Writing this while being extremely obsessed with Terraria has probably negatively impacted the quality a little bit.
That's why I'll get that out of my system before HMS 19.
Additionally, I will be working a collaboration with Nuclear Eggs on a vocaloid yuri sci-fi fic. User 5201554/KuuEggs
Chapter 1 will be written by me ( Chapter 2 by Eggs ) and is scheduled to come out in the next few days.
Hear my Song!
Concert XVIII
Countdown and Catastrophe
Ia was quite pleased with herself. There had been no trace of Seeu when she came back with Yukari and dinner had gone smoothly. She had even gotten a kiss out of it all. She was sad that Yukari had gone back to that run down shack of hers, but it didn't bother her all that much. Returning to her room, she found Seeu on the bed, just staring at the comforter. Taking off her heels and dress, she recalled something their managers had said. That they would have to go back early if Seeu's condition didn't improve and she managed to perform on stage.
She hated to ruin her good mood and taint her memory of the evening by being nice to Seeu, but as things were right now, their live would fail spectacularly. Keeping her underwear on, she turned to the blonde. "I feel nice today, so you can cuddle up with me for the night. Keep your underwear on."
Seeu was so desperate for someone that cared about her that it didn't matter whether Ia's intent was genuine or not. Doing as she was told, she joined the taller girl in bed, her arms rightly wrapped around her waist chest, just below Ia's small breasts. Twitching involuntarily, Seeu felt the other girls hand pat her head, slowly, repeatedly.
After all the abuse, all the torment, rape and humiliation, Seeu was almost beneath herself with happiness that she was being treated like a real human being. Ia's abuse had turned her into a wreck with no self-esteem whatsoever. She had started to think of herself as trash. And she couldn't run away. Even though she didn't care about her job anymore, she couldn't flee from Ia. She was too scared of her to try and escape.
She hated herself for being so weak, for being unable to leave. For being so desperate for affection that she was overflowing with bliss when Ia finally treated her like a normal human being. There was not a shred of her arrogance left. Not a trace of her selfishness. Her personality had been completely turned around by the constant and nearly around the clock abuse over the last week. With no break to ever recover, it just got worse and worse until the torment had piled up so high that who she had been in the past was buried deep beneath fear, self-hatred and despair.
Hugging Seeu, Ia did not care the tiniest bit for her well being. To make her feel better was merely a requirement to successfully go on stage, which she had to do to spend more time with Yukari. Her abuse of the girl had escalated a lot lately. After moving in with her, she just found herself more and more entertained by ruining her life. Stealing her birthday gift from her had been especially funny.
But she had started to wonder what made her be so cruel towards the girl. Her behavior was much like that of a rock now, but she still tormented her. Was it that much fun? It was almost more like a habit now. Patting her head, letting the girl cuddle with her, she pondered what exactly was so entertaining. There were no real reactions anymore. She was just like a puppet that simply let her do as she pleased.
Thinking about it like that, it was a little boring. She kept doing it because it had simply become part of her daily life, such as drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. Seeu was nothing more than that to Ia. Some random part to her life that she only kept there because it was too much of a hassle to stop.
Slowly falling asleep, Ia contemplated if she should stop tormenting Seeu for a while. At least until they were back in Korea. But would she even go back? Staying with Yukari was more important, but taking her to Korea would be difficult. No passport and she was essentially a missing person. Going to the police meant she would be brought back to her parents.
Losing her job would cut off her money supply and she kinda needed that to keep an eye on Yukari. She couldn't throw her job down. As important as Yukari was to her, she couldn't stand the idea of living on the street. Or letting Yukari remain there.
If only she could just replace Seeu with Yukari. It would be perfect. Able to act affectionate towards Yukari in public and on stage, it was the best possible outcome. Although she realized that it was pretty much impossible to do.
Yawning, Ia frowned. She didn't want to kidnap Yukari again and forcefully take her to Korea. It would ruin any chance of Yukari ever coming on to her willingly. But as things were right now, she would be forced to go back to Korea next week. No matter how she looked at it, it would be difficult to have her cake and eat it.
"What are you thinking about?"
She didn't expect Seeu to actually talk to her. She rarely said anything nowadays after all. Was Seeu getting caught up in the pretense that she cared about her at all? It seemed to have a positive effect, and that what was she needed to make the girl stage ready. "How nice you smell." It was a complete lie. She had almost forgotten that she was playing comfort blanket for the girl. She didn't give a rat's ass about her smell.
But for Seeu, even an obvious lie could make her happy. To hear Ia say that made her feel welcome. Made her feel like she really was being cared about. She had no pride or dignity left that she could lose over this. She just lost herself willingly in being treated well for a change. After all the torment and abuse, after all the cruel treatment, Ia was cuddling with her, treating her like a human being, even being nice. Even if it was fake, Seeu didn't have the luxury to reject it. She needed it.
Seeu was not the only one who was desperate. Yukari wanted out of Ia's reach and she had finally figured out a way to do it. It wasn't pretty or legal by a long shot, but there was no doubt Ia would be shipped off to Korea the same day if everything went according to plan. After heading home, she had stopped by in a run down bar that normal people didn't even seem to know it existed.
"You want us to do what?" She was talking to people she knew, people that were in the business of selling stolen goods. "Now look, we're friends, but this smells like a job we'd have to see some serious money for." Sipping on his whiskey, a man with a big black hat wondered what in the world she needed that done for. "I'll talk to the guys, no guarantees for anything, Yu."
"I'm going crazy and this is the only way out I can think of right now. You know I can't go to the cops. They'll haul me back to my parents. And imagine the fuss it would make if I suddenly showed up after being a missing person for two years."
"Quiet and peace, au revoir." He looked towards the bartender. "Scotch." Eying Yukari from the side, he sighed. "We owe you for that thing a while back, so I'll see what we can do. Don't expect a miracle."
"You know better than to think I'd expect miracles." Getting up and about to leave, Yukari hesitated for a moment. She was going really far to have Ia out of her life but she just couldn't handle someone so obsessed. Ia had brought this upon herself. "Tomorrow afternoon, then."
Going home, Yukari was exhausted. The next day would be a long one. Luckily, Cul and Galaco were keeping quiet about where she had been the entire time. She had told them not to ask and they knew better than to pry.
In the same building, further up, were three girls that had finished dinner a while ago. And one of them was feeling very much like she was in heaven, a beautiful girl on each arm. Haku had fallen asleep first and Gumi hadn't taken too well to the Italian takeout and was sound asleep as well. Both of them were using Lily as a cushion.
Gumi was not holding on to her but her head was resting in Lily's lap, the blonde's legs completely asleep and numb. But she didn't mind. Gumi's sleeping face was a cocktail of cute on steroids. A few strands of green hair were covering up part of her face and she made cute noises whenever Lily touched her cheek to prevent them from tickling her and waking up.
Haku on the other hand wasn't that cute, but she was... appealing in a different way. Her head resting on Lily's shoulder, she was holding on to the blonde's right arm, so tightly that Lily could feel her large breasts.
Lily regretted so much that she couldn't have both of them. If she had to pick one of them right now, no matter which she picked, she both won and lost at the same time. It wasn't that late yet but the shocking news had hit both of them quite hard.
Trying to get free, carefully and slowly, Lily managed to pull her arm away from Haku. No matter how much she enjoyed the feeling of her breasts touching against her arm, she couldn't endure any longer. Lifting Gumi up a bit and letting her sleep on the couch, Lily stumbled, her legs fully asleep, towards the bathroom. She really had to pee.
Coming back a few minutes later, she found Haku and Gumi cuddled together on the couch, occupying the entire length of it. Sitting down in front with the blanket from her bed, she wondered if she should wake them up. Maybe if they were still asleep when the movie was over.
Lily didn't want to have to pick one of them over the other. Gumi had a great personality, was good looking, a first rate friend and a star. Haku was even better looking, completely adorable and brought out the best in her. But life wasn't that easy. Gumi wasn't technically available so her pick was Haku.
And she really, really, wanted to just take her to bed right now. But she couldn't. Haku was like a hundred million yen vase. If she managed to get it back home in one piece, it was one hell of a prize. But she was also incredibly fragile. One wrong move and everything could end up in pieces. And Lily didn't want that more than anything.
Getting hit in the back of her head, Haku's arm was hanging off the couch. Taking the chance and locking fingers, Lily just kept sitting there, holding the failed star's hand. She was completely in love with the girl and she had the feeling that Haku felt the same way, to some degree. But there was something else, too.
Haku always backed off when things seemed to progress past a certain point. Like she was scared of something. Just as she thought that, someone called her. She didn't recognize the number but picked up anyway. "Who's there?" She didn't give her number to people without saving theirs, so she knew who was calling. But it could be Luka or Miku calling from the hospital.
Whoever was on the other end didn't say a word but Lily could hear someone breathing furiously into the line for a few seconds before hanging up. "The heck?" Looking at her cell for a bit, she looked through her missed calls list and dialed the number.
"You better have something important to say if you're gonna leave a message." Followed by a beep. Lily recognized the voice but she couldn't put where from. She had met so many new people lately it was hard to put a finger on it. That sassy tone... she just couldn't remember.
Putting her cell away, she turned around and looked at a beautiful crimson, half hidden behind eyelids, that belonged to Haku's eyes. Her heart skipped a beat right there. She had never thought that eyes could be such an attractive part of a girl. "Lily... what time..."
"It's already dark out. Just stay the night. We have an extra bed." She was going to take the couch. A small lie in this situation wasn't going to hurt anyone and getting Haku home this day of the day was going to be a nightmare. Paying a cab would be really expensive and she didn't want to leave her side for tonight.
She just wanted to blurt out how much she liked Haku right then, but she kept it tightly locked up inside herself. Haku wasn't ready to be confessed to. Watching the tall woman fall back asleep, Lily wished she could have swapped with Gumi and cuddle with Haku, even if it meant being asleep and not knowing about it.
Before she came to Tokyo, she had jumped from one shallow, looks based relationship to the next. She wanted to leave that behind. Getting up, letting go of Haku's hand and worming her way back onto the couch by shoving the two apart for a bit, Gumi woke with a sleepyhead expression on hr face. Looking around, pulling her cell from between the couch cushions, she checked the time. "I'm gonna crash..." Yawning loudly, Gumi forced herself up before she fell asleep again, the comfort of the couch and Lily tempting her to do just that, and went to her room. She didn't worry about leaving Lily alone with Haku. If something could have happened, it would have happened already.
"Night." Lily tried to keep her voice down while she looked over the back of the couch.
"Night." Gumi waved briefly before slowly closing her door.
The noise, however quiet, woke Haku up. A little disorientated, she looked up at Lily until she realized she was still at her place. "I should get home..."
"Don't be silly. You said the same thing just a few minutes ago." Poking Haku's cheek, Lily wondered if she was still worried about Miku. "Come, I'll get you in bed." Trying to get up, Lily was held in place by the taller woman. "Haku?"
"Can we just... stay like this for a bit longer?" She wanted to enjoy that it was just them two for a while longer.
"Sure." A big smile showed on Lily's face. Laying her arm around the silver haired beauty, pulling her in a little closer, the blonde got her wish and cuddled with Haku. It didn't take more than a minute before the older girl was back asleep, again. "She's so cute it's illegal." Lily grinned to herself. She had really hit the jackpot this time.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"This tastes like wet cardboard." Luka was trying to chew whatever it was that they served as supposed breakfast in the hospital cafeteria. Miku was with her and only having coffee, knowing that hospital food was usually pretty bad.
"Eat. You're gonna need it later to yell at the other guys lawyer." Miku would miss that car. She had spend some really nice moments with Luka in it and now it was pretty much ripe for the junkyard. "Are we taking a cab home?"
"No way I'm walking. Talking about home, did you think about I asked you? About officially moving in with me?" Luka needed any excuse she could get to distract herself from the disgusting taste in her mouth.
"A little. Honestly, I'd like to, but what if people find out we're living together? Dating, you driving me home from school and playing in an illegal band together is all walking a very fine line. But officially living together... people could look up where I'm registered, so..."
"I wish we could just come out and say we're together. This is starting to be really annoying." Sucking on a straw, Luka emptied the small pack of orange juice in one go. "Yuck..."
"We could talk to the company about it but they're gonna shoot you down, no doubt." Miku would have preferred to be out in the open, too. Of course there would be people that would hate her for being in a lesbian relationship but she really didn't care about those people to begin with. And not having to hide her love for Luka would be a huge burden off her shoulders, even though she had gotten so used to it.
"Speaking of shooting down. I'm betting you lunch that Lily took Haku home with her and something good happened between them." Luka was back to her usual self already. She had woken up with a massive headache but once she had gotten herself hydrated, she had felt a lot better.
"One of these days you'll win a noble prize for your nosiness. Or at least set a guiness world record." Miku didn't want to think about Haku too much. She would be extremely happy if her oldest cousin got her life back in order, but she was also very worried that she might get burned. "If she took Haku back, Gumi would be there, too. I can't imagine she'd start anything with Gumi present."
"A three-way? Speaking of-" Luka dodged a head slap that missed her by a few centimeters. "You don't even know what I was gonna say!"
"You were gonna suggest a three-way between you, me and someone else, probably Lily."
"If I was gonna say something like that, I'd rather have Meiko-" Luka flinched when Miku stepped on her foot. "Wow, you're violent! I'm being abused! Domestic violence! I'll fill a report!"
"They'll slap you on the head with the report if you tell them what you said to your girlfriend." Miku pouted. "Meiko, huh? Excuse me for being not as tall and busty as her!"
Luka was well aware that Miku wasn't genuinely mad but she had to pretend that she was or else she really would get mad. "I love every part of your body as is. I picked Meiko because she's older than me and I've never been with an older girl."
"Excuse me for being younger!" Miku was trying hard not to smile at Luka's annoyed face.
"Oh come on. Whatever I say now, you'll just counter it with more pouting. I'll buy you an ice later so stop doing that. And don't even do the Don't treat me like a kid, routine. No ice for you then."
"Damn you, Luka." Chuckling, Miku slowly got up, taking her cup and going for a refill. The coffee was surprisingly good, not good good but definitely not hospital level bad. Getting back to the table, she found Luka had spelle with her pieces of bacon. "Aren't you adorable. Stop playing and eat."
Looking a bit grumpy, Luka picked up a piece of bacon and put it in her mouth. "I wish I could just live off your love for me. Why isn't that nutrition enough?"
Miku blushed a little bit after hearing her say that so casually. "You'd get fat."
"You love me that much?"
"Barrel shaped, two weeks tops." Miku kept giggling to herself now. "Eat. We're not leaving until you had breakfast."
"Demon."
"Stop complaining, how bad can it be?" Taking a piece of bacon from Luka's plate, Miku put it in her mouth. It only took seconds before she was chewing slower and slower. "There is a bakery not too far from here. How does pretzels for breakfast sound?"
"Admit that this is horrible."
Taking the paper napkin that came with the food, Miku spat out the bacon and curled her lips. "It's not even food." Miku shook her head. "Let's go."
Both of them were barely out of the hospital when thunder roared through the sky. "Oh for fucks sake, no rain!" Luka shouted towards the sky. She was thoroughly and completely fed up with rain. But she was in luck. It only kept thundering in the distance and no rain fell for the time being.
Both of them hurried to the bakery to reduce the chances of getting hit by a surprise rain shower. Buying a handful of pretzels, more than enough to have one or two to spare after breakfast, Luka carried the bag, four pretzels inside, while gnawing away on half a pretzel, the other half being with Miku.
Not wanting to tempt the weather, Luka hailed a cap. Giving the driver her address, she leaned back and hoped that she would find a nice rented car until the money from her insurance came in to buy a new one. Even a Luka Megurine couldn't just throw around hundreds of thousands of yen like it was nothing. She had really liked that car, too.
Bending forward, Miku asked the driver to go somewhere else. Her workplace. "I thought about what you said. I'm going to make use of us getting in this accident and tackle this while they're all worried about us." Taking Luka's hand, Miku took a deep breath and smiled softly. "I'll talk them into letting us come clear. I want to move in with you. I want to be seen as more than just your coworker."
"One of these days I'll get a heart attack from you being too adorable." Luka was really happy about this. After Miku's birthday party, she had wanted more than ever to just openly show her affection in front of those that weren't part of their small circle.
"They say idiots can't catch colds, I wonder if its the same for heart attacks." Getting softly punched on the shoulder by her girlfriend, Miku and her partner started to play around, poking and nudging each other until even the cab driver chuckled.
Continuing until they came to a stop at a red light, Miku picked up on the news that came from the radio. "Could you turn that up please?"
"Something interesting in the news? Is it about us?" Luka was suddenly curious what got Miku so interested.
"Not us. But someone else in the same business." She swallowed hard.
"Early this morning, at around 4 AM, the hotel room of the Korean Idol Group U-SAI was bombed. The hotel was evacuated immediately and there have been no causalities or injured, however, both members of the popular foreign group are missing. The police is assuming a kidnapping, capitalizing on the fact they were are on foreign soil. The Korean embassy has become involved and-"
"Aren't those the two that Lily made us watch on TV?" Luka was very uncomfortable with the idea that a hotel room had been bombed. That was something terrorists did, not kidnappers. And a kidnapping was bad enough already.
"Yes. The two that were the main attraction on that upcoming concert." Miku was worried. She didn't realize that there were some people that would go that far.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"I told you to make it look like a break in! Like a goddamn robbery! Like a stalker crime! Who said anything about blowing the entire floor sky high?!" Yukari was roaring in anger. "And then you kidnap them?! You kidnap them?! Seriously? What is wrong with you?!"
Looking to the corner, two girls, beat up and unconscious, were tied to two chairs. "Fucking say something!" Yukari yelled at the leader of that so called operation, a girl that was a bit shorter than her, platinum blond hair and golden eyes. She was wearing a goth outfit that was torn in places.
"We didn't expect that they would put up a fight. Things got messy." Looking not the slightest bit guilty, the girl walked over to the tied up Ia and ran her fingers over her cheek. "This one was really fighting like a tiger. I wanna keep her." Bending forward and kissing the unconscious girl, the perpetrator of the assumed terrorist attack felt attracted to the girl. She was totally her type. "I so want to keep her." There was an eerie seriousness to her voice. "Can I keep her?"
Yukari wanted to shoot her. But she felt like that would end with her own death instead, if she tried. It seemed completely natural for that short girl to carry around a metal pipe the way she held on to it. "How the hell are you gonna clean up this mess? The police thinks that terrorists hit the hotel!" It was only a minor comfort that they were both actually alive and hadn't been attacked by real terrorists. But then again, terrorists in Japan. In Tokyo. That was basically unheard of.
"Let that one go?" She didn't care what happened to the short one. If this has been a better paid job, she would have killed her and gotten rid of the body, but she was basically working for free because the old farts were indebted to little miss homeless over there.
"You need to let both of them go! Do you have any idea what is going to happen if the police finds you?!" Yukari was fighting a raging headache. And the desire to just snatch that metal pipe and bash in the head of that stupid bitch that had blown up a hotel room.
"I've been doing this for five years. I don't look like it but I'm twenty." Swinging the pipe around, the girl looked on her wrist watch. It was completely black and adorned with gold.
"Oh come on! You look fifteen! And that's beside the point! Untie them! Just leave them here, they can find their way out." Yukari needed to fix this, somehow, right now. If Ia knew that she was behind this, even though it had gone very wrong, she would end up in her own personal hell.
"Nope." Turning around very slowly, a smile very similar to Ia's played around the girl's lips. "I don't care what you want. You can run with the short one but I'm keeping her." Throwing the metal pipe away, the platinum blond haired girl slowly undid Ia's binds. Noticing that Yukari was coming closer, she reached beneath her large black skirt and pulled out a small ax. "Think twice about this."
As if one crazy person wasn't bad enough to deal with. No. No, she had to go and ask another crazy person to do something for her that would get rid of the first one. Yukari cursed under her breath and waited until the girl had picked up Ia, still holding the ax. She wasn't comfortable attacking her even like that.
"Say hello to Gino for me." A creepy smile, the girl left through the only exit the storage facility had, carrying Ia.
Yukari didn't feel accomplished at all. The plan had been to make it look like a break in, a stalker crime, and have Ia and Seeu get shipped back to Korea since it was supposedly too dangerous to stay. That was the idea. But instead, she got a blown up hotel room, a second crazy person that was now making off with her sister, who was the first crazy person and an injured girl that was Ia's business partner.
What now? Yukari had no idea. She had started an avalanche and now she couldn't stop it.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"If you open your mouth any more than that, we can use it as a wind tunnel, Lily." Gumi was not in the best mood. Waking up and finding Lily and Haku cuddled up together had really ticked her off. She knew that it was selfish to think that Lily might keep running after her despite her infatuation with Sonika but deep down, she wasn't really that okay with Lily getting this close with Haku. That was what ticked her off. She was jealous of Haku, however silly that was.
"Will you give it a rest already, Gumi? You've been at my throat today since the moment I woke up." It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. Gumi was obviously pissed at her, probably for spending the night on the couch with Haku and letting the TV run the entire night.
"Must have been a great waking up like that." Gumi didn't even know what she was saying anymore. She hadn't felt jealous before, so what was this now? Was it because it looked like things were getting more serious between the two.
The three of them were in a family restaurant as they didn't have enough at home to have actual breakfast. Haku was sitting next to Lily and Gumi was on the other side of the table. The blonde slammed down her fork and glared at Gumi. "What is wrong with you today?"
She didn't know. Averting her eyes and sighing, Gumi shook her head. "Maybe I just slept terrible. I dunno."
"You two shouldn't... fight." Haku spoke up on her own. She cherished Gumi as a friend and she didn't want Lily to be at odds with her roommate over her. There was a much, much bigger problem waiting at her own home.
She couldn't just go on and keep this a secret from Neru. Or keep Neru a secret from Haku. It would be really ugly and she was not prepared for that at all, but it was starting to affect her negatively. The guilt was driving her nuts because, essentially, she was two-timing.
"Can you... walk me home later?" She didn't look at Lily at all. She had no idea what would happen and there was absolutely no right time for this but she had to do it. Now. Or at least soon. Hopefully.
"Sure. You're going to work in a bit, right Gumi?" Lily wasn't one to hold grudges but Gumi just didn't look like she was in the mood to talk to her at all.
"Yeah." Giving a really short answer and no more, Gumi finished her breakfast and got up, leaving money on the table. She found it difficult to like herself that morning. Hopefully things would calm down at work. Maybe she should try and call or text Sonika. She never really answered or picked up when she did but at least it meant she was trying.
"Why is she so mad?" Haku bit off part of a pancake while looking to the blonde next to her.
"She's probably pissed we've gotten so close. Before I met you, I told Gumi that if she wants me to date her, she'd need to make the first move because she is... lets just say otherwise emotionally occupied." She didn't want to tell Haku that Gumi was in love with her own sister. Something like that usually didn't sit well with people.
"You wanted to date Gumi?" Haku was not too happy about hearing that. She felt a sting in her chest.
"Even if she asked me out now, I'd turn her down. Like I said, before I met you. Right now we're just roommates and friends. Although I'd still pick you over her if she put me on an ultimatum of being with you or being her friend." Although Lily was sure that Gumi would never do something so childish and stupid.
Haku couldn't say anything. What Lily had just said was much more embarrassing than a plain confession. She only knew her for a week, tops, and she was so attached to her... hopefully it would stay that way when she found out about Neru.
"You're blushing so much, it's making even me feel embarrassed." Laughing, Lily poked Haku's cheek with her index finger. "I'll walk you home after this. I have work today but it won't start until almost noon, so I have time."
In truth, Haku wanted to run away from the inevitable confrontation with Neru. She very, very much loved her half-sister for all the years she had taken care of her and everything else. She didn't just love her like any sister would but like one girl could love another. And still, she realized that being with Neru wasn't going to let her get her life back in order any time soon, possibly ever. And Lily... Haku had totally fallen for her. She wanted to be with her, even if it meant becoming estranged from Neru for a while. It would be hard but her life was mostly been hardship until now so that was not much of a change.
In the worst case scenario she would end up all alone and Haku understood that it was a necessary risk. She couldn't just tell Neru she wanted to break up and date Lily. She wasn't strong enough to win an argument with her sister like that. If Lily was there, things would hopefully work themselves out. She trusted the girl.
Thinking like that, she hadn't been optimistic about making her own decisions for a long, long time. She thought that it meant that she was finally recovering from what had happened so many years ago. When her future was ruined and her personality took a turn for the worse. She hadn't even touched alcohol in three days now. With Lily constantly by her side, she didn't need it although she did miss the taste somewhat.
Things were gonna be fine. She really hoped that to be true. She wanted it to be true.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"So what are we gonna do with her?" Yukari had been joined by Gino, a man that was taking care of a lot of... delicate business. "And where did that freak you hired go to? She ran off with one of them!"
"If Mayu took her things are going to be problematic." He looked at his wristwatch and wondered if he would make it in time for an important lunch meeting. "I can give you her address but she is not exactly very agreeable to hand over things she takes a liking too. She is rather obsessive about them."
"Really? Who would have thought." Yukari was utterly pissed. "What is she gonna do with her? She can't just kidnap a popular idol like that."
"I know better than to stick my nose into her business, Yu. She is basically the one we call when things get rough. And she was the only one I could call for this job." He checked his wristwatch again just before pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is her address. I had it prepared just in case something happened. I have to go and meet someone now. Just wake the other one up and tell her you found her like this. You're a good liar, you'll be able to sell the story just fine." Without another word he walked off, indifferent to the outcome of the whole affair.
Looking at Seeu, Yukari wanted to just call the cops, leave and be done with it. But her fortune for that day truly was horrible. Before she could turn around, the blonde woke up, groaning and struggling against her binds.
Gambling on the possibility that she couldn't see her yet, Yukari hurried out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She only had to call the police and tip them off now. That was the best choice.
Back inside the room, the blonde was slowly starting to recall what had happened. A loud noise suddenly woke her and Ia, both of them immediately jumped by several people taller than them, masked and dressed completely in black.
She only saw Ia bite the hand of one of them and managed to get free, grabbing the lamp from the night desk and slamming it right into the face of another one. Struggling herself, someone hit her several times until she could barely see anymore. A blur was fighting several shadows and all of a sudden the background caught on fire. That was the last thing she could remember before passing out. It all happened so fast that she couldn't even tell how many people there were or what exactly happened to Ia.
It just had to happen. The one time Ia was nice to her would led to both of them being attacked, and probably kidnapped. Her entire body was hurting all over. It only took her a few seconds to notice that she was bound to a chair and that the room wasn't very bright. "Ia?"
That she didn't just call for anyone or her family or even just her manager or the police, that she called for Ia specifically, made her realize that the last night, when Ia had been nice to her had been the first time in several days that she had felt appreciated. But she wasn't so delusional that she thought it was real. But even so... she wanted to see her right now.
Looking around, she noticed the second, empty chair. Parts of plastic were still attached to the back of it. Someone else had been tied to it, she had seen this in dozens of movies before. But the empty chair was virtually everything that was in the room beside her. It was spacious, big enough to park two large vans side by side, and yet there was nothing in the room. "Help!" Shouting, Seeu got no response at all. Even after calling out a dozen more times, nothing happened.
She got scared. The binds were too tight to get them off and if they had just abandoned her... what if they were out and... disposing of Ia? Turning pale, Seeu panicked and try to break free, only managing to fall over and hit the ground face first. The chair was still tied to her legs and arms so she couldn't even get up.
It was too much. All alone, possibly abandoned, in a place she didn't know, tied up and beaten, Seeu just couldn't handle all of that after being subject to Ia's continuous abuse for a week. Not when she had finally treated her like a human being.
Sobbing loudly, the girl winced when she got a cramp in her right leg because of the awkward position she was in. Several minutes passed, Seeu loudly crying by herself, until she finally gave up. No matter what she did, it looked like she was destined to live a horrible disappointment of a life.
She had gone to Seoul to make it big as an idol and failed. Alone, she was barely able to keep over water. Teaming up with Ia, her personal life had gone to shit, even though she was more successful. Then even that got worse. Ia and she had to move in together in order to keep their career. And that was the finishing stroke for any personal happiness she might have had. Now she had been kidnapped, beaten and probably left to die all alone.
Despair rolled over her like a tremendous wave, swallowing her up. Why did it even matter if she kicked the bucket right here? If she went back, all that was waiting for her was more abuse and a job she just wanted to quit already. But she couldn't. She was too scared of losing the last bit that made her more than just another nobody.
She didn't even realize that someone had entered the room until she suddenly fell flat on the ground, untied from the chair. Looking up, she saw a purple haired girl with a very annoyed expression. "Can you stand?"
Slowly getting up, Seeu was a little shaky on her feet but she could stand. "Who-" She didn't even get to ask who had just saved her. The girl grabbed her hand and dragged her away.
"We can talk later" What was she doing? Going all the way to the next pay phone, inserting the coins and two of three numbers dialed, she suddenly got a guilty conscience. It was her sister that started this whole mess, even though it was her own fault that things had gotten so out of hand. She felt that she had to at least get this girl back herself.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
The whole world around her was just noise. The TV that ran in the background, the announcer's voice from the radio next doors, the voices from the two girls right in front of her. It was all a loud, beeping noise and she couldn't understand any of it. Half an hour ago, she had brought Lily in and it hadn't taken more than ten minutes before Neru and Lily were almost figuratively at each others throat.
Screaming at each other at the top of their lungs, throwing random objects, pushing and slapping, they were completely out of control. She just sat there, bewildered that the two girls she loved the most would act like this. Lily reached out and pulled Neru by her air, her expression looking like she was about to punch her in the face.
Haku didn't know what to say, what to do. She just sat there, helpless and despairing that after this, there would be no reconciling between these two. Not the way they were yelling at each other. They had been at it for nearly a third of an hour and they were out of breath but still incredibly angry.
Pushing Neru away, the shorter girl stumbled, fell and hit a small closet, Lily towering over her. "You know what? Fuck you!" Those were Lily's final words before storming out of he room, not bothering to stop and put on her shoes, simply taking them in her hands and leaving, slamming the door shut with so much force that Haku flinched.
Looking to her sister, the short blonde got up, walked straight past Haku and didn't even stop to look at her before slamming the door to her own room shut. Haku was scared that she was going to lose both of them like this. Getting up, putting on shoes and leaving, Haku saw Lily repeatedly kick a street sign in anger, not even a dozen meters away from the building.
Going after her, Haku had no idea what to say but she couldn't just let her walk away. Catching up with Lily, she just stood there, quietly, her head lowered. She was in the wrong here. Lily had done nothing to earn Neru's wrath and it wasn't Neru's fault that Lily didn't know about Haku's relationship with her. If she had told Lily she was already seeing someone...
But instead of lashing out against Haku, Neru and Lily blamed each other.
"Are you really just gonna stand there and say nothing, Haku?" Lily was pissed to the max. Why the hell had Haku kept this a secret? Well, she knew why, but why did she not make any attempts to turn her down?
"I... wanted you to know because... because I want to be with you... not Neru." She took a step back.
"And you thought that confronting me with her was a good way to go about it? You could have just told her you want to break up!" Lily was mad at Haku, there was no doubt at that at all. "I didn't need to know you're actually sisters and have been sleeping with each other for years! Do you have any idea how fucking stupid I feel right now?" And that wasn't all of it. She had learned a few other things she could have lived well without knowing.
"Neru and I... we're just..." Haku didn't know how to properly explain it.
"You're just what? Sisters? She's your comfort blanket? Sex buddies? I actually haven't the faintest, even after all that!" Lily couldn't believe what had just happened in the last half thirty minutes. "I'm going." She couldn't even look at Haku right now, no matter how pretty she was.
That was enough of a trigger to make Haku do something. Reaching out and grabbing Lily's arm, she had tears running down her cheeks. "Don't leave me!"
"I'm going to cool off and think. I suggest you go home and think about what you really want from me." Pulling free, Lily tried to calm down a little, with minuscule success. "I'm not saying some stupid shit like I'll never even talk to you again but try to imagine what I feel like right now." Turning around and leaving, Lily hissed at a passerby, who almost jumped on the street.
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
Miku and Luka had caused a massive fuss at the agency, showing up while they were technically excused for having been in an accident. And to top that, they demanded to see the top brass, both of them threatening to break their contract and go to a rival agency. As they had brought in Gumi, she would likely leave as well. No matter what, they couldn't ignore them like this.
Gathering all the important people in the more than fully packed conference room, Miku and Luka stood side by side at the end of the table, several of the higher level employees forced to stand behind others that sat. "What is this about?" The very top of the agency was not looking very pleased.
Taking Luka's hand, Miku came out and said it in front of everyone. "We're a couple." Nobody seemed surprised in the least by this.
"Yes. And?" The chief didn't like his time being wasted.
"You knew?!" Miku was just standing there, surprised herself.
"Miss Megurine has been cause for many headlines in the past. We keep an eye on her, discreetly. We're well aware of your... relationship."
"That makes this easy then." Luka helped Miku out. "Unless we're allowed to make this official and known to the public, we're quitting and going to Sony." Giving a name was better than just saying a rival company. It implied they didn't just decide this in the heat of the moment.
The chief looked to his sub-chief in charge of public relations, who adjusted his glasses. "Considering the popularity of the Korean group U-SAI, I think it would in fact even boost their popularity."
"As this is your selfish demand, you will be supplying a duet that matches the announcement. And next time, talk to your manager. I do not appreciate having to cancel my golfing schedule." Getting up, he glared at Luka. "Present your duet within a week."
"I already have something in mind. I'm calling it Ladies First."
"I'll be waiting for the results of your enthusiasm."
Five minutes later, Miku and Luka were sitting in the break room, Miku sitting on Luka's lap, her arms loosely put around the pink haired girl's neck. "This is super embarrassing, Luka." Miku was happy she didn't have to hide anymore but Luka was completely out of control now.
"Just give me a moment. Those damn old farts. They knew about us and we were constantly hiding even at work." Kissing her girlfriend's cheek, Luka sighed. "I made the track name up on a whim. Writing a song for this in a week will be hard."
"We're in this together." Patting Luka's head, Miku got off her lap when her cellphone started vibrating. Coincidentally, Luka's started ringing at the same time. "Yes?"
Showing her cell to Miku for a second, a goofy image of Lily was showing on it with the words Lily is calling on it, Luka picked up as well.
"Where are you Luka? I really need someone to talk to." Lily's voice was cracking a lot. She was either drunk or very sick.
"I'm at work. Well, not really working, just showed up to do stuff. Where are you at?"
"The bar a few streets down from there." A brief moment of silence and she heard Lily gulp down something. She wasn't 21 yet, so how in the world was she drinking at a bar? "Can you come over?"
Looking at Miku, who was looked worried while just listening to whoever was calling, Luka sighed. "I don't need to be a fortune teller to see this is related to Haku. It is, isn't it? Because Miku just got a call, too, and she looks really worried and hasn't said a word."
There was a very long moment of silence before Lily was heard drinking again and letting out an enormous sigh. "Yes. It's... really complicated. And you best brace yourself for Miku being quite bewildered, too. Because this sort of involves her, too."
"I'll be there in a bit. Since Miku is talking to Haku, I assume she is, that means she isn't with you?"
"She's probably home." Lily sighed again. "This is such a big fucking mess." She didn't curse often, but in a situation like this, she was well within her rights to do it.
"Which bar are you at?"
"Hell Gate." It was a not much of a car girls would go to but the barkeep didn't ask too many questions and there was never too much business. The ideal place to be grumpy after a huge argument. "See you in a bit." Lily hung up.
Miku was still on the phone. "She just called Luka so I'll have her talk some sense into- no, Haku, don't, you're just gonna- I know you want to fix this but- Will you let me finish at least one sentence?" Sighing, Miku took a deep breath. "I'll be home in ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Luka is gonna talk to Lily. I'll talk to Neru. No, I'm not mad. Okay then." Hanging up, Miku looked to Luka. "This is your karma of partying and not being serious enough catching up with us."
"I think this sounds a bit more serious than that." Luka switched to more somber tone. "She's at a pretty shady bar right now, probably drinking. She did sound like it. I'll get her out of there and take her back home. That okay with you?"
"You're asking for my permission?" Miku was now very worried. "Haku was in tears and sobbing like crazy on the phone. I have a distinct feeling that this day won't be as fun as I imagined it would be."
"I think that feeling of yours is pretty accurate."
~~~ Hear my Song! ~~~
"Just go to the hotel and call your manager." Yukari was trying to send Seeu on her way. The longer she was staying with the, the bigger the risk they would see her as an accomplice to the kidnappers.
"I can't go back without Ia..." As much as the girl tormented her, she couldn't do her job without Ia. And without her job, she didn't have a place to go back to unless she went all the way back to her family, way out on the land.
Desperately holding on to Yukari's hand, Seeu, most of all, didn't want to be left alone in this situation. "She hates me but... I can't go back without her. And... please don't leave me alone." Slowly lowering her head, Seeu wished she had never tasted success and fame. She could have just stopped doing all of this.
Yukari disliked trouble more than anything else in the world but she was not so inhumane that she would push a girl away that was desperately in need of someone by her side. Sighing slightly, she would let the girl hold her hand for a while longer. But what was she to do? Showing up at that Mayu's place wasn't going to end well. Even if she was armed, that girl was practically a villain for hire. If Ia was obsessed and doing crazy things because of that, this one was just doing it because she wanted to.
For the time being she saw little other sensible choice but to take her back to her own place. "Ia is... occupied with someone else." Being her prisoner, actually. "You should still somehow tell your manager that you're okay. It's all over the news."
"They took my cellphone." She had never used a pay phone before and didn't even know whether they actually existed in Japan. She was enlightened about a minute later.
"Call your manager, tell them you're safe and that you're hiding with a friend you met over the internet a while ago until things have calmed down. Ia is with a distant relative of hers." She is actually with an insane criminal that is probably stripping her naked this very moment, Yukari thought, but she couldn't feel pity. Maybe Ia would learn what it meant to rob someone of their freedom after this, even though she never intended things to spiral this far out of control.
Seeu did exactly as she was told, to the letter. It was almost a bit disturbing how perfectly she followed the order. Standing behind Seeu, Yukari found a hair tie in her pocket, pulling Seeu's hair into a single, massive ponytail, revealing her nape. It was like a cluster of hickeys. Adjusting the ponytail a bit, to hide them, Yukari wondered where they had come from.
After Seeu was done calling, the other side probably in a massive uproar and confusion, she turned around, instinctively waiting for other orders until she realized that she wasn't looking at Ia.
Yukari recognized that look in her eyes. And she felt sick just seeing it. Turning away, grabbing her hand, she pulled the Korean idol along. There were some signs but she couldn't tell for sure unless she asked. "How is Ia at work and in her private time?" Yukari suspected that the two girls would have spend at least some time together.
To Ia she was not even human. "She takes my stuff... forces me to have sex with her... treats me like a doll... but I'm used to it now... it's been like that day and night for a week... even at work..."
Yukari gradually slowed down until she was standing completely still. "I figured she wouldn't be nice... but she is abusing you day and night?"
"I can't stand up to her... she threatens to destroy my stuff or leak images of me in the shower on the net... she is awful..." She had never told anyone about this. But for some reason, it easily spilled out in front of this girl. Two weeks ago she would have wanted to disinfect her hand after being touched by a Japanese person. Maybe the torment Ia unleashed on her was punishment for being a racist against the Japanese. Maybe it was because Ia was actually from Japan.
She couldn't tell her that the monster with the name Ia was her sister. Her flesh and blood. That it was likely her fault, for running away, that had turned Ia into such a tyrannical and abusive human being. But now she was certain that she couldn't just leave this girl on her own. It was silly of her to feel responsible for what her sister did to the girl but she couldn't help it. Seeu had that same broken soul look in her eyes that Yukari had seen in her own eyes, years ago.
"I'm taking you to my place." But I don't know how we're gonna get Ia back. And there was something else that went through her head. Leaving Ia in Mayu's care for a while on purpose. There was no way the managers and police would buy the story for more than a few hours but she was good at not being found. Unless an obsessive sister was going after her.
A day or two, with Seeu calling in from pay phones to make sure they didn't think she was being held captive, of imprisonment could help Ia change her ways. At least it was worth a try. And considering she had raped her own sister, her co-worker and probably done other horrible things, she really deserved some harsh treatment.
Seeu followed Yukari like a lost puppy. She didn't know where else to go and the girl was really nice to her, too. "Whats your name?"
"I'm Yu." Many people called her that so even if they called her Yukari it wouldn't be suspicious. Giving Seeu her real name was just too dangerous. Even if she wanted to help the girl, she didn't want to give up the usually peaceful life she had.
Walking through back alleys and sparsely populated areas for about ten minutes, Yukari finally brought Seeu back to her apartment. "Wait here for a bit. I need to talk to the others." She hadn't told Seeu yet that they were a bunch of homeless girls.
Cul and Galaco weren't inside. Instead, a note was on the table, telling Yukari that they were out, earning a bit of their stay by picking up bottles in the park. Looking outside, Seeu was nowhere to be seen.
Leaving her apartment, Yukari wondered where she had ran off to. Considering how roughed up she was and the changed hairstyle, nobody should have recognized her. Who'd think that a Korean idol would run around with a homeless girl, anyway?
Turning around, she found her lost girl. Sitting on the ground, almost curled up, Seeu was resting her head on her knees, exhausted. She had been wearing a horrible mismatch of her own clothes and Ia's since they had been almost naked when they were attacked. It was likely that the kidnappers just put some random clothes on her.
"They're not in. Get up. I'll give you something to drink. It's just water, though." She felt a little bad that she couldn't offer something better than the abode of a homeless girl to Seeu. After everything Ia must have put her through, she deserved that someone was nice to her.
"Why are you nice to me?" That someone was treating her well without really knowing her at all seemed bewildering to Seeu. Ia had treated her so horribly... it was hard to just believe that there existed nice people anymore.
"I met Ia a few years ago. She was pretty horrible even then, but she wouldn't go this far." Extending her hand towards the blonde, Yukari waited for her to take it.
"Did she torment you too?" Hearing that she wasn't the only one that Ia was horrible towards really made her happy for some reason. So it wasn't just she who Ia hated. There were others that shared the same fate.
"I ran away from home before she could get to me." And by that I mean, sleep with me.. She had little doubt that Ia needed some seriously strong medicine, and she didn't mean the medicament type, to make her change. "Come, get up."
Seeu finally took the hand of her new ally. That was how she saw Yukari. Someone who was also on the receiving end of Ia's hate stick. Getting up and following her into the run down room, she was surprised that she would live in such a place. Being handed a water bottle, the label long gone from the plastic, she sat down next to the small table in the middle of the room. "Do you live here with others?" There were four sleeping bags on the floor but only three of them were showing signs of being regularly used. Not that she was an expert on that. She judged that a sleeping bag that was looking so neat wasn't being used much. And only one of the four matched that description.
"A redhead and one that must have had a seizure in a paint shop. They're both runaways too."
"I wish I could run away..." She had no self-esteem left to believe she could do anything. Even performing on stage, singing and dancing, those were just things that had been ingrained into her body. It wasn't something she consciously paid effort to.
"It's not always the right choice." It probably is usually the wrong choice, but I'm not in any position to say that. "I'll let you stay here for today, maybe even tomorrow. But you have to go back when... Ia shows up." She didn't want to expose the girl to her sister's horrible behavior, but when it came down to Seeu or herself, she would chose self-preservation.
It was still early in the day, around noon, so she would have plenty of time to ask Seeu about Ia and what she was like when not around her sister and acting like a madman.
"I wonder what happened to the people that kidnapped Ia and me..." Seeu was worried they might come after her again.
"They probably got cold feet." She knew better but she couldn't exactly tell Seeu that it was her fault that those two got kidnapped. Even though she only wanted a good cause for them to get flown back to Korea soon.
"Thank you for saving me. I really thought... I was gonna die there." Hugging her knee again, she had never before felt as alone than at that moment. She was truly happy that Yukari had come to help her. "But how did you know I was there?"
"I saw some people carry you in. I just happened to pass by when they showed up. I waited until they left and made sure they weren't coming back before I went in." It was a complete lie but the truth would just hurt the girl. Sometimes it was better to just not know everything.
"I always thought pretty lowly of Japanese but... you're really nice." Seeu tried to smile a little but it only looked awkward. Looking a bit depressed again, Seeu started to fidget a little. "Can... can I hug you?" Even though she should have hated Ia with every fiber of her soul, she still longed for that embrace that made her feel like someone cared for her.
Sighing but smiling afterward, Yukari sat down next to the roughed up blonde and laid one arm around her. "This okay? I'm not really the touchy type." It wasn't that she disliked Seeu. She was just wary of physical contact with people she didn't know.
Nodding softly, Seeu rested her head against Yukari's shoulder. "This feels really familiar..." Smiling again, this time it wasn't forced at all. She felt genuinely happy like this.
~~~ End of Concert XVIII ~~~