Brought to you by Moonchild Abigail

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Part 4

I paused for a moment to gaze at the person in the mirror facing me, here in the bathroom of our Tokyo hotel. It hadn’t taken a whole lot of convincing to get Taiki and Yaten to come along. I could tell they were both excited about seeing the city and stepping out on our own. Of course there was a bit of uncertainty as well, but I think we believed that if the three of us bonded together we were invincible. Tokyo was more amazing than I could have imagined. Everything about the city pulsed with life and excitement. I wanted to go out and embrace it all, and experience everything. I felt that there was one thrilling opportunity out there waiting just for me, and I couldn’t wait to go out and chase it down. Ever since I stepped off the bullet train I hadn’t been able to shake this adventurous spirit – and the feeling that my life was about to change forever.

Together we had about 84000 yen, pooling all the savings that the three of us had. Looking at the hotel bill, it wasn’t going to last us a very long time. But then, after we became famous, money wouldn’t be a problem. Famous, heh. I wondered if our little band would make it far. Yaten still didn’t like the idea of disguising ourselves as boys, but I shut her up by opening the newspaper and pointing to a notice for an audition for male idol groups. (“That’s so sexist,” she muttered.) I wanted to do this just for the fun of it, but mostly for the challenge.

I had a pair of scissors and was ready to chop off my hair and Yaten’s (much to her mortification), when Taiki pointed out that we could keep our hair long and simply style it like a boy’s in a ponytail at the back of our neck. (Yaten, needless to say, was very relieved as she stroked her precious silver locks.) I looked at my hair now and agreed with Taiki – it looked much more kakoii this way then it would have short. Black tendrils of hair lay scattered in the sink; I had decided to layer it in front to complete the look. I liked the way the wild curls framed my forehead. Taiki had told me once several years ago that my face was more handsome than pretty. (Thanks, sis, you really know how to make a girl feel good about herself.) But maybe my boyish good looks would come in handy. With loose jeans and football jersey to complete the look, I almost fooled myself. I was a guy. Hee, hee. I liked it.

Taiki was picking out a melody on her guitar – one of the collection of pawn-shop instruments we’d found – when I walked out of the bathroom. “Geez, we thought you’d died in there,” was the greeting I got. I plopped down on the bed and the doorbell rang (Taiki had ordered Chinese takeout.)

“So do you two think we can pull this off?” I asked after a few minutes, studying the audition notice in the newspaper again.

“Sure, no problem,” Yaten said. “Everyone will easily believe we’re guys. I mean, Taiki has a mustache anyway.” I grinned and prudently moved out of the way as fried noodles flew at my white-haired companion.

“You’re the one who’ll have the problem,” Taiki told her. “You look too much like a girl.”

“Are you kidding?” Yaten flicked a noodle out of her hair and leaned back, propping her legs – baggy pants and all – up on the bed. She spread her arms wide. “Just look at me! I am the ultimate bishounen. Every girl in Tokyo will be swooning at my feet. It pains me to say it, but I may just become so popular I’ll have to leave you behind to pursue a solo career.”

Taiki and I just stared at her with raised eyebrows for a moment. “Yeah, yeah, right,” we both said, as Taiki turned away and picked up a book and a pair of chopsticks, and I looked down at the newspaper again.

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Two more bands to go, and it would be our turn. “That third guy is off-key,” Taiki noted, watching the wanna-be idol group on the stage. Just our luck, we had to be picked to go last. That was okay, though. We’d blow them all away. We’d show those record producers that Three Lights was gonna be biggest new idol group of the year.

Nervousness? Nah, I wasn’t nervous. Okay, maybe a little tiny bit. But I was too excited to be any more than that.

“Hi, there!” I turned to see a blonde-haired girl smiling at me. “You must be Three Lights, right?” She had blue eyes and wore a short yellow dress. Part of her long golden hair was tied back with a big red bow.

“Yes, we are,” I answered. “How did you…”

She stuck out her hand. “Minako Aino. I sneaked a peek at the list of bands. Good luck! I hope you guys do well. I’m here for the solo auditions afterwards.”

“Nice to meet you,” I told her as I shook her hand. “I’m Kou Seiya. This is Taiki and he’s Yaten.”

“Hi,” she gave a little wave of greeting to the others. “I’m not just being nice, but you guys truly look like the best ones here. Without even hearing you sing, I tell that you shine, just by looking at your faces.”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

“Arigato, Aino-san,” Yaten said. “I hope you do well, too.”

She held up crossed fingers and smiled. “If luck is with me!”

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Moment of truth. The stage was ours. I felt totally confident, as if this was where I was meant to be. The record-company brass sat in the auditorium scrutinizing us, and I calmly met their gaze. I felt the tempo of the music behind me, and raised the mic to my lips to sing:

Though it seems like I may be rejected

my heart is slowly maturing

As for hiding our hearts from each other,

let's quit that here

If I say the words "I love you"

my heart keeps time

Dawn will open the door

and invite the sea breeze in

See me, If my heartbeat

Hear me, sends out a signal

Touch me, a brand-new power… will start to rise…

I closed my eyes and let the music flow through me, singing with all my heart as the other two joined in.

I won't overlook it, I won't give up

until I reach my dream

So, closer to where you are, this is our era

Not yesterday, and not tomorrow

Now, this is the moment

Yes! Because even sadness is a part of happiness

The last notes of the song faded away. I opened my eyes again, and looked at the small group of people who held our fate in their hands. And I knew.

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Notes: 84000 yen would be about $840. kakoii means cool or handsome, and if you don’t know what a bishounen is you need to watch more anime. The lyrics are from See Me, It’s Our Era, a song that the Three Lights sang in the Sailor Moon musicals.