Ikiryō 生霊: Diamonds are Forever (*)

#FanFiction #KaigaIdol #Phoebee (Commissioned by Phoebee)
#Wss366 3/1 Side #MastoPrompt #asterisk

[Continued from previous post]

The two women had already left the stage by the time we forced our way through the crowd and reached the back.

Like the back of many clubs, the walls were covered with graffiti and posters. The smell of the performers’ sweat perfumed the air. In our hurry, we brushed past girls preparing to go on stage. Fortunately, they recognized we had business there.

We entered the dressing room and found her alone, calmly fanning herself and drinking from a bottle of water. She greeted us with a smile.

“Is she the real one?” I whispered to Kao, who shrugged.

Phoebee stood and bowed. “Thank you very much for arranging this. Everything has been dealt with.”

She put on the floppy hat and sunglasses, then moved to leave. “Now, if you will excuse me, I need to prepare for buppan.”

As she passed us, I thought I heard her sing, “And diamonds are forever.”

• Note Lyrics from Alphaville - Forever Young (Official Music Video)

#TootFic #MicroFiction #Idol #NMFic #Yokai

Ikiryō 生霊: Diamonds are Forever (*)

#FanFiction #KaigaIdol #Phoebee (Commissioned by Phoebee)
#Wss366 3/1 Side #MastoPrompt #asterisk

The music stopped with a sound like a needle scratching across a record. The club fell silent. Penlights froze in the air.

Just as the audience began to murmur, Phoebee spoke. “This is my last performance…”

The noise in the hall threatened to become a roar. The penlights drooped. Faces too stunned to cry stared at their idol. Heartbreak was moments away.

But the performer held up her hand and continued in her perkiest voice. The twinkle of little mirrors on her tea-green costume matched the gleam in her eyes. “But don’t worry, you’ll see me up here on stage just like always. It’s okay if you don’t understand. The most important person in the world does. I can sense them here. Now, I would like to sing part of a song. It’s not mine, but it’s how I feel.”

Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever, and ever
Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever young

          [Forever Young, #Alphaville, 1984]

I stood in the back watching all this. With what I knew, the lyrics took on a decidedly sinister sound. The words weren't uttered by the real Phoebee, but by her doppelgänger. Young indeed, not more than a month old.

But there was someone else I was looking for: “The most important person in the world.”

I pointed to a figure stage #side. “Look, there she is.”

The figure in question was difficult to see in the sea of fans. She was petite and wore a floppy hat and heart-shaped sunglasses.

“Is that the real Phoebee?” Kao asked. She was obviously having trouble seeing our employer. “I told her not to come.”

“I guess she couldn’t resist,” I replied.

The woman onstage—the doppelgänger or perhaps an ikiryō—came up to the stage barrier and took the real Phoebee's hand. I couldn’t hear what the performer said to our client, but she joined the singer onstage.

“We need to get backstage right away,” Kao said, and we hurried toward a #side door.

#TootFic #MicroFiction #Idol #NMFic #Yokai