A/N: Trigger warnings for the first chapter only: Physically falling from a high place, a very brief mention of torture devices without any description inside of a horror-themed amusement park ride. I apologize for the brief childhood, but I did not want to make the prologue into two chapters because it has little to do with the story at hand besides background. A few pieces of childhood and adolescence that I have removed will most likely be featured as flashbacks in later chapters or in an 'extras' section at the story's conclusion as seen fit. Also, please r&r, your input ( including criticism ) is always welcome, and I aspire to become a better author, so I learn from what you have to say.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid


7 years of age: September

Slamming the car door, two tiny feet hit the asphalt as the small girl carried herself inside the house of her friends. Her father walked in front of her, opening the door to her friends' house and letting her in, saying something about how there would be a lot of new people around. Miku looked around the room with wide, teal eyes, taking everything in before following her father through a large doorway and going to sit on a couch. After a few minutes of listening to various party conversations, Miku spun around in her seat and leaned on the frame of a window, peering at the sidewalk outside of the small house with curiosity. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then, a red blur suddenly came to a crashing stop.

Surprised out of her daydreaming, Miku saw a young girl tangled up in a bike on the sidewalk. She leapt to her feet and grabbed some paper towels, instantly assigning herself the role of the medic. She opened the door of the house and left, approaching the other little girl with the odd pink hair.

" Hey!" she called out, approaching the crashed child, " Do you need help?"

" No." came a small voice, " I'm... perfectly fine!" it declared defiantly.

" Are you sure?" asked Miku. The other child struggled with the bike for a minute. She pulled in various directions, attempting to disentangle herself from the object, but to no avail. Miku tried to help but was put off by a wave of a captured hand from the other child, who was still intent on accomplishing things herself. After a moment's pause, the child realized the problem and simply removed her various limbs from where they were tangled by pushing the bike in the proper direction and removing them one at a time. She stood up and brushed herself off, picking up the bike and walking it over to the side of the house, followed closely by Miku.

" Didn't you wear a helmet?" asked Miku. She simply received a brief shaking of the head, waved off by the other child.

" No," responded the other girl, " never really see the point in it."

" It's to protect your head," Miku explained incredulously, "so if you crash like that it won't split open or something." she made sound effects with her mouth, talking with her hands.

" Eew, that's gross. I'm usually okay, and I have to stop my bike every time I ride it anyway." the other child commented offhandedly. Miku cocked her head to the side, wondering if she had heard her correctly.

" Do you always stop your bike by crashing to the ground like that?" she asked confusedly.

" Yeah, of course I do." responded the child, "why, do you do it differently?"

" Well..." Miku began, " I don't actually ride bikes, but I think adults do it by slowing it down first and then setting a foot down."

" Slowing down? That usually just makes me fall off anyway. I prefer my way." said the child, shrugging it off. " Are you coming to the party too?" she asked.

" Yeah, my friends Rin and Len live here, n' my dad and I usually come here a lot." Miku explained.

" That's great then you'll be my friend. I don't know anybody here yet, so it's nice to know you. I'm Luka, by the way. What's your name?" She extended a hand.

" I'm Miku." responded Miku, shaking the hand but recoiling almost immediately at the surprise contact of saliva. She looked at her hand in dismay and then back up to an equally confused Luka.

" Did you spit on it?" asked Miku after a short time, scrunching her nose up. " Oh yeah. It's like a thing that means we're friends or something." responded Luka, already letting herself inside of the house. Miku followed closely behind, taking her paper towels with her. She set them back where she had found them and led Luka to the room with the couch. In the small flat, there was a kitchen behind an island which could easily be seen from a small yet lush living room. Miku's parent noticed her and waved, standing next to a woman with hair similar to that of her new self-proclaimed best friend. Luka waved ecstatically to the woman and then turned to Miku. " If your mom was already here, why did you bike up?" asked Miku.

" Oh that's not my mom that's my aunt." said Luka, " I do live with her though. And I actually forgot to feed the fish so I biked up to do that since I was going to be at this party for long and then biked back, she didn't know I was gone if it went as planned. Hopefully your friend's family didn't notice their bike was missing either." She dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. " So Miku" said Luka, " Do you want to go on a daring adventure with me? Only the best of the best can come out of it alive, but between you and me, I think you've got what it takes."

Miku nodded excitedly, sitting up on the couch so that she was on all fours and watching Luka to see which game she was suggesting. Luka came really close to Miku and whispered into her ear.

" See that dragon?" she whispered, pointing to the tall dog that was patiently sitting by a refrigerator in the kitchen. Miku caught on and nodded.

" Well there's only a few things that can stop it from attacking the prince and princess, and they don't know they're in trouble. We're the secret spies that have to keep them safe." Luka explained, voice a whisper. " They're scattered about outside, but there are mean elves and sprites that'll make us do things to get them. Still think you're up for it?"

Miku nodded. She stood up and led Luka outside to a fairly sized backyard had a large oak tree. Protruding from the oak tree were branches that were significantly far from the ground, leading up to a high one from which a rope swing hung.s The branches were increasing in height, and close enough together so that someone could jump from one to the next. Luka motioned for Miku to come, and asked for her to help her up. After that, she struggled up onto the tree branch and reached down to help Miku get onto the branch. fearlessly leapt from branch to branch to reach the swing, and then as opposed to sitting on the swing's branch, she continued to climb.

Finally reaching the highest branch before the tree swing, Miku stood and watched as the other little girl ascended.

" That's not very safe Luka!" she called.

" No," came a voice, " But I have to save the heirs to the royal throne!"

After a moment's thought, Miku slowly began to climb the tree, thinking that if Luka could do it, it had to be safe. She climbed until the branches got very thin, arms growing weak, and then stopped on a branch that she saw Luka standing on. Luka motioned for her to approach, epic quest momentarily forgotten.

" Isn't it cool?" she asked, pointing at how high they were from the ground.

" Yeah." responded Miku, noting how tiny the backyard appeared. She heard a sickening crack and instinctively backed up to the base of the tree. Luka had ventured out to the end of the branch and suddenly changed her mind as she heard the crack, running back towards Miku. The branch gave way at the middle, and Miku leapt and reached out, catching Luka's hand. The weight of the falling girl would have pulled her off of the tree as well if she hadn't been wedged between two branches. Instead, her arms just hurt tremendously. Regardless, she did not have the strength to pull Luka up by herself. Luka knew this, and stepped in a knot in the tree, letting go of Miku's arm with one hand and grabbing onto a lower branch with the other. She then let go entirely and climbed onto that branch. Miku hadn't realized that she was crying, but they both were. Eventually they climbed down, and stayed on the couch for the remainder of the evening, only venturing away when it was time to eat. When Rin and Len made an appearance, Miku made a polite but tired introduction to a somber Luka, and they sensed something wrong and ran off to play elsewhere.

7 years of age: October

" Miku! Hey, Miku!" Miku turned her head to see Luka waving at her and running, followed closely by her aunt. The teal-haired girl approached her ecstatic friend, and she and her father joined them on the walk down to the amusement park. Luka was bouncing excitedly, and so Miku joined her. Both children hopped until Miku's father ordered her to calm down, slowing them both to a walk. A third adult, this one younger than either guardian, approached them with a smile. Miku's father and Luka's aunt shook hands with the woman and introduced her to the children as their babysitter. The woman pet a smiling Miku on her scruffy teal-haired head, but Luka gave the woman one look that told her precisely what would happen to her if she tried to touch her.

The babysitter took a smiling Miku and an annoyed-looking Luka through all of the rides for children their age, which had been made into fake haunted houses and other 'scary' attractions for the occasion of Halloween. After grabbing lunch, the babysitter took them into the restrooms and had them wait for her just outside. Luka sat next to Miku on the bench, kicking her feet back and forth before she got bored. Extending an arm, she poked her neighboring friend. Miku turned her head to regard Luka.

" What?" she asked.

" The kids' rides here are boring." said Luka, " If we go real fast, I think we can get on one of the adult ones and back before she gets out of the restroom."

" Luka!" exclaimed Miku, looking appalled.

" What?" responded Luka.

" That's mean and we could get in a lot of trouble!" Miku reasoned.

" Exactly." said Luka, " That's how people grow up. We do things without adults that make adults angry. But this time, we might not get caught too, so it's even better!" she concluded.

" Why do we want to grow up?" asked Miku.

" Because then we can do more fun stuff that adults might not agree with." explained Luka. And so it was that they found themselves running to a horror ride. Luka motioned for Miku to follow, and there was a fortunate lack of people waiting in line. It was a tunnel ride that had been repurposed into a horror ride for Halloween, and both aspects had been unappealing to various people. There were no attendants around to help anyone get into the boats, and so it was remarkably unsafe, which added to the horror of the situation.

Luka and Miku got into the run-down boat and watched as it automatically moved forward into the tunnel. At first, the decorations surrounding them consisted of hearts and romantic things, to which both children dramatically grimaced. Then, things started to get frightening. First, the hearts and romantic decorations became increasingly broken down, unpainted and shabby looking. Miku leaned forward, intrigued, but Luka pulled her backwards onto the seat and secured both of their seat belts entirely, displaying uncharacteristic signs of concern. Then, a man's voice came over an intercom.

" Hello to all of the riders on: The Tunnel of Horror, there has been a mishap in the wiring of-" static interrupted the speaker momentarily, " So please, if you see any-" static played again, " make certain to avoid it or them at all costs, we are trying to sort this out. If the ride begins to move on its own," static completely covered the message, and it dulled to a stop. The romantic lighting dimmed further so that only shafts of sunlight peeping through the ceiling lit the musty room. That was when they heard a click, and their seats slowly began to move backwards. Luka clutched Miku's arm for reassurance and Miku looked on, afraid but curious. She could logically remember that since the people before them had gone into the same room for about two minutes before they were allowed entry, that this happened to everyone and was probably part of the ride. Just as she was about to convey this thought to Luka, the ride flew backwards on a different path than they had started on.

Luka let out a yelp, grabbing onto Miku for dear life as the two of them shot backwards down a dark tunnel. The cart slowed down, it was pitch blackness.

" Miku?" asked a tiny voice.

" Yes, Luka?" responded Miku.

" I just wanted to know you were still here."

" Luka, this is just the ride. The man on the radio was probably an actor, or someone who works here." Miku tried to reassure her shaking friend. She felt Luka nod against her arm, but received no verbal response. It was then that she heard the growling of either a prop or an actor. Dim lights filtered on around them, and they could see what looked like multiple torture devices. Luka tried to raise her head, but Miku, knowing better, gently pushed it back down with the palm of her hand.

" It's just more props to try to scare you." she explained, removing her hand. Luka nodded, and did not raise her head. Miku, still frightened by the graphically depicted torture weapons, lowered her head as well and squeezed her eyes shut. They sat like that until the ride slowly began to creak to life, when Miku raised her head slightly and cracked open and eye. Immediately wishing that she had not taken a glance, Miku quickly returned her head to its original position and shut her eyes, feeling the ride begin to take up speed. It shot to life and there was a chase, which the two young children got through with closed eyes and lowered heads, clinging to one another for dear life. Miku peeked around when the ride finally ended and pulled a trembling Luka to her feet. They sat on a bench for a minute and calmed down, before Miku remembered the abandoned babysitter and convinced Luka to find her again. The ride had felt long, but in actuality only lasted about five minutes, and they managed to find a terrified babysitter not far from the restrooms, asking an assistant whether or not she had seen the kids.

Miku: 7, Luka: 8, January

Stumbling into Luka's house, Miku carried a sizable heap of presents for her friend. She crashed into a wall before Luka's aunt hurriedly came to take some of the presents from her and set them in the kitchen. Luka ran in to meet her friend and they both went up to her room, Miku taking one of her presents with her without her parent's knowledge.

" You'll get a whole present more than I do though," Miku was fake whining, " because I met you a month after my birthday."

" Ah, but y'see, I thought of that." said Luka, crawling to her bed and pulling something out from under it.

" I wasn't actually sad!" exclaimed Miku.

" I know, I know." responded Luka, retrieving a small package, " Still, I got you something because I thought you'd like it." She exchanged presents with Miku and they were both really happy with what they received.

" Well." said Miku, turning her nose upwards, " I'll have you know this means war." When met with a confused stare from Luka, Miku responded, " I can't properly let you give me something on your birthday without then giving you something even better on my birthday." It was through that interaction that Miku and Luka began exchanging gifts on one another's birthdays. After a while, Luka and Miku were called downstairs to greet other partygoers. With a roll of her eyes, Luka took Miku downstairs and introduced her to Gakupo and Gumi, children that had just moved in across the street. Miku met them cheerily and took to them right away. Luka agreed to play with them, but after a while, she gathered Gumi and Miku to plot against Gakupo, and a play-fight broke out. Miku decided that she liked Gakupo even though he was a bit scary looking at first, and played with everyone really well, but Luka appeared to have her doubts about the older boy.

Once Gakupo and Gumi left, Miku fell to her knees and dramatically begged her father for a sleepover as Luka did the same with her aunt. Both guardians were more than happy to comply and Miku's father playfully scolded her before heading home. Luka's aunt responsibly put both of them to bed before ten, but everyone knew that they would not be staying there for incredibly long. The second that they heard the older woman's footsteps turn around a corner, Luka was wide awake and with a plan.

" Alright." she said to Miku, who rolled off of the bed to follow Luka to a closet. The closet was filled with more blankets than Miku thought it possible to possess.

" I've been getting them from around the house for all of this month." Luka explained, pulling a few of them out. Behind them, multiple books were stacked. " I'm planning on making a blanket fort that goes across all of this floor. Can you start building in the kitchen, and I can start building in my room, and we'll meet in the middle?" Luka half-asked half-declared. Miku nodded. They both waited until they heard the final light click off, and then carted half of the blankets to the kitchen, where Miku began to work. Over the course of an hour, the two girls silently built their fort. Miku finished slightly earlier than Luka, who had to find more blankets because she hadn't enough to cover as much area as she had thought.

Sitting in the middle of the blanket fort, Luka got a lantern and placed it upon a throw pillow, while Miku observed, wondering what it was that she was doing.

" Miku." said Luka, speaking in a deep voice with the hood of her hoodie pulled over her head.

" Yes?" Miku giggled quietly, trying not to wake Luka's aunt.

" If you choose to accept it, I dub thee, my best friend." she said in the same deep voice, grabbing a tiny wooden sword that she had brought with her.

" Of course!" responded Miku, falling back onto the well-pillowed floor. She sat back up and Luka tried to imitate the knighting ceremony that she had seen on television, accidentally dropping the wooden sword onto the pillows halfway through.

" Good enough." she decided. " We can be best friends now."

" I don't think that there needs to be a gathering to decide that." said Miku, picking up the wooden sword and doing the same to Luka. They played for a while before hearing the opening of a door and falling silent. Almost instantly, there was a loud thud and a complaint from Luka's aunt, who had gotten up to retrieve a glass of water without being aware of the blanket fort. A considerable amount of scolding and cleaning later, the girls were back in Luka's bedroom, whispering back and forth until they fell asleep. After all, it was not as if they could know yet of the painful years that would follow.


A/N: Warning: The next chapter is full of angsty teenagers. Since this chapter and the next are both prologues, I will be releasing the first real chapter directly after them, almost so that they are released at the same time ( I have to submit chapters through a process that will take a minute, as far as I know ). These chapters are full of important background information, but if you want to get to the actual story itself, it's there for you and cliffhanger free. Just... don't expect it to be like that for long. *evil laughter*