Chapter 1: Always Invisible

Process of Creation: 100%

The boy slowly awakened to see himself surrounded by blue liquid. He could faintly make out a group of figures in front of him wearing white, but his vision was too blurry to make out faces. He felt himself lower until his feet touched metal, which then he assumed that he was in a canister. A moment later, the liquid started to decrease until none remained. A door opened in front of him, and the moment he took a step forward he collapsed to his knees. He felt a blanket wrap around his shoulders and he looked up, blue and green heterochromic eyes filled with confusion as a man placed a hand ontop of his head, and spoke only his name.

"Utatane Piko."

The silverette opened his eyes to glance at the dark ceiling, his mind tracing back to the day he was born, and then a few hours later, when he was introduced to the rest of the Vocaloid Family, when everyone was so happy and welcoming, but that all changed when the sales charts were shown to them. Their attitudes changed the moment they saw those charts, and saw that the heterochromic male wasn't doing so hot. The previous Vocaloids had started to doubt that he will sell succeedingly and will never have an update in his software. Even the company who created him has given up on him.

He turned onto his side, nuzzling his head into the pillow. If he could recall, many Vocaloids that he knew have been updated to more recent software or is getting to that point: Miku had been receiving updates from the very beginning, and she was scheduled to be a part of V4 software as well, the Kagamines just recently had a V4 demo and are confirmed to have an English voicebank. Even a more recent V3 Vocaloid, like Rana, is scheduled to have an update. All of the V1 and V2 English Vocaloids have all retired; as for Piko, he was the only Vocaloid without an update, and that was due to him being invisible to others.

The teen sat up, pulling the curtain back from the window, leaning against the edge to gaze at the faint sunrise. His eyelids lowered halfway and he sighed. It was no use thinking about which Vocaloids would be updated this early. Perhaps later on, he would talk with Sony about an upgrade for him. He crawled to the foot of the bed to turn on the TV, squinting his eyes a bit when he was blinded by a bright screen. He blinked a few times to adjust, only to see a report about Miku's upcoming concert with the Kagamines, Luka, Kaito, and Meiko that was in a few weeks. Following that report was a small interview with the fairy Vocaloids, Merli and Aoki Lapis, and finally, a sneak peek at Dex and Daina's new demo. Piko felt jealous towards other Vocaloids, since they all have updates and new songs and are involved in all sorts of the media. Meanwhile here he is with very few songs, no concert debuts, and has only a little fanart compared to the other Vocaloids.

He flipped the channel to VLN(Vocaloid Network), to see fans debating over their favorite male Vocaloid. Most of them were fighting over Len and Kaito, while others were fighting over Kiyoteru and Gakupo. The silverette felt left out; three of those males used to be for the V2 engine, but were soon updated to V4, while Kaito(who was originally a commerical failure) used to be for the V1 engine and was updated to V3.

The topic changed from favorite males to new Vocaloids. A few people stated how Sachiko sounded like a female Gakupo, and were dumfounded when they found out that Cyber Diva was a part of the VY series. As time went by, dozens of debates were heard that Piko found uninteresting and went back to laying on his side, glancing out of the scarlet sky.

The door to his bedroom opened and a man stepped inside. "I see you're already awake," He stated, glancing over at the TV and seeing the fans gawk over their favorite female. "Don't even think about it. You will never meet people's expectations no matter how hard you try." Those words hurt Piko and he brought his knees against his chest, biting his bottom lip. "Now then, Megumi will be here shortly so I advise you get ready." The man closed the door behind him, leaving the silverette alone. He slowly sat up, turning off the TV before heading to his closet, grabbing a black hoodie and shorts before exiting the room and to the indoor bathhouse. On his way, he felt passerbys glaring at him with those uneasy eyes. Piko kept his head lowered. It was like this every day; ever since the sales charts were revealed, everyone at the company's attitudes started to change. The silverette thought that it was probably because he's Sony's first and only Vocaloid. That explains why there hasn't been a new Sony Vocaloid in the last few years. Everyone in the company had thought they had failed with creating a commercially succeeding Vocaloid, and so they treated Piko like he was nothing more than a failure.

He entered the bathhouse, throwing all of his clothes into a small basket and placing them in a small cupboard, before slowly unbuttoning his pajama shirt. The men in the room gave him glances. "Piko, why are you in here? Shouldn't you be in the girl's bathhouse?" Piko ignored him as his shirt slid from his shoulders and onto the floor. The company also seems to forget that Piko is a male and not a female.

The men grabbed their clothes and left the silverette alone. He closed his eyes before stepping in the water, slouching down until his shoulders remained above the surface. His ahoge lowered slightly as he pulled his knees closer, letting out a silent sigh. He still wonders why Sony still keeps him around if they've given up on him. It was probably because he's their only Vocaloid. Over the past few years, the company had been creating new Vocaloids, but they never do so well due to the company's bad reputation. Since they don't do so well, Sony decides to sell them to local wealthy men to get by for money. Three Vocaloids that Sony created didn't last very long, for they killed themselves because they didn't want to be seen as failures to their company. Now Piko was the only one, who still seems like a toy to most people.

Piko shifted his legs a bit, lifting his head, opening his mouth to sing.

Yozakura mai mitoreta saka michi
Ima demo kimi wa oboete ii masuka
Zutto boku wa ano hi wo wasurenai
Hajimete waratta kimi wo

He sang to himself quietly, one of his first original songs that he kept dear to him. As he sang, a tear ran down his cheek, knowing full well that he could never meet expectations with Sony, knowing that he'll never be as popular as other Vocaloids, especially the Big 8, knowing that he will never get an update, and knowing that he'll forever be invisible in the Vocaloid community.

(A/N:) Hey guys I'm back with another Vocaloid fic. This fic is mainly going to be about Piko(as you could see with this chapter), and It's based off of how Piko isn't a very well-known Vocaloid as well as being as one of the less popular. Whenever I think about Piko, this fic just comes to mind, and since I'm a Piko fan I couldn't resist this(I'm surprised I wrote this in a matter of two days). Anyway I hope you enjoy what this story has to offer.