Luka stuttered too much.
She knew that, of course. After all, no one at school let her forget it. All the stammered 'um's and 'uh's that she couldn't control, the hesitation of her words, the way they came out all mixed and jumbled up all together...her classmates would always make fun of her for that. She was weird, to them. She had her head stuck in too many books, she had her eyes gazing too much at the sky.
The teacher would call on her in class, and Luka would often be stuck in some sort of reverie. Usually the teacher had to call on her again, sometimes as many as two more times before Luka re-emerged back into the humdrum reality of class.
Around her, her classmates would snicker. 'Toeto', they called her, and the moniker stuck.
It was no wonder that Luka had no friends, and in the unforgiving city of Crypton, her parents were too preoccupied with their jobs to pay much mind to her either.
So at night, after school, Luka would go to her family's apartment, alone. Go up the elevator, alone, and unlock the door and head in, alone. She would do her homework at the kitchen table, and eat whatever was left in the fridge for dinner. Her mom, mindful of her late working hours, always endeavored to cook up a large stock of food in the morning that Luka would dole out in small portions to herself for dinner.
Afterwards, Luka would go back to the living room, and look out the window at the stars. Somehow, despite the light pollution of the city, Luka could still make out a few of them, twinkling in the night sky from a billion miles away. There was one in particular that to Luka's eyes was prettier and brighter than the others, a faraway blue one. She would always fix her eyes on that one in particular, and, because Luka was a lonely child, and had no one else to talk to, she would speak to it.
Whenever she talked to the stars, she didn't stutter. After all, the stars wouldn't judge her. They were far, far away, and they always twinkled so brightly and kindly that it felt like she could tell them absolutely anything.
It was foolish, Luka knew, but in the absence of a friend, and parents at home, what else could she do? Who else would listen?
-xxx-
It was a cold spring night, and Luka was on the balcony of the apartment, finger stuck between the pages of her book. She had been reading some old fantasy book that she had found in the dusty corner of her father's bookcase. It was an interesting enough tale about dragons and knights – enough to keep Luka preoccupied for a few hours, but only for a few before she felt the urge to talk to the stars again.
It had been a particularly bad day at school – the teacher had called on her, and even though Luka knew the answer, she had such a hard time saying it that her classmates gave in to their usual jeering with even more violence than usual. The teacher had tried to calm them down, but the class was rowdy and hardly listened. It was only after several agonizing minutes when they quieted enough for Luka to give out the answer in her trembling stutter, and afterwards, when she sat down, she could hear the snickers of her classmates all around her.
It was almost enough to make her cry, but she was twelve now. She wasn't a baby anymore, and years of isolation had served Luka well enough. She knew that no one would come to her aid if she cried. It was only an attractor for more bullying.
"Good evening, Ms. Star…" For some reason, Luka always began her addresses to the stars with such formality. Growing up in a cold household probably served to make her a little colder than normal as well. She had her eyes fixed on the far-off, twinkling blue star, as usual. "How was your day?"
Utter silence answered her, but it had only been what she expected. The wind blew around her, a little stronger than normal, and Luka brushed a few errant strands away from her face before speaking again. "Mine was…okay." She sighed, sinking her chin onto her hand. "How is it over there, in space?"
"Oh, it's super great!"
Luka gave a start, nearly falling off the balcony. Her eyes widened, and blinking, she squinted up at the sky again. Nothing seemed to have changed. She looked to her left, seeing only emptiness, and then looked to her right.
At the sight, she stumbled backwards, holding her book half-protectively up to her chest like a shield. There, on the top of the ledge of the balcony, stood a girl, grinning, with long teal hair that hung down to past her waist, done in twin tails. She was dressed strangely too, as though she was from the future, a sleeveless button-down and multicolored lights that glittered on black sleeves that came up from her elbows, and extended down past her fingers.
"Wh-what the…" Luka stuttered. "Wh-who are you?"
The girl laughed, easy and carefree. "Who am I? I'm a friend, of course!"
"A…a friend?" Luka said, dumbfounded. She never had a friend, but the warm way the girl said it made Luka feel a tight clench in her chest.
The girl smiled then, and stepped lightly off the balcony. Luka's eyes widened – they were up on the twentieth floor – and she quickly rushed over, only to see the girl waving at her from way down below, completely unharmed.
"Come down!" the girl said, her voice carrying clearly in the cool spring air even though she was twenty stories down.
This has to be a dream, Luka thought, numbly, and instantly felt reassured. Of course. This could only be nothing else. She had fallen asleep, surely, while reading the book. She was likely on the couch, snoozing away. In reality, there was no way this crazy series of events – a girl popping up on her balcony out of nowhere, jumping down twenty stories only to land completely unharmed, and Luka being able to hear her so clearly even though she was so far – could happen.
"Do I…come down from here?" asked Luka, pointing at the balcony.
"Sure," said the girl. "Don't worry! I'll catch you."
Luka eyed the drop from her apartment. It looked pretty far. Even though this was a dream, Luka wasn't quite sure about trusting this random girl who popped out from nowhere.
"Ahh, I thought you might be a bit scared," said the girl. "Hang on, I'll show you something cool."
Luka saw the girl put out her hands, palms out – from so far up, Luka could barely make out the action – and a silvery mist emerged from her palms, a mist that rapidly coalesced into a fluffy-looking cloud that slowly drifted up to Luka's balcony like an elevator before stopping.
Yup. There was no way this was anything other than a dream. That in mind, Luka stepped onto the cloud, feeling the soft give under her feet. It was comfy and cool to the touch, and supported Luka's weight easily. Luka hesitantly lowered her weight and sat down, and the cloud conformed to her shape, lightly carrying her all the way down to the ground, where the girl waited, hands on her hips, grinning widely.
"Whaddya think? Pretty cool, huh?" she said.
"Yeah," said Luka, nodding. It was pretty cool. "I've never…ridden on a cloud before."
The girl only smiled at her before turning around, and it was then Luka realized that she was a little taller than her. "Yeah? You should try it more. It's definitely my favorite way of getting around. So…" the girl whirled around again, clapping her hands together, "what's there to do around here? I've never been here before!"
"Hmmm," said Luka, casting her eyes around. She lived in a more residential area of the city, and the blocks around her were quiet and still, with nary a soul walking the street. However, Luka was lucky enough to live next to a park. "Well, there's a park across the street. It has a lake, and flowers, and a zoo…oh, but the zoo's probably closed this time…"
"Eh, closed, schmosed," said the girl, waving her hand. "Sounds fun! Show me the way?"
Luka acquiesced, walking across the street to get to the park. She climbed over the short fence to get in. Once there, the girl's eyes widened in pure delight, as though she's never seen a park before. She crouched down and examined the grass, putting her hands palm-down.
"Wow," said the girl. "This is really cool."
"There's no…grass, where you're from?"
"Hm…well, nothing like this," the girl said, somewhat distractedly as she picked at the grass. "We have flowers though! But," she flattened herself on the grass, fixing her eyes on a small daisy, "they're a little bigger than the ones here."
"There're big flowers here, too," said Luka. "I read about them. There're really big ones in the rainforests."
"Oh?" said the girl, smiling. "We should go sometime." She said it so casually, as though two kids could just pack up and fly to the rainforest. Although, this girl could conjure clouds out of nowhere, so Luka supposed anything was possible.
Then, it occurred to her that she didn't know how old the girl was. "Ah…by the way, how old are you?"
"Me? I'm fourteen!"
"Oh! You're older than me…"
"Really?" the girl brightened up. "Wow! I'm not usually older than someone. How old are you?"
"Er…I'm only twelve," said Luka, awkwardly looking down. Usually, in her experience, older kids didn't often play with younger kids. Especially not teenagers. "Is that…is that okay?"
"Huh?" the girl blinked her teal eyes in confusion. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"W-well…u-um, you're…you're older," said Luka, hating how she was stuttering all over again. She had been doing so well, too. "At my school, the older kids just play with the older kids."
"Hey, hey," said the girl, laughing. "That doesn't matter to me. I think you're plenty fun. Hey, lemme show you something cool," she clambered up to her feet, eyes bright and excited. "I'm not all that good at this yet, but…" the girl squeezed her eyes shut, putting her hands outwards.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then, to Luka's astonishment, flowers and vines, all bright and glowing in blues and purples, started sprouting around her, growing out from between blades of grass. The vines clung to whatever trees were available, sneaking upward with ferocious speed as bright blossoms appeared from its tendrils, and colorful, large mushrooms popped up close by, shedding luminescent light onto the trees.
"Wow," Luka breathed, eyes wide as she took in the sight. The humdrum park she spent some of her time in had, in the span of a few moments, become completely transformed into some beautiful, alien landscape. "What is…"
The girl put her hands down, and when she grinned, it seemed like it took a little more effort than usual. "Whew…that really took a lot out of me." She plopped down on the grass, and Luka noticed with slight alarm the eyebags that had appeared beneath the girl's eyes. "I guess I shoulda practiced that more, back home. Anyways…" she swept her hand out at the landscape, "this is what it looks like where I'm from. Lots of these flowers, and these vines, and these mushrooms."
"It's really cool," Luka said, eyes wide. She reached a hand out to a flower, before quickly drawing it back. "Can I…"
"Of course," said the girl, sending her a tired smile. "You can pick as many as you want."
Luka nodded, and started gathering as many of the flowers as she could. They were delicate, the stems like gossamer under Luka's clumsy fingers. The first few Luka touched crumbled under her fingers like ash, the luminescent petals flying away with the wind, but soon Luka managed to get a sense for how she could pick them without damaging them, and soon enough she had a large collection of flowers in her arms. She ran over to the girl, who had not moved from where she left her.
"I got a bunch," she told the girl excitedly. "Here!" She pushed the makeshift bouquet into the girl's hands.
The girl, blinking, took it. "Huh?"
"It's a…a bunch of flowers," said Luka. "As a thank you. Because…they're pretty."
"Oh," said the girl, and she smiled. "That's really nice. Thank you. I wish I coulda put in even more, but," the girl grinned sheepishly and looked down, "I'm not really good at that kind of stuff yet. There's all sorts of cool stuff where I'm from, but…I guess I can't show you yet."
"How do you do it?" asked Luka, crouching down.
"Well, it's kinda complicated—"
"Is it magic?" Luka interrupted. She couldn't think of any other way something like this could be done.
To her surprise, the girl laughed. "Magic! Well, I guess it is a kind of magic. Anyways…" the girl got up to her feet, hands on her hips and looking around, "I'm glad you liked all this. Do you like flowers?"
Flowers? Well, Luka supposed they were nice enough, but she never thought about them particularly much. "They're pretty."
"Yeah," said the girl, looking content as she gazed out at her handiwork. "I like them a lot. There's all sorts of different types too. Some of them are real dangerous, but others are just pretty, like these."
Luka nodded in agreement, looking out at the transformed park. It was peaceful; all the soft lights gave the park a blue glow, and there were even specks of green flickering around the mushrooms. It was then when she realized that she didn't know the girl's name. "Ah…I…I'm sorry, I forgot to ask, um…" she turned towards her, "what's your name?"
"Oh!" the girl laughed. "Sorry, I completely forgot, huh. I'm Miku, Hatsune Miku."
"Hatsune Miku…" Luka repeated the words to herself, remembering them. "I-it's really nice to meet you." She looked down at her feet, feeling a faint blush in her cheeks. For some reason, it felt like she could tell Miku anything, so she quietly confessed, "I've never really…had any friends before."
"Yeah?" Miku gave her a sunny smile. "I don't know why. You're awesome."
Luka felt her chest tighten at that, and she looked down again. For some reason, she felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes. "Th-thank you. I think…I think you're awesome too."
"Aw," said Miku, sounding rather amused. "Well, thank you to you too. Anyways…" she turned her head up to stare at the sky, "I should go soon."
"N-now?" Luka said, eyes wide. "Already?"
"Hmm…yeah," said Miku, giving her a rueful smile. "I can't stay for too long."
"But…but you'll come back, right?" said Luka, feeling a surge of panic in her chest. "I'll see you again?"
For the first time, Miku's smile dropped, and she looked away, to the side. The action sent Luka into a frenzy of worry. For her to make her first friend, and for her to leave so soon…even if this was a dream, Luka had to make Miku stay somehow. "I…if you come back, we can play together again. You still need to tell me all about where you're from, and I still need to tell you all about what it's like here too…and my mom will make food for both of us, when she's around…" Even those words felt paltry and unconvincing to Luka herself, and she trailed off, at loss.
Even she couldn't think of any reasons for someone to hang out with her, and the realization brought a wave of heaviness to her body. Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes and fell, and Luka sniffled and looked down at the ground, not wanting to show Miku her weakness. She hadn't cried in so long that for her to break down in front of her new friend…it was humiliating, and Luka's cheeks burned even as the tears fell from her eyes.
"I wish I could tell you if I can," said Miku softly. "But I don't know if I can make it back here again."
Luka rubbed her eyes. "But…but…I really want to see you again."
"Well…hey," said Miku, "let's make a promise, okay?"
Ready to promise anything, Luka nodded and looked up.
Miku looked a little blurry through her tears. "Let's promise that…we'll take care of each other, alright?"
Luka didn't see much of a point in promising it, if Miku was just going to disappear out of her life forever, but at the same time, it seemed to her like making Miku promise that would help her stay longer, so Luka swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Y-yeah. I promise. I'll take care of you."
"Great," said Miku, with another sunny smile, holding out her hand. "Let's pinky promise?"
Luka nodded, and extended her hand to Miku's, sealing the agreement with her pinky as her mind tried to root around for something, anything, to make Miku come back.
Then, she hit upon it.
"Miku…you have to come back," said Luka, the words tumbling out of her mouth. "You need to get better at…at all the magic stuff you did, so you can show me more of the cool stuff from where you're from. You said you would, earlier. And…and I'll get all sorts of cool things from here, so I can show you too. It can be like…like…" she groped for the words her teacher had used, "a…a cultural exchange!"
Miku froze, her smile fixed on her lips, before it dropped. But it was only for a moment, for quick as a flash she had another one back on. "We should get you back to your place," was all she said, and she held out her hand, squeezed her eyes shut, and concentrated. The wisps of air gathered again, and soon a cloud appeared. Luka hesitated, but Miku guided her up to the cloud, settling her on the softness.
Like before, the cloud glided up to the twentieth floor balcony, Luka and Miku in tow. Miku hopped off first, feet landing lightly on the ledge, before she helped Luka off. She looked even more tired now, as though conjuring the cloud had taken up almost all of her energy, and Luka swallowed.
"I'm sorry," she said, uselessly. "We could've used the elevator."
Miku smiled. "Hey, hey, don't be sorry. I know what I can do, don't worry. But," she sighed, "I do need to go now."
Luka opened her mouth to say something, but all of a sudden, she felt an unassailable sleepiness enter her mind. She wanted to say more to Miku, say more to make her stay, but her eyes were drooping, and Miku was fading.
All Luka could muster was a mumbled, "Promise," but she trailed off before it could become a thought, or even a question.
Still, before her eyes closed fully, she saw Miku nod. Luka felt all the strength leave her legs, felt a steady unconsciousness cover her like a cloak. She felt like she was falling, but it was only for a moment and—
And Luka opened her eyes. It was morning. She stretched and got up. It felt as though she had a dream, a strange and wonderful dream, but what it was, she couldn't remember. There was a strange, desperate clawing in her, and Luka tried desperately to capture what it was, but it slipped through the grasp of her mind, and was gone, leaving nothing behind.
"Ah…" Luka mumbled to herself, her mind still in the haze of the dream. "I guess…I should get ready for school."
A\N: Well, here I am again with a new story. This one is based off of two old-school songs - Light Song and Last Night, Good Night, both by kz/livetune. Hope you all enjoy!
