On backstage was where she stood, glaring at the chimera from behind while members of the audience took too many pictures and asked for autographs or pictures like their lives depended on it. This was the first of many performances she would attend not to sing her heart out but to watch quietly backstage.

Now, Miku had publicity like this quite frequently; when she stepped into the human realm and her singing was heard, a swarm of fans would arrive quicker than a dog hearing their owner open a bag of chips. Sometimes it would be so bad, police would have to get involved just do she could take a step in any direction. But seeing Teto with similar attention. . .it doesn't feel right she thought. She couldn't figure out why she felt this way; after all, Teto is a fellow "loid" like her and performs frequently like she does. She was even featured in a few music videos and games with the other Vocaloids. So why did it bother Miku so much that she had a large following on her own? She soon began to feel "off" about Teto's other features, again with no explanation. But there was one feature that made her narrow her eyes and fidget harder than she already was: Teto's smile. A very gentle, warming smile that once you saw it, you would find yourself smiling too. Miku's right eye started to twitch as she watched Teto longer. But everything quickly reverted when the audience finally let Teto be and the chimera walked in her direction.

"Hey Miku. What'd you think?" Teto asked with the very smile Miku grew to suddenly hate for no apparent reason.

Miku cleared her throat and held her hands behind her back. She glanced at everything to her sides before focussing on Teto. "Umm. . .great. It was great!"

"Are you sure? You don't have to lie to me you know, I'm always striving to improve and don't mind constructive criticism."

"No no, it was great for real!" Miku nodded and held up her hands as if Teto was about to attack her and she had to calm her down. "Although. . .the holiday decorations are, uh, distracting a bit."

Teto eyed the stage's decorations; it was nice and all but the people in charge of them were still in the process of removing Halloween decorations and putting up the winter holiday ones. As a result, about half the stage had homemade winter holiday decor and a pinch of fake snow and the other half had "only scary if you see them in your peripheral vision the first couple of times" Halloween decor.

"Hmm. . .yeah. The humans are still shifting things from Halloween to Christmas. I think they'll be done the next time I perform here." Teto looked back at Miku. "Thanks for coming along by the way. I know your season doesn't start until later this month and not everyone likes the human world as much as I do. . ."

"It's fine, it's fine. You don't need to thank me. If anything, I appreciate the invite." Miku gave a small smile and nod.

Once there were few to none humans nearby, Miku pressed a concealed button on the speakers at her sides, causing a portal to open up beneath her feet. She crossed her arms as if she was going down a water slide and fell right in. Before it closed, Teto sprouted her wings and swooped in. She barely made it out, for if she had gone in only a second later, she might have lost some of her tail or foot from the portal shutting.

Miku watched as Teto dove right past her in this long, light blue tunnel with circuit patterns. She gasped and reached her hand out to Teto, slowing her down a bit "Teto, watch out!! There's a reason I got in FEET first!"

But it was too late. Teto was too far ahead of Miku to hear her and was heading towards the exit like a giant bullet. Miku went back to her original position and caught up with Teto in due time. She landed gracefully on her feet as the portal ejected her and disappeared as quickly as it appeared. When she landed, she saw Teto had faceplanted into the sidewalk not too far from where the portal once was. Fortunately she was a "loid" and loids were able to endure such injuries in their world; the human world was a completely different story.

Nevertheless, Miku checked up on Teto. "Teto!!" She crouched down and reached a hand to Teto's shoulder.

Teto lifted her head and shook off the damage. The worst that happened to her was her headset getting a little scratched. Considering it was rather old and she had to get it replaced before the end of her season anyways, this was nothing.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. . .wow, you have an interesting way of getting home."

"Interesting how? We all leave and come back the same way."

"Not necessarily." Teto circled Miku and spun around a bit. "Kaito uses a disc to get home that kinda goes through the same tunnel you go through. Rin and Len use mirrors and scan themselves back here. Oliver uses that bird of his to return here, though I still don't know how it works. . .and Piko constantly 'charges' himself so he can run faster than the speed of sound and show up here!"

Miku narrowed her eyes slightly. "How do you know all of that?"

"They've all shown me of course! Minus Oliver, who tried to show me but his bird refused to work its magic in front of anyone other than Oliver. I wonder if it's because I call it an 'it' rather than a 'their'. . ."

"James is a boy. He's sensitive about that for some reason. On top of that, he and Oliver are virtually inseparable so it's not surprising he won't show his 'technique' in front of you. Weird little bird he is but he makes Oliver happy."

". . .I guess you can say he's a bit peck-uliar?"

"I hate you right now."

Teto laughed and hovered beside Miku. "Come on, you know it was funny!"

As much as she hated to admit it, Teto was right; that pun was pretty funny. But Miku wouldn't outright tell her. Instead, she sighed and went back on track.

"Anyways. . .why did they show you? Did you go to their shows or something?"

Teto shook her head. "I stumbled upon most of them after their shows, we hung out, and next thing you know, they're offering me a way home!"

"Who didn't you see after their show?"

"Piko but that's because he doesn't really do shows. . .he's more of a small time performer and even then, the humans don't really seem all that excited for him, say for a few huge fans. He just wanted to wander in the human realm for a while and invited me along!"

"Poor Piko," Miku thought. She had known Piko for years and saw his popularity gradually decline, despite him being as good as the rest of them. He had a good heart but unfortunately, a good heart wasn't always enough to become famous or stay relevant.

"Plus, our first date was kiiiiiindaaa in the human world."

"DATE?!?! I-I thought he was Rin's boy or something, when did you guys start DATING"

"Umm. . .let me see. . ." Teto silently counted her fingers. ". . .six years."

"Six years?! SIX?!? SIX?!?!"

Teto nodded. "Soon to be seven! But anyways. . .I'm surprised you didn't know that they all come and go into the human realm in their own way."

Miku had to literally shake off the shock of hearing Teto and Piko's relationship. "We'll talk about that later. . ." She cleared her throat and straightened herself out. "When I'm with the others, I'm the one who takes us home. That being said. . .how do you get home, Teto?"

"I fly as fast and as swift as a Peregrine Falcon and use my sleeve panels to create a series of rings I fly through to get me home."

"A whaa. . .? Well, that explains why you were so quick to dive in like that. . ." Miku scratched the back of her head a bit.

Teto nodded and roosted on the roof of a nearby building. Said building wasn't too high and there weren't many loids nearby so Teto didn't have to yell. "Not everyone spawns where you do either. I obviously don't since I don't live here. . .but Piko always shows up somewhere new and Kaito always reappears on a disc similar to the one he uses, only much bigger and attached to a machine."

Miku slowly nodded. "Huh. I guess my way of coming home and going to the human world is interesting."

Teto nodded and looked out to the setting sun of Miku's home. "Well, I have to get going. I need to help the UTAUs set up for the holidays and I think Piko wanted to meet up with me in the ally around here. But before I go. . .do you want to come to my next show?"

Miku's random negative emotions about Teto began to swell inside her. She widened her and inhaled sharply. "U-um. . .sure! Yeah yeah, I'll totally go!"

Teto narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. "Are you sure? You don't have to go, I know you Vocaloids work very hard and need as much down time as you can get."

"No, it's fine, really! I just uhh. . .remembered that I have to help my friends set up decorations too!" Miku laughed nervously.

"Umm. . ." Teto looked around, only to see the city filled with holiday cheer in every corner; even the building she was on was wrapped with Christmas lights and had a giant wreath just above the entrance riddled with its own lights. "It looks like you guys already did that."

"Umm. . .uhh. . .buuuuuut we haven't done my house! Yeah, my house needs a kiss of holiday cheer!"

". . .I saw your house earlier today and it literally has a giant, VERY well lit tree on top of the roof with an equally as illuminated display of Santa Claus and his reindeer to the right of it. And in the backyard, you have the even MORE giant New Year pearl totem just waiting eagerly to be turned on and lit."

Miku began to sweat and fidgeted. "III uhhh. . ."

Teto flew off of the roof and landed in front of Miku. She placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think you should sit this one out. . .even though I'm the one who asked. Kinda funny how things change in just a couple of minutes, isn't it?"

"Umm. . .yeah. . ."

"I think all the stress from singing for the humans and making sure everything is ready for the winter holidays is starting to get to youyou. You look really anxious. . .like you're gonna explode! Go home and rest."

"No no, I'm fine really!" Miku straightened up. "I mean, maybe I'll go take a nap or something but otherwise, I'm as fine as the Sexiest Woman of the Year in the human world!"

Teto giggled. "Very funny, Miku. Alright, I'll take your word for it. But please don't push yourself or anything. I don't want you to regret coming to the human world like a few loids I know. . ."

Miku saluted Teto. "I'll be fine, Teto. I pinky promise." She held up her pinky. "You can't deny a pinky promise."

Teto wrapped her pinky around Miku's. "That's true. . .alright. I'll fly over when it's time to go."

Miku nodded and waved with her other hand.

Teto unwrapped her pinky and gave Miku a gentle smile. She then looked to the sky in silence before spreading her wings, stepping away from Miku, and taking off. She was initially wobbly in the air but stabilized the more she flew. When she could no longer see her flying towards the darker part of the sky, Miku made her way back home.

During her walk home, she let her unexplained rage seep out. She clenched her fists and muttered something negative between her teeth, though it was indecipherable. Then she began to question the situation again.

"Why do I feel this way about her? Why do I feel like ripping her vocal chords out and throwing them in the ocean? She didn't do anything wrong. . .right? I doubt someone like her, while very mischievous, wouldn't do something so bad, I somehow managed to forget and remember it at the same time. . .is that even possible?! UGH!! I just wish I could take that smile of hers and--"

"Hey Miku."

Miku jumped up and quickly silenced the voice in her head. She looked around, only to see a pair of seemingly glowing eyes--one green and one blue--staring at her in a relaxed fashion.

Piko.

"Oh, uh, hey Piko!" Miku said, waving frantically at the white haired boy.

"What has you so angry? I feel like I can hear your thoughts from here! Did someone dye your stockings pee-yellow again?" Piko asked with a chuckle.

Miku turned a bit red. "No! And that wasn't funny!"

Piko chuckled some more as he approached Miku. "Look on the bright side, at least it wasn't actual pee." He placed his hand on a wall next to Miku, right above her head. He looked down at her. "What's on your mind, leek girl?"

"It's a green onion. And it's about Teto. . ."

"Did she drop you while hauling you around in the air?"

"No."

"Threw a bread at your head?"

"No."

"Hmm. . .did that tail of hers come to life as a snake and bite you?"

"No. . .where'd you get THAT from?"

"It's been a rumor spreading around here lately. I know her tail is. . .well, a tail but I never saw it come to life like the way people have been saying it does."

"Right, right. . .speaking of which. . .YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DATING?!?"

"Umm, yeeaahhh? I thought you knew already? Literally everyone else knows about it! Unless. . ." Piko smirked.

"Unless what?" Miku narrowed her eyes.

"You," Piko put a finger on Miku's nose and closed in on her face. ". . .are jealous."

"Jealous? Really Piko?"

"Well, it would explain why you're so angry and unaware of my relationship with Teto. You know, I remember when I asked you on a date when I was still considered a shota. I remember the exact words you told teensy weensy, 'too cute to be taken seriously unless danger arises and all else fails' me." Piko cleared his throat and adjusted his blue bow tie. With his best Miku impression, he said, "Oh Piko, you sweet little white bean. You're not old enough for me. 'I'm 16.' You and I could never be an item, you're just tooooooooo cute to be anymore than a reaaaaally good friend. Hehehehee!!"

"I do not sound like that!"

Piko dropped the impression. "Then you gave me a kiss on the forehead and a hug and left me be. In front of EVERYONE. And now. . .look at me now. I finally look 'adult' enough to you, don't I? And now, you're going after the tail you friendzoned so long ago. Well guess what, girlfriend?!" He put his hands on his hips and held up a finger as if he were the sassiest boy Miku was ever gonna meet in a long time. He moved his head from side to side as he spoke. "You're too late! HMPH!" He did an over dramatic twirl and whipped his tail up so high, it looked like he was throwing a streamer.

Miku's jaw dropped. She stared at Piko in silence, confused and furious. She didn't know if she wanted to strike him and then explain or spare him from a foot to bells just for the holidays; she went for the former and punched him in the arm.

"You knucklehead! I'm FAR from jealous about your relationship with her! Me and Kaito have been doing pretty solid for the past couple of months. So HMPH on that!"

Piko rubbed his arm. "Are you surree? I won't laugh or tease ya or any--"

"YES."

"Alright, alright. But what has you as angry as Neru without her phone? Especially towards Teto of all loids."

"Well. . ." Miku took a deep breath and began to fidget again. "The thing is, I'm not really sure why. She wanted someone to go to the human world with her for her performance so I tagged along since I had nothing better to do at the time. But when she finished and I saw her audience go up to her and her reaction. . .I don't know. Something just burst in me and I can't figure out why or what it is."

"Hmm. . .that does seem odd. You have far more fans and have better stage maintenance than she does. Not to mention how your place looks compared to hers. There's nothing to be jealous about!"

"I know, I know!" Miku held her head. "But I can't shake the feeling off. She didn't do anything wrong and here I am being some kind of prick about it. What should I do?"

"Maybe you're just tired and thus more irritable. Your previous season only ended like what, a week or two ago? You need to stay out of the human world awhile and clear your head."

"But here's the thing. . .I kinda told Teto I would go with her tomorrow. . .and I pinky swore that I'd be fine."

"I'm sure she'll understand if you cancel, even if you did the 'oh so sacred' pinky promise. I'll even tell her for you if you want."

"No, I'm not canceling. I'm fine, really. . .I know me better than anyone else ya know."

"Yeah but sometimes you blind yourself to the reality of things." Piko sighed. "Well, if you aren't going to cancel, I guess I'll have to go with you guys. Just to make sure you don't lose your head or try to tear off Teto's."

Miku crossed her arms. "I don't think Teto would want you coming along on the closest thing to girls' trip we've done in who knows how long."

"Ever."

Miku rolled her eyes. "Whatever. My point still stands."

"Well, as many of the ladies have said, I'm the most 'lady like' of all the men. And maybe even more than a few girls. If I had implants and my voice remained the same as it was before my much needed transformation--"

"You got taller, a tiny bit more muscle, and your balls dropped. That's it."

". . .as I was saying, I could definitely blend in a girl and no one would know the difference. Therefore, I'm completely qualified for this 'girls trip' and can go no problem. And besides, me tagging along is for a good cause."

"Hmph. Fine. But when she says no, I'm gonna say 'I told you so' as many times as I can tomorrow AND the day after."

"Fair enough." Piko backed away from the wall and pulled out a pocket watch. "I gotta get going. Teto's house is pretty far from here."

". . .you still use one of those?" Miku pointed at the pocket watch.

Piko nodded. "I considered in investing in one of those watches that track your movement and encourage you to exercise but then I remembered the whole reason I don't have a wristwatch is because someone stole it. It wasn't even a fancy one! Humans these days. . .anyways, see ya tomorrow." Piko playfully rubbed Miku's head and began walking.

Miku fixed her hair and watched Piko until he was out of her line of sight. She continued her path back home and her rage for Teto had yet to cease. Not even the sight of the jolliest man sitting on a sleigh on her roof was enough to make her grin in the slightest way possible, nor were the reindeer or inflatable snowman bobbing happily from side to side with the breeze. She slammed the door so hard upon entering, snow from the roof fell down and the holiday display shook. Thankfully, nothing toppled over.

That night was fairly quiet for Miku, at least in terms of outside interactions. No one called, e-mailed, or texted her, which is surprising since someone is always texting her at this time. And she wasn't in the mood to strike a conversation. The most sound she ever made was random profanity and barbaric yells.

"FUCK!! SHIT!! DAMN!! AARRGGHHH!!!!"

After a few of those, she watched some television with a cup of tea so hot, she could barely see through the steam. She drank it without letting it cool; the loids had feelings and could experience physical pain but one thing they were immune to were extreme temperatures. After all, their performances required them to be able to sing in all kinds of clothing in all sorts of temperatures in the human world; this was why Miku could sing holiday classics in a sexy Santa costume when there was snow or why Kaito could strut around in his signature blue scarf and only that scarf in the same conditions. That being said, the tea didn't do much, if anything, to her.

Finally, she stomped upstairs, ate a melatonin gummy, and plopped onto her bed. Her anger didn't subside until the melatonin started kicking in and even then, it subsided very slowly.

"Damn. . .hrrumph. . .always smiling and. . .hmph." She began to crawl under her blanket in hopes the extra sense of security would not only make her fall asleep faster but make her calm down faster as well.

It took a while of staring at her digital clock to start questioning her unreasonable behavior again. She began to come up with all kinds of theories; maybe she didn't like Teto's hair anymore. Maybe she didn't like her breath, which always smelled like French bread. Maybe she realized she doesn't like the color red anymore and having to deal with someone who was born with red on her was beginning to irk her. Maybe. . .

Suddenly Miku remembered something Kaai Yuki and Haruka Nana had told her a long while ago.

A Long While Ago

Miku was stuck watching two of the youngest loids around while their caretakers were running errands. Fortunately, these two were quite independent and only really needed Miku to go out at night. Kaai Yuki was reading a book and writing her own story while Haruka Nana was making tea for everyone.

It was pretty quiet between all of them so Yuki decided to break the silence when a random but very interesting conversation starter.

"Have you ever considered a UTAU uprising?"

Miku lifted her head stared at Yuki with widened eyes.

"You do realize that I'm a UTAU, right?" Nana asked as she started placing cups on the table.

"Yeah. Therefore, the question applies to you more than anything at the moment. Would you start or join a rebellion against the Vocaloids?"

"Of course not! What about you? Would you join such a cruel fight just because others were joining or commence it just for the sake of starting a fight or making sure the humans focus on Vocaloids and Vocaloids only?"

"Nope!" Yuki shifted her attention to Miku. "That just leaves you, Hastune. Would you lead the war that could wipe out all of us?"

"No no! Not even in a dream! What brought this on anyways?"

"Well in my book, there's this war that started because the two 'Alpha species' of the story's world feel they can't live together. Which ever species survives this war. . .well, keeps going for generations to come while the other species gradually gets forgotten or their existence becomes nothing for than a myth or legend for future generations. And looking at the UTAUs. . .no offense Nana, but some of'em are crazy."

Nana sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately. If such a war were to happen, I imagine Tei would be the one to start it."

Miku and Yuki inhaled sharply; hearing about Tei Sukone sent shivers down their spines, for that UTAU in particular hated all Vocaloids, minus one. And she wasn't afraid to kill to get what she wanted, even if the person she needed to kill was as young as Yuki. To make matter worse, Miku was the Vocaloid she wanted dead the most.

"Yeah. . .but umm. . ." Miku cleared her throat and swallowed hard. "You don't think she'd. . .actually get everyone on her side, r-right?"

Nana shook her head. "Of course not. But she'd definitely have a following. She's not the only one who despises Vocaloids and even then, she can be persuasive and give those who could care less a reason to fight. Honestly. . .I can see her somehow getting Teto on board."

"The chimera?! She wouldn't. . .maybe not. . .mmm. . .nah, I can totally see her fighting alongside Tei." Yuki put a sugar cube in her tea and took a sip out of it. "Mmmm, good job on this one."

Miku looked down and began to think about how the UTAU uprising could go. If Teto was on board, a majority of the UTAUs would follow no question, she represented them after all. She began to think so loudly to herself, it's surprising no one picked up on it. "Teto. Teto. . ."

Teto.

Present Day

. . .a UTAU uprising was on the horizon. Well, that was Miku's theory anyways. It explained her sudden hatred perfectly! What if she was picking up on Teto's urge to rise against the Vocaloids and wipe them out like that one book Kaai Yuki was talking about? That would mean her body was preparing her for war long before anyone knew it was coming. Good job body! Miku thought.

With a seemingly reasonable explanation to put her at ease, Miku drifted off to sleep. Her dreams were both good and bad: Good because Miku's anger was finally justified but bad because the war was a brutal sight.

To make matters worse: Teto was winning.