The flashing lights were all she had. The pounding base was all they left for her. The mic was the only thing she cared about.

Because this was her stage. Her stage, and no one was going to take that away from her.

Amu had noticed the blonde girl as soon as she walked into the club, the perky teenager surrounding herself in a gaggle of boys.

Amu just sighed, and quietly snuck past them, pulling her red plaid hat to hide herself. It didn't quite work, a brown haired boy turning away from the group to wolf whistle. Great. Just what I need. Luckily, that's all he did before turning back to the blond chick.

Making sure her guitar case didn't hit the tables, she made her way through the densely packed crowd surrounding the stage, several people calling for a band.

Despite her intense dislike of the flashing lights and the dark rooms, this was her last shot. Having spent the entire night looking for a club that would give her a chance, her father had called angrily telling her one more before he came to bring her home himself.

What a protective mama bird. Amu thought briskly, finally making it to the side of the stage, she found just the man she was hoping to see.

"Ano!" She shouted over the drum of the dance music blaring out of the speakers. The suited man holding a clipboard turned and was surprised to see the tiny girl standing before him. She had good looks, but didn't look nearly old enough to be there.

"Hey!" He shouted back. "Fifteen and up! Sorry!" The blond man started turning back, but Amu grabbed his shoulder.

"I am!" She held out her ID to him. "Please, can I just do one song?" Unknown to Amu, the blond man was Hotori Tadase, scout for Midnight Players, a very prestigious producing company, ranked top three in Japan, along with Tempt Night Tracks and Bubblegum Records.

Looking over her again, Tadase eyed the black guitar case, then Amu's stylish outfit. Cool and spicy, he thought to himself.

"If the crowd doesn't like, you're out!" A wave of relief splash through Amu, causing her heart to pick up several notches.

"Thank you!" Tadase signaled to the pinkette to follow him to the closed door just to the right of the stage. Once the door shut, the music from outside was almost completely silenced. The room looked comfortable, with several large, black leather couches, a big TV and even a full-size fridge. Not given time to take in her surrounding completely, Tadase turned to Amu, running his hand through his blond hair.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Hinamori Amu." She answered immediately. Tadase glanced at her ID again. The picture was cute, almost too cute.

"What song do you have in mind?"

"Um, one I wrote myself." His eyes widened in surprise.

"My band can't back you up if they don't know the songs." He sighed, turning away disappointedly.

"But!" She spun around him, getting his attention again. "I have the sheet music!" She reached into the leather messenger bag at her side and pulled out a stack of what was indeed sheet music. "It's not too hard, and I'm sure the crowd will like it!" It was very hard for Tadase to resist the molten honey eyes of the fifteen year-old. He sighed again, this time in resignation.

"Fine. Give it here. You've got twenty minutes before you hit the stage, squirt." Too excited to notice his prod, she threw her arms around him, shouting

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She shoved the stack of paper into his hands before running out of the room. She burst into the main room again, wanting to scream to the world, but she kept her mouth shut as she made her way back to the entrance.

She was disgusted to see the blond chick still there, flirting with ten guys at once. Quite a feat. Amu admitted to herself grudgingly, slipping out of the club unnoticed.

While the cool breeze blowing through her pink hair should have calmed her, she could only feel herself growing more excited. Surely this isn't stage fright? She pulled out her phone and dialed her mother's cell number.

As soon as she picked up, Amu started squealing.

"I did it! They're letting me perform!"

"Oh, that's great sweetie!" Midori cooed on the other end. "Which song?"

"My latest."

"Ah, one of my favorites!" Amu could hear her mother beaming, who, unlike Amu's father, approved of Amu's wish to sing. Amu smiled in return.

"I'm so glad they let me. Well, I guess fifteen times the charm?" Her mother chuckled.

"You know what they say, if you don't succeed try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try—"

"Mom?"

"Try, try, try,—"

"Mom!"

"Try, try, again!" Amu sighed, but laughed with her mother.

"I haven't got much time, so I'm gonna go tune my guitar, 'kay? Tell dad I love him."

"Will do. Goodbye sweetheart."

"Bye." She flipped her phone closed, stuffing it in her pocket. Glancing back at the club, she realized there was no way she could tune her guitar in there, so settled down against the wall of the Midnight Hours club, unlatching her case. I hope the band can read the music. I copied it down at three in the morning yesterday…

As she became distracted with brilliantly pink guitar, she didn't see the dark blue haired boy sitting on the windowsill high above her.

But he saw her.