The Black Card and the White Card - Vocaloid 神威x巡音

💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 The final day of the shoot had a theme: "Halloween Tarot Cards." The art director spread the design draft across the long table: two upright, elongated cards, one with a black background and one with a white, their four corners inlaid with silver vine patterns and bat emblems. The black card belonged to Luka, the white card to Gakupo. The two cards overlapped slightly, like a deck shuffled halfway. "We'll shoot these separately," the art director said. "One frame each. No leaning on each other." Gakupo had been straightening the collar of his cape. His hand paused. "...Separately?" "It's a card, after all. We can't squeeze two people onto the same one." Luka lowered her head and smoothed the orange satin ribbon at her cuff, saying nothing. In the first two shoots, they had either stood back to back or shoulder to shoulder. Only now did she realize she had grown used to having someone beside her. The black card was first. Luka put on a dark brown long-sleeved dress, its white ruffled collar tied with an orange bow, her cat-ear headband wrapped in black lace. The stylist carefully brushed her fox tail until it was fluffy and let it hang on the left side of the frame. The prop crew handed her a brass candlestick holding a real white candle. "It's actually going to be lit?" she asked. "The fire marshal's watching from over there." The moment the wick caught flame, the studio lights dimmed. The tiny fire flickered in her blue eyes, casting a spot of orange. She suddenly remembered the nights after the candy shop closed, when she always stayed behind alone, turned off every light, and left only a single candle on the counter. It was her own private ritual. She had never mentioned it to anyone. "Luka, smile. Not too sweet. Just a little mischief." She raised her gaze past the camera and saw Gakupo standing in the shadows. He had his arms crossed, his cape hanging to his knees, quietly watching her. The corners of her mouth curved naturally, into a slightly sly smile, like a cat that had just finished stealing sweets. "That's it, hold it!" The shutter fell. She blew out the candle, and a wisp of white smoke rose into the air and scattered. Then it was the white card's turn. Gakupo changed into a black high-collared cape, a white cravat loosely knotted at his neck, his purple hair tied up high. The prop crew brought out a carved jack-o'-lantern, its orange face grinning with jagged teeth. "I carved this one," Gakupo said. Everyone turned to look at him. "Last night," he added, a little awkwardly. "I figured, if I'm going to be holding it, I should make it myself." The art director leaned in to inspect it. The pumpkin's eyes sat at different heights, its mouth slanted to the right, its grin wildly lopsided, yet strangely endearing. "It's... got personality." "I know it's ugly." "No," Luka's voice came from the black card's side. "It looks like you." Gakupo hugged the pumpkin, unable to speak for a moment. He remembered the nights he had stayed home guarding the door as a child, when the laughter of children passed outside and he could only watch, through the crack in the door, as other families' jack-o'-lanterns lit up one by one. Back then he had believed those lights belonged to other people. Now, this light was in his arms. "Gakupo, look here!" He turned toward the lens, but for some reason his eyes found Luka first. She stood outside the ring of light and raised one finger to him, making a gentle "shh." He couldn't help winking, just one eye, a smile tucked inside it. The shutter fell like a sudden downpour. "That one's incredible!" The photographer lowered his camera. "Where did that wink come from?" "Inspiration," Gakupo said, straight-faced. Far away, Luka bowed her head, her shoulders shaking. By the time the shoot wrapped, it was very late. The crew left one by one, and the studio was left with a single work light. Luka sat on a prop crate, counting scattered candy wrappers. Gakupo set the jack-o'-lantern beside her and sat down next to her. "Today," Luka began, "shooting separately felt a little strange." "For me too." Gakupo didn't look at her. "When you were lighting the candle on the black card side, I kept wondering whether this is how you are when you're alone." Luka's hand stopped on the wrapper. "...How did you know?" "Because I'm the same," he said quietly. "People who guard the door are all like this." She didn't answer. She simply leaned over and rested her forehead against his shoulder. This time, he didn't stiffen, and he didn't joke. He just let her lean on him, in silence. After a long while, Luka said softly, "Then let's not be alone anymore." "Okay." Three days later, the proof prints arrived at the candy shop. The art director made a special trip, laying the two cards side by side on the counter. On the black card, Luka held the candlestick, smiling slyly. On the white card, Gakupo hugged the pumpkin, one eye winking in a mischievous arc. "There's something interesting," he said. "For the layout, I left a small overlapping area where the two cards meet. Look." He gently pressed the white card onto the black one. Where the edges met, the orange triangle behind the black card and the orange triangle behind the white card fit together into a perfect diamond. The candlelight in Luka's hand also fell exactly beside the grinning face of the pumpkin in Gakupo's arms, as if the flame had lit it. "I didn't design it that way on purpose," the art director said, scratching his head. "It just lined up." Luka stared at the diamond and said nothing for a long moment. Gakupo stood beside her, his fingertip lightly touching the crooked-mouthed pumpkin on the card. "This one," he said. "I want to hang it in the shop." "Where?" "Behind the cash register." He paused. "That way, every time you count candy, you'll see me." Luka finally laughed, her eyes curving with it. "Silly," she said, stacking the two cards together and tucking them carefully into a drawer. "If we're hanging them, we hang both." Outside the window, the evening bell rang. Children in tiny capes were already running down the street, their laughter bright and clear. The shop's glass door swung open, the bell jingling, and a paper bat, having slipped from Gakupo's sleeve at some point, circled the ceiling once and landed steadily beside the candle on the counter. "It's waiting for you to light it," Gakupo said. Luka struck a match, and the candlelight rose softly.