Human

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Edited by RedPandaChick

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Despite all of GIMA trying to come up with ideas for the next album, there was nothing we couldn't agree on. Finally, after months of nothing, something came up.

It happened during the night after the second-to-last concert. We were back at the hotel, and I was about to change into my pajamas to hit the bed when, suddenly, someone knocked on the door. I was in the bathroom, so Tomokazu responded.

"Come in."

The door opened and Sanae asked.

"Where's Kaito?"

"He's taking a shower. Did something happen?"

"Kind of."

Somewhat worried about her answer, I stepped out of the bathroom since I had only taken off my jacket.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's Umi. She walked out of our room without saying anything and took the elevator down. I was going to follow her, but it's dangerous to go out on our own."

I frowned, "She just walked out?"

Sanae nodded. "I did notice that she's been weirdly silent for a couple of days, so something might've happened. That's why I think it'd be better if you followed her instead."

I sighed. "Alright, I'll go look for her."

Since I was holding my jacket, I put it on quickly and stepped out of the room. I walked down the hallway to the elevator and took it down to the lobby.

Even though fans knew the hotel Aeryx and Blostars were staying in, they were decent enough to not bother us at night, although it didn't make sense to wait for us to come out in the middle of the night. Sadly, we knew that wasn't going to be the case as our popularity grew.

Hotels with private pools or gardens were exorbitantly expensive in this day and age, so none of the hotels we stayed in throughout the tour had them.

Stepping outside was my only option after not finding Umi in the lobby. A cold breeze hit my face and my hands. Zipping up my jacket and wrapping my hands in the sleeves made it just bearable.

Despite the cold night, a considerable amount of cars and people wandered the streets in front of me, not to mention the blinding lights from the buildings and billboards that never turned off.

I turned to each side, hoping to see Umi in the distance. Obviously, I didn't. However, I noticed that there was no space between the hotel and the building to the left, so I walked to the right.

Compared to the streets, the tiny garden I arrived at was dimmer and completely empty, except for one person sitting on a bench next to the fountain. I couldn't see their face from far away, but their guitar gave them away.

She hummed and strummed a beat I hadn't heard before when I approached. Without raising her head, she talked to me.

"Are you going to scold me?"

"Depends."

The anger from seeing her bare arms immediately overpowered the anger I felt from her leaving without saying anything.

As soon as I unzipped my jacket, Umi interrupted me.

"Don't even think about it. I'm fine, really."

Unable to do anything other than to sigh, I zipped up my jacket again and sat down next to Umi.

"So, what are you doing here? Doesn't the running water behind us bother you?"

"It does, but it's also the soothing sensation I needed to get inspired."

I stared at her, speechless.

"I'll never understand you, artists. Does that mean you've come up with another song?"

"The seventh one, to be exact, but I'm sure no one is going to reject this one. It makes me feel something I haven't felt in a while when writing a song."

"I'm sold. Can I hear it?"

Without saying anything, she strummed her guitar, but as soon as she strummed once, a high-pitched voice shouted from the sidewalk.

"Mom, look! It's the idol girl!" said a kid while pointing at us.

The woman shushed him.

"They are busy, let's not bother them."

She started pushing him to make him walk when Umi shouted at them.

"It's okay."

They both stopped walking and looked at Umi with a frown, just like me. Umi then waved her hand to ask them to come closer. The kid didn't hesitate and ran toward us, while the woman approached slowly, defeated.

The kid's eyes sparkled as he stared at Umi.

"You look even more beautiful in person!"

"Thank you."

"Can you take a picture with me?"

"No."

Umi's blunt answer made the kid's smile vanish.

"What? Why?"

"Because the manager next to me wouldn't be very happy if I appeared in a picture looking like this."

Why is she turning this against me?!

The kid snapped his head toward me and begged with puppy eyes.

"Mr. Manager, can you please let her take a picture with me?"

I opened my mouth to answer but no words came out. I really didn't want Umi to appear in a picture looking like that, but I didn't want to disappoint the kid either.

Fortunately, Umi came to my rescue.

"I can give you something better."

The kid's eyes sparkled again.

"Really?! What is it?"

"Do you want to hear a song no one has heard before?"

He gasped. "Yes! Yes, I want!"

"Alright."

With no time to waste, Umi began to play the guitar, then the rhythm calmed down as she started singing a couple of seconds later.

The song wasn't slow nor was it fast, and it talked about how we shouldn't live day by day, losing track of time. Instead, we should live day after night.

Umi was right, the song made me feel something special. Some kind of reflective melancholy, yet happy and giving a positive message.

I doubted the kid was going to like it, but he and the woman still clapped when the song ended.

"I didn't like it a lot, but it sounds cool," the kid said.

"You'll get it when you grow up," smiled Umi.

"If you say so."

Out of nowhere, the woman started sobbing. She covered her eyes with her hands.

"Are you crying, Mom?"

"No…," the woman quivered.

The kid hugged her.

"It's okay, Mom. It's a happy song."

The woman forced herself to stop crying and swept her tears away with her hands and arms.

"Yes, you're right," she said.

She bowed in front of us, then the kid did the same.

"Thank you for making my son happy. And thank you for the beautiful song."

Umi smiled, "You're welcome."

"May I ask its name?"

"It doesn't have one yet."

She turned toward the kid and asked him.

"Why don't you give it a name?"

His jaw dropped.

"Can I?"

"Sure, but I have to like it."

"Okay! What about… Happy Sad Song?"

"No."

"And… Adult Song?"

"No. Why don't you try thinking about what the song said?"

"About what the song… said? Oh! Day After Night Song!"

Umi smirked, "Perfect, but let's remove the last word, people already know it is a song."

"Okay!" the kid nodded. "Look, Mom! I named a song!"

The woman smiled, "That's awesome. Don't forget to say thanks."

The kid turned toward us and bowed again.

"Thank you."

"Good. Now let's not bother them anymore."

"Okay!"

They both turned around and walked again to continue their path on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, I looked at Umi, who stared at the ground for a while.

She eventually raised her head and looked at me.

"Why are you smiling at me like an idiot?"

"Looks like the Christmas spirit got to you late."

She rolled her eyes and sighed, "Whatever."

"It's a great song."

"Yes, but it needs a lot of arrangements."

Suddenly, my glasses rang.

"Give me a second, Tomokazu is calling me."

I answered and, before I could say anything, Tomokazu spoke first.

"Kaito, you must return quickly. It's an emergency."

"An emergency? What happened?"

"It's better if you come and see it."

"Alright, I'm coming."

The call ended and I jumped up off the bench.

"What emergency?" asked Umi.

"I don't know, I have to go see it."

"Let's go, then."

We ran back into the hotel and took the elevator up to our floor. Umi followed me to the room and we both stepped in, just to see Tomokazu walking in circles.

"What's the problem?" I asked.

"Close the door."

Umi was behind me, so she closed the door. Then, Tomokazu extended his arm toward the holographic TV as if presenting it to us. The news was on, and a presenter spoke.

"Despite the user being unknown, the proof they have left and their veracity has split the community in half. Our team has already proved everything is real since TOTOT's patent registrations are available to the public by law, and we can confirm that no one has ever been able to find Aeryx's real name. That information, combined with the unknown user's statements, makes us take the following question seriously: is Aeryx an android?"

What the…?!

The door opened behind us. Seeing Ms. Yoshida made my heart skip a beat.

I approached her as soon as she closed the door.

"It wasn't us, I swear."

"I believe you."

"Ah… Wait, really? Why are you here, then?"

She sighed. "I didn't plan on doing this, but there's no reason to keep it a secret anymore. Both teams need to talk."

That was a long and heavy night for everyone in GIMA and TOTOT. They didn't need to tell us anything, yet they decided not to leave us in the dark.

In the end, it was for the best, as both companies felt comfortable enough to keep working together. More importantly, the girls felt comfortable enough to perform the last concert of the tour and to keep being Aeryx's friends, despite the unbelievable revelations.

Canceling the concert was considered for a moment, but TOTOT quickly rejected the idea. They even predicted the tickets of the twenty-thousand-people venue to be sold out. Not even two days later, the remaining tickets were gone.

The day of the concert arrived and, surprisingly, everything went as usual. The girls opened for Aeryx for one last time and her concert was just as energetic as always.

However, unlike in previous tours, Blostars and Aeryx didn't perform the last song together since they already had other plans.

The crowd cheered as Aeryx's band walked off stage, but Aeryx stayed. Eventually, the cheers calmed down due to the confusion of her not moving.

"Thank you, everyone. You warm my heart."

The claps returned, followed by the crowd chanting her name.

"But I want to be honest with you, my heart isn't the same as yours."

The whole venue fell silent.

"That's because I'm an android, and this is my last concert."