Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Look, look..!" Kirara dashed in Lyney's direction. She then reached out her hands to show him a small hologram that had the word "PASS!" on it. Lyney knew what's that about and uncovered his previously together grasped hands, uncovering the same hologram. Kirara was beyond happy that they get to go together. She tackled him to the ground with a hug as they both giggled. After a moment, she pulled away from the hug and rolled next to Lyney on the grass, looking to her side to face him.
"...I've liked you all this time. And I promised myself that if I pass, I'll tell you my feelings..."
Lyney's eyes widened at the sudden confession as he looked back at Kirara. He was at loss of words.
"...I'm sorry it took me so long. I really do love you." Kirara continued, letting out a sigh of relief. "There, I finally said it..!" She shut her eyes tightly, scared for his reply. Fortunately for Lyney that she did, because he had a brief moment to show sad expression on his face. 'Why did she have to pass..?' He asked himself, scared for what's to come.
When Kirara opened her eyes, he was already placing a kiss to her cheek, smiling down at her. "Me too..." Lyney finally replied, making Kirara all flustered. She sat up as well, tugging on her white dress for a while before she hugged him again, stuffing her head in his chest to hide her expression.
"Whoa- don't suffocate like that!" Lyney laughed heartily, patting Kirara's head.
God knows that was probably the last time he could laugh with all his heart.

Chapter Text

Round I - Backstage: Best Friends Then, Now And Until We Get On Stage

"We should sing the song you wrote for Lyney." Lynette stated.

"Wha- uhmm... Are you sure you can call it that? I mean I did try my best, but you pinpointed alot of my mistakes and helped me to finish the song. It's basically your work."

"No matter, we should sing that one nonetheless, don't you think? Since you finally confessed you should be able to sing it, right?" Lynette asked.

"Well, alright. If you insist... I hope next round your song gets picked out by the one you'll be paired with though! I really love your songs... After all even this one has a bit of you in it. I could never thank you enough. You helped me put my feelings in notes and words and it turned out so beautiful." Kirara smiled, grabbing Lynette's hands in hers as a reassuring gesture. To which Lynette let out a slight smile creep onto her lips. She just wished Kirara could have stayed unknowing for the rest of her life...

Round I - Backstage Hall: From Me, To Her

"Why the hell are you here?!" Clorinde shouted, pinning Navia to a nearby wall, well, more like hitting the wall with her fist with all her might right next to her.

"Calm down now- you know it's out of my control!" Navia whined out, terrified of Clorinde's outburst. "You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be here..." Clorinde repeated, feeling too weak in her knees to keep her body up as she slid down, Navia kneeling to catch her in her arms. Now hugging her loved one close as she broke down crying in her arms. It was too unbearable to see her like that, so Navia too, sobbed as they continued to hug one another...

Round I - Backstage Hall: The Words Left Unsaid

As Navia and Clorinde had all eyes on them now, they met with both pity and disgust. Some people in there thought that they have no right to cause a scene like this and others pitied them, 'they must be really close' they thought to themselves. All except two men, about the same height. Their eyes were locked on one another instead. "The backstage room seems to have been occupied by the first competitors already." Tighnari spoke as it was an everyday to him. Though beneath that composure, he raged inside.

"It's alright to be scared you know?" Cyno replied, worried for Tighnari. They have been long acquaintances after all. No one could ever tell if they're a married couple bickering or if they'll jump after each other's necks sometimes.

"Bad judge of character as always, aren't you?" Tighnari spoke in a harsh tone, now visibly irritated. If the one talking to him wasn't Cyno, who knows how he would have reacted.
To that, Cyno just sighed out loud and went over to the ladies that caused 'a scene' a moment ago, checking if they're okay- or well, as okay as one can be in this situation. They more or less knew each other from the Anakt Garden, yet they never really interacted that much. To Cyno's relief, there were not many people he considered close in this year's competition. Though he definitely did recognize alot of them.

Chapter Text

Kirara: "Look, look..!!"
Lynette: "...It's a leaf."
Kirara: "Isn't it soooo pretty?"
Lynette: "It's a leaf."
Kirara: "Let's write a song about it!!"
... -a moment after, Kirara rushes to grab her pen and notes- ...
Lyney: "Oh, there you are Lynette! Whatcha up to?!"
Lynette: "Writing song about a leaf."
Lyney: "What."

05/06/XX: "Kirara was always trying to find new things she could write a song about. Though the lyrics were always about love. Perhaps she just wanted to use other word as a placement holder for the one she was looking for? Nonetheless, Lynette always entertained Kirara's demands. They're really good friends. She's probably the only one Lynette is at least a bit expressive around except for her siblings."

09/08/XX: "Seems like the reason for Kirara's behaviour becomes clearer by the day. Her body language differs when she's with the interest of her songs. Why doesn't she just replace the word with Lyney?"

10/12/XX: "Further change noticed in Kirara's behaviour. Apart from Lynette, who seems stoic to alot of situations and it's almost always as if out of character when she emotionally reacts to anything. Her and Clorinde never verbally interact, but sometimes they spend time together, though in complete silence."
...
"I'll never understand that behaviour..."

22/12/XX: "Lynette seems to have noticed the cameras. Today, they talked about love interests, a chat initiated by Kirara of course. Though Lynette's replies are often impassive, today it seemed as if she was giving an annoyed expression towards the camera as if we weren't supposed to eavesdrop on them. Maybe the topic was too sensitive to her. Or maybe she was just trying to protect what Kirara told her a secret. Lynette is too hard to study individual, I highly recommend further testing."

-Request for further testing approved-

02/02/XX: "Today, Kirara is spending the day with Lyney and Freminet. They all seem down. Perhaps because Lynette isn't there. Cyno came to the rescue and made a fool of himself for the whole day Lynette was gone. It seems to have lifted their mood."

Chapter Text

"It's not like you to have stage fright..." Kirara mentioned as the door to the stage began to open slowly.
"It's a big stage." Lynette replied, her usually emotionless voice filled with slight worry. She's good at lying, but being face to face with possible death is nerve-racking even for her. She tried calming herself down in her mind before snapping her mind back to earth when the door was fully open. Lynette then hesitantly exited the safety of said room along with unknowing Kirara.
The crowd cheered softly, seeing two new faces on the stage. There wasn't anyone who would have a favourite yet, so the cheer wasn't that evident, it just sounded excited for what's to come.
The hall chatter soon tuned down as the sound of piano filled it instead. The que to start singing soon...
. . . .
The song started with the chorus sang by both of the contestants, their voices intertwining with each other in beautiful harmony. It was a bittersweet song about love and the uncertainty of showing one's true feelings, worried, hesitating to finally confess.
Then, it was Kirara's turn to sing her part. She sang her heart out and it could be heard in every note she hit. Being on the stage with Lynette is like a dream come true- besides, they're singing a song they wrote together.
Lynette's voice suddenly felt unstable as her high note sounded tuned down instead. Kirara noticed it and glanced at Lynette's hand, reaching out to hold it in a reassuring matter as she usually does. She then changed the lyrics a bit to reassure her friend.
"今日はね会えたえっと本当によかった"
(Today, I'm so glad I could spend time with you)
"約束しそびれない、大丈夫だよ"
(I assure you I'll never break our promise, everything's fine)
That seemed to help Lynette a bit, though she still didn't give it all while singing, making Kirara wonder if it really is just the stage fright as she mentioned, but to keep her thoughts grounded, Lynette squeezed Kirara's hand to which they both closed their eyes, focusing on the song for now.
It was another chorus' turn and yet again, they sounded beautifully when singing together, as if one was supporting the other, making their voices sound even better than when singing apart.
"好きになった私わ少しおく臆病になった"
"みたいね..."
(Falling in love has made me a bit more timid
than usual...)
The last bit they sang apart has come before the final chorus, which has brought them to almost the end of the song. It felt as if it would end abruptly, the time just seemed to be passing by too quickly.
"受け取って受け取って"
(Please accept it, please accept those feelings)
The last sentence they were supposed to be singing together was cut short of Kirara's line as Lynette all of a sudden flinched her hand back from Kirara's grasp, giving a smile while changing the last lyric, singing it herself.
"お願い、わかって..."
(Please, understand...)
. . . .
Sound of gunshot echoed through the stage as Kirara's eyes widened at Lynette's limp body falling down to the ground. Breath caught up like a lump in her throat as it refused to come out to let her inhale properly, to breathe freely. It would just come out in hitched attempts. Her legs gave out as she fell to her knees, unbelieving of the sight that was in front of her.

Was this really...
...The new reality she has no choice but to live in..?

Chapter Text

"...I love it when you call me señorita♪"

There was no dilly-dallying. The show must go on as they say and the aliens aren't really known for their patience.

The next song is on without considering anyone's feelings- hell, one of the contestants doesn't even know the results of the previous round yet. Maybe because he just refused to watch. Well, he was the only one who refused to, speaking as of now. Probably because it was the love of his life against his sister in the previous round... He just wishes he could pretend that Round never even existed, in his head fighting the unimaginable horror that is the idea of one of them being gone.

The song went on and both Lyney and his opponent sang beautifully, their harmony quite literally music to one's ears. No wonder the aliens wanted to hear them together as their voices compliment one another.
Even considering their past...
Let's just say each and every decision to lead the specific pair on the stage has a reason and all of the contestants are carefully watched to bring the best possible results. Everything calculated by the ones that thought this competition up, watching their every move from a very young age already.
Perhaps the aliens wanted to see if the feelings one of the contestants once harboured would bloom with this song. Or maybe they just wanted to hear them sing together.
There was a time Lyney felt the need to surpress his feelings for Kirara, rather focusing on someone he knows would never reciprocate those feelings. Maybe because he felt undeserving of the pure, innocent love that Kirara had to offer. Though, the "crush" on Lumine passed with time, as he grew more certain of his feelings and refused to not listen to his heart anymore. After all any day could have been their last...

Lumine was the one to start the song and lead it through the part where Lyney started to sing alonside her, the girl's mind thinking of her only one, Ajax... Wishing she could have sung alongside him, or maybe not, because that would mean...

...

Both of their minds weren't really there, yet they delivered the best possible performance that the aliens waited for. Maybe because both of them were thinking of singing this with that special someone.

To aliens, the song seemed to be even shorter than it actually was, the time passing by too quickly when one enjoys listening to something they like.
...As for the singers, on the contrary, the song seemed as if it would never end, their minds occupied with too many things for it to fit into the, in their minds excruciatingly long three minutes, just waiting who of them is going to win...

[Round End]

...

[Lumine: eliminated]

[.]

[backstage:]

Ajax couldn't believe his eyes. He was so sure Lumine would win. After all, she and her twin were so famous for having angelic voices. So why was he now looking at her corpse through the screen? That must surely be some kind of misunderstanding, right..?
But before his mind could process what his body was doing on reflex, it was too late.
He had bashed his skull into the monitor, not only damaging it, but painting it with his blood dripping from his forehead, the banging so intense he lost consciousness in the end and had to quickly be withdrawn from the competition and brought to the doctor, unable to participate.

...At least for now.

Chapter Text

🎵

Anakt Garden Diaries: Entry 22

"That was amazing!" Kirara chirped, jumping up and down, holding onto her friend's hand. It was weird some kids had privileges and some didn't, but the Aliens wanted the competition as entertaining as possible and if someone had talent they gave them the means to hone it so they could use it in the show.
Lyney and Lynette, of course, had the talent to kind of make it seem that they bent reality so something else than everyone thinks is happening. Of course these were just some small tricks they picked up when they were playing around, nothing big. But the Aliens were amused by them and wanted the Garden to do some research so something grand could then be used in the show in a few years.

Unfortunately for them that never got to happen...

"How did you do that?!" Kirara asked excitedly, still hopping up and down while holding onto the same friend's hand. Onto the one that just showed them some card tricks, just the basics is all it took for the kids to be this excited.
"It was nothing... Just some fast hand movement..." Her friend answered.
"Really?! That's so cool!" Kirara's eyes sparkled, even just from hearing that. She wanted to stay and talk a bit more, but was called onto as her Alien wanted to see her.
"See you around, Lyney!" She smiled one last time, waving her hand before hurrying away.

"Lynette..?" Freminet spoke up when he was sure Kirara was gone. "That face just now-"
But he was cut off.
"I dressed up as Lyney to borrow his confidence. He agreed. Kirara doesn't have to know anything and especially this. Understood?" Lynette's voice was cold, but not emotionless. She felt guilty. Knowing Kirara has feelings for Lyney and doing whatever this was.
"You were blushing... I never saw you like that." Freminet continued.
"...Kirara likes Lyney and that's how it will stay. This is just momentarily feeling connected with the emotions of my twin. Nothing more to it." Yet that was a lie.
And yet she never acted on those feelings.
Except for... On the stage.

♪

One day when they were planning which song to sing...

"I wasn't supposed to be singing this part, are you sure?" The conversation started by Kirara simply asking, unsure.
"Yeah. You want to be a star, don't you? I don't mind if I sing one less sentence, it's really fine." Lynette replied.

Yet before they went onstage...

"I'm not gonna sing that part." Kirara stated, Lynette looking up at her from her seat.
"But-" Lynette wanted to protest.
"I know, I know. You told me already. I was the one who wrote the song and I should be the one to... Finish... It. But I just feel more confident if you do. Besides it's only fair to have even parts. So could you do that for me, please..?" Kirara smiled.

...

And yet despite everything...
Lynette lost.

...She's not here anymore.

Chapter Text

The song started with Cyno singing. Everyone was already emotional yet this was just the beginning.

"I, I just woke up from a dream
Where you and I had to say goodbye
And I don't know what it all means
But since I survived, I realized..."

The Aliens enjoyed listening to human voices so much, because to them those were ethereal sounds which they would never be able to produce themselves. Pet humans were getting more and more common, Aliens keeping them, not only, for their voices...
"Someone, anyone, please put an end to this..." was certainly a prayer many of the human race wished for... And was now running even through Navia's mind.
But the even the resistance was too weak to face Aliens in their own game for now...

"Wherever you go, that's where I'll follow
Nobody's promised tomorrow
So I'ma love you every night like it's the last night
Like it's the last night"

Navia joined for the pre-chorus too, Cyno's gaze flicking to her as she sung a bit earlier than her line. He didn't mind though. There's only one winner of this round so may it be the best one. Even though he does feel the strong urge to see his loved ones once more, maybe dying while singing duet with a friend isn't that bad. He thought back to all the times Navia laughed at his jokes, how they schemed troublemaking together.
He smiled to himself, the rest of the song sung by the two of them, just enjoying the song that could be the last one for one or other.

"Ooh, lost, lost in the words that we scream
I don't even wanna do this anymore
'Cause you already know what you mean to me
And our love's the only war worth fighting for"

Navia's voice echoed when it was time for her solo part, clear who she was singing it to. Her loved one, the one she'd preferably see win this competition, Clorinde... But the fact Navia was here right now on this stage must mean either Tighnari or Clorinde are dead. Yet Navia refused to hear about those results before she's done with this round, because she'd rather die in blissful unawareness and with the great hope of her loved one moving on... Praying in her mind. The wish everyone in here has. Everyone wants to either win or for their loved one to win.
Or well,
Preferably for all this to end.

But unfortunately,
The world is indeed ending for only one of the contestants today.
And some of them aren't even next to the one they want to be the most in that very moment.

"...If the world was ending, I wanna be next to you."

...

[Navia: eliminated]

...

[loading...]

...

[Next Round: Kirara vs Lyney]

-

[interlude]

"What is Venti when he wants to complain to you?"
Cyno asked, Navia listening close as if he was about to reveal secrets of the universe.
"He's Venting."
To that, Navia bursted out laughing, actually finding his jokes and puns funny.
A mere memory.

...But right now, nobody was laughing.
Cyno almost forgot how to breathe, watching Navia's lifeless body just laying there on the ground.

[.]