Chapter One

Delivery

She gently raked her fingers through her emerald hair and sighed. The electric desk fan hummed as it pushed away the heat from her reddened face. Gumi couldn't bear heat waves on work days. Cleaning the Vocaloids in the front display of the store was hard enough without the extreme temperatures seeping through the glass windows. It'd be even longer a clean-up if she kept dripping sweat on their shoulders while fixing their hair and clothes during the summer. If they were awake they'd surely scowl at that!

She just wanted to be playing baseball. It was Saturday! Nobody came in on a burning hot Saturday to buy a robot! She should be swimming or playing baseball like a normal person!

Rolling her eyes, she mocked Gakupo's deep and nasal-like voice. "'Oh, but the weekends are the best time to make money, and you have to make sure they stay clean in the heat, Megumi!' Tch! Then watch your own stupid stock, why don't you! I want to go out on a weekend for once in my life! Slave driver..."

Yet each time, her boss and guardian Gakupo would yank her out of her game to make her watch the merchandise. While he was out on dates, he also wanted to punish her for not cleaning ALL the expensive android bodies thoroughly. If they weren't kept together and polished, they'd have no sales... Not that they ever had any sales to begin with. Stupid life.

She leaned her elbows against the cashier counter and jadedly stared at the motionless statues of Vocaloids, all lined up by the front door. They all sat positioned in velvet chairs, their arms resting atop the golden armrests. Gumi pondered, her jade eyes observing the slim curves of the male models and the lovely faces of the female models. So perfect in every way, she wondered what it was like to talk to a real one. She'd only rarely seen a few on television commercials. Not that she liked television in the first place.

Gumi was never allowed to turn on any of the models, though it puzzled her. If she did, she'd be fired immediately as warned. The temptation was unbearable. After all, she was the last remaining employee in the shop at the moment. It wouldn't hurt to sate her boredom, would it? Shaking her head, she rethought that.

The other employees never bothered to even help her on Saturdays, pardon her for having so much to complain about. Meiko had gone out for a red manicure, and Kaito left to his other part-time job at an ice-cream parlour. Then again, she'd rather have Kaito watching the store with her than Meiko. Meiko was nice, beautiful, and motherly, but she was an alcoholic! A room full of beyond expensive equipment and an alcoholic never made out well. That was like letting a frog into a room full of flies, trusting the frog not to let its instincts take over. Then there was the boss himself, Gakupo, who supposedly went to town to see a movie with some girl named Lola. He didn't sound too joyful about it... But who cared? Gumi was home alone and could do whatever the hell she wanted to do! Yes sir!

Forget it, she thought, shaking her head again. She wouldn't have the guts to be defiant to her boss's word, ever. No matter how silly he could be for such a tall, serious-looking man. Her cowardly side liked to creep in whenever she contemplated taking one of the Vocaloids for herself every now and then. Especially since Gakupo kept a large samurai sword collection, and even went to geeky lessons every other weekend... Defy her boss and risk her pay-check? Curiosity guaranteed this bunny's death.

They were so frighteningly fascinating, Vocaloids... Like spilled intestines... or a talking parrot. As odd as that was. Gumi thought they were housing human people to sell in their store, they were so strikingly realistic. It was difficult to tell them apart from humans, and it didn't used to be that way... Yet that's how it was.

They weren't human. They were androids with vocal talent, and had been around for many decades. If she would hope to save up for a Vocaloid one day, she'd hope her Vocaloid would at least want to play baseball with her. If not, then an instant refund.

Come to think of it, her sixteenth birthday wasn't too far off... Gumi smiled and fantasised about Gakupo letting her have three weeks off to spend time with one. A silly grin spread on her rosy cheeks.

The twin bells atop the front door announced a customer's arrival.

Gumi snapped out of it, hoping the person there was to make her daydreams reality. She briskly adjusted her messy green hair, and tried not to feel too bummed when her lavender-haired friend waltzed inside. Her flowing, long summer dress had a sakura-printed pattern and thin straps.

"Welcome to Kamui's Vocaloids, how may I help- Yuzuki-chan?"

"Gumi-chan~~! Happy early sixteenth birthday!" Yuzuki had a breathy and feminine touch to her voice. She was happily gliding a large cardboard package to the counter.

"You shouldn't have!" Gumi smiled, oblivious as to what could be rattling in the little box for her.

Yuzuki shrugged humbly, and gave a breathless smile. "Hey, I forgot to give this to you last time, so, that box is yours. Dig in!" The greenette nodded before reaching for the scissors, only to pause when the amethyst eyed girl reached inside her rabbit-shaped backpack. "Wait, you need to have this before you slice that box open, here, close your eyes!"

"Alright," Gumi could hear crumpled paper, rustling, and occasional squeaks from Yuzuki's cramped bag.

"Okay, open!"

"Okay." Gumi gasped in awe at the large gift before her. Wrapped in plastic and tied by a large orange ribbon was a basket, inside, new baseball gear. The bat was painted to look like a giant carrot and the glove to resemble a panda's paw. Without hesitation, and all the care in the world that she was in a skirt, Gumi hoped over the counter to give Yuzuki a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you so much Yuzu-chan!"

"Megumi-chan, I can't breathe!" she laughed.

"Too bad!"

"No! You're all sweaty, too, ugh! That's evil!"

"You're evil for remembering my birthday, Yuzuki-chan! That's what you get!"

"No! Ah, let go! Meanie!"

The two of them were so close that neither of them cared, they laughed at everything.

Gumi finally released her after thanking her profusely for the gifts. Yuzuki could only laugh and wipe her face off. "Sorry, couldn't help it," Gumi cocked her head curiously. "So what's in that box?"

"Oh, it's part of your second present, which will be delivered here tomorrow!"

"What did you buy, an elephant?"

"The most exotic one in all of India!"

"You love to spoil me, don't you?"

"Maybe."

"Then why don't you spend the night here and watch scary movies?"

"Are you going to make dango?"

"And s'mores!"

"Yummy! Sweet dumplings! But what're 's'mores'?"

"If you stay, I'll show you."

"Aw, I wish! I'll stay next weekend, I promise!"

"You'd better!"

"I promise!"

"Good! So what's in the box?"

Yuzuki merely pinched her nose cheerfully. "You'll see!"

Gumi flinched and playfully brushed her arm.

"Where are you going? It's Saturday, don't you want to hang out with me? I'm stuck in this boring shop, Yuzuki-chaannn, you've gotta help me!"

"I really want to, but my mother will throw a fit if I'm out too long right now. It's already dusk. Just promise you'll call me after you open your other present, Gumi-chan!"

"Promise!"

"Alright, later then!"

"Bye-bye!"

With that, Yuzuki was out the door.

Gumi sighed again after setting her new baseball gifts in her room. Glancing out the window, the sun had been hidden for a few hours, and there weren't any customers all day. The cool night had settled in at last. "Guess I'll go to bed..."

Minutes after Gumi had fallen asleep, Gakupo returned. His long, dark purple locks sweeping over his back and strong shoulders. He placed his keys next to the cash register and loosened his neck-tie. There was a red lipstick smudge on his jaw and he reeked of perfume. But he himself was rather disturbed by going out with such an awful woman. Gakupo blamed himself for accepting in the first place, deciding to never call Lola back. With a sigh, he wiped the stain with his tie. He reached to the sign in the front window, flipping it around so it read "CLOSED." The man nodded with sleepy satisfaction to see that all of his "stock" was tidy. Gumi did well.

The moment he decided to pull out his hair band, he jumped. Three loud thumps on the door behind him came from a visitor.

"Delivery!"

"At this hour? Seriously? I didn't order anything..." he mumbled.

Gakupo casually opened the door to see a delivery man with a clipboard and another rolling in a tall, heavy wooden box.

"Evening, sir, we have a package for... Kamui Megumi-san?"

"She is sleeping, I am her guardian."

"Alright, sir, if you would please sign your name here and we will be on our way."

Gakupo stepped aside to sign his name whilst two other men carefully set the huge box inside. "Here."

"Thank you very much, sir. Goodnight!" The three men bowed respectfully to him and drove away.

"Goodnight... Strange." Shutting the door from the cool night air, the man seemed utterly puzzled. But he was far too tired to mind the strangely large, new object in his store at the moment. He'd just have Gumi deal with it. As usual. He only shrugged and set off to sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day.

Hello and thank you for reading! I'm really not one for author's notes... I haven't written anything in quite a while, so I hope this wasn't too awkward to read for you. I imagined the dialogue in Japanese first in my head, then translated as so. There's also elements of American and Japanese culture, sort of mixed, if you will. If you have any questions or any clarifications about anything, feel free to ask me. Vocaloids should arrive more and be "awake" around chapter three or so, and the rating should shoot up later on. Stay tuned!

This disclaimer is for the ENTIRE story. Repetition isn't that fun...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Vocaloid or any of its characters. Merely and obviously, this story and many elements are original.