The Firework Of My Life

It's almost New Year's Day.
Quartet Night will perform that day.
Everyone has decided that they
would support what's missing
in Ai-kun's voice.

One cold morning..
I was having coffee while reading some magazine.
It's a magazine where famous musicians are featured.
Musicians from Shining Saotome's agency were featured..

"Hey, good morning Lily."
Ai-kun suddenly came out of the corner and greeted me.

"G-Good morning, Ai-kun."
I responded to him with a smile.

He walked up to me and noticed the magazine I was reading.

"This is..?"
Ai-kun curiously asked.

"It's a magazine that features famous music artists.
 One day, Quartet Night will be featured here for sure! :)"
I answered him.

As he looked at the magazine, he looks amazed at how
"professional" the ones who were featured looks. Even
if he was so expressionless, I can tell he's amazed.

"Quartet Night.."
Ai-kun said quietly.

"I-Is there anything wrong, Ai-kun?"
I got worried and asked him what's wrong.

"Reiji.. Ranmaru.. Camus.. they're helping me fill in
 what's missing in my songs. But I wonder if I have
 ever helped them in any way..?"
He said as he faced me and I felt that he was somehow 'worried'.

"Yes, you have, Ai-kun. If you hadn't accepted Reiji-kun's
 proposal before, do you think you guys would ever
 improve like this? You're a big help to them Ai-kun,
 even if they don't say it, I know that they are grateful
 to you for being there with them."
I answered him and smiled at him to help comfort him.

Ai-kun's eyes widened a little and he looked like
as if he couldn't believe what he heard. But his
face returned to its normal expressionless look
within a second, but as that moment occured,
Ai-kun also placed his hand on top of my head,
and started to stroke my hair.

Curious and wondering why, I asked him.
"A-Ai-kun.. why are you....?"

Ai-kun's eyes looked like as if they were sparkling.
"Your hair is the same color as snow and so soft too.
 Your eyes is bright-silver and it always reminds me
 of snow. Lily reminds me of snow.. and snow is beautiful."
Ai-kun said.

I was speechless.. but I wondered if that's the reason
why he did something weird like stroking my hair out of the blue.

"Also.. Thank you Lily, you always help me."
Ai-kun smiled at me as he answered my question.

"You're welcome Ai-kun, I'd do anything for you."
I smiled as he thanked me, it gave me a warm feeling.

"Anything?"
Ai-kun added.

"H-Huh? Uh, yeah.."
I answered.

 "Then will Lily never leave me?"
Ai-kun stopped running his fingers through my hair
and became serious for a moment.

I stopped for a moment.
Yes, I once thought about leaving Ai-kun someday.
But hearing him say this, made me realize that
I also wanted to stay by his side. After all, he's always
been the only one I'm always with. Ai-kun was always
with me.

"Yes, I will never leave Ai-kun!"
I gladly answered his question.

Ai-kun's smile returned after hearing my answer.
I have finally made up my mind, even if I start
to take a path in the road of music, I will still
be by his side and I will never leave him.
Despite knowing he is a robot, I know he is
even more of a human than anyone else.
And that's all the more reason I need
to stay with him.

A few days later...

Tomorrow is New Year's Day.
Quartet Night has been rehearsing a lot lately,
But they've improved so much better.
I'm sure everything will be okay tomorrow.

Everyone was practicing at Reiji-kun's place.
And I always accompany Ai-kun so I get to
watch their improvements everyday.

Right now, they're practicing at Reiji-kun's place..

"OIII! Stop being so cute and lovey-dovey! >:@"
Ranmaru-kun said loudly because Reiji-kun was
singing so lovely and cute.

"Eh, what's the matter, Ran-ran??! I thought we
 all agreed in this, right? right, Ai-Ai!??"
Reiji-kun faced Ai-kun as he kept bothering him to answer XD

"You guys -___-''"
Camus-kun suddenly spoke up as well.

Ai-kun was quiet and he was just watching his friends argue.
Even though Ai-kun was always quiet, today seemed different.
He was quiet in an unusual way.

"Ai-kun, are you alright?"
I asked him.

He looked at me and smiled.
I felt the presence of happiness.

"It looks like they're having fun."
Ai-kun said.

"I-Is that so..? And.. you're having fun watching them?"
I asked him again.

"I think so. Though I am not sure, I hope I do feel that way."
He answered. "I may not have feelings but I believe I have
my own thinking. And I think I'm having fun. Being with
your friends is fun they say, that's why.. I'm having fun.
Because I'm with my friends." Ai-kun added.

I stopped for a second, the moment I heard those words.
Ai-kun is so gentle and honest. I felt happy when I knew
that he was having "fun" and that he still hasn't lost hope.

Reiji-kun and the others heard those words..
They heard how Ai-kun said that they were his friends.
It caused them to fall silent and stop playfully fighting.

It made them smile.
Ai-kun's 'happiness'
is also our happiness.

After that short warm happy moment,
they continued to rehearse for the last time today.
And when they were done for the day,
everyone got ready to go home and
rest for tomorrow's performance.

Before we could leave, Reiji-kun called out to us,
raised his hand and gave us an "OK" pose.
Ai-kun nodded and waved goodbye as we left for home.

the next day....

New Year's Day.
Today is also their performance day.

QUARTET★NIGHT's

First concert, their debut is today.

It's still morning, Ai-kun woke up early.
Their concert will be held tonight, around 6 PM.

Ai-kun was sitting next to me while I was reading some books.
It was quite a peaceful morning though there are some sounds
of firecrackers outside, the atmosphere gives us a warm feeling.

There was silence between us, but we were comfortable.
But then Ai-kun suddenly spoke up.

"Happy New Year, Lily."
Ai-kun said to me as he faced me.

"Thank you, Ai-kun. Happy New Year to you as well!"
I responded to him with a happy face.

"Lily, I really want to thank you for always being there for me.
 All this time, I've always been with nobody else but you.
Not even the professor pays attention to me at all.."
Ai-kun said, expressionless as usual.

"You don't have to thank me, Ai-kun. I'm doing this because
 I also want to be by your side. Ai-kun has also always been
 by my side. That's why, we're equal! :)"
I answered him.

"No, no. I want to be able to do something. Hmm.."
Ai-kun shook his head and started to think.
He looks so adorable, watching him like this.

I kept quiet as I watched him think.
But after some minutes, he snapped his fingers
and said he finally thought of something.

"Tonight!"
Ai-kun suddenly said as he stood up.

"T-Tonight? What about tonight, Ai-kun?"
I asked him curiously.

"I want to dedicate tonight's concert to you."
Ai-kun looked at me with such an excited expression.

It's actually the first time I've seen him so excited like this.

"But.. Ai-kun.. you can't do that, the people might start
 to misunderstand things again.."
I replied to him with a low voice.

I didn't want to turn him down and make him sad,
but.. that's for the best. Ai-kun was planning to
announce it on stage, that his performance will
be dedicated to me. That thing will cause misunderstandings.

"I-Is that so..? Well then.. Let's just keep it to ourselves.
 Only Lily knows that my performance will
 be dedicated to her alone." Ai-kun suggested.

"But that's not right, Ai-kun,
 you should also sing for your fans too."
I told him.

"Aren't you my fan?"
Ai-kun suddenly asked.

I was surprised of what he said, my eyes widened,
I almost forgot, I am also his fan. I admire Ai-kun.

"....Yes. I am Ai-kun's fan. His biggest fan!"
I told him, hoping to cheer him up.

"See? Then I will sing for our fans, but mostly, for
 my biggest fan, Lily."
He told me as he smiled.

I responded to him with a smile.

A few hours later.........

Ai-kun and the others have already prepared for tonight's performance.
All of us are already at the concert venue.

There were many fans waiting for them.
I was surprised and happy to see so
many people supporting, loving Quartet Night already.

We're now at the backstage, everyone is ready.
All that's left to do for me is to say good luck to them.

"Everyone, good luck!"
I said out loudly to help raise their spirits.

"Yes, Lily-chan!~"
Reiji-kun smiled at me happily.

"Thanks."
Ranmaru-kun thanked me in a tsunderish way x'D

"We'll do our best."
Camus-kun added.

the three already went on their way to the stage,
making Ai-kun the only one left at the backstage.

"Ai-kun?"
I asked him.

I was worried that he might be malfuctioning
or something, but gladly he was alright.

"Lily, I will do my best for you & for Quartet Night."
Ai-kun took my hand as he said that and gently released
my hand when it's about time for him to go onstage.

I went back to my seat.. and finally, Quartet Night
got on stage. The ladies started squealing.
They started to fan girl over Quartet Night.

Everyone's on their places,
and the lights went out.
Causing the crowd to fall into silence,
for it is the signal that the concert is beginning.

When the lights went back, it was only focused
on them. Quartet Night spoke up using a mic.

"Hello there, cute ladies!~"
Reiji-kun said so lovingly and cute, causing
their fans to fan girl even more.

"KYAAAA! REI-CHAN~!!"
Reiji-kun's fan girls screamed.

the same happened for Ranmaru-kun & Camus-kun.
And now it's time for Ai-kun to speak up.

"........"
Ai-kun remained silent for a moment.

"My name is Mikaze Ai.
Tonight, I will be singing for my beloved fans."
Ai-kun said.

The crowd remained silent.. but they went back
to being wild after realizing how cute Ai-kun was,
and how sweet he was when he said that.

"KYAAAAA! AI-CHAN, KAWAII~!!!!"
His fans screamed so happily.

As he saw their positive reactions,
Ai-kun glanced over at me and smiled so warmly.
I am glad that he now smiles so often..

The concert has begun.
(Author: If you play the audio, it would be more fun reading.)

The crowd has gone wild as Quartet Night performed.
It was a huge success, Quartet Night's now officially
recognized as true professionals. They were congratulated
by Saotome for their success and told them to look
forward to more opportunities.

After having such huge success, Quartet Night
decided to celebrate at some fancy place.
Everyone had fun, everyone was so happy.

But since it's New Year, they also wanted
to go home and spend the rest of the night
with their families. So now it's just me and Ai.

It's going to be 12 AM soon enough..
Ai-kun and I were at a rooftop.
It was a little cool outside, but it's okay.
We lit up some glow-sticks for fun.
Ai-kun admired it so much.

"It's so pretty."
Ai-kun said as his eyes sparkled while watching it glow.

"Yeah.."
I answered with a low voice.

We were sitting next to each other.
And then.. Ai-kun faced me and took my hand
as the glow-stick's light started to die and fade away.

"Just like Lily."
Ai-kun said with a gentle look on his face.

I was shocked again and I blushed.
His face was so close to mine.

"I-Is that so..? Why is that?"
I asked him, trying to hide my blushing face as I looked away.

"Because Lily is pretty like a firework."
He answered my question so quickly.

And finally.. we hit 12 AM.
More people have started to light up even more fireworks.
We looked up to the sky painted by the beautiful fireworks.
Ai-kun and I admired it so much.

"Lily is the firework of my life.
You're the only person that I truly adore.
 In my condition, everything seemed so hopeless.
 But then Lily never gave up on me or left me.
 When everything was hopeless, everything was so dark.
 But Lily became the pretty colorful firework that brightened
 everything up. So.. thank you Lily."
Ai-kun said to me while admiring the fireworks in the sky.

"Thank you.. Ai-kun.."
I thanked him in return as we both kept admiring the sky.

Chapter 5 -
The Firework Of My Life