Chapter Text
Shiraishi An was in great distress.
MEIKO’s magical sekai drinks didn’t help, the Kagamines’ and Miku’s questioning didn’t ease her whatsoever. Luka’s easy attempts to talk surprisingly didn’t have much effect either.
Hell, even Kohane patting her back, trying to comfort her the best she can, did nothing. Bless her partner for at least trying, even if she knew absolutely nothing about what horrors An just witnessed.
Finally letting go of her abused hair strands, she looked up to all the worried faces surrounding her and the cafe table.
—
The blonde singer was confused, and that was just putting it lightly. Kohane had no idea what sort of events led her fiery partner into a traumatized mess in their shared sekai.
She and Toya had met up in the plaza intending to practice, and they’d stopped at the cafe for a breather, where they found the vocaloids gathered around an unresponsive An.
According to MEIKO, An had suddenly burst into the cafe, not even offering a greeting when she walked in. She just sat down on an empty table and started to stare off into space ever since, occasionally holding her head up with her hands, yet eyes never leaving the table.
An finally looked up from her hair-clutched wallowing and met Kohane’s eyes after what seemed like decades of back rubbing. Everyone fell silent, trying to decipher An’s expression, to figure out whether she needs comfort or space.
To her rushing relief, An hadn’t cried.
As Kohane opened her mouth to speak, another voice awkwardly filled the quiet cafe.
“Aha, An, mind telling us what happened?”
It was KAITO, who kept his distance since he walked in and saw An in complete unresponsive state.
“Please, Shiraishi,” another voice chimed in, this time more sincere than the easygoing DJ. “Whatever is the problem, it’s better to solve it as a team.”
Toya had a reassuring, yet serious smile on his face, ready to take on whatever An told him.
“Akito, he– “
An visibly trembled as she creaked open her mouth. Choking on her words, she took another swig of her rum raisin milkshake.
Kohane was worried, to say the least. Shinonome was one of the toughest and resilient people she knew. Uneasy glances darted all across the cafe.
Her mind ran through the worst scenarios. A car crash? A street fight? Some sort of freak accident?
An exhaled, continuing on. Barely getting out the words as she looked down at her favorite drink.
“Akito, he's got a– a girlfriend…”
“…”
Luka and the Kagamines burst out laughing.
KAITO and Miku were trying their best not to.
MEIKO stared with wide eyes from the bar, in the middle of pouring coffee. It overfilled.
Kohane and Toya just stared open-mouthed, trying to process what An had just told them.
The two of them knew Akito was an honest, hardworking teammate. He was someone you could rely on, someone that’ll take up any challenge.
However, they also knew that he was incompatible with romance.
And now he has a girlfriend?
An made no signs she was joking. No signs it was just a little prank. Her eyes only held genuine sincerity to Kohane’s own.
She was dead serious.
Questions upon questions were bombarded on the messenger about the impossible news.
“How’d you even figure it out?”
“Wait, you’re for real for real!?”
“WHO? WHEN? WHO?”
Kohane winced as her partner struggled to keep up with the interrogation raining down on her. If she was to be honest, she also wanted to join in the parade of questions for answers.
Alas, the responsible, understanding Kohane screamed at the back of her mind to help An for goodness’ sake.
Finally coming out of her shocked state, the soft-spoken singer sat down beside An and started patting her back again, offering her a sympathetic smile.
An exhaled deeply. Then with a familiar determined look in her amber eyes and a shaky voice, she recounted the vivid tale.
—
The charismatic singer had just wrapped up her morning practice a little earlier than usual.
Thanking the locals that had come to see her practice, An was reeling with energy. She could sing a few more songs, instead of ending her practice this soon.
But she had an important errand first.
Walking through Vivid street, she looked for the specific peach buns that her dear partner absolutely loved. Kohane could spur on and on about the gentle flavor and the nice chew for hours.
Once An had heard that the same shop was having a limited stock of their jumbo-sized version of their signature buns, she just had to get her hands on it.
The singer mindlessly hummed one of the songs Toya composed while practically skipping through the alleyway. She smiled as she imagined Kohane’s shocked face when she gave her the treats.
Then maybe she’d hug An, tell her she’s the best partner ever, and maybe–
“Yes, just these please.”
An froze in her tracks, yanked out of her daydreaming by a familiar gruff voice. She whipped around her head to find a mop of messed ginger hair, standing in front of a small shop not that far away from her.
He seemed to have not noticed her yet, still conversing with someone. And in his hands were–
Sunflowers?
Why the fuck did Shinonome Akito have a bundle of sunflowers that were being wrapped nicely?
An quickly darted back into the narrow alley she had just come from. Peeking her head out, she realized that he was at one of her favorite florists on Vivid street.
Akito did ask her about good flower shops around the area a few days ago, but An didn’t really pay much attention when she mindlessly told him her own favorite.
So why was Akito here? Could it be that Ena finally won an art competition? She highly doubted that Akito would get his dreaded older sister flowers to congratulate, but maybe he was a changed man.
Before An could run up to him and tease him endlessly, the shopkeeper opened his mouth first.
“You’ve been buying these sunflowers for a while now. At this rate, you’re gonna buy the entire stock, Akito.” He wrapped a small yellow ribbon around the flowers. “Did you finally get a girlfriend or something?”
The shopkeeper asked it jokingly, lightheartedly, but Akito’s skin flushed at the sudden question. An almost let out a giggle.
Akito and romance was like oil and water, there’s no way any girl would date hi–
“Sure… I guess.”
His voice was so uncharacteristically small, almost inaudible from where An was eavesdropping. The shopkeeper grinned, handed him the flowers, and started to pat his back while laughing loudly. Akito was turning redder and redder by the second.
An took in the sight, almost laughing with the shopkeeper when the realization slowly sank in. Her smile faded.
Akito had a girlfriend.
That prickly, sarcastic, blunt Shinonome Akito. That same Akito managed to pull someone. Hell, he was buying sunflowers for them.
An stumbled backwards from the pure shock of it all.
This– this couldn’t be real.
Getting her phone out with trembling fingers, she somehow managed to click “Beyond the Way”. The white light engulfed her, jumbo peach buns long forgotten, replaced with a need to process what she’d just seen.
—
When An had finished recapping this morning's events, the cafe was dead silent. Half had their mouth agape, while the other half had a smile plastered on their faces.
“Well there’s no doubt about it then,” Miku spoke first in her usual cool tone. “Akito’s got a secret girlfriend.”
“But– but that’s impossible!” Rin cried out in disbelief.
“Rin, Akito said so himself.” Len murmured beside her, almost sounding like he was trying to convince himself.
An let out a laugh, the situation was so unbelievable now that she fully processed it, it was downright comical. Akito dating someone before An. Even before Toya, hell, even before Kohane!
“Luka? You don’t seem very surprised.” MEIKO remarked. Luka let out an amused chuckle.
“Ah, I might have seen things around the sekai. I didn’t realize th–”
“WHAT?”
The cafe erupted. The pink-haired singer only put up her hands in surrender.
“I saw it a couple weeks ago while exploring around, and it’s not even the weirdest thing I’ve seen around here.” She shrugged, while everyone else just stared at her with wide eyes.
“So, what was it, Luka-san?” Toya asked in a calm voice.
“It was graffiti of a school,” Luka explained, enjoying the tension. “It was so massive, it took up nearly the whole wall of the building.”
An tilted her head to the side,confused. Akito had absolutely no love for academics, where was Luka going with this?
“There was a beautiful sunset in the background,” She continued, “But what I found interesting were the bouquets upon bouquets of sunflowers leaned up against the wall. It felt oddly… romantic.”
“Can you take us there, Luka?” Miku asked, now fully curious about Akito’s secret love life. The pinkette only shook her head.
“Ah, well, it was a while ago… I doubt I remember where it is. These streets are constantly changing, you know!”
An deadpanned at Luka. She did not just lose the one single lead on Akito’s girlfriend. The latter seemed to notice.
“Of course, I’ll keep an eye out for it when I go exploring again,” Luka said, giving a slight shrug with a hint of an amused smile. Her purple eyes flickered to amber ones. “I assure you An, you’ll be the first to know.”
Partially satisfied, An nodded. She leaned back on her plush cafe chair, taking another sip of her milkshake.
It tasted much better now.
While An was busy enjoying her drink, Kohane leaned forward to the table, eyes meeting Luka’s.
“Well, Luka-san, can’t we go searching for it right now?” The blonde singer asked curiously. “We still have lots of time left for the day…”
“Sorry, Asuzawa-san,” Toya spoke up from the corner, looking slightly guilty with a barely noticeable flush on his face. “I won’t be able to join you guys today.”
That grabbed An’s attention.
She turned around to the blue-haired singer and flashed a smug grin, her tease written all over her face. An opened her mouth to ask her dear teammate about a certain songstress–
“Ah! That’s completely fine, Aoyagi-kun!” Kohane spoke quickly. She put a hand to the back of her head in embarrassment. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed everyone would be free on a Saturday afternoon.”
“Don’t worry Kohane!” An suddenly stood up from her seat, chair nearly knocked backwards. She put her arm around her partner’s shoulder and smirked. “The Vivids are going to figure out this myste–”
“An, didn’t you say that you had to help out Kotaro with your dad’s cafe on Saturdays?” MEIKO inquired up from the bar.
An froze.
Damn.