Chapter 11: Devoured
"I won't let you hurt Gaku-niichan!" "I won't let you hurt my friends!"
Oliver stared at the security footage from the two sites in utter shock. He had two separate videos up, one displaying closed circuit security rips from the school, the other some higher quality footage he had been sure to set up ahead of time. And he observed as his two dear siblings simultaneously cast song magic against Big Al and Sweet Ann.
'They finally did it… they've finally achieved what they were created to achieve…'
He gripped a hand to his heart and tried to contain a fit of coughing.
"Ollie dear, haven't they repaired your heart yet?" Sweet Ann said, tying a new ribbon around the stitching on her neck.
Oliver carefully adjusted the bandages around his head as the coughing died down, trying to conceal his bad eye. "I'm… on the agenda…" he said weakly, trying to project strength.
"Well it was just a bit of a hindrance this time," Big Al said, "You've always been so strict about not touching the Kagamines… buuut it's going to be a lot harder if they're going to attack us."
The blonde child racked his brain, trying to come up with a solution that matched his principles while preserving all three of their lives. The Hearts would want answers this time – he was supposed to stop the latest experiment from being interfered with. He needed to offer up a reason why he'd failed, but… he couldn't betray his own siblings. But if he didn't work with them… it wouldn't just be his life in jeopardy.
Oliver only kept living because the two mad killing machines in his office responded to his voice alone.
They lived because they were two unstoppable killing machines who obeyed orders relayed to them by the eternally youthful son of Leon and Lola Heart.
He stared at the footage and saw only one solution. He would need to offer up someone else. Someone with more potential and ability. His eyes rested on the man with blue hair. Ever since he'd arrived, Tsubasa City had seemingly gone mad. Their Noise Generation Modules hadn't begun altering reality until he had broken free.
They'd only intended to study the effects of Dark Notes on humans, not summon monsters. It wasn't until the assault on the park they began to review the footage and recognized these self-proclaimed "Heralds" were not merely saboteurs. Naturally, to his bosses, a dangerous creature that dissolved people into nothingness needed to be captured. The Seruva hadn't exactly ignored their last incursions into their territory… and events like the existence of the Heralds only fueled the Hearts' obsession with prophecies of "The End" at the hands of the mysterious bird race.
Oliver couldn't guarantee a Herald when they couldn't reliably predict their patterns and points of emergence. He could… guarantee him.
"Let medical patch you up. I'll handle the fallout this time. I need to make some equipment requisitions before your next big mission."
"Ollie… you didn't answer his question…" Sweet Ann nudged.
Oliver let out a sigh. "I'll have a new strategy for how to handle them the next time… I can probably requisition some of the anti-Seruva tech chem's been working on if I word it right."
As the duo bowed and departed, Oliver felt guilt weigh down his conscience. This man had done nothing wrong. He had suffered, time and again, by the actions Oliver had taken to ensure the safety of his employer. And now, he would suffer again… as a sacrifice to save the two people Oliver loved most in the world.
Kaito felt the scraping, scratching, clawing, banging force around him, ever growing closer. He wanted to run, but he couldn't – it was everywhere. It surrounded him in a perfect ring, closing in around him. His destruction was inescapable. No matter how strong he was, he was nothing before it. He cried out, demanding its intentions, but he had no voice that could outmatch the perpetual deafening sound. He felt his body torn apart, scattered into nothingness, everything he ever was and would be devoured within it.
Kaito sprang awake. For a few minutes, he felt disoriented before he realized he was still on Miku's futon. "It's okay. You're safe."
Kaito let out a soft sigh. "I didn't wish to wake you Mi-"
He stopped talking when he saw Miku asleep on the foot of the couch. Jerking his head towards the direction of the voice, his jaw dropped as he lay eyes on the familiar form of Haku. Her wings were still pure white, her white robes appropriate to Seruva work clothes.
Kaito quickly realized from her peaceful smile that she wasn't a Herald… but a spirit.
"Your time is almost up. You sacrificed it… for us."
Before Kaito could speak again, Haku had vanished, leaving the former Spirit Caller once more with questions and no answers.
"Kaito… *snore*… I'll protect you… Zzzzz…"
Gathered around the Kagamine town house today were all six of the Vocaloids… plus a new "conspirator" they'd just played catch up with. Rin had insisted on sitting next to Kaito and Gakupo, so the three of them were squeezed onto the couch. The rest of the group was scattered around the living room wherever there was a spare seat. Save Gumi, the team wore their Vocaloid clothes as they'd gathered after practice. The afternoon session provided some much needed stress relief before the hard-headed blogger started pumping them for harder questions.
Gumi counted on her fingers. "Three of you are birds, one of you turns into a tengu, two of you cast magic, and one of you is… some boring person that found all these people."
Miku laughed half-heartedly. "It's not impossible…" she muttered.
Just having her one-time nemesis in the room with her was nerve-wracking enough. But after their fight with Miriam, they didn't have much choice. At least for the time being, Gumi chose to stay quiet for safety's sake – after seeing Big Sweet tear up two buildings trying to get at them, she acknowledged the need for discretion.
"So… you were kidnapped by humans." she said, pointing a finger at Kaito.
He nodded nervously. "So… how? I mean, you guys obviously aren't weak."
"They simply overwhelmed me," Kaito explained, "They had all kinds of weapons. I fought my hardest, but… eventually they rendered me unconscious and…"
Miku hated seeing Kaito tense up and try to be strong as he remembered his horrifying experience. She wished to spare him ever reliving it again. But now that they knew for certain another force was pursuing the Heralds, anything Kaito remembered could be a valuable clue.
"In the lab… they fitted me with this collar that shocked me when I sang unauthorized. I… couldn't even start a ballad wearing it without getting stunned…"
He rubbed his neck. "I only escaped because they needed to remote it when they ran certain experiments… I took a chance and attacked them on the way out… I… I didn't get far before they shot me out of the sky… those monsters caught up to me and…"
Imagining him living like a tortured animal… Miku's blood ran with fury. If she ever found the person who'd done it to him…
"What kind of stuff did they have you do?" Gumi pressed.
"Mostly singing ballads," Kaito continued, "Occasionally they'd just interrogate me as to the nature of my society."
He shook his head. "I don't think they knew I was a Spirit Caller though… they never once asked about the world beyond the veil…"
Gumi took some notes. "Sounds about right… Big Sweet didn't seem to be chasing after you either. Probably just thought you were dead and 'salvaged' you."
"G…GUMI!" Miku blurted out, "Do you have any sense of delicacy!?"
Apparently not because she just kept talking. "Sometimes Mirror seems to have em' run around and grab 'parts' off of corpses. There's not a lot of people that willingly donate their bodies to science so… I don't think Big Sweet bump em' off, but they probably found you and…"
"So that explains Sweet Ann's eagerness to kill me and make off with my wings…" Gakupo noted darkly.
"…they called me 'scrap'…" Kaito whispered.
The room fell silent for several minutes save for Gumi's typing.
"Shortstuff. Creampuff."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Len shouted.
When Gumi's expression didn't shift, Miku suspected Len was stuck with his nickname for life.
"So come on, you gotta know something! The only people around here with that kind of tech is Mirror and…"
The twins fidgeted on the couch. "If they are involved," Len continued, "They didn't want us to know anything."
He put a hand to his chin. "Still… they used to do all those crazy recording sessions with me, Rin, and Oliver…"
"Oh right, the dead kid."
Rin looked about ready to cry at that. "Gumi! That boy is their brother," Gakupo scolded.
Gakupo's words seemed to finally encourage Gumi to use a little more tact. "Can you tell me about those?"
"We'd just… sing for hours…." Len said "We never knew why… they said it was because we were so talented but… none of it makes sense…"
"So… they were experimenting on you."
The room fell quiet again. Apparently only Gumi had the lack of grace to say what everyone was thinking. Rin had her hand gripped tightly around Gakupo's. "I couldn't cast balalds by myself but… I wanted to save Gaku-niichan so bad last night. It felt like someone was standing right beside me!"
"Me too…" Len added, "I just had to try anything… I guess… I felt Rin trying to cast the same spell at the same time…"
"Harmony…" Kaito said.
"I've never heard of it working like that before…" Luka said.
"But it's the same concept," Kaito continued, "They don't seem to have second voices… but when they were perfectly attuned to each other, they used their normal voices to cast spells just like a Seruva."
"I owe my life to Rin-chan," Gakupo added, causing the small girl to smile.
"Ummm… ummmm…" Rin began to say, "If Len and I can do stuff like that… can you guys teach us how to use magic?"
"Hey! Why not?!" Miku jumped in, grateful to move the conversation to something more pleasant, "Maybe when Gakupo is teaching me sword fighting, Kaito and Luka can give you two some magic lessons!"
The idea lit Luka's face with elation. "How exciting… I never thought I'd be able to share something like this with any of you!"
Kaito smiled brightly. "I'm sure between the two of us we can do that!"
"AND! We can do it AFTER Vocaloid practices!" Miku appended.
Gumi nearly tumbled off the couch in surprise. "Are you guys crazy?! It's the end of the world out there and you're just gonna sing songs?!"
Miku stood up from her chair, her fists pumped up. "It's not just singing songs!" she said, "Being close like this is helping us fight! So we can't stop being Vocaloids or we'll lose our team Harmony!"
Miku blushed when she thought she heard Kaito chuckling. Gumi looked perturbed. "Okay fine, crazy people," she said, "I'm just gonna… keep scouting leads then. And maybe…"
She pulled out the scraps of the last Noise Generator that Rin had smashed. "…try and tear this thing up and find out how it worked!"
Gumi's wild laughter started to creep Miku out…
"AHHHH! Sempai, these designs are so PRETTY!"
Kaito sat on the amphitheater benches next to Len. "Right, I was thinking we could have the three of them doing a visual kei throwback…" she explained to an eager Rin and Miku as they sat further away, gathered around dozens of sketches she'd laid out on the pavement, "They'll all be wearing outfits based on kimonos and samurai…"
"Ah! With all those cherry blossoms, Len's going to be so pretty…"
Kaito glanced over to a grumbling Len. "No, they're not going to ask for our input," the boy said gruffly, "And no, this isn't the first time sempai's tried to put me in a dress."
"It's not uncommon for Seruva pageants," Kaito explained, "Gakupo once told me he used to play men and women when he was a child."
Kaito glanced further away to see Gakupo hard at work practicing his swordplay, every bit the "Dancing Samurai" in his costume as he mimed defeating another imaginary foe. A small crowd of children stood near him, cheering his every move. "Yea! Go Mr. Samurai, kick his butt!" one of them shouted out.
Kaito began to tense up as he saw another person next to Gakupo. A man with pink hair in traditional Seruva warrior's robes, much like Gakupo's. He lazily twirled a sword in one hand and gave Kaito a cocky smirk. "No wonder I lost to him… he just doesn't quit, does he?"
Yuma was right there… but nobody else seemed to acknowledge him.
Feeling nauseous, Kaito stood and began walking off. "Hey, Kaito! You okay?"
"I… I'm going to take… a walk..."
He looked at the three women, all utterly engrossed in their grand plans. "They don't need our input, right?"
"Well… well yea," Len said, notes of doubt hanging in his voice.
As Kaito walked off alone, he heard Len hop up and chase after him. "I didn't say I wasn't coming!"
If he'd thought he'd get to be alone, the sounds of disappointed children and a sword being sheathed indicated Kaito would be getting some more company. Indeed, within moments, Gakupo caught up to the two of them. "Strategizing for our next mission?" he remarked.
Len groaned. "Come off it, Gakupo, it's not always about fighting!"
Kaito had to smile in spite of himself – at least his friends would never leave him to his worries alone. He considered telling them the truth of his circumstances but his mind continued to linger on a certain event.
His mother's death.
Her spiral into a horrible demise began first with fainting spells after vigils. Followed by hallucinations. Two symptoms Kaito found eerily familiar to his own. As her condition worsened, she became bedridden with seizures, sometimes interrupted by fitful sleep. Her speech patterns broke up, sometimes leading her to speak utter nonsense and chaotic sounds.
And his mother's condition had no cure.
Kaito had planned to spend a long life amongst humanity. Helping Miku and her friends achieve their dream of being Vocaloids. But if he was experiencing the earliest symptoms…
"Kaito, are you suffering an affliction?" Gakupo asked, "You appear pale…"
… if there was no cure… there was no point in telling them. And if he was wrong… if he wasn't dying at all… then they'd be happy, right?
"I've just been thinking about the Heralds…"
"Aw, don't worry!" Len said, "We're practically an ARMY now!"
Ever since Kaito had begun tutoring Len, the boy's demeanor around him seemed far more at ease. He seemed as though he'd recently divested himself of a great burden. A strong contrast to Gakupo, whose light tone barely masked how heavy his own burdens became. "Gakupo, how are you holding up?" Kaito asked him.
At that Gakupo tried to play off his comment. "It's not different than yesterday…" he said, "After last night, I'm starting to think it won't be a problem at all!"
He was lying for the benefit of the others. In private, the warrior already confessed to Kaito that he'd been hearing the dissonant melody nearly constantly. Performing his ballad for him no longer appeared to interrupt it either.
"After all, I did manage to drive it back on my own this time…" Gakupo continued, "Perhaps I'm in control of it now."
"Good!" Len said, "Rin was really worried about you after that fight with Sweet Ann…"
The boy shuddered. "I can't imagine what it would be like to fight those two freaks at the same time," he continued, "If I see either one of em' again… well, I'm just going to blast em' right there!"
Len made the motion of firing off an arrow and Kaito found himself smiling. "Hmph… wonder if our folks knew all along?" he muttered, "It never made sense that they adopted two more kids they didn't want anything to do with. Maybe we were just tools to them..."
"Well you're not 'tools' to me!" Kaito said.
He felt his emotions rising. He wanted to say this now. While he had time. "I'm grateful… that when I became Val'Sharess… that you, Rin, Luka, and Miku all took care of me. Being a Vocaloid… is the happiest thing that's ever happened to me."
Len looked surprised at his outburst, but he smiled at Kaito. "Don't worry, big guy, I'm not going to start slacking like someone does!"
Kaito tried to brush off Gakupo's inquisitive stare…
"Words you want to tell… sounds you want to give! Links of feelings form a world, connecting everything… connecting to everywhere…"
Miku bowed to Kaito on the couch as he clapped for her. "Miku, that was beautiful!"
She blushed at his compliments. Finally… she'd finished it. Her very first song… and Kaito had offered to be her test audience. "It's… it's just the kind of song you'd write!"
Miku shot him a perplexed look. "What does that mean?!"
"Oh… well…."
Kaito looked nervous for a moment as he tried to collect himself. Miku quietly inspected him – he'd seemed so much more tired ever since the fight with Miriam… and now he seemed to pay her a great deal more attention. Not that Miku was complaining about the latter, but she'd begun to worry over his health. Sure he was far more busy now that he'd begun teaching Len and Rin magic as well as Vocaloids training but that didn't seem to completely explain his sudden bouts of fatigue.
Kaito stood up and started to walk towards the patio, his eyes on the night sky. "It's just, that's the kind of person you are Miku. You're fearless when you meet new people… you always try to find a way to reach out to them."
Miku blushed at his suddenly serious tone.
"Vocaloids is about the connections we've all made to each other… So it just makes sense that when you'd finally write your own song… you'd want it to be about harmony. The way people join as one."
Kaito looked to Miku with a beautiful smile. She thought for just a moment she detected sadness behind his gaze… but she only saw him for how handsome he was. His kind and thoughtful heart illuminating his every feature.
Kaito seemed to finally realize how much he'd rambled as he put a hand to his mouth in embarrassment. Miku gave him a reassuring wink. "Maybe I'll ask everyone tomorrow if they want this to be our theme song!" she said.
She pulled out her phone. "So Kaito… I… I've been wanting to ask you something…"
A rare sensation of anxiety ran through her body as she looked up at Kaito. "When we all sang duets, you kept helping me practice," Miku said.
She started scrolling through her song list. "I bet we could surprise everyone if we learned this duet before classes start on Monday!"
Kaito breathed a sigh of relief. "Miku… I'd love to sing with you."
"Great! It's an old song from the 90s about a forbidden romance and…"
She pressed play on the phone and the familiar notes started up.
"Don't make my love like that of the tragic Juliet, take me out of here…"
Kaito took a seat on the futon again, listening to the song as the lyrics quickly arranged themselves in his mind. The melody was one of hope and sorrow…
"I shyly cross my bare legs, how far can we go tonight?"
…and also… erotic?! Miku wanted him to sing like this to her?
The more she sang, performing her well-rehearsed dance, the more Kaito wished he could be the man in the song, assuring her their tainted love was pure. The more he realized he wanted her… not just her company, but something deeper.
Kaito's heart pounded as that base thought slipped through his head. How could he ask for something like that if he thought he was dying?!
"It seems that the lying Cinderella was eaten by a wolf… What should I do? At this rate, I too will end up being eaten one day… Please come and save me before that happens!"
As Miku finished, Kaito mentally ran through the lyrics in his head. "So? You wanna give it a try?"
What a wonderful final experience with her… "I'd like to… it just needs some changes for a partner."
Miku bounced onto the couch with him. "Like what?" she asked.
He grabbed Miku's notepad and looked at her phone that displayed the lyrics. "Well right here, she's asking to be taken away… so what if instead he made her a proposal there instead?"
He replicated the melody. "Then let us be off!"
He extended his hand towards Miku to make his point, as though begging her to follow him to some faraway place. "He asks her to trust him…"
As the night progressed, Kaito and Miku poured through "Romeo and Cinderella." Kaito became caught up in the indecision and sorrow of the girl who so desperately loved someone she could not have. Miku explained the symbolism of the unfamiliar stories to him, and he threw himself into the idea of performing the part of a truly selfish "Romeo…" A man who begged for his Juliet to join him in tragedy. Who swore to save her in spite of the doom he represented.
When they sang their new ballad for the first time, both of the participants were exhausted. But Kaito performed with every last bit of energy he had, and in spite of his weariness, the sensation of his voice mingling with Miku's lifted his tired soul. Miku seemed to hesitate a moment before heading off to her room. As Kaito watched the door close, he tried to preserve the happy feelings from the performance. He turned towards the kitchen when he stopped cold.
Mizki sat at the kitchen table, wearing pink priestess robes and folding a paper crane. Upon being noticed, she looked up to Kaito and beamed with happiness. "If I fold a thousand of these, my wish comes true!"
To Kaito, he saw the kitchen suddenly filled with cranes, on the floors, the counters, pouring out of the cabinets and even floating in the sink.
"I'll fold these quickly… so you can be with her forever!"
And then the kitchen was bare, not a trace remaining of Mizki and her origami.
In the haze, he saw a form in silhouette, barking orders at him. "Find Kaito. Kill all who interfere."
The form remained to hazy to identify. It was irrelevant – his commands bound his actions. As he faced assault from three hostile figures, he cut them down one by one without remorse. As their blood pooled at his feet, he launched himself into the sky, seeking his prey.
"Harbinger. Make the world tremble."
All the world before him was nothing. He was the arbiter of its destruction, and he would tear apart anything that stood in his way. The banging, static, twisting discord was his master, and he merely its instrument.
"Harbinger. You are nothing."
Finally he saw his target… and his sole remaining obstacle. He quickly tore the pink haired woman apart as though she were nothing…
Gakupo bolted awake at the climax of the nightmare. He quickly searched the bed for Luka… who was alive, safe, and now also awake and staring at him with worry. He placed his hands around her, just trying to confirm to himself she was still living and still the woman he loved.
Luka sensed his fear and drew him close. "I… I can still hear it…" Gakupo confessed, his voice shaking, "The discord… it's never gone..."
No matter how many times Kaito tried to purify him, the Noise in his heart refused to retreat for good. The nightmare… how close it felt to his greatest fear…
"I don't deserve you… this happiness is paid for by the suffering of others."
He loathed telling her… But he had to release his heart somehow. "I tried to save Kaito from them… But I… I caused all of this instead, somehow... I fear this curse to be my punishment, to force me to destroy all that I love…"
If only he still had his memory of how he'd come to such a lamentable state…
"You would never strike the person you love…" Luka whispered, "I trust you... and I love you. Always. My warrior."
As she pressed her soft, barely clothed body against his, he surrendered to her entirely. He hoped he could erase the guilt as he ran his hands under her silky nightgown, caressing her supple curves as he lifted the garment over her shoulders…
You are guilty.
He failed.
As Miku finally finished her first performance of "Tell Your World" for her friends, she waited with her nerves alight, looking to each critical face for a response.
"Well, Miku… for a first effort I'd say…"
Len seemed to be deliberately holding out on his verdict…
"Miku that was so awesome! That's a GREAT theme song for us!"
… as Rin blew the secret. "Uh… yea, I was going to say, you did great."
Miku puffed up with pride. "I just thought about how close we all are now… and it just flowed right from my pen!"
"Nodes of feelings form a link, reaching over the faraway distance…" Luka sang. She held her hands over her heart, "It's the perfect song for Vocaloids."
"On the rhythm my fingertips suddenly make, spread all words of the heart into the sky…"
Now even Gakupo sang a few lyrics. "If I didn't know better, you'd have written a song about Harmony itself!"
"The sounds I believe in even for a second, shift my sceneries! Tell your world!"
The twins sang in their ever perfect synchronicity. Miku felt so accomplished – everyone loved it! She looked over to Kaito, the only one not singing, and recalled his kind words as he watched her with a soft smile. She never would have had the confidence to finish her song and perform it without him.
As the Vocaloids began to go their separate ways, Kaito felt a tug on his jacket. "Hey… Kaito! Why don't we try our duet choreography now? There's more space!"
Kaito looked around him, watching his friends leave. "Are you sure you want to chance spoiling the surprise?"
Miku seemed far too worked up from her last performance to care. "Come on… we only have a week until school starts! We need to take every chance we get!"
"I never had the chance to confess to the woman I loved… and you're almost out of time."
Miriam stood behind Miku, her true form a woman with long, ashen blonde hair and sorrowful green eyes. She wore the white and green ceremonial robes of a pageant performer. Kaito tried not to make any indication to Miku that a ghost stood behind her. "Miku… I'd love to."
The two paced away from each other. Miku stood facing the bleachers as though an audience stood before her. She set her phone on her belt and pressed play on the song – she'd downloaded an instrumental only version so they could sing without distraction.
"Don't let my romance become Juliet in a tragedy… Take me away from here…"
"Then let us be off!"
"Gaku-niichan!"
Harbinger.
Gakupo tried to ignore the dissonant melody as he turned to see Rin and Len chasing after him and Luka. He forced a broad smile. "Rin-chan, what's the matter?"
Rin fidgeted, looking from side to side. "It's… it's about Kaito-niisan…"
Len had a serious look in his eyes. "Come on, you've noticed how strange he's acting, right?!" he said, "And he really doesn't look well!"
"Kaito-niisan always trusted you with everything, right?" Rin said, "So… maybe he told you?"
You cannot be trusted.
Gakupo didn't want to confess that fighting off his own corruption had left him somewhat blinded to Kaito in the days since fighting Miriam. But on hearing the twin's worried notes, he mentally re-examined Kaito's behavior during the last few practices. Kaito often seemed distracted as if though he bore witness to something only he could see. While his melody remained cheerful, occasionally notes of despair slipped through when he addressed those closest to him…
He is a liar.
As Gakupo locked eyes with Luka, he realized she'd started to think through everything Kaito had said to them in the last few days…
"I've been longing just like Cinderella, I'll run away with nothing but my uniform! May the magic stop the time before the villains bother us!"
Miku faced away from Kaito. He danced lightly to her side, embracing her as possessively as the selfish Romeo. "The Runaway Juliet… but you don't like that name, do you? True, you are linked together, but it won't be as fun if it isn't that way…"
"Now, why don't we have some fun?"
Kaito was supposed to let go of Miku as the instrumental played… the two would dance apart, never looking at other, revealing Juliet's lack of will and Romeo's dangerous passion…
But Kaito didn't let go of Miku.
She looked up to him, her eyes filled with curiosity…
"Kaito… he was going on about how happy he was to be a Vocaloid…" Len said.
Now it was Gakupo's turn to reflect as well. "This morning… he was telling me how grateful he was to have a loyal friend for so long…"
Traitor.
"Right, and he told me he was fortunate to have had time to spend with his oldest friend too…" Luka reflected.
"…and he told me yesterday he wanted his little sister to grow up brave and beautiful…" Rin said, running her toe along the sidewalk.
It was almost as if… Kaito was saying goodbye.
Kaito felt no better than his selfish Romeo. Loving Miku when he was doomed to die, yet desiring as much of her as he could get before death claimed him…
Kaito drew Miku's body closer to him. He stared at her delicate, enticing lips, and he gave in to his temptation as he tenderly kissed the only person he'd ever loved…
For a moment he feared his impulsiveness… then Miku wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, pressing herself against him with even more force and running her fingers through his hair as the music played over their passionate expression of love…
Kaito had worried how to tell Miku about his feelings but… right now neither needed words to express themselves.
All of a sudden, a screeching noise filled the air, like a high-pitched pulsing whine. Kaito and Miku split apart as a suffocating force tried to choke out all the loving feelings he'd just experienced…
Harbinger.
Gakupo collapsed to the ground the moment he heard the Dark Notes shrill spread around him. So many melodies all grasping at him at once, trying to tear out his own. "No! I can't… I can't let it take me!"
Harbinger. It beckons.
"Gakupo, it's okay! I'm here!"
Luka grabbed him, trying to calm him but he realized somehow one of the waves came from her…
Rin and Len began to collapse to the ground, holding their ears. "Ga…Gaku-niichan! What's happening!?"
Whatever was affecting him was affecting everyone. Shrill painful notes disabling the body and mind… he tried to make out the emotions they compelled him to feel but his own private melody blocked out anything else…
Harbinger. Drive this earth to ruin.
Kaito darted his head around Miku, trying to locate the source of overwhelming agony. He quickly deduced not a single source… but dozens of them. With one extremely near…
He wrenched Miku's phone from her belt and a wave of hatred washed over him. Why did he have to die now?! Why did he have to be the Spirit Caller and give up everything he loved for them?!
"Kaito, what's going on?!" Miku shouted, clutching her body tightly, "What's… what's happening to me?!"
He tried to banish the hateful feelings from his heart and cast his ballad upon the phone. Almost immediately the flow of Dark Notes began to fade and he felt release. "It was in my phone?!" Miku said in shock.
He heard the buzzing of a scooter close by as Gumi rocketed into the amphitheater. "Hey! HEYYYYY!"
She hopped off the bike like a woman on a mission, holding a strange device that looked like… she'd torn apart the remains of the Noise Generator Rin had given her and wired it to a tablet computer?!
"Phew, I'm lucky I found you guys were here! I couldn't call, all kinds of bad juju started coming out of my phone!"
'Bad… juju?' Kaito thought.
"Gumi, what's going on?! Why are the phones spitting out Dark Notes?!" Miku asked.
Gumi held up her scrapped-together table, facing the screen towards them. Kaito could make out a map with dozens of black dots on it… as well as one thick pulsating dot a few kilometers away. "I was able to reverse engineer that Noise thingy into a Noise detector!" she said, tapping her finger on the screen, "The Noise is coming from a cell tower!"
Before Kaito asked, Miku explained the unfamiliar technology to him. "Cell phone towers receive and transmit signals through the air to all of our phones," Miku said, "So… if a Herald suddenly controlled all those signals…"
"… they could turn them all into Noise Generators!"
His elation at his understanding faded when he saw the spirits of the last four Heralds gathered behind Miku and Gumi. His blood froze as he interpreted their solemn gazes.
When he freed this Herald… he would die.
He looked to Miku and he wished he'd had more time…
Luka laid upon the pavement, too weak to stand as hatred overwhelmed her heart. She cursed being cast to Earth and forgotten… she loathed her own weakness as she watched Gakupo, still standing but clutching at his head, his teeth gritted as he struggled in vain to fend off the evil spreading inside of him.
She heard Kaito's ballad wash through the air around her, emptying her heart. She rose to her feet, free of the Dark Notes once more.
"Kaito-niisan!" Rin shouted as she bounced to her feet, "You're okay!"
Kaito and Miku were crunched up on Gumi's scooter. "The Herald's at a cell tower nearby!" Miku shouted, "Kaito and I will meet you there!"
Gakupo's wings once more appeared white, his determined expression cloaking the private battle she knew he still endured. "Nonsense!" he said, grasping Luka tightly, "We'll follow you over!"
"Hey! What about US!?" Len protested.
"Len! We can take these scooters! These people don't need them!" Rin shouted.
"Um… isn't that… stealing?" Len said nervously.
"They'll understand if we're saving the world!" Rin said, her hands on her hips.
Gakupo leaned in to Luka with a cocky smirk as they took to the sky. "And you thought I'd never have to fight in this samurai costume…"
At least his awful timing was still with him.
The group converged at the site of a tall latticed cell antenna. As expected, there at the base stood a person with black wings… this one a woman wearing an outfit very similar to Miku's, only darker shades of grey and outlined in shades of yellow instead of turquoise. Her long blond hair hung from the side of her head in a ponytail.
At their approach, Kaito saw her face fill with rage. "I am Neru, the Herald of Noise! This shrine is MINE!"
She extended her hands above her head and waves of shrill sounds blasted through the air. Kaito grabbed Miku and leapt from Gumi's scooter with her held tightly in his arms. The two landed safely.
Before she could set up another blast, a wave of sound fired off from the sky as Gakupo dove through the air, Luka still in his grasp. As he released her, the woman rolled in the grass, firing arrows at the Herald as she came to a stop. As Neru blocked each one, she found herself fending off Gakupo's sword swipes next, keeping her attention to the warrior.
"Come on Rin, let's show our stuff!" Len crowed.
"Kaito-niisan, Sempai, watch this!"
The twins locked hands and extended their arms out. Kaito heard their voices ring out in unison in a zig zagging melody, creating a massive explosion of electricity. The Herald shrieked with rage as she slipped through the bolts.
"The Generator is over there…" Kaito said, addressing Miku and pointing to a black box wired to the bottom of the metal tower.
He hoped he was controlling his voice. He feared what was going to happen when he banished the Herald. Why did he have so little time? Just one more embrace, one more kiss…
He glanced to Neru and noticed between Gakupo, Luka, and the Twins, she was being utterly trounced. For all the danger she represented in her infestation of the cellular signal, as a Herald, she seemed weak. 'Maybe… she was only just born?' Kaito thought to himself.
He and Miku rushed to the box. "Ha! I love chopping these stupid things to bits!" she crowed.
"HEY! Miku, try to go easy on it!" Gumi shouted, "I want to study another one!"
Miku grunted in annoyance as she swung her sword.
In moments, the air cleared of Dark Notes. Neru let out a shout as her power source vanished. She was not helpless… but she also wouldn't be able to fight back.
"It's not too late to change your mind…" Haku begged.
"You can just grab your girl… and go…" Yuma whispered.
"I've still got 200 more cranes to make! Can't you wait?!" Mizki pleaded.
"Why must you give so much of yourself? Because they forced you to?" Miriam chided.
Four voices Miku couldn't even acknowledge. Tears began to run from Kaito's eyes as he turned to the woman he loved. She looked surprised to see him like this. "Kaito… what's wrong?" she asked, her voice filled with frightened notes.
"Miku… I love you."
He turned to Neru and began to channel his ballad. He knew not why this would kill him… he knew nothing of his fate… but he would never ask humans to die for him… if giving his life saved humanity, then his brief existence meant something after all…
…he felt a stinging sensation at the back of his neck. He tried to ignore it until he began to cough. His throat suddenly seized up and his song ceased immediately. Kaito grasped at his throat and tried to speak… but no sound emerged.
…his vocal chords were frozen.
Miku heard Kaito's song cease as he grasped at his throat. She rushed to his side. "Kaito?! Are you okay?!"
Miku looked to Kaito and saw a dart on the back of his neck… she pulled it out as he struggled to breathe. He looked to her in utter terror, patting his throat. Finally Miku understood. "Kaito… just get out of here!" Miku shouted, "I'll keep you safe!"
"What resounding silence fills the air? Broken. They're broken. Shattered everywhere!"
Sweet Ann. Miku felt chills on hearing her voice.
Apparently even Gakupo had a strong reaction to the presence of the twisted woman as he stopped fighting Neru at once to find the source of her voice. He used his wings to shield the Kagamines who were close by him… and Miku saw a dart embed itself in his feathers. His voice fell silent.
Luka's fell next as Miku frantically tried to spot the source of the darts. Finally she spied Ann leaning against a tree, holding a utility pistol and aiming it squarely at Rin and Len. "RIN! LEN! LOOK OUT!"
It wasn't a quick enough warning for them to use magic… leading Rin to grab her brother and force him to the ground, using her body as a shield instead. One dart sailed above her head, landing in the grass, but the other pierced her arm. "Rin… sempai!" Len cried out.
In only seconds, the Vocaloids had gone from unstoppable to helpless.
Neru shrieked and created a massive sonic wave to knock away the people attacking her. "Hmph… last one" Sweet Ann said, this time aiming squarely at Neru.
Now even the Herald fell silent. As Neru seemed to realize what they'd done to her, she took to the skies, but she was quickly knocked out of the air by the introduction of Big Al. The hulking man slammed her into the ground and Miku thought he heard her bones breaking. Regardless, Neru didn't stir.
Gakupo stood in front of the twins. Miku took a cue from him and rushed forward, drawing her sword. "Gakupo and I don't need magic to fight you!" she shouted.
"Oh that's GOOD! Because I'm itching for a FIGHT!"
Miku looked to Gakupo, who gave some sounds of labored breathing as the toxin took effect, but he easily repelled Big Al with his weapon as he leapt through the air after downing Neru. Miku saw Sweet Ann double up on her and hoped against hope that by now she was strong enough to fight her alone…
Len grabbed Rin and ran over towards Kaito. "What happened?!" he shouted, but as he saw Kaito's face, he understood.
He looked back to the battlefield. Without Rin helping him, they were just dead weight. "Hey! HEYYYY!"
Gumi emerged and rushed to Len. "What's going on!?" she asked, "I was filming this awesome fight and then it all fell apart!"
"That's all you can think of?!"
"GAKUPO! Look out!"
Len saw Gakupo duck a crushing punch just in time. "They used some kind of throat paralysis darts on them!" he explained as Rin held out the dart that had punctured her.
Gumi looked up to see Miku and Gakupo trying to hold down the fort. Miku looked Len's way. "Len! Get out of here, please! You have to save them!"
Len had never seen his "brave oniisan" so thoroughly terrified as he saw Kaito shaking and clutching his throat. Before Len could set up a proper retreat, Big Al separated from the two people attacking him and began a rapid run towards the assembled Vocaloids. "There's the boy we're looking for!"
He knocked his way through the group, sending Len flying as he grabbed a struggling Kaito. "You're in luck! The last time I met you, I was just supposed to KILL you, but now they want you ALIVE!"
Len was helpless to stop him as he hoisted up Kaito. "MIKU! GAKUPO! He's got Kaito!"
Harbinger. They escape.
Gakupo looked up to see the monstrous man holding Kaito up over his shoulder. He couldn't allow them to escape! He leapt through the air and dove at Big Al, hoping to take an arm off…
… his sword barely pierced the man's thick flesh. "Oh my! You're the first one to even scratch me!"
Before Gakupo could release his weapon, Big Al snapped his arm like a whip, flinging the Seruva away as he lost his grip on Miburi. The sword remained embedded in the brute's forearm.
"Either flee for your life or make a final stand. But before you choose be sure that you do understand!"
Gakupo heard the dull clanging of metal as Miku slammed into the cell phone tower, cruelly serenaded by Sweet Ann as the grotesque doll advanced on her…
Harbinger. You know you have the power to stop them.
He hated them. These wretched creatures, which thought so little of the lives around them.
You can destroy them in an instant.
The melody danced in his ears, the power to rend them so enticing his warrior's heart.
You can control it. Unleash it.
If they died here, it meant nothing.
You understand.
'I surrender.'
Luka felt an enormous wave of Dark Notes coming from Gakupo's direction. Her heart froze – he wasn't, he wouldn't! She coughed as she tried to cry out to him but not a note escaped. She watched him draw his wings close, black feathers swirling through the air. When he released them again, he was again the fearsome tengu.
His red eyes quickly focused on Big Al. The yokai streaked through the air, Big Al attempting to punch him out of the sky. But he couldn't even touch Gakupo now that he had such incredible speed. He grabbed the hilt of his blade and easily wrenched it free from Big Al's arm… then sliced through the air and detached his arm entirely, causing Kaito to fall to the ground with nothing else holding him…
Luka expected some blood but none flowed. It was as if Gakupo had chopped the arm off of a rag doll, stitches and all. Kaito fell to the ground and Luka rushed over to him. She wished she could ask him if he was okay, but neither one of them had their voices. From the way he was trembling, Luka guessed the entire experience had shattered him to his core.
"Oh, you've disarmed Big Al! Get it?!" Sweet Ann let out a disturbing laugh.
"Darn, and that was my FAVORITE arm!" the hulking monster replied as he watched his severed limb roll in the grass.
Luka grabbed Kaito tightly, hoping he could understand that she simply wanted him to run for his life. These awful people had set up this chain of events to take him, and she would not allow it. As his panicked eyes met hers, he seemed to understand and he ran with her.
Gumi waved them to her scooter. "Come on! I'll get you and Blue out of here! Shortstuff, make sure Creampuff and Pigtails get out okay!"
"Oh god, stop calling me that!"
The rush of power clouded his every perception. He was nothing but pure unbridled fury, and these demon people his targets. As the blonde woman attempted to kick him, he made a quick cleave and this time severed her head from her shoulders.
"Oh dear! I seem to have lost my head! HA!"
The woman's body started to flop around harmlessly, reaching for the separated head and trying to keep it steady on her neck. "All right, that was fun! But we should probably get the secondary target!"
Their words meant little to him – with another swipe of his sword, he cleaved the monster man's other arm from his shoulder as he attempted to punch him.
They are trash.
'I am defeating my opponents!'
You've already failed your orders.
'Find Kaito…'
He looked around him and realized Kaito was gone. Who had taken him!? Where?!
The witch has spirited him away.
'… kill all who interfere.'
The strength of his orders weighed down on his free will. He wanted to change back, to release this form, but he'd erred – it was so much stronger now. And he kept hearing the same orders echoing in his head.
'Find Kaito. Kill all who interfere.'
He took to the sky, finally spying Kaito on the back of a mechanical contraption. The witch was shielding him. But he had his orders.
Kaito trembled as he clutched Gumi to stay steady. How had everything turned into such chaos?! He was supposed to sing the ballad… he was supposed to die… instead he was alive and his friends were getting hurt… Gakupo was… he couldn't even use his voice to save him, to draw him back…
He saw the black feathers just seconds before the tengu dove in front of them, impacting the ground with such force he shattered the pavement under him. Gumi couldn't get around him in time, overturning the scooter and sending the passengers tumbling. "HEY! I thought he was on our side!"
Kaito tried to stand and only saw Gakupo's furious eyes. He coughed, futilely trying to get some words out.
Then Luka stepped between them, her arms outstretched…
The witch placed herself between the two of them, no doubt planning to cast some wretched enchantment.
'Kill all who interfere.'
He was surprised that she offered no resistance as he ran her through with his sword. Why not?
And then… Gakupo's vision cleared.
Luka was bleeding. Luka was bleeding. And her blood… was on his sword. He had just killed Luka.
"LUKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Miku screamed as she saw Gakupo retract his blade from Luka's chest. She and Len tried to catch up to the overturned scooter. Miku immediately drew her sword against her teacher, tears streaming down her face. She knew she couldn't fight Gakupo but… but…
His mouth hung open in a silent scream. The pain in his face was unbearable… Gakupo was still in there… and he knew what he had done.
"Sempai! SEMPAI!" Miku heard Len running to her side. "Oh god… she's… she's…"
Gakupo thrashed around as he fought against whatever had drove him to hurt the woman he loved. Miku stayed frozen, not willing to move lest he lose that battle. What if he killed Kaito or Rin or…
Finally, Gakupo took off into the sky. Miku didn't dare move until she couldn't see him anymore.
"Big Sweet's grabbed the Herald and left…" Gumi said. Even the normally unflappable girl was crying.
Miku turned to see Kaito cradling Luka's body close. Kaito. The one person with the strongest healing skills… muted.
Miku bent down next to Len, Rin silently sobbing into her brother's arms. Maybe the twins could have helped her… but not like this.
As her sempai's blue eyes rested on Miku, all Miku wished was that somehow she could save her. But… she was just a human girl playing at being a hero. She couldn't fight anyone. She couldn't cast magic.
"Sempai… please…" Len whispered.
…even Rin and Len could join their powers and cast spells together… if only… Miku could…
Len still had his voice.
"Len! Do you know the healing ballad!?"
"Of… of course I learned it…" he said, his voice shaking, "But… I can't cast it by myself…"
His eyes widened as he realized what Miku was proposing. "You want to try it with me?!"
"Len, we have to try! I've heard Kaito cast that ballad so many times, I could sing it too… and we both have the will to save Luka! And…"
"Stop trying to talk me into it and sing already, dammit!"
Miku joined her hands with Len. "Just… try and focus on the same thing I am, okay?" he instructed, "I'm thinking about saving sempai…"
Miku wished with all her heart that she could save Luka's life.
After a few shaky notes, she managed to find Len's melody and tried to follow it. Their voices grew closer, an intertwined melody that eventually shifted into one.
She thought she felt Len's heart beating alongside hers…
Kaito never felt so helpless and weak. First they stole his wings, then his voice… the only thing he still possessed that made him a Seruva…
But as he heard Len and Miku singing, he tried to mentally feel for Luka's spirit passing into the veil. He felt it began to drift.
'Luka… don't go!' he thought, trying to project his words beyond the veil, 'Luka, we all need you!'
He had no voice, but he prayed that his powers to speak to spirits didn't require it. He concentrated as hard as he could to transmit his thoughts into that fragile space beyond death.
'Please… please just follow my voice… I can't… lose you again…'
For a moment, he thought he heard her reassuring voice in his ears.
Don't worry, Kaito. I won't ever leave you behind again.
A/N:
Ah... yea. Well. That was... quite the rollercoaster. As I say, I love happy couples... particularly how I love tearing them apart at the climactic part of the story. But hey GakuLuka fans... at least it's not Christmas like it was in SAWG.
Course... Kaito... didn't kill Miku... in SAWG... oh boy. Well, I mean, maybe she's not dead. It's a cliffhanger! The mother of all cliffhangers I guess. I was going to have a scene with how Gakupo is taking that but the chapter ran STUPID long and it's been moved to the opener of next week. So THAT'LL be a cheerful chapter start. But... hopefully you guys have enough faith in me to keep reading and know I will not stop updating until this is done. I just cracked Chapter 16 and have four more to write after that, so that should put our stop date at... mid-June? Phew. Lot of dominoes to knock down before then!
I had to finally pick an appearance for Miriam this chapter, and I chose the blonde one modeled after her voice provider. I learned there was an alternate silver haired Miriam, but I stuck with the blonde since Haku is also a Herald and I wanted her to be unique with her silver white mop. Oh you Engloids and your myriad faces!
Neru is kind of an amalgam of references to the character's fan persona. Obviously her popping up at a cell tower is a reference to her character item… Which I kept because someone manipulating a cell tower would be incredibly dangerous! The emotion of hatred is me commenting on how Neru was created to represent the fandom itself and what emotion is more fandom like than being a seething ball of hate?!
Song Credits: Both "Romeo and Cinderella" as well as "Another: Romeo and Cinderella". Actually, while there's a lot of couples versions of Romeo and Cinderella on Youtube, I discovered that all of them simply have both characters singing the original version's lyrics. So I went digging and quickly found the Another lyrics and wow did that pay off – I really liked learning that the Romeo is such a self-destructive person who wants the girl even if it ruins them both. "Tell Your World" makes its dramatic comeback! And Sweet Ann sang a few lyrics from Ms. Constantine's "Standoff".