VIVIDWords | AkiToya (Project Sekai)

Faded and Vivid {3}

Akito looked down at the paper on the park bench, tapping his pencil against it and only paying attention to the noise of it against the wood. He hummed, quickly scratching the barely sharpened pencil against the paper as the words quickly came into his mind. He smiled lightly, staring at them, though as he reread them, something felt off about them. Was it the word choice? Was it the general pacing of the lyrics? He looked down at them, completely unsure, his confidence almost immediately disappearing as soon as it had arrived. His eyes narrowed as he reread them over and over again, tightly gripping the sheet.

"I'll rewrite it later," he murmured, continuing down the sheet, yet each word he etched into the paper sounded wrong in his head. The lines didn't mix, they didn't work together, instead conflicting and turning into some sort of mush, unable to sound decent if incorporated into a song, no matter the genre. He grunted, looking at the lyrics with frustration and some sort of hatred. Akito ripped it in half, shoving it into a trash can by the bench.

He sighed, resting his head against his palm as he attempted to calm down, listening to whoever still lived in the street sing.

Singing.

Singing.

He jerked his head up as one particular voice caught his attention, one he had clearly remembered. He could recognize her voice, though slightly tilted his head to the side as he listened carefully to the other, far more high pitched voice. It reminded him of a hamster, in a way, but he brushed the thought away as he racked through foggy memories, searching for any person who could have that voice. No one. Unless it were to be someone he had only ever spoken to once, though he doubted it. He'd prefer to not admit his memory wasn't absolutely perfect regarding people had met when he was just sixteen. Sure, he was in fact just sixteen, but Akito still wanted to believe he could remember everything from back then with no faults.

He shook his head, clearing the somewhat disruptive thoughts from his head, and looked at the girl singing from afar. An. His eyes widened somewhat from surprise, having thought she moved away. He didn't understand why Toya and An still lived there. He didn't understand how he managed to encounter them. It wasn't as though it was large enough to avoid both of them, yet it was incredibly unlikely.

He couldn't figure out whether he was lucky or unlucky, he wasn't sure if he should simply run away and forget they exist.

He wanted to have the same relationships he had with them before, he- his family- had never been in one place long enough to truly befriend anyone.

Yet, did it truly matter if he stayed in the same area?

Akito was only BAD DOG.

Akito was no one else.

Akito was only a slightly famous singer.

Akito was not meant for close relationships.

Akito was not supposed to be an editor.

Akito is BAD DOG.

It would leave a bitter taste in his mouth whenever someone asked about his career, it would only bring memories of Vivid Street. He'd say he moved on, he'd lie and pretend like that street was never relevant in his life, like it never mattered to him in the slightest. But he never did, he couldn't get himself to move on. As long as his current 'name', his ex-singing partner, his writer were perfectly outlined in otherwise blurred memories, he didn't believe he'd be able to.

"Dude, are you okay?" The black and blue haired girl said, snapping her fingers in front of the ginger's face.
"Wh...yeah, An," he stuttered out, momentarily paralyzed by surprise.
"You've been staring at us for what, ten minutes?" She said, her voice laced with feigned annoyance. She crossed her arms, looking down at him as the 'hamster' girl approached, standing behind An. "Could've said hi or something."
"Sorry," Akito murmured, quickly averting both of their gazes. He could hear a quiet, short chuckle coming from the girl, and a confused squeak from the other.
"It's fine, but, dude, where's that cockiness you had back then?" She said with a slight smirk, before sitting down next to him on the wooden bench. He sighed, briefly glancing at her before looking at the other one. She looked oddly familiar despite him having never seen her before- or at least, he was certain he hadn't.