The drink was fizzy and almost tastelessly sweet, but it would do. I sipped it quietly at the bar as I watched the world pass me by. I checked my watch. 11:07 PM, 22nd December. It was the Christmas season, and everybody seemed to be full to the brim with the spirit.

I was filled with spirits of a different kind; the alcoholic kind. "Bloody crazed… people…" I muttered to myself, my usual eloquence lost to alcohol. I downed the last of my drink.

The bartender came along, aware that my glass was empty. Bartending wasn't exactly a popular job, so like other unpopular jobs it was taken by robos. Not the complex kind, either, the preprogrammed kind with an extremely limited AI.

This bartender was no exception. She was on the stylised side of the uncanny valley; in no way creepy but still nevertheless both visibly humanoid and visibly robotic. "Sir, you've taken two drinks. Legally, I can offer you two more." Her voice had an obvious mechanical resonance to it.

I nodded, handing over a few creds. "'Nother Vodka and Coke, then, please." The bartender-robo whipped it up in barely a minute, and I downed it in less. I stared at the laminated synthwood intently, fixated on the ebb and flow of the fake grain. It was probably time for me to leave, but...

Something in the tavern caught my slightly drunk eye. Two guys had just been roughing up some poor girl who was clearly doing her best to escape. Her best wasn't enough. Even though her hood was up, I could tell from her body language that she was most certainly afraid. She outright left the tavern, but that pair of... ruffians were nothing if not persistent, and simply followed her out.

I sighed, knowing that I might as well balance out my sinful drinking with a good deed - not that I believed in that nonsense, of course, but I liked metaphors. Besides, it seemed like nobody else in the tavern had even noticed the altercation. I sighed again, louder this time, and arose from my stool. The world swayed for a moment as my body adjusted to its inebriation. Synthetic alcohol - Synthohol, we called it when we were too drunk to say synthetic - was not quite as potent as the real thing, but I could nevertheless feel its effects.

"Come again," The bartender said automatically.

"I will," I replied absentmindedly, flexing my shoulders. Hopefully they wouldn't be too much trouble.

I approached them as soon as I had exited the tavern. They had backed the girl against the wall, and they were getting uncomfortably close for my liking, nevermind hers. I cleared my throat noisily, and three faces looked my way - one hopeful, one angry, one surprised.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," I uttered calmly without a hint of the apprehension I had. "Now, I may have had three glasses of vodka 'n' coke, but I'm fairly certain I could beat you with one hand behind my back." For effect, I drew my left hand out of sight. The glove of my right hand squeaked slightly as I clenched my fist. "So I'm warning you. Back away from her."

One of them stepped forward whilst the other pinned the girl to the wall. "And what're you gonna do 'bout it?" He grunted like a neanderthal.

I grinned, silently bracing for the punch I knew was coming. "I'm going to get violent."

He grinned too, though his was much more vicious. "Me too." Before I could reply, a bundle of rock-hard knuckles smashed into my jaw. I stumbled backwards, reeling from the sudden flare of pain, but I was fine.

I cradled my jaw with my left hand, tasting some small amount of blood in my mouth where my lip had been sliced open on my own tooth. It was that cut which stung the most. I exercised my jaw momentarily, making sure I was fine.

"Alright," I admitted, reading the shock on his face. He'd expected me to go down. "Solid hit. My turn."

I didn't even bother to clench my fist. There was a tremendous crack as my begloved backhand connected with the side of his face; immediately he was out of it.

The other guy was stunned by my show of hidden strength, and the girl took the opportunity to give him a solid kick to the bollocks. He fell backwards, in almost as much pain as his comrade, who was staggering to his feet. It took a moment for them both to decide to dash away and melt into the night, falling over several times as they did so. I chuckled as their uselessness against me.

Then I turned to the girl. She was staring at me intently from within her hood, with a gaze that spoke of both thankfulness and curiosity. Her hair and eyes were stark black, though I was fairly certain that was due to the orange light. Her frame was appeared to be relatively light - a few kilos lighter than me, a few centimetres shorter.

"Are you alright?" I asked, hoping I had done the right thing.

She nodded, smiling. "I am now. Thank you." Wow. That was a really nice voice. It was sincere, sweet almost, but just had the tiniest hint of an underlying edge. It suited her.

I made a dismissive gesture. "Naa, it was nothing," I felt good to have done the right thing for once. I hadn't helped anyone since... that... eventful day.

Shaking her head in disagreement, she spoke again. "You took a punch to the jaw for me. You slapped a guy unconscious. That was not nothing." She frowned abruptly, seemingly with incomprehension. "You backhanded him... and knocked him out. How?"

Before I realised what I had been doing, I subconsciously hid my right arm behind my back. "Um... technique?"

She looked sceptical. She thought I was lying; she was correct. "Well... okay."

I almost sighed with relief. That was one subject I did not like talking about, and combined with recent events...

"Hey," She began with renewed eagerness. Had she really taken to me that easily? "I didn't catch your name."

I suppressed a belch. Accursed alcohol. "John." I said, at least sobre enough to remember my own name. "John Moody."

"Can I call you Moody?"

That made me smile. In that moment, I was surprised that nickname had never been used before. "Sure. Hey, what's your name?"

Her back straightened almost imperceptibly. "How do you do? I'm Hatsune Miku!" She offered her hand, and I shook it. The skin was warm and incredibly soft, her digits appearing to be fragile. It was a firm handshake, though, implying she had some unusual underlying strength.

So, she was called Hatsune Miku. Weird name. Had a nice ring to it, though. "Is that Japanese?"

She nodded. "How did you know? Do you speak Japanese?"

I shook my head. "No, I just... I don't know. It sounded Japanese, I guess. I suppose that means your forename is Miku." Miku was still clutching my hand tightly. "You can let go now."

She let go very suddenly. Was she blushing? I couldn't tell. I glanced again at my wristwatch. 11:16. "It's getting late," I noted, hoping this would lead somewhere but knowing it wouldn't. "I've had a few drinks and I should probably get going. I'll see you round, Miku." With that, I left for my apartment.

The dusk was growing colder. My very breath had turned white. I pulled my jacket around me tighter, shivering, all the alcoholic and adrenal warmth of before having rapidly disapparated.

My gaze was drawn upwards for the lack of anything interesting to look at. I was not exactly an avid stargazer, but I knew a few of the constellations. I could see three stars in a near perfect line. "Orion's belt," I whispered to myself for no actual reason. For a moment I was searching for my zodiac symbol before remembering that it was on the other side of the planet right now.

Accursed alcohol. Why did it have to taste so good?

My mind moved on. That Miku girl. I wondered what such an... innocent looking girl had been doing in a tavern in the first place. I thought about her appearance again. I raised my eyebrow. She should have been wearing a longer skirt. Didn't matter that she had overknee boots, that skirt was more of a belt. Naa, she should've straight-up not been in the bar.

A longer skirt would've probably helped though. I shook my head, trying to evict the images of her waist area from my mind.

"Kind of a cutie, ain't she?" I said to myself without prompt.

"Eh, I guess." I replied, with a half shrug.

"Shame you'll probably never see her again." I muttered solemnly, fully aware that it was likely the truth.

"Eh?" I realised that I hadn't actually thought about it.

"Well, you know. The odds of you coming across her again are slim to none."

"Oh, really?" I said, determined to prove myself wrong. I noticed something about my shadow. I blinked, realising it was an amalgamation of shadows. That's when I heard the footsteps that had been my constant companion - and those footsteps weren't mine.

I turned around. Miku had been following me the entire time. "Oh." I stared her blankly. "You were following me the entire time?"

Miku nodded. "Yup."

Oh dear. "You heard everything I said?"

"Yeah, every last word." At this point, I was internally squirming with sheer disconcertion, but I tried to look as calm as possible. "Didn't make any sense, though."

I breathed a sigh of relief, louder than I meant to. Miku squinted in confusion. "What's the matter?"

The squirming started again, like there was a rodent foraging in my gut. "Uh, nothing, just..." What should I say? I didn't have the slightest hint of an idea. Instead, I opted to change the subject. "Why were you following me?"

She looked sheepish. "I don't have anywhere to stay."

Was Miku trying to play the pity game? "Why don't you get a hotel room? They don't cost that much."

"I don't have any money." She was trying to play the pity game. The bad thing was that I could feel it working. I groaned with exasperation.

"You know what? I'm not even going to try to argue with you." I grumbled, trying my hardest to be angry but just not managing it. Was I too drunk to be angry with her or something? I mean, I didn't remember having drunk quite that much. "Just stay the night at my place."

There was a sparkle of gratitude in Miku's eyes. "Really?"

I glared in reply. "Don't make me change my mind. I'm not prone to being charitable, but something about you..." I trailed off, unable to find the correct word.

She looked very interested in what I was going to say. "What about me?"

I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. This could be problematic if I said the wrong thing. "Something about you intrigues me." I shrugged nonchalantly, hardly paying attention to whatever I was saying. I started to walk again, and I could hear her dogging my heels. I have to say, the amount Miku trusted me already was a little confusing. I wasn't a trustworthy guy; or at least I didn't think I was. "I don't know what. Just something... I just feel like there's something more to this situation, something more to you than meets the eye..."