Chapter Text
On a fateful night, he was practicing for the next show with his friends and everyone else. An and Kohane happily sung together like there's no tomorrow, Tatsuya and his group continued chatting and complaining about college and Arata joyfully teased Kotarou whenever his voice cracks, all while Ken is looking fondly over them. A week ago, Toya remembered smiling and laughing together as he sang songs, glancing over to Akito, his best friend, his partner, his world.
Everything was going well, Akito had to go home early as he remembered he had homework to do, one of the adults offered to ride him home but the ginger insisted that he can keep himself safe and can go home alone.
It was normal, of course Akito didn't respond to Toya’s texts once he went home but he assumed he was too focused on the math homework to even respond, his grades were dropping to be fair. But then, the next day hit.
Toya was heading to Weekend Garage early, Akito still hadn't read the texts at that time which was weird since the ginger always responded fast, he figured he would arrive early just to get some coffee in and meet up with An before Kohane and his partner arrived.
A metal stench hits his nose. The blue haired teen was about to head inside the café when he smelled it, he initially thought it was just a heavy smell from a piece of metal but it was too strong to be it, the scent seemed more like….
Blood.
This creeped Toya out, the stench seemed to coming from one of the alleys, he never really liked alleys, the narrow walls made him felt slightly claustrophobic and An always told rumors about huge gangs who always hung around them, waiting for vulnerable victims to threaten and beat up, as someone with the physical strength that is equal to a twig, Toya felt unsafe.
He was about to ignore it and head inside but his gut instincts was yelling at him to go check, the rational part of his brain fought back saying that he had a low chance of survival and he should just stay away, but his mind kept going back to Akito, what does his partner have anything to do with this?
Eventually, he bit the bullet and started heading into the alleys, following the smell. The narrow walls were tight and cramped, it felt suffocating and the absolute silence of the alleys, compared to the bustling chatter within the main parts of Vivid Street, it felt so empty and soulless, it gives him the sense of being followed. The walls were littered with graffiti, vandalism and others, some of the walls were broken, some had holes in them, Toya didn't feel safe at all but he was curious.
The stench grew stronger and more humid as he covered his nose when the odor started to get unbearable. His footsteps rang loud in between the silent narrow alleys, giving him goosebumps as he continued and the smell started to kill him. He made his way into a turn and concluded that this is where the metallic blood stench came.
He gently stepped in.
And was greeted with a fresh corpse.
Akito’s corpse.
The ginger was missing an eye on his right, leaving a massive gash where it was, his forehead was bleeding, dripping blood down his chin. Oh god there was blood, so much blood, he wanted to throw up and god the smell was putrid. There was an open wound right where his heart was and god, the blood was a lot, it stained his clothes an uncomfortable shade of crimson that seemed to spread everywhere it could touch and the pool of scarlet underneath it all only made the scene worse. His eyes, formerly so full of energy, fire and determination, were now empty, cold and lifeless. Not a single spark.
Toya couldn't mutter a single word.
Nor breath.
It felt like time had stopped at that moment. Akito laid completely still, and so did Toya. His body didn't move an inch, his heartbeat ran like crazy as he could hear it loudly thump into his ears. His breath was hitched and his vocal chords seemed to temporarily not work anymore. He felt like screaming, yelling on who in their right mind would be this cruel, to kill a teenager like that? Was that why Akito didn't respond nor see any of his texts? Because he was fucking dead the whole time?!
Toya wanted to scream, he really did but any attempts of movement were fruitless, his body wasn't listening to his mind, inside he wanted to let it all out but outside he was frozen and keeping it in. It was terrifying, both seeing his partner like that and his inability to even move.
“TOYA!!! DUCK!!!!”
He didn't duck,but he heard something or perhaps someone getting tackled behind him. Was that…. Ken? The tackle seemed to mess something up as he felt a sharp pain rising at his cheek when something, a knife, grazed against it. There was a loud thud at the back and sounds of two middle aged sounding men fighting, one of them sounding like Ken. Was that actually Ken? Toya wouldn't know as he kept standing frozen, staring at the corpse as a yelling competition broke out behind, the sound of a knife loudly clinking onto the ground rang into his ears.
“You twisted buang! Batugan, you truly have no shame! First you plagiarized smaller group’s music then claim it as your own and now… You start murdering innocent teenagers. For what, you kupal?!"
He could hear Ken cursing vulgar tagalog words against the other, as the second man tried to fight back but to no avail as Toya heard his friend’s father punching into the other man. He heard frantic footsteps coming in as he recognized a familiar female voice.
“Tata!! Slow down, I can't keep up! I can't sprint fast with this huge piece of tarp- WHAT THE FUCK?!?!” It was An.
His body started to unfreeze little by little as he slowly turned his gaze away from what's left of his closest friend and to the battlefield. A lone bloodstained knife sat in front of him as two middle aged men, Ken and the strange unknown person, violently fighting, while a teenage girl, An, stood shocked and flabbergasted at the scene as she held a large piece of tarp. The unfamiliar man already had several bruises on his face, his nose was surely broken and was bleeding horribly and almost all his teeth seemed to fell out one by one as Ken furiously punches the daylights out of him, looking nearly unharmed aside from a few scratches and bruises, before sending a quick chop to the guy’s neck, knocking him out unconscious as the brunette man pants with exhaustion.
“Tata?! What's going on?? Why did you start beating that random guy and Toya?! What are you doing here??” An yelled in confusion as she dropped the tarp on the ground, making her way to the mostly frozen bluenette, he hadn't really focused on himself, his heart still thumped loudly but he could feel his breath again, albeit shallow. She immediately went over and noticed his cheek, “What happened here??? Why is there a cut on your cheek?”
She turned to look at what was behind Toya.
“Seriously i’m actually confused what the actual fuck is going o-”
…….
“Akito…..?”
She stood frozen, as she took in the sight, her grip on the tarp faltering as she looked on the scene, her eyes began to gloss over, tears welling up, her face contorting from shock to absolute devastation as she dropped the tarp and ran over to Akito’s corpse. She knelt down in front of him, her trembling hands hovering over his cheeks, pale and stained, her breathing shallow in quick gasps, as tears fell down from her chin. Her hands cupped him as she hung her head low, sobbing quietly as her body trembled.
A wet sensation washed over Toya as he held a hand up to wipe a tear. Was he crying this whole time? He never noticed. He stood there, his body frozen once again as he breathed in shallow gasps, staring at An’s sobbing figure cupping Akito’s blood stained cheeks.
“Kids..” Both teens flinched as they slowly turned over to Ken, holding up the unfamiliar man like a potato sack as he held up the tarp to An, “Cover him up with the tarp and carry him back to the cafe, I’ll deal with this. Toya, we better get you bandaged up before that wound gets infected.”
Oh right, his cheek, he held his hand up to the wound, wiping across the stinging wound as blood stains his fingers and drips down his chin. An began wrapping Akito’s body up in the tarp, her body still wracked with sobs and hiccups as she continuously wipes her tears away, her glossy eyes a canvas of grief. Once she’s done, she lifts him up, her movements clumsy and trembling as she slowly walks over to her father, Toya himself following suit as Ken led them back to the cafe with a solemn yet dark expression on his face.
They made it back at last as Ken finishes up patching Toya’s wound and An gently places Akito on the counter before she tackles into Toya, wailing as she hugged him tightly, screaming in between hiccups and sobs, he wasn’t a physical contact guy but he slowly wrapped his arms around her, sniffling quietly. Ken stood, taking in the scene with guilt before he resumed glaring at the scowling now awake unknown man, tied up into a chair.
“You really haven’t lost your streak huh, Shiraishi?” The man spat with venom as Ken’s glare darkened, “Kaomura,” so the name is Kaomura, “I’ve never thought you’d stoop so low as you kill a fucking teenager..”
Kaomura smirked a cruel grin “As if that kid would ever make it in life, I’m just doin him a favor, so he won’t be awake on the day he eventually fails”, An and Toya momentarily stopped crying as they stared in shock, appalled by the audacity of Akito’s murderer’s words as he continued, “Face it, kid got no real talent, he’s just setting himself up for failure. Surpassing Rad Weekend is a massive stretch for someone as-” “Silence.” He flinched as Ken looked at him furiously, if looks could kill, Kaomura would be in worse shape than Akito.
“You have no real ground to talk about Akito like that when you yourself thought plagiarizing and stealing younger musicians’ songs would grant yourself a chance to surpass Rad Weekend as well. And now you are going as far as killing off literal teenagers just to have a better chance because you knew Akito is far better than your low life ass. Walang hiya ka..” The murderer was left speechless as he gritted his teeth, Ken had hit him right where it hurts most. An and Toya were appalled, there’s no way someone is insane enough to head straight for murder to get a better chance of surpassing a legendary event.
Just as the murderer tried to reason himself, the bell rang as Kohane happily frolicked in, her expression full of joy and excitement “Hey, everyone sorry I’m la…….” Her words trailed off at the scene which without the devastating context looked quite absurd, An and Toya were hugging each other tightly, tear streaks are stained on their cheeks, Toya with a bandage on his, as a massive Akito-long tarp with quite a putrid rotting smell while Ken stood, arms crossed glaring at an unknown man as his expression softened at the sight of Kohane.
The silence was deafening, the air was thick with tension that a knife couldn’t even cut it, Kohane's face contorted from confusion to worry to fear, “What happend..?”
An broke off from Toya as she weakly stepped over to Kohane, gently holding her hands up as she struggles to keep her calm without breaking down into sobs. “A-Aki-” Her voice trembled as she gripped Kohane's hand tighter, her knuckles growing white “A-Akito is-”
“W-What's wrong with Akito…?” Kohane looks into An’s glossy eyes, confusion etched on her face. An couldn't take it anymore as she lunged herself into Kohane, hugging the shorter teen tight as she completely crumbles, her voice hoarse as she screamed and wailed. Kohane hugged back slowly, her face contorts to a look of horror as she pieces together the clues, the Akito-long tarp, the tension in the room, the rotting smell, how Toya barely talked at all, how Toya cried, how An cried. She glanced over to Ken, her face pale, begging if what she's thinking isn't the truth.
Ken could only soften up as he looks at her with guilt “Akito is dead. I’m sorry, Kohane.”
Akito is dead.
Akito is dead.
The realization struck Kohane hard as she stood frozen, her arms still wrapped around An’s trembling figure. Toya moved closer to her, his own arms wrapping around her shorter stature. Slowly after a moment of silence, she broke as she wailed loudly, begging if this was a dream, her knuckles white as she gripped An tighter, her body shaking with every movement as all three of them huddled together in one big pile, letting the world hear their grief and sobs.
It has been two weeks after the whole ordeal and a week after the funeral, Toya, An and Kohane gathered around a lone grave, “Akito Shinonome, 2005-2022” carved into the stone in a taunting manner. Toya held a bouquet of marigold as he gently laid it down in front of the stone, “Hello, Akito. It’s been a while…”
Kohane sniffled as she wiped her tears with a handkerchief and An could do nothing but avoid eye contact with the grave that bore her friend’s name. Toya continued on, his eyes misting before lighting up with a hint of determination “We decided on something. We’re going to continue to surpass Rad Weekend.” Kohane continued after him, “Y-Yeah but please don't get the wrong idea that you're a burden!”, An glanced back “Yeah, we’re continueing for you! We know how much it is your dream to surpass Rad Weekend and we share it too! We won't disappoint you, we promise.”
Toya closed his eyes as he sighed, standing back up, his tall frame towering over the stone grave, the bouquet of marigolds sitting lonely in front. “We hope that you are resting peacefully. Goodbye Akito.” He wiped a tear he didn't know was there before guiding the girls to leave, Kohane’s eyes glossy, welling up with tears as she looked back one last time as An waved one last farewell.
They retreated to the Sekai, the graffiti tattered alleys and the faint scent of coffee has always been comforting for all three of them.
Their face a solemn look as they remembered the day they broke the news to the Virtual Singers, Meiko and Luka were rightfully devastated as Miku and Rin looked in horror, Kaito became more distant and less outgoing, it's like Akito's death affected him horribly, they couldn't blame him though, he did see Akito as a son, but Len was the most affected by the news, he cried, sobbed for days, hugging Meiko tightly as he begged questions, why did Akito die? What made Akito deserve it? It hurted them to see such a young boy so hurt at the thought of his elder brother figure dead for good.
They only went to the Sekai just to have some coffee, try to cheer up the mood and practice, to surpass Rad Weekend. For Akito. However…
The bell rang, announcing their arrival, they expected to see the usual sight of Meiko brewing some coffee as she chatted with Miku, Len and Rin playing board games and Luka joking around with Kaito but what they saw was unexpected.
It was Meiko who was talking to an unknown person. It seemed like a man, though they looked young so they’re probably their age but they’re also insanely tall, taller than Toya even, they have blonde hair with tips of orange scattered across, their eyes were a similar shade of teal to the Kagamines and they wore a white shirt, dark navy ripped jeans and a black leather jacket, with a large eye patch strapped over their right eye.
Since when did their Sekai have a yakuza member in here?
“Meiko? Who’s that?” Kohane called out as Meiko and the yakuza member flinched, they looked at the trio and Meiko’s features softened up at the sight of the three while the yakuza member looked horrified with a glint of… recognition?
“O-Oh! Kids you arrived earlier than expected-” “Okay Meiko who the fuck is that and when did we have a yakuza member in our Sekai?” Meiko attempted to speak before An interrupted her in a panicked yet confused shout. “Now now, kids let me explain. So this is uh..” The older woman trailed off as she stood, realizing she didn't get a name yet.
“My name is Kagamine Neru, I am formed after your friend Akito Shinonome died and I’m not a yakuza.” The not-yakuza member spoke up, his face a forced expression of calmness after her, introducing themself as the trio looked on in confusion. How did Akito's death somehow cause a new Virtual Singer to form?
Meiko sweat dropped as she chuckled nervously, “You three must be confused but what Neru said is true, he was formed after Akito’s death and we just discovered him recently.” She throughly explained the process of how and when exactly did Neru form to the three, the teens nodding along as they listened.
“So what does this entail for us?” Kohane glanced at Meiko nervously, fear in her eyes as Meiko lightly shook her head “Nothing much, we just have a new member in our roster.” Neru looked away, his presence distant as An crossed her arms glaring at them, “I don't have a good feeling about this guy. They're hiding something for sure.” Toya lightly hit her shoulder, his expression stern, “Be nice…”
Everything was sudden, Akito is now dead and they have a new Virtual Singer living in their Sekai, who seems suspicious but no matter what, they must continue on on their journey to surpass Rad Weekend. Now for a new reason, for Akito.