Title:
Summary: Hatsune Miku is the epitome of the flawless girl. But life within the walls of her home is far from perfect. Struggling to collect the pieces of her broken family, music seems to be her only escape, connected to her dream of being a famous. When her older brother Mikuo starts coming back into her life, he carries a questionable attachment to Miku along with him and determination to make her dreams come true.
Rating: T-M
Warnings: Domestic violence, Incest(mild for now).
Characters/Pairings: Miku-centric, MikuxMikuo, hints of other pairings

A/N Okay, so first off, this is the first story of the second volume of SaVe [concept/summary in my profile]. Secondly, I'll probably get pretty excited with this, so if you like novels (ehehehe...) this is probably sort of close. Oh, and be wary of song references. They're vague, but there and significant (You can guess in the reviews, and I'll post it in the next chapter). My pace is usually 1 chapter/week just so you know.I try real hard to be consistent because that's what I want from others. I'll accept critiques or any piece of advice- anything you want to say. Okay, wow, this is a really long Author's Note. Enjoy the story.

I hastily opened my front door, eager to get inside and relax before my parents got home. Fiddling with the lock, I remembered Rin-san's comment from earlier, and giggled to myself. She's just so funny sometimes.

What I found when I opened the door was the farthest thing from amusing. But the even sadder thing was, it wasn't a surprise.
Broken beer and whiskey bottles lay, scattered through the hall. A few flasks containing a strong, I presume, alcohol of some sort rested on the couch.
I thought it was all good. I thought things were getting better. I remembered mom's comforting voice:

"Honey, we're fixing things. Home isn't dangerous, home is safe. It's all okay."
All is obviously not okay, when the house is saturated with the smell of booze, and littered with smashed glass.

With tears streaming down my face, I uneasily retrieved a broom from the cleaning closet and swept the floor in silence.

.-:-.

It was around 5:30 pm when I came home. I don't know why I felt the urge to return so early, I usually stayed out until 10 or 11, depending on how I felt. Miku was sweeping the floors when I got in. Before I could make any kind of remark, I saw her solemn expression and what she was cleaning up; my face fell to match hers.

I knew this would happen. It's the same cycle. They always said things were better, convinced us and even themselves for a while, until money got tight again, things got rough and dad had a bottle of scotch in his hand; you'd recognize the sounds of the fighting and their agitated voices from outside, where Miku and I would sometimes escape.

She looked up at me with puffy red eyes, slightly startled by my sudden entrance, before seeing my empathetic look. Her face started to scrunch up and small hiccups left her mouth.

"Miku..." I said, at a loss for words. She ran towards me and I embraced her. I hadn't shown this level of affection in a while, preferring to stay away from everyone when they would cart around plastic smiles and artificial happiness, and feeling as if I would ruin it with my presence. My rebellious nature didn't allow for me to play along with their little charade.

"M-Mi-ku-kuo-kun, I-I-" she stuttered, attempting to conjure a sentence through my dampened t-shirt.

"Sshhh. It's okay, Miku." I comforted her, gently rocking back and forth, almost maternally. I felt her shoulders jerk up and down from silent sobs. The fistful of my shirt she'd clawed onto tightened and twisted with each inhale.

As I rested my chin ontop of her head, I made a personal vow in my head.

Miku, I promise from now on, I'll be there to protect you, to comfort you, and always be there when you need me.

It was funny though; through my thin t shirt, I could have sworn I felt her smile.