V3: Vocal Androids Third Generation
Please take this slowly. I like my long sentences and paragraphs.
Chapter One: Stargazing
A truly beautiful scene lay before the hilltops nearby a city outskirts. Mounds of shaded, lush green grass rolled on for distances surrounded by a tall enclosure of sage trees that enveloped a sense of calmness within the boundaries of the natural clearing. The overwhelming multitude of stars above blanketed the skies with their rich, bright lights that the moon could not bring out this night. A chill breeze freshened the air as the crickets chirped loudly to their nightly song of spring's blooming season. Out in the distance stood a city and its harbor of lights that left no room for the graces of the stars above it.
Settled on one of the many hilltops adorning the enclosure was a small gathering of seven famous singers renowned worldwide for their talents. They conversed, they gazed at the stars with their two telescopes, and a small picnic basket on a gridded white and red cloth sat in the middle of everything while the girls enjoyed themselves. On it lay a picnic basket filled with plates and empty space where the consumed food had once sat.
The occupants of the telescopes who were gazing off into the night sky were two young girls in exotic clothing. One of these two was a teenager whose hair was a tinted purple color that was divided into two pigtails at the sideburns with two silver and pink discs and positioned at the front of her body. She wore a black hooded jacket that sported two extra lengths of fabric striped with two pink lines each from the top of the hood to represent rabbit ears. An image of a bunny stood out from the black fabric of the jacket on her back. A single, silver bracelet that adorned her right wrist sat over the jacket sleeve and shined in the moon's light, illuminating the pink line running around the middle of the bracelet and pale yellow crescent moon that was positioned to be facing outward from the body.
Underneath she wore a form-fitting, purple tinted, custom made mini-dress that stopped at the crest where her legs parted. From there, a transparent skirt flowed an extra length down the thighs. A thick, black belt curved around her back and stopped at each of her thighs with speakers in the shape of a rabbit and tapered off to a point, similar to the headphones on her head above her left eye. Long, pink ribbons connected to the speakers formed spacious loops as they were brought around the back and attached to a single point at the rear side of the belt. A pair of purple socks ran the length of her legs, passing her knees and stopping short of connecting with her blouse. She had donned her usual near-black shoes that held up an anklet with a single strip of material.
Bent over the other telescope was a quite familiar face, for this girl had been with the Vocaloids for quite some time. Sporting a bright, golden hair color that contrasted just barely with the pure white headset that was sitting on her head and ending with a microphone fixed in front of the chin. A very prominent snowy white bow was tied to the top of her headset and seemed to bounce with every movement, even when she shifted positions with the magnification tube she was utilizing at the moment. Her hair was cropped short, and her bangs were prevented the privilege of covering her eyes with four hair clips that give a very distinctive curve and point above her right eye. A sleeveless, waist-revealing blouse reminiscent of a high school girl's uniform covered her torso, a bright yellow bow similar to the one on her headset was tied to the black cloth that wrapped around her collar and rested at the shoulder blades. Her sleeves were not connected to her shirt, but rather started just above the elbows and flowed down to her hands, covering all but her fingers while an electronic blue illuminated from both sleeves. In the open and exposed skin between sleeve and shirt was a tattoo in red ink that read "02" and "Act2" underneath.
Donning a miniscule pair of short shorts that do not even reach down past half of her thigh and were held up with a golden belt, she sported yet another, smaller belt latched to the front and looped around the back. Like her sleeves, her leg-wear continued at her knees and stretched down to her silvery shoes lined with golden soles. Three divots near the ankles resembled that of a face flipped upside-down. Overall, she held a metallic figure due to the way the light, if any, reflected off her clothes, giving the illusion that she wore straight metal, especially her shoes.
A soft, slow tune sounded through the air, breaking the near silence of the scene, though this was almost unnoticeable. At first, it was just a soft tone dragged on briefly at differing notes, then soon, the soft plucking of a stringed instrument was heard. This had grabbed everyone's attention, save for one. Very soon after that, words were being sung. The voice was high pitched and metallic, but words were clear enough to be understood. The pace was slow, and the words dragged on and were very breathy, making a single verse seem like ages. This, coupled with the continuous tune that had yet to stop, created a perfect harmony of soft music.
All eyes were on the singer, a teenage girl with very long and teal-blue pigtails, a sleeveless gunmetal grey shirt paired with a black skirt and thigh-high black leather boots. She wore black detached sleeves, similar to Kagamine Rin, who previously was occupying a telescope, with a bright teal tie that stretched as long as to her waist. Two floating black squares hovered around where her pigtails connected with her head, holding them in place without touching. A pair of black headphones covered her ears and were slightly illuminated by two rose-pink lights behind the speakers. Like Rin, she had a red tattoo on her left arm that read "01".
The performance lasted only five minutes even though it felt like thirty with the pace that it was going. During the performance, though, all were in attention, facing Hatsune Miku as she sang save for one girl. This girl just simply sat on the grass between the two telescopes, her movement hindered by another. Her hair was a platinum blonde mane that swayed wherever she looked. The two black cat ears that sat on top of her head were actually speakers and were coupled with an earpiece microphone positioned slightly to the right of her cat-like mouth. Her outfit was that of a high schools girl's uniform in a very bright shade of yellow, standing out like a light in the darkness of the night. Like the rest, she wore a sleeveless shirt with four literal buttons on it. A hidden power button sat between the gap of her collar on top of a small disc and a pause button rested on her back, covered and hidden by her hair. Hidden partially under her ribbon bow tie sat a grey equalizer. The lines on the equalizer jolted and pulsated in tune with the song perfectly, reacting with each difference in tone, rest, and beat. A simple short skirt covered her hip just barely, followed up with a pair of white thigh-high socks and ending with golden flats. Resting on these flats were two more equalizers exactly like the one on SeeU's shirt, reacting with the music equally.
On her lap lay a small girl two years younger than her. Known simply as IA, her talents have shot her up to high positions on the Vocaloid popularity board. Fast asleep on the Korean girl's lap, her long, peach pink hair gracefully flowed across the grass in the light breeze. Wearing a black shirt similar to the others with straps holding it up at her shoulders, she wore over it a grey half-top type of shirt. This was worn at an angle, acting as a simple sleeve for her right shoulder and drooping down to her left elbow. Her sleeves at first glance look as if they were detached like Miku and Rin's, but are actually connected to her black shirt via two laces holding them together. She wore her iconical pink short skirt, slightly longer than SeeU's, and thigh-high black sock and knee-high white-striped black sock under her white and pink belt-striped boots. A belt was wrapped around her neck as a necklace and sported a metallic shape comprised of two pieces bent into an L shape and positioned to make a peculiar looking clasp. A lonesome leglet was worn on her left leg at mid-thigh height, equal to the end of her right leg's sock
Soft applauding filled the emptiness that the ending of the performance gave. Compliments were shared and the lull in any noise from before were shattered. A light-hearted atmosphere filled the area, especially after Rin had decided to spontaneously hug Miku for her show of talent. A final figure stood up from her seat on the grass and walked over to where Yukari stood applauding by the telescope. She continued until they were both at arm's length and looked over to the blue and yellow divas to the left, then to the two girls on the grass opposite of them.
"Can't get more peaceful than this, right, Yukari?" CUL lazily said whilst staring into the dull violet eyes of her moon-rabbit themed friend. Her vibrant cherry-red hair shook with each turn of her head, held in an elegant ponytail spike with two black hair sticks. A black and red jacket that spanned almost the length of her body acted more like a cape with sleeves lined on the inside with a crimson velvet. At a top section, an elegant, even royal pattern painted the shoulders with red, curved points. The right sleeve was folded lazily over the shoulder, and a thick white armband clung to her jacket's left arm. Designing the face of the band was a red shield that held a white and curved "C" to give the shield a dual purpose of giving the image of a rose. At the midpoint of the jacket was a bright red belt that was left undone, letting the outerwear flow like a cape.
A silver corset-like garment lined with a gold and red border covered most of her torso save for her shoulders and midsection. Covering her hips was a miniscule white pair of short shorts that were even smaller than Rin's. Lining the outside of these shorts was a belt-like fabric that resembled leather and was connected to the pair of black and white striped thigh-high socks she was almost never seen without. Black leather belted boots adorned the final stretch of her legs below the knees.
Yukari diverted her attention from the popstars and to her friend to her left, locking eyes with the red rubies that were her eyes. "I don't think it can get more peaceful than this," she replied. She looked over to SeeU and IA on the grass just over CUL's shoulders, "It was all their idea to come out here after all," she gestured toward the sleeping teenager.
A distraction from the other two caught Yukari's attention again. Looking back over at Miku and Rin, she saw that Miku had her arm outstretched toward the sky and pointed with interest. Rin had noticed this and looked in the direction of her friend's gaze, Yukari doing the same. A shooting star blazed across the sky in front of SeeU and her slumbering friend. CUL finally noticed once her purple friend began her gaze. She took in a breath to speak and looked back at Yukari, but halted when she found that Yukari had closed her eyes and had her head bowed toward the star.
She stopped herself before the question of what Yukari was doing escaped her mouth. With the remembrance of the fact that shooting stars are associated with wishes, she quickly mimicked her friend's posture and made a wish.
SeeU had even stopped stroking IA's hair to clasp her hands together and bow her head to wish upon the majestic streak of fire. IA stirred ever so slightly in SeeU's grey and gold skirt. Yawning herself awake, she lay still on SeeU's lap and stared at the buttons on her shirt. Not even bothering to look up at the cat girl, she reached out and poked the power button on her shirt, eliciting a startled squeak from the young girl.
Shaken suddenly, IA looked up at her older friend and met the gaze of two cobalt blue eyes. A pause lingered as they stared at each other, broken only when SeeU closed her eyes and let out a small giggle.
"Sleep well?" CUL said as she came into view behind SeeU, coming to a stop and placing a hand on her hip. The only response she got from the teenager was her curling more into SeeU's lap and a tired yawn. Not a word was spoken while IA went back to sleep.
"CUL, you should know that IA doesn't like doing anything other than sleep at this hour," Rin said behind the red girl. CUL merely looked over her shoulder and gave a light chuckle. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Miku loudly and excitedly greeting two more singers down the hill.
"Hi Luka! Hi Oliver!" was clearly heard from the hilltop as Miku ran down the side. Nothing else was heard afterwards from the trio as they made their silent greetings. IA stirred slightly, and went back to sleep.
Getting increasingly tired, SeeU attempted to adjust her sitting position to lying down without disturbing IA. She woke up anyway but was too tired to care and instead wormed her way up to SeeU's shoulder to sleep again. Watching this, Yukari and CUL could not contain their laughter, though they kept it soft to the best of their ability. SeeU promptly ignored their actions and wrapped an arm around her sleeping companion, joining her in slumber.
Commotion from behind grabbed the other three's attention as Miku, Luka, and Oliver reached the crest of the hill. Being the English-speaking sailor vest-wearing boy that he is, Oliver had been offered some Japanese lessons from Luka with some success. He could speak to converse, but his Japanese was broken.
"Hey, guys, Meiko said you should start heading back. It's getting late," he managed to say without tripping over himself. It was almost as if he had practiced this phrase over and over again.
"Okay," started Rin from the back of the trio, "let's pack up and wake up the sleeping beauties." She gestured over to SeeU and IA in their seemingly inseparable embrace. Rin sauntered over to the telescope she was using and began to compact it into a more transportable state, Yukari mimicking her movements with hers. CUL walked over to SeeU and stared at the two in their sleep. Then her attention wandered over to SeeU's cat ear speakers.
Curious to see what would happen, CUL reached a finger out to poke one. It jerked away much like a living cat's ear would. CUL's suppressed giggle at this woke SeeU, and in turn, IA as well. They both yawned in unison as if they were one.
"Time to go," the red hair girl merely said before righting herself and walking away. SeeU sat up with IA who was still yawning and rubbing her eyes.
With Miku chatting with Luka and Oliver along with Rin and Yukari putting away their telescopes, no one could have noticed that their red-haired member had mysteriously disappeared from the scene. At least until Rin looked up from her work.
"Where's CUL?"