Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Vocaloid. Each character used belongs to the respective company that produced him/her; I merely borrowed them for non-profit entertainment purposes. The Hatsune Miku song Streaming Heart, of which this fanfic is based, belongs to DECO*27. Please give credit to him and check out the original song. It's amazing. Regardless, I do claim ownership to the cover art and words below. Please enjoy.

"Why have love, when this is what becomes of it?"

Every night I hear those words in my dreams. They are spoken harshly, as if I deserved the situation I was in. To be controlled and kept on a leash, to be forced to become someone I was not - I put myself there. Now away from it all and able to look back and see everything for what it was, I did deserve it.

Maybe love just isn't meant for me.

Moving back home wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Sure my parents were ticked, but I did offer to buy the groceries as a way to help out, which only eased their irritation so much. I still don't understand why they weren't sympathetic to my situation. I swear for a solid month all I heard was that every bit of it was my fault and I should see if Kaito would take me back. What kind of parents push their daughter towards a man who actually hit her?

"It's your fault, Miku. You're too mean."

I finished drying my face with a towel before I shot a dirty glare at the younger girl standing by the bathroom doorway. "Don't you have to get ready for school, Teto?" I spat.

The sixteen-year-old demon I had the unfortunate luck of calling my sister twisted a strand of her red hair around a finger as if she couldn't be bothered to look me in the eyes. "Nah, I'm already dressed, and the bus won't be here for another fifteen minutes."

"So you decided to spend your spare time watching me?"

"I ain't got nothing better to do," Teto said, and I grumbled as I finished moisturizing my face.

It was the first day back to college after a month long winter break. The last couple weeks of the last semester were extremely awkward since I had half my classes with my ex-boyfriend, Kaito Shion, but fortunately I wouldn't have to spend that new semester crossing paths with that jackass as he changed his major yet again. After everything, I would be okay with never having to see him once more for as long as I lived.

"You're gonna grow old alone," Teto said, following me as I marched to my room. "You're gonna be the old maid of the three of us."

"Why do you say that?" I didn't really care to know, but Teto tends to grow bored of me quicker when I make her talk.

"Lily's already married, and Rook and I've been together for two years now." Teto snorts. "Then there's you, the girl who can't keep a guy for at least a year. It was so nice of Kyoteru to hook you up with one of his friends, an older guy with wealthy parents and a bright future, and you had to go and ruin it."

"Kaito cheated on me with some blonde ditz," I argued as I stripped off my pajamas and searched for a decent outfit. "I swear the girl had to be fourteen. Should've called the police and told them my ex-boyfriend was sleeping with a minor."

"Was she really fourteen, and do you know for a fact that they were having sex?" Teto raised an eyebrow, challenging me.

I growled, unable to answer for certain. Teto smirked as I slipped on a pair of skinny jeans. "He cheated on me, belittled me, and even hit me." Eyes locked with Teto's, I asked, "Why do you or our parents want me back with him?"

Shrugging, Teto answered, "Maybe we don't want you to be alone."

"Don't I at least deserve to be with someone who makes me happy and treats me right?"

"Ha!" Teto picked her backpack up from its place by her feet as she said, "At the rate you're going, you should learn to accept that beggars can't be chooser."

Fists clenched, I glared at Teto's retreating figure as I grumbled, "Who said I was begging?"

There's the beautiful eldest daughter, the model.

There's the smart youngest daughter, the honor student.

Then there's the middle daughter, the screw up.

A childhood spent getting into vicious fights, notorious in high school for pulling the worst pranks on anyone who dare wrong her, now starting a college career scaring away any potential life-long friends - no parent would be proud to call that their child. They would rather favor the successful children, pretending that they didn't go wrong with the outlier.

Hey, two out of three isn't so bad.

Teto may have meant for it to he a cruel joke when she got me A Single Woman's Guide To Happiness for Christmas, but in the end it backfired on her. As I waited for class to start, I engrossed myself in it. I have to say, it's not a bad book. I used my bright pink highlighter to underline some good points, and I was so absorbed I jumped when someone spoke to me.

"Good book?"

After the mini hear attack passed, I looked to my right to see a face I never wanted to see again. Blue eyes, blond hair, a flash of cockiness in an otherwise innocent appearance - except this simultaneously was the wasn't the same face. This wasn't Kaito's secret girlfriend but instead a boy who looked just like her in almost every possible way. And I really do mean in almost every possible way.

At my lack of response, the boy pointed at my book and said, "I take it you had a bad breakup?"

Pulling the corners of my lips down and pinching my brows together, I snarled, "None of your business."

"Are you all right?" he asked. Of all the people filing into the room, I was the one he chose to talk to. I got the feeling I was going to loathe that class.

"Peachy," I answered. "Now leave me the hell alone."

"I think somebody needs a hug," he said, and the way he said it grinded on my nerves. It wasn't flirtatious, teasing, or anything of the sort - it sounded as if he had a solid idea of what I've recently been through.

"I think somebody's going to lose an arm if they try to touch me," I replied.

For a while it was silent, and I thought he was finally getting the hint. Then he broke the silence between us with, "I'm Len Kagamine."

"I don't care."

From the corner of my eye I saw him open his mouth as if to respond, but fortunately the professor called for our attention and announced that it was time to begin the semester. Class starter, the professor introduced himself, and he took role. Everything was fine until, "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?"

Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the boy and said, "You couldn't be bothered to bring a pencil on the first day?" He shrugged. "Sucks to be you," I spat as I put my extra pencils back into my bag.

I spent the rest of class ignoring my annoying blond neighbor, but I could still feel his eyes on me. Why he was so interested in me, I didn't know. When class dismissed an hour and a half later, I fled the room before he could get the chance to say anything else to me.

If there is no love like that between a parent and child, then why do some mothers scar daughters or fathers damage sons? Why are innocent infants abandoned? Why are precious children beaten without cause?

Can't any strong love exist between two people regardless of the relationship? Please tell me so. The more stressed familiar love is, the more I'm convinced of my inadequacy.

You know the conversation held at the dinner table is boring when you're more interested in stabbing at your meatloaf and mashed potatoes than partaking in the discussion.

My first week back hadn't been too bad. I enjoyed my classes and loved my professors. My only complaint was that persistent Len Kagamine, who somehow was in every class that I was. I saw him all the time as a result, and the stupid freak wouldn't leave me alone.

For the most part he never mentioned how alone I was. He usually asked questions such as "How are you today?" or "Have you seen this movie?" or "What do you think of this book?" Also being an English major - or so I believed he was at the time - it wasn't hard for him to find topics that interest me. Just earlier that day, I stopped resisting him in favor of discussing The Iliad. I hated myself for giving in.

Yet at the same time I was glad he and I talked.

"Isn't that amazing, Miku?"

"Huh?" I furrowed my brows as I looked at my father.

His baby blue eyes - eyes I so badly wished were mine - narrowed as he repeated, "Isn't it amazing how your sister is being offered a scholarship to start college this fall?"

"For what?" I asked. By the way Dad sighed, I knew that I should've just agreed to whatever it was he told me.

"Teto is excelling in her math and science studies," Mom - distinguishable by her pretty lavender hair - answered. "She's being offered the opportunity to dual enroll in order to earn her AS degree by the time she graduates high school so that she can transfer to a big name university immediately after. Her future in marine biology is starting to look set."

Eyes sliding over, I find Teto smirking at me. She doesn't have to bother bragging. Our parents are already doing enough of that for her.

"I'm happy for you," I said, and it wasn't a lie. Our parents were never proud of me, so I had to learn to experience the feeling vicariously through my sisters.

"Why again are you studying English?" Dad asked. "Miku, you already speak it."

"Not to mention the only job you can get with an English degree is teaching," Mom added.

"It's my passion," I answered. I don't know why I bothered to reply: we've had that conversation multiple times.

"Passions don't pay the bills," Dad pointed out.

"Neither does marriage, yet you're pushing me to find someone," I said without thinking. Then I quickly added, "And don't tell me to get back with Kaito. My mind is made up about him, and I'm not changing it. Ever."

"Then I suppose there's somebody else?" Mom mused.

Spring blue eyes flashed in my mind followed by a warm smile. I scowled at the thought. "No," I forced out.

Fortunately, she didn't press it. Teto was the one to speak, and I loved her so much for at least not talking about boys. "Do you want to be an English teacher?"

Shrugging and poking at the slab or meat in front of me, I said "An English professor, maybe. Or a junior high literature teacher, realistically speaking."

"Why?"

"I get to study something I love, plus I know from the time I helped Lily with that preteen pageant I enjoy working with students. I think it suits me."

For how annoying she is, Teto doesn't press on in any negative way. I don't know if she has some respect for me as her older sister or what. All I know is my parents heard from my mouth that I'm not wasting my time with my studies.

Just imagine how much time I was saving by staying single.

I don't need anyone to pay attention to me. I'll pay attention to myself. Nobody's approval is needed save for my own. Nobody needs to accept me as I will always readily accept myself. I'm the one who spends the most time with me anyway, so I might as well be someone I like.

Truly, I'm fine on my own.

Sitting by myself under the gazebo in the courtyard, I read my book while eating baby carrots as I waited for my next class. Buildings wrapped around the area, caging me in. The sky was cloudy and dark, and the air was so cold you could feel frost forming on your skin. As a result, the courtyard was completely empty, and that was how I wanted it.

Then my new best friend decided to ruin the serenity I felt.

"Go away, Len," I said without taking my eyes off the page. I didn't have to look to know that he was there; strange as it was, I could feel his presence.

Anyway, this had been going on for about a month at that point. Strangely he could find me even when we weren't in class, and he made it his job to bother me every time I was in sight. I was annoyed that he was so persistent, but at the same time . . . it felt nice to imagine that someone was fighting for me. My fickle heart couldn't decide if I liked his presence or was bothered by it.

"You know I won't," was how he replied to my order. He sat on the bench across from me and asked, "New singles book already?"

"Not to mention I'm wearing my I Hate Boys T-shirt today as well." I closed my book and took off my glasses so that I could rub my eyes. "When are you going to get the hint that I'm not interested in you?"

"Who says that I'm interested in you?" Len asked. "Romantically - or sexually, that is. Maybe I just want to be friends."

"Ha! Likely story," I answered with a snort. "Men want one thing and one thing only, and that's not to be friends with women."

Len pointed his finger at me. "That's sexist. You can't claim to know my intentions based solely on the fact I'm a guy. What if I claimed you wanted to get married because all women want commitment? Where's the justification in that."

"Whatever. I don't have time for this." I put my glasses back on, stood up, and slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Have you read the reading assignment yet? I know you have a lot of interesting things to say about 'The Birthmark.'"

It's true. I had plenty of thoughts on that short story, but I was not in the mood for conversation. "I really don't want to talk."

Len cocked his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Fine," I grumbled. "All I want is to be left alone."

"Nobody wants to be alone."

"I do." I turned and took a few steps to leave the gazebo, but he stopped me.

"Who hurt you so badly that you can't let go?"

Whirling around, I glared at Len. I hated the sight of him so much, but it had nothing to do with his constantly messing with me. If I'm being completely honest with myself, I probably wouldn't have cared so much if he looked differently. It was only whenever I saw him, I didn't see him at all.

It was the girl Kaito cheated on me with looking back at me.

If not for that face, I might have been more inclined to give Len a chance at friendship. Maybe. Who knows?

"Who hurt you so badly that can't let go?" Len repeated, standing now. His eyes had softened, and he made no movement that said he would try to stop me if I chose to leave without a word.

"Everyone," I found myself answering. "I don't know who my dad was, but he had to have been somebody who didn't want to stick around. It makes sense, since my mom abandoned me and all." I looked away. Never had I confessed so much to a person before, yet here I was spilling my heart out to somebody I didn't know, somebody I wanted to tell everything to. "My adopted parents aren't much better, always favoring their other adopted daughters over me. Friends never lasted more than half a year, and boys . . ." I laughed without humor. "Love isn't meant for me."

"Don't say that." Len took two long strides towards me, but he kept a respectful distance. "Love is for everyone."

"Not the unloved," I claimed.

"There's no such thing as unloved." Len bit his lip and looked anywhere but in my eyes. "If you want to give up on romance, that's your business, but don't give up on love altogether. There's always someone to love and to love you."

"You don't know me or what I've been through," I whispered. "You can't love me, and I can't love you."

To my surprise, Len simply said, "You sound just like my sister."

"That girl-" I began, but I was interrupted by something grabbing my arms from behind. "Let go!" I shouted without first analyzing the situation, but such an analysis would've been useless.

Two men were holding Len back as well, keeping him from helping me. I struggled to break free, but my captor was too strong. Same was true for my blond companion. Where did these people come from? I asked myself. The courtyard was literally empty save for Len and me just a few seconds ago; it was as if these men just came out of nowhere.

"You were damn hard to track down," said a rough whisper in my ear. "You don't believe how difficult it was to find not only girls with your name and age, but also the right one." I tried stomping on his foot, but his boots were too thick for my attempt to do any good. "'Find Miku' is a very irritating order to fulfill when that is all you have to work with," continued the speaker, "but we did it at last."

"What do you want from me?" I asked. I didn't really care, but I hoped if he kept talking, I could find the opportunity to free myself.

"Leave her alone!" Len spat at whoever it was holding me back. "What would you want with a human, anyway?"

"Who said that she was human?" was how the person behind me answered. To the other men, "Take the blond one, too. Boss's had his eye on that one for a while now."

"What do you mean?" Len's eyes grew wide, and I could tell his already fair skin was paling.

One of the men holding Len chuckled. "We know that you're no ordinary Love Maker. As a matter of fact, we know that your nasty, rotten sister-"

Whatever he was going to say was lost when Len, filled with rage, freed his arm from the other man and punched the one speaking in the face. Wasting no time, Len threw the first man over and slammed his elbow into the second's nose. Before they could recover, Len ran from them and charged towards me.

He tackled the one holding me back, freeing me from the restraint. "Run!" Len ordered, and I didn't hesitate to obey. I didn't even turn around to make sure he would be all right. I just ran.

However, more men began filling the campus, again seeming to appear out of thin air, and I knew then and there fighting was useless. I stopped running and accepted my fate. If I was really so hard to find, I didn't think it was a stretch to believe that whoever searched for me was going to let me get away so easily.

"Miku!" I snapped my head towards the sound of my name. Len ran up, took my hand, and pulled me along with him. He ran straight towards the oncoming men.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. If Len thought tackling through every single one was going to work, he had another thing coming.

"Something I might live to regret," Len replied, the words half spoken to himself.

We charged towards the wall of muscular men. I screamed as I tried to stop running, but Len was too strong for me. Impact was inevitable.

Then something I couldn't explain happened.

A tear in the space between us and our would-be captors opened and grew. It looked like . . . It looked like a black hole, and Len ran straight towards it. I didn't know what would happen if we entered, but I believed it would be worse than whatever my attacker had in mind.

"Let me go!" I ordered the same time the voice of the man who grabbed me shouted, "Don't let them get away!"

One last time I tried to rip my hand from Len's, and that final time ended failure. My hand did break free from his grasp, but Len immediately responded by wrapping his fingers around my elbow and yanking me those last few feet. We entered the black hole. The world around me became dark. The air surrounded me turned ice cold. It was as if I fell into a sea of nothingness.

I expected to lose consciousness, but I didn't. I existed in the open space, Len holding tightly to my arm. I was too scared to breathe.

"It's okay," Len said, breaking the deafening silence. "I know it doesn't look that way at the moment, but you're safe now."