Miku stands in the sweltering heat and stares at the bustling town. Masses of people flit past and around her, many of them bumping into her before glaring at her irritably. Her sweaty palms struggle to keep their grip on her school bag, but she takes no notice. She focuses on the busy town before her, eyes wide and mouth agape.
Where the hell is she?
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(n.) serendipity
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
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[ chapter one ]
When Len looks out, there is a girl.
Her teal hair tumbles to her waist in tangled locks, her smooth forehead is wrinkled in frustration. In her hands is a sleek black phone, and she's frowning at the screen, occasionally lifting her head to look around at her surroundings in confusion.
Len takes a sip of his coffee and rests his chin on his elbow. Wait for it…
The girl halts in front of the café and puffs out her cheeks in frustration. She closes her eyes and exhales, as though breathing out her frustration. After a moment, she glares at the road before her and starts stomping off again, muttering obscenities under her breath. It isn't long before she disappears.
Len smiles. The girl has been walking past this café for three times, huffing and looking utterly lost. He cups his hands around the coffee mug and waits for the girl to come back.
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Cul stops in the middle of pouring tea into a glass to look at her friend, Len. He has his hand cupped around his chin and he stirs his coffee with his free hand as he looks outside. There's something different, though … Cul squints her eyes carefully to inspect him closely, and — what?
He's smiling.
Kagamine Len is smiling. At a window. Cul rubs her chin thoughtfully. Did he get himself a girlfriend or something?
A big grin has settled down on his lips and Cul can see his fingers digging into his cheek and his shoulders shaking uncontrollably. He's trying his best to hold in his laughter. Cul follows his gaze and her eyes find a girl whose features are wrinkled in confusion as she looks around helplessly,
Ah, she's lost, Cul thinks sympathetically. She turns back to Len with a disapproving frown. That doesn't give him a reason to laugh at her, though. (However, it is a very Len thing to do, so she can't really blame him.)
When the girl buries her face angrily, Len lets out a bark of laughter, sinking in his seat and laughing silently. The lost girl doesn't notice and stalks away, no doubt cursing and hating the whole world. The other customers do notice Len's odd behavior and they stare as he collapses in his chair with laughter.
As she watches Len attempt to take a drink but only successes in choking from his laughter, a single thought runs through her head.
I SHIP IT.
She begins formulating a plan to get the lost girl and Len to talk to each other. (No doubt bringing her a lot of amusement.)
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Miku is lost.
Her heart is drumming in her chest with panic and the frown that she's plastered on her face will definitely leave wrinkles after this. She's been walking in circles for what felt like days without getting anywhere. She glared at her phone; with it's battery dead it's been no help to her at all.
Miku heaves out a weary sigh, and stops to rest her feet. She looks at the café that she's passed by about six times and considers going in for a cup of coffee. Maybe two. Or three. Her eyes slide down from the name of the café to meet with a boy's.
The boy blinks in surprise when she looks at him. Then he smiles and waves cheerily at her, like they've known each other for a long time. Miku takes a step backwards.
Ugh. Creep.
The boy is mouthing something to her. She frowns and walks towards the café where he's sitting by the window. He flashes her a grin and mouths 'are you lost?' to her. Miku resists the urge to scream and run away. He saw me walk around looking like an idiot, my life is over, dear God, please forgive me for my sins- The boy opens his mouth to say something again, but Miku feels a gentle tap on her shoulder.
A cheery red-haired waitress holds out a menu and chirps, "Miss! Would you like to have a drink inside?" And before Miku says anything, the waitress pushes her inside the shop with the menu, talking about their café's special drinks behind her.
Miku makes a mental note to complain about the shop's waiters.
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As Miku steps into the café, the smell of warm coffee and baked goods fills her nose and her shoulders sag with exhaustion. She hasn't realised that she was this tired before. The shop is packed with customers and their chatters blend together with the clattering of plates and the quiet music that plays soothingly in the background. The evening light shines in from the huge windows, dyeing the café a warm orange. It's a lovely shop and Miku feels herself relax automatically.
"Please have a seat while we take your order," the waitress who'd dragged her in says brightly. Miku surveys the shop, and when she doesn't see any empty seats, she turns back to the waitress.
"It's a full house," she declares. (Well, obviously, way to go Miku, for pointing that out) "I'll just have a takeaway-"
"No!" The waitress cries, and she grabs Miku's shoulders. Miku takes note of her very strange behaviour. It's almost like she's forcing Miku to stay … is she in a haunted café? Is that it? Maybe if she ate or drank something she'll never be able to get out. That sort of explains the soothing atmosphere and the number of customers …
"I saw an empty seat there, miss, now if you would please sit down," the waitress says, cutting through Miku's thoughts. She pulls Miku over to the table, her warm hand closed around Miku's wrist tightly.
"I'm not in the mood to sit down and eat anything, though," Miku protests feebly. "Besides. I don't want to bother other customers." Liar. You just don't want to sit with a stranger. But who can blame her? It's dangerous to sit with someone you don't know anyway.
"You'll like him, he's really sweet," the waitress assures her. Miku grows more suspicious. She knows him? Are they allies? They stop by a table that's right next to the windows, allowing the sunset to fully shine through, painting the wooden table a glossy brown. She halts abruptly as she comes face-to-face with a familiar boy. He waves cheerily upon seeing her.
"Oh, hell no," says Miku as she frees herself from the red-haired girl's grip. "I'm not sitting with this guy. Or girl. I don't trust his face. Goodbye." He doesn't even remotely look like a boy, anyway, which makes it even more fishy. No boy is that beautiful, and a normal boy definitely doesn't hold himself with such grace. It's a girl. It's not a boy. It's a girl. It's definitely a girl.
"Ah-" the waitress calls out, but the boy (if the waitress isn't lying) rudely interrupts.
"Why not?" He asks, eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Because I don't know you," says Miku simply. And I don't want to.
"You can always make new friends," the boy replies, and she scoffs unbelievingly.
"Not with you, certainly," she grumbles.
"I make a good friend, though," the boy says cockily. Miku scoffs again.
"How would you know?" She snaps back.
"I don't. That's for you to decide."
"Well, my decision is that I want to get as far away as possible from you. I don't like you. We've just met and you're talking like we've known each other for twenty years. Which we don't, by the way, I'm not twenty. You might be for all I know. You can be a forty year old man posing as a little boy. You may not even be a male. You definitely don't look like one. Nope, I don't trust you. Goodbye."
"I'm delighted to tell you that all your suspicions are wrong," says the boy. "I'm not twenty, if that helps. And I'm a hundred percent male. Do you want to check?"
"Does kicking you in the nuts count as checking?"
"It doesn't, really."
The waitress watches their banter calmly and Miku vaguely hears her muttering "I ship it" under her breath. It might have been just her imagination, though.
"I just wanted a coffee!" Miku sighs, wringing her hands. "Is that really hard?" She turned to the waitress and gives her a sad look. "Did you have to make me sit with this suspicious guy?"
"Did you mean a hot sexy man-"
"I will take every possible action for my ship to sail," the waitress says gallantly. Miku blinks, and she hears the blond boy chortle silently in his seat. "I'm sorry, miss, you just seemed tired and I thought a cup of coffee would help to soothe your nerves."
Miku was very touched by the waitress's thoughtfulness. She blinked back her grateful tears and opened her mouth to thank her but was stopped by the boy.
"She isn't tired, she's just lost," says the boy cheekily. "Surely you saw her wandering around like that, everyone did."
Miku flares up immediately and whips around to glare at him. "I wasn't - no! I wasn't lost … I just. I couldn't find my way around. That's it. I need more time."
"It's almost dark outside, though," the waitress says, her forehead crinkled in concern, glancing at the darkening skies. "Are you sure you're alright?"
This waitress is either genuinely kind-hearted or really good at acting. Miku hopes it's the former. "Well-"
"I can bring you back to the train station if you want," the boy says.
Miku's eyes widen with shock involuntarily. "How did you-"
"You don't look like you're from around here," he explains calmly. "No one gets lost in our town. It's small and easy to navigate through." The boy smiles lazily, like he's won the battle. "So do you need my help?"
Miku flushes a little. "I - no - agh - alright." She looks away as she bows a little. "Please, kind sir, will you show me out from your town?"
"But your coffee," the waitress says.
"It's late, you can just come back next time," the boy winks at her. Miku shudders and backs away. Still suspicious. She doesn't trust this guy enough to let her guard down around him.
"There will be a discount from six to eight o'clock every weekday, so please visit us again," the waitress chirps cheerfully.
"Uh. Um. Okay. Don't you have other customers to tend to?"
"I have my ways," says the waitress mysteriously. Miku takes another step backwards. People nowadays sure are weird.
"We should get going!" The boy says, standing up suddenly. He attempts to sling his arm around Miku's shoulder but she shies away with a look of utter disgust. She hears the waitress snort a little.
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"What brings you here?" The boy asks, tucking his hand into his pockets. Miku looks at him from the corner of her eye. The moonlight turns his blond hair into a darker shade of yellow, almost brownish. She turns away quickly after realising that she's been staring.
She clears her throat and glances at him again, reluctant to tell him. He'd definitely laugh at her. He gazes at her expectantly, and she exhales deeply. "I … passed my station."
Surprisingly, he doesn't tease her. He hums in reply and casts his gaze to the sky. "And you didn't go back immediately?"
Miku rubs her numb fingers together. "The next train was hours later. It broke down, or something. I forgot."
"You didn't care enough to listen," states the boy with a grin. Miku turns away from him angrily. As expected, having a civil conversation with him is impossible. Shame on her for trying.
"Try being stuck in somewhere you don't even know! I was scared!" She says defensively. "I'm not now, of course!"
He doesn't drop his vexing grin. "You were clearly lost just now. What were you looking for?"
"Someone gave me directions to a place where I could spend my time in." And you forgot ten seconds later. This Q & A session is going downhill. Miku can only hope that the boy will stop asking her questions and shut up.
"You never found it." He says. Miku huffs. He's a sadist. He definitely is, judging from the way he keeps humiliating her and enjoying it.
"I would have if the waitress didn't drag me into the café!" She argues.
"Cul."
"What?"
"The waitress. Her name's Cul. She's a friend of mine."
"Oh," Miku says, blinking. "Do you two always team up to publicly embarrass strangers?"
The boy laughs, and Miku jolts at the sound of it. It's a … strangely clear sound. His face brightens when he laughs, and he looks younger, like an innocent child. Definitely better than his usual self, she decides.
He reverts back to his teasing manner a few moments later, drawing a sigh from Miku. Well, it was fun while it lasted. "But it all worked out in the end, so it's fine, right?"
"Meeting you guys isn't exactly fine." She retorts.
"And yet here you are, arguing with me," he grins again. "That's fine with me."
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Somehow, Miku manages to keep a safe distance of five meters from the boy and successfully ignores him as he chatters on and on. She thanks the heavens profusely when she manages arrives to the station in one piece.
"You know how to buy a ticket back home, don't you?" The boy asks her, raising an eyebrow as he walks over to one of the ticket machines. Miku feels a little bad for treating him so rudely. He did help her get out from the town (something she's been trying for hours) and even offered to treat her to a drink earlier.
"Yeah, of course," she says, taking her wallet out from her pocket. "Um … thank you, by the way," she mutters as she inserts a bill into the slot. "For helping me. I wouldn't have found the station otherwise." THIS IS EMBARRASSING. CODE RED. SOMEONE GET ME OUT OF HERE.
Len smiles a little upon seeing the girl fidget awkwardly while waiting for his reply. Maybe, in another world, Len is a nice person who is kind to all and loves animals and is a vegetarian. Unfortunately the Len in this world isn't. "Is my hearing impaired or is it the wax clogging up my ears? Do I need to get my ears cleaned? Are you thanking me?"
She starts to sputter indignantly but is saved by the ticket machine as it ejects a ticket. She turns around and busies herself by slowly taking the ticket. Len grins knowingly.
"Now that I think of it, I don't know your name yet. You never told me." He says, tapping his chin. The girl flinches. An uncomfortable (at least, for her; Len is sure enjoying it) silence settles in between them and they are once again interrupted by the ticket machine. Coins rattle down noisily and she hastily grabs them up.
"Mine's Len, if you want to know," he says, prodding the girl to give him her name as well. She doesn't turn around from the machine. She just … sort of stands there. Maybe she fell asleep standing up or something. "What's yours?"
Meanwhile, Miku feels herself break out into a cold sweat. (She doesn't actually sweat, no, that would be disgusting.) What in the world does this boy want? Why does he want her name? For what purposes? What's he going to do with it? It better not be something suspicious, but after spending a little time with him, she thinks that there is an eighty percent chance that it is. "And why do you need it?"
Len groans in frustration. "You know, when people tell you their name, you're supposed to tell them yours," he says. "Of course I need it. What am I going to refer you as?"
"That one girl I met and very rudely laughed at one day," says Miku.
"That's an awfully long name. I'll never remember it."
"At least try to?"
"At least give me a shorter version?"
"You'll never meet me again anyway, why bother?"
Len flashes a bright grin to her. He extends his hand to her, pausing for more dramatic effect.
It doesn't work on Miku. It only succeeds in scaring her even more. Why is he holding out his hand? Why does he look so serious? He's not going to say he's gay, is he? He's not going to break out in song and start singing 'a whole new world' to her, is he? From what little knowledge she's gained of Len, it's very likely that one (or even both) of the above scenarios may occur. This thought makes Miku shudder again.
Be calm, Miku, she thinks, and run away from him as soon as possible. She doesn't accept his hand and slowly backs away, clutching her ticket to her chest. "Well, I gotta go, so-"
Len sighs. "I was going to ask if you wanted to come back to the café again and have a chat someday. Clearly you could not handle the suspense."
Miku stands by the wall, feeling like an awkward preteen. She runs through a list of answers ("No," "No thanks," "No way," "Hell no," and if she wants to be polite, "No, thank you.") and chooses to ignore his question, turning on her heel and taking off for the train. She feels like a rebel.
But Len will not lose. He cups his hands around his mouth and yells, "Goodbye!" at the top of his lungs, just to embarrass her. He manages to, actually, but Miku keeps running, pretending that she never seen or heard him. Quite a feat, considering that everyone nearby is staring at him.
As she runs into the train, sweaty, out of breath and probably stinking up the whole carriage, she smiles a little. Immediately she knocks the smile off her lips. What's she doing, smiling over a stranger like an idiot? Miku slaps her cheeks and takes a seat, resting her wobbling knees. He's just a cocky blond who laughed at you for being lost. You should just ignore him.
In the end, despite her firm resolution to forget about Len, another fond smile snakes sneakily upon Miku's lips before she can stop it.
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"Welcome back," Cul greets with a cheery smile. She dips the mop into a bucket and looks over to the blond standing by the door.
"Don't do that," says Len, walking over to the window seat he's claimed as his own. "You sound like a housewife. It's disgusting."
Cul pouts playfully. "Who'd want to be your wife? I think you're well suited with that girl, anyway." She says teasingly. She glances over at her friend, gauging his face for any signs of bashfulness or even a little blush. When his face is as impassive as ever, she sighs, disappointed.
"She never told me her name," Len muses aloud, looking at the ceiling while Bruno, a part-timer, sets down Len's mocha frappucino.
"Ooh," Cul smirks. "She ran off too, didn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe she's Cinderella," Cul says cheekily. Len turns around and glares at her.
"Cul."
"Yeah?"
"Get out." There's finally a faint trace of a blush on his cheeks, but it might have been Cul's hopeful imagination.
Still, you should appreciate what you have, right?
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[ tbc ]
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[ author's note ] i hope len doesn't sound like a pedo. ((he does, to me
miku acts really snarky but in reality she saves a thousand meme pictures in her phone and her wallpaper is probably a rare pepe so yeah she's fun (and manlier than len ofc) (in case you were wondering yes i have a whole album of memes i'm not even ashamed)
[ dedication ] chapter one is of course dedicated to kaia! she's choko64 almost everywhere and she's really cool. she gave me this prompt and we were supposed to use it for our collab but rebel hana strikes again as she writes a whole story by herself! how clever!
but yes kaia is great and she memes too which makes her even better and if you kpop please contact her she loves kpop way too much i can't even keep up i'm sorry for being a horrible friend kaia (i still love you though) you're great and i had a great time skyping with you even though you nEVER GO OntO SKYPE ANYMORE? KAIA PLEASE