Chapter Text
– Years ago –
At first, Akito couldn’t stand the mere thought of An Shiraishi.
She wasn’t anything special, he kept telling himself. The only reason anyone liked her was because she was the daughter of the legendary Ken Shiraishi. Sure, her singing was fine and she had the charisma to match. But so did everyone else on Vivid Street.
Everyone except him.
As the weeks went by and his skills slowly began to improve, Akito realized that he didn’t hate An Shiraishi - he envied her. From the moment she was born, she’d been surrounded by all the best mentors, all the most valuable resources and connections. She wasn’t bad. She was good. Amazing, even. And he had to claw his way up from rock bottom with his bare hands before he could even reach her starting point.
“What’s the matter with you?” his father had snapped when he’d returned from Crawl Green dragging his heels. “Ruining a perfectly good concert because you can’t accept the truth… you act just like your sister.”
Thankfully, despite his father’s harsh words, they were always just that: words. So Akito continued his daily practices down the street from Weekend Garage, pushing through his entire setlist no matter how many people stopped to listen - and no matter how many people didn’t.
Towards the end of the school year, Akito realized that he didn’t have anyone who was excited to go to the same high school as him, nor anyone who was sad that they’d be parting ways. As he trudged down Vivid Street that afternoon, the neon lights and record stores suddenly felt alien to him, as if he’d seen the area a million times in his dreams but was only just now seeing it in person. Although the signs said “OPEN,” all he saw were doors that he had no right to enter.
Akito shook his head. Those were just thoughts. Useless ones at that. He had to sing.
So he set up his speakers and kicked off his practice session.
“-----! -----!”
But it didn’t sound half as good as usual. Three songs in, not a single person had stopped by, not even the regulars who had started showing a bit of interest in his career. And five songs in, his body had already begun to feel heavy, his head murky as he sat down to drink some water and catch his breath.
In, out. In, out…
“-----!! -----!!!”
A blast of music made him flinch, and when he looked up, he saw An Shiraishi at the corner just across from his own, mic in hand, hair practically floating around her as she moved in perfect sync with the beat. Almost immediately, a small audience began gathering in front of her. She reached out her hand and suddenly his eyes met hers.
“Hey you,” she called out, “let’s see you top this!”
People began turning their heads, looking right at him, no doubt thinking about how pathetic he was. He nearly cursed her name - but then the realization hit him.
He stopped. A grin spread across his face.
And he got to his feet. “Is that a threat?!” he shouted back, newfound energy surging through his body.
She smiled, her eyes glinting in the setting sun. “You tell me!”
Suddenly the two of them were singing together, at once rivals and allies, their choreography completely disparate but their vocals mixing surprisingly well. More people were gathering now, so many that Akito couldn’t see where the crowd ended. They naturally cheered during her solos, but a few cheered during his too.
Someone towards the front tapped his neighbor’s shoulder. “Who is that guy?”
“Akito something,” replied the other man. “Same age as An.”
“Really? Wow. Looks like we've got two prodigies in town.”
Akito’s body felt much lighter than before, his movements much more animated. His singing and dancing felt like they weren’t his own, and yet the most exhilarating thing was that they were his own, that he had gotten even one person to ask his name. He was standing alongside An Shiraishi herself.
No - just An would suffice.
By the time it was over, the sky had gone dark and both of them were practically gasping for breath. The spectators applauded longer than ever, and as they dispersed, An giggled and clapped Akito’s shoulder. “That was so much fun! I knew you had it in you, Akito.”
“Uh… thanks,” Akito mumbled. They had conversed a few times before, but only in the form of short greetings and awkward small talk. He hadn’t been particularly interested in talking to her at the time. But now…
“An, Akito, great job!” A young woman approached them. She was a cashier at the local dim sum restaurant, and one of the few people who watched both him and An on a regular basis. “That was insane… my heart is still pounding.”
“Oh.” Akito put on a polite smile. “Thank you so much. As always, it means a lot that you came to see me. Or us, in this case.”
“Hehe, of course. I’m always happy to support you both. Though, now that you mention it…” She looked curious. “Are the two of you still performing solo?”
“That’s right,” An replied with a sigh. “I’ve been looking for a partner or a team, but I haven’t found a good fit.”
“I’m… not sure what I’m going to do yet,” Akito said honestly. “I’ve only been singing for a couple months, so I haven’t really thought about a team or anything.”
“I see. In that case…” The woman gestured between Akito and An. “Why don’t you partner up with each other? You made a pretty good pair just now.”
“Partner up?” Akito looked at An.
An looked back at him. “With… each other?”
“Ah, no pressure if you don’t want to,” the woman added quickly. “I just thought I’d put it out there in case it would help.”
“R-right,” An said with a subtly nervous laugh. “We’ll think about it!”
Once the cashier had gone, An turned to Akito. “I’ve gotta go. The dinner rush is about to start.”
“Oh… right. You help at Ken's place.”
“Yep. But don’t worry - I get paid in rum raisin ice cream.”
“Rum raisin…?” Akito grimaced at the memory of trying it for one of Ena’s social media outings. “You actually like that stuff?”
“What do you mean? It has a nice, complicated taste. Like a fancy adult dessert.”
“Speak for yourself. I’d prefer cheesecake any day.”
“Oh? I didn’t think you were the cheesecake type. I would’ve bet on pancakes or something.”
“How careless of you,” he remarked, choosing to leave out the fact that pancakes were his other favorite.
“Says you,” An retorted, though she didn’t follow it with an argument - instead, she just fell silent.
Akito waited. It seemed he wasn't the only one who still had something to say.
“Hey,” An finally murmured, “about earlier… what do you think?”
“About what?”
“Us being partners. Do you want to?”
He paused. Did he want to?
Of course he did, badly. He’d be a fool not to. But singing by her side made it all the more evident that he was still miles behind her. He would never want to team up with someone who couldn’t match him in both skill and commitment - and An almost certainly felt the same.
“...I’ll think about it,” he answered.
“Yeah?” She smirked, returning to her cheery demeanor. “Well, you better think fast, or I’ll be surpassing RAD WEEKEND without you.”
Akito rolled his eyes. “Now that’s definitely a threat.”
“Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't.” An hummed cryptically. “You tell me.”
- Present -
Miku stretched her arms above her head. She usually preferred to stay close to MEIKO’s café, but it was always nice to take a long walk on her days off. Perhaps Luka was onto something.
“I wonder if I’ll run into her,” Miku thought aloud. “She said she usually likes to follow the graffiti, but I followed the posters instead… hm?”
She stopped at a short, narrow alley that didn’t seem to lead anywhere. At the end was a tiny ball of light, glowing and pulsing.
“Is that…?”
Miku slowly stepped into the alley, and as she drew closer, the ball began glowing brighter, pulsing more vigorously.
“I thought so,” she said casually, though she was always excited to encounter a fragment of a feeling. “I don’t know whose feelings these are, but… I hope they don’t mind if I take a quick peek.”
She reached out and touched the fragment.