There was a slender flame burning at the edge of Luka's heart. Without warning, it spread into a burning passion. That is to say: burning jealousy.
Luka was not one to become jealous easily, but one look at the set for Miku's newest music video had her positively steaming.
The morning has started out just like any other, with Luka boarding the train from her apartment to Crypton headquarters. With her hair tied into a messy bun and her eyes concealed by a pair of oversized sunglasses, she kept any fans from bombarding her, though her bright pink hair garnered some attention despite her precautions. Even so, her ride to work remained relatively uneventful.
Luka had then continued her routine by passing the automatic doors at the front desk and offering a polite hello to the lady manning the reception desk. Afterwards, she took the elevator to her floor and walked the final stretch to her manager's office to find out her schedule for the day.
"Good morning, Suzuki-san," Luka said with a smile.
"Ah, good morning to you as well, Megurine-san," he returned good-naturedly.
"Am I okay to record my newest song today?" Luka asked.
The manager smiled. "Yes, I had Yamada-san and Tanaka-san look over it after you left, and everything is good. Superb lyrics as always. This will definitely make it to the top of the charts!"
Luka blushed. "Thank you, sir." Turning around, she said, "Well, I'll be off, then."
"See you later," he called back as she shut the door behind her.
As Luka made the trip to her recording room, she closed her eyes and took in the fact that she was doing her dream job of singing and making people all over the world happy. Luka basked in the feeling of joy and breathed in her memories of meeting all the other singers at Crypton, dubbed the vocaloids. Full of euphoria, Luka opened her eyes and walked with more spring to her step, but as she rounded the corner hastily, Miku's face suddenly appeared.
Startled, Luka flailed her arms and almost slammed into Miku. However, unlike Luka, Miku was unperturbed, flinging her arms around Luka and squealing.
"Good morning, good morning, good morning!" Miku sang as she clung to Luka's shoulders.
Luka got over her initial shock, and returned the hug to the bright teal ball of energy. "Good morning to you, too, Miku," she said with a smile.
Miku decided to remove herself from Luka and opted to bounce up and down happily, instead. Beaming, Miku said, "Hey, I'm doing a new music video today!"
Luka looked surprised. "I didn't know that you finished writing your newest song yet. That was pretty quick."
Miku smiled sheepishly. "Actually," she said. "I wasn't the only one working on it. It's a duet!"
Luka playfully pouted. "Hey, you have a duet with someone other than your amazingly beautiful, talented, and wonderful girlfriend?"
Crossing her arms and smirking, Miku said, "I think my amazingly beautiful, talented, and wonderful girlfriend forgot 'modest.'"
Luka chuckled, "Touché, my equally amazingly beautiful, talented, wonderful, and modest girlfriend." She smiled cheekily and flicked Miku's forehead for good measure. "So, are you singing it with Rin again? Len? Gumi? Kaito?"
Miku scrunched up her face at being flicked in the forehead, but quickly bounced back to her happy self with her response. "Nope, this time it's with Ia!"
…
…
?
Luka frowned quizzically and tilted her head, trying to remember who Ia was. After staring at Miku for a fair amount of time and blinking owlishly, with Miku mirroring her actions, Luka finally gave up. "Um, who's that?"
With that, Miku shook off her questioning glance and puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Luka, you're such a butt!" Angrily crossing her arms and tossing her chin to the air, Miku continued her tirade. "You should make it a habit to remember all the new vocaloids! They're our family, you know?"
Luka flushed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "Hehe, sorry."
Miku tsked at Luka and said, "Don't apologize to me, apologize to Ia! Don't tell me you don't even remember her welcoming party!"
Feeling cornered, Luka desperately scraped through her memory for the event. Thinking back, she only seemed to clearly remember Miku's cute green dress and their matching butterfly necklaces…. Why was Miku always so adorable? Kyaaaaa, kawaii! Somehow, Luka managed to suppress her Miku fangirling urges and, finally, it clicked. A vague memory appeared. "Oh, her!" Luka exclaimed, nodding in self-satisfaction. "Ia—the quiet, polite one with the pinkish hair!"
Miku looked satisfied with Luka's revised answer, her lips curving up more into a smile. Miku's energy was back again, along with her hopping. "Yup! Ia's super cool! She's got the whole 'mysterious and dreamy' thing going on!"
Luka felt vaguely perturbed by those words. Wasn't she supposed to be the "mysterious and dreamy" one?
Miku continued without noticing Luka's predicament, "Actually,"—she ceased hopping for a moment, contemplating Luka's description of Ia—"Ia's hair is blond. She just has pink highlights. You can tell if you stand up close." Miku finished her statement with a matter-of-fact tone and nodded sagely at Luka.
Somehow, Miku did not notice Luka's despair growing with every word of her description of Ia. Bit by bit, Luka was turning paler and paler. How close were Miku and Ia standing together if Miku could notice such minute details? In her mind, inner Luka cried anime tears.
An unmistakable aura of innocent happiness radiated off Miku, matching that of Luka's shock. Smiling brightly and scrunching up her face in remembrance of another detail, Miku added, "Ia's sense of style is really awesome, too! Her outfits are always on point! She always looks so natural!"
With Miku's words, Luka felt an overwhelming need to clutch her heart and fall to her knees. Oh the humanity! Luka's outfits were fashionable, right? Her clothes looked natural too, right? She took a quick look down at herself and almost outwardly cringed: she was still wearing baggy sweatpants, and it didn't take a genius to recall the appalling state of her hair and the pair of sunglasses slipping half-way down her face. This was not happening. The last time Luka had had a major crisis concerning her image was when she was transitioning out of her toeto days!
Suddenly, Miku seemed to snap out of her mood. "Ah, I have to meet up with Ia to record the music video!" Miku said. "We'll be shooting the music video in room 903, so stop by if you have time. I'll see you later!" Miku gave a conciliatory smile. Reaching up, she hugged Luka again and kissed her, before dashing off hastily.
Luka was left only to stare at the empty space Miku had previously occupied and stew in her newfound thoughts of inadequacy.
During her recording session, Luka could barely pay attention to her song. Normally, her sessions went over reasonably quickly, as Luka had a knack for perfectionism. This time, thoughts of Miku and Ia swimming through her mind made Luka lose her usually perfect concentration. Every smile she imagined the two sharing shifted her attention from a lyric. Every bit of laughter she imagined the two sharing threw off her rhythm. Every hug she imagined the two sharing wrecked her perfect pitch. Honestly, it was quite obvious the Luka was off her game.
The sound director frowned progressively more and more. Finally, he couldn't stand Luka's less than stellar performance any more. "Luka, I think it would be best you take a break," he said with frustration.
Luka was shaken out of her stupor. Her mind still being hazy, she barely registered His words, but Luka knew that her suggestion was best. Heart full of dread and thoughts like lead, Luka shuffled out of the recording studio without so much as a polite "thank you." The only way she could justify her horrible performance was that today had not been the date of the deadline. Even so, if thoughts of Ia and Miku continued to plague her mind, Luka was certain she would never be able to perform properly. Sighing to herself, Luka thought, at least today's performance was not at a concert.
Still feeling sorry for herself, Luka shuffled down the hallway, with no clear destination in mind. Then, Luka remembered that Miku was still recording her music video, albeit with Ia. Sighing deeply again, Luka briefly contemplated going outside for a walk, before reminding herself that it was her job as Miku's girlfriend to be supportive, even if she was not feeling good. With those thoughts in mind, Luka hobbled to the set room, where Miku had said they would be filming in.
Each room she passed brought more and more bad thoughts to Luka. 900. How close were Miku and Ia actually? 901. What kind of a song were Miku and Ia writing? Was Crypton planning on cashing in on a scandal between their number one princess and a newcomer? 902. What kind of a music video was being filmed? How was the relationship between Miku and Ia going to be portrayed?
903. Did Miku enjoy Ia's company more than Luka's?
Pausing at the door, Luka regarded the sign posted. Currently on Break. She closed her eyes and took calming breaths. There was no logical need to panic. Panic. Was. Bad. She turned the cold shell of the door knob and stepped in.
Instantly, Luka noticed the bright lighting. Harsh pinks, yellows, and blues assaulted her senses so much so that she winced and closed her eyes. Even with her eyes closed, grating circles danced behind her eyelids. Luka told herself that she had simply closed her eyes to block out the harsh light, not admitting her anxiety about seeing Miku and Ia together. Really, denying the inevitable did nothing to ameliorate her nerves. She braced herself one final time and opened her eyes.
Immediately, Luka's gaze was drawn to Miku, who was wearing a stunning teal and white dress. She was drawn like a magnet, she thought rather bitterly. The recording of Miku and Luka's duet had been the greatest impetus to their relationship. So passionately their love had taken flight upon the unsteady, yet beautiful wings of a cerulean butterfly. That song had been enough to change everything. Who was to say that this new song could not be the same? Luka's lungs were filled with sand.
Vigorously shaking her head, Luka attempted to slap her mind away from such thoughts and masked her forlorn expression with fake eyes and a fake turn of lips. Being a famous singer had greatly bettered her acting skills. Even so, Luka knew that no matter how many people she could fool, there was no way she could possibly fool Miku. She toned down her fake grin and bit her lip. There was no hiding the truth forever, but a gossamer of falseness would do for now.
When Miku noticed Luka's presence, she beamed and waved her over. Luka gave a small smile and made her way over. As she walked closer, she noticed another girl standing next to Miku. The light blonde, pink hair was unmistakable, despite Luka's desire not to remember her. It was certainly Ia. Stepping closer to the pair, Luka caught bits of their conversation. "Girlfriend." "Pink hair like yours." "Blue eyes like yours." "Cool and mature like you."
With every physical step forward, Luka wanted to take twenty steps back. The pain forcing itself up her throat was burning her vocal chords. It was obvious, just from Miku's description of Ia and Luka's observations and memory, that Ia was quite a bit similar to Luka. They were similar enough to put Luka at unease.
Finally, Luka arrived in front of them, and from there, she could take a good look at the two. While they were not standing directly underneath any of the large stage lights, the reflected light was enough to greatly illuminate their figures. Miku was moving energetically in her teal dress, eyes shining with flecks of light. Meanwhile, Ia, who was a little taller than Miku, wore a shy smile and a black Lolita dress with red accents. Luka also noticed an alarming purple chain encircling Miku's neck. Dread brewed in Luka's stomach, despite Miku's cheerful demeanor; Miku was spinning the end of the chain, and despite Luka's performance of double lariat, there was no way she could approve of Miku spinning anything other than leeks. Every rotation gave her mild anemia.
Clearing her throat, Luka asked, "Hello, how had the shoot been going?"
Miku stopped her spinning (much to Luka's relief) and beamed brightly. She answered, "It's been going great. Some of the stuff was recorded beforehand, and we only have a couple more scenes to go!" Miku leaned in to Luka conspiratorially. "Even though Iacchi says otherwise, she's doing really well for her first shoot. Two takes per scene is her max. I think she's a perfectionist like you, Luka!"
While Luka froze again (a cute nickname, a cute nickname, a cute nickname!), Ia flushed. "Miku-san, you don't need to tell everyone that!" she cried.
"Hehe, I can't help that you're so cute to tease," Miku said cheekily, while scratching her head sheepishly.
Normally, Luka would have been fangirling to the mass of fan service that was Miku acting sheepishly, but this time, Miku was terrified by the prospect of Miku thinking Ia to be cute. This situation was not unique, as Miku tended to be quite blunt when stating what she thought of others' appearances; she often called Rin, Len, and Gumi cute. But why Ia?! If Ia was considered cute, in her similarity to Luka, Luka had to at least be considered slightly cute as well, right?! And yet, Miku never called Luka cute! It was official: light blonde was the enemy.
Miku had somehow not noticed Luka's despair once again, and continued to talk. "Hey, Luka, did you know there was this one part of the video where Ia had to hold this chain," –Miku tugged at the aforementioned manacles, making Luka's heart skip ten beats— "and we had to stand reaaaaaallllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyy close?" Miku demonstrated by practically stepping into Ia's chest and handing Ia the chain, who then gripped it weakly. At this point, Luka was sure her eyes were popping out of her head, and her heart, after running a marathon, decided to burn with jealousy.
A vein throbbing in her forehead, Luka replied, "No, I did not know that." Miku still did not manage to notice Luka's newfound burning envy, but Ia did, so Ia nervously let go of the chain and backed away.
Attempting to alleviate Luka's anger, Ia said to Miku, "Don't you think that's enough info for now, Miku-san?"
Miku seemed to think otherwise. "No way," she said as if the idea was preposterous, flailing her arms for good measure. "We have to fill in all the fun details for Luka. By the way, Iacchi, I told you to drop the 'san,' already!"
Luka's eyes blazed. Drop the "san!" Drop the "san!" Drop the "san!" If Ia was uneasy before, she was outright panicking now. "I really think that's enough, Miku!"
A simple slip of the tongue.
As a famous philosopher once said, "Oh shit."
Luka's eyes flickered like the flames of hell. Ia visibly wilted. At this point, Miku dropped her demonstration, only to voice another idea with a cheerful grin. "Hey, let's watch the footage!"
"Yeah," Luka gritted out. "Let's."
Ia pressed her palms together and discovered many gods to pray to.
The trek to the camera crew took no time at all. Miku was still ignorant about the conflagration ready to see the world in flames masquerading as her girlfriend's eyes, and Ia was halfway through the pantheon of the Persian gods. After thanking the cameraman, Miku rolled back the video, humming her part of "Jekyll and Hyde." Ia had run out of gods to pray to, her multicolored eyes left to dart hysterically back and forth.
"Aha!" Miku exclaimed as the video started to roll. The video began with a mysterious piano riff and ominous smoke billowing. Then, Miku began singing in the video. Luka's fingers tapped impatiently on her arm, her mouth set on a grim line. Miku and Ia started singing together. Strongly. Strongly. Strongly. Luka's fingers started gripping her arm like a vice. Finally, Ia and Miku kissed. Luka's fingernails dug into her flesh, producing blood, and an angry purple mark formed around her wrist. With the final crescendo of the song, Luka's heart screamed in agony. The video ended with smoke, just like Luka's reason. "What did you think, Luka?"
Luka could barely hear those words. Blood flowed freely down her forearm in sanguine rivulets. Her eyes were heavy. Somehow, her stomach was frozen, but the trail of blood burned as it made its way down her flesh. She turned around. "I need to go to the restroom," she said as she dashed out, catching only a glimpse of Ia's mournful, apologetic look and Miku's surprised look.
As her legs pumped wildly against the ground, only the feeling of unadulterated pain registered in Luka's brain. She felt warm wetness on her face and briefly entertained the idea that her eyes were bleeding too. Her whole body trembled with lava and ice, and the beating of her heart rebounded against her rib cage. There was so much pain that the aching of her lungs and sore legs from physical exertion was miniscule. Shadows and doors flew across her periphery. Not caring where she ended up, Luka flew into a room and slammed the door behind her, before curling up into a fetal position and squeezing her eyes shut.
After a few heartbeats passed, Luka reached into her pocket and pulled out a notebook and pen. With shaking hands, she scrawled out the tiger clawing out her heart. Pages and pages were filled with sloppy loops and angles, intermixed with teardrop stains. Hours of minutes passed in the scratching of pen against paper and silent sobbing before footsteps could be heard outside. Luka knew that it was Miku. There was simply no one else that it could have been.
It was with that thought that Luka numbly realized that she was sitting with her back against the door of the sound room. Instinctively, her body had taken her to the place where she and Miku had recorded their first duet together, but it had neglected that this was also the same place where Miku and Ia had recorded their duet together. Foolishly, Luka hoped that Miku would skip this room in her search.
No such luck. "Luka, I know you're in there," Miku called. "Please let me in. Let's talk." Her voice trailed off, dripping in worry. Luka remained silent.
"Luka, you're not giving me an opportunaty to talk here," Miku said, and then paused. "I'm sorry, that was a really bad pun. Forgive me. That was really stupid. I'm stupid. Let's talk about why I'm stupid. Lukaaaaaaa!"
Luka cracked a small smile. There was never a time Miku wasn't cute. Even so, Luka couldn't bring herself to open the door, and her hand slid feebly down the doorframe.
From behind the door, Miku seemed to sober up. Her once flickering shadow became stationary. A little more quietly, she spoke again. "Luka," she whispered. Luka could hear and feel Miku's weight pressed on the door, sliding down to the floor. "I want to know what I did wrong. Was it the kiss? You know it wasn't real, right? Right?" There was another moment of silence. "I only love you, you know that, right?" A few choked sobs. "Luka, I'm scared."
Luka's eyes widened. The tears stopped falling. With shaky limbs, she climbed up and unsteadily turned the doorknob. Pulled the door. There was a loud creek that resounded and echoed in her mind. She looked down. And there was Miku, with her teal hair draped over her quivering form.
Instinctively, Luka embraced Miku and rubbed soothing circles on her back. It was all Miku could do to stop her hiccupping and stammered sentences. "It was—I didn't—I—I—sor-ry—Lu-ka, I'm so—sorry!" In response, Luka held Miku more closely and breathed in the faint scent of Miku's shampoo. Gradually, Miku stopped shaking, resting her head in the crook of Luka's neck.
Luka cleared her throat, and Miku looked up at her. Vaguely wiping at the tearstains on her face, Luka's voice cracked. "It's not your fault." She said with tried to clear her throat again, looking directly at Miku. "It's my fault for overreacting. I know that you would never cheat on me. My jealousy was stupid and selfish. That was really stupid. Selfish and stupid." Luka tangled her fingers in her own hair and ruffled it with frustration, closing her eyes and wanting to forget her stupid insecurities.
With that, Miku's eyes widened, and she shook her head vehemently. "No! It's definitely my fault," she declared. Miku's eyes started tearing up again. "I should have seen that you were uncomfortable. I should have noticed! It's perfectly normal for you to have been jealous. Oh God, I compared you two. And I kept doing it. And I—I—I-"
Luka silenced Miku with a kiss, and Miku returned it with fervor. When they separated, Luka leaned her forehead against Miku's. "I'm sorry for worrying you," she said lowly.
Miku's eyes were still closed as she shook her head again, this time more softly. "No, thank you for worrying me. You didn't bottle it up." She opened her eyes and offered a small smile. "Thank you for telling me how you really feel."
Luka let out a small chuckle. "Looks like all my secrets are out." She threw up her hands. "Looks like I can't be the 'dreamy and mysterious one!'"
Miku, relieved, replied, "Dream on, you were never mysterious, you big softie," She giggled and pinched Luka's cheek. "but you're plenty dreamy enough for me!" Luka laughed too and stood up, offering her hand to Miku, who took it gratefully and rose.
After dusting off her pants, Luka noticed some red stains on Miku's dress. Luka froze. "Umm, Miku?" she started.
"Yeah, Luka?" Miku replied.
"You kind of have some blood," Luka gestured at the dress. "right over there."
Miku waved it off. "Meh," she said. "The shoot's over for me, I think, so I don't think it matters too much." Luka sighed with relief. The two linked arms and walked back to the set room. "Hey, Luka," Miku started.
"Yeah, Miku?" Luka answered.
"The song was kind of about two sides of the same person," Miku said, looking at Luka's eyes. "I wanted to help Ia write out what she was feeling because we had both felt conflicted over love, you know? It wasn't about us being in love with each other, though. I'm sorry, the song wasn't very easy to understand."
Luka blushed, looking away. "I'm sorry for my embarrassing behavior. I didn't understand you well either…."
"Hey, don't worry!" Miku exclaimed. "The feeling was from a long time ago for me because I have you, Luka. With you I never have to feel conflicted because I know I love you with all my heart!"
Luka smiled warmly at Miku, still blushing. "I love you too," she said with confidence.
With that, Miku's previous energy seemed to be back, and she started to hum and skip, pulling Luka alongside her. It occurred to Luka that the flame was fluttering again, though it was no longer burning with jealousy. It wrapped around her from lips to tongue, flitting against her heart like the wings of a blue butterfly.
Omake:
Miku and Luka finally arrived in front of room 903, when Miku whirled around to face Luka. Miku grinned eagerly. "Hey, hey, Luka," she said bouncing up and down. "You know what I said about Iacchi being conflicted and in love and stuff?"
Luka sighed mentally. Miku's cute nickname for Ia would take some getting used to. Out loud, she said, "Yes, I remember."
"Wellllllll," Miku's grin grew into a mischievous smirk. "It turns out that the start of her feeling coincides with the arrival of a certain Yuzuki Yukari. You know what that means, right, Luka?" Miku was practically dancing now, and her smirk was begging for Luka to agree to her unspoken plan of playing matchmaker. However there was one slight problem.
Luka cocked her head to the side.
"Um, who's that?"