SSharp
Inactive Member
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, the sound filled the void in the silent room. The clock hung from a wall of the room, tilted with the bottom riding up on the wall and the '12' quirked toward the left at the top. Without its green glow, everything would be in darkness: from its numbers and hands to the bed and the sleeping form tangled up in the sheets.
Red hair spilled out over the side of the bed, covering her face. It hung limply there, shifting a little as her chest rose and fell in silent breathing. She had an arm sticking straight out over the side of the bed, the elbow being flattened by its own weight on the bed. The other arm was wrapped tightly to her, the fist resting lightly on her abdomen.
On the night stand next to her, a little green Communicator's display lit up in a countdown. The very light of it was enough to begin to make the sleeping woman stir, but after the brief few seconds collapsed down the high-pitched beeping was enough to force her back into consciousness.
Her hanging arm went out to slap the volumetric projection floating a half-inch above the communicator, silencing its keening. Truly waking up began with a deep breath as she sucked in air. The woman straightened out onto her back as she stretched, tangling herself worse in the bedsheets. After a moment, she finally opened her brilliant green eyes, let them adjust to the darkness, and stared at the ceiling. The next part of waking up came: the thinking, and the planning; the wondering if today would be the day a bill finally caught up that she wouldn't be able to pay for the band, her studio, or her apartment. She had nightmares about bills -- surprisingly dark ones.
The red-haired woman was Kyoto Sekai, an aspiring Pop Idol in Yamatai; she was also hovering just above 'broke' financially, one step short of 'bankrupt'. Yamatai was rather forgiving -- she'd keep her apartment, for a time, but her concern was for her singing career. She wouldn't be the first one to disappear because of financial issues. The war had been hitting Yamatai hard as of late, too. If the news was right, it was finally starting to turn, but... The terror of the shelters during the Battle of Yamatai was still fresh in her mind; huddling in a bunker underground, wondering if or when she'd vanish in a flash of aether fire. It was fresh in the minds of publishers as well, it seemed, and the consumers of course. Fewer were receptive to taking on a new band with the war still on and the Misshuvurthyar still a threat. In the end, that was what was getting at her financially: the inability to get new songs on the market while debts piled. She had lucked out with "Your Heart", but would she get lucky again?
Finally, with the fog of sleep successfully dissipated from her head, Sekai got up out of her bed to begin her day.
---
There was breakfast, early and alone with the lights off. It was the cold leftovers of last night's dinner, drowned in gravy still, and followed down by the last glass of orange juice she had. She took her shower, tended to her hair, and as soon as the sun was up the calls began. To managers, and agents, and publishers all. She received some -- sales calls, family, friends, but more often she was dialing on her phone to call up the next manager, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed.
Noon came, and Sekai skipped lunch. She went out into Kyoto to offices for interviews with more publishers and sponsors. She even did her own interview with a possible agent who wanted to take up her banner, but in the end his price was too high and the way he looked at her made her just a little paranoid. He was a Nepleslian, of course.
The afternoon passed by quietly, and Sekai found herself walking the street to a smaller office, now... Only to find it locked with a volumetric 'CLOSED' sign flickering in front of the door.
The red-haired woman cursed rather unattractively for a few seconds under her breath (a pair of passing Gakuen students gave her looks and were careful to give her a wide berth) before she finally stepped back onto the sidewalk.
Sekai felt at a loss. That would have been the final interview, and the last office she hadn't knocked on the door of. It had been her last hope of finding a sponsor in Kyoto. Ideas were born in the back of her mind, and quickly crushed for their ridiculousness. If she couldn't even get a manager, who would take her seriously on the corporate scale? No one. So she stood on the sidewalk, listening to the sounds of traffic on the street behind her slowly weaken and the sun fade with the evening.
---
Kyoto Sekai didn't know how long she had stood alone on that sidewalk, but after the sun had passed and the streetlamps flickered on she realized her legs hurt and found a bench to sit on. Across from her, its front illuminated by a streetlamp, sat the Star Army Recruiting center. She stared at it numbly.
How could she continue to support the band? It was impossible. Impossible without sponsors. A pair of songs wasn't enough to keep it all together, and her bandmates John and Shinji were getting noisier and noisier about wanting to leave. Without an income, they'd follow up on their complaints and do something about it. It would be the last straw for the Kyoto Project, then. It would all fall apart.
Ymir Hei found her with her green eyes locked on the recruitment center, just sitting there as he began to lock up for the night. He recognized her almost immediately when he approached. "You're Kyoto Sekai, right?"
It took Sekai a moment to shift her attention outward, onto the small Nepleslian Hei. It took another for her to realize he had asked a question. "Yes," she admitted.
"What are you doin' here? Aren't you supposed to be out making hit records or something?"
She winced at the words. "I'm just tired, so I took a seat was all." It was a small lie.
"I'm Ymir. A Hei for Star Army? They stuck me in this recruitment center... I don't think you want to hear that, though." He scratched the back of his head, grimacing as he wondered what to do. It wasn't always that a Pop Idol appeared, after all. "...Hey, if you're tired... Maybe you'd like some coffee? I'm sure the Shoi wouldn't mind. She's still in the back. She practically lives there, cot and everything."
Sekai nodded, and followed Ymir as he walked back to the front of the Recruitment Center to unlock the door. In a blur, she was led to the back of the building into a lounge area, with couches in the Imperial Colors. A mug of hot coffee was in her hands, and she had been sat down. Ymir had said something to the officer in the room, she had said something back, and Ymir seemingly vanished. Sekai stared at the coffee.
"How are things, Kyoto-san?" The Shoi asked from her seat next to Sekai. Her Neko ears had pivoted on the top of her head to focus in on the Pop Idol.
"Stressful," she began. What came next sort of... tumbled out of Sekai. "I've been thinking of applying, though. To Star Army."
A day ago, she would have regreted the words immediately. A month ago, she would have thought it all a dream. Right then, however, feeling as if her band were falling apart, Sekai meant the words she said, even if she hadn't thought them all the way through.
"Oh? Are you sure, Kyoto-san?" The Shoi's eyes had gotten a bit wide, and her head had followed her ears so she could look directly at the Yamataian woman.
Once this war is over, I can go back to performing. Nothing will keep me from recording things, though, or writing up new songs. John and Shinji can go back to college like they want, she rationalized. "Yes," she said out loud.
"Well... Normally I would tell you to come back during hours, but..." The Shoi inclined her head. "Are you sure, though? I mean, you have your career to think of, after all. Once you sign, barring retirement, disaster, or you breaking some regulation, you can't get out of the three-year contract."
"I am thinking of my career..." And in a way, she was. "...by joining, I help to ensure I have a career to return to, and nothing is going to stop me from recording on my Leave time, or writing songs in my off-duty hours, right?"
The Shoi nodded. "For the most part, yes... Well, I'll bring the contract then, and I'll answer any questions you have when I come back, alright?"
The Shoi got up and left, leaving Sekai to her thoughts. Somehow, Sekai knew this was the right thing to do. She knew it in her gut. When the Shoi returned with the papers, she asked again: "Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course I am." After figuring out what fields she could sign up for, Sekai made her choice and signed.
Red hair spilled out over the side of the bed, covering her face. It hung limply there, shifting a little as her chest rose and fell in silent breathing. She had an arm sticking straight out over the side of the bed, the elbow being flattened by its own weight on the bed. The other arm was wrapped tightly to her, the fist resting lightly on her abdomen.
On the night stand next to her, a little green Communicator's display lit up in a countdown. The very light of it was enough to begin to make the sleeping woman stir, but after the brief few seconds collapsed down the high-pitched beeping was enough to force her back into consciousness.
Her hanging arm went out to slap the volumetric projection floating a half-inch above the communicator, silencing its keening. Truly waking up began with a deep breath as she sucked in air. The woman straightened out onto her back as she stretched, tangling herself worse in the bedsheets. After a moment, she finally opened her brilliant green eyes, let them adjust to the darkness, and stared at the ceiling. The next part of waking up came: the thinking, and the planning; the wondering if today would be the day a bill finally caught up that she wouldn't be able to pay for the band, her studio, or her apartment. She had nightmares about bills -- surprisingly dark ones.
The red-haired woman was Kyoto Sekai, an aspiring Pop Idol in Yamatai; she was also hovering just above 'broke' financially, one step short of 'bankrupt'. Yamatai was rather forgiving -- she'd keep her apartment, for a time, but her concern was for her singing career. She wouldn't be the first one to disappear because of financial issues. The war had been hitting Yamatai hard as of late, too. If the news was right, it was finally starting to turn, but... The terror of the shelters during the Battle of Yamatai was still fresh in her mind; huddling in a bunker underground, wondering if or when she'd vanish in a flash of aether fire. It was fresh in the minds of publishers as well, it seemed, and the consumers of course. Fewer were receptive to taking on a new band with the war still on and the Misshuvurthyar still a threat. In the end, that was what was getting at her financially: the inability to get new songs on the market while debts piled. She had lucked out with "Your Heart", but would she get lucky again?
Finally, with the fog of sleep successfully dissipated from her head, Sekai got up out of her bed to begin her day.
---
There was breakfast, early and alone with the lights off. It was the cold leftovers of last night's dinner, drowned in gravy still, and followed down by the last glass of orange juice she had. She took her shower, tended to her hair, and as soon as the sun was up the calls began. To managers, and agents, and publishers all. She received some -- sales calls, family, friends, but more often she was dialing on her phone to call up the next manager, hoping she wouldn't be disappointed.
Noon came, and Sekai skipped lunch. She went out into Kyoto to offices for interviews with more publishers and sponsors. She even did her own interview with a possible agent who wanted to take up her banner, but in the end his price was too high and the way he looked at her made her just a little paranoid. He was a Nepleslian, of course.
The afternoon passed by quietly, and Sekai found herself walking the street to a smaller office, now... Only to find it locked with a volumetric 'CLOSED' sign flickering in front of the door.
The red-haired woman cursed rather unattractively for a few seconds under her breath (a pair of passing Gakuen students gave her looks and were careful to give her a wide berth) before she finally stepped back onto the sidewalk.
Sekai felt at a loss. That would have been the final interview, and the last office she hadn't knocked on the door of. It had been her last hope of finding a sponsor in Kyoto. Ideas were born in the back of her mind, and quickly crushed for their ridiculousness. If she couldn't even get a manager, who would take her seriously on the corporate scale? No one. So she stood on the sidewalk, listening to the sounds of traffic on the street behind her slowly weaken and the sun fade with the evening.
---
Kyoto Sekai didn't know how long she had stood alone on that sidewalk, but after the sun had passed and the streetlamps flickered on she realized her legs hurt and found a bench to sit on. Across from her, its front illuminated by a streetlamp, sat the Star Army Recruiting center. She stared at it numbly.
How could she continue to support the band? It was impossible. Impossible without sponsors. A pair of songs wasn't enough to keep it all together, and her bandmates John and Shinji were getting noisier and noisier about wanting to leave. Without an income, they'd follow up on their complaints and do something about it. It would be the last straw for the Kyoto Project, then. It would all fall apart.
Ymir Hei found her with her green eyes locked on the recruitment center, just sitting there as he began to lock up for the night. He recognized her almost immediately when he approached. "You're Kyoto Sekai, right?"
It took Sekai a moment to shift her attention outward, onto the small Nepleslian Hei. It took another for her to realize he had asked a question. "Yes," she admitted.
"What are you doin' here? Aren't you supposed to be out making hit records or something?"
She winced at the words. "I'm just tired, so I took a seat was all." It was a small lie.
"I'm Ymir. A Hei for Star Army? They stuck me in this recruitment center... I don't think you want to hear that, though." He scratched the back of his head, grimacing as he wondered what to do. It wasn't always that a Pop Idol appeared, after all. "...Hey, if you're tired... Maybe you'd like some coffee? I'm sure the Shoi wouldn't mind. She's still in the back. She practically lives there, cot and everything."
Sekai nodded, and followed Ymir as he walked back to the front of the Recruitment Center to unlock the door. In a blur, she was led to the back of the building into a lounge area, with couches in the Imperial Colors. A mug of hot coffee was in her hands, and she had been sat down. Ymir had said something to the officer in the room, she had said something back, and Ymir seemingly vanished. Sekai stared at the coffee.
"How are things, Kyoto-san?" The Shoi asked from her seat next to Sekai. Her Neko ears had pivoted on the top of her head to focus in on the Pop Idol.
"Stressful," she began. What came next sort of... tumbled out of Sekai. "I've been thinking of applying, though. To Star Army."
A day ago, she would have regreted the words immediately. A month ago, she would have thought it all a dream. Right then, however, feeling as if her band were falling apart, Sekai meant the words she said, even if she hadn't thought them all the way through.
"Oh? Are you sure, Kyoto-san?" The Shoi's eyes had gotten a bit wide, and her head had followed her ears so she could look directly at the Yamataian woman.
Once this war is over, I can go back to performing. Nothing will keep me from recording things, though, or writing up new songs. John and Shinji can go back to college like they want, she rationalized. "Yes," she said out loud.
"Well... Normally I would tell you to come back during hours, but..." The Shoi inclined her head. "Are you sure, though? I mean, you have your career to think of, after all. Once you sign, barring retirement, disaster, or you breaking some regulation, you can't get out of the three-year contract."
"I am thinking of my career..." And in a way, she was. "...by joining, I help to ensure I have a career to return to, and nothing is going to stop me from recording on my Leave time, or writing songs in my off-duty hours, right?"
The Shoi nodded. "For the most part, yes... Well, I'll bring the contract then, and I'll answer any questions you have when I come back, alright?"
The Shoi got up and left, leaving Sekai to her thoughts. Somehow, Sekai knew this was the right thing to do. She knew it in her gut. When the Shoi returned with the papers, she asked again: "Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course I am." After figuring out what fields she could sign up for, Sekai made her choice and signed.
