The first chapter of a new fic. See the end for more notes!

She'd woken at sunrise, breathing in the air tinged with the pink promise of the new day, but it didn't do any good. Gumi was hopelessly stuck.

It was disappointing; she had been really hoping to at least have a rough idea of the plot to tell Gakupo when he came to visit. But even now, sitting in the grass in her backyard, trying to draw inspiration from the warming air around her, the plot fell flat. And it was all the fault of that wicked princess.

She sensed that was where the problem lay. All of the other characters were dynamic, interesting. But the princess was two-dimensional, a selfish girl who took the throne too young and abused her power. She attacked countries without thought, took money from the commoners, and even forced her brother into servitude. The entire plot hinged on her death, but why would anyone care about the death of someone so evil?

That was it. No one cared about the death of the princess. It wasn't a suitable ending. But if …

Yes.

Gumi bent over her journal and wrote for hours. The sun climbed higher in the sky, but she didn't even notice it. She was lost in the kingdom of Lucifenia, taking note on what she saw there, watching in relief as the princess developed, become someone worth caring about. And her brother, no longer forced into servitude by his own sister, became a stronger character in his own right. She could see where this story had to go, now. A story of wickedness would not interest anyone. But a story of redemption ...?

And it wasn't in death that the princess would be redeemed. That was where she had been wrong, all along.

By the time she had finally written out all that she had wanted to say, her hand was cramped and the sun was high in the sky. Still, she felt happy, spent. The story would be able to continue, and she was sure Gakupo would be proud of her.

Of course, she had plans before he came over. Checking her phone for the time, she saw it was almost time to go. She walked into the house and left a note for her parents saying where she'd be. Although this was where she went every Saturday, they had a tendency to forget.

That done, she headed for the park.

Gakupo believed in sleeping in. He had hung blankets over the windows of his room for this exact purpose when the blinds in his dorm room proved too flimsy to keep out afternoon sunlight. Unfortunately, whoever was calling him apparently did not hold the same belief system.

Grumbling under his breath, he reached out for his phone, the only light on in the pitch black room. He sat up, suppressing the urge to yawn. He didn't even look at the caller ID to see who it was. He had a sneaking suspicion that he already knew.

"Hello?"

"You're not still sleeping, are you?" Suspicions confirmed. Now he was fighting the urge to groan.

"Hey, mom. I was in the other room, sorry." He tried not to move – Mrs. Kamui had almost superhuman ears, and would probably be able to hear the sound of his sheets ruffling from miles away without the help of a phone.

He heard the contempt at the other end of the line and figured he hadn't fooled her for a second. "Your sister called me at seven-thirty this morning. She only had reception for a few minutes, but she says the hike's going well."

"Great." Gakupo didn't know why she bothered comparing him to Gakuko. He couldn't have been further from his smart, determined sister.

"You're all packed, aren't you? Remember you're staying with your aunt and uncle over break."

Gakupo surveyed the clothes and textbooks strewn about his room, although they were little more than shadowed masses at this point. "Of course I remember." He couldn't quite keep the annoyance out of his voice. He was looking forward to seeing Gumi and her parents, but that didn't mean he wanted to be lectured about it.

"Well." Gakupo bit the inside of his cheek. His mother sounded like she had just witnessed a particularly ill-tempered dog tear up another person's living room. "I know how you are, Gakupo. I just wanted to make sure."

"Yup. And now you're sure." Gakupo finally stood, flicking on the light to reveal the dorm room in all its messy glory. "Have a good day, mom. Tell dad I say hi."

"Just be sure to –"

"Uh-huh. If Gakuko gets reception again, tell her I say hey." He hung up before his mother could say anything else.

At least he was staying with the Megpoids over the summer. Mrs. Megpoid would be a welcome vacation from his mother.

Miku was in front of the mirror when her mother walked in. It was part of their routine, really. In fact, her mother almost always came in when she was fixing her hair – they both seemed to work on a schedule, Miku thought. She didn't turn from the mirror, but addressed her mother cheerfully.

"Hey, mama!"

Miku kept an eye on her mother in the reflection of her bedroom. Mrs. Hatsune didn't move from the doorframe. "Are you going somewhere?"

Miku kept her voice cheerful – this was part of the routine, too. "Of course! It's Saturday, after all."

"Oh, yes. You're meeting your friends, aren't you?" Mrs. Hatsune's cheerful tone wasn't quite as natural as her daughter's. Miku thought she looked like she had tasted something bad.

But she was used to ignoring these things – she didn't want to argue and disrespect her mother. She pretended to be too focused on tying ribbons around her pigtails to notice her expression. "Mhm! The same park as always, mama, you know where it is."

"And you'll be careful."

Miku rolled her eyes before she could stop herself – it was sassing back, but her mom was being especially difficult. "Yes, mama." Giving her hair a final pat, she sat on her bed to pull on stockings. "I always am."

"And who is going to be there, exactly?" Miku couldn't put up with her mother's fake sweet tone anymore. Why did she always have to take issue with Miku's friends? She loved them, and she wanted her mom to love them, too.

"Mama –"

"Don't take that tone with me, young lady." Mrs. Hatsune dropped the false sweet tone instantly. "I asked you a question."

Miku gave a heavy sigh. "The same people as always, mama: Gumi, Meiko, Luka, Kaito, Rin and Len." She stood and walked over to her mother, taking her hands and looking into her eyes. "May I go now?"

Mrs. Hatsune shook her head. "You never used to take this tone with me. I have to wonder if those people aren't a bad influence on you."

Miku felt her stomach turn. She wanted her mother to approve, but that was something she wouldn't get. What Mrs. Hatsune really wanted was for her to stay in, Miku knew that. She felt guilty, but she also wanted to go see her friends. So instead of arguing further or giving up, she simply kissed her mother on the cheek. "I love you, mama."

"I love you too, dear." She followed Miku until she walked out the front door.

The sunlight hit her, bright as a convict's first day free. Miku rushed next door and knocked.

Len didn't realize how late it was getting until there was a knock on the door. He paused his game and went to the door quickly, not surprised to see Miku at the door. "Hey, dude! Around that time, huh?"

"Yep!" Miku's grin always demanded an answering one. "And you're still in your pajamas!"

He looked down, feeling a bit exposed in just a baggy tee-shirt and fuzzy, banana-print pants. He knew Miku didn't care, but he always felt so exposed without wearing what Rin jokingly called his "armor" underneath his clothes. With his shirt so baggy, it didn't really make a difference, but he still found himself crossing his arms over his chest to hide curves that were pretty much invisible.

Miku poked his cheek, sensing his discomfort. "Don't feel bad! This isn't the first time you've answered the door in your pajamas." Miku wasn't always the quickest to catch onto things, he knew, but they had known each other since they were little kids, so they had gotten pretty good at reading each other.

He kept his arms crossed over his chest, but he tried to make a joke out of it. "Well, how am I supposed to feel, with you dressed so nice?" It was true – Miku's wardrobe seemed to be comprised almost entirely of floral print dresses and lacy things.

"You should feel like a handsome man, because that's what you are." Another poke, this time at his nose. Len knew that this was a very deliberate move on Miku's part, and it was really almost uncomfortably obvious what she was trying to do, but he appreciated it nonetheless.

She was always complimenting people like that – Kaito was convinced that she was flirting with him when he first met her until Len explained. He remembered being very glad that Rin wasn't in the room when he talked about it; she was very protective of Miku.

As if reading his thoughts, Miku glanced around the living room. "Where's Rin?"

"Uh … Sleeping, probably." Rin usually slept in. Len had woken up about an hour ago to eat breakfast and play video games, and she had still been sprawled across the bunk above him, head buried under her pillow.

Miku giggled. "I'm not surprised. Should I wait for you guys?"

"If you do that, you'll be late for sure." The Kagamine twins weren't really known for getting ready quickly. It was a running joke in the group. "I'll see you at the park, alright?"

"Okay!" Miku gave a cheerful wave and hopped off the porch. Smiling, Len went to wake Rin.

Hey, everyone! So here's the first chapter of Going Viral. It's really just Part 1 of introducing all of the characters – part two is coming in a few days! This fic will focus on all of the characters, their home lives and their interactions with each other, as they start on a project that will be revealed soon! I have some ideas for ships, but it's still a little up in the air, so I'm going to wait until the characters are developed a bit more before I decide :) If you guys find yourselves liking a certain pairing as the work goes on, be sure to let me know in a review!

Also, as you may have gotten from this chapter (and it will be even more obvious in later chapters), Len is a transgender guy in this fic. I'd like to make it clear now that I will not tolerate any sort of transphobia in the reviews. That is all I have to say on the matter.

The next chapter is written and should be published within a couple of days, so be sure to keep an eye out! In addition, I have the first chapter of an upcoming horror fic, called Rotting Camellias, written, and it's currently going through the revision process! Be sure to keep an eye out for that, as well.

Please review! I look forward to seeing what you have to say :) Until next time!

- Jillian Maria