Please note that Asperger's is a spectrum disorder. Meaning, that although there are many similar traits to all aspies, everyone has it a little differently, and everyone who has it is an individual with their own particular issues, traits, and personality types. Not to mention severity in the 'level' of disability.

This fic, and Neru's types of thinking patterns and responses within it, are mainly based off my own personal life experience. I encourage anyone with an interest in learning more about this somewhat unique form of autism to do a quick google search on it. It's honestly fascinating, even (or maybe, even especially) to a person who lives with it.

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"Everybody, this is Neru. She'll be living with us as of today," Master introduced the blonde-haired female Vocaloid and smiled. Neru's hazel eyes stared at a fixed point away from everyone's new faces. "She's a little shy, so please help her feel at home, okay?"

Smiling faces looked back at Neru, and each of the Vocaloids introduced themselves with a chorus of. "Hi Neru!" "My name is..." "Welcome to your new home, Neru."

Neru's face didn't smile or flicker with any emotion as the introductions concluded. A few of the Vocaloids exchanged confused glances at her lack of response.

"Say hello, Neru," Master prompted the new Vocaloid, and Neru opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello."

Master smiled and patted Neru briefly on the shoulder. The encouraging contact and warmth felt good to Neru, but she didn't let it show on her still face. She felt anxious about the enormous change of moving to Master's home and living in a new place. She was used to the store's routine, but now everything was different. She felt very uncomfortable. But she was careful to not show her stressed-out emotions on her face.

"Miku, please show Neru to her new room, and answer any questions she has about how we do things around here. Okay?" Master requested, still smiling. It was clear he was pleased about getting a new Vocaloid in the house.

"Okay, Master," Miku smiled back, and trotted over to Neru, smiling a warm, friendly smile at her new sister, which faltered slightly and was replaced by a sweatdrop as Neru didn't smile back. Didn't even meet Miku's eyes.

Neru stared at Miku's shoulder and watched her new sister's face intensely with her peripheral vision only. It was important not to be caught looking directly at anyone's face. Neru had a system; if anyone looked at her while her eyes were on their face, she quickly unfocused them to a point in the distance. There was a brief enough fraction of time between when she noticed someone's eyes starting to move, and when they focused on her own eyes, to make it work successfully every time.

"Ummm, are you ready to go, Neru? I'll show you your room now," Miku said, cancelling out her original question by uttering a declarative statement directly afterwards. Neru didn't have to respond, since the course of action had already been decided, so she remained silent and waited for Miku.

Miku sweatdropped again, and glanced at her fellow Vocaloids who were still around, for help. No help there; everyone was staring somewhat uncomfortably at Neru, now. Master seemed oblivious, and turned around with a wave as he left the situation in Miku's hands.

"Ummm, so, just... follow me. Okay?" Miku turned and walked a few steps, glanced back, walked a few more, and when there was enough distance between them, Neru began to follow in Miku's wake. Miku sighed in relief and a little bit of confusion regarding Neru's behavior.

'Is this really just shyness?' Miku wondered to herself as she stopped outside the door to Neru's bedroom. "Here we are!" Miku stated, and opened the door. Neru looked inside.

"We have breakfast at 7:30 in the dining room, and start work on our singing after Master watches the news at 8:00. Lunch is at 12:30. We get a break after lunch to do whatever we want; watch tv or read a book or take a walk, whatever you want. Dinner is at 6:00 and we have chores to do during the day. Do you have any questions?" Miku rattled off the list, and finished with a question.

"No," Neru answered, her face still blank, absorbing all the new information Miku was providing.

"...Okay, then," Miku said, and stood awkwardly at the door for a moment. Neru watched Miku's shoulder, waiting for the next piece of information. Apparently Miku was done providing information though, as she finished her speech by saying, "Well, if you have any questions, my door is the one down the hall with the plaque that says "Miku" on it. Okay? Talk to you later!"

Miku turned and walked down the hall, glancing over her shoulder once, thinking worridly to herself that her new sister seemed kind of unfriendly.

Neru watched Miku's back out of the corner of her eye, concerned about turning her head or body to do so, and perhaps draw attention to the fact that she was watching Miku. Neru didn't want to make Miku uncomfortable by watching her too closely or obviously.

When Miku disappeared from sight, Neru looked around the hallway. She needed to use the bathroom badly, but she didn't know where it was. Neru started to feel overwhelmed and a little bit panicky about the new situation. She wasn't familiar with the layout of her new home.

Neru wished Miku had offered to give her a tour and show her where the bathroom was, at least. It didn't even occur to Neru that this was the sort of question she should have asked when Miku prompted her. It also didn't occur to Neru to go knock on Miku's door to ask for help now.

Neru anxiously walked down the hallway, scared to open doors to find out if one of them was the bathroom. She could tell that some of them were the other Vocaloids' rooms, by the name plaques on them.

Neru memorized the names she read on the plaques, but couldn't put faces to the names, although she had just been introduced to them verbally and visually in person. Each of the plaques had a different color scheme, and Neru wrote the words that went with the colors in her mind next to the names she read, making an association. Labels and written text were comforting, unchanging.

"Hey, Neru," A male Vocaloid greeted her in the hallway. Neru carefully averted her gaze from his face so as not to be rude. "Are you looking for something?"

"Yes," Neru answered. The boy in front of her paused. His hair was yellow.

"What are you looking for?" The boy asked after a moment. "Maybe I can help."

"I'm looking for the bathroom," Neru replied hopefully, her voice an unchanging monotone.

"Oh! Miku didn't show you where it was?" Len asked, surprised.

"No," Neru admitted.

"That's okay, I can help you. Just follow me. By the way, I know I already mentioned it, but my name's Len," The yellow-haired boy said and smiled.

The name flashed in Neru's memory. The words 'Len' 'yellow' and 'plaque' popped up, and though Neru couldn't remember the visual color, she knew by the words that Len's name had been the one with the yellow plaque. Len's hair was also yellow. Neru made the association between Len's looks- yellow- and his name on the yellow plaque, and memorized Len's name with the new data.

Len hadn't asked a question, so Neru remained quiet as she followed Len to the bathroom.

"Here you go, it's this door here. When you're done, leave the door ajar so people know it's not in use anymore. Do you understand?" Len asked.

Neru recognized that it was a question, so she replied, "Yes." Neru felt very grateful, and she thought that she liked the friendly boy in front of her. It felt comforting and relieving to have someone who would help her in her new environment.

"Do you know where the other important areas are? Like the dining room and the kitchen? Did Miku tell you about our chores?" Len asked, and Neru felt confused. Which question was she supposed to answer? She was silent for a moment, and Len must have taken it as shyness.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to bombard you with a bunch of questions when you just got here. If I'm being too overwhelming, just tell me, and I'll back off, okay?" Len asked.

Neru's gratitude returned; Len was a good person. He cared about what other people felt like. Neru replied to his question, "Yes."

"Okay..." Len paused, and looked at Neru, a slightly confused expression on his face. Neru didn't understand the look, and it passed through her eyes without flagging her that it meant anything. "Do you want me to wait outside the bathroom until you're done, and then show you around?"

Neru smiled happily inside, but her face outside didn't change. "Yes," She said, feeling eager and relieved, her voice a continuing monotone as she answered. Len nodded and got out of the way of the door, and Neru went inside the bathroom to do her business there.