"Miku, here's one for you, too!" Master beamed happily at the teal-haired Vocaloid as he handed over a small box with a few pretty chocolates inside. The excited girl blushed and beamed happily at her Master as she held the box to her chest.
"Thank you, Master! I'll try extra hard singing for you today! Happy Valentine's day," Miku replied with a great, cute smile on her small face.
Kaito looked around at the other Vocaloids. Master had called each and every one of them, one by one. The bluenette had held his breath, waiting to be called next, but with Miku's small box of chocolates had left the human's hands glaringly empty. Kaito smiled a little, and looked at the floor for a moment.
It was okay. Really, it was. Kaito didn't need to be kept in a sunlit place all the time. Just being thought of every now and then, just being allowed to sing Master's song when the human did think of him... that was more than enough. It wasn't like he was crazy over the chocolate. He didn't love Master any less, or hold it against the other Vocaloids, that Master hadn't done anything spectacular for Kaito. It was okay that Master hadn't remembered that today was special for a different reason than just chocolates.
'As long as everyone's smiling, that's what's the most precious to me,' The bluenette thought, and his smile became more genuine and banished some of his momentary sadness away. 'And just look- everyone really does look so happy right now.'
Miku, Luka, and Rin were clustered around each other and exclaiming about the tiny perfect chocolates in their small, heart-shaped gift boxes. Len was off to one side pretending to be secretive as he peeked in his own box of chocolates. Gakupo and Meiko were engaged in some sort of minor squabble farther away, about which flavor of treat was really the best one. Everybody had a special feeling in their heart from being remembered by Master, and their smiles were the best.
"Kaito..!" Gakupo had broken away from Meiko while the bluenette was thinking, and strode towards him purposefully. "Master wants to see you in the kitchen."
"Master? Did he say why?" Kaito asked, blinking in surprise.
"No, but he seemed a bit serious. Are you in trouble, Kaito? I noticed that Master didn't give you a chocolates box at the same time as the rest of us," Gakupo frowned a little, seeming worried. Kaito's eyes widened. "Um... if you'd like, you can share my chocolates. It's not much, but... well, why don't we talk about it after you see Master?"
Plopping a small chocolate into Kaito's hand, Gakupo smiled encouragingly. "Don't worry. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be something that you can work out. Happy Valentine's day from me, in any event."
Kaito's anxious eyes looked down at his hand, and sweatdropped. Maybe Master hadn't forgotten him after all. Maybe Master was angry. But what had Kaito possibly done wrong recently? He couldn't think of anything. The easy tranquility of a moment ago was replaced by an uneasy anxiety. This wasn't turning out to be a very happy day.
Tossing the chocolate into his mouth as if to gain strength from it, Kaito chewed determinedly and swallowed the sweet confection. Squaring his shoulders a little trepidly and nodding to Gakupo, he headed towards the kitchen. It wouldn't do to put Master's summoning request off.
"Ah, Kaito. Good, you're here," Master looked up seriously as the bluenette entered the room. "I didn't want to make things uncomfortable for you, or for the others, so I thought I should speak to you privately."
"Is anything the matter, Master?" Kaito tried to dismiss the growing feeling of unease in his stomach. Master didn't want to discuss something in front of everybody... was it actually about something so serious that it needed to be privately? The bluenette's imagination went to a terrifying place. Maybe this was about a worse matter than Master simply scolding him for... something. That serious expression in the human's eyes wasn't joking around at all, and it looked a little tense. Trying to remain calm, Kaito started to panic a little internally.
"Kaito... I haven't done much with you, lately, have I?" Master leaned against the counter and watched his Vocaloid with those serious eyes. "Miku, Len... all of the others... they've been the ones singing my songs most, recently. In fact... I'm not sure when the last time I used your voicebank was, anymore."
Kaito's blue eyes grew larger with each syllable. His chest felt tight with growing alarm. This wasn't a scolding. Master... Master was...
Was Master going to uninstall him?
"Master-" Kaito began to speak, desperately, but Master cut him off with a strong look. It was true, the human hadn't given him many songs lately. Had been more focused on the other Vocaloids. But, but... Kaito had never felt truly forgotten. Eventually, Master would sometimes make something just for him, and the human would look so proud and happy when Kaito sang it... as long as Kaito was patient... Master never forgot about him forever. This... this couldn't be happening, could it?
'How appropriate, this timing. Master doesn't even remember that today is my 10th birthday, but today will be both my anniversary and my deactivation date..? Is that what you're going to say to me, Master?' Kaito squeezed his eyes shut against the burning tears of desperation that threatened to well up helplessly. 'Please... Master, don't say this! Don't say anything!'
"Kaito..." Master's voice was gentle, and the hand he placed on Kaito's soft head was kind. It hurt worse than if Master had been cruel or hard. Kaito's heart ached, but even knowing this, he still couldn't stop loving his Master. Even if the human uninstalled him... he couldn't stop caring.
"Kaito, I'm sorry. It was never because of anything you did or didn't do, that I left you alone while working on other things. I never realized... that you must have been feeling lonely, watching the others grow more popular, be used more, while I ignored you. I've always, always loved your voice banks. And then, today, I was thinking about all of these things." The soft, kind hand moved from the bluenette's head, but Kaito couldn't raise his teary eyes.
"I wanted to do something special for you today, Kaito. Today, of all days. Something really spectacular, to let you know how much I've been thinking of you, and how much... I care about you, every day. It's your special anniversary today, Kaito. I know, you've got two official birthdays but," a light laugh that sounded a little embarrassed or self-recriminating interrupted its own voice, and Kaito's teary eyes widened. He looked up at Master, despair and hope on his face.
"You remembered... my birthday, Master..?" Kaito's voice was small and he surprised himself with the edge of loneliness and sadness he heard there.
"Of course I remembered, Kaito!" Master smiled despite his own inner feeling of shame.
Staring with wide blue eyes at Master's face, Kaito thought his heart would stop. Kaito's sweet face moved slowly, his eyes closing slightly, and his mouth turning upwards at the corners as he couldn't help himself from smiling back at Master with everything he had through his tears.
"I wanted to make a perfect, special song, just for you, Kaito. But, I couldn't do anything. I'm sorry. Are you sad? Don't cry, please?" Master's smile looked a little more depressed as he looked unhappily down. He'd tried, but... nothing was good enough. He'd let his beautiful Vocaloid down on this most special anniversary. "I'm sorry, Kaito. But... I still wanted to wish you a happy birthday, even though there was nothing I could give you."
With this, the tears in Kaito's eyes welled up and spilled over helplessly. He clutched his chest and smiled at the despondent human in front of him, feeling like he was suddenly high atop of the most incredible mountain. His heart hurt with a sudden, fierce, soaring joy and almost painful happiness. Master wasn't uninstalling him. How could he have even thought that? Master... Master loved him. Loved him enough that he wanted to do something amazing for Kaito. That was all the bluenette needed to know.
"Master, don't you know?" Smiling so happily through forgotten tears, Kaito touched the human's shoulder, prompting him to look up into his Vocaloid's shining face, full of love. "All I want is to see you smile. You don't have to do anything special. Just knowing that you're thinking of me... I'm so happy! Thank you, Master!"
The human's eyes widened in shock as Kaito wrapped his arms around his Master, unable to stop himself from giving a huge, happy hug, full of tears and joy.
"I love you, Master. You remembered me today. I'm so happy! I'm so happy," Kaito wiped his eyes in embarrassment and smiled back at the human as he released his hug, feeling deeply moved and special. Master's face was flushed red with an enormous, surprised blush, but it quickly faded into a happy smile to match the Vocaloid's grin.
"Well, I, ah," Master cleared his throat in embarrassment, and scratching the back of his head with a shy smile. "I actually did get you one thing. It's not much, but..."
Turning to the freezer and opening the door briefly, Master returned with a large tub of chocolate ice cream. Daaz!
"Happy Valentine's day, and happy birthday, Kaito. Here's my chocolate to you," Master grinned, still feeling a bit awkwardly shy. "Let's eat it together... with everyone, if it's okay? Kaito? To celebrate your special birthday."
"Aisu!" Kaito squeaked excitedly. "Master... aisu... with everyone?!" The beaming smile on his face was at odds with the drying, already forgotten tears. "Thank you! Master.. this is the best birthday present. Hehehe!"
With a cute, enormous grin, Kaito wiped his face once more and grabbed the big tub of frozen confection in both of his excited hands. "I love you... Master! Thank you!" Spinning on his heels, eager to show and share his present with everyone else, Kaito ran out of the room back towards his friends, just a short ways away.
Master laughed. "Kaito..." he facepalmed a little, but smiled through his fingers.
"...You forgot the spoons."