Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I want to make music. I want to perform. I want to be on stage, singing my heart out to an energized audience with electricity shooting through every crevice of the livehouse. I’ve known this since I was little, when I saw my dad, at that show…

I have to live up to his name. I have to go beyond. I want to go beyond. When I left the venue that night, I looked up at the sky. I saw so, so many stars. All of them gleamed so brightly in the black sky. I could only think that they must’ve looked like the audience at that fateful show. So, so bright.  

“Sounding great as always, Shiraishi!”

The black-haired girl whipped her head around to greet the voice praising her– a regular at her dad’s cafe. In the back of her vision, the crowd that once circled around her begins to disperse. “Oh!” She pauses to take a gulp of air, breathless from her performance. “Thanks! I can always be better, though!” She exclaims. 

“God, An, if you get any better, you’re gonna surpass RAD WEEKEND in no time,” the familiar man says with a tinge of exasperation. “Hey, do you need help with that?” He gestures down to the tangled mess of wires stringed around her amp. 

“Oh, ah… no, I got it!” An squats down to sort through her supplies, ignoring the pulsing shock that ran through her body at such high praise. “Er, crap,” she hisses, holding up a black cord. Shiny copper sticks out in every direction from a frayed cut, gushing forwards even as An presses down on it in a futile attempt to fix the broken wire. The cafe regular fails to suppress a small laugh, shaking his head at the girl. 

“What the hell did you do to that poor wire? Let me see that.”

“I probably got into the song and pulled on it too hard…” Dejection laces her words and she hands the wire over. He rolls it around in his hands, mulling over the broken equipment. 

“Yeah, this thing’s done. You got a spare or something?” He hands the wire back.

“Ugh, no,” she groans, “that was for my mic…” A frown creeps on An’s face. 

“Ah- well! I think there’s some type of holiday sale at that music store in the mall going on right now!” The man spits out in a panic, not wanting to upset the girl he’s known since she was little. Her face crinkles up in response.

“What holiday is it?”

“I don’t know! You know how retailers are, be grateful they’re doing it when you so carelessly broke your equipment!” He lightheartedly scolds her. She sticks her tongue out at him and leans down to grab the rest of her belongings. 

“Fine, I’ll be sure to personally thank the owner myself!” She turns on her heel, swaying as the weight of her equipment throws off her balance. “I’m off!”

“See you later! Tell your dad I said ‘Hi’!” He shouts at the ever-determined girl. 

“Did you want to try that out?”

Honami squeaks involuntarily as she turns to meet the music shop worker that snuck up behind her. “Oh- oh no! I was just looking! I wouldn’t.. ah..”

The worker smiles politely and waves his hands at her. “It’s okay! I was just making sure. Is there anything I can help you with?” The girl’s face flushes red, nearly matching the ribbon of her school uniform. 

“No, ah, thank you!” She curtly bows and shuffles away, hoping she didn’t come across as too rude. It was probably for the best that she stopped staring at the drumkit anyway, since it would just bring back more bittersweet memories. Staring at the floor as she skitters away, she shakes her head as if to clear her head of the past. Ever since that confrontation in the hallway–

“Oh my– I’m so sorry!” Honami squeals as she jumps back from the person she’s just walked straight into. She quickly hops back, resembling a frightened kitten as she hugs her hands to her heart. 

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it,” the other girl assures her, although the expression on her face is as awkward as Honami feels. The heat rises back to her face when she realizes she saw the same stranger earlier, performing on the street. Of course she would embarrass herself in front of someone that she thought was cool. Of course. Her eyes widen as the blue-haired girl leans down and picks up a black, coiled wire.

“Oh no, did I make you drop that? I’m so sorry!” She bows her head, growing more embarrassed by the second. Seeing such a sad sight, the other girl panics and throws her hands onto the taller girl’s shoulders.

“No!! Don’t apologize! I was standing in the way, anyway, I was looking at these cords instead of paying attention to my surroundings!” She reassures in a loud tone, making Honami cringe inwardly. 

Then, without thinking, she mumbles, “Oh, so you did snap it…”

“Huh?” The pressure on Honami’s shoulders lessens. The girl’s hands hover aimlessly in place, still. 

Shoot.

Words start falling out of her mouth without any thought. “Oh, I mean– I saw you performing earlier, and I thought I saw a cord snap, but I couldn’t tell so I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to interrupt your set anyway, so–”

“Wait, you saw it?!” The girl interrupts her rambling. 

Honami’s hands draw closer to her chest. “Y- yes, I–”

“When was it?! I didn’t even notice because I was so focused on singing, now I’m curious!” 

Honami blinks back in shock. That was her only concern, after everything? “It was during that song that was like,” she clears her throat to start humming the tune, “~♪” The ever-surprising girl stares back with her mouth agape and wide eyes. Honami’s blood runs cold, thoughts starting to sort through every possible thing she’s done to offend the stranger across from her. 

“Wait, do that again.”

“Sorry?”

“Hum that again!”

Honami gulps, physically swallowing her pride. Ever the people pleaser, she obliges.

“Can you sing?!” The girl’s eyes seem to glimmer with intrigue.

“Sing? I’m not really sure, Ichi was always our–” she stops herself, realizing the slip-up. It was stupid of her to mention that old dream. 

“ Ichi? Was that your singing partner?” Her voice carries an air of genuine interest. 

“N-no. I was in a band, long ago. I sh-”

Honami is cut off when her hands are suddenly seized and pulled away from the safe spot near her heart. “A band?! That’s so cool! What did you play?”

“...The drums,” her reply borders on a whisper.

“No way! I never would’ve guessed, all the drummers I know are so– y’know –” Honami does not know, “and you’re so cute and polite! Like, like a little gerbil or something!”

“G- gerbil?” She doesn’t know whether to take offense to such a comment or not.

“Say, do you wanna learn how to sing?” The girl’s grip on Honami’s hands tightens ever-so-slightly. Her hands are surprisingly cold, or maybe Honami’s are just warm from embarrassment. 

“S- sing?”

“Wanna be my partner?”

Honami blinks back. She can’t remember the last time she told someone, “no”. 

The girl, An , as Honami now knows her name, also knows a lot more about her life. Her dad owns a cafe on Vivid Street, she’s a first year at Kamiyama High, she’s totally not afraid of ghosts, she comes to this park to practice often, she’s been looking for singing partner for quite some time now, she really likes street music, and most importantly: she intends to surpass the legendary RAD WEEKEND event one day. Honami knew by the way her eyes lit up and her tone intensified after she cluelessly asked what RAD WEEKEND was, that goal was incredibly dear to her. 

Even though An has been happily offering up any information Honami inquires about, she can’t find the courage in herself to return the favor. Realistically, she knows that An has never heard her name before. She would’ve mentioned it when Honami told her it, most likely. There’s a near-zero chance the rumors about her have traveled all the way from Miyamasuzaka to Kamiyama. Yet, she can’t escape the anxiety drilling a pit into her stomach. If she lets An get too close, she’ll start to think she’s a two-faced fake like everyone else. One side of her wants to be as open and honest as An, but the other is afraid that such honesty will become a weapon to others. 

So, she only returns An’s stories with simple facts. Plain ones that are easy to digest, like a fresh apple pie that crumbles in your mouth. 

“I’m a first year at Miyamasuzaka Girls’ Academy.”

“I work as a housekeeper.”

“I’ve been playing the drums since I was younger.”

“...Sorry, I don’t really want to talk about my old band…”

She looks up at the sky. The sun is setting, so the stars have begun to glow faintly among the fading colors. Sitting on the park’s swings so late in the day has made her feel nostalgic. She’ll tell herself it’s a strange feeling, and suppress the thought that she knows exactly why such a feeling has bubbled up. Silently, she wonders if this proves that she really is as fake as her classmates say. 

“Do you stargaze often?” An’s voice clears her spiraling thoughts. She turns and wordlessly meets her gaze. Her eyes are soft, and Honami could swear there was a small spark of concern lurking somewhere in them. “You’ve been looking at the sky ever since the stars came out,” she supplies, answering Honami’s unspoken question. 

She curtly nods back. “Yeah, I really like astronomy,” she smiles in an attempt to extinguish the flickering worry on An’s face, “I don’t want to talk your ears off about it, though.”

“Go ahead! I’ve talked enough today, anyway. I know nothing about this stuff,” she suddenly gasps, jumping to her feet in excitement, “You can teach me about the stars and I’ll teach you about singing! It’ll be like, equivalent exchange, or whatever!” She clasps her hands together, a wide grin painting her face. 

Honami straightens her posture, gripping the swing’s chains with a great force born from her newfound determination. A mirroring grin starts to form. “Well then, let’s begin with our first lesson!”

“Y’know, I bet your previous experience in a band is helping you pick this stuff up way easier,” An says with her back turned to her partner, pouring two cups of coffee, “I could tell by the way you hummed that you were a natural! That’s why I asked you to be my partner~” An whips around to throw Honami a playful wink. She giggles back, hiding her blush behind her sweater-covered hands. 

“You’re being too nice! Maybe if I started quizzing you on my astronomy lectures, you wouldn’t tease me like this so lightly…” Honami jokes back, tapping a finger against her chin in faux contemplation. 

“H- hey! I told you I’m bad at studying!” An sputters out, nearly dropping the coffee cups from her grasp, “Don’t even joke about that!” Honami just smiles and takes a cup from An’s hands from over the counter. 

It’s been over a week since their encounter in the music shop, and the two girls have grown surprisingly close in such a short time, even despite their different lifestyles. They’ve fallen into a routine of meeting each other at the park after their schools let out, practicing songs until sunset, then settling down on the playground with some snacks while Honami picks out different parts of the night sky to dissect. They’ve grown into a comfortable dynamic, the bold and the mellow balancing each other out. Honami’s grown a bit more honest with An, indulging her with her drumming knowledge and history. Although, she’s still not brave enough to talk earnestly about her old band. It’s still too sore of a subject for her sensitive heart. 

 Today, however, they’ve broken routine for the first time. Upon arriving at the park, An whisked Honami away to WEEKEND GARAGE, her dad’s cafe. She kept shouting something about “taking a well-deserved break” while Honami’s flustered mind could only produce shrieking sounds as the shorter girl tugged on her sleeves. Onlooking bystanders may have thought they were witnessing a kidnapping if An hadn’t looked so pathetic in her attempts to usher her friend along. 

“So, I’ve been thinking,” An pauses to sip from her own cup, “I think we’re ready for a live show.”

“Eh?!” Honami nearly does a spit take, some coffee dribbling from her mouth.

“I think we’re ready! I know it might feel like a short time, but we’ve both really improved and grown closer! We can’t keep getting better if we don’t start making big moves, right?” An’s eyes glow with anticipation. Her cup clinks against the counter surface as she places it down, awaiting Honami’s response.

Honami’s response– well, there is none. If she refuses, then her new friend might think she’s selfish, that she’s just been using her. However, if she accepts, she’ll embarrass the both of them with her inexperience. Her hands grow clammy as her grip tightens around her own drink. The cocoa-tinged air seems to grow cold and get stuck in her throat. 

“So?” An’s prodding voice rings through her ears.

Deep breath. 

“Sure!”

Exhale– Did she just say something?

“Ah, yay!!” An shouts, nearly tipping her drink over as she reaches to hug her partner from behind the counter. “I got this flyer for an event this weekend–”

Oh, she did. She agreed. Like always.

Friday night. Honami was so exhausted, after sleeping poorly from the stress of the upcoming show, then slogging through classes, then staying at school late to help organize materials for the Home Ec Club, then rushing halfway across town to WEEKEND GARAGE where An insisted they practiced before the show, then helping An carry their personal equipment over to the venue… Yeah, she wasn’t exactly “running on all thrusters”, so to speak. Of course, this was only causing her more stress, which was then further exhausting her…

“Hey, Hona, you okay?”

Honami whips around to face the voice, having been distracted by the flashing lights of the current performers. “H- Hona?”

“Oh, are you not comfortable with nicknames yet? S-”

Honami immediately cuts her off, “No! No, that’s fine! It’s cute actually, I just wasn’t expecting it,” she cuts off her own rambling as well, “I’m just a bit tired and nervous, is all.”

“Aw, Hona! Don’t be nervous!” She reaches out to pinch her cheeks. “We’ve practiced so much, we’re gonna do great! Hey, maybe this is the night we surpass RAD WEEKEND, even!” An giggles to herself, knowing that Honami wouldn’t quite understand the full joke. 

“Yeah, in your dreams, maybe,” a familiar, deep voice rings out from behind An. She turns around to face the boy, placing a hand on her hip and a smirk wiping the sincere smile off her face.

“Please, you know I was joking. These events are supposed to be fun, liven up a little,” she scoffs as she begins to turn back around.

“See, this is why everyone thinks you’re only here because you’re Ken’s daughter. This is important to the rest of us, hell, it’s people’s livelihood , and you’re here to have some fun? How embarrassing.” He punctuates the rant with an eye roll. 

An practically snaps back to her former position, resembling a feral animal ready to attack at any wrong move. “Seriously!? You’re just trying to make me look bad! You know I care about this just as much as everyone else! I can take this seriously while still enjoying it!” Her voice cracks, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Hoping to conceal them, she takes a shaky step backwards into darker lighting. The boy just eyes her, a judgmental yet disinterested expression painting his face. 

“Then prove it on the stage,” he huffs out before making his leave. The confrontation leaves An dizzy with frustration, patting down some of the wetness in her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. Behind her, Honami stands frozen in shock. Quite frankly, she was too tired to comprehend what had even happened. Disgust lines her features, her thoughts racing at the sight of someone being so unapologetically rude. Does he just not care what others think about him?

An breaks out of her stupor before Honami does. “I’m… sorry you had to see that,” she sighs and shakes her head, looking down, “I really do care about this, I swear…” she trails off. Having never seen her look so meek and defeated, Honami’s supportive instincts kick in. She surges forward to grab An’s hands, which have been balled into fists, and brings them together to clasp her own hands around them. 

“Everything that guy said reflected more poorly on himself than on you!” She exclaims, earnesty seeping through every word. “Don’t worry about it, I’m supposed to be the stressed one of our duo!” An lets out a soft laugh, breaking free from Honami’s grasp. Glad that she was able to diffuse the situation, Honami beams at the sight. 

“You’re right, you’re like a little stress ball… or, those are to help relieve stress, aren’t they?” An taps a finger to her chin. “Well, you are cute and squishy like one… so I’ll just make you my little stress ball!” Soft warmth pricks Honami’s cheek as her finger surges forth to poke her. She giggles, cusping her cheek as if she could hold the warm sensation there forever if she never let go. 

“We should get ready, we’re up soon,” An softly reminds her, pointing to their microphones resting on top of a storage box. 

“Right!” She nods, relinquishing her hand from its guard duty. After all, such a small feeling feels pathetic in comparison to the warm glow in her chest born from helping An.

Stepping out from backstage, both girls are immediately blinded by the bright neon lights. Heart pumping in overtime, Honami can’t even make out the MC announcing their act. Her knees shake, not used to standing on stage. To her right, however, An stands proud and confident, her microphone relaxed in her slack grip while her free hand waves out to the crowd. A cheesy grin paints her face as her eyes glitter with the colors of the changing lights. Suddenly, Honami’s struck by the idea that she might be bringing her partner down, only proving that rude boy right and ruining An’s reputation. As soon as the thought forms, she shakes her head as if she could shake it out of her brain entirely. 

I won’t let that happen to her. Not after everything she’s done for me. Loosening her grip on her own microphone, she leans back and smiles out into the sea of people. It’s an awkward, toothy one, but a smile nonetheless. Even if she’s used to hiding behind a drum set, she’ll learn how to stand with confidence on stage. If not for her, then for An. 

The music kicks in, and she only startles a little. Progress is progress, at the least.

The chip bag crinkles as An digs her hand into its depths, exhaling a dejected sigh when she comes up empty.  “Man, we went through that fast . Should we go get another one from the vending machine?” 

Honami’s eyes snap from the starry night sky back to An. “No, it’s fine…”

The other girl’s eyes light up as she discards the plastic bag into her backpack. “Oh, is it time for another astronomy lesson? Should I get my notebook out, professor?” She teases, wiggling her eyebrows with a sly smirk. 

“No, it’s not that,” Honami’s eyes lock with An’s, “we should talk about the show.” An almost startled expression flashes across An’s face, before being quickly replaced by one of pride. 

“Right, the show! It went so well, don’t you think?” Their swings rattle as she lightly punches her shoulder.

Honami nods. “I do think it was good for our level of experience, but…” Her gaze finds its way back to the stars. For a moment, she thinks she sees a comet, but quickly realizes it’s just an airplane. 

“...But?”

“I don’t think I can ever get comfortable with that .”

“Huh? With what?” An leans forward, concern washing away the joy on her face. Immediately, Honami regrets starting the conversation. 

“Ah- no, forget it. I just need more practice,” she mutters softly. Finding no comfort in An nor the stars, she down at the woodchips littering the park’s ground. 

“Hey, no!” An leans down to find Honami’s gaze, but stops when she nearly falls off the swing. “We can’t perform well if you’re uncomfortable! Be honest with me, this is important for both of us. We can’t improve and grow as partners if we’re not being one-hundred percent open with each other. Kay?” This sentiment gets Honami to look back up, resounding in her head. The small smile lazily placed on An’s lips only proves her honesty. 

She momentarily stills to collect her thoughts, then continues, “Just… standing up there. I’m so used to being behind my drums when on stage, it just feels like I’m exposed. Weird, right?” She fidgets with the scrunchie holding her ponytail in place.

“Not weird, that makes total sense,” An reassures her partner, “I probably should’ve thought about that before, honestly,” before Honami can ask why, she continues, “Drummers are usually in the back of the stage, yeah? Being forced to front and center like that must’ve been tough… I’m sorry for making you do that before you were ready. Really.”

“Huh? N- no! You didn’t make me do anything, I swear! I would’ve told you if–”

“Gonna stop you right there. Hona, I said we need to be honest with each other, so I’m not gonna be a hypocrite and dance around this. I don’t think you would’ve told me if you weren’t ready– because you didn’t. I can tell you’re trying to be polite around me, but as my partner, I want you to be you . We’re not gonna get anywhere if you keep up this… this customer service personality.”

“‘ Customer service ’?” Honami’s face flushes, eyes growing wide at the accusation. It’s not entirely inaccurate, but betrays the truth behind her actions. Her heartbeat accelerates at the realization that she’s losing her newest friend just like she lost all her old ones. “I just want to be nice! I’m not trying to be disloyal or fake or whatever, why does everyone keep saying that!?” Tears well up as she grows increasingly distressed by the unfolding tragedy. 

An gasps, realizing the oncoming panic radiating off of her partner. She practically flies off her swing, grasping the stressed girl by the shoulders. “Hona, I didn’t mean that to be a bad thing! You’re really nice, and that’s okay. I just don’t want you to sacrifice your own wants and wellbeing to please me, or anyone else!” Seeing the girl beginning to calm down, she keeps going, “There’s being nice, and there’s letting people walk over you. Don’t leave yourself behind, don’t follow everything I ask of you. This is a partnership, not a leadership, after all.”

“Partnership…” Honami repeats in a whisper, letting the kind words flow through her body. The comfort they bring outshines any sensation her prior people-pleasing had brought, enveloping her in a warm hug. With a newfound resolve, she nods and hums out an agreement. “I felt uncomfortable tonight. I tried to hide it, but I still felt it.” When she looks up at her partner, the apprehension shining in her eyes melts away at her smile.

“So, let’s tackle that,” she hums as she shoves her hands in her jacket pockets, rocking back and forth on her heels. “What if you played the drums for us? You can still sing, but also show your talent in that and be more comfortable.”

The realization at how simple a solution this situation called for nearly makes Honami faceplant into the ground. Yet, she immediately finds another concern. “I would prefer that, but wouldn’t it be a little awkward with that dynamic? Like, I’m in the back drumming and you’re jumping around on stage… maybe I’m overthinking this,” she sighs. 

“No, that’s valid, Hmm…” Her foot taps out a familiar rhythm as she delves deeper into thought. “I suppose I could pick up an instrument, but I don’t know how long that’ll take to get good at… Ah! Or, we form a band!”

“A band?” 

“A band! You’re our drummer, I’m the vocalist, let’s scout out some others! RAD WEEKEND didn’t have a live band, maybe that’ll help me– us, overcome it one day!” 

As Honami’s about to voice her agreement, a bright white glow flashes out from An’s bag. “Oh, did your phone’s flashlight turn on?”

“Huh? Did it?” She reaches down to fish the aforementioned phone out from its cloth prison. Once she takes it out, the bright white seems to grow. “What the– it’s so bright!”

“Turn it off!” Honami shrieks as she shields her eyes.

“I- I can’t! Huh…?”

Seeing the glow dissipate from the borders of her vision, Honami removes her hands from her eyes. However, the familiar park has completely left her sights. As she looks around to regain her bearings, she realizes she’s no longer sat on a swing, but rather at a desk.

“Wh- what?!” She shouts, jumping up and scrambling backwards. “An?!”

“Hona, what just happened…” An questions in a near-whisper, staring at her with wide eyes. 

“Why would I know, it’s your phone!” She shouts, clearly panicked by the supernatural occurrence. 

“D- do you think it was a ghost?” An squeaks out pathetically.

“How would a ghost do this?!”

“I don’t know, ghosts aren’t real!”

“You’re the one that brought it up!”

“Shut up!”

“Fufu, you two are so noisy…” A high-pitched, somewhat robotic voice calls out from behind both girls. They swing around in unison to greet the person at the classroom door. Short in stature, teal pigtails with matching eyes–

“Hatsune Miku?!” Both girls shout out, jaws dropping. 

“Oh, so you know me already. Well, welcome to your SEKAI!” Miku extends her arms out as if to present them with their new gift. 

“SEKAI? Sorry, Hatsune Miku? Were those chips laced?” An shakes her in disbelief. 

“How would they be laced? It wasn’t opened before we bought it,” Honami points out, trying to regain her level head. 

“Stop making sense, we’re in my phone talking to the ghost of Hatsune Miku right now!” An whines.

“Well, I’m not a ghost, so you don’t have to be so scared, An. Anyway, your SEKAI! A magical little place born from your feelings. The others and I are here to be a little helping hand, in a way,” Miku explains matter-of-factly, leaning against the doorframe as if this was a completely normal and sane conversation to be having.

“Wait, I’m not afraid of ghosts!” 

“All of that, and that’s your biggest concern?” Honami would have laughed if she wasn’t so concerned about their current situation. 

“I don’t want any misconceptions about me going around!” An argues back, fully earnest in her worries. 

“Going around where ? Miku just told us that we’re in a world made from our feelings .”

“Stop arguing, you two. Didn’t you just have a nice little chat about partnership and forming a band?” Miku scolds them, but her smirking dejects any seriousness behind it. 

“Y- you know even that ?” An mumbles under her breath, “Scary…”

Miku shrugs. “I was eavesdropping from your bag, fufu.” The girls glance at each other with wide, questioning eyes. Sensing their apprehension, Miku gives them an out, “Well, I just brought you here for an introduction to your SEKAI. You can come back and leave at any time, just press pause or play on that ‘Untitled’ song on your phones.” She crosses her arms, watching their expressions morph with the new information. Ignoring her watchful gaze, An immediately digs her phone out of her jacket pocket. Sure enough, a new song named Untitled is in her music library. 

“So, If I press this, we’ll go back to the park?” She raises an eyebrow.

“Yep! If you don’t believe me, you can give it a try,” Miku responds. An turns back to Honami, who nods as if to say, “ Let’s go. ” 

“Alright… see ya, Miku…” An says awkwardly before pressing down on the pause button. Her vision immediately clouds over with the same bright white light as before. Faintly, she thinks she hears a robotic “ Come back soon, fufu! ” reverb through the air. 

A moment later, her vision returns. Blinking away the spots wiggling in her sight, she pats the ground– woodchips.
“What… just happened?” Honami’s meek voice squeaks out. When An looks up, she’s gripping the swing’s chains with a great enough force to turn her knuckles white. 

“We… met Hatsune Miku. In our feelings world,” An recounts, “Huh. Okay.” She blinks, not registering when Honami moves to grab her own phone.

“I should go, it’s late and I have work tomorrow,” she stands up and grabs her bag, “I’ll see you later,” she says softly, still shaken. 

“Yeah, I’ll start looking into potential bandmates,” An responds in an equally soft tone, not matching her former excitement. Honami quietly leaves, but An stays on the park ground. When she looks up at the night sky, she thinks she sees an airplane overhead. However, when she squints, she realizes it’s actually a comet soaring past the stars.

“Ms. Yoisaki, are you there? I’m so sorry I’m late, I slept through my alarm, then stopped to get an apple pie as an apology gift,” Honami explains in a loud voice that doesn’t quite reach the level of a shout. She carefully places her bag of pies on the kitchen table and slinks over to the coat rack to hang her cardigan up. As she does, the creak of a door resounds through the house. Footsteps start and grow louder, so she moves back to the table to take out a pie and begin cutting it. 

“I didn’t even notice you were late,” a hushed, tired voice soon pipes up. “Thank you, though.” 

When Honami turns to look at her client, she has to stop herself from scolding her and pulling her back into her bedroom to take a long nap. Her long, white hair is clearly unbrushed, and dark circles sink into her eye sockets. Instead, she offers, “Would you like to sit and have a slice while I go clean your room?”

The white-haired girl hums in agreement, her eyes staying closed for a little too long when she blinks. She staggers over and takes a seat at the wooden table. “Did you already cut it? Thanks,” she mumbles and lazily discards a slice of piece onto a plate that was already at the table when Honami walked in. 

Unable to help herself, Honami chimes in, “You should try to get some sleep once I leave, okay?”

The girl nods back. “I will, I just got so absorbed in my work that I hadn’t realized the time…” Distantly, Honami recognizes that could be why she didn’t notice her tardiness. 

“Try to take care of yourself, alright? I’ll be quick, so enjoy the pie!” Honami squeezes her shoulder as an act of assurance and trots off to begin her housekeeping. Entering the bedroom, she’s immediately hit by the familiar smell of cup noodles. She giggles to herself, shaking her head. Never change, Ms. Yoisaki, never change. The first thing that catches her attention is the mess of papers and notes scattered across and around the girl’s desk. She has an impressive computer setup, or, at least that’s what Honami thinks, never being that interested in technology and electronics. Still, she writes everything down by hand. Honami can appreciate a commitment to traditional technique, but is nearly thrown into cardiac arrest seeing the sheer amount of pure mess that girl has created in such a short time since her last visit. Maybe I should leave her with an organizational system? But, I’m not sure she would even use it… 

Peering over the papers, she realizes that it’s all sheet music, with the occasional scraps mentioning notes for later improvement on some of the scores. Honami knew that she played the keyboard, but hadn’t realized she also composed her own music. Tucking away a mental note to ask about it later, she moved to start organizing the messily strung about papers. In an attempt to keep a level of professionalism, she tries not to read too much of the girl’s work, but couldn’t help but catch some of her words. Reminders to add an extra beat loop, critiques over the vocal key, options of different drum patterns for the same track… It’s a little overwhelming for Honami, who is mostly unfamiliar with composition, especially to this degree. 

“Sorry that I left such a mess…”

Honami shrieks as she drops the sheet in her hand, jumping back and slamming into the edge of the desk. The electronics placed on it rattle at the impact. She throws a hand over heart as if it was going to physically jump out of her chest from the shock, and looks up to meet the gaze of a familiar white-haired girl.

“Oh, sorry for scaring you, too.” She stands awkwardly in the doorway, fidgeting with the seams of her shorts. 

“It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting you,” Honami reassures her, knowing how shy she can be, but quickly realizes how her actions can be easily misunderstood. “I hope it’s okay I’m touching your papers, I just wanted to organize them a little!”

“Ah,” she reaches out, stumbling in from the doorframe. “I can take care of those.” She bends down to pick up the paper Honami dropped in her fright, and starts shuffling with the sheets she had yet to stack together. 

“Your work is really impressive,” she blurts out, trying to amend what could be perceived as insolence. “At least, it looks impressive! I didn’t read any of it too closely, but it seemed like you had a lot of work done.”

“Thank you… I was up all night composing, but wasn’t happy with any of it,” she states matter-of-factly as she adds her stack of papers to Honami’s.

“If it’s not rude to ask, could I listen?” Her hands start subconsciously wringing together, nervous to make such a bold request. 

“...I suppose a pair of fresh ears could help. Sure, I can play the draft I last finished.” She reaches for her computer mouse before pulling up a MP3 file, aptly titled “askjldkf DRAFT finish finished real actually done”. The song immediately reverbs through the computer’s speakers, making the desk vibrate with its heavy bass. 

After some time, Honami pipes up, “This is really good! I think you’re your own worst critic. It has this unique feeling to it, that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s definitely not a bad thing!” 

Unused to the face-to-face praise, the girl’s face flushes as she looks down at the floor. “Thank you…” She repeats in her usual hushed tone. 

“If I had to pick out one thing, I’d say to keep experimenting with the drums. I saw you had different versions of the drumline on a paper, maybe you could try to find a mix between this one and one of the funkier ones? I think it might fit the vibe of the song better,” Honami suggests.

The girl looks up, an inquisitive gleam shining across her eyes. “Do you play the drums?”

“I do! Was it too obvious?” She giggles softly, cheeks turning red. ]

“I just thought it was odd that you focused on the drum part over the other pieces. Thank you, though. I’ll try out your advice.” She nods to punctuate her thanks. 

“Have you ever thought about composing for a living? You’re really good at it, especially for your age,” Honami praises, but observes how the subject of her laudation freezes up at the sentiment. 

“N-No… not really…” She awkwardly rubs the back of her head, placing her gaze back down at the floor. A forgotten, discarded noodle cup sits tilted in the corner under her desk. 

“Really? I think you could really succeed in the field. I bet really popular artists would be lined up at your door begging for a sample, hehe!” The girl only squirms uncomfortably in her chair in response. Honami continues, hoping to convince her of her worth as a composer, “I’ll have to ask you for some help once my band fully forms!”

Cutting her off to stop the endless waves of misguided praise, the girl pipes up, “‘Fully forms’? What do you mean?”

“Well, we were originally just a duo, but we decided to start a band because I’m more comfortable on stage when I have my drum kit,” Honami explains.

“Mm. I see– Huh?”

A flash of white crosses through the computer’s monitors, causing both girls to recoil and guard their eyes with their arms. “N- Not again!” Honami shrieks, blindly reaching out to find the other girl’s arm, but pulls away when she only meets cool metal. Tearing her other arm from its defensive position, she looks at the desk surface she had just made contact with. 

“Ms. Yoisaki?!” She exclaims as she wildly looks around, worried for the girl’s frail composure. 

“I’m fine…” Her hand flails as she reaches out to grab a nearby desk leg to pull herself off the floor. “Where… are we?”

Honami freezes, mouth open like she was about to respond before realizing the absurdity of the truth. Oh, just An and I’s feeling world where Hatsune Miku resides! To either her luck or chagrin, a familiar robotic voice perks up from the doorway.

“Welcome to your SEKAI, Kanade!” Miku’s sneakers squeak as she steps further into the room, hand raised lazily at her side.

“My…?” 

“SEKAI! The place made from your shared feelings! Congrats on joining the band, by the way,” she explains, then winks. “You can ask Honami for more information later.”

“Eh?!” Honami jumps, placing her hand over her heart. She looks over to the white-haired girl with an expression that betrays her innocence, which is returned with a raised eyebrow. 

“Are you… Hatsune Miku?” Kanade asks, far calmer than how An and Honami reacted during their visit. 

“Yes, indeed!”

“I didn’t join any band, though,” she backtracks, confusion lacing her words. Miku lets out a loud gasp, hand racing up to cover her mouth.

“ Hooonamiiii ! Did you not invite her to your and An’s band yet?” She mock-scolds.

“Huh?! No?”

“Your band?” Kanade chimes in.

“I thought it was simple math! She makes music, you need more members…” Miku trails off, shrugging her shoulders. 

“It would be rude to ask something like that to a client!” Honami shouts back, offended on Kanade’s behalf. 

Before Miku can argue back, Kanade stops their argument before it goes too far. “Do you want me to join your band?” At the sudden confrontation, Honami freezes, hands laying limply at her sides.

There are two clear options for her to take: invite Kanade, or don’t invite Kanade. The question, “ Do you want me to join your band? ”, complicates the situation, however. It’s not that Honami’s opposed to her joining their group– in fact, she would be quite happy with the arrangement. The demo she listened to was fantastic, she’s only ever been kind to Honami, and it would be good for her to leave the house more often. But, if she says yes, she may be backing Kanade into a corner if she feels too awkward to deny her request. Though, if she says no, then Kanade may take it as Honami being rude, or not liking her music. 

In the midst of her panic, she remembers her talk with An at the swingset. Don’t sacrifice your wants. She sucks in a deep breath. I have a great opportunity here. I can’t let it go, and disappoint both myself and An. She takes the leap.

“Yes, I do.”

She blinks the overwhelming urge to apologize, run away, and hide away as she awaits her reply. 

“...”

She probably hates me now. She thinks I’m using her for her talent now. I screwed up–

“Okay, I’ll join.”

Honami blinks, looking up in shock. Kanade blinks back.

“Huh?”

“I think… this could be good for me. I’ll join.” She nods, visually affirming what she said. This confirms to Honami that she is not, in fact, having auditory hallucinations to make herself feel better. She grows dizzy with relief, sighing out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding in.

“Really?” She asks in a high, hopeful tone, wringing her hands together.

“She said yes, gosh! Stop dragging it out,” Miku interrupts, teasing as usual, as Honami has learned. “Don’t you have a certain playground meeting to go to?” 

“An! Right!” Honami exclaims. “Ms. Yoisaki, would you like to come meet my- our bandmate?”

Kanade gives her a small smile back. “I’d like that, but…”

“But?” Fear jolts through Honami’s body, making her instinctively cusp her hands together.

“Call me Kanade. We’re bandmates now, aren’t we? There’s no need to be so formal.”

Honami’s arms flop to her sides, the shock leaving as quickly as it formed. “Right, Kanade.” She smiles back. “Let’s go!”

“ Annnn ~! I have good news ~!” Honami skips up to the usual swing set, with Kanade stumbling behind, doing her best to keep up.

“Oh, would that be–” She pauses when she turns to look at the approaching girl and an unfamiliar face. Immediately understanding the situation, she jumps up and rushes towards them. “A new bandmate! Honami, you’re amazing! Ah- Apologies, I’m An Shirashi, pleasure to meet you!” She bows politely, subduing her excitement. 

“Kanade Yoisaki, it’s nice to meet you too,” she says in a near-whisper, clearly unused to such hyper energy. 

Catching on to her shyness, An suggests, “Should we go to my dad’s cafe? It’s usually not crowded around this time of day. I can make us some drinks!”

“Ooh, sounds good! Is that okay, Ms- Kanade?” Kanade hums in agreement, nodding her head low enough that her long hair falls into her face.

When the girls arrive at WEEKEND GARAGE, it’s free of customers, just as An predicted. Her dad stands behind the counter, wiping down a mug with a rag.

“Welcome back, An,” he greets them, “Are these new friends of yours?”

“Yep! Bandmates, actually!” An proudly presents them, waving her arms in their direction.

“Bandmates? You’re in a band now?” Her dad questions with genuine intrigue, putting the mug down.

“Yeah!” She bounces over to the counter and hops on a stool. She points to the girls as she introduces them. “I’m the vocalist, Honami’s on drums, and Kanade’s– Uh…”

“Kanade’s…!” Honami tries to fill in the blank, but realizes she doesn’t have the answer either. She turns to Kanade, wide-eyed and panicked. 

“I’ll be the keyboardist,” Kanade supplies, fidgeting with the zipper of her jacket.

“The keyboardist!” An completes her sentence, turning back around to beam at her father. 

He smiles back, but lightly teases, “So where’s your guitarist and bassist?”

“Hey, there are plenty of great bands that don’t have either of those!” She playfully bites back, smacking the counter.

Her dad picks up another dirty mug and returns to his work, shaking his head, “I was just thinking about that old guitar I bought you forever ago that’s just collecting dust in storage right now, y’know…”

Immediately, An turns bright red. “Don’t bring that up! Are you trying to embarrass me!?” She shrieks, covering her face with her jacket sleeves.

“Embarrass you how ? You’re the one that dropped it before you even had the chance to get better,” he lightly chastises her. 

“You played the guitar?” Kanade chimes in, almost making Honami recoil in shock. She’s not sure she’s ever seen Kanade initiate conversation before. 

“She begged me for one after this one live show performance she saw, then gave up after she tried to get on stage before even learning the basics. Hasn’t touched it since,” her dad answers for her.

“I was like, nine or ten! It was traumatizing!” 

“Old enough to know better,” he mumbles, moving onto another mug. As he does, Kanade takes a step forward, moving towards the counter.

“If your guitar’s still in good condition, I might be able to teach you some of the basics,” she offers, standing awkwardly behind An. 

“Really? You know how to play?” An turns to meet her face.

“Mhm. I know a little bit, since it’s good to have the basics down at the least for composing.”

“Wow, An. Look at you, scouting out an ace like that!” Her dad speaks up, beaming at Kanade. She returns his praise with an awkward, tilted but genuine smile. “I’ll go dig out that guitar once I finish up here.”

“Actually, I didn’t scout her,” An corrects, “Hona did.”

“Oh, well in that case, you have two amazing partners.” He sets down the last mug of the set. “Good luck girls, I’ll be back with An’s guitar!”

Now armed with An’s old guitar, the girls set out onto Vivid Street, ready to conquer their first practice as a group. Except…

“Where are we going to practice?” Honami asks, pressing a finger to her chin.

“I left my keyboard at my house,” Kanade says.

“We can’t use the park anymore, since we’re gonna have our instruments…” An trails off, then continues after a moment, “Hona, is your house open? It’d be a pain to have to lug your drums around, right?”

“Mmm… that’s true, but I don’t think my family will appreciate the noise. We could rent a studio space?”

“Do you have money?”

“Not enough…”

“Sorry,” Kanade whispers.

“That’s not your fault, I set my own rate!” Honami squeaks out. Then, an idea suddenly pops up in her mind. “What about the SEKAI?”

“The-!” An starts, then meets Kanade’s gaze with wide eyes. She ignores the other girl’s paralysis, and turns back to Honami.

“You mean that place we were in earlier with Hatsune Miku?” She asks in a manner far too serious for the contents of the sentence.

“Mm, mm!” Honami nods. “If it was born from our feelings, then surely all of our instruments should be in it somewhere, right?”

“That would make sense…” Kanade rests her chin in her hand.

“Wait, Kanade was in that place?” An asks, surprised.

Both girls nod in response. “We were pulled into it together earlier. That’s where Miku actually suggested that she should join our band,” Honami admits sheepishly, twirling her ponytail with her finger.

“Miku suggested it?” She pauses, taking a moment to mull over the information. She fidgets with the strap of her guitar case. “Well, I guess we can check it out…”

Honami pulls her phone out of her sweater pocket, and surveys the street to make sure no one is nearby. “We just have to play the ‘Untitled’ song, right?”

An nods. “That’s what Miku said last time.”

She sighs out. “Here we go!” She presses play, and her phone emits a blinding white light. When she opens her eyes again, she’s still standing next to her bandmates, but now in a familiar classroom. 

“I knew you guys would come crawling back, fufu!” Miku’s voice calls out from behind them. All three girls jump and gasp, turning to face her.

“You are so damn scary,” An chokes out.

“Hehe, am I?” She giggles. “What brings you all here? Did you find your fourth yet?”

“Fourth?” Kanade asks, stepping forward.

“I guess not,” her voice deflates, but quickly picks back up again. “What’s up, then?”

“Are there instruments here? We wanted to use the space here to practice,” Honami perks up, getting straight to the point. 

“Oh, are there! Follow me!” Miku squeals, rushing out of the room. 

“W- wait up!” Honami calls, ushering the others to follow. They’re led to the end of the hallway, where Miku slides open a blue-tinted classroom door, unique from the other tan doors. 

“Here’s the music room! It has all that you’ll need, fufu!” Miku giggles, spinning around with her arms open to mirror the expanse of their instrumental options. The walls gleamed with various guitars and basses, and a giant stack of records stood tall in the corner of the room. A drum kit identical to Honami’s own was placed in the back of the space, and various amps and microphone stands were scattered at the front.

“Woah, this is…” An stands frozen, taking in the overwhelming aura of the room. 

“ So cool! ” Honami finishes in her steed. She runs over to the familiar drum kit, picking up the wooden sticks laying on it. “This looks just like my own set!”

“Of course! Didn’t I tell you this place was made from your own feelings?” Miku smirks at the girl’s excitability. 

“If that’s true, then are all the instruments here related to us in some way?” Kanade asks, sauntering over to the keyboard set up adjacent to Honami’s drums. 

“I’d guess so. I may be in your SEKAI, but that doesn’t mean I know everything about you guys,” Miku explains flatly. Either way, Kanade’s question seems confirmed when she presses down on the keys and realizes it’s an identical copy of the keyboard in her bedroom. 

Looking at the wall filled with various guitars, An interjects, “I don’t think I see anything that’s mine, but I did bring my own guitar, so…” She gestures towards the case on her back. As she does, Miku walks up next to her, and reaches up to grab a guitar from its rack. With a fierce gaze, she looks it up and down with squinted eyes and tight lips. Whatever she was looking for, she finds it, and brings the guitar strap over her head with a determined nod. 

“Ready?”

“For what?” Honami’s head whips upward.

“To practice, duh!” Miku laughs softly, walking to the center of the room.

“W- Wait! I don’t even know how to play yet!” An shouts, gripping the strap of her guitar case.

“And we don’t have any songs finished,” Kanade adds.

“That’s fine,” Miku looks between the girls, “I can help An out, we’ll all just play whatever until we get a nice sound going together.”

“Like a jam session?” Honami asks, old flashbacks racing across her mind. 

“Just like a jam session! Hona, count us in!” Miku strikes a pose with her guitar, preparing to jump right into playing.

“W- Wait!” An drops her case to the ground, frantically trying to zip it open and retrieve her guitar. Honami giggles at the sight as Kanade shifts back and forth to center herself at the keyboard.

“3, 2, 1!”

The session goes about as well as it can for a drummer who hasn’t touched her drums in a while, a keyboardist who’s only played in the confines of her bedroom, a guitarist who quit after one mortifying experience, and Hatsune Miku the Vocaloid. After Kanade nearly collapses from exhaustion, the girls decide to leave the SEKAI. Once back in the real world, they’re greeted by the stark, starry night sky. 

At this sight, Honami shrieks in fear. “What time is it?! If I’m not back by curfew, I’m going to get in trouble!”

“It’s only nine, don’t worry. We’ve been out later than this,” An assures her, adjusting the strap of her guitar case. It’s an awkward feeling, walking around with a giant mass on her back. 

“Hmm… Do you guys wanna go to the park? It’s been a while since our last astronomy lesson,” Honami asks, shifting a small smile towards her partners. “Oh! If you’re feeling better, Kanade, that is.”

“I’m fine. Let’s go,” Kanade asserts.

As the newly formed band traverses down the road to the park, Honami finds herself studying the visible stars above her. She easily spots Sirius, shining ever brightly above every other star. Without thinking, she speaks up.

“Have you guys ever heard of the Leonids?”

“The what?” An responds, still trying to balance the case on her back.

“The Leonids. They’re a meteor shower that appears around every November. However, every 33 years, a special Leonid storm with hundreds to thousands of meteors comes. It’s spectacular to see, really,” Honami gushes, feeling nostalgic.

“Have you seen them before?” Kanade asks, looking at Honami with pursed lips. 

“Mhm, when I was little. It was at the same park we’re going to, with my old fr- band.” She sighs, rubbing the nape of her neck. 

“Hey, maybe we’ll get the next big shower together! Though, you said it was every 33 years, so…” An looks down, letting go off the strap she was still messing with.

“I guess we’ll have to stay together until the next storm,” Kanade murmured, but looked up to see Honami’s eyes shining with excitement– or perhaps it’s just tears gleaming in the moonlight.

“Yeah. We’ll have to.” She looks back up at Sirius and smiles, blinking back wetness. They keep walking down the road, the park appearing at the edge of their vision.

“Kanade! Just in time, your father just woke up!” A nurse greets the white-haired girl, hugging a clipboard to her chest.

“I see. Sorry for arriving so late, I was out late last night,” she mumbles back, looking off to the side in embarrassment. 

“It’s okay! If you arrived any sooner, you would have woken him up,” the nurse giggles, reaching for the doorknob behind her to let Kanade in. “Just be careful with what you say. His memory’s still foggy, and I’ll have to ask you to leave if he becomes too stressed,” she lightly warns.

“I understand.” The nurse nods at the assertion, and escorts her into her father’s room. Kanade stands awkwardly near the door as the nurse walks up to her father’s bedside, beginning to speak with him. She doesn’t listen, too alarmed by her dad’s appearance. She knew he wasn’t in perfect health, far from it, but hadn’t expected him to have grown so pale and skinny. Worry seized through her body, her hands unconsciously balling into fists. However, she’s startled from her stupor by a hand touching her shoulder.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” the nurse whispers, giving her a thumbs up before closing the door behind her. Kanade lingers, staring at the door before a few moments before turning back her dad. 

“Good morning– or, afternoon, now,” she starts, slowly walking up like one would approach a frightened feral kitten. 

“Eh? Good afternoon… Sorry, who might you be?” Her father asks, unmistakable confusion crossing his face. Kanade falters, unable to hide the pang of dejection that struck through her heart from showing on her face. Still, she looks down in an attempt to mask it.

“I apologize, but my memory hasn’t been good lately due to work-related stress. I can’t recall most things,” he explains sorrowfully, adding on, “except for my family.”

That admission hurts more than anything. Kanade chokes on the pain tearing through her chest, rapidly blinking back tears to collect herself. “I understand,” she says, but she wishes she didn’t. Her father looks on, confusion and guilt creating an unusual mask on his face. In that moment, she wants to run up and tear it off, revealing the face of the father that remembers her. But, she knows that wouldn’t happen. She doesn’t even have the strength to pry it off.

Crawling out of her pitious spiral, she begins digging through her bag. “I brought you a gift. I hope it brings you some luck to recover soon.” She presents him with a music box, one familiar to her, and hopefully him as well. 

Thankfully, he perks up at the sight of the box. “Ah, is that…? My wife’s music box?” Kanade wordlessly nods, reaching out to place it in his hands. He smooths his thumb over the lid, holding it with utmost care. “How did you get this? Are you a friend of hers?”

Kanade tugs her face back into a neutral position to the best of her abilities. She was never a good liar. “Yes,” is all she can muster in response. Behind her, she hears the click of the door, signaling the quiet return of the nurse. 

“Ah, I see. She must’ve asked you to bring me this, since she’s been a bit overwhelmed with the pregnancy lately.” He looks down at the music box in his hands, voice growing quieter, “I wish I could support her, but I’ve fallen into this horrible condition… I’m no good, aren’t I?”

Unused to her dad being so earnestly self-deprecating, Kanade struggles to think of a response. Did he always think this way? Trying to uplift his spirits, she praises, “You’re worried about your family even in your poor health. I would not consider you to be a bad person.”

“Heh, thank you.” A small grin forms as he continues to look over the music box, feeling over the grooves of the wood grain. “By the way, your name is…?”

“Kanade,” she supplies.

“Kanade… How surprising, I was going to name my child that, too,” he comments, raising his eyebrows in shock. She had missed being in his presence, getting to see all of his usual mannerisms. 

“It’s a good name.” She wishes that he knew she was complimenting him, but knows he doesn’t understand.

“Yes, it is,” he agrees. Kanade shifts between her two feet, trying to balance the overwhelming amount of both positive and negative emotions flowing through her. Feeling guilty, she interjects, “I should go now. I have an arrangement I need to go to soon.”

“Ah, don’t let me hold you up, then. Thank you for dropping this gift off,” he waves the music box at her. 

“Of course. I hope you get better soon,” she begins to turn around, but stops herself to add, “for your family’s sake.” Before she can see her father’s reaction, she fully turns. The nurse quickly plasters a smile over her frown, but Kanade caught her true expression before she could conceal it. She simply exits the room without another word.

The nurse follows after, closing the door. “It was nice of you to bring that music box. It seems to have jogged his memory some more, didn’t it?” She smiles sweetly, but Kanade can’t find it in herself to return the platitude.

“Yes, it seems so. I dropped off another change of clothes, so I’ll be leaving now,” she states firmly, hoping she wasn’t coming across as too rude in her shaken state.

“Travel safely, Kanade! Visit again soon!” The nurse waves her off, as energetic as always. In the back of her mind, Kanade wonders how someone who witnesses so much grief everyday can still be so cheerful, even if it’s just an act.

“I couldn’t find any events with empty slots open, so I thought…” An begins, pausing to bite down on a chip. “We could just do a street performance!” She exclaims, throwing the rest of the chip in her mouth and clapping. If she was attempting to generate some excitement from her bandmates, it was a sure failure, as they stare blankly on.

“Won’t it be difficult to carry all of our equipment onto the street?” Honami questions, looking concerned at the lack of thought An gave to the idea.

“We only had one practice session…” Kanade mumbles, sharing the same startled expression. 

“And it went great! I’m like, a guitar master now!” An brags, laughing to herself. She propels herself forward on the swing, kicking her feet upwards. “We don’t have to do a performance today, but I thought it would be nice to do something by the end of the week, at least,” she concedes, much calmer.

“If we’re going to do a live performance, I would like some more practice. I’ve never played live before,” Kanade admits.

An gasps, “Never?” 

Kanade shakes her head back. “Yesterday was the first time I’ve even played with others, in person.”

“I’ve never done a street performance, so I’d like some more practice, too,” Honami agrees. 

“Ah… so if we’re gonna meet our end-of-the-week deadline, we need to get started ASAP!” An halts her swinging, digging in her pocket for her phone. “To the SEKAI we go!”

“Mhm!” Honami hums, ponytail bouncing as she nods ferociously. So, An presses play, and all of them readjust their senses as they’re transported into the other world. However, once their visions readjust, they’re greeted by an unfamiliar face.

“Hello everyone~!” The woman crooned, playing with a long piece of pink hair resting over her shoulder. 

“Is that…” Kanade starts right as An shouts, “Luka?!”

“Heheh, yes, I’m Megurine Luka. It’s nice to finally meet you all,” she introduces herself, a soft blush painting her cheeks. 

Bashfully, Honami notes, “I suppose we should have seen this coming…”

“I heard great things about you guys from Miku, so I wanted to join in on your next practice,” she gushes, holding a hand to her chin. “If that’s alright with you, that is.”

“Y- Yeah! We were just gonna go to the music room, actually,” An sputters out, still not entirely used to the whole talking-with-Vocaloids thing.

As the four girls walk down the hallway together, Honami strikes up a conversation with the newcomer. “Luka, what instrument do you play?”

After taking a moment to ponder, she responds, “I know how to play most instruments, but I suppose for now I can be your guys’ bassist.”

“Really? Thank you!” Honami beams, clasping her hands together in joy. The four of them round the corner to face the music room door, where a familiar face is standing in wait for them. Looking up, she immediately straightens up and waves wildly in their direction.

“Hiya~! Took you all long enough!” Miku shouts down the hall.

“Sorry, we wanted to have a chat in the park before coming here,” Honami explains, stepping into the room after Miku ushers her in. Luka and An bounce in after, with Kanade shuffling behind. 

“Ooh~ What about, what about?!” Miku effuses, practically vibrating out of her skin. 

“You have so much energy today…” Kanade mutters, sitting down at her keyboard bench. 

“You guys made me wait so long, so now I have all this pent-up energy!” She shouts back, “Now tell me, what were you talking about?”

“I wanted to do a street performance by the end of the week,” An chimes in, then admits, “But they’re both a bit worried…”

“Worried? About what?” Luka asks as she pulls an amp out of the corner, turning it into a makeshift seat.

“We haven’t had much practice, it just feels a little sudden,” Honami answers, feeling a little embarrassed. Kanade affirms her statement with a small nod and hum.

“If practice is what you're worried about, then why don’t you all play for Miku and I, and we’ll give you some feedback?” Luka offers with a warm smile. Just as Honami opens her mouth to respond, Miku suddenly jumps and spreads her hands out in front of her.

“WAIT!” She shrieks, then gasps for air before whining, “I’ve been waiting all day to play!”

“Then surely you can wait a little longer, hm?” Luka taps her chin with a mischievous grin. “Help the girls out with this one thing, then we can both join in.”

Miku’s eyes flicker across the floor, seemingly pondering the sentiment. Then, she sighs before trudging over to Luka’s side. “You’re right…”

“Hehe, you’re being so dramatic,” she teases, scooting over to make room for Miku on the amp as well. “So, what will you guys play for us?” With that, the three girls turn to look at each other, the same wide-eyed, uncertain look crossing their faces. 

After a few moments, Kanade speaks up, albeit quietly, “...I sent a song in our group chat yesterday. Do we want to try covering it?”

“Ah, yes! I remember that one, let’s give it a try!” Honami agrees, settling into position at her drums. 

“Alright, count us in, Hona!” An chimes, turning back to the microphone stand.

“Mhm!”

♫~

Their instruments reverb with the last note, hanging in the air like a strong fog. An wipes a bead of sweat from her brow, and sets her gaze on the two Vocaloids making up the audience.

“Yay~! Can we play now?” Miku trills, jumping to her feet.

“You didn’t even give them any feedback!” Luka scolds, pulling her back down to their seat before turning back to the band. “This might sound weird, but I could hear your lack of confidence. You’re all great when I pick apart the individual sounds, but when I measure it as a whole, it doesn’t feel… cohesive, I would say.”

“Hmm… I understand that. We all have a lot of experience with music as individuals, but not so much as a group,” Kanade acknowledges.

“For today’s practice, you guys should work on putting together a setlist for your upcoming performance. Once you have that, then you can really get into practicing and building your teamwork, instead of just throwing everything at the wall in jam sessions,” Luka advises, slyly peeking over at the girl next to her. She doesn’t seem to notice the dig at her, more focused on containing her overwhelming energy. 

“A setlist…” Honami mulls the words over, turning them about in her head. With a sudden invigoration from the help, she beams, “Alright! How about we compare our playlists and pick out songs we all want to play from them!”

“That’s a good idea,” Kanade adds, “I can have an original song for us done by tomorrow’s practice, too.”
“Really?! That would be so cool, debuting an original song!” Honami jumps up, unable to contain her excitement.

“Hey! I thought we were gonna play now!” Miku pipes up, face flushed with frustration.

“What’s gotten into you today?” Luka asks, rhetorical but exasperated. “We can play some background music for their little team building exercise, okay?” This preposition seems to appease Miku, as she immediately jumps up and rushes to grab her guitar. Honami has to hold back her laughter, likening the scenario to an underpaid babysitter with a bored child. 

Once everyone settles into their positions, the so-called “practice” goes smoothly. The three bandmates get their bearings together, figuring out the particular sound they want to have as a group, an overlap in their three distinct tastes. When Honami’s alarm goes off, signaling nightfall in the real world, the band has seemingly come together as a cohesive group, ready to push forward and keep growing with a new foundation set. It’s a perfect spot to leave off and regroup the next day, and An’s exhausted enough to not beg for an hour more. However, someone stops her from leaving with the rest of the group.

“An, could I speak with you before you go?” Luka asks, setting her bass down. Her solemn gaze pierces through An’s heart, giving her flashbacks to everytime a teacher flagged her down after class for a poor test score or messy uniform.

“Just me?” She points a finger at herself.

“Just you,” Luka confirms with a nod. Kanade looks at her bandmate with a concerned expression, and Honami opens her mouth as if to say something. However, An speaks up before she can get a word in.

“Alright, sure!” She beams, then turns to her anxious partners. “I’ll meet up with you both tomorrow. Same time, same place, got it?”

“Ah- uh- mhm!” Honami nods, bowing a little too forcefully. “We’ll just… be on our way now! Bye!”

“Bye-bye! Come on time tomorrow!” Miku shouts at the other two’s fading forms as they leave the SEKAI. With their exit, An turns back to face Luka’s glowering form. 

“D- Did I do something wrong?” An stutters out, readying herself for a scolding. 

“Not on purpose, I think,” Luka’s gaze morphs into one of pity, making the girl feel even more infantilized. “You’re not being honest with your bandmates, but that’s probably because you’re not being honest with yourself, either.” 

“H- Huh?” An’s mouth hangs open.

“It’s good to have goals, but even you know you guys aren’t prepared to do a live performance so soon. What are you trying to prove?”
“I’m not trying to prove anything! I just want to introduce our band to the world!” An protests, voice raising in pitch. This catches Miku’s attention, who was formerly tidying up the disarray that the room was left in. 

Noticing her interest in the conversation, Luka ropes her in, “You were so quiet today, it was like Miku was trying to compensate for your lack of energy.” Miku starts to vocalize her indignity, but Luka continues before she can sputter out a real word, “Yet, you still gave it your all when you guys performed for us… Does this have to do with your guitar?”

At this accusation, An grows puzzled. Even though she was nervous about picking up the guitar again, especially after her less-than-spectacular experiences prior, she hadn’t tried to overcompensate for her past failures. Yet, she feels something click in her brain with Luka’s confrontation. “What do you mean?”

“When I was watching you play earlier, you were so lively and energetic. I was quite shocked, honestly, because you were giving off such an intense, nervous energy the moment you picked up the guitar,” Luka stops to collect her next words, “Although you were so animated, it didn’t really… fit . It didn’t fit with your group, it didn’t fit the song, and it didn’t fit you .”

“Me?” An echoes, clutching her shirt.

“I know you’re a very spirited person, trust me,” Luka giggles softly, “But I also know that you were forcing yourself to act like you were as cool and comfortable as always during that performance.”

“I… I guess I was, huh,” she looks down, ashamed. “I’ve been asking for my bandmate’s honesty, but I haven’t even been honest with them. I shouldn’t force them to this, just so I can prove that I’m better than my past failures–”

“Stop, you’re gonna get nowhere going down a spiral like that!” Luka grasps her shoulders, bending down to meet her eyes at an equal level. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to grow as a person, but you also need to recognize the true intentions behind your actions. Otherwise, you may end up pushing your friends when you actually need to push yourself.”

With that, An finally understands. If she wants this first performance to go well, she needs to be putting forth the extra effort, going the extra mile. Honami and Kanade are already experienced musicians, while she’s only just picking the guitar back up after a spectacular failure. In order to regain her confidence, she was forcing them into an exhaustive schedule, when all she was actually looking for was a boost in her own skills. 

With a new, clearer perspective, An nods to herself. Then, she speaks up, “Luka, Miku, will you let me stay in the SEKAI longer to practice by myself?”

“Do whatever, it’s your SEKAI after all,” Luka notes.

“Ooh, can I help you out?! I’m a total guitar pro!” Miku chimes in, bouncing over to the girl.

An giggles, “Well, I can’t turn down help from a pro, can I?”

The next day, Kanade rushes through the streets, clutching a folder full of sheet music and notes under her arm. She had stayed up all night perfecting their debut song, and in turn had fallen asleep at her desk, and only woke up because Honami had spammed her texts to tell her they went to WEEKEND GARAGE instead of staying at the park. So, now she’s making up for the lost time by hurrying to the best of her abilities, exhausting what little energy she gained from her short nap. Still, she somehow manages to follow Honami’s directions without passing out, and stumbles into the shop.

“Hello, welcome to– oh, it’s Kanade. Hey Kanade!” An drops the platitudes, waving the weary girl over. Noticing that she looks ready to topple over at any slight wind, An starts pouring a coffee into a mug for her.

Honami also notices her fatigued state, asking, “Are you okay? You look tired.”

“Understatement of the century,” An scoffs, sliding the now-filled mug over to Kanade, “You look like you need this.”

“Thank you,” she mumbles, lifting the mug to take a small sip. The bitterness stings her taste buds, unused to anything other than her cup noodles and the sweets Honami would occasionally gift to her. 

“Did you not sleep well?” Honami’s concern rings clear.

“Not really,” Kanade admits. “I stayed up to finish our first original song. I was late because I fell asleep at my desk, so sorry about that.”

“Kanade!” Honami gasps, hands flying to cover her mouth. “You need to take better care of yourself! If I had known that, I would’ve told you to stay home and get some rest.”

“We should cancel today’s practice,” An chimes in. “You’re in no state to play right now!”

“What about our performance this weekend?” Kanade questions.

“It’ll be fine! You’re both so talented already, missing one day of rehearsal won’t matter,” An assures, but doesn’t meet either of their gazes

“I’d rather you not sacrifice your health for our band.” Honami motions for Kanade to hand her the folder tucked under arm, which she does without question. “We’ll look over your song for today, you need to go back home and rest before you fall sick. Can you take the subway?” 

“I’ll see what I can do…” She trails off, looking between her bandmates. “Are you sure this is okay?” She asks, so meek it borders on a whisper.

“Of course, don’t worry about us,” Honami pats her back, and Kanade doesn’t know whether to take it as a reassuring gesture or a sign to start leaving. So, she begins to saunter off.

“Worry about yourself!” An shouts, waving her off. Kanade turns to wave back, studying the dark circles faintly forming under the other girl’s eyes. She wonders if she should say the same thing back, but decides against it. 

Watching the door close behind her, An flinches back to attention when Honami starts speaking. “Should we go to the SEKAI and start learning this?” She holds up Kanade’s folder, pointing to it with her spare hand. 

“Ah–” She begins to agree, but then remembers her conversation with Luka from the night prior. If I keep pushing the others, when I’m the one who needs to practice…

She starts again, “No, it’s okay. We should wait for Kanade, in case she has some special feedback or something. Y’know, since she wrote the song and all, aha!” She scratches the back of her head, hoping Honami doesn’t catch onto her nervous energy. If she found out An was trying to cut them some slack, it would probably push her to work even harder. As their friend and teammate, she couldn’t afford to let them overwork themselves right before their big debut. 

“Oh, okay…” Honami falters, rubbing her arm. “So are we not practicing today again?”

“I guess not,” An responds, perking up when the bell on the door chimes. “Oh, welcome to WEEKEND GARAGE!” 

“I’ll, uh, let you get back to work, then…” Honami starts to pick up her belongings. “I’ll leave the folder with you. See you tomorrow,” she utters, failing to muster the bubbliness she usually has. Before An can respond, she hurries past the entering customers and out of the door. 

“You might want to try some finger exercises later,” Luka advises, “So you can extend them out easier.”

“That’s– that’s a good idea,” An breathes out, wiping the exhaustion from her eyes. It’s hard to tell time in the SEKAI, but she’s sure she’s been practicing there for several hours.

“Hey, I’ve never heard that song before. Where’d you hear it?” Miku asks, feet tapping the floor in anticipation.

“It’s the original song Kanade wrote for us! Isn’t it so good?” An gushes, leaning into Miku’s excitement.

“Kanade’s song? Did you practice in your world today instead of coming here?” Luka cuts in, her flatness killing the mood.

“Well–” An starts, then sighs. “No, I wanted them both to take a break. I was worried if we tried to learn Kanade’s song together, then I would hold them back,” she admits. 

Luka takes a moment to ponder her words. Then, she responds, “I see. But don’t you think you’ve improved enough to learn by their sides?”

“I can always be better,” An snaps back, unwavering. To that, Luka gives a grim frown.

“Can we play again?!” Miku pipes up, already absentmindedly strumming her own guitar.

“Yeah! Count us in!” An squeals back, ignoring the festering worry brimming off of Luka. 

Honami wipes the sweat from her brow, bouncing into the kitchen. “Kanade, I’m finished for today~!” She sings out.

“Mm. Thank you, for both cleaning and the pies,” Kanade mumbles, mouth full of the aforementioned pie. 

“Of course! Are you feeling better than yesterday?” 

Kanade nods in response, swallowing her food. “Much better. Thank you for looking after me.” After a pause, she continues, “Though, I was surprised An canceled practice again. Shouldn’t we start learning the song for this weekend?”

“I’m concerned about that, too,” Honami agrees, her pleasant facade melting away to show her true worry. “We really need to practice together if we want this performance to go well…”

The two girls fall into silence, pondering their situation. An old grandfather clock ticks from another room, as if to remind them of the time wasting away.

“We only have two days left…” Honami whispers, eyes gleaming with tears. Kanade’s taken aback, having never seen the girl in such a sorry state.

She musters up all the positivity she has, and responds, “Then we’ll have to give it all during the next two practices.” 

Honami looks up in shock, which quickly fades into a warm smile. Kanade shoots one back.

> Man, everyone needs to listen to that new Tori song right now. It’s seriously good stuff.

> Tori? who the hell is that

> looks like they just joined the forum. the song they posted is peak, though

> Wow, this is some serious work. It kinda reminds me of Yuki, but maybe even better??

Kanade startles, her phone’s buzzing reverberating through her wooden desk. Closing the tab, she taps on her phone to look at the notification. Her eyes go wide, seeing that it’s already far late in the evening. Had she really been looking through the forum all day? Shaking off the guilt of having wasted her day, she slides open the text from Honami. 

Do you want to meet in the SEKAI to practice?

Kanade’s hands hover over the keyboard, weighing her options. They definitely need to practice, with only one day left before their performance. However, it might upset An if they met up without her. Then again, An was the one who canceled on them again, anyway…

sure. heading there now

She opens up the music app, and presses play on Untitled. When her vision clears, she’s standing outside of the SEKAI’s music room, but…

Isn’t that the song I wrote? Who’s playing it…?

Kanade peeks through the cracked open door, surveying the inside. However, she reels back when her sights lay on An, bent over her guitar, playing her song. Luka sits with her back to the door, diligently watching An’s hands as she plays. Miku croons along, showing much less care to the craft.

Why would she come here without us?

“Kanade? What’s– Hmph!” Honami sneaks up behind her, causing Kanade to instinctively swing around and clamp her hand over the girl’s mouth. Wordlessly, she raises a finger to her lips to shush her, then points through the door crack.

“Ah…” Honami breathes out, deflating as soon as she looks through. 

Apparently, that small breath is enough to catch the ever-attentive Luka’s eye, though. She immediately swings around, meeting Honami’s eyes. She squeaks and scrambles back, but it’s too late. “Hmm, do we have guests?” Luka’s eyes shine with mischief. 

“Huh?” An freezes, looking up to the door. Timidly, the other two open the door all the way and step into the room. 

“Are you… practicing without us?” Honami questions, “I thought you couldn’t practice today?”

Caught red-handed, An falters. “N-no! Well, yes, but, ah…” She looks to Luka for help, but she only stares back with feigned confusion, one eyebrow quirked. 

“I don’t understand, why did you lie to us?” Honami cries out, a desperation to understand spreading through her heart. 

“Lie?” An echoes, the three letters hitting like a punch to the gut. I guess… I did lie. I lied a lot. I told her to be honest with me, but couldn’t be honest back. She closes her eyes, reflecting on the past few days. Some partner I am…

“I did lie,” she admits, standing up. “I lied because I was worried I was holding you guys back. I mean, I’m the only here who really needs to practice, ‘cus I don’t know how to play my instrument, so–”

“You look awful,” Kanade cuts in, abrupt and harsh, as if she unsheathed a hidden knife from under her coat. 

“H- Huh?” An stutters, face flushing with embarrassment. Sure, she was expecting to get chewed out for canceling their practices to work alone, but to be told that she ‘looks awful’ so blatantly, and by the good-natured-yet-quiet Kanade, nonetheless? There’s no proper response but to freeze with shock.

“You’re sweating a lot for only sitting down and playing. You have this hazy look in your eyes, and your dark circles are pronounced by your pallor,” Kanade states blandly, as if she was just reading off a bulletin. “You’re overworking yourself. Trust me, I’d know.”

“Over… working?”

“Now that you say it, she does look a little sick…” Honami leans over and mumbles to Kanade.

Luka lets out a theatrical sigh, signaling her dramatic entrance into the conversation. “I have to admit, this is partially my fault,” she announces.

“Eh?! Do you mean that conversation you had after the first practice?” Miku blurts out, gripping her seat.

“Heh, yes, how observant of you,” Luka teases, but with no real malice. “I tried to advise An not to throw too much on everyone’s plates at once, but it seems to have been mistranslated as ‘take everything off their plates and put it on mine.’” When her admission is met with surprised silence, she continues on, “I suppose I had several chances to stop it from escalating, but I didn’t want to interfere too much… tsk.” She shakes her head, messing up the shape of her pink bangs. 

Honami turns to address An, “Next time you’re struggling with something like this, you can’t push us away. We’re not just your bandmates– we’re your friends, first and foremost. You could never, and I mean never , hold us back.” She pauses to blink back tears, then suddenly rushes forward to grab An’s hands. “I don’t want you to leave!” She cries out in desperation.

Seeing this, An instinctively reaches back and envelops the sobbing girl in a hug. “I’m not backing down that easy, don’t worry,” An chuckles through her own tears. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I got so caught up in my head that I didn’t see how I was hurting you guys. I’m sorry,” she apologizes, pulling away from the hug to catch her breath. 

“Uuu… Does this mean you guys will have to cancel your performance?” Miku laments, her posture visibly deflating. 

“Hey, didn’t I just say that I don’t back down that easily?” An barks back, but the wetness shining in her eyes takes any bite out of her words. “We have such a talented group here, there’s no way we can’t pull together a great show in one day!”

Already having started fretting at the idea of their upcoming set, Honami’s worry melts away with the praise. An’s determination like a contagion, she perks up, “Yeah! We can do this!”

“Mm. You should return to the real world and get some rest. We’ll stay and do our own little session. Miku and Luka will fill us in on what you practiced,” Kanade advises with a warm smile.

“Geez, what a role reversal…” An mumbles, but grins back. “Alright then, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she says, but her pitch heightens as if it were a question.

“Mhm! How about we push rehearsal up by a few hours to make up for lost time?” Honami proposes, to which the other girls hum in agreement. 

“Y’know, you guys pointing out my exhaustion just made it actually set in,” An sighs, picking up her phone. “I’m leaving now, gonna take the best nap of my life!”

“Have fun!” Miku beams, waving her off as she fades out of the SEKAI. Once her figure fully disappears, she turns to those remaining. “Wow, that was a lot, huh?” 

“You were barely involved!” Luka scolds, poking her arm.

“Hey! That hurts!” She whines back, cradling the same arm.

“I didn’t even touch you!”

“Hey, quit arguing! We have practice to do!” Honami shouts over them before the bickering escalates into a real fight. “Now, what did we miss?”

Despite their high spirits and best efforts, it turns out that practice really does make perfect. 

After a constructive practice, the three girls were invigorated and ecstatic to perform the next day. However, their chain of woeful, disastrous events began the very morning of the important event. 

It started with Kanade’s phone charger breaking overnight, causing her phone to die and allowing her to sleep through her alarm and Honami’s desperate texts and calls. So, Honami had to rush over to her house to personally wake her up. However, in her frantic hurry to grab Kanade, she completely forgot that she had left her drumsticks in the SEKAI the night before. So, when they arrived at the spot near Shibuya Crossing where An was already setting up their equipment, she immediately had to leave again to find a hiding spot to safely transport to the SEKAI. However, in such a populated area, this proved to be a difficult task, and she found herself far from their setup by the time she found cover. During this time, she had left An in charge of setting up her drum set. However, An was largely unfamiliar with the proper way to do so, and miraculously managed to break the stand of her snare drum. 

Yet, the girls wouldn’t let such a tally of flukes best their determination. So, they carried on, and began their performance with the debut of their original song. But, with a lack of team practice (and snare drum), the locale of the crossing took no interest in their shoddy performance. And those that did stop to observe held expressions of sorrow, confusion, amusement, and horror. 

Definitely not the faces any of the girls wanted to see in their audience. 

That is, until the tittering of a mechanical robot crawls up to the forefront of their makeshift stage. 

“Hey! Turn. That. Off!” The tiny construction jeers at them in a muffled voice, pointing a metal claw up at An.

“H- Huh?! Wha–?!” She stammers, caught off guard. The music behind her halts to a stop, her bandmates peering over their instruments to get a better look at the robot in front of them. 

“Turn. That. Off! Turn. That. Off! Turn. Th–” It keeps repeating, until a tall boy in a gaudy coat walks up and gently picks it up. He cups the tiny figure in his hands, seeming to quietly coo at it. Then, he looks up to the audience, now doubled in size due to the alarming sound, and begins to address them.

“Fufu, sorry about that! It seems this little guy escaped from my watch,” he shouts out to the sea of people, in a practiced but bold tone. “You see, he’s never been too fond of music. He thinks of it as useless, that everything’s been done before, so why bother if you aren’t already one of the best?” The mysterious boy explains, referring to the cold, metal statue in his hand as if it was any other human. The band behind him just stares on, too stunned to interject and shoo him off. 

He continues, “I suppose his frustration got the best of him today, which is why he interrupted this young newcomer band.” The boy turns to shoot a quick wink at An, causing her to sputter wordlessly. “But, he does not understand the joy of creation. To make something of your own, and share it with the world–” He pauses, taking in a deep breath. “No matter the quality, that is an act of selflessness and bravery. It is something to take absolute pride in. To bear one’s soul to uplift the hearts of others is a beautiful thing.”

Dumbfounded, the three girls stare out at the crowd. Did he just insult these people in the fanciest way possible? Kanade thinks to herself. Though, when she looks at the audience, their expressions have changed to genuine joy. Not the cruel, sadistic enjoyment someone gets from witnessing the failures of others. No, this is pure, kind-hearted warmth. This is the type of feeling I write for… 

“That concludes today’s show! Thank you for your time, you may now disperse!” The boy declares, bowing to the audience as they heed his directions. As the crowd shuffles and breaks away, he turns to finally address the band whose performance he interrupted. “You’re welcome,” he boasts.

“W- Welcome?! You stopped our show to go on some tangent and then told everyone to leave!” An fumes, eyes piercing daggers. 

“Ah, sorry…” He looks down with furrowed brows, but she doesn’t buy his apologetic act.

“Hey, Shiraishi! I didn’t know you were getting into theatre stuff!” A familiar voice shouts out from behind the boy. An looks out from his side, unable to see over his shoulder, and sees the same regular from WEEKEND GARAGE that stopped to talk at her last street show. 

“Theatre–?” She stops in her tracks when Honami suddenly clears her throat and brushes up against her arm. “Ah, yeah! Aha, just… branching out, ah…” She stumbles over her words, unsure of how to validate their disastrous debut. 

“That’s cool! Sorry I can’t talk more, I have an interview to get to. See you later!” He waves goodbye as he bounces off, which An kindly returns. However, once he’s out of view, she turns back to the boy with a vigorous temper.

“Seriously, who are you? Are you with some theatre troupe or whatever?” She questions, hands placed firmly on her hips.

“No, I’m not in any troupe,” he responds, almost wistfully. “I’m Rui Kamishiro, pleasure to make your acquaintance. I have to apologize once more for interrupting your show. I thought I was helping by jumping in, but it seems to have upset you.” He places a hand to his heart, as if to swear on his life. 

An opens her mouth to snap back, but Honami steps forward before she can start. “It’s okay. We were kinda floundering there…” She shoots a side-eyed look to An, sending the message to accept the truth of the situation instead of taking her frustration out on their poor savior. “Hey, actually– Kamishiro, was it?” He nods, so she continues, “Do you do street performances with your robots often?”

Meekly, he rubs a gloved hand to the nape of his neck. “Yes, mostly around here and at Phoenix Wonderland,” he mumbles, a far cry away from his previous dramatics. 

“That’s it! I knew I’ve seen you around before!” She squeals in delight. “You do such amazing shows, I’ve never seen anything quite like what you do!”

Then, a rush of energy surges through her. Caught up in the moment, she blurts out, “You should join our band!”

“What?!”

“Huh?”

“Hm?” He hums, tapping a finger to his chin. “Should you be asking such things so lightly, without conferring with your partners?”

“Ah–!” She squeaks, glancing back and forth between her two bandmates. “Sorry, it just kinda came out…”

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Kanade speaks up, “I would be okay with it.”

“Huh?!” An shouts out.

“What he did today… what he said…” She pauses to take a breath. “It really resonated with me. I want to… be able to inspire people like that. To make others smile so truly like that.”

For a moment, everyone falls silent. It’s as if the world has stopped around them, with only the faint buzz of the static advertisement screens serving as white noise. 

Then, Rui responds, “I’m glad you could find inspiration in my words.” Then, with a bittersweet smile, he continues, “I have to decline your offer. I work alone, and I don’t even play any instruments.”

“That’s okay, An couldn’t either! We’ll teach you!” Honami beams, causing An to deride her exposure. 

“Sorry, I can’t. Like I said, I work alone.” His friendly demeanor drops, replaced by a stoic attitude. Before any of the girls can compose themselves after such a stark change, he starts to trot away. “I hope I’ll see you again, when you’ve grown some more.”

“Y- Yeah… you too…” Honami weakly calls after him, not bothering to chase after and pester him some more. 

The three girls stand in silence, the crowd wavering around them as if they weren’t even there. 

“Mmm… Where did it–” Rui pokes around the messy heap of blueprints, designs, and parts on the floor, lilting when he recovers the screw he was searching for. “There we go!” He exclaims in triumph, but to no one in particular. Despite being somebody who thrives while performing for an audience, he tells himself that he’s better off without the company of others. Still, as the narrator for his own shows, he’s grown accustomed to talking out loud, even in the absence of an audience. After all, “the show must go on” even if there’s no one watching. 

“Now, sing for me!” He commands his newest invention, an operatic robot made from an old puppet he had made for one of his earliest shows. At the push of a button, it chirps out a shrill tune, flawlessly wavering between its preprogrammed melody. “It’s able to replicate a human-like sound, but can only sing what’s in its software…” He muses to himself, “For now, that is. I can probably figure out how to give it some more freewill.” He pauses, shaking himself out of his train of thought. Blinking up at the ceiling of his room, he asks himself, “What time is it again? Maybe that can wait for tomorrow…” He grumbles as he props himself up to reach his phone, tapping on the screen to view the time. But, when he does, he drops his phone in shock as it flashes an abnormally bright light into his face. 

When he looks back up from flinching, he’s greeted by the small, holographic figure of… 

“Hatsune Miku?” He breathes out, moving to sit upright from his lying position on the floor. 

“Ah~! I’m so glad you recognized me!” She gushes, swaying side-to-side. 

“What an incredibly advanced AI… Did I make this in a late-night blur and forget about it?”

“Waah–! No, you didn’t make me! Or– Maybe? No! Not the point!” She spits out, slapping her cheeks to refocus herself. “ Ruiiiiiii ! Please come to the SEKAI!” 

“The SEKAI?” His brows furrow with confusion. 

“Yes, the SEKAI! It’s a place made from your shared feelings!” She explains. “I just dragged the others in here their first times, but I don’t think they liked it, soooo I’m very politely asking you to come!” She raises a fist in the air as if this is a triumphant feat, but the smirk creeping up on her face betrays any of the generosity she claims to possess.

In response, Rui waves his hand through the hologram of Miku. She cries out indignantly, reforming with her hands up in a defensive pose.

“Okay, okay! I got the message!” She whines, then brushes herself off. “If you ever decide to visit, just play the Untitled song on your phone!” Before Rui can ask any more questions, she vanishes just as quickly as she came. 

“Tsk. I wanted to experiment some more…” He trails off, picking his phone back up. “Shared feelings with who ?” He ruminates. 

“With the wave of his hand, the brave alchemist–”

“Hey! How many times have I told you, you can’t be here!” A familiar security guard bounds up to Rui’s portable stage. Seeing the ill-tempered nature of the gruff man, he pulls the emergency string to quickly pack up his setup, devised just for situations like this. 

“It seems this story will have to be finished another day! Will our beloved alchemist a–” A hand grabs out for his flattened stage, causing Rui to startle and pull back his belongings. Not waiting for the guard’s next advance, he scrambles upwards and flees the scene. He weaves between the sea of people wading around the amusement park, but still hears the unmistakable stomps of the guard hot on his trail. Usually, he would be able to escape without the security having even seen what direction he took off in, but this time he was caught off guard by the guard’s brash maneuver. 

Quickly exhausted, he makes the split-second decision to duck into the men’s bathroom. With a slam, he shuts the door and presses against it. Immediately, a force knocks against his back, and he has to push back with all of his might to dissuade the attempt. This is quite the predicament… 

“If you ever decide to visit, just play the Untitled song on your phone!” trills in the back of his mind.

Well, I am at my last resort… 

So, he pulls out his phone, and presses play on Untitled. As he feels his body turn weightless, he faintly registers the door behind him swinging open. It goes unseen, however, as his sights are replaced by a classroom environment.

“So, it’s true,” he reflects to himself, taking a moment to gather his bearings. Then, who shares my feelings? 

He’s snapped out of his thoughts by a weight suddenly crashing into his back and toppling him. “Rui, you came!”

“Ah–” He stands back up, turning to face the figure who he’d met the previous night. However, now she’s full-sized, and certainly not holographic. “I was taking refuge from a Phoenix Wonderland security guard. Is this place… real?”

“As real as me!” Miku chirps back. 

“That… doesn’t really help,” he chuckles, taken aback by the absurdity of his situation. It’s not that he is unsure of the existence of pocket dimensions that exist in one’s phone via song, oh no, he fully believes that’s a possibility that technology allows for in the right hands. He’s just unsure that such a place could be created with the feelings that he shares with others .

However, as if she could read his mind, Miku pipes up, “Do you want to meet the others?”

“Ah, the others…”

Truthfully, he does not know whether to accept or not. Sure, he is a curious person by nature, but, if he were to meet like-minded people, people who share his true feelings … 

Well, he isn’t quite sure they’d get along. Was he a likable person? He didn’t think so. He had never been told so. In fact, he always seemed to do more harm than good around others. Just look at what I did to that band yesterday… 

“C’mon, let’s go!” Miku squeals, physically pulling him away from his spiraling thoughts. Grasping onto his hand without an iron grip that tells Rui that he’s not slipping away from her this time, she leads him down the hallway. The faint murmur of music grows into a strong resonation by the time they reach their destination. 

Miku swings the door open, holding up their connected hands. “I’ve brought him!” She declares, showing him off like a prize catch. 

Rui looks into the room, and freezes at the realization that the ‘others’, the people who share his feelings, are the band whose performance he ruined. No wonder she has such a tight grip, he laments. 

“K- Kamishiro?” Honami stammers out, freezing in place behind her drums. 

“What are you doing in our SEKAI?!” An squeals, nearly falling over her microphone stand. 

“What do you think?” Luka asks slyly, smirking at the girls. 

“Does he… share our same feelings?” Kanade pipes up, standing firm at her keyboard.

“ Ding ding! Winner!” Miku giggles, taking the lull in conversation as a chance to shove Rui into the room and block the exit. 

“Ah… Sorry for the intrusion,” he exhales, looking anywhere but the faces of the people who he regrettably disappointed the day before. 

“This is like fate, or something! You belong to our SEKAI, but you declined our invitation to join us yesterday. You have to join now, c’mon!” Honami chatters, rushing from her seat up to the boy. 

“Sorry, I can’t–”

“You have to! Please!” She begs.

“I’m better off alone, I can’t–”

“Why?” Kanade cuts in.

“Huh?”

“Why can’t you? Why are you better off alone?” She elaborates, unwavering. 

“I…” He trails off. I don’t want to tell them all the terrible things I’ve done to my previous partners… “I just can’t.”

“That’s not a real answer!” Honami wails back. 

He sighs, then tries again. “I ruined your performance yesterday, and upset your leader. I can’t be a part of your team after such an awful act.”

“Bullshit. We ruined it ourselves,” An finally speaks up, a pointed look turned at Rui. “You think what you did was ‘awful’? You should’ve seen how I let those two down this week. I’m entirely responsible for how terrible our set was yesterday. Some leader I am, right?” She huffs out, crossing her arms. 

“An…” Honami starts, but can’t find the words to comfort her. 

“No, I take full responsibility for yesterday’s disaster. Don’t even try to say otherwise,” the headstrong girl asserts. “To make amends, I want the person who saved us from looking like complete idiots out there to be by our side from now on. What do you say?” She extends an arm, welcoming him to their group. When he looks into her eyes, looking for any sort of hesitation, fear, or lingering anger, he only sees a cool determination. 

…Shared feelings, huh?

Rui closes his eyes. Blinks back memories of pained faces, harsh accusations, a rooftop…

He opens them, and swings around to the wall full of different guitars. He surveys his options, then picks a purple-shaded bass from the middle row. 

“Am I holding this right?”