"Nn..." Piko murmured quietly and opened his eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the new world around him. The first thing he saw was white; blinding white. He squinted a little, still trying to get used to it. He looked around the room- well, more like laboratory. He was lying down on a cot, surrounded by men and women in white coats, who seemed to be examining him. He ignored them as he expanded his view, but it only met a pale blue curtain that concealed him from the rest of the building. He could only see the people clad in white, as well as the walls behind him who seemed to match their clothing. There was almost no decoration in the room, just white. How bland, he thought. He then focused on himself. His bottom half was covered with a thin blanket, so he examined the clothes that were visible. They were white too, but the design that could be seen seemed to resemble that of a guitar. A guitar... he thought. He raised his left arm cautiously, looking at the people who crowded him, but they just continued analyzing him. He focused his attention back to his arm, which he noticed had a long, black arm-warmer on it. He flexed his fingers in awe, admiring the control he had over his body.
I am Utatane Piko, he told himself. I am the newest unit of the Vocaloid 2 program. As he pondered to himself as to why he knew this, a tall, important-looking man made his way through the white-clad scientists, quickly approaching Piko with slow, long strides. He pulled aside the curtain and suddenly spoke as he reached Piko's bedside, snapping him out of his trance. Heterochromic eyes darted to gaze at him as his deep voice echoed throughout the laboratory.
"Hello, Utatane Piko. Welcome to the world. Do you understand?"
He nodded lazily. "Yes."
"Good; it seems there are no glitches thus far. I am your Master, Piko. It is very nice to meet you." He smiled warmly and offered Piko his hand. Piko glanced at it for a second, then took it, sharing a welcoming handshake with his Master. He smiled as well as they both withdrew their hands.
"Now, can you sit up?" The Vocaloid did as he was told. "Very good. Now, get off of the bed and take a few steps." He obeyed his Master, pulling the blanket off of himself and walking around a bit, stumbling just a little. His Master seemed to be pleased, and this pleased the new Vocaloid. "Excellent!" His Master exclaimed. "I believe he is in perfect condition, but we still need to be sure. Now-"
"CAN WE SEE HIM YET~!" A sharp, feminine voice called from behind the curtain.
"Ssh, Master will tell us when he's ready, now calm down." A more mature, smooth voice sighed.
Piko glanced at where the voices were coming from. Who are they? ... Are they talking about me? He gazed questioningly at his Master, who did a slight facepalm and sighed. "Just ignore them for now," he said, as if reading Piko's mind. Piko shrugged, despite the fact that his curiousity was eating him alive.
The tests continued until he was deemed to be working perfectly. Finally, his Master shouted towards the curtain, "Alright guys, come on in, but be caref-"
He was suddenly cut off as several people came rushing in, and one knocked him to the ground. As soon as he recovered from the fall, he looked up into a head of blonde hair and a gigantic white bow. The owner was holding onto his waist with a death grip that rendered him breathless. He gasped for air as someone pulled the blonde off of him. "What are you doing, Rin? He just woke up!"
He chuckled nervously and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "It's fine, really-"
He was cut off as a high, feminine squeal sounded in the crowded room. "Wow, listen to his voice~! It's so smooth~!" He looked up to see a girl with long, turquoise pigtails that almost brushed the floor jumping up and down, her hands clamped together against her small chest. He also saw a blue-haired man with a scarf and trench coat behind her, trying to clam her down. He looked up at the person who had just glomped him and saw a young, pouting blonde girl with a sailor suit and white barrettes, being held by a tall, pink-haired woman with medieval-looking clothes. He looked up at a high-pitched, masculine voice similar to the blond girl's.
"Hi, I'm Kagamine Len. Need some help?" He outstretched his hand to Piko, which the new Vocaloid took gratefully. The voice belonged to what looked like the exact replica of the girl, just with a slightly different suit and his hair was tied up in a small ponytail. He felt a bit overwhelmed; there were so many people around him, he didn't think he'd ever remember them all.
He smiled at him and expressed his thanks once he was up. "Hello, Kagamine-san, I'm Utatane Piko. Nice to meet you."
"Just Len is fine. And it's nice to meet you, too." Len returned his smile, and Piko couldn't help but think that he was adorable. He pointed to the girl who'd just knocked him over, then the woman. "That's my brat of a twin sister, Rin. And the woman with her is Megurine Luka-san."
Piko faced the girls and bowed. "Hello, Kagamine-san, Megurine-san. I'm Utatane Piko. It's very nice to meet you both."
Luka smiled warmly. "It's nice to meet you, too. May I call you Piko?" He nodded his approval. "Good. No need to be so formal; just call me Luka, and her Rin-"
"PIKO-CHAAAAAAAN~! YOU'RE SO CUUUUTE~! I think you may even compete with my brother!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him in another hug. He blushed as he returned it and heard Len's protests. Luka giggled at his reaction.
"Rin-chan, don't hog him!" He turned his head as he spotted the turquoise-haired girl pouting at them. His blush deepened slightly at her comment. She marched over to them and fought with Rin over him. He soon managed to pull Rin off of him and introduced himself to the tealette.
"Hello, I'm Utatane Piko. It's nice to meet you-"
"KYAAAAA~! Listen to how polite he is!" She enveloped him in yet another hug, pressing his face to her chest. He continued to blush as he mumbled incomprehensibly against her. "I'm Hatsune Miku, but it'd make me super-happy if you called me Miku-chan~!"
"U-Um, okay, Miku-chan, but could you please let me go?" He tried to sound as nice as he could in order not to upset the girl. She pouted, but let him go anyway. He apologized, then was introduced to the other Vocaloids, including Iroha, Lily, Gumi, Meiko (who was apparently actually sober just for the occasion) Kiyoteru, Leon, Lola, Sonika, and the rest.
Suddenly, blue-haired, ice-cream-loving Kaito spoke to him, smiling in apology. "Sorry there are so many of us, but there is one more you have yet to meet."
Piko smiled, but in truth he was exhausted. "It's fine."
"Okay, Gakupo-kun!"
He turned his head to where he suddenly heard footsteps. His eyes widened at what he saw, but he tried to conceal it.
Walking towards him was the most beautiful man he had seen in his twenty minutes of life. He had long, purple hair, and most was tied up at the back except for two pieces at the front, which were tied at the bottom. He was dressed as a samurai, complete with a sword at his hip, chopsticks in his hair, and a fan in his hand. He had alluring ice-blue eyes, which gazed at him with interest. Piko thought he looked so cool, so handsome, so... attractive. He flushed as the purple-haired man approached him and smiled with closed eyes. He reached out his hand, for the last (but certainly not the least) handshake of Piko's day.
"I assume you are Utatane Piko? It's very nice to meet you. I'm Kamui Gakupo, but just call me Gakupo, okay?" Piko nodded as he shook hands with the older Vocaloid. Piko could tell he was strong from the firm handshake. Piko returned his smile with a face the colour of a cherry.
"Hmm... you're much cuter than I expected, maybe you should call me Gaku-nii, or just Onii-chan-" He was cut off by a sharp cracking noise, which turned out to be Luka smacking him square on the head. Piko continued to blush furiously as Luka snapped at him.
"Seriously, Gakupo? He just woke up today! You don't need to scare him off already, you freaking pervert!" She fumed. Gakupo just rubbed the back of his head and held up his free hand in a defensive position, chuckling.
"You know I was just kidding, Luka-sama," he smiled innocently at her. She walked away bristling, muttering something about him being "such an ass-kisser."
Piko giggled a little; half from the rest of the Vocaloids snickering, half from Gakupo calling him cute. He glanced at him quickly, only to find out that the older man was already staring at him. His blush went from "cherry" to "overripe tomato" as Gakupo winked slyly at him.
-x-X-x-
That had been months ago, and after that day, it didn't take Piko very long to get used to the rush of the life of a Vocaloid. After a little while, he felt like he'd lived there much longer than he had. He'd gotten well aquainted with the studio, and it didn't take long for him to record some originals. He'd even done duets with other Vocaloids, although most of the time, he sang with SF-A2 Miki. He didn't have anything against her, but she wasn't the one he wanted to sing with most. He'd only sung with him once; a song called Matryoshka. He liked the song, but it was just a song about going insane.
Speaking of Gakupo, Piko's crush on the man had increased twentyfold since the time he'd first met him. Every time Piko saw him, he had intense butterflies and his face went red immediately, as well as other strange feelings. He also couldn't get his mind off of him, and yearned for him like Miku yearned for leeks. All in all, Piko was head-over-heels in love with the man.
Suddenly, he heard his Master call him to the studio. Once he got there, he found exactly what he wanted to find; Gakupo standing next to Master, smiling and talking with the man.
A-Another duet with Gaku-nii? Piko was overjoyed.
"Hey, Piko-chan!" Gakupo smiled and gestured for him to come over. Piko sped to his side as fast as he could without looking like he was rushing.
Master smiled at them. "Well, it seems the yaoi-fan part of our fanbase has come up with a new pairing- GakuPiko." Piko shivered slightly in delight at hearing their names put together like that. Gakupo chuckled as Master went on. "It seems they are demanding another duet from you two; Magnet."
Piko's eyes widened. It was a heartfelt, passionate love song. And he was singing it with Gaku-nii. He'd already sung it before; once with Len, and once even with himself, since he was programmed with a feminine voice and a masculine voice. He knew Gakupo had sung it countless times before. He was excited and happy, but also very, very nervous. He was fidgeting with his fingers when Gakupo snapped him out of his train of thought.
"So, you wanna give it a go?"
Piko hesitated for a moment, then gave a nervous nod. "... Sure."
-x-X-x-
They sat side by side in front of the microphones, music about to start in their headsets. Gakupo could tell Piko was nervous by the way the boy was glancing at every inch of the room except for him, how red his face was, and how he played with his fingers while Master fiddled with the technical equipment. After a few moments, Gakupo got impatient and grabbed Piko's shoulder, at which the young Vocaloid almost jumped out of his skin.
"Calm down, Piko-chan. You've sung this before, haven't you? Or do you just hate singing with me that much?" He softly teased the boy.
Piko panicked. "N-No! It's not th-that, it's j-just..." he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"I'm kidding. Now loosen up, and just relax. It's just a song. After all, singing- that's what we're made for, right?" Piko nodded. "Good. N-"
"You guys ready?" Master's voice rumbled in both sets of headphones. Piko jumped, while Gakupo nodded. "Piko, I want you to sing in your lower voice so that the harmonies won't stick out too much, okay?" Piko nodded once again. Suddenly, the music started.
Piko, once again, panicked. Once the music of the piano started to play, the idea of the situation he was in hit him full-force. However, he forced the feelings down as he allowed himself to drown in his feelings for the man who sat beside him. He closed his eyes and thought only of the one he loved as he began the first verse of the song.
Kabosoi hi ga kokoro no hashi ni tomoru
Itsunomanika moe hirogaru netsujou
Watashi no chou fukisoku ni tobi mawari
Anata no te ni rinpun wo tsuketa
Both Master and Gakupo were taken aback by the amount of passion and emotion in his voice. Gakupo, however, was forced to hide his surprise as his part started, him and Piko perfectly in sync.
Karami au yubi hodoite
Kuchibiru kara shita he to
Yurusarenai koto naraba naosara moe agaru noThey both felt the raw passion and love in the room as they began the chorus, their voices melting together perfectly.
Dakiyosete hoshii tashikamete hoshii
Machigai nado nain da to omowasete
KISU wo shite nurikaete hoshii miwaku no toki ni yoishire
Oborete itai no
-x-X-x-
Piko took an inaudible deep breath as the sound of the piano signaled the end of the song. He opened his eyes, and hesitantly turned his head to look at Gakupo. Mismatched eyes were met with obviously surprised ones. He flushed and smiled awkwardly, almost as if in apology.
"Great job, guys! Especially you, Piko; what emotion!" Master gave a smile and a thumbs-up. Piko's face reddened even further at the compliment. He gave a small nod and an embarrassed smile. "Alrighty then; it doesn't seem we need to do a re-do, so go and return to- I don't know, eating eggplants and playing with stuffed kitty dolls, okay?" Both boys chuckled and got up from where they were sitting, walking side-by-side to the exit.
Once they were out of the studio, Gakupo suddenly pinned Piko to the nearest wall, putting his arm on the right side of the boy, right next to his face.
"G-Gakupo-san...?"
"That was pretty passionate back there, huh?"
Piko looked away and fidgeted with the folds of his clothes, flushed. "W-Well, um... Master said I was pretty advanced, s-so I guess th-that's- I-I mean! Well, n-not that I was,um, b-better than you or a-anything... um..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Gakupo suddenly chuckled, smiling with sly, seductive eyes at the boy. "You really are cute, you know that?" He cupped the boy's face with his free hand and brought it closer to him, leaning over to meet him.
And then their lips met.
Piko's eyes widened to epic proportions as he felt the older man's soft lips against his own in a chaste kiss. All too soon, they parted. Piko gazed up at the man with pleading, half-lidded eyes, at which the man gave in and leaned in again. He gave the other boy a few more small pecks before heating it up a bit. Piko's half-lidded eyes soon closed as Gakupo's hand took his chin and tilted it upwards, sliding his tongue across the seam of the younger boy's mouth and asking for entrance. Piko opened his mouth willingly, teeth clicking as the samurai's tongue darted in and slowly explored every inch of the boy's hot cavern. Piko hesitantly took a bit of initiative and timidly pressed his smaller tongue to the other Vocaloid's. They entwined and danced as their mouths parted for a few seconds, letting their tongues make love in the open air without the privacy of their lips. Their mouths connected for a few moments longer, then to both boy's disdain, they pulled away to get some air in their oxygen-deprived lungs.
Laboured panting soon filled the room, both boys flushed. Piko's head swam, rendering him unable to think straight. After he'd managed to gain a little breath, he dived in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around the samurai's neck and fluttering his eyes closed. The momentarily surprised older man wrapped his arms around Piko's waist and pulled him in closer. The kissing continued until they heard an audible gasp, then they both parted and whipped their heads to face the source.
"I knew it! I knew it!" Rin bounced up and down, a wide grin on her face. She then ran off, probably to tell the others, or possibly to gain a few dollars.
"Hmm. It seems we need to go somewhere more private." Gakupo chuckled. He then unwrapped his arms from around the boy's waist and picked him up bridal-style. Piko jumped at the sensation of being lifted up so suddenly and threw his arms around Gakupo's neck once more, hugging tightly. The samurai was soon on the move, and started making his way to his room. After a few moments, he stopped at a tugging at his neck. He looked down to find Piko's waiting lips, and pressed his own to them without hesitation. Once they parted, Gakupo resumed walking and Piko snuggled into the man's warmth.
"I love you, Gaku-nii."
The older man smiled down lovingly at his soon-to-be lover. "I love you too, Piko-chan."