Singing Heals the Heart

Cecilla noticed that Matt looked very confused after she had asked him to sing, "Well, your singing made me stop here during a very important mission, so yes, you're good!" she giggled, "Maybe he's shy when singing? I suppose I would be, but singing should be enjoyed, ne? No matter how good you are, it's good to just go all out and have fun~!" she thought with a serious face. When Matt asked her what song she should sing, Cecilla looked up and stared at him;

"You sound worried, Prince Matt... You shouldn't be worried about singing! Singing is fun, isn't it? You sing whatever you like because you're the singer! Although... if you want, I can sing with with you so you don't get scared! But it should be a song we both know!", Cecilla said, with a sharp tone to her squeaky, childish voice whilst different songs bubbled around in her head.

A very important mission...? Does that have something with her being a ninja assassin schoolgirl? "Matt" wondered faintly to himself. What did she do when she jumped in front of him. He couldn't see too well, but he was pretty sure she was pointing at him. With what? Her finger, most likely, or a finger in the shape of a gun...? The latter made more sense, he decided.

Hm? He looked at her when she somewhat answered his question. He shouldn't be worried about singing? It's not like I'm worried about how it goes.. I'm just a bit nervous.. he thought, though he didn't say anything like that. Instead he just switched his mind conversation to what song they should sing. Cecilla offered to sing with him, which didn't sound like a bad idea. Just a song that they knew..

A duet? I don't know many songs like that, though.. he thought. Most duet songs were from Vocaloid, really... "I don't know, I'm not good at deciding things. Any suggestions?" he replied, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand, as he was still holding the ice cream that never melted.

"Nya..." Cecilla sighed as it was up to her to think up something. She took another sweet out of her lunchbox and began eating it, "Will he be wanting a duet...? Nya... I'm not even sure about what music he's into... I'm sure he likes vocaloids, because that's what he was singing earlier. So... Vocaloid songs... I know quite a few vocaloid songs; Hitobashira Alice, Black Rock Shooter, Cendrillon, Last Night, Good Night, Return to Zero, Love is War, Dark Woods Circus, My Ice Cream is Melting... " she stood in deep thought, "c'mon Ceci, think! Think!! I know there are lotsa anime and j-pop songs that vocaloids have sung like -Dear You-, Vanilla, True My Heart... Pro-"

Cecilla looked up at Matt from her thoughts, remembering a version of "Promise" by Kohmi Hirose she had seen a while back that was sung by the vocaloid Kaito. "I'm pretty sure Prince Matt is a Kaito fan... because of the ice cream song! Maybe he's heard Kaito sing promise? Hmm..."

"Okies, Prince Matt, you like vocaloids lots, don't you? Because I know quite a few vocaloid songs!" she said happily, "But... would be better to sing a duet? Or just sing nya?" she asked. She didn't know many duets, though she had heard the "Yume no Tsubasa" duet from Tsubasa Chronicle before. That was a sweet song, but maybe a bit too lovey dovey... There was "Orenji no Taiyou" that Hyde and Gackt sung in that Moonchild film too. That was a beautiful duet...

Application's love, no, Revolution, no. Go Google It? No, too perverted. Crazy Clown? That might work, but I doubt that we would want to sing about such a morbid thing right now. Love is War? I don't know, that yell is really hard to do. Cantarella? Oh heck no. Yes, he was thinking of only Vocaloid songs, but to him listening to songs was like reading stories out of a textbook for fun. It's interesting, yes, but there's a limited variety (for him).

Meltdown? Hm, that didn't sound bad. Meltdown was sung by Rin, but Nico Nico Douga has videos of male men singing it just fine. Though the real 'meltdown' part might be a bit too much, it didn't seem like a bad option... He was about to ask when Cecilla asked him another question.

"Yeah, I like Vocaloid. I find them very interesting," he answered. He mostly listened to the main seven (Meiko, Kaito, Miku, Rin, Len, Gakupo, and Luka), though he mainly sang Kaito and Gakupo songs because, hey, they're male. "It depends if we both know it. It's fine either way, though. I'm really lenient."

"If we both know it..." Cecilla pondered, as she took of her backpack and began to rummage through it. "Oh, which pocket is it in...?", she whined, frustrated and continued to look through the backpack. To be able to look better, she sat down and took things out, put them back in, and took them out again.

"Aha!" Cecilla exclaimed as she held up her small, pink, notebook laptop, "Take a lookie at this, Prince Matt!" she said as her fingers quickly typed in various passwords and various windows popped up. "Here are vocaloid songs!" she told Matt, showing him the screen which had a music player on it, and a playlist called "vocaloid", "We can pick some out! I have karaoke versions, too! So take a lookie, and tell me what your favourites are! I think my favourites would be Waffle, Triple Baka, Hitobashira Alice, Joker, Black Rock Shooter and Meltdown, because it reminds me of the IOSYS song "Okuu's Nuclear Fusion Dojo" !" she said excitedly, "...or was it the other way round...? Oh well, Genshi no chikara, Kakuyuugou! [The might of atoms, Nuclear Fusion!]" she smiled.

She had a laptop in that...!? he stared in amazement. Wasn't her backpack just a teddy bear backpack? Wasn't it unhealthy to keep a laptop in there...? His own was always at home; he found no need to carry it around, since computers did very little for him.

"Hm?" He looked over her shoulder, but it wasn't enough. The screen just looked like a big blur of colors on it; he could only guess that she had a playlist full of songs.

"Hmmm...." He knew almost all the songs she was talking about; he couldn't see himself singing Waffle or Triple Baka, Hitobashira was best with at least four people, he still had to listen to Joker and Black Rock Shooter.. That left Meltdown, which he had wanted to sing before anyway.

"Let's go sing Meltdown, then," he replied. The song was slightly depressing, but the tune of it totally made up for it. "You okay with that?"

When Cecilla stopped rapidly typing and clicking, the intro to Meltdown began to play, she hoped Matt knew the words, because she put the karaoke version on. She happily jumped up in front of Matt;

"Okies, here we go, Prince Matt!" Cecilla smiled, "you sing one verse, then I'll sing the next, then one line each, and we'll harmony the chorus! 'Tokei no'- one line each, and we each sing one half of Allegro Agitato. Of course, you'll always go first!" she spoke really quickly "so is that okies~? I think it'll be a sweet duet!"

"Alright," "Matt" quickly agreed, rapidly going through the lyrics in his head and who should sing what. Alright, he was pretty sure he got it. He couldn't stop and ask, though, because the song was already starting and he was going to miss his part.

He took in a breath and began.

"Machiakari hanayaka
(The town is filled with brilliant light)
Eeteru masui no tsumetasa
(The chill of anesthetic ether)
nemurenai gozen niji
(It's 2 AM and I can't sleep)
subete ga kyuusoku ni kawaru
(Everything's changing so fast)."

Now that he was singing in front of another, he heard his voice for the first time.

And damn, it sounded good.

Matt sung amazingly well, much better than Cecilla could, but this was going to be fun! Her first ever real duet with someone! The only duets she had done before were fandubs over the internet...

It was almost her turn to sing, and Cecilla took a deep breath, readying herself;

"OIRU kire no RAITAA
(The lighter's out of oil)
yaketsuku you na inonaka
(The pit of my stomach is on fire)
subete ga sou uso nara
(If everything is such a lie)
hontou ni yokatta noni ne
(Then it really would be better)"

She looked up at Matt, smiling, as he was about to sing his next part.

Cecilla didn't sing bad; in fact, she sang quite well, her high voice clear and strong. It matched Rin's tone quite well, much better than his male, lower voice did.

Cecilla gave him the signal to sing again when she looked over and smiled at him. He smiled back, ready for the next part.

"kimi no kubi wo shimeru yume wo mita
(I dreamed of wrapping my hands around your neck)
hikari no afureru hirusagari
(On an early afternoon that overflowed with light)
kimi no hosoi nodo ga haneru no wo
(I dreamed with eyes full of tears)
nakidashisouna me de miteita...
(of cutting off your voice...)"

The chorus was next, so he took a few breaths and waited for the music to pass before plunging back into the song, knowing that Cecilla would join him.

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitai to omou
(I want to dive into
a nuclear reactor)
massao na hikari kurumarete kirei
(Surrounded by beautiful blue light)
kakuyuukouro nisa
tobikonde mitara soshitara
(If I dive into a
nuclear reactor)
subete ga yurusareru youna kigashite.
(Then I can let it all go)."

Music, again. His visible eye trailed to Cecilla, telling her to go next.

Cecilla listened happily to Matt's singing, and even though his voice was deep, he still sang the song well. The chorus was up next, and Cecilla was getting ready to hit the high notes. She was wondering how Matt would sing it as the familiar brief silence came before the chorus;

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitai to omou
(I want to dive into
a nuclear reactor)
Massao na hikari kurumarete kirei
(Surrounded by beautiful blue light)
Kakuyuukouro nisa
tobikonde mitara soshitara
(If I dive into
the nuclear reactor)
Subete ga yurusareru youna kigashite
(then I can let it all go)"

She just about to hit the high parts, whilst Matt sung an octave lower, because of his deep voice. Cecilla loved the harmony, and almost forgot it was her turn to sing the next part until Matt looked over at her.

"BERANDA no mukougawa
(On the other side of the balcony)
kaidan wo nobotte yuku oto
(The sound of someone climbing the stairs)
kageridashita sora ga
mado GARASU ni heya ni ochiru
(The clouding sky falls into the room
through the window panes)"

They sounded absolutely wonderful. He smiled. He never knew that he could sing like this and he liked it. Just the two of them singing together, even though the song was rather suicidal.

"Kakusan suru yuugure
(n the scattering twilight)
nakiharashita youna hi no aka
(the sun is red like teary eyes)
tokeru you ni sukoshi zutsu~
(bit by bit, as if the world is dying)
sukoshi zutsu shinde yuku sekai
(little by little the world is dying)"

He was extremely tempted to sing the next part too, but he knew that was Cecilla's part, even if it was also a bit of a refrain.

It was a shame that deep down, Matt and Cecilla were really singing a pretty depressing song. Then again, they sang it amazingly well together! Cecilla was looking forward to the next part, because so far, her and Matt had been pretty static. Now was the time for acting!

"Kimi no kubi wo shimeru yume wo mita
(I dreamed of wrapping my hands 'round your neck)"

Whilst singing, she stood in front of Matt on her tiptoes, gently placing her hands around his neck as if she was about to strangle him and then took her hands away, hopping to the side of him slightly.

"Harukaze ni yureru KAATEN
('Neath curtains rustled by a breeze)
kawaite kireta kuchibiru kara
koboreru kotoba wa awa no you
(The words overflow from your dried up lips, like bubbles)"

As she sang the last part, she poked Matt's lips slightly and then drew her hands away, makings fists and then quickly opening them again, as if they were popping bubbles. Chorus time once again!

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitai to omou
(I want to dive into
a nuclear reactor)
masshiro ni kioku tokasarete kieru
(So the memories melt away to white)
Kakuyuukouro nisa
tobikonde mitara mata mukashi mitai ni
nemureru youna sonna kigashite
(If I dive into the nuclear reactor,
then I'll be able to sleep as I did long ago
That's how I feel)"

She looked up at Matt, with a happy, beaming smile. The next part was his. It was a slow part, and a temporary change from the fast-paced rhythm.

A smile edged the corners of his lips as she made motions around him to match the song, and he laughed quietly. He couldn't see him being so enthuasiastic about singing, really.

"You should be a singer!"

She had told him that before, didn't she? "Matt" never thought of being a singer before, but now that he thought about it, it didn't seem that bad. He wasn't sure if he could sing in front of a large amount of people, but he didn't mind singing. However, he always wondered; what do people do when they sing? Do they dance? Move around? Stay stationary? Who knows.

Ah, chorus time. He joined in,

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitai to omou
(I want to dive into
a nuclear reactor)
masshiro ni kioku tokasarete kieru
(So the memories melt away to white)
Kakuyuukouro nisa
tobikonde mitara mata mukashi mitai ni
nemureru youna sonna kigashite
(If I dive into the nuclear reactor,
then I'll be able to sleep as I did long ago
That's how I feel)"

Music as the song called down, then he began to sing again. Cecilla had told him 'one line each' at this part, but two lines are better.

"Tokei no byoushin ya
TEREBI no shikaisha ya
(The second hand on the clock
And the officials on the tv)"

He sang slowly, matching with the song, though he couldn't even imagine any motions that can match these lyrics. Cecilla's turn. He glanced at her, wondering what she could think of.

After the chorus duet, the tempo slowed right down. Cecilla quickly began to think of what actions she should do... She was wondering why Matt wasn't doing any actions, but then realised there wasn't much in his part that could be acted out, and Matt didn't seem like an energetic actor either. Before Matt finished his part, Cecilla desperately tried to come up with some interesting actions for the next part.
It was then her turn to sing, so Cecilla continued from where Matt finished;

"Soko ni iru kedo mienai dareka no
waraigoe houwa shite hankyou suru
(Are still there, but the laughter of someone I can't see
is echoing all through my head)"

Cecilla managed to quickly think up some actions, and stood on her tiptoes to attempt to cover Matt's eyes. She then hopped down so that Matt could sing his next part.

"Matt" drew his head back an inch when Cecilla attempted to cover his eyes; not from reflex, but just to make an emphasis on his 'confusion' with what's happening in the lyrics. He gave her a smile when she hopped back down to show that he was just acting before moving onto his part.

"Allegro Agitato"

He moved behind Cecilla, kneeling a bit so that he'd match her height.

"Miminari ga kienai yamanai
(My ears won't stop ringing)"

He cupped his hands and pushed them up behind her ears, allowing them to rest for a second before drawing back, pulling himself into full height.

It felt weird, doing something, but not bad. Just... weird.

Cecilla smiled happily back at Matt and watched as he began to sing amazingly once again. As he was singing, she noticed him move behind her and kneel down. "Heehee, I guess Prince Matt is going to join in with the acting now!"
When Matt put his hands behind her ears, Cecilla smiled to herself, and then turned to watch him get back up. Now it was Cecilla's turn to sing again and it was the 'Allegro Agitato' part.
"Fast and agitated... nya..."

"Allegro Agitato
miminari ga kienai yamanai
(Fast and Agiated
My ears won't stop ringing)"

Imitating Matt, Cecilla skipped up behind him and stretched up, placing her hands gently behind his ears. His hair was so soft... Cecilla couldn't help but be slightly jealous. She quickly brought her hands away and walked to his side before she sang 'yamanai', so she didn't end up hitting the loud, high notes behind him and deafening him. Luckily, her voice hadn't been going screechy or awful today, and Cecilla sure was grateful.

It tickled when she did the same motion he did, her hands softly brushing his hair, but he didn't resist. When she stopped singing her part and stood by his side he gave her a soft smile. The next part was pretty damn fast, and directly after the scream there was the chorus. He was going to sing the entire thing, but it'd be cool if she joined him.

The music continued to play, and, slowly, he brought his hands to the side of his head, pressing on it softly with his palms.

"Daremo minna kieteku yume wo mita
(I dreamed that everyone was disappearing)"

His visible eye flitted from side to side as his pressed in his palms deeper, quite aware of how foolish he'd look to someone that had no idea what they were singing.

"Mayonaka no heya no hirosa to seijaku ga
(The emptiness and silence of this room in the night)
mune ni tsukkaete
(Weighs down on me)."

He let go of his head and pressed his hands against his chest now, bending forward a bit as if he seriously was in pain.

"Jouzu ni iki ga dekinaku naru
(I can't breath anymore)..."

He only drew in a sharp breath before lifting his head.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

[[EDIT: EDIT FAIL.]]

Originally that scream, or 'shout' as said in the lyrics, is supposed to be "kyaaah" but he couldn't do that. Duh!

[[OOC: Continue with the rest of the song, even though Karatsu sings with her >w> ]]

Cecilla waited whilst the music played and was thinking about the next part; it was one of the verses that came before the chorus, and wasn't calm or slow like the last two parts. As the verse drew in, Cecilla pondered once again what actions to do. It wasn't too hard, actually, as she lowered her head and covered her eyes;

"Daremo minna kieteku yume wo mita
(I dreamed that everyone was disappearing)"

With her hands still covering her eyes, she shook her head as if in confusion,

"Mayonaka no heya no hirosa to seijaku ga
(The emptiness and silence of this room in the night)
mune ni tsukkaete
(Weighs down on me)"

She then clutched at her chest with her eyes still closed as she began to very slowly lower herself onto her knees, just like the emptiness weighting down on her.

"Jouzu ni iki ga dekinaku naru
(I can't breathe anymore)"

Still holding her hands to her chest, she lifted her head up as she touched the ground;

"Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!"

The scream was in time with Matt's and they sounded amazing together. Almost immediately after the scream, the final chorus began, and Cecilla made sure this would be the best out of all of them!

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitara soshitara
kitto nemuru youni kiete ikerunda
(Should I dive into
the nuclear reactor
I know I can disappear, so I can sleep)"

Cecilla put her palms together and brought them together at the side of her head, as she rested on them, like a sleeping action.

"Boku no inai asa wa
ima yori zutto subarashikute
subete no haguruma ga kamiatta
(A morning without me
Will be much more wonderful than now
Where everything is in gear)"

She reached her hand out to Matt and began walking backwards as she prepared to sing the final part;

"Kitto sonna sekai da
(That sort of world, definitely)"

Her voice had to go exceptionally high, and it made her throat hurt a little, but she didn't care; she was having so much fun. As the song finished, she looked up at Matt, and smiled a huge smile!

There wasn't even a time to pause; the chorus came directly after the shout.

"Kakuyuugouro nisa
tobikonde mitara soshitara
kitto nemuru youni kiete ikerunda
(Should I dive into
the nuclear reactor
I know I can disappear, so I can sleep)"

He slowly brought his hand over his eye, closing it gently with his fingers. He looked peaceful, even though he was singing, as if he was actually sleeping.

He didn't like the darkness, though. The moment the line was over he opened his eye again.

"Boku no inai asa wa
ima yori zutto subarashikute
subete no haguruma ga kamiatta
(A morning without me
Will be much more wonderful than now
Where everything is in gear)"

He looked at Cecilla to see that she had reached out her hand toward him while walking backward. He took it, gently.

"Kitto sonna sekai da~
That sort of world, definitely"

With these words he let go of her hand, going backward too, so that they slowly separated.

"Aa-aaa-aaaa-aaaaa-aaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaah!" he sang, singing at a higher note every segment, until the song stopped.

Noticing Cecilla smiling at him (he couldn't miss it, it was huge) he grinned back. He felt at ease, despite the song meaning, and the singing hadn't even hurt him (probably just because he didn't have to sing so high).

"Nyaha~~~!!" Cecilla breathed a sigh of happiness as she fell backwards onto the ground, "Prince Matt, that was fun, wasn't it?!" she smiled whilst rolling onto her tummy in front of him and whipping her backpack from her back. She carefully unzipped it and pulled out a bag of red and white sweets. After opening them and quickly popping one in her mouth, Cecilla held the bag up to Matt, offering him one, "If you have one of these, your voice will get better real quick! You gotta suck real good because they're boiled sweets! They're strawberries and cream~!"
Putting another sweet in her mouth, she pulled her laptop over to herself, stopping the music and looking through her playlists.

The laughter bubbled up before he could even think about it as he watched Cecilla's excitement; she was right, it was fun. Probably the most fun he had in a while, though that wasn't really saying anything.

"Yes, it was, Lady Cecilla," he agreed, smiling.

Hmm? Boiled sweets? Ah, hard candy. he guessed, quietly taking one and looking at it carefully. He never heard of the term 'boiled sweets' before. Was Cecilla from another country?

He tossed it into his mouth; ah, yes, indeed it was a hard candy. A good one too. It was deliciously sweet, the type he liked. "It's good."

Cecilla was so happy that Matt had found it fun! Having fun with friends was great, and sure, getting together on online co-op with some friends was pretty fun, but singing together with someone and spending real time together with a friend was even better!

"Yay!! You can have more sweets if you want, Prince Matt!" Cecilla looked up from her laptop, "I have absotively loads!!" she pulled her bag to herself and rummaged through, pulling out a big packet of gummy sweets, three chocolate bars, a packet of fizzy gummy sweets, a packet of chewy sweets, and three packets of pocky. She held them up to Matt triumphantly, "See?! gummy sweets, chocolate, fizzy gummies, chewy sweets and pocky! Pick out what you like nya!"

Cecilla proceeded to eat another boiled sweet, and another... and another! She looked down at her laptop and clicked, smiling. The intro to a song followed; the song was called "Innocent Sorrow" and was by Abingdon Boy's School. They were one of Cecilla's favourite J-Rock bands, "Nya! Prince Matt, do you mind if I play some music? If you want a certain song on, just tell me!"

The phrase 'absotively loads' matched the amount of sweets she carried in that teddy bear backpack of hers. W-what in the world... If he had the ability to do something like that, he too would've gorged himself with sweets, but he wasn't sure if he'd carry it around everywhere he went.

How is she not fat? I can barely see a bit of fat on her. Maybe she doesn't have any. As for her teeth... The grin before shone white. T-That meant... She has the devil's metabolism and God's teeth blessing. he concluded. What a lucky girl.

"Um.. If you don't mind..." he said, pondering at the bunch of sweets. Finally he picked up the pocky box and opened it, carefully ripping the plastic package inside to get one of the chocolate-dipped sticks. "Matt" took a bite out of it and slowly chewed; it was no different than the pocky he used to buy after school during elementary school.

"Hm? I don't mind," the older student answered, listening to the song. I don't recognize it. Despite his iPod, he didn't really listen to a lot of music, which made him quite different from others.

Cecilla watched as Matt picked up the box of pocky, "heehee, pocky is super yummy, isn't it?!" she smiled as she took one of the boxes for herself. Cecilla was, by nature, exceptionally greedy, but always happy to share. Of course, she wasn't greedy on purpose; she was just always hungry! Right now, she had a box of pocky, the strawberries and cream boiled sweets, and had opened a packet of gummy bears.

"Oh... Which colour of gummy bear is your favourite, Prince Matt?" she asked as she held the packet up in wonder, "the only ones I don't like are yellow. I'm not too into lemons... They're okies with some things, though!"

Once again she looked at her laptop and turned the volume down slightly. Then she noticed a small flashing icon in the bottom right corner of the screen; it was the battery icon.

"Oh noes!" Cecilla cried, "Prince Matt, my laptop is almost outta juice! Oh noes... oh noes... I'm uber sorry... nya..." she hung her head unhappily and slowly poked her laptop screen.