It was a quiet spring day when Meiko decided, like she usually did, to go to the nearby convenience store for some shopping. She never really shopped for fun (in her opinion, they already had everything they needed, so why waste money?), so she always saw this sort of thing as a chore. With six people all living in one house, things tended to run short rather quickly, though the money that Kaito and Luka's jobs paid was enough to keep themselves going. Nevertheless, she still saw it as a nuisance to have to constantly make sure everything was on track.

That was why she liked to bring Miku with her on errands.

Miku was, in Meiko's opinion, a prime example of how kids these days ought to behave. Nowadays, teens were either wild and high-strung, like Rin, or reclusive and curt, like Len. While she still loved the Kagamines with all her heart, there was only so much of them she could take.

Miku, on the other hand, was an upstanding young lady. She was polite, upbeat, cheerful, always eager to help, and great at managing to make a bad day seem a little brighter. Meiko, in her increasing age (though she would never admit to that fact), felt comforted by her presence. She had always seen the young teal-haired girl as a daughter of sorts, and she enjoyed having her around more than her other housemates.

That being said, Miku did have some flaws, the most prominent of which being her infuriating naivety.

Being a very extroverted girl, Miku really liked talking to people and making new friends. Whenever she met somebody interesting, she would spend several minutes talking about what she liked about them. While it was sweet, her fascination with others lead to her being extremely trusting. Too trusting.

At the moment, Meiko was off browsing a particular aisle of the store which sold certain alcoholic drinks. She had asked Miku to go and scour the store for some more vegetables while she did so, promising her that she could even buy a few extra leeks if she waited patiently for her to finish looking for her coveted sake. Of course, the girl cheerily agreed, encouraged by the promise of her favorite food, and was only a few aisles away, still within the older woman's sight.

At first, when she saw the boy approach her, she thought nothing of it. As far as Meiko was concerned, he was just another ordinary teenager who happened to be shopping as well. Then, she overheard their conversation.

"Hey there, beautiful," he said in an attempt a deep voice (though it did crack slightly, much to Meiko's amusement). "What brings you here?" Miku looked up from the leeks that she had been examining and gave him a friendly smile.

"Hello!" she chirped, completely oblivious to his intentions. "I'm just doing some shopping for my friends back home! All six of us live together, so we end up having to buy a lot, but I don't mind!"

The boy smiled back, though his grin wasn't as sincere as hers. "Really? Well, what's a pretty girl like you doing with some gross old leeks?"

Miku looked genuinely taken aback by his comment, though not out of the realization that he was trying to flirt with her (and doing a pretty terrible job). "Hey! Leeks aren't gross! They're delicious!" However, her face quickly reverted back to a more amiable expression. "But that's just my opinion, of course. You don't have to like them!"

The boy raised a confused eyebrow, but that didn't seem to lower his confidence, as he tried again to make his purpose more apparent. "Well, in my opinion, you're just about the prettiest girl I've ever seen. Too pretty for a place like this."

Meiko raised her eyebrows. What was he implying by that last part...?

"Oh, thank you!" Miku responded kindly, beaming at the compliment. "But I like this place! Besides, I still have some work to do. We can hang out later, though, if you want! My name is Miku!"

"Well, Miku," the boy smirked, "if I were you, I'd put those errands off for a little while. It won't be long. My place is just down the street from here..." That did it. Meiko immediately marched over to where Miku and the boy were conversing, putting on a false smile.

"Hey, Miku! How's it going? Who's your friend here?" She looked over at him, still smiling, but the threatening look in her eyes was apparent. Miku, conversely, didn't seem to notice as the boy cowered in fear at the woman's gaze.

"Hi, Meiko!" she chimed happily. "I'm doing great! I was just picking out the leeks, and then I met him! Hey, what is your name, anyway?"

The boy stuttered under Meiko's terrifying glare. "Um...m-my name...uh, that isn't really that important right now!"

"Aw, are you sure?" Miku asked, disappointed. Meiko's eyes bore into the young boy.

"Yeah, are you sure you don't wanna tell us? I'm sure your parents would love to know that you were out making 'friends' with Miku here." Her voice was sickeningly sweet, but her intent was clear. The boy shrunk in terror.

"Um, actually, speaking of my parents, I should probably be getting home now! Bye!" He hastily stumbled away, only looking back once to find that Meiko was watching him leave. He ran faster after that, and was soon gone.

Miku seemed confused once he had left. "He seems worried about something. What do you think, Meiko?"

The brunette gave her a warm smile (a genuine one this time) and replied with, "I don't know, dear. I'm sure it was nothing. Now, why don't you take some leeks and we'll call it a day?"

All concern forgotten, the teal-haired teen's eyes shone with excitement. "Yaaay! Okie dokie!"

And so, as the two paid for their items and left the store, all seemed to be back to normal. ...That is, until Meiko realized one thing.

She had forgotten her sake.

Crap.