Horizon Gardens was a famous busking road in Marieso. It was the place where hopefuls made ends meat or became one step closer to their dreams. For Baise, all he wanted was for someone to hear his music.

“Step right up, step right up! I’m going to sing soon so grab a seat while you still can,” he shouted. He tried his best to keep a smile but everyone passed him without even glancing at him. “Well, I might as start.”

“Thank you very much for listening,” he shouted and bowed to the air. Throughout the song, while there were a few glances, not a single person stopped, not even for a second, to heard him sing.

Baise figured he should call it a day and started to pack up his guitar when he heard a single person clapping. He looked up to see a woman probably his age whose head was covered with a hat, pair of sunglasses, and a mouth mask.

“Er, thank you for listening,” he said timidly as she approached.

“I felt a bit bad since no one was paying attention to you. You’re not bad, could be better.”

“Thank you?” Is she complimenting or insulting me?

“You have a nice voice, I’m looking forward for your performance tomorrow,” she said.

“You could have at least tipped,” he muttered to himself as she left.

True to her words, the mysterious woman appeared the next day. Even though the sun was setting, her face was still covered by a hat, sunglasses, and a mouth mask.

“Er, why’s your face covered like that?” Baise asked.

“I burn easily and I’m a bit sick. What song are you going to perform today?” She took a seat on the bench and sat with her head rested on her palms.

“Er, any requests?”

“Immortals.”

“Er, I don’t know that on the guitar.”

“Then just sing. Your voice is much better than your guitar skills,” she said, swinging her legs as if she was a kid.

“Er, okay?”

They say we are what we are,

But we don't have to be,

I'm bad behavior but I do it in the best way,

I'll be the watcher of the eternal flame,

I'll be the guard dog of all your favorite dreams

He stopped singing at the sound of the guitar and backup vocals. He turned around to see the masked woman with his guitar and nodded for him to continue to sing.

(Ooh)

I am the sand in the bottom half of the hourglass (glass, glass)

(Ooh)

I try to picture me without you but I can't

…

We could be immortals, immortals

Just not for long, for long,

We could be immor- immortals,

Immor- immortals

Immor- immortals

Immor- immortals

(Immortals)

When they finished the song a small crowd had gathered and clapping for the duo. Baise looked at the masked woman who helped and then back to the crowd. With a giant smile on his face, and more enthusiasm than the previous day, he shouted, “Thank you very much! And here’s our next song.”

By the end of the night, Baise performed for a record crowd and made a record amount of money. He was recounting the money as the masked woman, who had yet given her name, sat there and watched.

“Here,” he said, as he handed her half of the money he made,” I couldn’t have done it without you. Here’s your half.”

“No thanks. I’m not doing this for the money, I just wanted to hear your voice more. I’ll see you tomorrow Blue Eyes.”

She got up to leave but Baise grabbed her by the wrist before she could take more than five steps, “Wait. Bring your guitar tomorrow. Then we’ll do a proper duet. What’s your name?”

“Victorian,” she said and disappeared into the crowd before he could give her his. 

The next day, Victorian, still with her face covered, arrived with a guitar on her back. Baise had been on Horizon Gardens all day practising and waiting for her to show up.

“Yo,” she said. She had arrived earlier and the usual crowd of buskers had yet to arrive.

“So what songs do you know on the guitar?” Baise asked.

“A good amount. You?”

“Just three songs but I’m learning more,” he quickly added on.

“Then we’ll just perform the three songs you know today. Start playing and I’ll add on.”

So Baise started playing the first song he knew, Centuries. It started out normal, everyone passing by with the occasional glance. It changed when Victorian joined in with backup vocals and the guitar. With her magic, a small crowd formed and by the end of the set, the crowd became so large that the civilians walking by had to walk on the road.

“Can you guys perform [ Z E R O ], next?”

“I like Blue Skies Are Calling by Alphenrose?”

“What about Spring Rain?”

“No, perform New World.”

“Our next song will be Bottomless Oceans,” Victorian announced.

Baise made a gesture for the crowd to wait and whispered to Victorian, “I don’t know how to play that on the guitar.”

“Don’t worry about it Blue Eyes, just sing along.”

The next few busking sessions between Victorian and Baise were more successful than the last. There would be a crowd waiting for them before they even arrived. Baise got to the point of local stardom where people would ask him for his autograph when he was on Horizon Gardens. After almost two weeks of busking, the duo got their first offer.

“Excuse me, I’ve been hearing the two of you play for the past week and I’d like to invite you to perform at Sound Horizon. It’s a small stage held in Club Crocus but if you perform like what I’ve been seeing, you guys will probably impress the scouts.”

Baise was speechless as the man handed them an invite which was as golden as the opportunity.

“Thank you very much, we won’t disappoint.”

“Congrats Blue Eyes, now even more people will hear you sing.”

“This is amazing! Fantastic! Awesome! Superb! Horrific!”

“The last one wasn’t a synonym.”

“What song should be play? How many songs can we play? Do you think people will come watch us? What if we get scouted?”

“It says on the invite, one song.”

“Do you have any suggestions? I should learn the guitar to it to. Should we practice?”

“sakura S A I L I N G, learn the guitar to it and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The next day, Baise found Victorian, which wasn’t hard as she still walked around with her face covered, and as he approached closer, he saw that she was talking to someone else.

“You can’t perform with him at Sound Horizon.”

“But Lane.”

“No buts, you know why. Let’s go.”

“But-alright.”

Baise, who had overheard everything, froze in his tracks. Should he ask her what the conversation was about? Should he even bring it up? If she wasn’t going to perform with him at Sound Horizon, then what was he going to do?

After their set in the evening, Baise decided to bite the bullet and bring up Sound Horizon.

“So I’ve been learning sakura S A I L I N G’s guitar part. It’s a bit hard, can you help me? I want to get it perfect for Sound Horizon.”

“I’ll help you learn it but I told you, I’m not doing this for the money, you’ll be performing alone on stage.”

“You’re lying! I saw you earlier talking to some Lane person. She told you not to do it. You know what? I’ll do it myself. I won’t be busking here anymore. I’ll see you at Sound Horizon, unless Lane tells you else wise.”

It was the night of Sound Horizon. Five acts had already taken the stage and Baise was up after one more group. After his dispute with Victorian, he had practised day and night wanting to be as good of a soloist as when they were a duo together.

“Baise, you’re up next,” the floor director said.

Baise tightened the grip on his guitar and walked on stage. There he met the eyes of a good two hundred people. Some he had recoginsed as regulars from when he was busking and others he hoped would become fans of his voice.

Baise began to perform sakura S A I L I NG and while his voice came out better than usual, his hands were stiff along the guitar. He tried to calm down and continue the song but the audience’s murmurs weren’t helping.

“What happened to the girl?”

“The girl was such a better guitarist.”

“I only liked them cause they were a duo.”

“They’re only good because they were a duo.”

He tried his best to continue the song but the more he paid attention to the audience the stiffer his fingers were.

Why am I doing this? They don’t want to listen to me. I’m nothing without Victorian.

“Hey, isn’t that?” an audience member said.

“She’s not scheduled until later.”

“What’s she doing here?”

“That’s Tori of Alphenrose?”

Baise only turned around with he heard the sound of a guitar. Behind him, a familiar sound came out of the guitar held by a woman with red hair and grey eyes.

“I thought I told you to learn the guitar part Blue Eyes? Oh well, just sing.”

Still confused about what was going on, Baise started to sing again and soon, he found the confidence to play the guitar too. When the song finished Tori, disappeared and Baise was left to soak in the crowd’s cheers alone.

Backstage, he found Tori being scolded by a woman he saw her talking to the other day, Lane.

“Tori, what did I say?”

“You say a lot of things Lane, do you have a specific phrase in mind?”

“You. You just go prepare for your performance. The one with the band you’re actually in”

“Yes Lane. Oh Blue Eyes, I’ll see you later.”

Backstage, and hidden from Elena, Baise watched as Victorian, who happened to be Tori from the popular band Alphenrose, take the stage. He never noticed when they were together since she was always playing behind him but her stage presence was amazing.

“Thank you!”

“That’s our show folks. See you next time at Sound Horizon!”

“Okay, I understand the disguise and why you couldn’t perform with me but I have to ask, why did you perform with me?” Baise asked. Victorian, or Tori, was able to break free from Elena, her manager, to explain everything to him.

“Like I said, I like hearing you sing. If I didn’t step in, then I wouldn’t have heard your voice and neither would all those people.”

“So now what? People are probably putting together that you were the masked girl who was busking with me. What are you going to do now?”

“More like what you’re going to do. I like your voice and apparently those people with the business cards do to. I’ll be waiting to be able to experience you on stage without me. Start a band, focus on your vocals and leave the guitar to someone else, when you’re more confident then you can do both. Alphenrose needs some competition but don’t keep me waiting for too long.”

A F E W Y E A R S L A T E R

A group of high schoolers were walking down the street as they talked about the CDs in their hands.

“I’m loving Sundance’s new album.”

“Me too, me too.”

“Did you hear, that their lead vocalist might be in a relationship with Alphenrose’s guitarist?”

“No way.”

“I heard that too. Apparently the two met when he was just a nobody busking on Horizon Gardens.”

“Yeah, she was all vigilante like by playing backup for him and making him known. There’s even a video of her helping him at Sound Horizon when he got stage fright.”

“Seriously?”

“But they could just be friends right?”

“No way. I heard a rumour that Sundance’s album was produced and written by a member’s girlfriend.”

“They should just confirm it then. It’d be so cute if it was true.”

Inside a tinted van, four faces, who heard the entire conversation, turned with knowing smiles to the woman who was busy writing new lyrics.

“You know senorita. They have a point. You could just confirm it.”

“Mr. Drummer is right you know. They’re going to notice the ring soon Miss Guitarist and when they do they’ll ask questions.”

“Boys, isn’t the latest set of samples due in three hours? Don’t you have better things to do than gossip about your own member?”

“We’ll get right on it ma’am.”

“Lane yes Lane.”

“You know Tor, that ring isn’t exactly discreet.”

“Go back to composing Maes.”

“I like you a lot more when you’re all lovely dovey.”

“And I like you a lot more when you don’t talk.”

The next day, all the tabloids were talking about it and the most trending topic was about the engagement between Alphenrose’s guitarist and Sundance’s vocalist.