🎶春日の響きと記憶の音 — 外伝 — 日常 — 5

🌸✨ In this alternate universe, Mio and みお are twin sisters, set in a unified world where the virtual singers of Crypton Future Media, Team TWINDRILL, INTERNET Co., Ltd., and the characters of Project SEKAI: Colorful Stage! feat. Hatsune Miku coexist. 🌙🎶 💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 The Us Left in the Night After the daytime shoot ended, everyone left the staircase for a while. That photo was saved inside the camera. The same staircase. Different levels. White daylight, swaying tree shadows, the faint scattered sounds from somewhere in the school grounds. And everyone not deliberately looking at the camera. It was not a glamorous photo. But it felt like the one that came closest to everyday life out of everything taken that day. It was only after evening had passed, when the sky had gone completely dark, that the final shooting location truly began. The night-view studio. When the door was pushed open, the lights inside came on little by little. It was not the clear natural light of daytime, but a night made up of countless tiny lights. A deep blue backdrop extended into the distance, like a boundless night sky. Transparent strings of lights hung on both sides, flickering faintly. The floor was covered with a material that reflected light like the surface of water, making every step feel as though it landed on the reflection of a city at night. Farther away, several decorative lamps made to resemble streetlights had been placed there, their halos soft, like the faint glow on a street corner after rain. “Wow...” Hatsune Miku, holding the camera, was the first to stop in her tracks. Kagamine Rin’s eyes widened. “This is way too pretty!” Kagamine Len looked at the reflections on the floor and said quietly, “It’s completely different from the staircase just now.” KAITO smiled as he looked around. “It’s like they brought the night indoors.” MEIKO crossed her arms and swept her gaze over the lights and backdrop. “Choosing this as the final scene really does fit.” Kasane Teto had already been unable to resist walking a few steps forward, the light and shadows beneath her feet shifting gently with her movements. “This place is perfect for a finale shot!” Mio followed behind her and reminded her, “Don’t run too fast. The floor might be slippery.” “I know!” That was what Teto said, but her steps still slowed a little. Mio stood near the entrance, looking at the night-view studio before her. The daytime staircase had felt like a section of time that had paused. This place, on the other hand, felt like the opening of another world. She said softly, “It feels... like we’re about to enter the final page of the story.” Miku heard her and turned back with a smile. “Mm. Today’s last photo will be here.” When those words fell, everyone grew quiet for an instant. The last photo. It was only the order of the shoot, and yet because of those words, the air inside the night-view studio seemed to change slightly. It was as if everyone suddenly realized that all the light, shadows, laughter, and conversations they had passed through today were truly going to be gathered together here. Megurine Luka slowly walked into the studio. Against the deep blue backdrop, her figure looked especially quiet. The light from the strings of lights fell across the ends of her hair, like tiny stars resting there for an instant. Kamui Gakupo walked a little behind her. He did not speak right away. He only looked at the lights inside the studio, as if confirming whether this night scenery was truly real. Luka looked toward those arranged lights. “It’s obviously a fake night view.” Gakupo looked at her. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean the feeling is fake.” Luka paused slightly. She turned her head, but did not refute him. She only said quietly, “You always accept these kinds of things so quickly.” “Because what matters is not whether this is truly night.” Gakupo’s voice was steady. “It is whether the people standing here truly treat it as night.” Luka looked at him. The lights trembled gently in her eyes. After a moment, she smiled faintly. “If you put it that way, I suppose it isn’t so bad.” Miku stood in the center of the studio and began checking the camera. “This time, the theme is...” She raised her head and looked at everyone. “Night, reflections, and the final moment of today.” Rin immediately raised her hand. “Final moment sounds kind of lonely.” Len looked at her. “But it’s cool.” “Do you only care whether it’s cool or not?” “What else?” Rin glared at him, but could not help laughing. KAITO said gently, “It doesn’t necessarily have to be lonely. The final moment can also be when you carefully put away the whole day.” MEIKO nodded. “Like the final bow after a performance.” Teto’s eyes lit up. “Then should we actually do a bowing pose?” Mio immediately looked at her. “Don’t make it too exaggerated.” “But it’s the finale!” “It’ll look better if it’s more natural.” Teto puffed out her cheeks. “Mio, you’ve been getting better and better at stopping me lately.” Mio smiled softly. “Because I can more or less guess what you’re about to do next.” Teto froze for a second. Then she suddenly laughed happily. “Isn’t that amazing?” Mio watched the two of them, a soft smile rising to her lips. The light inside the night-view studio fell over everyone. It was different from daytime. Daylight made everything appear clear. But the light inside the night-view studio softened everyone’s outlines. As if certain words did not need to be spoken too clearly in order to remain. Miku raised the camera and looked at everyone through the viewfinder. “Let’s try one shot first.” Everyone naturally spread out in front of the night-view setting. No one deliberately struck an overly gorgeous pose. And no one looked directly at the camera completely. Someone looked at the lights. Someone looked at the reflections. Someone looked at the person beside them. Miku pressed the shutter. Click. The first night-view photo appeared on the screen. Against the deep blue background, the lights looked like distant stars from a city. Everyone’s figures were gently wrapped in the night. Rin immediately leaned closer. “So pretty!” Len nodded. “This one really looks like an album cover.” MEIKO glanced at it and said calmly, “The composition is good, but everyone could be a little closer.” KAITO smiled and said, “Just now, it felt like everyone hadn’t fully entered the night yet.” Miku looked down at the photo and nodded softly. “Mm. I feel like it’s still missing something too.” Teto tilted her head in confusion. “Missing what?” Miku did not answer right away. She looked at everyone on the screen. That photo was beautiful. The lights, the backdrop, the reflections were all good. But perhaps precisely because it was too beautiful, it lacked a little of the natural warmth that had remained in the photos from earlier today. The daytime staircase had not been the most glamorous place. But it had carried the clearest feelings. And although this place was dreamlike, it had not yet truly become their night. Miku slowly lowered the camera. “Let’s wait a bit.” Rin blinked. “Wait for what?” Miku looked at everyone and smiled. “Wait until everyone stops thinking of it as ‘the last photo.’” Those words made everyone quiet for a moment. Len said softly, “But you were the one who just said this was the last photo.” “That’s why everyone cares too much.” Miku looked at the light inside the night-view studio. “Once you care too much, you start wanting to make it perfect.” MEIKO raised her brow slightly. “You don’t want to take a perfect photo?” Miku thought about it. “I do.” She smiled gently. “But after taking photos all day, I feel like the best photo isn’t necessarily the most perfect one.” KAITO looked at her, his expression gentle. “It’s the one that feels most like that moment.” Miku nodded. “Mm.” The night-view studio fell briefly quiet. There was no shutter sound. No one hurried to adjust their pose either. Everyone simply stood within the light, slowly adjusting to this night that had been created. Teto crouched down and looked at the reflections on the floor. “This place really looks like water.” Mio also lowered her head and glanced at it. “If we photograph it well, it’ll look like everyone is standing between two nights.” “Wow, that sounds so cool!” “I just thought of it, so I said it.” “No, I’m writing that down!” Mio looked at the lights reflected on the floor and said softly, “Between two nights...” She raised her head and looked toward the deep blue backdrop inside the studio. “One is right before our eyes, and one is beneath our feet.” Rin looked down at her reflection and could not help stretching out her toe to lightly touch the floor. “It feels like stepping on stars.” Len watched her movement and laughed. “Careful, or you’ll actually slip.” “I won’t!” As soon as she said that, Rin’s footing wobbled slightly. Len immediately reached out and steadied her. Rin froze. Len also froze for a second. Then he quickly looked away. “...I told you.” Rin looked down at his hand, then looked somewhere else. “I know.” Miku saw this scene, but she did not immediately take a photo. She only smiled. Some moments were suitable to be preserved. Others were better left to happen first. On the other side, Luka was still gazing at the lights. She seemed even quieter than before. Gakupo stood not far away and did not disturb her. After a while, Luka suddenly spoke. “The daytime photo felt like everyday life.” Gakupo looked at her. “Mm.” “What about here?” She looked at the deep blue night scenery. “This place doesn’t feel like everyday life.” Gakupo quietly watched her. “Perhaps it feels like a wish.” Luka turned her head. “A wish?” “A scene one cannot encounter every day.” He spoke slowly. “But because someone wanted to create it, it appeared here.” Luka’s gaze shifted slightly. The night-colored lights reflected in her eyes. “To create the night one wants to see... is that it?” It was as if she repeated the sentence once in her heart. Then she asked softly, “Then what about a photo?” Gakupo answered, “Perhaps it is turning the moment one wants to keep into a shape that can be seen again.” Luka did not speak. She simply looked at him. This time, she did not immediately look away. The lights inside the night-view studio were very quiet. So quiet that even the silence seemed softly illuminated. Not far away, Miku raised the camera again. She looked at everyone through the viewfinder. This time, no one was especially waiting for instructions anymore. Rin and Len were still near the spot where she had almost slipped just now. Neither of them was looking at the camera, but they seemed more natural than before. KAITO and MEIKO stood where the light was a little softer, as if steadily supporting the entire image. Teto was pulling Mio over to look at the reflections on the floor, the smile on her face brighter than the lights. Mio stood to the side, quietly looking at everyone, as if committing the final appearance of this day to memory. Luka and Gakupo stood within the night-colored light. They were still not overly close. But the distance between them no longer felt like a blank space. It felt more like a sentence that had not yet been finished, but had already been understood. Miku’s fingertip rested on the shutter. Suddenly, she said softly, “Everyone.” Everyone looked toward her. Miku smiled and said, “This is today’s last photo.” This time, no one became tense because of the word “last.” Nor did anyone hurry to prepare a pose. Because before that, they had already spent a little time inside this night. Teto smiled and waved. “Take it!” Rin smiled too. “This one is definitely going to look good!” Len let out a soft breath. “Mm.” KAITO smiled and said, “Let’s put today away.” MEIKO added quietly, “Put it away properly.” Mio looked toward the camera, yet also seemed to be looking somewhere farther away. “This day... will remain.” Mio nodded. “Mm. It definitely will.” Luka looked at the camera in Miku’s hands. Then, very lightly, she smiled. It was not a smile for the photo. Nor an expression anyone had asked her to make. It was simply that, by chance, in this created night, she remembered the wind on the daytime staircase. She remembered the photo where no one had looked at the camera. She remembered someone saying that one did not need to become anything in particular in order to be remembered. Gakupo noticed her smile. He did not speak. He only stood quietly beside her. As if he were guarding that smile together with the night. Miku looked at everyone through the viewfinder. The deep blue night scenery. The flickering strings of lights. The reflections wavering faintly on the floor. And everyone naturally remaining there in the final moment of the day. She pressed the shutter. Click. The last photo was complete. After the shutter sound fell, the studio did not immediately grow lively. Everyone seemed to have been gently held in place by that sound. Until Miku looked down at the screen. She looked at it for a long time. So long that Rin could not help leaning closer. “How is it?” Miku did not answer right away. She only slowly turned the camera toward everyone. On the screen, that night had been completely preserved. Not only the beautiful lights. Not only the backdrop that sparkled like a city. Not only the figures of everyone wrapped in the night. But everything that had accumulated from daytime until this moment. The light on the staircase. The words left unspoken in the wind. The laughter along the way. The hand that reached out when someone almost slipped. The feelings that went unspoken when someone looked at someone else. And everyone, at the very end, no longer afraid of the word “last.” Rin’s eyes widened. “This one...” Len continued softly, “Really is good.” MEIKO looked at the photo, her expression gentle. “Mm. This is the last photo.” KAITO smiled and said, “It suits today.” Teto stared at the screen for a long while, then suddenly sniffled. Mio immediately looked at her. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong!” Teto turned her face away. “The lights are just too bright!” Mio did not expose her. She only smiled softly. Mio looked at the photo, her gaze quiet and warm. “It’s like everyone walked into the night together, but didn’t really leave the daytime behind.” Miku heard those words and nodded gently. “Mm.” Luka stood to the side, looking at herself on the screen. In the photo, she stood within deep blue light. She was not as clearly visible as she had been in the daytime. But she had not been swallowed by the night either. Her expression was quiet. As if she had finally accepted an answer that did not need to be spoken aloud. Gakupo asked quietly, “Does it still feel unlike you this time?” Luka did not answer immediately. After a while, she shook her head lightly. “No.” She looked at the night in the photo, and then at herself within it. “This time... it feels like I can remain here too.” Gakupo’s gaze softened a little. “That is good.” Luka turned to look at him. “It’s only a photo. You look strangely relieved.” Gakupo replied quietly, “Because you did not avoid it.” Luka paused. The lights in the night-view studio left a faint brightness beside her ear. She did not argue. She only looked away very lightly. “...You really do notice these kinds of things.” Gakupo smiled faintly. “I merely happened to see it.” This time, Luka did not call him strange. Nor did she say that he always made ordinary things sound too important. She only said softly, “Then... let’s call it a coincidence.” The lights in the night-view studio were still shining. But the shoot had already ended. Miku put away the camera and gently let out a breath. “Today’s shoot is now completely finished.” Rin looked around, a little reluctant. “It’s really over.” Len said, “The last photo has already been taken.” Teto immediately raised her hand. “Then can we shoot behind-the-scenes footage?” MEIKO looked at her. “Weren’t you just about to cry?” “I was not!” KAITO smiled and said, “Let’s leave the behind-the-scenes moments in everyone’s memories.” Mio nodded. “A lot has already been left behind today.” Mio said softly, “The things inside the photos, and the things outside them.” Miku held the camera and looked at everyone. The lights in the night-view studio reflected in her eyes like tiny stars. “Mm.” She smiled and said, “They all remained.” No one urged them toward the next scene anymore. Because there was no next scene left. The final photo lay quietly inside the camera. And the sounds that had not been captured— The wind on the daytime staircase. The sound of everyone laughing and talking. The faint electrical hum of the tiny lights inside the night-view studio. And the silence after the final photo was completed, when no one spoke right away. All of them remained in this day. The photos would be opened many times. Perhaps each time they saw them, everyone would remember different details. Someone would remember the daylight. Someone would remember the reflections at night. Someone would remember something someone had said. Someone would remember a gaze that had never been spoken of. But none of that mattered. Because what truly remained had never been only the photos. It was that, on the same day, they had once walked through daylight together, paused together on the staircase, and finally stood together inside that created night. Then, in the instant the shutter fell, they carefully put today away.