Once Hatsune finished dressing, Lian set a cat-ear mask on her head. The pairing clicked like moonlight on water—girl and mask merged, no dissonance at all.
“By the way, isn’t the academy festival tomorrow? Aren’t we late to start the stage now?”
Lian shook her head.
“Not at all. I’ve already assigned the work. Tonight’s the warm-up, so it basically starts now. Your concert’s tomorrow night, Sis Hatsune.”
Hearing it was all arranged by Lian, Hatsune stared, surprised that a girl who looked ten could move pieces like wind through bamboo.
“Is that so? Ling’s amazing! Head pats~”
As a reward, head pats were a soft rain on spring grass. Lian didn’t care who got the better end; she just enjoyed the gentle strokes.
“It’s nearly evening. Let’s grab dinner and get ready for tonight.”
Everyone agreed. They’d been busy for hours, stomachs hollow as gourds. There’s a saying: people are iron, rice is steel—skip a meal and you feel empty.
So the two women each took one of Lian’s small hands. They walked toward the restaurant like three sisters on a stroll, their shadows braided by streetlight.
At the table, Hatsune hid behind a menu to eat well yet stay unseen. The sight was comic as a mask on a cat. Otherwise, nothing special; their meal was blissful.
Night fell like ink poured across the sky.
Two maidens and one loli sauntered down the street, laughter flickering like fireflies. Hatsune’s cat-ear mask drew requests like moths to lanterns; people asked for photos.
When they saw the red-haired lady and the cute loli, some recognized Alicia, the princess. The rest begged for group shots, and a tide of people swelled around them.
In the end, Lian risked Alicia’s suspicion and used spatial magic. One blink, and the crowd thinned like fog before the sun.
They slipped the chase. Lian slumped against a wall, limp as a jelly blob, her voice drifting like a tired wind.
“So tired... I’ve had enough... please let me die right here, okay?”
Her little comedy landed. Hatsune and Alicia, just as worn out, cracked up as if sparks hit dry straw—after all, a loli selling cute is lethal.
Lian popped up like a salted fish flicking life back into itself and glared at the two laughing culprits.
“Hey! What’s so funny? What’s so hilarious?”
Alicia folded Lian into her arms and rubbed her head like mussing a spirited pup, not caring how the hair went wild.
“Little troublemaker, you made me laugh, then you scold us? Did big sister’s authority run out?”
Lian fought back. Two loli fists thumped Alicia’s chest like raindrops on a drum. Her body wriggled hard, a river fish trying to slip the net.
“Hehe~” A soft laugh drifted from beside them, like chimes touched by wind. It had a spell in it. They stopped and turned.
Hatsune covered her mouth with her hand. Laughter threaded through her fingers like honey through a sieve.
“Thank you. Really, thank you. Without you, I wouldn’t have felt this happy today.”
She lifted her face to the sky. Sometimes heaven is kind: clouds slid aside like curtains, leaving her a full, round moon to drink in.
“It’s funny. The last time I felt this joyful was childhood. Four? Three? I can’t recall. We roamed all day, partners in mischief.
“At night we sat on the rooftop and watched the moon in silence. One or two would roughhouse, like you. A silent moon can’t beat a moon with voices.”
She stood. Wind tugged at her hem like a shy child. Her lips parted, and a clear song rose like water from a spring.
Today you’re crying. Did something sad brush you?
When you cry, I feel lonely too, like a bare tree under rain.
Today you’re smiling. Did joy find you?
When you smile, I feel glad too, like dawn warming snow.
I’m by your side. Sad thoughts meet no walls.
Joy for two—happiness swells and blooms like peonies.
I’m here. Night comes and sorrow steps in.
I may not see clearly, but I’m always watching you, like a lighthouse.
Today you cry, holding back pain.
Today you look so burdened, like a sky heavy with storm.
Today you’re so, so happy, laughing bright.
I want to send that smile and joy to where you are.
I sleep under lucid moonlight, sinking into dream’s deep river.
Even the coldest ache turns to stardust wrapped in light.
Because I’m at your side, tears can fall honest and true,
And even if sight blurs, you stay near, steady as earth.
The moon shines, crossing time and space,
Carrying hope like a silver tide that touches everything.
It shines on you, clear and unwavering.
Like that, you’re not alone.
I’m by your side. Sad thoughts meet no walls.
Joy for two—happiness swells and blooms like peonies.
I’m here. Night comes and sorrow steps in.
I may not see clearly, but I’m always watching you.
You are not alone. I’m right here by your side.
— from “moon,” Hatsune Miku
When the song ended, Lian just stared at her retreating silhouette. Ling’s memories held “moon,” so she’d heard it before.
But hearing it live is a different tide from hearing it online. That voice slid through the ear and into the mind like magic. It was strange and unsayable.
“Sorry for the clumsy serenade,” Hatsune said, sweet as fruit under sun, to Alicia and Lian.
In the same breath, Alicia and Lian stood up. They caught Hatsune’s hand and tugged her toward the bright street, lights blooming like flowers.
“Come on, the night isn’t over~” They turned back in perfect unison, words twinning like true sisters.
Hatsune looked at her hand being held. For a moment she saw her childhood friends, their faces in the lantern glow. A sweet smile lit her fine features.
“Mm~ Let’s go. Let’s keep playing~”
