"Now everyone welcome Hatsune Miku!"

The crowd went wild as I stepped out onto the stage. My normal days as boring lil' Miku were over. I was an idol now. The audience seemed to lean forward with bated breath. With a wry smile, I appeased them with my voice. This was the new me after all.

VOCALOID: Project DIVA

01

"Miku-chan, if you don't finish eating, you'll be late for school!" I poked at my eggs in a bored manner. I could care less about school. My mother seemed to pick up on my attitude, however, and gave my head a good smack. Papa chuckled at the exchange.

"Ow! Mama!" I glanced up at her and saw her gaze soften.

"I know you don't want to go to a new school again, but just think of all the friends you could make!" She smiled and brushed a stray hair out of my face. Papa nodded in agreement.

"Your mother is right, Miku. Now hurry and get a move on."

I adjusted my glasses before grabbing a piece of toast and rising from my seat. "Fine, I'm going already…" I jogged to the door and slipped on my shoes haphazardly. "See you later, Mama! Papa!"

"Have a safe trip, Miku-chan!"

I stood outside my new classroom nervously and tapped the toes of my school shoes together. This was one of my least favorite parts of changing schools. Everything became unfamiliar, and you always became the "new girl." I hated it! I stared at the classroom door despondently; would I be able to make friends in this class?

"Class, we have a new student who will be joining us from now on." I braced myself as the teacher prepared to present me to the class. I hated the fact that everyone's eyes would be on me the moment I walked in… "You can come in now!"

I forced my feet to move and slid the classroom door open. Just as I thought, everyone's eyes were on me. I gulped in apprehension; they were probably already making guesses about me in their minds. The teacher impatiently tapped his fingers on his podium and glanced back at me.

"Hatsune-san… Introduce yourself to the class."

I flushed with embarrassment at his comment and quickly bowed. "I-I'm Hatsune Miku! P-p-please take care of me!" My panic was doubled when my glasses slid off of my face and fell to the floor with a sharp clatter. The class became silent before bursting to life. Just great! I was already making a fool out of myself on my first day at my new school. It was just the beginning of the day, too…

The teacher gave an exasperated sigh before pointing out my seat. "Hatsune-san, please go sit in that empty seat over there."

I frantically picked up my glasses and gave the class a confused glance. "W-where, again?"

The class's laughter escalated, much to my displeasure. The teacher pointed it out again, and I carefully went to my new seat. It was thankfully a window seat in the back corner of the classroom. That meant that there would only be a person in front of me and a person next to me at most. That didn't matter, though, because I didn't look up from my desk through the entirety of the morning lessons.

I was so happy when no one came to bother me during the lunch hour. I was already upset enough as it was. I took my packed lunch with me when I explored the campus. I just actually wanted to see if I could access the roof here, truthfully. When I finally found the door to the roof, and unlocked no less, I felt my heart swell with happiness. There was somewhere I could retreat to at this school, too!

I opened the door happily and walked out onto the roof, but I was stopped short at the sight of a taller dark-haired boy eating his lunch in the corner. I quietly moved to a bench that was closer to the door and took a seat. I tried to ignore his presence, but my eyes kept habitually flying to his lean form. One of the times he caught my gaze with his and gave me a small smile. I tried to return it, but my smile felt too forced to be a true one.

I had finished my lunch in a flash, so there was a good amount of time to spare before afternoon classes started. Images of my earlier humiliation from this morning flashed in my mind and made me feel depressed. Before I knew it, I had started singing a song that I had forgotten the words of to cheer myself up. When I stopped, soft clapping alerted me to an unwanted audience. That's when I remembered the boy in the corner. My face burned with embarrassment at being heard as I hadn't willingly sung to anyone in years!

"You have a beautiful voice, Hatsune-san." I jolted at the sound of my name.

"E-excuse me, you are…?"

"Ah, me?" The boy pointed to himself and smiled. "I'm Nakano Kaito. I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

"N-no! The pleasure is all mine!" I quickly gave a polite bow and smiled. Could I be making a friend already? I glanced at his uniform collar and realized that he was a third year. That meant that he was my senior and a little older than me… It suddenly registered that he somehow knew my name despite not being in the same year as me. "Um, so how did you know my name, Nakano-senpai?"

He chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "You don't have to be formal with me just because I'm your senior. I don't really like the ring of 'senpai.'"

"A-ah, really…?"

"Anyway," he started with a mischievous grin, "I was in the faculty office this morning and heard that we were getting a new student named Hatsune Miku. I haven't seen you around here before, so I thought that you were her. Was I wrong in assuming that?" I blushed and shook my head vigorously.

Senpai smiled at my answer. "Good, so I wasn't wrong… So Hatsune, if you don't mind my asking, what made you transfer to Yamane Art School? We don't get new students very often…"

I sighed and lowered my eyes again. "My parents got new jobs here at a company called Crypton Future Media. They won't tell me anything about it, though. Anyway, this was the closest high school, so I ended up transferring here."

I raised my face again and saw that senpai's eyes seemed to widen at the mention of the name. I cocked my side to the side in confusion.

"Is something wrong, Nakano-san?" I stumbled over my words, finding it difficult to express concern for someone other than family. I hadn't been very close to anyone in a long time because of how often I had moved…

"It's nothing." He walked forward and gave my head a quick pat before moving past me. "We'd better get going, Hatsune. We don't want to be late for afternoon lessons."

"A-ah! Nakano-san! W-wait for me!"

"I'm home!" I shut the door behind me and slipped out of my shoes. There was no answer. "Mama? Papa?" I walked through the hall and stopped in front of our little message board. They had left me a note.

"Miku, we're going to be late tonight, so you can eat whatever you want for dinner. Mama and Papa will be back later! Love you!"

I sighed at the message and continued up the stairs to my room. Once inside, I dropped my bag on my desk and flopped onto my bed. My day had been so exhausting… I only managed to make one friend today… if I could even call him that. My face flushed when I thought of how forward he had been. Or maybe I was just imagining things because I hadn't had an actual friend in a long time…

I rolled over and stared at my blank wall. Even if I had been here longer, the walls of my room would still be bare. I didn't see the point in decorating if we were going to move around again soon. The thought of possibly moving again made my heart ache. Would there be another Nakano-senpai at my next school if we moved again? I lay there thinking for a couple more minutes before I bothered to get up and change out of my school uniform. Dressed in casual clothing, I went back downstairs to prepare something for dinner.

I ate in absolute silence like I usually did; there wasn't anyone else to eat with me, after all. It was starting to get late, but they still weren't home. If I were anyone else, I would've felt worried, but I was used to them pulling the occasional all-nighter. This was nothing compared to those nights. I washed the dishes and walked up to my room again. I had nothing better to do for the rest of the night, so I unpacked my laptop and turned it on.

I noticed an unlabeled disc on my desk and scrutinized it. Did Mama or Papa accidentally put one of their project discs in my laptop bag? Curiosity got the better of me, and I put the disc into my drive. When no auto-run command appeared, I shrugged. Maybe it was a bad disc that they had neglected to throw out… I pushed my chair away from the desk and stretched.

Suddenly, the word VOCALOID2 appeared on the screen. I leaned forward and examined the installation screen that followed. So it was some sort of program? I took a moment to think about my choices. It wouldn't hurt to install it and see exactly what kind of program it was, right? I clicked the option to continue the installation.

The next step seemed off… It asked for all of my personal information! I narrowed my eyes. What kind of program was this? Just when I was about to eject the suspicious disc, my hand stopped short. My computer wasn't connected to the Internet or anything, so continuing wouldn't hurt. Besides, I could always uninstall it later.

I sighed before I began filling all the information fields out. This program had better be worth it! I continued to the next step and finished installing. A dialogue box popped up on the screen a moment later.

Execute VOCALOID2? Y/N

I hit the "y" key and waited for it to load. Just then, my screen flashed so bright that I had to shield my eyes from the intensity. When the shine finally died down, I moved my arms away from my face. A gleaming green box floated in front of my laptop which caused me to jump back in shock. Where the heck did that come from?

I glanced around my room suspiciously. No one else was around… I turned back to the glowing cube and hesitantly poked it. I felt a jolt all through my body and immediately backed off. A disconcerting message appeared on my screen.

Identity confirmed... Now initializing VOCALOID2 program.

"W-wait, identity?" The green cube began to change shape until it resembled a small pixie-like thing. It continued to float in front of my laptop. I examined the weird being and noticed that it didn't have wings or anything to logically allow it to float. "What is this thing?"

"I'm not a thing!" I stifled a scream. It could talk? "Of course I can talk! I'm Hachune Miku!"

"Hachune Miku?" I looked at her and shook my head in disbelief. "Isn't that a little too close to Hatsune Miku? That's my name, you know!"

"But I'm a part of you, now!" she argued. I felt a vein in my forehead throb. How could this… thing be a part of me? It was just some weird thing that defied all logic and came out of my laptop after I put an unknown disc in!

"How can you be part of me? Argh! I never should've put that disc in the drive in the first place!" I clutched my head in frustration. Could today get any weirder? I glared at "Hachune." "What exactly is that program?"

"Hm? This version of VOCALOID is newly developed software from Crypton Future Media. It is based off of a pre-existing program of the same name from Yamaha and is merely a more polished version of it. There are other companies that also have different versions such as Internet Co—"

"Wait, wait!" I waved my arms frantically to stop her in her explanation, not sure if I understood her correctly. "What exactly does VOCALOID do? Is it some sort of hologram thing or what?"

"What?" Hachune seemed to giggle at my question. "VOCALOID is a program of the future. It gives the user the ability to perform varieties of music never before thought possible. All you have to do is install and initialize the program, and you'll have the ability to sing anything!"

I laughed at the pixie-thing's explanation and pointed an accusatory finger at my laptop. "And how is it capable of that? There's no way you can just—"

Hachune interrupted me by diving straight at me and disappearing inside my body. My face blanched at her actions. What was she doing? There was a momentary flash of light, and when it dispelled, I felt odd—strangely refreshed even. I rushed to my mirror and almost fell back in shock. My hair! And my clothes! What was going on?

My hair had grown longer, changed from its plain black to teal, and my eyes had gone from brown to blue. My casual outfit had changed to a flashy stage outfit of black, gray, and the same bluish color as well. I rubbed my eyes vigorously. Was this some sort of dream, and would I wake up soon? I could hear Hachune's giggling in my head.

"Try singing something. You'll be amazed." I sighed and complied. It wasn't like things could get any worse.

"La la la la la la la~"

I clamped my hands over my mouth embarrassedly. My voice… It was suddenly stronger than before. VOCALOID… Where had this program come from? Something suddenly clicked in my mind.

"Wait! You said this program came from Crypton Future Media?"

"Yes… What about it?"

I stomped my foot. I was sure my parents had done this on purpose! I pushed a button on my headset which pushed Hachune out of my body and undid the transformation. Once I was back to normal, I quickly grabbed her. "We're going to Crypton Future Media right now!"

"Eh? But visiting hours are from—" I ignored Hachune and ran down the stairs and out of the house, only pausing to sloppily slip my shoes on.

"Excuse me! I need to see my parents. They're new employees here."

The receptionist looked at me warily before she asked, "Name, please?"

"Hatsune!" Her eyes widened.

"You're expected up in the conference room on the top floor. You can get there if you take that elevator over there…" I was expected? I turned to the elevator she had pointed out, but before I could rush off, she quickly handed me a visitor pass. "You'll need that to get in."

I entered the elevator and impatiently tapped my foot after hitting the proper floor button. There was no way that this was just some coincidence; this had to have been planned! As soon as the elevator arrived at the top floor, I ran out and burst into the room the receptionist had indicated. Several people seemed to be in a meeting along with my parents. Everyone's eyes were on me the moment I stumbled through the door, which caused me to suddenly feel self-conscious and blush.

"Miku-chan!" Mama stood from her seat and ushered me over to the table. "Did you install VOCALOID2?"

"That was faster than I expected." I glanced over at Papa who had an all-knowing look on his face. "I thought you would've been more wary of it…"

I flushed even more and took the seat Mama offered to me. "W-what's going on?"

The man at the head of the table chuckled and crossed his arms. "You've become part of Project DIVA. Interested?" I narrowed my eyes at his words but nodded anyway. He grinned and leaned forward. "There are five others involved in the project. The first two are my own children, who are still using the first version of the program, and the other three are children of the other employees who are currently present."

I nodded hesitantly, the information slowly sinking in. "But what exactly is it?"

"I'm sure you have an idea if you've installed and initialized the program already. Basically, our goal is to create the ideal group of idols using the software VOCALOID. You will all be versatile and able to perform anything. You will take the media by storm!"

I looked down at my lap and twiddled my thumbs. "What if I don't want to?"

"You've already registered the software. It can't be used by anyone else, now." I snapped my head up and stared at him. I couldn't back out now since I already messed with it? A person who appeared to be one of his aids walked up to him and leaned down to tell him something.

"Nakano-san, your children are here." Nakano… Why did that name sound so familiar?

"They can come in. They aren't little kids anymore."

I turned my head to the door in anticipation. I would be working with whoever those two were from now on. My heart pounded furiously in my chest, and when the door opened to reveal my new companions, my eyes widened in surprise.

"Let me introduce you to my children. That boy over there is my son Nakano Kaito. I believe he is a third year at your school… And the girl next to him is my stepdaughter Sakine Meiko, who is currently a university student."

"Miku-chan! I look forward to working with you!" The girl Meiko skipped over and hugged me. Senpai slowly followed after her.

"Sis, you're going to choke Hatsune if you keep that up…"

"No, I'm not!" She suddenly let go of me and put a hand on my head. "Right, Miku-chan?"

I felt my world spinning. Kaito-senpai was part of Crypton Future Media? A-and I'd be working with him and several others to become idols? My vision was swimming… Before I knew it, I had blacked out from the overwhelming shock of the situation.

I had the feeling that life would be full of even more surprises from now on.

A/N: This is my side project to relieve stress while working on Refraction. I am definitely not dropping Refraction. It's just more serious than I'm used to writing, so I need a cutesy, lighthearted writing outlet in the meanwhile.

Anyway, I won't be using fan Vocaloids in this at all. There're too many, and I don't really like them that much. Gakupo and Gumi will appear in the future, but they're not part of the Crypton family. (They're from Internet, after all.) Utauloids… whatever. We'll see how this goes.

[2011 Update: I'm taking this story in a new direction... once I feel like working on it again. :P]