1 June 2012
The young girl walked down the hallway with her mother on one side, and a boy of the same age on the other. Wearing a grey vest with all of her shoulders covered – the trims coloured in a light green – and a black skirt, she was a very pretty girl. She also wore a light green tie, and for some odd reason, a tiny leek was sticking out of one of the chest pockets. On both forearms she wore a black guard, with a digital display on her left. A headset covered her ears, but the right had a microphone coming down to the mouth. Her hair, in the same colour green as her trims, was extremely long, almost exaggerated, and in a pigtail fashion.
The boy beside her was less exaggerated, with more normal clothing. He wore a pair of jeans and belt with the word ‘VOCALOID’ printed on metal, and a shirt with the same word printed downwards on the left side. On his left forearm was a spiked bracelet, and on the right wrist was a watch. Around his neck were two chains. The first was a silver necklace that went just around his neck, but the second was a backstage pass for the concert venue that they were at right now, and hung down past his chest. On the pass were the words ‘Backstage Voc. O2 Arena Pass’ printed in light-green. A walkie-talkie hung from his belt, occasionally with scrambled words coming from the speaker.
“Miku, will you please, for the love of God, get a haircut?!” said the mother, fussing over her daughter like any mother would.
“No, mother,” answered the girl with a sigh. “They’ve always seen me like this: the green pigtails. I can’t get rid of my image like that straight away!”
“Ugh… Fine. Whatever. Do what you will, Miku Hatsune!”
“I shall, gladly.”
And with that, the diva stepped out onto the stage with an ultra-bright smile on her face, and began to sign for her fans.
Tyler sighed from the side-lines. Miku’s mother was always like this, nagging her about her hair. Personally, he didn’t mind the extreme pigtails. They made her look cute for her fans, and in the business of music, that’s all that mattered, eventually.
“You should just leave it, Missus Hatsune,” he said with his arms folded.
“I know, Ty’,” she replied with her voice sounding fed up. “Can you blame a mother for worrying?”
Tyler cocked his head. “Fair enough.” He turned, and looked at his watch. “Dammit, they’re late!”
“Who?”
“Who do you think?!” Tyler whispered as he ran off down the stairs into backstage. “The twins!”
“Oh dear God…”
Tyler sprinted through the white hallways, trying to get to the Kagamine’s room. He was going to ‘kill’ them for being late. “LEN! RIN! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?!” he bellowed at the top of his voice.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” said a woman’s voice, who’d stepped right in front of Tyler’s running path. “Slow down!” Tyler came skidding to a halt, only just stopping in front of her. Her long pink hair dangled in front of Tyler’s face, who blew it away from his eyes.
“Megan? What you doing here? You’re not up for another fifteen minutes!”
Her actual name was Luka Megurine, but because of her father being European, she often told English speakers to call her Megan. It’s easier on the ears.
“Well, I would, if it weren’t for a certain boy to be yelling around backstage.”
“Sorry Megan, but I’m trying to find the twins. Have you seen them anywhere?”
“Nope,” Megan answered with her brow furrowed. “Likely in their dressing room, playing games.”
“Figures. Tell Kaito to hurry his ass up. You two are going up.”
“I know when to leave, young boy,” said a man’s voice from behind Megan. His voice sounded serious, but the smile he wore told otherwise.
Kaito Hiragana was a good friend of Tyler’s. He wore a white long coat, and almost always a blue scarf, the colour matching his hair. His grinning face gave Tyler a sigh.
“It figures,” Tyler called as he began jogging down the hallway. “You’re both twenty, and I have to hold your hands like a little child!”
“You’re four years younger than us!” Kaito yelled back.
“EXACTLY!” However, Tyler came skidding to a halt almost as soon as he started running, and backed up to Kaito and Megan. “One thing though.”
“What?”
“Your ice cream’s melting.” Kaito took a look at his hands, and cursed loudly as Tyler ran on. He kept his legs pumping as he took a sharp turn down into a second corridor. He carried on running until he found the Kagamine’s door. With a furious face, he opened the door.
The twins, who’d been on the floor playing video games, turned their heads immediately, and upon seeing Tyler standing there with a face that was ablaze with fury, their own faces changed from happy to fear in an instant. They knew why he was there straight away.
“Move it!” The twins grabbed their microphones and their arm displays, before dashing out of the door, and towards the main stage. In a hurry, they both said sorry as they left.
Tyler panted from the sprinting, and leant one hand on the door frame. “Damn kids… Remind me to never have children, Miru,” he added, hearing the girl attempt to sneak up to him from behind.
Miru Hagane sighed. “How’d you hear me?” she said, putting her pink pigtails over Tyler’s shoulders. “I was silent.”
Miru Hagane was a friend, of sorts, with Tyler, in that fact she had a soft spot for him. She was also a copy (clone, for a simpler term) of Miku, but where Miku sang softly and sweetly, Miru was the exact opposite. Miru was a singer of hard rock. Her look was also different, in that her hair was pink, her vest was midnight-blue, and her skirt was grey. Around her neck she wore a collar, and then a second black chain under that. Over her left eye was a vertical tattoo, and over her navel was a tattoo in the shape of a butterfly. Her boots matched her skirt, going up to her knees. She was a bit taller than Miku, but she was still half a foot shorter than Tyler.
“Not exactly,” Tyler said, flicking one pigtail off his shoulder. I could hear your feet, and your breath.”
“My breath? How?”
“Well… Being a metal-head, your throat would be slightly damaged from all the screaming. Your breath has a slight growl that’s distinctive from everyone else.”
Miru purred in Tyler’s ear. “Was it like this?”
Tyler broke away from Miru, who sighed again. “Miru… You know how it is. I like… her.”
“I know, silly,” Miru answered with a devil smile. “I’m trying to coax you from her.”
“You may be her copy, which also means you look exactly like her, but it’s not your looks. I’ve just known her for nearly all my life.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Miru replied, walking away. “I’ll get you eventually, Ty’.” And with that, Miru headed off to the second stage, but not without a little shake of her bottom to Tyler.
He might like ‘her’, but he couldn’t complain about a backside like Miru’s. Absent-minded, he licked his top lip.
“You love this ass!” she called behind her, before running off.
“A little,” Tyler muttered, putting his hands in his pockets as he returned back to the main stage, with a small but tired grin. ----------------- Tyler Garine was a childhood friend of the Type-2 Vocaloids, and had known Miku ever since they were both babies. Where she and the rest of the Vocaloids did the singing, Tyler was like a roadie, of sorts. He made sure that they were on time, that all their equipment was taken care of, and just generally took care of them. He and his two assistants, Harry Sawako and Jeanne Wakatsu, had to take care of seven singers, within the age ranges of fourteen to twenty. And the three of them were only sixteen.
Harry was the son of Kaito’s agent, and went with his mother almost everywhere. Which coincidentally was always with Kaito. So Harry was a roadie only by luck.
Jeanne meanwhile had been Meiko Sakine’s roadie ever since she started, and only recently widened to include most of the Type-2 Vocaloids. She and Harry shared a friendship with each other and Tyler.
Meiko was one of the Type-1 Vocaloids, but despite being around for two years longer than the Type-2, she still had a pretty big fanbase.
As Tyler finally made his way up to the stage, he caught the ending of Miku’s famous song, ‘Last Night, Good Night’. He’d always enjoyed that light feeling that it gave you, like the worries of the world couldn’t matter to him any longer.
Miku finished off the song on a high note, and gave a final thanks to her fans, before welcoming the Kagamine twins onto the stage, and she herself left it. She was beaming at Tyler, who was blushing a little at her beauty. “Hey Ty’, are you hot or something?”
Tyler shook his head, whilst turning his head slightly to hide his blush. “You did well out there.”
“Yeah,” Miku sighed, slumping down onto a director’s chair, with her anime-like appearance printed on the back. “Pretty damn tiring though.”
“Well, yeah,” Tyler answered bluntly, pouring out a cup of water for her. “Here, drink it. You’re back up in ten minutes with Megan.”
“Luka-sempai, you mean?”
“Yeah.” Tyler handed her the cup.
“Why not say Luka-sempai then?”
“‘Cause I’m half British, dumbass. I talk native English, whilst you still have your Japanese honorifics. So I call her Megan.”
“Good point.” She took a gulp of the water, swallowing it thirstily. “Ahh. That hit the spot.”
“Wonderful. Oh, and you know to call me just Tyler, right?”
“Of course, Just Tyler.”
“Funny.” Tyler moved off to head up into the light control room above the stage, where an old friend of his was sitting with his assistants.
“Yo Ty’, you ugly bugger!” he said, laughing. “What brings you up here?”
“Says the bastard with a face only a mother could love.”
“You hurt me, Ty’. In my heart.”
“You have a heart, Fraser? I’m surprised.”
Thomas Fraser was the head of lights for each show that the Type-2 Vocaloids did. His assistants were his wife, Lynnae, and his twenty-two year old daughter, River.
“Don’t be cheeky now, Tyler,” said Lynnae, despite her smile at him.
“Look, you three need anything?”
“Nah, we’re good kiddo.”
A Vocal Roadie - Gig #1: Good Ol' London • Opuss № I