Nine years of education had slipped from our lives, but it only hit us when teens our age had started middle school. Talking with them was the only way for Sanae and me to get close to it.
Our biological parents had abandoned us. In the only letter they left, they asked whoever found us to never get our DNA checked. That meant we could never be registered as citizens, which made it impossible for us to do a lot of things, which included being able to go to school.
Butcher, the man that found us, did everything in his reach to give us a normal life. He struggled with money, so he had to make many sacrifices. Although we were too young to understand at the time, we did as we grew up. He abandoned his dreams for us and his life changed completely; it was only fair for us to return the favor.
Thanks to him, we enjoye
It was only the second year of middle school when my body started to develop faster than the rest of the girls'. Magnified with good makeup, the beauty was such that every guy in the school fell at my feet. They wouldn't stop declaring their wild love toward me, which I rejected gracefully. Only one person was worth my attention: Shō, the most popular guy in the entire school. I didn't like him because of that, I liked him because he was handsome, smart, kind, and good at sports; a true gentleman. Just like me, he played hard to get, making me want him more. I knew jumping straight at him wouldn't work, so I took it slow to show him how attractive I was. My brain might've been lacking a bit of agility, but the rest was a ten out of ten. The battle continued for the last year and a half of middle school. I managed
Useless, that's how I would've described myself. It didn't matter how hard I tried, practiced, and worked, I was always average at everything I did. Even when I found what I was passionate about. Seeing other people doing better than me at something without working as hard as I was was demoralizing, including Risa. I never understood why she followed me everywhere, yet it was nice having her around. She was the first person that showed me how unfair life could be despite her not trying to do so, but I didn't complain since she was my first and it didn't really matter. That quickly changed as we grew up. She would beat me in everything we did together, including dancing and singing. I knew from the beginning that I was worse than her at it and that I would take much longer to reach her level, yet I didn't give up.
Sanae stood in the middle of the dancing studio. She had just finished reading what she had written for her song out loud when I stood up from the chair to let her sit next to the girls again. They had asked for the reading to be private, so it was only them and me in the room. Now I stood in front of them, speechless. Each of the girls had read out loud a story about their pasts and the mood had become bittersweet, to say the least. "I don't know what to say," I said. "All of your stories are… sad. It's nice knowing you didn't give up and how far you've come." "You also have a couple of stories of your own," Aki said. I knew exactly what she was talking about, while the girls only got half of the picture. "Yeah. Umi, do you think the stories can be turned into songs
Finally, the first day of recordings arrived. Although I had been waiting for it, the girls were clearly more excited than me. Sadly, Ms. Yoshida—TOTOT's Co-CEO—asked us to send the girls one by one so the public wouldn't know about the collaboration before Aeryx's song was recorded. It was Risa's turn first. I accompanied her, as I planned to accompany all of the girls, in case anything happened. Ms. Yoshida received us at the entrance just as she had the previous time. "Welcome back," she smiled. "Are you ready?" I looked at Risa. "Are you?" "I am," she smirked, although she had told me she was shaking just before we stepped inside. "Perfect," Ms. Yoshida replied. "Let's not waste time and get to work."
Since it was Aeryx's press conference, we didn't expect many, if any, questions to be asked to Blostars. Opposite that, they received a fair amount of attention. Most of the questions were about the controversies we had gone through, but some journalists were genuinely interested in knowing about the collaboration from Blostars' side and our future. Those were the questions that made us want to go on. The girls were doing very well on their own, meaning Aya and I didn't need to communicate with them that much through Talkie. Other people in the green room from Aeryx's team were also talking with her throughout the conference. Thirty minutes later, the conference was over. Ms. Yoshida, Aeryx, the girls, and Butcher returned to the green room as bodyguards escorted the journalists out of the building. <
Gears rotated and pistons contracted in Aeryx's back as she moved. Liquids traveled through transparent pipes and tubes that spread all throughout her back. Colored wires hung down and stretched as her HoloForm gradually turned on from her shoulders to her hip, hiding the mechanical parts under bare skin that was soon covered by Aeryx pulling down her tank top. I need to go before she— Her head snapped to the left and she looked at me with one of her eyes. I jumped back and pulled the door but didn't close it so as not to make any noise. My heart was beating at three hundred beats per minute. Did she see me? Out of nowhere, Tomokazu's voice sounded through my glasses. "What is it, dear friend?" <
We tried our hardest to relax for fifteen more minutes before walking back into the venue. Aki and the girls returned for the sound check, while I headed to the actual storage room to help Aya and Tomokazu check the merchandise. It took more time than we expected since we had doubled the quantity compared to our previous concert. Luckily, everything looked good and, two hours before opening the doors to the public, the TOTOT staff assembled both their and our stalls at the entrance of the venue. One hour remained when the sound check was done. Everyone returned to their green rooms to have one last meal before the concert. Aeryx and her band even called us to spend some time with them. Of course, the girls were ecstatic to do so, but it didn't feel the same for me knowing she was a robot. Even Aki acted somewhat off when she talked with her.
"H… Hello?" I stammered, standing around a hidden corner of the venue. "Kaito, long time no see!" Chiharu replied. "Are you so excited to hear my voice that you're shaking?" Nothing more than a whistle reached my ears. Although my heart wasn't beating fast, every beat felt like a punch. When I least expected it, my biggest fear returned. "Knock, knock. Is anyone there?" Chiharu joked. "What do you want?" I retorted. "My, my. What's up with that growl? You should know to be polite toward your threatener at your age." "Can you afford to say that on a call?" "I can afford to call you, Kaito. It doesn't matter what I say, no one can