"Kohakuchi," Aira said, waving at Kohaku as he came over and met in Times Street once again. Despite both of them being busy over their schedules being in different units and agencies, they have once again found time to meet up to have fun.

"Haha, just like last time, sorry ta make ya wait, Rabu-han," Kohaku said.

Aira shook his head, as he said, "Don't worry, I wasn't waiting long anyway. Now, where do you want to go?" 

"Why don't ya decide, Rabu-han? I'm sure whatever ya choose, we will have a lotta fun. Honestly, I'm still gettin' used ta the city so it's better for ya to lead the way~" Kohaku said.

Aira knew from their online chats that Kohaku had not gone out much and that he was homeschooled away from the city, which gave him the impression of somewhere at the countryside, completely different from wherever Hiiro came from, of course. At least Kohaku knew how to use the freaking Internet unlike Hiiro. ... Then again, Tatsumi wasn't well-versed on the Internet and Aira was pretty sure he had lived in the city for years...

OK, Aira admitted that he made bad comparisons, but the point being now was that Kohaku usually expressed interest from Aira about his own ordinary days at school, what he does after them like going to arcades, shopping, karaoke... More often than not, he had expressed interest and a wish to experience things like that. So...

"Well, we already went out to the mall last time. So, do you want to go to the arcade or karaoke, Kohakucchi? You said I should lead the way, but you should get the choice of where you wanna go first~ If we have time, we can go to the other place."

"Hmm..." Kohaku hummed before he said, "How about karaoke? That's where we sing songs from the lyrics on the screen as they score us?"

"Yep, if you want them to score you. Usually, it's more fun with a group of people, but..." Aira said, smiling mischievously, "It would be nice if it's just the two of us... in a little competition. What do you say to that?"

Kohaku returned Aira's mischievous smile, probably remembering their online messages concerning karaoke. Aira, who had plans to become an idol by then, had used karaoke with his classmates before he enrolled into Yumenosaki to somewhat train. He had texted this to Kohaku, although it was a long time before he knew him in person, who had expressed interest as well as knowing  Aira's wishes to become an idol and among the only supporters of his dream.

At that time, Kohaku was up to speed about idols from Aira's rants and was the only one who had genuinely expressed interest over them. Sometimes, they even had speculated over being idols together, a what-if since Aira really wanted to become an idol and Kohaku had expressed enough interest to play along, but not as seriously as Aira back theen. They had speculated 'Would they be a duo?' , 'Would they be rivals?' and so on. 

When they had chatted about karaoke, that was a ways to not only practice singing but also compete in it, if they were idols... wouldn't that be a fun way for friendly competition?

Aira and Kohaku had argue who would win but until now, they probably didn't have a way to find out. So, the time has come...

"What are we waiting for?" Kohaku asked, "Let's get goin' Rabu-han~" Kohaku said, as Aira happily led Kohaku to the nearest karaoke place where there were at least free rooms for their private friend time. Ordering drinks and food in one of those rooms, they scrolled through the option of songs that they wanted to sing.

Unsurprisingly, Ensquare songs had made it into the list, more popularly recommended were from the Big 3. The song 'Trap For You' caught Aira's eyes solely for the reason that he couldn't even think about it without his mind going far away to the vivid image of the very start of the Live, how Eve almost... almost...

Well, it was only for a second before Aira got his thoughts back to the song list that he was scrolling. He looked up to Kohaku and asked, "Is there any songs that caught your eye, Kohakucchi?"

"Actually, I don't really know much about these songs, except for stuff ya recommend to me back then, Rabu-han? I'm up ta anything you suggest this time 'round though," Kohaku answered.

"Hmm..." Aira let out, as he continued scrolling through. He was remembering back in the days when he recommended a ton of songs to his online friends as to get them into some idol groups he stanned or any songs he just generally liked because they were catchy or made him cry in a good way.

"Don't you think it would be fun if we sang our unit songs, but like swapped? I sing a Crazy: B song and you sing an ALKALOID song. There are some of those in the list here that we could start up..." Aira said.

"Oh... would this become our little competition?" Kohaku asked, eyebrows raised and a smirk gracing his lips.

"Hey, it would be fun and we could see whether we could outdo the other on each other's songs. The karaoke machine even has scoring to it, so we would know who wins~"

"Then, ya are on~" Kohaku said, "So who's going to go first then?"

"Hmm... wanna flip a coin then?" Aira asked, already preparing one of his yen for it. Usually, he has the tendency to use online money for any purchases and considering how ES has become widespread around some parts, he also mostly uses L$ but it was handy to keep a bit of physical money on him for emergencies. Although, flipping a coin won't generally count as one.

"Heads or tails?" Aira asked, already flipping the coin and waiting for Kohaku's response.

"Tails," Kohaku answered immediately as the coin came down and the results of the coin toss came down to...

"Heads," Aira said, amused, "That means it's me first."

Aira's choice was easy among the Crazy:B songs that are on the list. He chose Helter-Spider which Kohaku had centered in. He liked Ariadne and Crazy:B's debut song, Crazy Roulette but he felt like he wanted to beat Kohaku in his own game, so chose the center song.

Aira was not always confident in his singing, in comparison to his other unit members at times but this was karaoke. This was for fun and he was going to enjoy himself, singing out the lyrics and busting a few dance moves for the fun of it. 

Helter-Spider was also better than other songs because they don't have too crazy dance moves in comparison. Like what was with Risky Venus anyway? Although it doesn't compare to the dance moves Eden busted out. Aira still remembers the time he had to explain such fanservice type dance moves to Hiiro when he saw Rinne, Hiiro's own brother, dancing as such. It was hard to explain without making it too awkward but he will survive.

When he was done with the song, the score popped out:

"77%. Well done, Rabu-han~" Kohaku said, before taking the mic that Aira passed onto him before clicking away at a song immediately. Like Aira, Kohaku had the same idea to best the other on their own center song, Living On The Edge.

Aira was mesmerized by Kohaku's singing voice and busting out a dance move when it was required. He remembered when he first had to practice the song, and read the lyrics. Maybe because he was the center of the song or basing it on his childhood dreams pinched with his present reality but it made him want to cry from how relatable it was.

Now, with Kohaku singing it, he wondered once again with his online friend who he had raved to about idols, recommended many songs as to not get out of loop, confided and rambled about his everyday life and problems. The song, Living On The Edge, had reminded him similarly of a problem that Aira had faced and wished that Kohaku, who had disappeared from the online scene at time, could been present to just listen and give him sage advice like he always done.

When he had tried so hard to be an idol and fell short before StarPro and ALKALOID. When he had envied many other idols but could do nothing about it. He wondered if things would have been different if Kohaku had been there earlier for him.

Although they had expressed potential rivalry if both were to become idols, even when Kohaku expressed slight indifference over the idea, Aira had been more inclined towards the concept of duo. Especially those times when the world of idols were starting to shift towards unit rather than solo artists. When he was down in the dumps and after many failures even in Ensquare to become a mainstream idol and delegated to behind the scenes, he truly wished... that he had someone with him to climb upward together.

Then, ALKALOID happened and he felt so home with his unit after the many experiences they had gone through. It was something he would never let go, but sometimes, the power of what-if could be strong.

"Excuse me, 82%?!" Aira asked, shocked, "Congrats, Kohakucchi. I will beat you one day~"

Aira wasn't really much for a sore loser and he could be a good sport for friendly competition but it just made him determined to improve himself, especially if he had these types of competitions with Hiiro, not that Hiiro would ever notice or know...

"Eh, are you satisfied to leave it like that? Best two out of three?" Kohaku asked with a teasing voice. 

"Ooo, you better not take that back, Kohakucchi~ Alright, fave song that's not from Ensquare for Round 2. Anything that caught your eye?"

"Hmm... I will probably find something eventually. So why don't you take the stage for now, Rabu-han? I'm sure you got a song out there that you are eager to sing."

"You can say that..." Aira said, before inputting one of the songs he usually sings here. Among the songs that he was attracted to, Vocaloid was certainly among the top of his faves with their interesting stories that could move him like any song idols have sang to him.

In the end, Aira chose to sing 'Cantarella'. It was among the songs that stuck easily to him and one he used to practice his voice for in the hopes to improve his singing ability. Overall, it was just a fun song to sing to.

"Wow, 94%? How did ya even get that kind of score?" Kohaku asked, eyes almost bulging at the numbers.

"Ehehe," Aira laughed shyly, "It was among the songs that I like to sing tons of in karaoke so maybe I just got good into it."

"Ahaha, what an unfair disadvantage fer me, Rabu-han, but maybe I can turn this 'round. Prepare to get your socks knocked off!" Kohaku declared.

"I look forward to it~" Aira beamed.

By now, the snacks and drinks had been served inside the room, where Aira drank cola for his parched throat and helped himself to fries.

"So what song have you chosen, Kohakucchi?" Aira asked.

"Well, you will see," Kohaku said as he inputted the song and Aira's eyes widened when he saw that it was 'Tabidachi no Uta', a song from an anime called Assassination Classroom. Karaoke has many songs ranging from traditional, pop, EnSquare, Vocaloid and even anime. Yet, Aira was surprised that Kohaku chose  this song and when he sang...

"Ah, all done. Rabu-han, what do you- ehh? Why are you crying???" Kohaku asked, shocked to see Aira trying to hold back tears and sniffles while rubbing his eyes fiercely from the water unconditionally coming out of his eyes.

"How could I not? Of all things, you chose this song which was used in that scene between Koro-sensei and his students??? Anyone who watched the anime would flashback to the scene and at least feel wet in the eyes!"

He had watched a lot of anime since childhood as entertainment when he was not winning tickets for Lives or out to idol shops. He remembers getting engrossed towards the anime right to the end and he...

"Ah really? Well, I remember being recommended the anime years ago, but I didn't have time ta watch it. Instead, I listened to its openings and endings, as well as this song which... yeah, was sad but I thought would suit me singing so..."

"What? You seriously have not watched that anime. I have to bring you up to speed, Kohakucchi.  It's a real good anime, and if we have time, we can binge-watch it together. It's good for a nostalgic watch~"

"Hmm, sure, when we have time," Kohaku said.

"Ah right, so what's the score?" Aira asked, and as he looked at the numbers displayed on the screen, "Woah, nice one, Kohakucchi. 87%~"

"Huh, but that means ya won this round, Rabu-han. We are one-to-one," Kohaku said, "So how is Round 3 goin' to be..."

"Well, what about us randomly picking songs for us to sing to decide for the final round? It could be any song in the book and it won't be any of our strong suits. So leave it to fate," Aira suggested.

"Hmm... choosin' a song for Rabu-han, huh?" Kohaku thought aloud as he scanned through the song tittles before he picked one up, "How 'bout Odo from Ado?"

"That name is familiar although I don't really remember the song. Something that was recommended into my playlist once upon a time?" Aira said, as he took out his phone and searched up the song. Although he had a fixed playlist of songs he liked to listen to during his free time, sometimes he lets playlists have free reign and become mixes being opportunistic as they let their algorithms suggest many other songs to play based on his own searches and end up listening to many new songs. Odo could be one of those many songs...

"Oh, it's a catchy song," Kohaku said, who watched the MV over Aira's shoulder.

"Yeah, it is. Well... it's not like I will back down a challenge. Let's see how I fare~" Aira said, as he inputted the song. It was a fast-paced song with a steady beat that ranges from low-pitch to high-pitch and a bit of screaming. Of course, Aira was not expecting perfection and since he was less familiar with the song than anything, he had flubbed over the lyrics a little but did an overall good job.

"69%... not bad," Kohaku hummed, "So, Rabu-han, it's time for you to pick out a song for me," Kohaku said, but Aira did not need to scan through the song tittles to make a choice anymore. He had a few choices that he had mulled over for Kohaku's third round but since Aira sang a rock-sounding song, he decided tit for tat...

"No need," Aira shook his head, "How about MeMe from Milgram? It's pretty rabui, you know?"

"MeMe? What kind of song is that?" Kohaku asked.

"Here, this is the song," Aira said, as he once again used his phone and played the official MV with Kohaku sitting right next to him to see as well. Aira still remembers when DECO*27 started that kind of project which allowed people to meta-vote the characters whether to forgive or not forgive a character through their MVs since all of those characters, in a broad sense, have committed murder.

At that time, Aira simply checked it out for the growing hype and enjoyed the songs but did not really involve himself with the meta-voting. He was sincerely invested in the characters but was less assertive with their fates, not really into arguing whether they were forgivable or not and the heavier stuff associated with it. 

Rooting for idols in comparison is more light hearted than that, and definitely more his cup of tea. Even so, he can just follow Milgram for the great songs.

"A rock kind of song, huh?" Kohaku asked, "'S that why you recommended this to me? An even field, huh?"

"Yep, let's see who wins," Aira said, and Kohaku nodded, as he took the mic, "Since we come so far, it's the loser's treat for the snacks and drinks we bought."

"Instead of splittin' the cost, huh? You know you are just firing me up to win, huh?" Kohaku asked.

"If you can," Aira teased.

"K, your on, Rabu-han," Kohaku answered good naturedly as he inputted the song into the machine and started singing. It was also a fast-paced song that dealt with screaming, a range from high-pitch to low-pitch and whiplash in tone of song. Even though Kohaku had watched it once, he got the hang of the song slowly and had fun singing it.

The results of this friendly, off-collab competition was...

"Argh, so close!" Kohaku cried out, as he saw the 65% on the karaoke screen.

"Well, looks like we know who's the second round is on," Aira said.

"Next time we come 'ere, I'm definitely gonna beat ya. And then it would be your treat next," Kohaku said, "Or... we can have another best three to determine who treats the third round of snacks."

"Eh... I wonder if we will stick around for that long," Aira said, checking the time on his phone since they paid a fixed time for the karaoke room, "Maybe next time we come here, but there are many fun ways to enjoy karaoke."

"Oh, duet? So what song ya want to choose?" Kohaku asked, "I don't really know much 'bout the songs here so maybe ya know which ones are more duo friendly~"

"Yeah," Aira said, delighted that Kohaku was quick in figuring it out, "But we should choose a song that we both know. It would be more fun that way."

"I don't really know much songs except for what's recommended to me. How 'bout something from YOASOBI? It doesn't have to be the cover song we eventually hafta do, but I searched up the group and listened to some of their songs so it's a good place to start."

"Ooo... that's in good taste, Kohakucchi~ Do you have any faves?" Aira asked, as they narrowed down the search towards YOASOBI.

"It's strange they have such upbeat tune but sad lyrics," Kohaku said, "I wonder what they are planning for making us cover one of their more popular songs."

"Who knows, but I look forward to it, don't you?" Aira asked.

"Yeah, of course. Can't believe that after the USA cover, I will cover something sad, complete opposite of USA," Kohaku said, shaking his head.

"Oh the irony," Aira agreed, before a song tittle glued his eyes to it, "Hey, Kohakucchi, what do you think of Gunjou?"

"I have listened to that song and even watched the MV. To think they use a cheerful and upbeat tune for it. Ya know, imagine the mighty shock for the people who don't know Japanese to find the true meaning of those lyrics when they thought it was a happy-go-lucky song," Kohaku wondered.

"Well, that's what makes the song so rabui, you know? It hits the heart harder that way," Aira said, as he inputted the song into the machine and finally used the spare microphone, where both would finally duet, "Are you ready Kohakucchi?"

"Ready when ya are, Rabu-han~" Kohaku answered, with the microphone already there. 

While he sang along the lyrics, he found himself reminded of younger days when he tried hard to be an idol and was denounced of it being unrealistic. When Kohaku had just been an online friend, he comforted Aira despite every whiny complaint he vented out and with at least one person encouraging him instead of doubting and asking to look for other options or outright refusing his dream, those simple 'You can do it' even from what is really a stranger in the Internet was enough to 'resonate his true voice hidden all along'.

As they sang, with enough feelings that Aira was in the moment with the song, he had looked at Kohaku who sang the lyrics with the same passion and wondered what Kohaku was thinking when singing along. If he somehow related to the song in any way like Aira did. 

From what Aira knew about his online friend to real-life friend, Kohaku was someone who had been homeschooled without much connection to the outside except the Internet. He never seemed interested in idols the way Aira was but was open-minded to Aira's fanboying and was sincere in his belief about Aira's dreams. So imagine Aira's surprise when Kohaku became an idol as well as him, something Aira sincerely hoped that Kohaku enjoyed.

There was also Kohaku's relationship with Tsukasa, which he honestly knew little of because of how complicated it was, and at moments like this, it dawned on Aira how little he knew of Kohaku. Thus, he wanted to know if Kohaku, who had sung the song with a fair bit of emotion, felt something about the song and relate it in some way similar to Aira.

Aira wanted to know, because he wanted to know Kohaku more, as the first online friend to real life friend. A long time ago connection rekindling back in the best way possible. A friend who actually helped him and came back...

All he could do now was hang out and enjoy his time with Kohaku, doing these fun things like karaoke but one day, he wanted to help Kohaku back, as an act of gratitude once they know more about each other, open up and whatever problems they faced, as friends... just like how Aira dreamed a long time ago.

When they finished, they looked at the score for the song and saw...

"Ah, 78%? I was so sure it would be 100%. Well, sometimes a machine can be a little faulty~" Aira said.

"If ya say that, does that mean the Round 3 tie-breaker didn't count and I could have won over ya?" Kohaku asked, in a  teasing fashion.

"Hey, you know what I meant," Aira pouted, "You are not getting out of- Oh, hello there. What are you doing here standing around? We are ready to order our second round~"

While Aira and Kohaku were talking, one of the servers had been standing with the door open, maybe not wanting to disturb them but actually for some reason in shock. The server collected herself before she entered the room and cleaned up the table with empty drinks and empty baskets that were once filled with fries.

Before Aira could list the same order and maybe extra snacks, the server commented, "You sang really well. If it were me, I would have given you 100%."

"Huh, you heard us singing? Since when?" Aira asked, startled. He had assumed the server had been there just after they finished the song and they didn't notice because they were caught up with their chatting.

"Since the beginning," the server admitted, "I didn't want to interrupt your time singing and was going to come back later but I was mesmerized that I just ended up standing there and listening."

"Ah, really? Must have been moving then," Kohaku said, not minding such a confession. Neither did Aira. The idol part of him was certainly happy that he could move someone with a song, even with a karaoke cover of it.

"Yes, of course. What a great duo you made when singing like that. Anyway, what would you like to order?" The server asked, already getting down to business after one final compliment.

Aira stated his order, pleased by the compliment. Only in places surrounding Time Streets that any idol getting more fame thanks to EnSquare's machinations could act relatively normal without fans hounding them, which was why Aira and Kohaku had a relatively normal day save for those few compliments.

It also reminded him of the question... 'What if he and Kohaku were a duo?'

"A duo, huh?" Kohaku said, seeming to feel the same as Aira. 

"Mmm... makes you really think of that what-if. If we found each other, knew that we were each other's online friend and then decided to form a unit instead of our separate ones," Aira said aloud in thought.

"Well, no use thinking such what-ifs in present," Kohaku said, "... But if we were a duo, what do you think our unit name would be?"

"Maybe RabuSakura. I just combined part of our online names, you see?" Aira asked.

"Well, I think it would fit us, but way too simple, Rabu-han. Still, I like it," Kohaku admitted, "And I do love singing with ya, Rabu-han. Want to do a few more duets, at least during this karaoke?"

"Course," Aira answered immediately, "I also enjoy singing with you, Kohakucchi. Honestly, I hope we can have more of these collabs~"

"Fer sure, Rabu-han. Do ya want to do more YOASOBI? Or maybe Vocaloid? Or anime songs?" Kohaku asked.

"So much rabui choices. Let's enjoy the time we have left for karaoke~" Aira said cheerfully.

And also all the time they could find to hang out like this. Up 'til now and in the future, Kohaku had become a real-life friend he could cheerfully hang out and enjoy himself with. All he could do was just that, hanging out, enjoying themselves but some day soon, they would become better friends and the reconnection would be inseparable.

As an online friend turned real life friend who he had a connection with the longest among the idols of ES, Aira sincerely hoped that was the case. As they sang as a what-if duo of RabuSakura for karaoke~