[Miyabigaoka Club District] Songbird Karaoke Bar and Lounge

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The Songbird Karaoke Bar sits at the corner of two streets in the warehouse filled club district of Miyabigaoka. It has on its exterior large lights which are lit only at night for the semi-professional shows that take place there. During the day however, this place is more a family-friendly teen oriented Karaoke bar that serves coffee, milkshakes and ice cream. At night an open bar and neon lights replace this family friendly setting and turn it into a bit of a lounge style night club complete with couches, a VIP section and even private rooms for whatever reason. The sound system at this place is state of the art and seems to operate in a way that most technitions can't really imagine, and beyond that everything about this place screams of opulence. Atop this Lounge there is a single story bird nest style apartment with wall to wall windows and an open concept layout which is sometimes occupied by the owner of this establishment. A singing star by the name of Takayama Suzume who goes by the stage name Sparrow.

Very late one Tuesday night, a slightly intoxicated, and very muscular blonde male strolled past the Songbird Karaoke Bar. This man was Kujo Jirou, better known by his alias of Atlas, the Gem King of the first generation Gravity Children. As he moved past the building, he paused momentarily to look at the signs. "Eh? Live show, huh?"

Within the club, a buxom redhead dressed in black leather had taken the stage. The music for what appeared to be a rock song had started and she was staring out at a crowd of mostly adult followers of her music. Orange eyes of this woman were looking down as she opened her mouth and began to belt out a song which was deep and meaningful to her and also sounded unreasonably angry. But given the kind of person she was, angry was about right.

"Perfect by nature.
Icons of self-indulgence.
Just what we all need,
More lies about a world that...

...never was and never will be.
Have you no shame? Don't you see me?
You know you've got everybody fooled."

As she sang her eyes closed just for a moment as she really began to feel this song. This woman was the pop star known as Sparrow. Among the first generation's Gravity Children she was known as Raptor, but her actual name was Takayama Suzume and she was a small business owner taking advantage of her own little slice of paradise to have a go at singing for the first time in what felt like ages.

From directly outside the club, Atlas could hear the beginning of a song, sang by a voice he knew well. "Oh, right... Sparrow," he said to himself, finally remembering the stage name Suzume had chosen oh so long ago when comparing this voice to the name on the sign. Knowing she was present in the bar, he decided to take a trip inside. Once there, he joined the crowd, towering over the fandom of the red-haired woman from the back row.

This song reached another peak and as it did, Suzume opened her eyes and when she did she spotted a familiar face among the crowd. Given the kind of establishment this was, she expected to see her friends from time to time, usually the white haired Sky Queen or even Jinx the Water Queen as they were most likely to enjoy this kind place. But... surprisingly enough the face she found towering over the sea of her many followers was the one belonging to the Gem King Atlas. For a second she found herself smiling and appreciating his presence, but even with him being here, she still had a show to do, and so she would continue.

"Look, here she comes now.
Bow down and stare in wonder.
Oh, how we love you.
No flaws when you're pretending.

But now I know she...

...never was and never will be.
You don't know how you've betrayed me.
And somehow you've got everybody fooled."

With someone in the crowd worth performing for, Suzume poured herself into the music enjoying deeply for the moment the song she sang. And as she got to a critical part, the tempo slowed and so did her words. If one actually took a moment to listen, they would appreciate that this was a song of self discovery and not the general sort of hatred or anger which was directed at other people.

"Without the mask, where will you hide?
Can't find yourself lost in your lie~"

Atlas, much like his peers, could always appreciate a good bit of music now and again. Though he realized he may have been less supportive of this woman's music than perhaps some of the others were, he enjoyed it just the same. He realized he had been seen by the woman on stage, but what caught his eye more than this notice was the approach of another person.

"I knoooow the truuuuth nooow~
I knooow who yoooou aaare~
And I don't love you anymoooooore~"

This was the voice of a young male with brown, spiky hair. He carried with him a bass guitar which took over the rifts of the song being performed upon his entry.

When her last line finished, the voice the young boy she'd taken on as a musical understudy could be heard. He'd also taken over playing the music for the song which was perfect given what it was. Suzume was a lot of things, including surprised by this kid's rather sudden intrusion into her song, but even she could appreciate this boy's impeccable timing and his vocal mastery. Actually, he added much to her shows, and was sort of the reason she hadn't already completely given up on her own music. Still the finale of the song approached and as such she finished her lines with great precision with the perfect rifts playing in the background.

"It never was and never will be.
You don't know how you've betrayed me.
And somehow you've got everybody fooled.

Never was and never will be.
You're not real and you can't save me.
Somehow now you're everybody's fool."

And such ended the song she sang. With that done she was satisfied with her performance though, as was the case with most artists she wasn't sure it was the best possible performance. She found herself turning to the side to look at the young lad and ask him a question in her usual fashion. "The hell, Superstar, I thought you were done?" she asked wondering why he'd even bothered with this random entry into her show.

The young male who joined in on Suzume's show continued playing through the end of the song. When it was all over, he lowered his bass guitar to his side. Interestingly enough, this lad seemed to also possess an acoustic guitar which hung from his back. When asked about his presence on stage, he could only shrug and laugh. "What can I say? I got used to the shows. Besides, I couldn't resist, knowing you were taking the stage tonight. So... what do ya' say? Might I have the honor?" As he awaited Suzume's response, the boy switched the positions of his bass and acoustic, taking the latter into his hands to begin playing a song the pair had once co-written.

"Well that's all fine and dandy I guess. But ya' could have said something earlier, I might have come up with a different kinda set list. Oh well... since you've gone and decided on a song and shit already I'm gonna let it slide." she said to the boy wondering where his companion of the night had gone.

As if on cue a tanned girl with large buns on her head seemed to be slipping out from around the back of the stage and going out into the crowd. She also didn't want to miss the show, but didn't want to be too close to the stage so she was making her way towards the back, where she'd accidentally bump into the first generation Gem King. "Sumimasen." she mentioned pausing to look up the giant man and trying to figure out how it was humanly possible for a single individual to get so large. 'The hell is with this guy.' she thought as she moved past him, but decided that he was about as good a bet as any for seeing something interesting besides the show on stage, so she stayed near, climbing atop a nearby stool so she could see over the crowd.

As he watched what was looking to be the start of a duet, Atlas was bumped into by a tiny little thing; a young girl, in fact. Thinking nothing of it, he simply nodded to the lass Shutara. "No problem," he said, returning his attention immediately to the stage.

"Sweet," was all he was able to say, as he had already started the music, and there was a short amount of time before the song's lyrics began.

"And hey daaarling~
I hoope you're good toniiiiight~
And I knooow you don't feel right when I'm leaving~
Yeeah I want it, but noo I don't need it~
Tell me something sweet to get me byyy~
'Cause I can't come back home 'til they're singing la~
La la la~
La la laaa~
'Til everyone is singin'~"

As he sang, the boy known as Takao continued to strum his guitar at a steady pace. His eyes sparkled in a way that could only be seen by most in such a moment as this, when he was on stage in the middle of a performance. And, in this specific case, he was performing in the best of conditions.

"If you can wait 'til I get hoooome~
Then I swear to you... that we can make this laaast~
Laaa laaa laaaa~
If you can wait 'til I get home~
Then I swear, come tomorrow, this will all be in our paaast~
Well it might be for the best~"