This was an oneshot collaboration that I did months ago with my friend on deviantART; purecallisto. Her account name is lucidum somnia sub sidera.

So readers can tell the difference between her work and my work here is a key chart:

My work will be written in italics.

Her work will be written in neutral.

Enjoy! xxxxJewels

It was afternoon when Ruko found herself standing and blinking blearily up at the dorms of St. Vocaloid Academy for the Musically Talented, with the sun shining bright and not a cloud in sight. Birds tweeted out their songs and leaves on trees gently swayed in the breeze, the green color rich and vibrant.

Ruko hated it.

No, it wasn't because she hated puppies and rainbows and sunshine and happiness, which she didn't. Actually, the main reason was that...well.

Her sleep was being cut off.

Yes, her sleep - how she loved her sleep. She could forget the whole world while she slept, the problems and the issues, and the fightig and disagreements. She would be in a world that was completely hers to control. A world where glared and taunts didn't matter, a world where her height was not anything on importance.

Freedom.

But, she supposed, it wouldn't do good to just laze around when she could be, well, sleeping happily in her dorm room. And so, with a breathy sigh, she willed herself to move forward, her tall 6'5" frame towering against most of the people in the hallways. She took the time to observe the halls - they were painted a soft buttery yellow, with a reddish carpet covering the floor to boot. Dreamily, she thanked the lord that she had landed into this place - the rooms would be exquisite and so would the bed, ultimately.

Oh, what was her room number again? She reached in her pocket for the small paper that she had written her room number in, pulled it back when the folded up object met her fingers and unfolded it. Her own handwriting greeted her, loopy and slanted but not entirely neat:

Room Number 182
Roommate: Tetris Kasane

She blanched right there. Either she had been extremely groggy when she had wrote that own, or Tetris' parents were drunk when they named her. Her nineteen year old mind couldn't understand exactly how someone could name their child...that. Named after a game? What was up with some people...

Sighing and shaking her head, she tucked the paper back into her pocket and glanced at a door - 199. Apparently she was at the right place. She looked at the next door in line, not very surprised to find that it was numbered

198. Nodding, as if confirming that she really was at the right hallway, she made her way down the hall, counting off the numbers in her mind.

187...186...185...184...183...182.

There it was - the place where she would be living with another person until the end of the year. Her mismatched blue and red eyes took in the wooden door, and, steeling herself, she took out her room key from her pocket - small and silver - and fitted it in the keyhole. She turned it, but...it was already unlocked. Blinking again, she raised a hand to knock at the door, in her aloof rhythm that she couldn't quite shake off.

Knock-knock knock-knock-knock knock.

"Come in!" a happy, cheery voice sounded from inside, almost making Ruko flinch at the honey-coated sugary ecstasy just radiating off of it. She was suddenly having doubts with this - would her roommate be able to cope with Ruko's sleepiness - and would she interrupt it? Oh, if she did...Ruko's fists clenched, then relaxed. No use getting angry over something that hadn't even happened. She stiffened her back, made sure her black and blue pigtails were in order, and prayed the her heterochromatic eyes wouldn't set...Tetris...off - then turned the doorknob and pushed the door open. What greeted her sight was shocking.

"What the hell?!" Ruko shrieked, astonished at the girl who apparently was a damn contortionist and how the hell could she breathe like that? - and stepped backward, eyes wide. She'd never seen someone who could twist her body in ways like that! And that flame red hair didn't help in the slightest - and were those...drills on the sides of her head? Inadvertly, a used up gel container flashed through her mind, and she calmed herself down, wonderingly stepping forward. "Uh, um."

What an intelligent response, Ruko thought, and decided to spit her foot out of her mouth.

"Uh...I'm Ruko. Your new roommate."

"Hi!" the strange girl said brightly, from her odd postion of being upside down, resting her lower arms and elbows on the ground whilst the rest of her body remained in the air, her rump behind her head while her legs were pointed outwards towards Ruko's direction. Her ringlets hung down and gathered on the floor while 'Tetris' looked curiously at her new found friend. Giving Ruko a welcoming grin, Tetris flung her legs back over her head and sat down on her haunches returning to a horizontal position and faced the blue and black girl who still stood in the doorway unable to take her eyes off the peculiar scene before her.

Ruko was just thankful that she wasn't twisting herself into a pretzel and back to normal. Not that normal and this girl would ever go in the same sentence.
She held out her hand confidently and Ruko flinched at the sudden movement. Tetris tilted her head to the side, gesturing to her hand. Sheepishly, Ruko moved her own hand in
place to shake it.

"Hi..."

Tetris was very enthuasiastic and practically shook the poor girl's arm off before releasing her. Ruko took a few moments to shake her hair and rub her shoulder that now seemed to ache. This went un-noticed by Tetris who was too busy pouncing on the spot to notice Ruko's stand-offish behavior.

"You must be Ruko. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Kasane Teto and I'm your brand new roommate!"

"So I gathered..." Ruko managed to say; slightly naueseated by the chirpyness of the spunky teen. This was going to be an interesting year that was for sure. At least her roommate wasn't named after a silly computer game...

Ruko mentally facepalmed. What an epic fail - so she really had been half asleep when she wrote it down. Well, at least the girl seemed nice enough. She mentally checked off a note to never, ever let Teto know about her mistake in names.

"Um...how exactly did you know about me?" Oh, don't say that she'd heard it through the grapevine. Ruko was already feared enough for her height, and she didn't need a roommate who was scared of her. It would be the last straw, after all. 6'5" was acknowledged to be abnormal, yeah, but honestly, if she had to live with someone who would avoid her at all costs, she would rather be homeschooled. She was getting kind of sick of the mousy reactions. The rumors, taunts, and threats she could take. She didn't even care much. But fear? That was a different story.

Strangely enough, Teto didn't seem to look like she minded. Her eager smile had not left her face since Ruko had entered. Which was weird because her presense usually made peoples' smiles dissapear pretty quickly.

"Oh, well..." Teto blushed, "I was so excited about my roommate that I couldn't wait to see who it was. So I pestered the dorm room teacher until she told me her name. You're much prettier then I imagined you to be!"

Now it was Ruko's turn to blush, "Erm...thanks I guess."

Ruko edged past Teto, carrying her suitcase over to the uninhabited bed. The only other bed in the room was littered with magazines about weird hobbies, a rolled up yoga mat, various bags of potato chips, a half-eaten breadstick that had spread crumbs everywhere, DVDs, a battered MP3 player that had seen better days and a pink laptop with a jillion cords plugged into it. An electric tune was eminating out of it that made Ruko twitch. Great. On top of now having a roommate that seemingly had no bones in her body, an over-eager attitude and constant irritating bubbling enthusiam and weird interests Ruko could now add slob to the mix.

"So, Ruko! What instruments do you play?" Teto cut in, interrupting Ruko's thoughts. She jumped to see Teto right up in her face (or as far as a girl of 5'2" standing on the balls of her feet to a girl of 6'5"). Ruko then realised she was supposed to answer the question.

"Uh...lute, keyboard and a harmonica if I get bored...?" Ruko managed to say. She took a seat on her bed and unzipped her suitcase however she didn't feel like unpacking yet. Not that she would get much peace doing it anyway.

"Oooh!~" squealed Teto, "A lute! I've never met anyone who could play a lute before! Can you play for me? Please, please, pretty please?!" Teto jumped onto Ruko's bed, making it tremble and shake along with the broody teen herself.

Ruko bit her lip. She didn't like performing in front of people, especially strangers. And you couldn't get much stranger then Kasane Teto.

Suddenly, Teto quitened down and sat cross legged, hands on her knees beside Ruko and lowered her voice.

"Please?" she asked softly, her wine coloured eyes pleading at Ruko to comply. Ruko gave in.

"...fine," Ruko sighed, "It's not my main instrument but I guess I can show you something..."

She took the case off from around her shoulder and opened it. Inside was a honey coloured instrument that shone when it touched the light.

"Wow..." Teto breathed. Ruko found herself smiling a little as she began to play.

Her fingers played across the strings, playing a melody she'd known since she was little. Growing more confident note after note, she straightened up and played more quickly, but surely, until she drowned in her music and she didn't even need to think. This particular melody, she remembered, was called 'To realize'. It had been taught to her by her mother, and she had it practised extremely well. While she wasn't as proficient in ballads as she was in rock and roll, this song was second nature to her by now. It was simple, but the haunting quality of the notes made you listen to it, actually stop and listen. It didn't demand attention; it held attention by itself. It was certainly mesmerizing.

Her eyes had closed already, so she couldn't see Teto bobbing her head along to the melancholic ballad, couldn't see Teto smiling contentedly as she played. Finally, the last note came to an end, and Ruko slowly opened her eyes, almost afraid of what Teto would think.

It was no secret that Ruko was insecure about nearly everything but acted as if nothing bothered her. However, her hopes rose as Teto grinned at her, genuinely seeming to like what she had played. Ruko, relieved, smiled a bit back, and asked her newfound - friend? acquaitance? - "So...was it okay?"

Teto's eyes sparkled but she didn't move from her position. "Okay? It was beautiful!~ Please play for me again!"

Ruko, while flattered, was a bit doubtful over whether she would actually play for Teto, but it was best not to address the topic explicitly.

At that moment, Ruko took the time to look, actually look at Teto. Her hair was, to be honest, unique. And so were her eyes - like red wine, a bit more pinkish that Ruko's own left eye but still decidedly red. Her skin wasn't very tanned, but it held a certain pinkish glow that suited Teto very well. On the whole, Teto was certainly pretty.

"Well," Ruko stopped her own train of thought and hoisted the lute up and into its case, "I guess I should put this back now." Teto immediately objected, jumping up and grabbing Ruko's wrist. 'Oh, no~ Please, pretty please, don't put it back. It's lovely! Keep it out, please, please!"

Ruko blinked and said slowly, "Uh. Okay...?" It was phrased more as a question than a statement, but Teto didn't seem to notice and sat back, watching Ruko lift the lute out of it's case and stand it up beside the bed. It looked out of place, in Ruko's opinion, since it was so polished and shiny against Teto's half of the room, but she didn't really mind. She could, at the moment, unpack, but for now she just laid the case in front of the lute and sighed, looking at her suitcase.

"Should I unpack now..." she mumbled, speaking her thoughts out louf, but not very audibly. However, Teto seemed to have heightened hearing as she turned back towards the taller girl, bouncing on the heel of her feet. "Oh, but you just got here! Bor-ring!~~ We should talk, though ~~ We're gonna be roomies!"

Ruko considered for a minute and shrugged. "Okay then. Which instrument do you play, Teto-san?"

"Ummm - Tuba, for one! I like to DJ, too, though!"

Ruko was startled. First, she hadn't really thought about DJing. It seemed to fit with Teto though - even if she didn't seem a techno type at first glance. Ditto the tuba. Teto seemed the pop type, the upbeat type. "That's so cool," Ruko offered, smiling a bit. "DJing sounds fun, really."

"Do you, um...possibly wanna hear my latest tunes?" Teto, suddenly timid. Ruko mused over the thought that her roommate could have problems with showing other people their work. Ruko nodded and Teto leapt off the bed to return with her laptop, returning to her sitting position beside Ruko on her bed and balanced her computer on her knees.

"This is really rushed so it's not very good and I figure it's not going to be your type of thing so?"

"It's fine. Just play it."

Teto blinked at Ruko before quickly typing something on her laptop before a new tune began to play. Ruko was instantly taken aback. She had guessed it to be some sort of aggravating boppity gabble you might find automatically saved on a mobile phone as a ringing tone. But it wasn't. It was simple at the beginning; a small series of high notes befoure it began to spin and mix with another completely different sound, low and long like a cello. Ruko closed her eyes and tilted her head back, drinking in the unique music.

The high, short notes stirred with the low and slightly dark melody; creating an odd mix. Light and dark, black and white, sun and moon. They were both so different; and yet so good together. Ruko felt her heart race as the music became louder, before another completely new sound was added and then another and another before a giant, overpowering rush of noise filled Ruko's ears and ran through her blood. The music rose to a massive climax of intoxicating sound before each little added bit of music faded one by one until the original short high notes remained before they too; faded out.

Ruko realised she was breathless when she opened her eyes. Teto was fidgeting, tapping her finger tips on her laptop lid; her tongue wet her dry lips before disspearing into her mouth again.

"...was it okay?"

"That was..." Ruko panted, feeling beads of sweat on her forehead. Had she really gotten an adrenaline rush just from listening to some artificial music?

Ruko turned her head and latched onto Teto's round eyes.

"Outstanding."

Teto's eyes widened.

"Really?!" Teto asked, sounding as if she were being choked.

"Really," replied Ruko firmly, meaning it. She was still trembling slightly but she tried not to show it, "You...have a talent, Teto. A real talent."

"...thank you.." Teto sounded tearful and Ruko was shocked to see the weird teenager hugging her laptop to her chest, tears forming in her eyes and a smile of contentment on her face. She sniffed loudly before gathering herself again and she straightened up.

"So! Play the lute for me again!" she barked her order.

"Again?!"

"Yes! It's the most beautiful noise I've ever heard in my whole entire life!" Teto exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright I think you're laying it on a little thick now but whatever..." Ruko positioned her lute once again for playing. But instead of doing the song that her mother had taught her, Ruko decided on something else. Something...more personal.

Teto's bouncing ceased as a soft plucking tune began to play. Gentle, calming and free. It didn't hide anything and there were no surprises of sudden noise or change in melody. It was slowly pacing and hynotising. It didn't hide. It didn't hesitate. It just...played. Ruko focused on her fingers moving gently from one string to the other, handling the song with care. It was something she had taught herself when she had only just learnt the lute. It was a special hidden memory that Ruko hugged to her heart. She strummed the final chords, lifting her head for the first time since she had started playing. Ruko put the lute back in its case, taking a deep breath before looking over to Teto to see her reaction.

"What did you thi-huh?"

But Ruko's captivating song had lulled Teto into deep sleep, lying on top of Ruko's bed; her laptop cradled in her arms. Ruko found herself smiling again.

"Good night, Tetris."

Thank you for reading! 3