Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kel was the number 1 Basil superfan. Basil posters, Basil shirts, Basil-signed photos... Kel would do anything to get his hands on anything Basil-related. Basil was the best idol, hands down!

"Tomorrow will always be a good day!" Basil would chirp onscreen. Kel would always join one of Basil's streams, even missing school for one. (Mom was really pissed about that..) He was known for being THE #1 Basil stan. He was even recognized by one of Basil's group members as "the one who keeps fanboying over Basil".

So imagine Kel's surprise when Basil moved to Kel's school. In his class. HIS class!!! 

Pushing through the school halls (today they were extra chatty. Kel wondered why?), Kel fell to a stop as he reached his class. Everyone was fawning over the new classmate (or that's what Kel guessed. Maybe they were really cute?), and despite Kel's height, he couldn't see at all.... until one of his classmates said something that would change his life.

"I can't believe the real Basil Moore is here!" 

... Hold on. What? Kel's jaw dropped, as one of his classmates shifted, revealing..

Dirty blonde hair. Flower in his hair. Green sweater vest.

It was him! Basil! Basil Moore, from the idol group Blue@Daydream (seriously, what on earth was that name...) !!

Kel fainted.

... or he would have, if he wasn't... well, Kel. Kel never fainted in his life. Not even when he pulled an all-nighter for a overnight stream! Basil made eye contact with Kel, and Kel was certain he was going to die. He was probably blushing really badly. Oh my god. It's him. It's Basil! Kel was right! The new classmate was not only cute, he was BASIL! 

The bell rang, and Kel rushed to his seat as he zoned out through the teacher droning on and on about something Kel would have to read up on. His mind wandered to Basil, who was sitting at the very front, diagonal from Kel's seat. Kel was staring at Basil's shirt, wishing to whatever diety up there that Basil was in his next classes.

... he wasn't.

Kel slumped in disappointment on the school rooftop. Basil was only in one class of Kel's. ONE! 

.. Well, Kel should be grateful for the one class he shares with Basil. Kel stretched as he stood up straight, getting ready for his practice. Not basketball practice (well, he had that already), but  a more reclused idol practice. He set up his phone on a safe spot where it wouldn't fall (not like he would fall either, the roof was guarded with rails), playing the song he knew to heart. The choreography came perfectly to his brain, but Kel flubbed during a more complicated part in the chorus. Kel groaned inwardly. 

Stupid bad luck. Stupid fucking curse that made it rain when he wanted to play out and didn't let him get in any of the  groups he applied to and splash his brand new shoes and make him miss when taking shots in basketball.

Kel panted, still tired from the dance. He picked up his phone.

".. Untitled? The hell's this? I don't remembe..." Kel had subconsciously pressed the play button on his phone, which sucked him into a place he'd never seen before. 

Okay... I'm dreaming. Right? This has got to be a ....

Kel pinched himself. It hurt.

oh.

Whatever! The tan teen got up onto his feet, scanning the area.

It was a stage. A stage with glowing orange lights and a crowd waving light sticks. And Kel was on that stage.

"Ohh... okay..?" Kel didn't know what to make of that. He turned to the left, and immediately got hair-smacked in the face by a person he swore wasn't there before.

"Ah! Sooorry!" The voice seemed robotic and way too high for someone his age. The figure was....

Oh god. He was definitely dreaming, right?

The girl staring straight at him was Hatsune fucking Miku.

Chapter Text

Kel didn't know what to make of that. If he wasn't dreaming, maybe he was hallucinating. Maybe he somehow fell off and died and this is his afterlife.

Wide-eyed, Kel turned to the right. A girl with short blonde hair was dancing the same moves Miku was doing. Kel felt like an intruder, just sitting there. The boy turned away from who he presumed was Rin (his online friend introduced them to him, but he couldn't make sense of whatever a VOCALOID was), keeping his back towards the audience. He spotted his phone a few feet away from him, and without thinking grabbed it. The "Untitled" song was still playing, as if mocking him.

"Not yet!" Rin yelped. "We have to explain some stuff first!" 

Great. Now Rin was going to explain things to him. 

"This is your SEKAI!" Miku hurriedly said, all the while doing a very elaborate dance that would've killed Kel.

"SEKAI?" Kel yelled.

"A world made of your feelings! And we're gonna help your find your true feelings!"

"I know my true feelings!" He snapped. 

"... Maybe so, but-"
"When you find your true feelings, those feelings give birth to songs!" Rin interrupted the twin-tailed idol.

"Riiin!! I was gonna get to thaat!" Miku pouted.

"Sorry, Miku!"

Kel wished they didn't word it like that. Now he was envisioning himself giving birth to music notes. Nope. He crossed out the image, shaking his head like a wet dog. 

"And, Kel!" Miku looked back at him. "we'll see you again as long as you and the others share the same feelings!"

Kel nodded, wishing for this to end. He looked down at his phone.

"What happens if I stop it?"  He thought. Playing the song got him here, so if he stopped it..

Kel pressed a finger against the play button. Immediately, the world started to swirl, and he was back on the rooftop. It had been only seven minutes. 

When his brain stopped feeling like it was turning into mush, Kel stood up. It was probably time to go home now and think over on what the two VOCALOIDS had said. He would have to do his research later.. as soon as he finished his science homework. Kel decided he would call Hero and talk about the Basil thing. Not the weird Miku dream thing. That was a secret he had to keep. Pressing the phone to his ear, Kel thought back on what the two idols had said.

"Others... sharing the same feelings?" He wanted to punch everything. Miku, Rin, himself..

"Hey Kel!" Hero's chipper voice cut through all the worries Kel had. The younger brother smiled. "Hero! Hi!" He chirped breathlessly. 

"How was your day today? Mom told me you're still looking for places to audition. Did it go well?"

Kel sighed. "honestly, not really. Oh! I have to tell you about this..."

✦ 

Basil stood by the teacher's desk, observing the papers and pens littered across.

"Are my documents in order?" he asked. The words came out quietly, but still loud enough so the teacher sitting next to him could hear.

"Yes.. Everything is in order. But.. Basil. Are you absolutely sure you want this?" The teacher asked a question in return. Basil nodded. 

"Yes."


"i'm going to quit being an idol."

Chapter Text

Basil stepped out of the school with what felt like a load off of his shoulders. With a pep in his step, he trekked back to his house. The familiar color of pale green and eggshell white decorated with greenery and flowers was always a safe space for him. He opened the door to see Polly and his grandmother sitting at the dining table, talking about something.

"Hi Polly, hi Grandma!" Basil smiled as he closed the front door. Polly gave him a grin as he took the stairs to his room. Flopping on the bed, Basil stared at the potted plant hung over his bed. 

... Something felt... off. Basil didn't know what it was that made him feel like he made a wrong decision. The boy sat up, remembering what he needed to do, and scrambled for his phone. 

He needed to call Mari! How could he forget? He put his phone on the spot next to him, listening to that familiar song that was his ringtone play once again. He waited for Mari to pick up.

"Basil?" Mari's voice. "How are you? Are you doing well?"

Basil hummed. "I've been doing okay... what about you? Are you alright?" He put the call on speaker.

"Oh, I'm doing good! I miss my brother lots, but that's mainly it!" Mari laughed. 

"Not your boyfriend?" Basil asked, reaching for his lotion. His skin was getting a little dry.

"I miss him too, y'know! Ahh... if only we were in the same college.."

Basil had heard lots about Mari's boyfriend. He was in culinary school, but Mari was at a musical one. Basil had also heard Mari ramble on about her brother, who was also an idol. Apparently, Mari was an idol magnet- her best friend, Aubrey was an idol (Basil had met her once. Apparently, she and Mari dyed their hair together... how cute!), Basil was an idol, and her brother, who Mari had said was the same age as him and Aubrey, was also an idol. Yup, Mari was an idol magnet. Or maybe idols are Mari magnets? If Basil was no longer an idol, would Mari stop talking to him? The thought made Basil shiver. Mari was one of his only friends.

"Ah, but that's not why you called, right?" Mari called. Basil laid down again, raising his phone and turning on his camera. His face came into view, a gleeful expression on his face. Had he been making that face the whole time?! "Haha... yeah, it's not. I actually called because... I did it."

It took a second for Mari to register it (or that's what Basil thought was happening there), before she, too had turned on her camera. "You did?! Tell me!" She had sparkles in her eyes. It was what him and Mari had called "quitting the idol industry", and Mari had been his number 1 supporter through it all. 

Basil shifted. "Okay, okay! So, there was this one teacher at my new school who's cousin or something deals with this stuff, and we were talking, and I brought up the thing, and she like.. I guess she was a fan of me or something because she looked so ... sad and stuff, and then she called her cousin, and we were doing this weird paperwork document thing together, and then it was finally over after like. 15 minutes or so..? But yeah, it all went so fast I could barely keep track of time..!" Basil shook his head. "Yeah, that's kinda it. It was pretty underwhelming."

"Ohh! That's pretty cool!" Mari giggled. She was brushing through her hair. "Was there anything else? Like, about school?"

Basil scratched the back of his neck. "... nope, that's... pretty much it. Hey, how do you think that guy who claims to be my biggest fan will take this?" 

"Hmmmm.." Mari put her hairbrush down. "Hopefully he'll take it well. If you're someone's biggest fan, you should always support their actions." 

Basil thought about that for a second. "Ah.. of course. Yeah." He didn't tell Mari about the fact that said biggest fan was at his school. He didn't catch the boy's name, but he did know that he was someone he'd seen before- at an event, if he remembered correctly. The two of them had spoken, and the tan boy's face went so red, Basil worried that he would burst.

Basil decided he wouldn't tell Mari about the lingering feeling that he had made the wrong choice. It was probably just guilt. Right..?

"Ah... Mari? Tell me about your boyfriend again?" Basil bit the inside of his cheek. He knew this subject was one that Mari loved to talk about. 

"Oh! Of course! I met his brother on call like, a week ago, did I tell you that? And his brother is super energetic.."

... Yep. Just guilt.

Chapter Text

Kel stared at the notification he had just gotten. His stomach dropped as he read the contents.

"Rejected...." He scoffed. Again. Kel looked at the time, realizing how late he could be if he didn't leave now. "Wait.. That's the time?!" Kel hastily stood up and grabbed his bags, rushing out the door and to the bus heading for school.

Kel slumped against a bench. "Can't believe I made it.." He muttered, watching people around him converse. Another audition failed... Wasn't this his like, 50th rejection now? How much of a failure was he? ...Whatever. There's no use complaining over what's already happened, he chided himself. Basil himself said so.

"Kel! Kel!!" A distant voice snapped Kel back to reality. A girl in his history class stood over him. "Have you heard the news?"

Kel blinked. He hadn't been checking up on the news lately. "No... what happened?"

The girl's expression grew worried. "Ah... I thought so... Basil quit singing! And his group is disbanding!"

Kel paled. What? "He DID?" The girl nodded. 

The bell rang, and the girl gave him a look of pity before trudging over to the entrance of the school.

Blue@Daydream is disbanding.... Basil is quitting.. But he's the sole reason I've been trying all these years... What now?! Seeing Basil in front of me almost helps me accept that he retired... but.. ultimately I have to respect his decisions..

✦

"Do you think Basil could walk home with us? We could ask him what it's like to be an idol!"

"Shut it. We can't just do that, y'know."

Basil tuned out his classmate's chatter. Was there anywhere quiet he could go after school? He already told Polly he'd be home late..

Maybe the rooftop will do.

Basil cringed as he opened the creaky door, expecting a quiet space for him to read.

.. Instead, he got a bright orange jersey and the prettiest boy he'd ever seen.

.. Or already seen. The boy in front of him was definitely the one he saw at the event that day.

The creak of the door forced the brunet to look backwards at him, and Basil could swear he heard the faint singing of Miku as he did.

"BASIL?!"

"I... I can leave if you're, um... doing something. Sorry to bother you, uh.." Goddamnit. He still didn't know that guy's name.

"Uh.. I'm Kel Montoya!" The boy, or Kel, stood up straight. Basil felt the need to suppress a laugh. 

"Is it alright if I stay here while you do.. that? I was just looking for a quiet place to read." Basil explained, already getting his book out. 

"Y.. Yeah! Of course!" Kel sat down too, but on the opposite side on the rooftop, against the rails. He kept looking at Basil, then looking back at his phone. Maybe he was comparing pictures of him to the real him. Maybe he was writing fanfiction of him (Basil had already seen some... strange fanfiction of himself) and needed a reference. Or maybe he was just flabbergasted.

"What were you doing up here, Kel?" Basil interrupted the silence. Kel gaped at him, probably wondering if Basil was talking to him. 

"I was doing dance practice.. To be an idol.. like you, Basil! Or.. not anymore, but you get the idea," Kel spat out, and with each word he became a worse shade of red than the original funky color that he donned when Basil first stepped onto the rooftop. 

Basil was just about to reply when a voice cut him off before he could open his mouth.

"I'm not letting you leave until you talk to me! Tell it to me straight, Sunny!" A feminine voice rang through the air, and Basil swore he could recognize the owner of that voice.

"Sounds like an argument," Kel noted. "Should we do something..? I mean! You don't have to if you don't want t-"

Basil was already creeping towards the door. Kel decided to follow him, the red on his face fading to the normal color blush should be. 

"Ugh! Just- say something!"

The voice was getting closer now. Basil froze. What if he and Kel got roped into the argument? What would he do? "They won't see us if we hide behind the water tank," Kel said. He grabbed the shorter boy's wrist, dragging him behind the tank. From out the door came two figures. One was noticeably taller, donned dyed-pink long hair, and wore a teal hairband. The other was shorter, black hair sprouting from their head, and was wearing a black sweater vest. There was no mistaking it. The two were Aubrey Digout from SPAC3Y and Sunny Suzuki from LuckyBeat.