Chapter Text
I’ve always known who I am, what my identity is. I’ve been really proud of it, and I really thought staying true to myself would make me happy, but I guess there are some people that see empowerment as something threatening…
“Their clothes are really pretty… and the makeup is crazy work…” Wumuti thought, watching TV. She knew she didn’t have much time to watch it, so she was trying to absorb all the information she could. “I wish I could’ve gotten the name of this group…”
“Wumuti, turn that thing off, it’s frying your braincells.” Wumuti’s mom said.
“Okay, sorry, it was already turned on anyway…”
“Here, I made you breakfast. Eat and leave for school, you’re going to be late again.”
“… Hey, so… there’s this girl group I found online… there’s no way we could go to their concert, right?”
“Absolutely not!” Wumuti’s dad screamed from the kitchen. “You’re a boy, you can’t go around watching and liking those things.”
“… Of course.”
And I hid my identity so deep inside me that I convinced myself I forgot who I truly was, and there was no way I could remember anymore.
It was late at night, way past curfew hours, but Wumuti was still out. Her mother asked her to buy a very specific magazine that only the stores on the other side of the city sold, so there she was, somewhere she barely knew and with midnight rapidly approaching. Her mother didn’t even tell her which store had the magazine, so she had to guess. And she guessed the building with a singing girl on the sign had to be the one.
“Oh, this is so not the store, huh.” Wumuti thought, as the building turned out to be a nightclub.
Wumuti planned on leaving quietly and hoping no one would notice her, but the fact that the club was empty caught her attention. That, and the person singing to an empty crowd.
“I’ve never heard a voice this pretty, he’s so good… or she? What…?”
“Oh my God, a customer! Hi!” the singer exclaimed, startling Wumuti.
Wumuti was a person whose “fight or flight” mode activated very easily, and the singer noticing her was enough to make her run out of the club. Ultimately, she managed to get the magazine and arrive home safely. When she was getting ready to go to bed, she started thinking about everything that happened.
“… They seemed to be around my age… Is this something I actually can do…?”
However, her thinking session would be interrupted by a white flash coming from her phone, and Miku popping up.
“Hey, haven’t you heard?!” Miku said. “The new runaway is finally open! We’ll be waiting for you!”
Just as Miku appeared on the screen, she disappeared.
“… I’m pretty sure I’m starting to hallucinate. I should really go to sleep.”
Even if she could think of Miku as a hallucination, she couldn’t get that singer out of her mind and, as if a small gear started running in her head, she decided she was going to know all about that nightclub.
The next day, Wumuti couldn’t focus on her classes at all, and some of her classmates noticed.
“Hey, everything okay?” Chan asked, turning around as soon as their teacher left the classroom.
“Huh? Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, you seem a bit distracted today.”
“Well, it’s just… there’s a cool person I want to get to know…”
“Oh, then just go and talk to them!”
“That’s so easy for you to say… Hey, how can you stay so positive all the time? Even when they keep rejecting you?”
“I mean, because I know that, deep down, this is who I’m meant to be, so I just keep trying until I get it. Because I know I’ll get it.”
“I see… who you’re meant to be… Even if I…?”
“Yeah?”
“… No, nevermind. Yeah, I get it.”
Right after class, Wumuti went back to that part of the city, and waited near the club. After a few minutes, she realized someone was already inside, so she decided to enter the club.
“Sorry, we don’t open ‘till 9!” the person exclaimed, turning around as they heard the door open. “Oh, you’re back! I must’ve startled you yesterday, right? Sorry, love.”
“N-no, it’s okay… Uh, I just wanted to say I loved your performance yesterday. Well, the bit I saw.”
“Well, thank you! You’re the first customer I’ve had in a while, so I really appreciate that. Oh, right, I’m Hyun.”
“I’m Wumuti… Okay, I’m going to try to be direct, are you…? You know…”
“A girl? Yeah? Aren’t you as well?”
“H-how did you… Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. Is it really that obvious?”
“The way you tuck you uniform is a dead giveaway, hon.”
“Okay, dang… So, does music really help you as much as I think it does? Because if that’s the case then I want it to help me too…”
“Hmm… Okay, yeah, I think you’re the one. Come to the back.”
“Oh, o-okay.”
Hyun guided Wumuti through the back of the club, until they reached a room. A bedroom, filled with posters and pictures.
“So, these are ‘Re-play’,” Hyun said, picking up a picture. “These girls are the embodiment of my dream, and I’m trying to make music, performances, just like them. Maybe even better than them, but I want my music to reflect who I am and help people feel good about themselves… And you’re going to help me with that.”
“W-wait, just like that?! You don’t even know how I sing!”
“Well, yeah. But I can already tell you’re made for this… I mean, if you want. Sorry, I don’t want you to feel pressured, but it’s been a while since I’ve felt this excited.”
“… No, it’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“Oh my God, really?! That’s amazing! I’ll get the stage ready!”
“… What did I get myself into…?” Wumuti thought, leaving the room.
Once the stage was ready, and once they found a song Wumuti actually knew, she finally started singing. It had been so long since Wumuti last sang, but she still had it.
“… That was amazing.” Hyun said.
“Oh, w-was it?”
“Yeah! Have you done choir or something?”
“Not really… I just sang at home whenever I could…”
“Well, then I’m really glad you came here yesterday, because this potential can’t go to waste. Okay, so Muti, wait, can I call you Muti?”
“S-sure!”
“Great! Okay, so I think we should start rehearsing together for a few weeks and then start performing.”
“Y-yeah, sounds good.”
They talked about some more things regarding the performances for a few hours, until Wumuti had to go home. Right outside the club, where Hyun couldn’t see her, she sighed.
“I need a miracle if I want this to work…”
Still, Wumuti showed up to practice every day, since there was finally something that made her feel alive.
A few weeks later, when Wumuti arrived at the club, Hyun wasn’t alone.
“Oh, hi, Muti!” Hyun greeted her. “These are Rui and Haru, they perform here sometimes.”
“Nice to meet you!” Haru exclaimed. “Hyun was showing us some of your performances last week.”
“Yeah, you’re so good.” Rui mentioned.
“Oh, th-thank you!” Wumuti said, flustered.
“Seriously, how long have you been doing this?”
“Well, I-”
“Wait, let’s finish watching this first!” Hyun interrupted.
However, the moment Hyun went to play the video, the screen flashed white, with Miku appearing on it.
“Hey, why are y’all taking so long?” she asked. “The runaway is waiting for you!”
Again, just as she appeared, Miku disappeared from the screen.
“… So what was that?” Haru asked.
“I-it was Miku… again…” Wumuti mumbled.
“Sorry, ‘again’?!” Rui also asked.
Suddenly, a notification popped up in the screen, saying that an untitled song had finished downloading.
“I… wasn’t downloading anything…” Hyun said.
As the others kept discussing Miku’s appearance, Hyun went to check that song, playing it to make sure it wasn’t a virus. Instead, they were met with a flashbang. Once they recovered their vision, they realized they weren’t at the club anymore.
“Oh, so the runaway was actually real…” Haru mentioned.
“That’s the only thing that caught your attention?!” Rui asked.
However, they wouldn’t have much time to discuss what had just happened, as two figures were approaching them.
“M-Miku?! Like, the real Miku?!” Hyun exclaimed.
“T-Teto’s here as well…” Wumuti pointed out.
“It took you a while to come, huh, Muti?” Miku asked.
“Well, my first thought after seeing you pop up from my screen definitely wasn’t to see if I have… whatever this place is hidden in my phone behind a weird song.”
“… Good point.”
“What is this place, though?” Rui asked.
“So, this is your SEKAI,” Teto explained. “A virtual world created by your true dreams.”
“So, like, performing?” Hyun asked.
“That’s for you to discover;” Miku replied. “It might be because you made an important choice for your future, or maybe you discovered something new about you and the others. Either way, we’re here to help you.”
“This is amazing…” Wumuti thought. “It almost feels like I've been here before… It truly feels like this is what I’m supposed to do…”
“Let us show you around!” Teto suddenly exclaimed.
As they went around the SEKAI, Wumuti kept thinking that she needed to get serious before she disappointed everyone, but she still had time to think about everything.
“And that’s pretty much it,” Miku said. “I guess you’ll leave soon, right?”
“Yeah, it’s getting a bit late.” Rui replied.
“Well, whenever you need someone to talk or whatever, you know where to find us.” Teto mentioned.
“Yeah, I’m sure we’ll be back soon!” Hyun exclaimed. “So… how do we leave?”
“Oh, right, you just have to stop the untitled song,” Teto explained. “You can use whosever phone to leave.”
“Okay, thank you!”
Finally, they left the SEKAI. They hadn’t realized how much time they had spent there until they saw the sun going down from the window.
“… We really spent too much time in there, huh?” Haru asked. “We need to get going soon.”
“Yeah, we have a few events coming up, we need to be at our 100%,” Rui added. “But we’ll be back as soon as we can to… discuss this.”
“Sure, we’ll be waiting for you.” Hyun said.
Haru and Rui left the club, leaving Wumuti and Hyun alone.
“… I think we’ve stumbled across something amazing.” Hyun said.
“Yeah… I think so too…”
“Well, let’s just keep doing our best.”
Wumuti wanted to agree, but for her to do that she needed to start making some changes. And those changes had to start that same night; during dinner, she managed to work up the courage to ask her parents for something.
“So… I was wondering if we could… push back the curfew a bit?” she asked.
“And why would we do that?” her father asked back.
“You know… exams season is coming up and my classmates are doing studying sessions, and I’d like to join them… But they might end a bit late sometimes, and I wouldn’t want you to think I’m out doing any stuff other than studying…”
“Well, I think we can compromise here:” her mother said. “You can get an extra hour if you give us one of your classmates’ number so we can verify you’re out studying.”
“Wh-what? M-my word should be enough…”
“No extra hour for you, then.”
“… Okay, okay. I’ll give you Chan’s number, he’s at every study session.”
“Okay, you get your extra hour, but we better see it in your exams coming up or we’re taking it back.” her dad said, saving Chan’s number in his phone.
Wumuti’s conversation didn’t go bad, but didn’t go too well either, and she’d realize that while she was getting ready to go to bed.
“Oh, wait, now I have to talk with Hyun and Chan. Fuck. Why does this happen to me…?”
However, Wumuti didn’t have much time to complain unless she wanted her autopilot mode to turn off. The next day, during recess, she caught Chan before he went to the rooftop.
“I have a favor to ask you… Yesterday I told my parents I’d be going to study sessions, but I’m actually not. However-”
“Wait, you lied to your parents?! That’s insane!” Chan interrupted. “Wait, sorry, I interrupted you. Go on.”
“However they asked for one of your guys’ phone number so they can check on me, so if you get a text from someone asking for me, could you tell them I’m studying with you?”
“Well, first of all, the fact that they asked for one of our numbers is insane. Second of all, of course, you can always count on me.”
“Okay, thank you so much, Chan.”
Feeling like she had just survived an interrogation, Wumuti could carry on with her day a bit more calmly. Unfortunately, she still had to talk with Hyun, and she wanted to believe it would go as well as it did with Chan. At the club, after practice, she actually went to talk with Hyun.
“Uhm, I guess you’re already familiar with my curfew stuff.” Wumuti said.
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Well, I managed to gain an extra hour, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough, so I was wondering if we could maybe start the shows an hour earlier? Just to be safe?”
“Oh yeah, absolutely, we can work with that.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, I mean, you asked for an extra hour, not for me to close down the club.”
“Okay, amazing!”
Having nothing else to do other than waiting for Rui and Haru, Hyun and Wumuti kept practicing, which helped Wumuti loosen up a bit. Finally, after a few days, Rui and Haru showed up at the club.
“If what Miku and Teto told us the other day is true,” Rui started talking. “I guess we should… become a group? The four of us?”
“Yeah, we’ve been talking about it these days,” Hyun replied. “We’ve been even thinking about some names.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah! Well, we ended up agreeing on only one, ‘XLOV’. It basically means that there’s a love that’s incomplete, and we’re looking to complete it.”
“Wait, I love that,” Haru said. “It’s also a bit like ‘Re-play’, their message.”
“Yeah, that’s what I told Muti!”
“I-it was a coincidence, I don’t really know anything about ‘Re-play’…” Wumuti mentioned.
“Oh, it’s okay, I didn’t know much about them either.” Haru said.
“At least you knew about them.” Rui mumbled.
“Huh? Did you say something, Rui?”
“A-at least she knows about them now. I really like the name, ‘XLOV’… I think this is going to be big, let’s start discussing what to do now.”
They started to plan performances, promotions, stage outfits and looks; they agreed on wearing a single colored contact lens to represent that incomplete love, and settled on classic street clothes. However, all the planning left Haru thinking and, on her way home, she finally stopped to listen to her thoughts.
“At first I thought she was kinda like me… And still she’s really determined. Does she have something I don’t? I tried so hard and yet… She gets it easily…”
When Haru arrived home she tried to stop thinking about it, not quite succeeding, so she decided to go to the SEKAI.
“Oh, Haru, hi!” Teto greeted her. “Are you here by yourself?”
“Yeah, I kinda wanted to talk.”
“Okay, we’re all ears.” Miku said.
“So, today we’ve been discussing becoming a group the four of us, but I don’t think I… fit with them.”
“… Wh-what?”
“I mean, I know I can get in here by myself, and I’ve been doing this with Rui for… forever, but… I don’t know.”
“Well, why do you think that?” Teto asked.
“I mean… I’m not sure, but just seeing them seemingly so sure of themselves… while I have to fight every day just to keep up…”
“What are you fighting?”
“My family… well, not quite. It’s just that I have to become an entirely different person once I’m home… I’m afraid I’ll get too good at pretending that maybe I lose sight of who I really am.”
“I guess I get what you mean, but…”
“In all these years you’ve been performing with Rui, has this happened to you?” Miku asked.
“No, not yet at least…”
“Then why do you think that might happen now?”
“I don’t know, I… Yeah, I think I’m just jealous of Muti. It’s just coming so easily to her considering she hasn’t even performed anywhere yet…”
“Haru, it’s okay to feel jealous, but don’t you think you’re assuming a lot of things?”
“Yeah, maybe Muti has it better than you, or maybe she has it worse, you don’t know that,” Teto added. “You need to believe in yourself regardless of the others. You’re strong, Haru, this shouldn’t affect you that much.”
“Am I, though?” Haru asked.
“Of course you are,” Miku replied. “You’re stronger than most, than you think. This place exists because of the four of you, don’t forget that.”
“… Okay, I won’t. Thank you, you probably helped me more than you think.”
“We’re glad we could help.” Teto said.
“And remember you can always talk with them about your feelings, not just with us.” Miku added.
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind too.” Haru replied.
With her thoughts a bit more in order, Haru left the SEKAI. She wasn’t on the clear yet, but it was a good first step towards working with her thoughts.
The next day, they started discussing potential performances and songs.
“So, we’d perform for the first time in two weeks?” Haru asked.
“Yeah, that’s when all our schedules fit, I think.” Wumuti replied.
“I was thinking, since we’d be just starting out, we could do mainly covers,” Hyun said. “And maybe one or two original songs.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Rui replied. “Maybe you two can compose one of them, and Haru and I the other one.”
“That’s going to be a challenge, but okay, yeah!” Muti said.
“Why? Like, have you never composed anything before?” Haru asked.
“N-no, yeah, I just never finished any song… I never thought they were good enough.”
“Oh, I totally get that.”
“My God, she looks amazing, she has a beautiful voice, and also knows how to make music from scratch?” Rui thought. “This is just not fair…”
By the end of the day, Rui had been awfully quiet, and Haru noticed. After they left the club, Haru stopped Rui.
“Hey, you were a bit off today,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing, Haru. Don’t worry.”
“You know you can’t lie to me. What happened?”
“I told you, it’s nothing.”
“Is it about Muti?”
“… Maybe. It’s just… I don’t know. I don’t know why I feel so weird towards her…”
“It’s okay, you can tell me, Rui.”
“I’m just jealous of her, okay? I don’t enjoy the fact that you and me… and even Hyun, have been working so hard to get to a certain point where we can consider ourselves good at this… and she’s just so good from the start…”
“I get it, I really do, but… I don’t think being jealous is going to do anything. Some people are just better, but she’s isn’t trying to show off. After all, we’re all after the same dream, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so… But what if she decides to quit? What if she leaves us hanging because she doesn’t find our dream interesting anymore? Or too easy for her?”
“She’s not going to do that! I don’t think Muti is that kind of person! Come on, just stop thinking about everything that could go wrong and focus on doing your best.”
“How come you always know what to say and when to say it? You’d be a great motivational speaker.”
“I guess I just have a way with words. We should go already, it’s getting late.”
Eventually, Rui could leave those feelings aside. However, it wouldn’t be for long, since Rui’s anxiety started building up again as days passed. A week before the performance, she couldn’t keep it to herself anymore.
“Uh, guys? Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, sure.” Hyun replied.
“I was thinking… Maybe for our first performance it would be better if we stayed as duos?”
“Rui?” Haru asked.
“Wait, let me finish. I think getting feedback of us at the same performance but not fully together could help us figure out how to get to our fans in a more personal way.”
“I guess… that sounds like a good idea,” Wumuti said. “I mean, getting a visual of the crowd reacting to us will definitely help with the image we want to give.”
“Yes, exactly!”
“Well, then I guess we can do it, yeah.” Hyun said.
Another day of practice came and went, but this time Hyun asked Rui to wait at the club for a bit.
“Yeah?” Rui asked.
“You know you could’ve just said you felt more comfortable performing with Haru first, right?”
“Well, yeah, I just didn’t want any of you to think that I didn’t want to perform with you.”
“We wouldn’t have thought that! Besides, Muti also felt a bit nervous about performing with you two, so you kinda saved her life.”
“Oh, did she? Then I’m glad I asked to separate the performances.”
“Also, we’re a team now, so whatever you feel or think you can always tell us, okay? You don’t need to deal with your burdens alone anymore. I mean, I know you had Haru before, but you have us two now as well.”
“… Yeah, okay, thank you.”
“Of course, Rui.”
With nothing much left to do besides readjusting the performance, they kept practicing until the day of the show.
Things were going well, and the day before they were getting the club ready for the performance. Rui was left alone in the storage room to check the lights, when she noticed something else.
“Oh my God, those fuses look like they’re going to explode… Should I say something, or…”
“Hey, Rui!” Hyun exclaimed from outside the storage room. “Come here a second!”
“No, yeah, it’ll be fine.”
Rui exited the storage room and met with the others. Miku and Teto were in Hyun’s phone screen.
“Oh, hi, guys.” Rui greeted them.
“We just wanted to wish you luck for tomorrow,” Teto said. “I’m sure you’ll crush it, but a bit of luck never hurt anybody.”
“Yeah! It’s going to be amazing, I just know it.” Miku added.
“Well, of course it’s going to be,” Hyun said. “After all it’s us we’re talking about.”
“Still, thank you so much, guys.” Wumuti said.
“We’ll make sure to come over to let you know how it went.” Haru added.
“And we’ll be waiting for you!” Miku exclaimed.
Thanks to the singers, their spirits were lifted above the clouds, so all that was left was waiting. That night, Wumuti was lost in her thoughts before going to sleep.
“If everything goes well tomorrow… I guess I should tell my parents about this… If not they’re going to find out on their own, and that won’t be good… Yeah, I’m going to tell them tomorrow, it’s time they see who I truly am.”
The next day, nerves were high even during class; none of them could think of anything else besides the performance, and their nerves only got worse when they saw how many people showed up for their performance. Finally, it was time for the show.
“Okay, this is it,” Hyun said. “After our turn we’ll quickly tell you how the mood feels.”
“Great, then. Good luck and enjoy it.” Rui said.
It was time to put all that practice into use. Wumuti opened the song but, the moment she was about to start to sing, the power went out. Not just the stage, the entire club was consumed by darkness.
“Wh-what do we do?” Hyun asked, whispering. “I mean, we could still perform, just without the mics and stuff…”
“I-I don’t think I can do that… I-I’m sorry, I…”
“No, no, it’s okay, I totally get it.”
There wasn’t much to do other than cancelling the show and sending the audience home. After a full hour in complete darkness, the power came back.
“Oh, that’s so funny, it couldn’t happen at any other hour, right?” Hyun said.
“B-but it’s a bit weird that it went out for an exact hour, isn’t it?” Wumuti asked.
“… Maybe it was to check something,” Rui replied. “Something that turned out to be true.”
“Wh-what?”
“I mean, what did you think I was actually doing in the storage room? I was testing if you could handle working under pressure, and as I expected you couldn’t.”
“… That doesn’t even make sense, Rui.” Hyun said.
“Rui, what on Earth are you doing?” Haru asked.
“Come on, Haru, you were wondering too.” Rui replied.
“I wasn’t-”
“Let’s go, we’re leaving.”
“I-I guess so?”
Rui and Haru quickly left the club, leaving Wumuti and Hyun alone.
“What… just happened?” Hyun asked.
“… Rui was right, we could’ve still performed…”
“No, the hell she wasn’t. How could she expect you to stay calm after the power suddenly went out?”
“… I’m going to leave, I need to be home soon. I’ll use the back door, if you don’t mind.”
“Well… Just be careful on your way back, okay?”
“Yeah, I will.”
As she said, Wumuti left through the back door. However, Rui and Haru hadn’t left yet, they just made it outside the club; Haru had to make a trip to the bathroom that couldn’t wait.
“Okay, so what was that about?!” Haru asked once they were outside.
“What was what?”
“Wh-why are you taking the blame? It’s not like you can control power shortages.”
“Just leave it, okay?”
“No, I won’t leave it. What are you trying to do? You’re the one that always refuses to do anything with them, and now that we had a chance you want to be the villain? No one’s going to kill you for wanting to be in a group with them.”
“Haru, stop.”
“Do you want them to feel sorry for you?”
Rui grabbed Haru’s shoulder and slammed her against the wall, effectively making her shut up.
“What do you even know?!” Rui exclaimed. “You have it easy, you can always go back to mom and dad and pretend everything was a game, but some of us can’t do that!”
Rui let go of Haru and started leaving.
“… And if it was a game to you, then stop pretending you care.”
Rui finally left, leaving Haru alone outside the club.
“… Yeah, no, I knew. I knew I wasn’t that strong. I wish they wouldn’t have lied about it…”
She thought of going back inside and telling everything to Wumuti and Hyun, but she went home instead.
Wumuti also had just arrived home, since her curfew was about to start and could not risk her parents forgetting about the home video they always ask her to take to prove she’s home. However, the moment she went inside she forgot all about the video and went straight to the SEKAI; she needed to unwind and process a lot of things.
“Hey, how did it go?!” Teto asked, excited. “Oh…”
“You don’t look too good, Muti,” Miku mentioned. “What happened?”
Wumuti sighed and told them everything, from the shortage to Rui saying it was intentional and that she caused it.
“It’s just that there’s something that doesn’t sit right with me,” Wumuti explained. “Something just feels off.”
“Yeah, it’s like something’s missing…” Miku said.
“I just wish I could do something about it.”
“… What do you mean? You can do something about it,” Teto mentioned. “You can go tell Hyun you feel something’s not right, you can talk with Rui, or with Haru.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Muti, can’t you see?” Miku asked. “Everyone’s made a lot of changes for you: Hyun changed the performance schedule because of your curfews, Rui and Haru had to perform after you two because you didn’t know if you could make it after seeing them. If everyone is making those changes, why don’t you start making changes for yourself too?”
Wumuti looked at the singers for a few seconds, thinking, and that small gear that had started running finally had enough strength to make the entire system run.
“… Okay, I know what to do!” Wumuti exclaimed. “I need to go.”
“Good luck, Muti.” Teto said.
Wumuti exited the SEKAI and quickly got to work; she grabbed a dusty box from under her bed and ran inside the bathroom. Inside the box were several hair dye boxes and a hair curler, and Wumuti grabbed the red dye and the hair curler; it was finally time to do what she always wanted to do: embrace her true self. The red dye needed a few hours to work, but as long as she left before her parents were back from work she’d be fine.
Finally, after styling her hair, putting some makeup on and dressing up, Wumuti left the bathroom. However, the fact that her parents were in the living room, watching TV like they’d been back home for hours, was something she didn’t think she’d have to take into account.
“What… did you do?” her father asked, getting up from the sofa.
“… Okay, this has an explanation,” Wumuti replied, calmer than she thought she’d be. “But you need to let me talk without interrupting.”
“Okay, go on, then.” her mother said. Wumuti took a deep breath.
“I did what I should’ve done way sooner, I embraced who I am. I’ve been trying to tell you for ages in the only way I can, but this is it. I’m not scared anymore, this is the real me, the ‘me’ that likes singing and performing, and putting makeup on and dressing up, and honestly I don’t care if you like it or not. Not anymore.”
“Honey… I was expecting this, and I’m genuinely happy it did.”
“Huh?”
“Well, seeing you this happy these past few weeks made us think that something was going on, and it has made us reflect on… everything,” her dad said. “We’ve been pretty awful with you, and the least we could do now is let you be yourself.”
“… Okay, that was easier than I thought… Can we, uh, also get rid of curfews entirely? Because I need to go out right now if I want to make sure I have a future.”
“Yes, we can. Just text us when you leave for school tomorrow if it gets too late.” her mother replied.
“Great, thank you!”
Wumuti grabbed her things and ran out of her house. She had only one goal in her mind: getting to the club as fast as possible, and she did, breaking her own record and scaring the living hell of Hyun when she slammed open the door.
“D-don’t barge in like that ever again!” Hyun exclaimed, before taking a good look at Wumuti. “Well, and I thought your 2am crisis would never arrive. You look amazing.”
“Listen, we have to talk with Rui and Haru, something isn’t right.”
“You feel that too? I did notice something seemed off, like, how could Rui know about the fuses…”
“What about the fuses?”
“Oh, the power shortage? It’s because one of the fuses literally blew up.”
“That’s… not something Rui could predict… or do herself.”
“That’s what I’m saying! We need to talk to them… You can come right after class to our high school, right?”
“I think it’s too far, they might’ve left before I arrive.”
“Then leave during recess and wait for me near the front gate, Haru always waits a few minutes in the benches near it before leaving.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll see you tomorrow right after class, then.”
The next day, just as they planned, Wumuti left her high school a few minutes before recess ended, and waited near the front gate. Once it was time to leave, she went inside and found Hyun already talking with Haru.
“You’re just not going to leave me alone, are you?” Haru asked.
“We just want to know what really happened yesterday.”
“Wait, ‘we’?”
“Yeah, ‘we’.” Wumuti said, approaching them.
“Oh, hey, red really suits you.”
“Thank you, but don’t change the subject. We already know Rui didn’t cause the shortage or anything, so just tell us what happened.”
“Okay, what happened was that she took the blame God knows why and then she got mad at me for asking, and now she’s mad with everyone.”
“She’s mad at you?” Hyun asked.
“Well, I might have said some things, but it’s okay. It doesn’t matter anymore, because I quit.”
“… What?!”
“Yeah, performing isn’t for me. For a while I tried to believe it was, but no, it really isn’t. Still, I’ll go to the club later to ‘make it official’. Now, if you excuse me, I really need to go home.”
“Wait, but-” Wumuti tried to say.
Haru didn’t give them time to finish confronting her, as she practically ran outside the building.
“… What do we do now?” Wumuti asked.
“We… I… I don’t know,” Hyun replied. “I’m stuck, I literally don’t know what to do.”
“Well, then… Let’s try to find a quiet spot and go to the SEKAI?”
“Okay, yeah. Maybe they can help.”
Hyun and Wumuti found a quiet corner near the garden, so they quickly entered the SEKAI. Once they found the virtual singers, they explained everything that happened.
“Well, the most logical thing is that you get Rui and Haru to make up, right?” Teto asked.
“I mean, duh, but how do we do that?” Hyun asked. “There’s no way Rui would want to come to the club after yesterday.”
“I think she really would go,” Miku mentioned. “I don’t think she’s the type of person that stays mad forever, much less for something that she lied about.”
“But how can we get her to come while Haru is there and get to explain everything before Haru leaves?” Wumuti asked.
“Maybe… we just really need to be extremely honest.” Hyun replied. “You know, we can tell Rui exactly what Haru’s going to do a few minutes before Haru comes to the club. Then we hope that Rui wants to come and fix things with her.”
“Oh, maybe she’ll think Haru is quitting because of her, and then she’ll feel bad and come… I think it’s the only thing that will work at this point.”
“Okay, we’ll head for the club now. Thank you for your help, really.”
“Of course, I’m sure everything will turn out great.” Miku said.
Wumuti and Hyun left the SEKAI and headed for the club. They still needed to think about what the best way would be to get to Rui, both emotionally and physically.
However, just a few hours later, Rui entered the SEKAI.
“Oh, Rui?” Miku said.
“Hey… My head’s a mess, I thought staying here for a bit would help…”
“We can talk if you want.” Teto mentioned.
“… Yeah, okay.”
Rui told the singers about what happened during the performances the previous day and everything that happened afterwards, including her fight with Haru.
“I know she was just trying to help, and I get it, it’s just…”
“Why did you take the blame?” Miku asked.
“Well, I accidentally peeked into the breaker room while we were preparing the stage, and I saw sparks literally flying from the fuses, but I didn’t say anything. Even worse, when the power went out I just froze. I should’ve said it then, but I didn’t, so it was kinda my fault… That’s why I told them I caused the power to go out.”
“Rui…”
“I know I’m a coward, I know I can’t do anything if I don’t have Haru with me, I know I don’t amount to anything compared to Hyun or Muti, and even then I want to perform with them, I really do… There’s something in me that believes that things will get better…”
“And don’t you think them believing you were sabotaging them won’t make everything worse instead of better? At least you should be honest and let them know the truth.” Teto said.
“Yes, I know, I know that, I really need to apologize to everyone, but how can I face them after what happened yesterday…?”
Suddenly, Rui’s phone rang; it was Hyun and, after hesitating for a few seconds, she picked up.
“<Yeah…?>”
“<Hey, so what the hell is going on with Haru?>” Hyun asked.
“<I-I don’t know, I haven’t…>”
“<I overheard her today saying that she’s going to quit performing? Can you believe that?>”
“<She’s going to what?!>”
“<Yeah, she said she was going to come to the club before we opened to tell us, so you better get your ass in here like right now.>”
Rui looked at the floor, processing everything, before muting herself from the call.
“I guess that’s your chance to face them.” Teto said.
“Yeah, I gotta go.”
“Let us know how it goes.” Miku mentioned.
Rui nodded and quickly left the SEKAI so she would leave Hyun waiting for too long.
“<Hey, keep me on the call until I arrive, okay?>” Rui asked after unmuting herself.
“<Yeah, of course.>” Hyun replied.
While Rui ran for her life, Hyun left the phone hidden near the bar and sat down with Wumuti.
“And now we wait, right?” she asked, and Wumuti nodded.
“It won’t be long before Haru arrives, and Rui is going to hear everything before she gets here.”
Just as Wumuti said, Haru arrived at the club shortly after Hyun called Rui.
“You really don’t need to do this, Haru.” Hyun said.
“Well, I said I would and, you know, quitting just because I don’t want to keep performing isn’t enough of a reason.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Wumuti asked.
“I realized I’m quite a burden to all three of you. I mean, I could just face my demons and stuff like you did, but I’m not that strong. I don’t think it would have the outcome I wish it would have, either. And I’m tired of being Rui’s dog, Rui’s shadow. I don’t want to do things just because she encourages me to. I want to build an identity outside of Rui, but I don’t think this lifetime is meant for me to do that, and that’s why I-”
Suddenly, the doors slammed open once again, this time by Rui, who could barely catch her breath.
“What in the world are you talking about?!” she exclaimed, closing the door.
“Wh-what are you doing here?”
“No, I’m the one asking questions right now. Being my shadow?! If anything you’re the one that carries this duo, and I mean it. And what do you mean not being able to fight your demons? You’re strong and capable enough to do that, but that doesn’t mean you have to fight them now. Muti fought hers right away? Great for her! But you’re not her. Listen, I know nothing I say right now will be easy for you to believe, but I truly believe I can’t perform without you. Hell, after these weeks I don’t think I can perform without all of you… What I’m trying to say is, please don’t quit. I was an asshole yesterday, but don’t quit because of me.”
Rui finished her monologue and finally stopped to catch her breath, not before Haru ran to hug her so tightly she might as well not try to breathe ever again.
“It wasn’t because of you, Rui,” Haru said. “And it would’ve never been because of you… Hey, Hyun? I’m not going to quit.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Hyun replied.
“So, I’m sorry for what happened yesterday…” Rui said.
“We know it wasn’t you, you don’t need to apologize.” Wumuti mentioned.
“Oh. Okay.”
“It had been years since someone changed those fuses,” Hyun added. “It was only a matter of time.”
“Oh, right, Miku asked me to let her know how this went, so, can we go to the SEKAI really quick?”
“Yeah, of course.” Wumuti replied, already playing their song.
When Miku saw the four of them enter the SEKAI together, she let out a sigh of relief, and Teto ran to them.
“I’m guessing everything went okay in the end?” Teto asked.
“It did, better than we thought too.” Hyun replied.
“I was going to ask you,” Rui started saying. “Can we reschedule the performance for tomorrow? Or in two days? But I want the four of us performing together now.”
“Sure, let’s hope the fuses don’t explode this time,” Wumuti replied. “And the whole ‘XLOV’ idea is still on the table.”
“Yeah, let’s be ‘XLOV’, I think it carries even more meaning now.”
“If you want to, you could start rehearsing now.” Miku suggested.
“Uh, sure, but, with what song?” Haru asked.
“The untitled one! Which, isn’t untitled anymore since you found your true feelings.”
“Oh, okay, sure.”
“Great! I’ll head to the stage, then.”
While they walked to the stage, there was still something they needed to discuss.
“So, what’s going to be our slogan, or greeting, or whatever?” Rui asked. “Since we never agreed on anything…”
“I think I have the perfect one.” Wumuti replied.
“Really?” Hyun asked.
“Yeah, something like…”
Just be yourself, complete our XLOV.