5pb. - Chapter 2

Walking hand in hand with 5pb., the both of you heading to a nearby fast food joint, at 5pb.'s request. You look at 5pb., who's wearing a similar casual attire she was going to use with the disguise kit, but decided against it. She replaced the tear-stained blouse from before with a similar blouse, lightly embroidered with a few musical notes near the hem. Her pants are the same light blue denim jeans since it was fortunate enough to be safe from her tears a while back. She sees you looking at her which makes her blush slightly.

"What are you looking at?" she asks.

"Well, my cute girlfriend."

"Ooohhh, I didn't realize how embarrassing that sounds..." she says looking away from you.

"You don't like it?"

"N-no it's not that, I am happy, I'm so happy right now I don't know what to do with myself..."

She intertwines her fingers with yours and holds it tightly as she continues. "It almost feels like a dream, and I don't want it to end... ow!"

You chuckle.

"Why'd you pinch my face like that..."

"Well now you're sure that this isn't a dream. Also it seems we're here."

"That was mean..."

The both of you reach the nearby McDomalts and you open the translucent glass door. You enter the restaurant and see it's fairly full, but not jam packed. There are a few lines of about 4-5 in front of the counter, you hear the sounds of people chattering about their morning, work, and whatever gossip enter your ear and quickly exit the other side. Glancing around, you find an empty table by the window, save for the remnants of the last customers who ate there. Turning around, you direct 5pb. towards the table and ask her what she wants.

"Hmm... I think I'll have a... number 9."

"Alright, go ahead and take that seat before someone else takes it from us."

"Okay."

She enters the restaurant and walks towards the table you pointed at by the window. As she enters, the chatter of the restaurant quiets down slightly, with the people near the entrance turning their heads and eyes following her movement. You go to the queue at the front counter to order as you see her take a seat and wave at you. Smiling at her in reply, you feel some of the gazes shift towards you and quickly disappear. You reach the front of the queue, place your orders, pay for them and begin to take them to your table, where 5pb. is waiting. Reaching your table, you see 5pb. signing a small piece of paper and handing it to one of the employees. The employee leaves with a smile on their face as you take a seat opposite of 5pb., already taking her food.

"Was that one of your fans?" you ask her.

She nods as she takes a bite of her food.

Deciding that holding a conversation while eating would be in vain, you decide to eat as well, content at watching 5pb. happily eat in front of you. As you eat, you can still see and feel some of the gazes directed towards your table. You can only imagine what kind of gossip there would be about seeing 5pb. having lunch with someone, but remembering how determined 5pb. is about her love for you, faltering here would be an insult to her.

Finishing your meals, you chat idly with 5pb. as to let the food digest. You try to think of a topic as you notice some people passing by the window slow down to look at 5pb. and you. Their expressions are mostly mild surprise, judging from their raised eyebrows. You know that 5pb. is a very popular idol but the amount of attention she's getting right now feels surreal, or perhaps it's just your imagination. Looking at 5pb., she doesn't even seem to notice the looks people are giving the both of you as her gaze is only directed at you.

"Hey, 5pb., have you noticed that a lot of people seem to be looking at us?" you ask.

"Hm? No, not really, it's quite normal actually."

"Is that so? I guess I'm not used to the sudden looks from random strangers."

"Well, it's something you'll get used to especially since we're together now."

"You're right, what matters is we're together."

Standing up from your seat, you offer 5pb. your hand. "Well, we more or less have the day free, what do you normally do with the free time you get?"

She holds on to your hand and stands up, holding a finger to her lip, thinking. "Hm, to be honest, during my free time I usually just listen to music and zone out."

You both start to exit the restaurant. "So do you just want to do that?"

"No..! I-I want to spend more time with you..." she says tightening her grip on your hand.

"Okay. Do you want to do anything in particular?"

"Hmm... Oh! I know where! I'll lead the way!"

She pulls you by the hand, leading you to a part of town you're not too familiar with. Looking at your surroundings, she seems to be taking you to the heart of town, judging by the amount of people steadily increasing. Wondering what she has in store, you decide to ask her as she continues to lead the way.

"So 5pb., where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there, I hope you're ready."

"Uh, ready for what?"

"We're almost there!"

In less than a minute, 5pb. stops in front of a, what seems to be a karaoke bar. The building is a one-story establishment with windows on the front, and large letters spelling out the name 'Five Powered & Basics'. Pulling the translucent glass door open, she pulls you inside and immediately you hear a female voice greet the both of you.

"Welcome! Oh is that you 5pb.? It's been a while! And what's this? Who's this? Is he a friend?"

"Hello! It's definitely been a while! And this person is ... he's my boyfriend."

"Woooow! Congrats 5pb.! In celebration, your session for today is on the house! I insist!"

"Really? Thank you!"

"You can go to room 9, you know where that one is right? Here's the card for it."

"Yes, and thank you again!"

5pb. nods to you as she pulls you into the bar. You glance at the person handling the counter and she gives you a small wave and a smile. Looking at the doors in the hallway 5pb. is leading you through, you can see some customers through the small circular windows, singing and eating snacks. Near the end of the hallway you see a small golden plaque by the door with a black number 9 engraved on it, below the plaque is a small card reader. You glance back to the other doors and notice that this is the only door with a gold plaque and a card reader. 5pb. swipes the card and you hear the reader beep and the door unlock. She looks at you with a smile and beckons for you to enter as she opens the door.

"Uh, 5pb.? Is this the VIP room? Please don't tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking..." you say, staying in place as 5pb. continues to beckon to you.

You see her smirk as she notices the sudden fear in your voice. "Now, now, don't worry. It's just the two of us here. Come on," she says cheerfully, grabbing your hand and pulling you into the room. Looking around the room you see that there's a large flatscreen monitor on the wall, which is currently switched off, the walls are all soft and plush, with cushioned seats lining it, and in the middle of the room is a large rectangular table with a remote, a pair of microphones, and a book labeled with the word 'Songs', on top of it. If you had to make a guess, the room is large enough to let more than a dozen people in comfortably with plenty of room to spare.

You see her sit down on one of the seats and pats a spot near her while looking at you. "Come sit down," she says with a grin, "I won't bite, hahaha."

Rubbing your shoulder and looking away, you walk slowly besides 5pb. and sit down the spot she was patting. You glance at her smirk, immediately look away and you hear 5pb. stifle a giggle.

"This isn't like you at all," you hear her say putting a hand on your shoulder, "I'm pretty sure it's not because of me... we've always been alone together when you accompany me for practice."

"Please don't make me sing..." you whisper to yourself.

"Did you say something? I couldn't quite catch that..." she says playfully.

"I-I can't wriggle my way out of this can I...?"

"Hahaha, no you can't," she says gleefully.

"Was this your plan from the start..?"

"I only thought about it when you brought up what I'd like to do, so anyway, I'll turn on the screen and then, to maybe make it easier for you, let's choose a song you helped me with."

"Y-you know I can't actually s-sing..."

"We'll see about that."

She hands you one of the mics and begins to operate the remote, bringing the monitor to life. The monitor shows previews of different pictures of sceneries all the while asking for a number. You see 5pb. pick up the book and flick through the pages, humming happily to herself.

"Ah, here we go," you hear her say.

She puts the open book on her lap, picks up the remote, and presses a few buttons. The numbers she pressed displays itself on the screen, and the song name, 'Dimension Tripper', displays itself. You begin to hear the song play out from seemingly nowhere, with the monitor displaying one of 5pb.'s concerts.

"The song's about to start so get ready!" says 5pb., pumping her fist in the air, "You can do it!"

The countdown on the corner of the display begin to go down, counting the few precious seconds before you embarrass yourself in front of your girlfriend. You take a deep breath to calm yourself down. The lyrics for the song begin to appear as the countdown nears completion. You read the first few words to prepare yourself, listening to the music, trying to imagine how you should do it.

The countdown finishes and the lyrics begin to fill up with color as indication. You try to sing, following suit as best as you can. The words flow out of your mouth akin to a blender trying to process rocks. Your voice cracks as you try to sing the high notes, but you try to persevere. The only saving grace you can think of as you perform is the fact that these rooms are mostly sound proof, so only 5pb. is hearing it. You make a mental note to beg for forgiveness after this, as no one should be made to bear the brunt of your singing. The song finally ends, and your hellish performance along with it. You close your eyes and hang your head, breathing deeply, and gritting your teeth, as you suddenly hear clapping.

"Yay! Good job!" you hear 5pb. say, happily clapping her hands.

"But, that performance was horrible... how could you even clap at that?" you reply, looking at the monitor displaying a red 48 on screen.

"Well, it's true that it was horrible," she says bluntly as you hang your head in shame once more, "but you did your best and I can appreciate that."

"You don't mince words do you..."

"Well, it would be hardly fair if you're the only one who sings, so let me find a song here..."

"No wait," you interrupt, "I'll find a song, since you were the one who picked for me."

"Okay, fair enough," she says handing you the book, "here you go, you know how to read this right?"

"Shouldn't be too hard, thanks."

You begin to flick through the book, check the length of your song and tried to get a similar song in length. Running your finger through the list, and flicking through a few more pages, you couldn't find a similar song and decided to just go with whatever your finger might stop on. You close your eyes and point at a random spot on the book and your finger lands on a song called 'Ryuusei no Bifrost'. Giving 5pb. the other mic, you input the number on the remote and the monitor begins to display the song.

5pb. begins to prepare herself, tapping her foot to the tune of the song, and lightly humming as the song begins its countdown. You see her look at you and wink sticking her tongue out, striking a quick pose. The countdown ends and 5pb. begins to sing. Her performance is stark contrast to yours. The words flow out of her mouth with sweet melody, the emotion of each syllable and word felt in its entirety. Each movement of her body, enriching the song. You've watched 5pb. during her concert performances, but you've never heard her sing like this before. Taking your gaze away from the monitor, you see 5pb. not even looking at the monitor as she sings. She's looking at you directly as she performs, dancing and singing, giving you a private concert. Both your eyes meet each other, and it feels like there's only you and 5pb. in the world. You see 5pb., performing for you, and she sees you, watching her intently.

The song eventually ends, the performance along with it. You begin to clap your hands, and 5pb. bows to you in response before taking her seat beside you.

"So, how was it?" she asks.

"It was amazing, 5pb.," you reply, holding her hand.

"That makes me glad, but..."

You feel a twinge of fear sprout up from your gut. "B-but? What is it?"

"Well, I've done my singing, so..."

"...Please, don't tell me..."

"It's your turn again!" she says gleefully, clapping her hands together.

"Awwww... 5pb., why..."

"Because it's fun! And I wouldn't want to be the only one singing."

Slumping your shoulders, you hand 5pb. the song book and hold the microphone in hand, preparing yourself for another song. You see her happily flick through the book once more, and operate the remote shortly after. The monitor shows the song she chose, and you hear her cheer for you.

"Yay! Woo!" she says clapping enthusiastically.

Taking a deep breath, you begin to sing once more.