Stop Calling Me SF-A2!
"Hey, SF-A2, can you help me for a minute?"
"SF-A2, it's time for dinner!"
"Wake up, SF-A2! Come on, it's almost noon!"
"Hiya, SF-A2. What're you up to today?"
"SF-A2, I–"
"Cut it out!" yelled SF-A2. Everyone in the room looked up from their activities to stare at her in shock. SF-A2 had jumped out of her seat between Neru and Gakupo on the couch. Her hands were clenched into fists, pressed hard against her sides. Her whole body was tight with tension, her eyes blazing and her face bright red in frustration. Silence greeted her words as the Vocaloids stared at her.
"S-sorry," murmured Yuki, who had been talking to the enraged Vocaloid a moment ago. The black-haired little girl's eyes filled with tears as she dashed off. The Vocaloids watched her go before turning back to glare at SF-A2. However, SF-A2 was so enraged that she couldn't be bothered to feel guilty for shouting at the little girl for no legitimate reason. Everyone continued to glare at the older girl, expectation in their gazes. When SF-A2 made no move to say anything, one of them finally spoke up.
"Well?" questioned Lily, crossing her arms over her chest in irritation. "Are you going to apologize or what?"
SF-A2 wasn't in the mood to be scolded. She cast a deadly glare at Lily and stormed out of the room, leaving all the remaining Vocaloids in stunned silence.
"What's wrong with her?" Meiko finally ventured. Everyone looked at each other for assistance, but no one knew the answer.
"Maybe one of us should go talk to her?" pondered Haku.
All the Vocaloids nodded in agreement. Another moment passed where they sat there in silence. Then, Kaito said, "And who should that be?"
All the Yellowoids exchanged a glance and shouted, "Not me!" simultaneously. Many of the Vocaloids followed their lead, until the only one left was Kiyoteru, who hadn't been fast enough to catch on. Everyone stared at him expectantly, and, finally, with a sigh, he made his way out of the room to the long bare hallway containing doors to each Vocaloid, Utau, and Fanmades' bedroom. He made his way to SF-A2's bedroom and hesitantly knocked on the door.
"Go away!" came a shout, muffled by the door. Kiyoteru flinched. He gazed back down the hallway, where Ring and Cul stood, waiting for him to enter the room as they blocked his escape root. He sighed and tried the door. It was locked. So, he knocked again. "I said, go away!"
"SF-A2, I just want to talk to you," tried Kiyoteru.
"Stop calling me that!"
Kiyoteru froze, confused. He wasn't supposed to call her her name? Then what was he supposed to call her? Calling her "you" all the time just seemed kind of rude, and Kiyoteru was naturally quite polite.
He was still frozen when the door opened and SF-A2 grabbed him by the collar. She tugged him into the room, sending him crashing to the ground as she released him to slam the door shut and lock it again. She turned and glared down at him, seeming quite menacing when she was so high above him.
"What do you want?" she hissed, too crabby to attempt politeness. She was in an extremely bad mood, and had not wished to be followed. Then again, she probably would have been more annoyed had she not been followed. After all, that would prove that they didn't care about her. Still, she wanted to be alone right now, so she wanted to get rid of Kiyoteru as fast as possible.
However, Kiyoteru was being an idiot and just staring at her in silence, a little bit of fear flitting about in his gaze. She sighed in irritation and sat down on her bed. Kiyoteru got up and sat beside her. He didn't say anything, and the silence was killing SF-A2, as he'd known it would, so she ended up speaking.
"I hate my name," she said. She waiting for Kiyoteru to speak, but the irritating man said nothing in response. She glared at him for being uncooperative and continued. "It's not fair. Everyone else has nice names, and mine's just a jumble of letters and numbers. Oh, and a hyphen. Let's not forget the hyphen." She let out a bitter laugh.
"VY1 and VY2 are just a jumble of letters and numbers," offered Kiyoteru.
"But no one actually calls them that," complained SF-A2. "They all call them Mizki and Yuuma. Like Gackpoid and Megpoid and Gachapoid. Everyone calls them Gakupo and Gumi and Gacha. What about me? Why am I SF-A2?"
Kiyoteru blinked, processing her words for a moment before speaking. "Well, Gakupo chose his name, Gacha's, and Gumi's, then Yuki and Gacha were too young at the point and had issues saying VY1 and VY2 so they gave them nicknames. If you wanted a nickname, you could have just given yourself one."
"Naming yourself is so hard, though," sighed SF-A2. She stared at her hands, which were placed delicately on her knees. "I mean, I want a cute name, but it would seem vain if I gave myself a cute name with adorable kanji."
"Well then, why don't we pick a name for you?"
SF-A2 looked up in shock at Kiyoteru, astonished to see that he was completely serious. "Really?" she wondered.
Kiyoteru nodded. "Sure, why not? Give us a few hours and we'll have a name for you."
Miki smiled brightly and nodded eagerly. Finally, she'd have a real name! She wondered what it would be. It'd better be cute. Kiyoteru, satisfied, left to go discuss with the other Vocaloids.
. . .
"Josephine!" argued Rin. "It's a charming name, smart and sophisticated!"
"I don't think SF-A2 wants to share a name with your dream horse," snapped Miku.
"Why not? She should be honoured that I'd let her borrow the name!"
"Borrow? You make it sound like you'd take it back."
"Well of course I would! I can't have her sharing a name with my horse. As soon as the real Josephine appears, they can battle it out to see who gets the name. My horse will win, obviously."
"Okay, Josephine is out," said Kiyoteru.
"Kiyo-Kiyo, you're so mean!" exclaimed Rin. Miku laughed and smirked. Rin glared at her.
"I think Aisu is a charming name," announced Kaito.
"No," stated the surrounding Vocaloids. Kaito pouted and went to sulk in a corner.
"Then she shall be the Mistress of Venomania!" announced Gakupo.
"Mention that again and die," growled Luka as she, Miku, Meiko, and Gumi loomed over him, daggers glinting in their shadowy eyes. Gakupo let out a squeak and hid behind Sonika, who shoved him away, back into the clutches of the angered women.
"How about Ichigo?" suggested Iroha.
"Please, if she's going to be named after a fruit, it should at least be Sakuranbou, the kanji for cherry," argued Piko.
"I think Haine would be a pretty name," suggested Lui.
"Then I guess you haven't met Lin and Ren yet," said Prima.
"How about Tsuki or Yue?" wondered Neru.
Lola shook her head. "Nah, she needs a brighter, cuter name."
"She can be Tote!" shouted Teto. "It's Teto backward! She and Teto will be the new Rin and Len!"
"No!" exclaimed Len. Rin was too busy arguing with Miku to notice.
"Anyway, we're the new Rin and Len," said Ring, slinging an arm around Lui's shoulder.
"No, you're not!" denied Len, looking hopelessly to the distracted Rin for backup.
"Miki," came a soft voice.
Everyone stopped to look at Yuki, who had just entered the room. She'd been hiding since SF-A2 had yelled at her earlier. She looked a little nervous under all their gazes. Her nervousness intensified as everyone stared at her for a moment. Then, they turned to the people sitting nearest to them and murmured amongst themselves for a little before deciding unanimously that this was, indeed, the perfect name.
. . .
At dinner that night, when all the Vocaloids, Utaus, and Fanmades were gathered for dinner, Len got everyone to turn their attention to Yuki. Yuki felt a burst of stage-fright as all gazes turned to her. It took her a moment to speak, and her voice was so quite that Iroha had to use her amplifiers so that everyone could hear her. As Yuki stared at her plate, she mumbled, "SF-A2 isn't happy with her name, so we've decided to call her Miki from now on. It's spelled in romaji and represents her adoration for her idol, Miku."
Everyone turned to SF-A2, waiting for approval. SF-A2's bangs had fallen in front of her face, making her expression unreadable. Her chair squeaked against the floor as she pushed herself up from the table. She walked over to Yuki and put a hand on each of the smaller girl's shoulders. Then, SF-A2 hugged the girl and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Yuki," she murmured into the girl's ear. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier."
The Vocaloids exchanged satisfied looks before turning to their meals. Chatter continued at the table, and SF-A2 drank in all words spoken to her.
"Miki, can you pass the salt?"
"Miki, can you break my chopsticks for me? I always screw it up."
"It's your turn to clean up after dinner, Miki."
"Hey, Miki, do you wanna play Project Diva with me after dinner?"
Miki smiled at everyone at the table, until finally her smile landed on Yuki. She exchanged a bright smile with the younger girl and listened as her name echoed around her. From now on, she'd be known as Miki. And she owed it all to Yuki.
. . .
Bonus scene
"So, Lui, you haven't met the Haines yet?" questioned Len after dinner.
"Nope," said Lui.
"Well then, let's go," said Rin. She and Len each took one of Lui's hands and led him down the hall of rooms. Finally, they landed on a set of side-by-side doors. Rin and Len knocked on the doors, and both open simultaneously as Lin and Ren Haine exited. Lui stared in shock, wondering if he was seeing clearly.
"What's up?" asked Lin.
"We're just introducing Lui to all our Fanmades," said Len. "He tried to nickname Miki Haine."
Ren frowned. "Well then."
Lui couldn't be bothered by this. Instead, he exclaimed in wide-eyed astonishment, "How many of you are there?"
"Have you met the Kagenes yet?" wondered Rin. Lui shook his head. "Then off we go! Bye, Haines!"
"Bye, Kagamines!" called Lin and Ren.
As they next pair of doors opened, Rui and Rei Kagene exited. Lui, over the initial shock, was startled when Rui attacked him with a massive hug. Then, Rei pulled her off and shouted, "Don't touch Rui!"
"I didn't do anything, she attacked me!" cried Lui.
Rui's eyes flickered with defensiveness for Rei, along with something a little more deadly. "Are you calling my brother a liar?"
"Okay, onto the next one!" announced Rin, dragging Lui away before he could see the knife glittering in Rui's hand.
"I don't ever want Fanmades," complained Lui as another door opened.
Author's note: I wrote this on a drive home after watching six plays in three days, so it's not the best considering I was dealing with car-sickness. I got the idea while being completely confused by one of the plays. Even though it has nothing to do with the play I was watching . . . . So, anyway, hope you liked it! Please review!