Ia blasted "Spice" in the car as she drove the two of us toward the amphitheater. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel to the beat, a permanent smile across her face.
"I LOVE THIS SONG!" She shouted at me. I could barely hear her.
"DO YOU THINK YOU COULD TURN IT DOWN A LITTLE BIT AT LEAST?" I yelled back, smiling despite her playing my least favorite song.
She turned it down just enough for us to not be yelling at each other. "Is that better?"
I laughed, the encounter with Len completely pushed out of my mind. "Now could you change it to a song with a little more taste?"
She gasped at me. "This song is the tastiest thing I've ever heard," she replied with a smirk.
"Ew."
Ia laughed again. "I'd like a taste of some of that."
"STOP."
"But I have so many more taste jokes," she brushed her straightened, white hair behind her shoulder. "You really don't like this song?"
"Ugh," I grunted. "New Vocaloid songs."
"Oh, whatever," she said. "I like it."
"I wish they would just write a song or two that's... "School appropriate."
She snickered. "You're starting to sound like all those anti-Vocals on Twitter."
"Do you think we'll see any at the concert?"
Ia shrugged her shoulders. "Probably. But they don't matter."
I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek "After the concert I'm just gonna walk to Ozean."
"You working night shifts?" Ia asked, turning onto the off ramp of the highway.
"Tonight I am."
"I could give you a ride," she offered. "It's gonna be hella late, and it's quite a walk."
I waved her off. "Nah. I like walking. Plus," I put my hands on my stomach. "I could use some exercise."
"Hah," she laughed. "As if."
I looked down at my dress. "I'm not really dressed for waitressing, though."
"But you're looking fly as fuck," she said, eyeing me.
"Pfft. I'm not dressed for a concert either. Unlike some people," I countered. Ia wore a tight black tank top with skinny jeans and converse. Her white hair looked like it was sparkling in contrast to her dark outfit.
"Eh," was her only reply as the last few notes of "Spice" played on the radio.
The car turned into the parking lot of The Amp. An hour early, and the parking lot was already almost full.
Ia let out a laugh. "And they say no one goes to Vocal concerts anymore."
After half an hour of looking for a parking spot, we found one that was a far walk away from the entrance.
I closed the rusted door of Ia's truck. "Are you ever gonna get this thing fixed?"
"Excuse you, but this is not a 'thing.'" She rubbed the bed of the truck lovingly. "It's my baby."
I shook my head, smiling. "Let's just start walking."
The building was shaped like a giant dome. A line was beginning to form in the front doors, but we got through it in only a few minutes. The entire time, Ia asked about what happened at the coffee shop. "How did you not recognize him?" "Was he even hotter up close?" "Did you ask for the tickets or did he just give them to you?"
The only question that struck me was while we on our way to the stage.
"Was he nice?"
I stopped, pulled my backstage pass out of my bag, and hung it around my neck. "Um..." I tried to find my words as Ia hung hers also. I figured I might as well tell her the truth. I looked down at my pass sheepishly. "He was a jerk."
Ia slouched over. "Really?"
I nodded, sadly looking back up at her.
She sighed. "Well..." She paused, then laughed softly. "At least he still makes good music."
I grinned. "Whatever you say."
The Amp was shaped like any basic concert all; with the stage on the left and the seats arranged in a tiered semicircle around it. The room was alive with the chatter of excited Vocal fans.
We found our seats; first row, closest to the stage. They were perfect in every way. The fabric itself seemed to sparkle. I didn't expect them to be bad seats, but still... It seemed almost like a dream. I had never gotten the chance to sit so close to the stage before. Ia's eyes were filled with pure joy as we sat in our cushioned thrones.
We were still pretty early, so I left Ia to watch our seats while I went to get snacks. The lines were already outrageously long, but it was better than sitting in front of an empty stage doing nothing for half an hour.
I had been standing in line scrolling through my Twitter feed on my phone for almost ten minutes when I overheard the conversation of two girls behind me. They chatted excitedly about the concert. They looked like they were just a year or two younger than me, around 15 years old. One of the girls had her thick strawberry blonde hair tied into a bun on her head, and a face caked with makeup. She wore light blue jean shorts with rips in them, and a cream-colored sleeveless t-shirt. A series of long, silver necklaces fell from her neck. She stood tall, her green eyes wide with excitement.
Her friend's outfit was less revealing than the hers; gray skinny jeans with lightly colored, loose fitting tank top, and various bracelets around both her wrists. She was shorter, and had darker hair that flowed down her back in waves. Her bangs covered the right side of her face, under which she had a distinct birthmark on her upper cheek. It was obvious she was trying to hide it. Bracelet's smile was less enthusiastic than Necklaces'.
"You guys excited?" I turned to ask them when their conversation died down.
Necklaces' wide smile returned. "Hell yeah! We've been waiting for this concert for weeks."
I giggled. "Who's your guys' favorites?"
"Well," Necklaces said, looking down at the floor intently. "Mine is probably Gumi. And Amy's-" She motioned to Bracelets- "Is Luka."
Bracelets' - Amy's - head perked up. "Actually," she said softly. "I like Len."
I grinned. "Me too," I said, not entirely sure if that was true anymore. Behind me, the cashier yelled for the next person. I waved the two girls off, and began to turn my back to them, but stopped.
"You know," I started, looking back at Amy. "I really like that mark on your cheek."
Amy's expression turned to one of confusion, as she ran her fingertips softly over the mark. "R-Really?" She stammered.
"Yeah," I answered sweetly. "I think it's really cute."
She stared at me for a second, before she let out a timid "Thanks," with a slight smile pulling up the corners of her mouth.
I smiled warmly at her. "No problem."
I turned to order a bottle of water for Ia and I to share, along with both our choices of candy.
With the food in hand, I strode back to our seats. The Amp was almost twice as crowded as when I left to buy our food, and I said my fair share of "excuse me"'s while weaving my way through the growing crowd.
Finally I arrived back at our seats, setting the water bottle between us, and handing Ia her candy.
"I asked for Skittles," she stated as I handed her M&M's.
"Tough shit," I smirked at her. "You can go stand in that line if you want them."
She smiled. "What'd you get?"
I plopped down in my chair, opening my candy. "Reece's."
Her eyes widened. "Gimmie some."
I shook my head, plopping a nearly melted peanut butter cup in my mouth. "No," I muttered through the rich chocolate.
Ia laughed. "Don't talk with your mouth open. I don't even want any anymore."
"Good," I said sloppily.
She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, and amused grin on her face. "Ew."
We sat and talked while the chatter around us grew louder and louder as more and more people crowded into The Amp.
At five minutes until showtime, the people around us were already standing and cheering. Cheering at nothing but a dark stage. Ia and I stood with them.
The stage was right in front of me, and if I had been a little taller, I could have climbed onto it. Our seats were right in the zone where the Vocals could touch us and see us clearly. My excitement began to peak. I had forgotten about the anticipation before concerts; I hadn't been to one in such a long time.
Finally the lights over the seats switched off, and the crowd erupted into a fit of excited cheers. Ia included. I laughed at her, yelling as well..
A stage light flicked on, revealing Luka in her signature outfit, with a smile plastered on her face.
"How you guys doin' tonight?" She yelled into her microphone. She laughed as we all went in a frenzy.
Ia and I were screaming by now, as was everyone around us. Music started up, much louder than I was used too, and Luka rolled into one of her newest songs. My excitement died down a bit, as I only listened to her, and everyone else's, old music. I cheered along, but wasn't able to sing along like Ia. I brushed it off though. It was only one song that I didn't know.
But then she played a other.
And another.
And another.
I was fuming by the time she got off the stage. All the songs she sang were the shitty new ones. My only thought at this point was that maybe, just maybe, Miku would sing some of her old songs.
But she didn't.
She came on stage next, sang the same-sounding songs as Luka, and then left. And then Gumi came, and did the same thing. And then Katio. One by one, they came out, went back. And lastly, Len came on stage. I couldn't even pretend to be excited anymore.
Ia eyed me, and frowned. "What's wrong?" She asked.
I didn't want to ruin her night by saying how shitty the concert was. Instead, I explained: "I have a little bit of a headache."
"You want the keys to the truck?" She yelled out over Len's singing. "You can lie down if you wanna."
I shook my head. "No, it's okay." Lying in a car for the next hour would be worse than listening to these songs, even if they were all pretty much the same song.
As the music of "Spice" came on Len walked closer the edge of the stage, turning all the girls around me into hormonal monsters. They screamed and cried and held their hands out to him like he was some kind of god.
If only they knew how "nice" he was. I wondered if they would still act the same if they did. Ia sure was.
Len's eyes scanned the crowd. He was wearing the same outfit from the coffee shop, but he had ditched the fedora. He even showed off the same wolf-like grin as before.
He continued looking through everyone in the front row, and I came to the grim realization that he might have been looking for me.
And I was right. His eyes moved right along the crowd, stopping at me. His smile grew wider when he saw me. I stared back, my face blank.
He winked, and turned around.
Ia turned to me, shaking from excitement. "DID HE JUST WINK AT YOU?" she screamed in my ear. I don't think she even knew she was yelling.
"Yeah," I grunted, too low for her to hear.
She turned back to the stage, dancing, jumping, and screaming.
By the time the concert was over, I was pissed. I had never been so glad to hear the words "Goodnight everybody!" from a famous person.
Ia and I sat around for ten minutes, waiting for most of the crowd to leave.
I sat with my arms crossed over my chest, staring down at the floor. Ia leaned closer to me.
"You don't have a headache, do you?" It was more of a statement, not a question.
I bit the inside of my cheek, still staring at the ground. "No, I don't."
"Why didn't you like it? Len Kagamine fucking winked at you."
I shook my head. "He's a dick." I met Ia's gaze. "And all the songs that they all performed tonight were garbage."
I saw a few heads turn my way, but ignored them.
"I liked it," she responded, defensive.
I began to raise my voice. "The only decent song they played all night was when Len sang Hibikase." I looked back down at the ground, my face red from a mixture of anger, annoyance, and impatience. "And even that song is only good because it doesn't suck as much as the others." I ranted on and on. "For God's sake, Miku didn't even sing Hirari! That's my favorite fucking song."
Ia shushed me. More and angry fans were beginning to turn their heads at me. "Keep it down," she nearly whispered. "We're gonna get jumped in the parking lot if you keep talking like that."
I rolled my eyes.
Ia sighed. "Well," she said, after a moment of silence. "Can we just go backstage real quick and get some autographs?"
I didn't reply. I just stared at the spilled snacks and drinks on the floor.
"It'll just take a second. And you don't have to say anything," she pleaded. "Please."
I knew how excited Ia was to go backstage and meet everyone, and even though I had a bad feeling about it, I sighed, and stood, grabbing my trash.
"Sure," I muttered, feeling a little better as Ia's eyes lit up like green Christmas lights. "Let's get this over with."
She jumped up, and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she repeated.
I smiled, gently pushing her off me. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
I dumped the trash into the overflowing trash can as we exited The Amp. The lobby was almost empty. Ia and I swung a left toward a set of double doors with a tall, buff bodyguard standing in front of it. We walked toward the doors, and held up our passes to him as we entered. He nodded, and I released my pass, letting it fall back around my neck.
The hallway behind the doors was a bare and empty one, except for an heavy door with a bright red EXIT sign hanging over it. A group of friends walked toward us. They all held posters in front of them, and smiles on their faces. As they walked past, I saw that the posters were signed. I frowned. I wished that I could be as happy and excited as they were.
At the end of the hall was a waist-high metal gate. I assumed that was as far as we could walk back stage. There were only two people standing at it, a boy and a girl, and they were both getting signatures from Luka and Len, who were standing on the other side. The fans turned around, smiles stretched from ear to ear, and pushed past Ia and I.
Ia seemed to be in a trance as we stepped up to the gate. No one else had followed us in, and we were likely the last two.
Len had turned his back on us, but Luka smiled at us as we walked up.
"Sup," she greeted.
I tried to put an happy expression on, but it came out looking like I had a bad taste in my mouth. Ia perked up, pulling a small poster out of her bag. I knew exactly which one it was, too. It was about the size of a regular piece of paper, and featured all seven of the Vocals on it; Miku, Luka, Len, Gumi, Meiko, Kaito, and Gakupo. It usually hung over her computer in her room, but she must have taken it down just for the concert.
"Can I get your autograph?" She asked, eyes wide.
Luka shrugged her shoulders. "What else would you come back here for?" She snatched the poster out of Ia's hands, and unraveled it onto the wall. She already had a pen in her hand, and she began to sign it.
Behind her, there was a little sitting area with three light brown, fluffy-looking couches, and a coffee table in the middle. The rest of the vocals were sitting on the couches, laughing and talking.
They all crowded around Gumi, who was holding her phone out, watching something. They all watched it with her, and then started laughing simultaneously. In the corner opposite the gate, a man with black hair stood, talking on the phone. He used his free hand to plug his ears from the noise the Vocals were making.
"Luka!" Len yelled over, not looking up from the phone. "You gotta come see this."
She scowled, and turned her head to him, pen in hand, poster still pinned up against the wall with her arm. "Hold on! I'm signing shit."
Her poster isn't shit, I thought, annoyed.
Luka finished signing it, capped the pen and handed the poster back to Ia.
"Um," Ia started, her face red. "Could I, uh, get Miku's autograph too?"
Luka sighed, turned around. "Miku! Get over here."
With every action that they made, I became angrier and angrier.
Miku stood up from the couch, her teal hair nearly dragging on the floor as she walked over. She put her hands on her hips next to Luka, clearly bugged that the pink-haired girl took her away from the fun. "What?" she asked.
Luka motioned to Ia.
"Uh..." Ia said. Miku turned her head. "Can I get your autograph?"
Miku's shoulders slouched. "Yeah, sure whatever." She said the words with no pause between them. She grabbed the pen from Luka and the poster from Ia, and put it against the wall.
After handing her the pen, Luka looked at me. "You want anything?" She asked.
I stared at her for a second, and took a deep breath. "No," I answered, my voice monotonous.
She looked me up and down, a sour look on her face, and then turned away, walking back to the couch. Despite her rudeness, I stared at her hair admiringly. I had always wanted pink hair, but my parents would have killed me if I came home with any hair that wasn't my signature blonde.
As I was looking in her direction, I made eye contact with Len. He smirked at me, and I quickly looked away.
Fuck, I thought. He saw me.
I stared at Miku's hand as she scribbled something on Luka's poster, and saw Len stand up from the couch and walk toward us. I took another deep breath.
He put his hands on the metal gate, leaning toward me. "Hey, you," he said.
Miku smirked as she wrote. I looked down at the ground. "Hi," I replied.
"You don't have to pretend that you're not happy to see me," he said, looking me straight in the eye. I met his gaze, and my expression turned bitter. Now I really did have a bad taste in my mouth.
"You probably don't even remember my name," I commented. Ia's mouth dropped.
Oh, how dare I be rude to a famous person, I thought.
Len though for a second. "Lynn, right?"
I rolled my eyes. "It's Rin."
He waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever."
If one more Vocal says "whatever" to me, or Ia, I'm going to punch them. I thought.
Len leaned in closer. He reeked of cologne. I had to force myself not to gag. "Now, about what we were talking about earlier..."
"No," I interrupted.
He widened his eyes at me. "Come on," he leaned in even closer. He was nearly whispering now. "You really don't wanna have a one night stand with Len Kagamine?" His hair could almost brush against my forehead.
I took a step back, trying to come to terms with the fact that my favorite musical artist had turned into a playboy. "No," I repeated with a firm voice. I thought for a second, then added: "I actually have enough self-respect to not throw myself at any guy just because he's famous."
His confident expression disappeared, leaving a stunned one.
Miku laughed, pointing her pen at him. "Hah, you just got rejected by a fan." She capped the pen, and handed the poster to Ia. "Guys!" She yelled, turning to the others. "Len just got roasted by a fan."
He leaned away from me, and shrugged his shoulders. "She doesn't know what she's missing," he defended, turning to the couch full of Vocals. They howled with laughter.
My face felt red from anger. Miku turned her back as well, leaving Ia and I with no choice but to go back to the lobby. I spun around, and Ia followed close behind.
"You okay?" She asked, clutching her poster.
"I'll be fine," I growled. I stopped at the exit door. "I'm just gonna go to the Ozean. I'll talk to you later." I put a hand on the handle.
"You sure?" She looked concerned. "I really could drive you. It's no big deal."
I turned my back on her, pushing the door open. "I like walking."
It was late, probably almost midnight. I regretted not bringing a jacket with me as the brisk air brushed against my bare arms and legs. The alley I had stepped into was dark, and to my right I could see a sidewalk with a lit streetlamp next to it. Under the streetlamp stood a bench. I crossed my arms, shivering in the cold, and walked over to it. The metal was freezing on my legs, but I didn't mind too much. I just needed somewhere to sit. And think.
I couldn't believe that my idols that I had looked up too since I was twelve were a bunch of jerks. Especially Miku. She was so nice to me when I had met her before, but I guess fame changes people.
All of my anger from the entire night washed away, and I felt this sudden urge to cry. It was depressing to think about my favorite music artists like that.
I pulled my phone out of my shoulder bag, looking up and down the sidewalk. It ran behind The Amp, so I didn't expect anyone to be there. The alley was clear as well.
Whenever I got angry, or frustrated, my coping mechanism was to sing my favorite songs. I had a few karaoke versions on my phone, just in case. I pulled my headphones out of my bag with my phone, untangled them, and plugged them in.
I scrolled through my karaoke playlist while I put my headphones in, and decided on Hirari, Hirari.
I looked up and down the sidewalk again, making sure no one was near me. It was always embarrassing when I was doing stuff like this, especially because I always figured I was a pretty bad singer.
I pressed play, and closed my eyes, losing myself in the gentle piano of the intro.
I thought about everything that had happened today, and how much it would change my perspective on the music industry, and about how glad I was that I had stopped trying to get too involved in it. I used to do my share of songwriting, and I loved it, but I gave up a couple months ago. It was a fun hobby, but it never really got me anywhere. I thought about the songs I wrote. I had thought they were good, but I figured no one else would, so I kept them a secret... for the most part. I thought about how I used to want to make music like the Vocals, and now I couldn't even look at them.
I thought about why I was so sad and disappointed to find out about what they had turned into. I thought about poor Ia and how she probably didn't even know how rude they were to her because she was just starstruck, and I thought about how I'll never be able to hear a new, good song written by the Vocals ever again. The last thought made my eyes water a bit.
"Kisetsu kurikaesu tabi
Hotsureteku kizuna wo
Tsuyoku, tsuyoku daki shimete
Nakusanu you..."
After the first few lines, I lost myself completely in the song. It was like all the problems of today just disappeared, and I was in my own, tranquil, happy place. That was the beauty of music for me. I loved when it could take me away from the world.
Even if I would never hear Miku sing it again. It didn't matter as long as I could hear it somewhere.
"Itai hodoni sore wa yakitsuite
Hirari Hirari Hirari..."
It almost felt like I had a stolen jewel in my phone. It felt as if I had the last of the proof that the Vocals can make good songs. Or at least, could. It was like the song was mine, and mine alone, and I was the keeper of it, the protector of it. I felt empowered by it. It's distraction was better than any drug I could use.
"Sotto ame noyouni furu koe ga
Hirari ga Hirari rari..."
The piano faded out, and the song ended, and the weight of the day fell on my shoulders all over again. I sighed, and opened my eyes again.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw someone was sitting on the bench next to me.
I ripped the earbuds out of my ears, my face turning bright red in a matter of milliseconds. It was a man in a suit, who looked to be about in his mid thirties, and had his black hair slicked back with enough gel to make it look like plastic. He had some well kept stubble running up his jawline, and a pair of earthly brown eyes. He was leaned back on the bench, with one arm hooked over the edge behind him. In his hand was a white card. After some thought, I recognized him as the man that was standing in the corner backstage on his phone.
"Well," I said, breaking the awkward silence. "This is really embarrassing."
He laughed. "I saw the Vocals harassing you and your friend, so I followed you out here to apologize."
"Um..." My face was still bright red. "Sorry..."
He let out a laugh, and shook his head. "For what?"
"Uh-"
He held out a hand, and smiled kindly at me. "I'm Erik. I'm the manager of the Vocals."
My mouth fell open. I slowly shook his hand, amazed at how eventful this one day had been.
"... And, you are?"
I shook my head, trying to concentrate on the conversation. Weird, I had been more fazed by the Vocals' manager than the Vocals themselves. "I'm R-Rin," I stuttered. "Rin Webs."
Erik nodded. He looked at the car in his hand, and held it out to me. "Here."
I took it, and looked it over. It was a business card with an address on the bottom.
"You can definitely sing songs," he began. "But can you write them?"
I was not prepared to be interviewed. "A-um, I have a couple of songs that I've written, but... but it's nothing serious."
"Well, tomorrow, I'll be at the recording studio-" He tapped the address on the bottom of the card. "From noon 'till about five-ish. You should drop by and sing one of your 'non serious' songs."
"Um... I don't know..."
"We've been looking for someone new lately, but we haven't had any luck." He looked down at the ground. "We've been having issues lately, and the others just aren't taking them seriously."
I let out a laugh, gazing down at the card. "Issues? I could tell..." I rubbed the address with my thumb. "Sorry," I apologized. "I didn't mean it like that."
He shook his head. "It's fine. Just come by tomorrow." He stood. "I'll tell the people at the front office to be expecting you." He smiled again. "Just bring some kind of ID with you."
"I-I have a driver's licence... "
"That'll work." Erik sighed. "I'll see you at the studio."
I nodded, at a loss for words.
He nodded back, and walked back down the alley. He entered the same door that I came out of.
I stared at the card for a long time.
Yes, I am going to put the Romanji lyrics in whenever they're singing the song, unless the meaning of them is specifically important. I'll always try to link videos with the English subtitles, and if I can't find a video with English subtitles, then I'll try to find them and post them somewhere for you guys.
Geez, I feel like I had a lot more to talk about than that, but I can't remember any of it. If it's really that important, I'll put it in the note for the next chapter.
Thank you guys for reading!