Taro and Kokoro: Against the world

After getting a little sidetracked with some sightseeing of modern Tokyo, Taro and the girls finally arrived at the audition venue a little after 8pm.

The place was buzzing with activity. Hover-buses and cars were constantly streaming in and out of the location, as entire bands, music groups, and solo acts came and left. Taro pulled up to a nearby street and waited for the delivery drone that had been following them to lower Kokoro’s wheelchair to the ground. And Tomomi landed beside them a second later with her hover-board.

The drone left as soon as it dropped the wheelchair, and Taro climbed off the driver seat of his bike to help carry Kokoro to her seat.

“Thank you.” Kokoro said as Taro gently placed her back in her wheelchair.

“No problem.” Taro replied smiling, with Kokoro smiling back at him.

“Alright alright. There’s no time for that now.” Tomomi said. “We need to get going.”

Tomomi picked up her hover-board and held it like a surfer as she began walking towards the front gates. Seeing this, Taro and Kokoro followed.

When they arrived at the checkpoint, Taro saw the moment Kokoro’s entire body tensed up. The hand controlling her wheelchair suddenly stopped and began shaking, her eyes grew wide, and her lips began to quiver. She was having a nervous breakdown.

Remembering how Kokoro had gotten Taro himself to calm down and relax during their first outing to wonder-park, Taro quickly rested his hand on top of her own. He gently wrapped his fingers around her arm, then he gave her hand a light squeeze.

It took a few seconds, but Kokoro eventually relaxed and calm down. Her body had stopped shaking, and she was now controlling her breathing. As Taro held onto her hand for support, she looked up at him with those big beautiful blue eyes of hers.

“I really want to tell you something.” she said, smiling. “But it has to wait till we’re alone.”

Taro’s brain suddenly went blank for a moment. What did it mean when a girl said something like that to you?

“Deal?” Kokoro asked him, still flashing that beautiful smile of hers. And the only thing he could do was repeatedly nod his head up and down while responding like a defective automaton.

“Aha. Aha. Aha. Aha.”

***

Taro and Kokoro finally met up with Tomomi who was still holding onto her hover-board.

“Next!”

The woman in charge of checking people in called out, and Taro, Tomomi, and Kokoro all moved forward.

The woman handed a tablet to Tomomi.

“Please fill in the necessary information.” the woman said in a tired tone. “Name, age, etc, etc. As well as the category you will be auditioning for.”

Tomomi took the tablet from the woman, and handed it over to Kokoro.

“Here.” Tomomi said as Kokoro took the tablet from her.

Seeing this, the woman at the checking counter suddenly spoke up.

“You’re not the one auditioning?” the woman asked, fixing an inquisitive glare on Tomomi.

Frowning, Tomomi responded. “No, my friend is. Is there a problem with that?”

The woman turned her attention to Kokoro.

“And what category will you be auditioning for?” the woman asked, crossing her arms. “I see you can’t walk so I’m guessing you want to try out for the singing category then.”

Kokoro responded with a polite bow, fully revealing the neural link she was wearing on her head.

“Yes ma’am.” she then replied, her voice traveling out through the speaking aid on her chest. “I would like to audition for…”

“Hold on,” the woman said, raising a hand and cutting Kokoro off. “Why do you sound like that?”

Kokoro lifted her head from the bow and blinked in confusion.

“Also, what’s that thing on your head? Take it off at once for inspection. Looks suspicious.”

Taro suddenly felt a rush of anger towards this woman. From the moment they got there, she hadn’t even tried using a polite tone with them. Kokoro was suddenly at a loss for words, and Taro could see Tomomi physically struggling to keep her temper under control. However, before he could do anything, Tomomi stepped forward.

“Look.” Tomomi said as she went to stand in front of the rude woman. “My friend here, cannot speak. That thing you see on her head, helps her sing through that other thing you see on her chest. Her boyfriend here, made it for her. So can you please, for the love of God, leave, us, alone, so we can do this thing in peace?”

For a second, it seemed like the woman had listened to reason. But then, she reached for something underneath her table, pressed it, and spoke into her ear peace.

“We have a bit of a situation at the front desk. A young disabled woman and her friends are carrying contraband, and are trying to enter the building with it.”

Taro’s heart suddenly sank at the realization. She was reporting them to security.

“Okay, I’ll let them know.”

The woman removed her hand from underneath the desk and spoke in a casual manner.

“Please step away from the counter, and move a little to the side. A team will be with you shortly to escort you off the premises.”

“Are you freaking kidding me right now?!” Tomomi exploded. “After I calmly explained the situation to you, you still called security on us?!”

Wanting to defuse the situation in favor of Kokoro, Taro quickly stepped up.

“Look ma’am, this is not what you think.” Taro said. “The device on her head, it doesn’t operate on the same level as a contraband. She should be allowed to audition just like everybody else. Please let us pass.”

But the woman wasn’t in the mood to listen to them any further.

“Young man, I advise you step away right now. You are already in a lot of trouble for building that thing. Just hope they give you a shorter sentence since it looks like you all are just a bunch of high schoolers.”

The rush of anger Taro felt before, suddenly came back with a lot of extra. He slammed his fists down on the counter top, causing the woman to jump back in fear.

“Please. Listen to me…” but that was as far as Taro got before a hand rested on his shoulder. He turned around, and found Tomomi staring back at him, the fire in her eyes from a minute ago no longer there. That was when he realized. Kokoro wasn’t there either. She must have left during the argument.

***

Kokoro was staring up at the stars when Taro eventually found her. She knew he would come after her. Because he cared about her, just like she cared about him. She spun her wheelchair around to face him as he ran up to her.

“Kokoro, we were looking for you. We were worried.”

“I’m sorry, I just needed to clear my head. Things got a little heated back there, and I just needed some air.” Kokoro smiled as she spoke, out of relief more than anything. She was rejected from participating in the music festival, and she guessed she saw it coming.

She needed to remind herself that all the success she had over the past month, had all come from operating in the shadows. The real world didn’t know who she was. They only heard the voice in the machine.

Society would never accept the person she wanted to be, and that’s okay. If she needed to give up her dreams for the whole world to feel safe, then that’s what she was going to do.

“Taro,” Kokoro said, gazing up at the boy she loved with tears in her eyes. “I know you don’t like to hear this, but I need to say it. Thank you for everything. You have been a blessing in my life every day since I met you. From the bottom of my heart, I am forever grateful. With that said.”

Kokoro reached up and removed the neural link from her head. She could see the shocked expression on Taro’s face, but she couldn’t stop now. She also removed the speaking aid from the side of her chest and handed them both over to Taro. Taro hesitated to take it from her, but she urged him to.

Once her hands were free, she reached for her phone to send a message to Taro.

“Please don’t go back there. Even if they won’t arrest you based on the technicality you thought of, I don’t want anything to happen to you.

I love you.

That’s what I was planning to tell you after the audition. I love you Taro. And I have for quite some time now.

Anyway, it’s getting late. We should get going. Find your bike and get out of here. I’m going to catch a bus with Tomomi. You might not see me tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. I need some time alone, but I will come back to you.

See you later Taro.

And don’t forget.

I love you.”