"So, you're saying that Spirit wants Tohka to participate in her concert, to perform together with her." While Miku Izayoi and Tohka were causing a ruckus in the venue, over on the other side, Kotori Itsuka was holding her forehead in frustration as she read the report in her hand. Those two, especially Tohka—couldn't they just be a little less troublesome? Did she not realize that DEM Corporation's target was her? Last time it was only because they hadn't been on guard that she got ambushed—did she really think those people would be so easy to deal with?
"What do you think, should I just call off this concert right now?" Hearing Kotori's complaints, Kyouhei Kannazuki, who stood by her side, spoke calmly. With their strength, canceling a concert by Miku, who didn't have any big background, wouldn't be difficult. But the problem was, if they did that, who knew whether Tohka would come storming in with her giant sword to settle accounts with them.
"No need. Since she likes to jump around so much, just let her. But just in case, we must be ready. There's a good chance a big fight will break out soon—I heard DEM Corporation has already sent people to AST's base. Looks like they're planning something major. We can't afford to be careless." After all, those two powers were basically mortal enemies by nature—hadn't they immediately destroyed each other's warships on sight? If it weren't for that, things wouldn't have gotten so vicious.
"Understood." Hearing Kotori's instructions, her loyal subordinate Kyouhei Kannazuki only nodded and said nothing more.
"You—can you please take this seriously? And don't you dare say you don't know any songs. Honestly, you usually hum plenty of catchy little tunes—did you think my ears were fake? Like that GiliGili Ai—it's a great song. Sing the whole thing properly for me. Don't even try telling me you don't know it. If you do, I swear I'll make sure you don't get to eat all day." While Kotori and Kannazuki were agonizing over Tohka's antics, Miku was also having a headache. All the songs she sang were based on her own style, but for some reason, after she scolded Tohka a bit, this girl had stopped intentionally singing off-key. But when she sang seriously, it somehow sounded so weird. Fine—what Miku didn't realize was that while she herself was all about an innocent, pure style, Tohka might have looked like a cute, soft girl, but deep down she had the soul of a seasoned old driver—she just hadn't fully shown it yet. Trying to make Tohka sing her style—no wonder it sounded so off.
"You mean that one...uh...uh..." The song Miku was referring to was "Ikenai Borderline," which Tohka had often listened to in her previous life. How to describe it...using the internet's words, it was basically a meme song with a special "poisonous" quality. Back then, she'd often loop it on repeat, and her worst habit was setting it as her alarm ringtone. Whenever her phone rang, no matter what her roommates were doing, their attention would be instantly hijacked, and she'd been scolded more than a few times for it. In the past, she couldn't understand Japanese, so she hadn't been able to sing it, but now...fine, she could easily sing the whole thing. But the problem was—it was so embarrassing. Maybe not as bad as "Dignified," but she really didn't want to sing it.
"Mm—looks like you know which one I mean. Hurry up and sing it. As for the lack of instrumental accompaniment, don't worry—we'll get that for you." As a Diva, Miku not only used sonic attacks, she also had an almost supernatural understanding of music. As long as Tohka could sing it, she'd be able to create a fitting accompaniment.
"Um, can we pick something else instead? If you want to sing, I'll join you in anything else..." Backed up against the wall by Miku, Tohka's eyes were darting around nervously, obviously not wanting to do it.
"Hmph. You sure? I remember yesterday you bought a bunch of games, which means you probably have no money left. So, if you don't sing, I'll make sure you can't afford to eat. You'd better give in." Watching Tohka's shifty expression, Miku didn't let up, directly cornering her and reaching out to pinch her cheeks. Instantly, Tohka's face was twisted into all kinds of ridiculous expressions.
"Uwahhh (Yamete)...Gurgh...Guaji (I'll sing! I'll sing!)" With her face hurting from Miku's pinching—and facing such a deadly threat—Tohka finally surrendered without hesitation. Compared to starving, this was just a little thing.
"I'll sing. But I'm not providing any background music, so however you mix it later is none of my business." Even though her speech was garbled, after being around Tohka so long, Miku could tell she'd given in. So, she finally let go of Tohka's face. Right away, Tohka reminded her in a serious tone. This wasn't a song from Marvel—she didn't have the instrumental track.
"Got it—leave that to me. Just start singing. And if you try any funny business again, I'll cut you off from food. You barely have any money left anyway—let's see what you do then." Miku shrugged exaggeratedly, but she was still worried Tohka would try to wriggle out of it, so she didn't forget to tack on another threat.
"I know, I know—I'll sing." With a resigned sigh, Tohka accepted her fate. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and adopted an expression like she was throwing her life away.
"When we meet, our bodies entangle with burning heat...in this intimacy, I forget the rules of reality..."
"girigiri ai~igi na iboga ra ra..."
"girigiri mai~sara naru chiena to..."
"..." (Elegant, solemn Chinese version)
"Ugh...why does it feel like I just lost something important..." After singing, Tohka no longer felt the embarrassment she'd expected. Instead, she turned to Miku and spoke calmly. She just had a vague feeling that she'd somehow lost something—but whatever, it probably wasn't worth much anyway.
"Uh...what's with those expressions?" But then she realized Miku and her agent were both staring at her in a daze. That, in turn, left her confused—what the heck was up with these two today?
"That song was really something...did you record it?" At last, Miku's usually sharp-eyed, competent-looking agent blinked in a daze and asked Miku.
"Yeah...it was amazing. I already recorded it—I'm going to get it set to music right now." Miku, too, was staring blankly, evidently a bit addicted already. After all, in her past life, that song was notorious for being an earworm. After saying that, she didn't bother explaining to Tohka—she just turned and left.
"..."
"So that's it, huh? You just throw me out like this? These bastards..." Sure enough, Miku had gone to arrange the music for her song, while Tohka didn't understand any of it. So, thinking Tohka was in the way, they directly kicked her out