Lynne

Chapter 10

"Trust me, we're all excited too." A cheer from the ledge. "Her style is bit different, but in the best way..."
He nodded, holding a finger to his lips to shush me. He reached up to his headset, pressing the red button. With a shaking arm, I did the same.
"... but enough talk for now." Miku laughed. "Here they are!"
I took another deep breath. There wasn't even anyone in the crowd. Only the Vocals. I'd do okay.
The guitarists on stage began playing the intro to Unhappy Refrain, and my stomach lurched. For a terrifying second, I thought I was going to throw up. The elevator began to ascend as well, only adding to my worry. Luckily, I kept my lunch down.
The drums came in, and I nodded my head to beat.
3...
2...
1...

"Ahhhhhhhhhh..."

Len and I began our introductory scream just as we became visible to the nonexistent audience. I looked over the empty seats, feeling a sudden courage.
I stepped off the elevator with Len beside me, and we began down the stairs together. I launched into my verse, dancing slightly to the drums beside me. From the corner of my eye, I could see the ledge, packed with grinning Vocals.

"Sandanjuu to telecast kotoba no seiretsu, unhappy-"

Len standing beside me gave me confidence that I didn't know I had. We were a duo. Business partners. A team.

"Sakasama no garu otona no sekai-"

Before I knew it, my verse was over. I looked over at Len, who smiled proudly at me. I took a deep breath, my grin stretching from ear to ear.
He turned away from me after our small moment, looking at the empty seats in front of us. He rose his hands into the air, launching into his performance personality. One that I already knew too well.

"Sandanju to tere kyasuta kotoba mo nai yona anrakki"

On the ledge, the others nodded to the music, smiling and laughing together. I felt somewhat awkward standing on stage while Len sang. What was I supposed to do? Just stand there? Dance?

I settled on standing next to him, bouncing slightly to the beat and smiling. This didn't really feel like rehearsal anymore. It felt like a party. I could feel the beat of the drums and the sound of the guitar in stage below me; there may not have been any people there, but the speakers were definitely loud enough to reach every seat. At least, it seemed that way from where I was standing.
As quickly as his verse began, it ended, launching the both of us into our duet at the end. I grinned as Len began stomping his foot to the beat, a smirk on his face. I began to get more into the dancing too. For the last few lines of the song, I jumped around to the beat, the entire stage shaking with energy. The Vocals laughed at us as we found each other on the last line. We struck an ending pose together, our backs to each other and my right arm, along with his left, extended toward the crowd.

"Sore wa...?"

We ended in perfect sync, and as soon as the music cut off, Miku turned her mic on.
"Fuck yeah!" She screamed, earning a laugh from everyone, including the band members.
Gumi lifted a finger to her earpiece. "I told you," she began, her voice coming through the speakers around me. "They're perfect. Their outfits even match."
I felt a slight blush rise to my cheeks, but Len just rolled his eyes, and motioned for me to follow him as he made his way to the ledge. The closer I got, the more visible the footholds were. Len climbed up effortlessly. He sat down, patting the seat between him and Luka. I gave the wall one uneasy look, then grabbed the jutting rocks and climbed up. Len had made it look much easier than it really was, but I was able to scramble up without too much trouble.
When I was stable on the ledge, I looked down at the stage. I felt much higher up than I really was. My head spun as I suffered from a quick dose of vertigo, but I was thankfully able to regain myself.
Around the empty seats, several giant screens suddenly lit up, revealing a colorful wheel. The same wheel was projected onto the back of the stage. It was divided into more small wedges than I could count, each a different color. Each wedge had writing on them, but I could hardly tell what they said. The letters were so small.
The fake wheel began to spin, as if pushed by some invisible hand. It gradually slowed until it stopped with an arrow pointed to a light blue wedge. The screen zoomed in on the wedge, revealing the words "Two Faced Lovers - Miku." Each screen was completely in sync.
She squealed in delight, quickly climbing down the wall.
Whoa, I thought. That's a cool way to run concerts. It made much more sense to see it in action, rather than have people explain it to me.
The entire night after that was a blur of flashing lights and loud music. We would wait for the wheel to pick the next chosen one, who would jump off the ledge, sing their song, climb back up, and repeat. Each time a song was chosen, it was removed from the selection during the next choosing. As more and more songs were checked off the wheel, the wedges became bigger and bigger until only a few songs remained. At some point, I don't particularly remember when, Chronophobia was chosen. I climbed down the wall just like the others did. I sang my heart out. I came back. They chose someone else. I briefly wondered if this was completely random, or if someone behind the stage was just picking them as we went. It wouldn't really matter either way, I concluded. I had no idea what song was coming next, and neither did the rest of the Vocals. The crowd wouldn't know, either. And that was the whole point; the excitement of not-knowing.
Finally the wheel was divided into only two halves. One was yellow, and the other was a light green. It spun, eventually landing on the yellow.
Len uttered a quiet "Yes," next to me. Through the process of elimination, he could probably tell what was coming.
Spice! - Len the screen read.
I rolled my eyes as he climbed down, the girls playfully cat-calling him as he made his way to the center of the stage. I smiled, not participating in the whistling.
One incredibly embarrassing song later, Len took his seat next to me once again. Luka laughed at him.
"You enjoy that song way too much," she yelled, leaning over to see him on my other side.
He shrugged. He was wearing a grin. "I can't help it."
I laughed at both of them as the wheel popped up one final time. The entire thing was the same shade of light green as before. It didn't even spin. It only zoomed into the middle of the circle. "Wanting to Hold You - Gumi & Rin."
I was taken aback. We only recorded the song a day or two ago, and it was already up.
Gumi shouted at me from across the ledge. "Come on!"
My confused look was replaced with an energized smile. I got to perform with the most spirited of all.
Her feet made a loud thump as she hit the ground and took of sprinting down the stage. I laughed, following her as quickly as I could. But damn, she was fast.
She jumped up like a ballet dancer as the music kicked in. She clicked the red button on her ear, reminding me to do the same. When the introductory instrumentals faded out, Gumi stopped dead in her tracks, turning to the empty seats.

"Jinsei ichido ha motetari suru toka-"

I had already gotten the hang of stage-dancing during duets from watching the others perform throughout the night. With Gumi, it was especially easy. I could dance as crazy as I wanted to without looking out of place next to her.

"Yokuasa kiseki ha bokura ni otozure"

Without a moment's hesitation, I jumped in at the beginning of my verse. Now, it was her turn to be the background dancer. I slowly stepped up to the edge of the stage as she flowed back behind me.
At the end of my verse, I turned around, slightly surprised to find her at the top of the stairs. She extended her arms into the air front of her, her voice filling the stage as she jumped into the chorus with me.
Near the end of the song, all the instruments cut off, leaving only the gentle sound of a piano. At this part, Gumi slowly made her way down the stairs. The way she walked, I could imagine her with a long, flowing dress behind her. A Cinderella-esque dress. I giggled, realizing what she was doing. From the bottom of the steps, I held a hand up to her. Princess Gumi, and Prince Rin.
She mockingly took my hand, and we erupted into a ballroom dance to the piano. We laughed as our feet padded away expertly on the ground, not stepping on each other once. Role playing on stage. I had seen them do it before; many of their old songs were more story based. Sometimes, it was more like watching a play than a concert.
We found our way to the middle of the stage just as the piano hit the final, high note. The instant the rest of the band kicked in, we separated, making our way to opposite ends of the stage.

"Motetai, motetai

Demo kimi no motenai..."

We ended the song with the same explosive energy as we began it with. The final few beats of the drums rang in my ears as I struck my ending pose, my shoulders heaving. The ringing had only begun to cease when the Vocals began cheering for us. I was surprised to hear a source of clapping coming from the audience instead of the ledge to my left. I scanned the seats, quickly finding Erik lounging in the front row.
Gumi laughed, moving out of her ending pose. "Careful, Len," she warned. "I might steal her from ya."

What felt like hours later, Len and I trudged into the hotel elevator. Miku offered to take us all out for a pre-concert dinner, and even though I was exhausted from the concert, we went. Texas Road House wasn't the fanciest of restaurants, but the steak had been delicious. And we were the only customers in the entire building, so that was a plus.
We were the first two of the Vocals to arrive at the hotel. The clerk wasn't at the desk when we walked in. The only noise either of us made were our heavy steps and Len's keys clinking together in his pocket. The elevator doors opened, and Len slid the keycard through our door and entered our room. The sweet smell of air-freshener filled my nose.
"I have never been so glad to sleep in a bed that's not mine," Len muttered as he plopped down into his bed. He was Len: My Friend now. No more cocky, I'm-Better-Than-You remarks or sneaky half smiles.
I chuckled, crawling under my blankets. "We probably shouldn't sleep in these outfits," I pointed out.
He sighed. "But I'm too lazy."
"You do you," I said before rolling out of bed only seconds after getting in it. "I can't sleep with these detached sleeves and leg warmers anyway." I grabbed my other pair of pajamas out of my nearly-empty bag, and made my way to the bathroom.
When I returned to the main room with my neatly-folded outfit in my arms, Len had still not moved. I rolled my eyes, figuring that he already fell asleep. I threw my outfit on top of my bag. It couldn't hurt him to sleep in that clothes for just one night. Plus, I didn't want to wake him up.
It felt amazing to snuggle into the pile of fluff that was my bed. I felt dirty, and had the powerful urge to take a shower, but I resisted it. Sleeping was higher on my list of priorities.
I was still hazy from rehearsal. Too hazy to be nervous for tomorrow. Or, maybe it wasn't the haze. Maybe I was still getting over the fact that I got on that stage at all, even if there weren't any people watching me. It was too early after being nervous to be nervous again.
"I didn't win." Len's voice cut through the silence and my thoughts.
I rolled over to face him. "What?"
"You asked me about my first performance at the concert, and I told you it was a talent show that I won. Well, I lied."
I furrowed my brow. "Why?"
The room was too dark to see him, but I could hear his sheets rustling. "I don't know. I wanted to seem... confident, I guess."
Did I just hear him right? I never would have thought he was to try to be confident. I figured it came naturally. "You don't have to lie to me to seem cool," I pointed out, slightly amused. Maybe it was part of his stage personality.
"I know," he sighed. "I don't know why I did it."
I have an idea, I thought to myself. "Why are you telling me now?"
"I couldn't stop thinking about it," he admitted. "I like to think I'm a pretty honest person. I know you were only asking me that because you were nervous, and it was unfair to you for me to lie like that."
I had never witnessed this side of Len before. It was surprisingly sweet of him. "It's fine."
Silence filled the room once again. I took a deep breath. This conversation felt... unfinished.
"So... what really happened?" I asked.
I heard him laugh softly. "I froze on stage. Didn't say a word when the music started. I just... I just stood there."
The vision popped into my head of Len, his hair a bit shorter and a few years younger, standing in front of a crowd of his peers. His nervous, teenaged self shaking in front of all his friends with a microphone in his hands.
"Aw," was all I could say. The same noise you make when you see a cute animal.
He laughed again. "It's kind of funny to think of now, but I still remember it every time I get on stage."
"I forgot. What song did you perform?"
"Error," he clarified.
I smiled, though I knew he couldn't see it. "You should sing it for me."
"Hah. Maybe another night."
Silence once again. I waited patiently for him to say something else, but he didn't. I rolled over again, staring at the blank wall. "Thanks for telling me the truth."

He sighed. "Uh huh."

"Night, Len."
More shuffling behind me. "Night, Rin."