment. Until then you're confined to your respective apartments. Do not cause any more trouble for the agency." As everyone walked out, Seeu's agent getting the girl out of the way, only both agents remained with their girls.
"I'm driving you back, Ia." Taking a deep breath, grateful that the girls didn't quit, Ia's agent was preparing herself for some harsh times to come.
"See you later, darling." Taking pleasure in teasing Ia, she grinned at the hateful look the girl shot her.
Wondering if she really had picked the correct option, Ia rolled over again. She had already cleaned up her apartment but she needed to pack her things. Sharing a place with Seeu would be horrid, because she couldn't set up the living room to one great altar of tribute to how perfect Yukari was. Blushing while thinking about her, Ia reached between her pants, licking her lips. After that venomous act last night, she would need to purify herself before meeting Yukari.
Turning over again, she suddenly smelled Seeu and all her excitement from thinking about Yukari went down the drain. Annoyed, and a little apathetic, Ia pulled herself off the couch and looked for her laptop. Browsing the net for a bit, she checked what people were saying about her and Seeu.
It was pretty much split down the middle. Half the people were disgusted, half was overly excited, to the point of posting made up stories and drawing images of them together. Scrolling past that, one post caught Ia's attention. It was listing a lot of her, and Seeu's, personal data. Real names, addresses... even their height, weight and cup sizes. "This is gonna be fun." Reading through it, first of all they got her name wrong. "What's an Ai Sanoto? Who came even up with this?" She wasn't exactly hiding her real name, Lia Akasaka, so what was wrong with those people? The remainder of the data was also wrong. She was 163cm, not 153cm tall. "58kg? What am I, a cow? First it's ten too few, not it's ten too much?" She was very proud of her weight because it was exactly what she supposed Yukari was weighting right now. She almost never wore heels, too, for the same reason, wanting to be exactly as tall as her sister. "At least they got my cup size right." She wasn't ecstatic about her lack of breasts but she was very much comforted by the fact that her sister was pretty much the exact same size. And being an A cup made buying clothes somewhat easy.
Reading through the rest of her personal info, Ia closed the tab and opened a media player, playing her favorite playlist, all of Yukari's songs, interviews and drama CDs. Going through a few of the thousands of images of Yukari she had on her laptop, Ia cursed when she couldn't settle down. Switching back to the browse, restoring the tab via history and scrolling back down to the post, she went over Seeu's personal info as well. Morbid curiosity was a horrible thing.
Real name, Dahee Kim. She didn't bother to read the address since that would change soon, anyway. Height was what she expected, 159cm, 44kg weight, nothing unusual. The blonde was an A cup, just like Yukari and herself. Sharing the same breast size as her sister was unforgivable. Closing the tab again, Ia cursed her own curiosity. Getting up, letting the music play, she started to look for boxes to put her stuff away.
"Hopefully there is a balcony at the new apartment so Seeu can have an unfortunate accident."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Miku had found a new challenge to deal with. Her fame in school. Returning to high school for classes and a test, she had already been asked out by eight guys and two girls before the first class had started. Rejecting them all, obviously, Miku had trouble focusing on her studies. Her foot locker had been stuffed with love letters as well. Taking them in one big bulk and throwing them into the nearest trashcan, she really didn't have the patience to deal with this. How old were those people, twelve?
In class, it wasn't any different. People were staring at her from across the class and she received a dozen notes during homeroom, almost all of them asking her if she was in a relationship with Luka. The rumor that she had rejected ten people within twenty minutes had already spread thorough the entire school.
The birthday from four days ago seemed like a very distant memory already. Luka was at work today and she contemplating that work was actually less stressful than school. Focusing on what the teacher was saying, a small ball of paper hit her head. It made the dozen full. Having stored all of them, Miku rose up, holding all the paper balls, walked to the teacher's desk and dumped the whole bunch. "I assume these people have very important things to say that they would like the class to hear."
Returning to her seat, the class got very quiet. The teacher, very much aware of who Miku was, gave the class a strict look and then threw the papers away. "I'm sure this will be the last of those." That wasn't a question, it was a warning.
Getting through the rest of her classes without incident, Miku quickly left the classroom at lunch break and headed for the back gate of the school. Cars were driving again and Luka was already there, waiting for her. At this point, she could just run with the excuse that they were meeting for work.
Waving to her partner, Miku saw the grin on Luka's face get bigger and bigger. "What?!"
"You look great in that uniform. I wish you'd hear it at home sometimes."
"Please give me a break Luka. People have been obnoxious the entire day." Getting into the co-driver seat, Miku saw dozens of people ogle her and Luka from the roof and the windows. Putting her bag beneath her feet, Miku opened the small compartment in front of her and took out sunglasses, putting them on. With a smile, Luka drove off, the head wind making Miku's twin tails fly in the air.
"How many did you turn down?"
"Ten personally and probably a lot more by trashing all the love letters and notes they threw at me during class. It's utterly ridiculous. And I thought working was hard. Makes me wish I could just go public about us."
"You are going public. You're wearing my locket." Luka was quite happy that Miku was so smitten with her present.
"That's different. I'm only taking it off for bathing or sleep so I don't damage it. It's really important to me."
"I'm glad you like it so much." Taking Miku's hand, Luka pulled it up to her mouth, kissing her fingers. "Tastes a bit like lead."
"Weirdo." Grinning, Miku sighed. "I need to be back in like fifty minutes. Can we go and eat lunch somewhere? You have work, too, don't you?"
"Don't bring that up please. How in the world did they just miss half my workload? I was wondering why it was so little, to be honest, but also kinda glad because I get to see you more that way."
"What's the one called you were recording this morning?"
"A Single Red Leaf. I keep messing it up because my thoughts are somewhere else."
"Thinking about me getting hit on by other guys and girls?"
"You seriously had girls confessing to you too?" Smirking, Luka kept her eyes on the street, turning right and heading towards a nice Chinese restaurant she liked that was relatively close by.
"I would be dating you even if you were a guy. Breasts, soft skin, tasty lips and lack of needed prevention are all a very nice bonus to being a lesbian though."
"Doesn't it make you bisexual if you would also date me as a guy?"
"If it's limited to just you that would be Lukasexual."
"And I'm the one making words up. But that's so sweet of you to say. Does that make me Mikusexual?"
"You're something else entirely. Those terms can't be applied to you. Are you taking me to that Chinese place you like?"
"Yep. They're really quick and do take-out. I haven't eaten anything since this morning so I'm really starving."
"Having sex with me doesn't count as eating, Luka." Coming to a stop at a red light, Miku yawned. "I feel bad for my friends but I really didn't want to deal with the endless questions about my new life."
Hitting a more serious topic, Luka was just now wondering about it. "Are you happy that you started going out with me, got into the business and everything? Or do you think you would have been happier if you had remained a normal high school girl?"
"I'd usually just say that that's obvious but... if I hadn't gone out with you, I would have missed the love of my life. I'd have also missed a line of work I'm really passionate about even if it's very hard. I'd probably have also never met Gumi or Lily. So, I'm really happy we met and you took such an interest in me. You made my life a whole lot better." Looking at Luka, Miku saw her blush a bit, something that very rarely happened. "Too honest?"
"No. I'm happy you think that way. Our line of work is a bit much for some people." Luka sighed. "I just wish we could be open about our relationship. At least we get a lot of duets together so we can pretend to always be together due to work."
"You'd find some kind of excuse anyway." Their ride continuing, Miku wondered what people were thinking, seeing a high school girl in a sports car together with a national level star, driving around. She was betting there were a lot of jealous girls and even more guys.
"There is a big concert next week. Remember those two Korean idols were saw at your place? The ones Lily wanted to see? She called me earlier and asked me to use my connections to get her tickets. They'll be in town for a week or something. Want to take a look at the competition?"
Groaning a little bit, Miku shook her head. "I don't really want to. I don't speak Korean and to be honest, I'd prefer for things to be quiet for a bit once we're done with work. I still have Cremation to do, and then there is still the Akatsuki Arrival we're going to sing together."
"I'll tell Lily then. She is gonna go no matter what and probably gonna drag Gumi along." Luka was wondering how they were doing. They had gotten Lily a new bed and put some furniture into their new place. It was good enough to hang out at now, even though Lily was every bit the slob she was herself. Both of the green haired girls had to clean up after them.
"I'm going to be off work about thirty minutes after you get out of school. I had Lily make the arrangements to rent us a practice room, so I was thinking we should start with the band."
"You're really pulling that off? Well, I said I was on board so I'll stick to my word. It's been a while that I played, though." Stretching for a moment, Miku's stomach growled. "I'm taking fried rice with shrimp, extra spicy."
"Why do you always order just fried rice?" Luka had not once managed to get Miku interested in any of the plentiful other dishes they offered.
"It's easy and quick to eat, tastes good, no nasty surprises and I never get an upset stomach from it." Looking to Luka, Miku paused for a moment. "If you want me to eat something else, you'll have to cook it."
"I'll make mapo tofu then." Luka grinned.
"You really liked that show didn't you? So much that you're making that Kanade girl's favorite dish?"
"Oh come on, it was such a heart wrenching story."
"And he got very much friend zoned at the end."
"I think the two girls met in their next life and hooked up."
Turning and slowing down while getting into the drive-through, Luka ordered first. "Char Siu, extra large portion, Basi Digua, also extra large, and fried rice with shrimp, extra spicy. Also three cokes." Looking to Miku, she explained the extra order. "We're going to the practice place. Lily asked me if I could bring her something to eat."
"Char Siu again? Are you trying to become a body builder?" Poking Luka's upper arm, Miku put her head against it. "I like it soft, though."
"It's meat, not a protein shake, Miku. We were talking about the band, do you think we should just do a few cover songs and maybe one original for starters? It'll be easier on Lily if she doesn't have to write three or four songs all in one go."
"I'll just pick a couple popular songs. As some unknown band you don't get any big gigs anyway. If you get to be the opening act for a decent band, that's already something."
"Bet you we could get even some stadium gig if we showed our faces."
"After we're fired and sued, maybe." Miku wasn't too happy with that aspect. Maybe she should try to weasel in a clause that she's allowed to perform outside her contract. Nodding towards the window, Miku redirected her love's attention.
Getting their take-out and handing it to her partner, Luka drove away. "Is the practice room far from your place?"
"About that... Miku, you practically live in my apartment now. Don't you think it's time to just move in with me? We sleep together and there is basically enough space if we sort through all of my crap I don't need anymore."
"Our place does have a nice ring to it." Thinking about it for a moment, Miku couldn't really see any reason not to do it. Her old place was running on Neru's name and it wouldn't really change anything for them if she moved out. She didn't need most of the furniture she had at home, considering Luka's bedroom was shared, but she would move a few things.
"We can talk about this over lunch. You still got forty minutes or so, right?"
"Thirty-eight. Plenty to eat and get back. Just don't drive like a dare devil."
Finding a parking spot right across the street, Luka got out, waited for Miku and both of them went across the street. Taking the two bags Miku was carrying, leaving her with the drinks, Luka opened one of the bags and immediately closed it upon feeling a deadly leer from Miku.
It was a small building that had three underground stories, the last one being their practice room. It was surprisingly spacey if a bit much dark. Before entering, they could already hear someone doing vocal training. Opening the heavy metal door, Luka whistled. "Time to feed the carnivores."
"Luka, Miku, you came! I was losing hope I'd have to die hungry and with a sore throat." Getting a good look of Miku in her high school uniform, Lily grinned. "You look good in that."
"So I'm told." Looking around, there were no chairs or something around beside the one for the drums. There was also her guitar leaned against the wall and Luka's bass next to it. "No chairs?"
"Over here. That wall only looks like a wall but they have sort of a mini lounge behind it." Going to the very end of the wall, Miku found that the pale yellow colored walls created an optical illusion of the wall continuing when it was actually the wall behind it. Two of the smallest couches she had ever seen were put against the walls, a table forced in the middle. Luka had already moved in at one side and Lily sat down across the table.
"I kinda hope we all get stuck so I have a great excuse to miss afternoon school." Miku earned a laugh from her friend and partner as she sat down.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"This is degrading!" Cul complained for the sixteenth time.
"Beggars can't be choosers. Why are you complaining? You're getting the most tips out of us three since you actually have big breasts." Yukari replied in a monotone voice, for the sixteenth time. Her small breasts didn't bother her much, there were plenty of women that only had A cups even as adults, but Cul was really annoying about it.
"It's not like I'm as flat as Yukari..." Galaco was working with them.
All three of them had been hired by a local repair shop that had, without any success, looked for Wash Girls, girls that would wash the car of a customer in swimsuits if they came in and spent over five thousand yen. Cul was wearing a skimpy bikini, crimson red and a little too small for her, Galaco a pink bikini, a bit too big for her, and Yukari was wearing a school swimsuit and had only gotten hired because it was either all three or none of them.
Being treated worse than the other two because she wasn't as busty had pissed her off a little but it wasn't the first or even among the first dozen times this had happened. Men were men and most that could afford to have their car randomly repaired or checked out for five thousand yen seemed to prefer Cul the most.
Finally able to take a break, not long enough to take off their swimsuits, Cul had made two thousand yen in tips, Galaco twelve hundred and Yukari three hundred. Sitting behind the building on a few chairs put up around an old table, Cul and Galaco both didn't want to say anything. Yukari worked harder than any of them and she never said a single bad word. "Yukari, uh... it's okay to complain if you hate the work." Galaco had dealt with someone like that before. They always ate up all their anger and eventually exploded.
"What do you want me to say? That this job is shit, that I hate being dressed like this, that I think men are total pigs, that I want to throw a bucket every time I see someone's head going up and down in the same pattern as Cul's boobs jiggle?" Leaving a rather terrified impression with the sisters, Yukari's eyes were just narrow slits. "I really don't give a shit about all of that. It's a job. I do it to have something to eat. You two never went hungry for a few days so you wouldn't get it. If it's this or going hungry, this is practically irrelevant on the shame scale."
"You went through a lot, didn't you..." Cul didn't know what else to say.
"I did. I'm never going to tell you about it though because I live this way so I can forget about it." Changing from angry to haughty, Yukari's grasp on her normal personality was slipping again. "Just do your work and stop complaining. This is nothing they wouldn't see at a public pool anyway." Not that she would actually be wearing a school swimsuit to a public pool. Or anywhere, really.
Cul still felt very uncomfortable. It bugged her a little that Yukari was, despite working the hardest, treated the worst. In the end, the money was still pooled and spend on food, but it didn't sit quite right to her. Maybe she could get two sponges and stick them under her swimsuit? She was worried that Yukari might literally leave her out on the street if she asked her that, though...
"Let's go, break is almost over. Try to rake in some more tips. Cul, flash those tits of yours if your silly pride lets you. If we make enough we might even be able to eat meat for once this week." The word meat had become quite the motivation. The homeless were still a level below the really poor, even though Yukari and her group did very well for themselves all things considered.
Spending another four washing cars, it was finally time to get paid. And there laid the big problem. They were refusing to pay them due to having less customers than expected and Cul kicking over a bucket of water that hit one of the shops mechanics shoes. The redhead and the blonde were furious and arguing with the owner, who just kept a haughty smirk on his face, refusing to pay a bunch of homeless girls.
"You seem to forget one very important thing." Yukari was in a dangerous mood, again. "We homeless know those who live on the street. What do you think would happen if word spread that you cheated us out of our money after having us walk around in humiliating outfits all day? I'm sure a few thieves, burglars and maybe arsonists would like to have a word with you. It would be a shame if all of your valuables were stolen and your shop burned to the ground, wouldn't it? And all just because you felt like you were above paying a bunch of girls for their hard work."
"Boss, should I rough her up a little to make the bitch stop run her mouth?" One of the mechanics had enough of her blabbering.
"Japan's police force treats attempted rape pretty seriously. And just how many people do you think have seen us work here today? If we mysteriously turned up beaten at the police station, who would be the prime suspect I think? And did you know they can match the impressions tools and fists leave on their victims to their attackers, nowadays?"
"They can do that?" Another mechanic was starting to feel very threatened. "Boss, let's just pay them. It's peanuts anyway!"
Making a grunt, the store owner took a bunch of bills out of his pocket, counting a few and handing them to Yukari. "Not what we negotiated."
Cul whispered Arson, Arson, Arson while looking very much like she was ready to bite them. That was enough to make the man hand over the remainder of the bills.
"Let's go. If I were you, I wouldn't try to cheat homeless people out of their money again. Not everyone feels like warning you about the possible dangers of scamming hard working people." Walking off, Yukari counted the money, wearing her normal clothes again, putting the bills in her pocket.
Cul and Galaco both followed, also back in their normal clothes. They had all kept the swimsuits although Galaco and Cul had switched, the red bikini fitting Galaco much better and vice versa. Yukari only kept the swimsuit because it was essentially free clothing.
"That was really cool!" Outside, Cul walked next to Yukari, impressed by her demeanor. "I didn't know you could bluff like that."
"Who said I was bluffing? If they had cheated us out of our money, I would have spread word. Before the end of the week, their shop would be ashes and shambles." Yukari's expression was as grim as that of a soldier that had seen the middle east wars. She didn't find it funny when people tried to scam her.
Galaco didn't say anything, not feeling too well about the whole action. "Yukari, is there any place we could shower? I haven't taken one in... too long." It had been five days since they visited a public bath and washed up. It was too expensive to afford more often than at most thrice in two weeks.
Three times 450 Yen wasn't a lot for normal people but definitely not something a trio of homeless girls could afford very often. "Since Cul made quite a bit more than I thought and we got paid, we can go. We'll bring our own things though, so we're going back to the apartment first."
"Yay!" Both of the sisters exclaimed together. What they had taken for granted before, a daily bath, was now something special they would really enjoy. No matter how much they went on and on about how a girl couldn't live without bathing every day, Yukari told them that some of the girls that live on the street can almost never afford it, never mind multiple times a month.
Taking a shortcut between two houses, Cul was suddenly run over by a guy running as fast as he could. Galaco barely managed to jump out of the way while Yukari dodged with relative easy. Seeing that he was carrying a handbag, Yukari watched him turn right at the exit. Within seconds, the police came running after him, trying to get past the three girls.
"He went left up ahead!" Shouting, Yukari watched the police officers take a turn to the left, shouting something else. "Cul, get up." Looking to one of her proteges, the purple haired girl continued to walk slowly toward the exit, stepped out between the houses, took a good look around, waited ten seconds and whistled twice.
With a rustling sound, the guy that had run Cul over popped out of a large bush in the garden of the house they stood in front of. "My cut. I got them off your back." Holding out her hand, the guy handed over a small pile of vouchers.
"There you go, Yuki." Taking off, hiding the handbag under his jacket, the thief didn't just meet Yukari there for the first time.
"What did you just do?" Galaco was slightly confused by this turn of events.
"Got the cops off his back for a cut. That guy lives under the bridge two kilometers from here, makes his days a petty thief. He, and many others, make agreements with the rest of us people that live on the street. I told you I'm not bluffing."
"What did he give you?"
"20 vouchers for a 100 Yen per person bath visit at the public bath about ten minutes away from our place. He must have held on to this knowing I would have more use for it than anyone else." Looking to the girls, Yukari crushed their dreams. "This doesn't mean daily baths so forget about that idea. We'll have more money for food this way."
"Isn't the police going to nail you for lying?" Cul wasn't too happy helping a thief.
"And how are they gonna prove I didn't just mistake one direction for another?" Yukari on the other hand found that to be nothing but daily business.
"Why did he call you Yuki?" Galaco found that a weird name. Was it short for Yukari?
"Beats me. I never asked." Guessing that it was just a teasing name for her cold-hearted demeanor, Yukari continued to walk, storing the vouchers in her pocket for later.
Getting back to their apartment, dropping off their things and grabbing towels and soap, things Yukari had let slip on visits to a public bath at the far end to the other side of Tokyo, the three made their way to the public bath. It was still in the afternoon so there was nobody there but them. "Three times." Putting three vouchers and 300 Yen on the desk, the front person knew Yukari already.
"I see you're still stuck with those two." Laughing, the man was quite fond of Yukari. He treated his customers well, even if they were homeless, and in exchange, he was never plagued by any petty thief or crime.
Saying nothing in response, Yukari took off her shoes and put them away, Cul and Galaco following the same procedure. Starting to undress, Cul's eyes kept shifting over to Yukari, particularly her chest. It had been a few days, again, since she slept with her and she was starting to get really horny again. She didn't know why but Yukari had strictly forbidden her from making a move before midnight and only when they were in their room.
"Yukari, what cup size are you?" Galaco tackled the elephant in the room, leaving Cul with a slight headache.
But to the surprise of both sisters, Yukari answered the question completely nonchalantly. "A. You?"
"C." Galaco answered first. She thought she would feel at least a bit of pride for having decently big breasts but she only felt a bit of shame over expecting to feel proud.
"D." Cul didn't expect to feel any pride over having bigger breasts. She had acted like that a lot before she ran away from home but after meeting Yukari she realized how incredibly shallow and stupid it was to behave like that.
"Is that so?" Completely uncaring, Yukari had finished stripping and carried her things, soap and towel, to the faucets, starting to rinse before bathing.
Sitting down next to Yukari a few seconds later, Cul wondered what the girl had gone through to make her so... bizarre. She could be incredibly nice when she had to, very intimidating for the same reasons and otherwise she switched between angry, uncaring, bothered and dull seemingly at random.
What do you do in winter when it gets really cold? We don't have a heater, right?" Washing her head, Cul occasionally peered at Yukari. The more time she spend with her, the less romantically interested she became. The sex that one time had been great, but she just couldn't understand the girl at all beyond that.
"Cuddle up with her and me. And I mean cuddle, not fuck." The way she said it made very clear that there was no room for arguing and what if scenarios. "Or you can hope your sleeping bag keeps you warm on your own. That's what I did until you two showed up. Still gets really cold though."
"How come we have running water for the toilet but no heater or shower?" Galaco didn't understand how that worked.
"Remember that Frankenstein looking guy that sometimes comes to our place in the middle of the night and is gone before dawn? He worked with the buildings pipes a bit. Whenever we use the toilet, we actually rake up the water bill of the people above us. It was too difficult to do it for the shower so that's why there's no running water except the toilet." A Japanese style toilet wasn't the most comfortable thing but it was better than having to find another way.
"He wasn't able to tap into the electricity lines that run through the building?" Cul really wished they had a heater, radio or TV. She was used to a lot of those things so not having them really showed her how frugal life could be.
"Too dangerous and obvious. You do realize that we could get kicked out in a minute if the building manager caught wind of us, right?" Yukari finished washing her hair and proceeded to scrub her arms and legs. "It's best to keep a low profile."
"Who is that guy anyway? What's his name?" Cul was a little intimidated by him.
"I have no idea. He is handy to have around because he scares off other people. I've never heard him talk and when he wants to tell me something he leaves a written note on the table. I sometimes go weeks or months without seeing him at all." Using a sponge to clean herself, Yukari stopped when Cul was touching her arm. "Cul?"
"You know, I'm surprised your skin is like this when you've been living on the street for two years." The redhead was a little jealous.
"People always get the wrong ideas of what causes poor skin conditions. Drinking too much alcohol, eating too much greasy food, smoking, drugs, stress, those are the main causes. We don't drink, don't smoke, eat mostly rice and vegetables, don't take drugs and there is very little stress." Finishing rinsing by dumping the contents of her bowl over her head, Yukari went into the hot bath first, feeling incredibly relaxed.
Sitting there with her towel on her head, eyes closed, Yukari looked very much normal. "You two should hurry. You're missing out, you know?" Her attitude was also all cleaned up, in the opinion of the sisters.
Galaco was second to enter the bath, sitting next to Yukari, who was so quiet and unmoving that she thought the purple haired girl had fallen asleep. Poking her cheek, Yukari didn't bother to open her eyes to respond. Grabbing Galaco's finger, she blew cold air on it, sending shivers down the blonde's spine.
Stretching briefly, Yukari wondered how much longer she was going to live like this. Having the sisters around wasn't all bad, as proven by the repair shop action. Cul had the looks to bring in quite a bit of money and Galaco would possibly be there in a year or two as well. They could be a bit nosy and annoying, with each of them having their unique needs, but they were very tolerable.
Maybe she would even miss them a little bit when they were gone. But in the end, it wouldn't change too much. Living off the grid was something she didn't mind too much. She was just worried that her sister might eventually show up. Lia was stupid to think that her own sister wouldn't realize when she was being spied on. She did wonder where Lia had gotten the money to pay someone to do that though. Her parents surely wouldn't pay for that short of Lia extorting them somehow.
Noticing that other people were coming in, Cul had by now joined their group of two, Yukari opened her eyes and took a look. A really short blonde who was still in her early teens, two redheads and a black haired giant. Thankfully the tub was big enough so she and the sisters could stay away from them.
Cul's eyes were glued to the shorter redhead and the black haired woman. Both of them had really large breasts, almost dwarfing her own. She guessed them to be at least an E cup, if not even F. "If you keep staring, your eyes will fall out." Yukari's voice was an icy whisper in Cul's ears. Turning her back to the new arrivals, Cul focused on Yukari instead. With her hair down and clean, her eyes closed and a peaceful expression, she was definitely someone she would have hit on. If she didn't know about her personality, that was.
Continuing to soak, Galaco got a bit closer to Yukari. "You read a lot, do you want to be an author in the future?"
"I lack the imagination needed for that. What about you?"
"Visual Kei band lead singer." Galaco had high goals for someone that was practically living on the street.
"Same here, minus the Visual Kei. I prefer normal music." Cul took part in the discussion.
"What about your sister? Is she in any kind of band?"
"She's done all kind of odd jobs but she did sing for a few different small bands. Lily is really intense when she is live, swinging a guitar around and everything." Cul had seen her on stage before. It was that very moment that inspired her to pursue music as a career as well.
"Must be great to have some kind of dream." Yukari's mood went dark for a moment before returning to normal, just sitting there and relaxing. The first of the four other girls was getting into the water at the other end of the tub now and the second follow almost immediately after. "I hope they don't start to be noisy..."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"Hey, you're back. And you brought a Haku and Gumi with you." Raising her hand, Lily greeted the others, sitting in front of one of the amps, doing some adjustments. "How did you all fit into Luka's car? There's no backseat."
"We walked." Miku was up front, Gumi by her side and Haku right behind Miku. They had stopped by to get her before coming to practice. "Luka probably got stuck in traffic, bringing Haku's keyboard in. I see you already got the drums?"
Haku was looking very timid but surprisingly not scared. Miku was by her side, Luka wasn't there yet and Lily was greeting her with a funny comment. "Hi Lily." She still wasn't confident enough in herself to actually get to practice on her own.
"You look even better when you're not soaking wet, Haku." Turning to Miku, Lily pointed at the drums. "Gumi brought them yesterday, it's a beginner set but a good one. I met that ice cream guy, whats his name... uh... what was it..."
"Must be Kaito." Gumi chuckled.
"Yep, him! I met him at the party and thought I'd ask him to help out and he actually did. He's a really nice guy. A bit weird though, he commented on my ass but I don't think he was actually flirting with me."
"He's honesty in person but as you saw, a nice guy." Miku let go of Haku's hand. "Are you okay standing to the right of the drums, Haku?" Miku had already listened to Lily's explanation of who should stand where, in terms of visuals. "I'm standing here." Positioned in front of the drums but slightly to the right, Miku stood a good meter in front of the space that remained between keyboard and drums.
"I'm... fine there, yeah." Taking the position, Haku was happy she wasn't in the front. Not too far in the back, a bit on the outside was just right for her. Still with the others but not in the real limelight.
A knock on the door, Gumi ran over and opened up, Luka carrying the keyboard by herself. Putting it down on the ground, she was breaking out in sweat. "How are these things so heavy!?" Looking to Gumi, took used her hand to fan some air to herself. "Gumi, do me a favor and get the CD player out of the car. I picked up some stuff we could cover. I found the lyrics and most of the scoring online."
Looking to Haku, Luka smiled. "It's good to see you here. You're doing us a great favor."
"Uh... sure." She didn't expect Luka to be so nice about it.
Within five minutes, Luka had calmed down, Gumi returned and they all sat together. "Lily said that the best genre for the instruments we have is the general direction of heavy rock stuff. I got three tracks that are pretty popular so we could cover them and let Lily take it a bit easy with composing a song of her own."
Looking around, Miku found them to be quite a colorful group. Lily wore a black tanktop, jeans and sneakers, Luka was wearing a red shirt and also jeans but pumps. Miku was still in her school outfit, white blazer, blue skirt, stockings and sneakers. Gumi was coming from work and still wearing the clothes from that, an orange top, skirt of the same color and white boots with green rim. Haku was the most unusual out of the bunch with black jeans with purple lining, a long black t-shirt and her usual oversized ribbon that kept her hair in a ponytail.
"The first one is called Ressonance." Hitting the start button, Luka sat back. Within the second, a powerful mix of electronic and rock music. The lyrics weren't anything usual for the genre. Lily moved back and forth while the others listened quietly. Halfway into the song, Luka passed out scores. There were none for Gumi since the drumming part was relatively minor.
When the song ran out, she hit stop. "It's loud and pretty heavy but I think it would fit. Miku and Gumi make plenty of cheerful music and I cover a lot of more serious things so this would be a great addition."
"Haku, you can handle that kind of music, right?" Lily looked up from her score and focused on the silver haired girl. "If you don't like it, we'll pick something else."
"No... I like this song. I heard it on TV a few times." The keyboard parts for it weren't too difficult either. She could handle it.
"Miku, Luka, Gumi?" Lily immediately took the leader role. Luka had told her to cover these things since it was her project, more or less.
"No problems here."
"Likewise." Miku and Luka were both well within their capabilities with this.
"I have no score, so I'll have to go by ear. That means we'll have to run through it a lot." Gumi really would have preferred a score. She was the type to plan things after all.
"That's why practice is for. The next one is a lot more heavy on Miku and me and Lily is going to sound like a raven afterward but it would probably bring in a real crowd. This one is Red Faction by Mell." Hitting start, the guitar started right away. Miku could tell right away that this would be really difficult to cover.
Lily's lips moved on their own when the refrain started. It's all up to you. She knew that song in and out because she had covered it before. It was a great track. Running for three minutes forty-three seconds, the song was over much faster than they expected. For this one, Luka had scores for everyone.
"If you girls are okay with it, I really want to do that one. As the opening act, we won't have time for more than two songs anyway, so I'd wanna do this one and our first original piece."
"I'm... agree." Haku slowly raised her hand a little.
"Yay. Two in favor." Smiling wide at Haku, the busty woman blushed fiercely. "Thanks, Haku, I appreciate the support." Her face scarlet red, Haku hid her embarrassment behind her bangs, slightly turning away but feeling very happy inside.
"I'll have to put in some serious hours for this." Luka went over her own score. It wasn't easy. She was surprised that Haku was the first to agree since the keyboard was quite busy during that. "It'll take a while to get this down. You okay with that?"
"Sure. I'll work part-time to earn my keep anyway." Lily was prepared to spend a few weeks practicing.
"To be honest, I don't know if I can get this right. It's pretty difficult." Miku looked at the score with doubt. "I will try but I can't promise you I get it done." Miku felt bad for being unable to give a guarantee.
"That's fine with me. Gumi?" Lily was the most concerned, in musical skill, about Gumi, who they had sort of forced to pick up the drums.
"The score is really detailed. I'll be able to do this once I memorize it." Gumi was optimistic.
"Lily, have you ever composed something before?" Luka was curious about that.
"I did sixty to seventy percent of the work on a handful of songs. I can handle this, believe me." The blonde raised her fist and grinned. She didn't notice that Haku was staring at her with starry eyes.
"Should we start our first practice session then?" Getting on her feet, Luka helped Miku get up. Lily held her hand out to Haku and Gumi are the same time, only the green haired girl taking her hand, Haku getting up on her own.
Lily helped Haku put up her keyboard on a stand, Miku cautiously watching those two. Luka was right next to Miku, smirking. "They're both tall and their personalities compliment each other, don't you think?"
"Haku twenty-six, Lily is nineteen." Miku wasn't very thrilled by the prospect of those two starting anything at all. Friendship, okay, but anything beside wasn't sitting well with her. "And they don't even know each other."
"They'll have plenty of time to get to know each other. And we weren't exactly all-knowing about each other either."
"I know. I still don't like it. Haku getting hurt is the last thing I'd put on my Things I want Lily to accomplish list." Miku was very protective of her cousin and Luka could feel that.
"She'll never get her confidence back if you keep babysitting her, Miku. I know that sounds harsh but maybe being around Lily is exactly what she needs." Taking her own spot, to the left of the drums, in the middle space between Lily and the back row, Luka plugged her bass into the amp.
With everyone on their positions, all five of them using the score they were given, Miku and Luka using a score stand in front of them, their first practice run of Red Faction by Mell began.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"One of us needs to learn how to cook." Seeu was sick of eating out every day. Not that eating out by itself was a bad thing but it meant having to share a table with that stupid cunt IA and people seeing her be all nice and friendly to her.
Enjoying her spaghetti carbonara, Ia wasn't really bothered by it. The media had calmed down quite a bit after they had just come out and explained that they were in a relationship. If it wasn't a secret, it wasn't worth talking about.
"Say something, hey!" Seeu massacred her salad with her fork, irritated to no end. Three days ago, just one day after getting told they had to be a pretend couple in public from now on, they had moved into a shared apartment. Thankfully they didn't have to share a bed. She really would have quit on the spot if that had been the case. Those last three days were among the worst of her life. Ia had been constantly bullying her day and night. The only plus side of being outside with her was that she had to be nice. The downside was that she was in public with Ia, pretending to be a couple.
"A lady doesn't talk with her mouth full. And I can cook. I just don't cook for anyone but my sister." Ia had dropped any pretense, bringing Seeu in the full know of her obsession. Her entire room was no more than a manifesto to her obsession.
"Where have I heard that before..." Rolling eyes, Seeu finished her salad and started on her own pasta, with much reluctance. Ia had ordered for her and she had ordered exactly what Seeu hated the most. Pasta al dente with shrimp.
Seeu was definitely going to learn how to cook if she had to keep this up for long. Which seemed to be the case, as things looked now. The part was that she was starting to expect the bullying now. When Ia didn't do anything, it almost felt unnatural and just as disgusting and deplorable as when she actually bullied her.
"Why do you hate me so much?" Putting down her fork, Seeu didn't get it. What exactly did she do that made Ia treat her worse than dirt.
"Is that a serious question? Because if it is, I might have to laugh." Waiting a few seconds for an answer, Seeu just grit her teeth and remained silent.
"It is a serious question." Her voice was a lot lower. If someone overheard them, it would be a disaster.
"For starters, you're a racist, incredibly arrogant, spoiled, childish and a diva. You expect special treatment just because you're popular. Should I continue?" Ia could have listed a good dozen more reasons why she hated Seeu. But it was fun to bully her, seeing her go through the same shit as the people she ordered around.
"Forget it." Wolfing down her pasta and feeling slightly sick afterward, Seeu sat back, waiting for Ia to finish. Taking her time, the taller of the two called the waiter and asked for a refill before finishing her food. "Why keep me here?"
"You just lock yourself up inside your room at home, that's boring. Since we're going to have to pretend to be a couple, tell me something about yourself." Ia's eyes were locked on Seeu. If her personality was so horrible, she might have gotten along with her. Of course, she could be second place to miss universe, her sister, and she still wouldn't feel a shred of real romance between her and Seeu.
"What should I even tell you? I don't know anything top of my head." Seeu pretty much knew everything about Ia at this point. She loved her sister. Full stop.
"Talk about your middle school. How often did you get asked out? Were you in any clubs? How were your grades? Your strongest and worst class?" Ia just wanted to know more in case an interview rolled around. It would be very suspicious if she didn't know these things.
"I was in the track and field club. That's why my stamina is better than yours. My grades were... decent." She couldn't tell Ia that she was almost held back a year once. She would abuse that forever. "I always hated math and my best class..." Seeu got quiet.
"Japanese? How did you manage being a racist and still being best at Japanese of all things?" Ia was genuinely puzzled by it.
"Because I had a thing for my Japanese teacher and wanted to impress him. There, happy?" The outlook of putting that fork next to her dish in Ia's face was getting more attractive with every second.
"Why did you avoid the topic of how often you got asked out?" Ia focused on Seeu's eye movement and the way she acted. "I see, zero, huh?" She chuckled. "How often did you get rejected?"
"Thrice." The fork. Ia's face. They would be perfect together.
"I was in the technology club. I learned how to set up surveillance and so on." Bending forward and whispering, Ia tormented Seeu a bit more. "You shouldn't masturbate so much by the way. Twice a day is a lot."
Blushing fiercely, Seeu couldn't believe that Ia spied on her. "Do... do you get a kick out of watching me? Does it turn you on?"
"Oh, I hit the bulls-eye." Ia chuckled again. "You're so easy to read."
She had played her. She didn't actually know anything and despite that had just made her admit it. That witch!
Getting her drink, Ia paid the waiter. "It was very delicious." Tipping him a bit, Ia got up, walked over to Seeu and gently took her hand. "Come, sweetie." Holding her hand while they walked out, Ia slowly pulled her in closer until Seeu was practically clinging to Ia's arm, much to her dismay.
"You're so going to hell." Seeu whispered while keeping a happy smile.
"Won't that be bad for you?" Touching Seeu's butt, Ia found it had to deny that she had quite a great asset down there, Ia responded with a genuine smile of her own.
"I'll be free of you, at last." Blushing after having her butt touched, she was happy she had worn pants. Ia would surely have flipped her skirt otherwise.
"But you're going to hell, too. We'll be together forever then." A brief but wicked smile danced over Ia's lips.
"I see. I must be already in hell." Feeling a sudden change in balance, the Korean girl was kissed on the lips in public by her Japanese pretend girlfriend. She really was in hell. Her own personal hell of nightmares.
~~~ End of Concert XV ~~~