Hi! So I've been obsessed with Vocaloid songs recently, and I wanted to write a fic for it, but never really got to it since I haven't written or updated my other Naruto fics in so long. But one day, my friend and I saw an old lady beggar while we were on his car, and my friend happened to see an old man in the car behind us who was also staring at the old lady beggar. He even joked that maybe the "old man had fallen in love at first sight with the old lady". Then, I thought, "Hey, that's a great idea for a fic!" So…this happened. Haha, I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid, and this disclaimer holds for the rest of this fic.

Beauty in Rags

Chapter 1: When They First Met

The city of Osaka is a popular tourist spot, has lots of delicious Japanese food, and is home to many people who are well-off in society. However, this city also serves as a "home" to many people who don't have a house to go back to. Among these homeless people are two young women, who have supported each other ever since their parents were killed in the tuberculosis epidemic that spread among the homeless population four years ago.

Almost every day, the girls would try to make a living by singing on the streets. Many people have donated money to them, captivated by their voices, while others merely listened closely, and let themselves get lost in the two girls' beautiful harmony.

When I touched your wound, you were shaking slightly

Not knowing where to go, you were looking at the distant sky

It's not like I want the answer to the pain in my heart

As long as you're here I just need to fulfill my promise

Until the tears that are left fade away there's a sad shine

I embrace it very strongly, as if there's nothing to bear

The motionless feelings will go with the tomorrow we'll spend together

There is a thing that blocks that light, I will flick it away

The breaking world is now starting to show the meaning of "echo"

I make an oath in my heart to protect you, forever...

"Do you guys hear something?" A short haired brunette asked her friends.

"Yes, Meiko. It's a nice song," commented her pink haired companion.

A young blond man who had his hair tied in a small ponytail slightly raised his head and continued, "I hear it coming from over there." Saying so, he led the group to a park.

Once the group arrived, all of them were surprised to see two young women dressed only in thin, gray rags. One of them was petite and had short blond hair that was slightly dirtied. Her large blue eyes shone like the sunlight reflected ocean waves. The other girl was slightly taller and had long teal colored hair that flowed down her back, past her waist, to her knees, as if it was a waterfall. Her teal colored eyes sparkled with life, just like her partner's, even though their appearance was unsightly.

The group of friends, just like any other spectator, fell prey to their captivating voices and perfectly synchronized dance moves, and only snapped out of their dream-like states when the duo stopped singing and thanked the audience.

"Thank you for listening to our song, 'Promise'!" The teal haired girl spoke, and bowed together with the blond girl.

Many of the spectators took out their wallets and dropped coins ranging from 10 yen to 500 yen into the small cardboard boxes in the two girls' outstretched hands.

"Poor girls. I'm sure they're only around our age," the brunette in the group commented. She took out her wallet, searched through it and sighed, "I used up all of my money, thanks to you, stupid Kaito. How can you forget your wallet when you go out?"

The blue haired male beside her gave a guilty smile and held up the shopping bags he was holding. "Sorry Meiko, I'll definitely pay you back, but Gakupo also wanted me to buy his stuff for him too. If it was only my stuff, you wouldn't be broke. "

"Gakupo can't help it either, Kaito. You know he's on a trip to Kyoto for his Japanese History project," the pink haired girl defended as she looked through her wallet.

"Speaking of his trip, why didn't you go with him, Luka?" the younger blond boy asked as he slid out a 1000 yen bill from his wallet.

"I still have my college assignments to complete, Len," Luka answered. "It's summer break, but I still need to start working on my next project for Art History." She then fished out a 1000 yen bill and the group walked over to the two singers.

Luka placed her 1000 yen bill in Miku's box while Len put his bill in Rin's box. "You girls have lovely voices. I hope you will two keep singing with the same happiness as you did today," Luka complimented and patted the two girls' heads.

Len on the other hand stayed quiet and stared at the smaller girl. His own blue eyes piercing into the girl's equally blue orbs. "You're a good model."

The girl blinked and tilted her head in question. "Model?" she thought. Before she could ask him what he meant, him and the rest of the group had already started to leave.

"What if he's a scout or something, Rin?" The teal haired girl said excitedly. "Maybe he meant you could be a runway model or something!"

Rin shook her head. "That's impossible Miku. I'm basically all bones. Plus, he looks like he's the same age as I am."

Miku pouted. "Aw, I was wishing that a stroke of luck might hit us or something. Oh well, I'm happy we made a lot today!"

"I'm back," greeted Len after entering his dorm room.

"Hey, how was gathering info?" A silver haired male asked, not turning away from his laptop screen.

"I think I found a good model," Len answered.

"That's good. By the way, I think may I need a new cable to join my laptop to our TV," the silver haired male replied.

"Piko, why do you even need to connect them?" Len asked.

Piko turned around in his chair. "We can watch movies, anime, anything, through streaming and we wouldn't need to pay for cable. Well, we're not actually even allowed to install cable by ourselves, according to the rules. It's a win-win situation, Len."

"You and your love for technology," Len chuckled. "It's a great advantage though. I'm glad you're helping me with starting my own manga."

"You're hopeless with Photoshop and any other editing program, Len," Piko teased. "You should just stick to drawing by hand."

"That's what I love anyway," Len replied. He went over to his desk, where there was a sketchbook, opened it to a fresh page, and started to draw a rough sketch of the girl he saw today, whose eyes were as blue and as deep as the sea.

"Did you need me to go to the store with you, Piko?" Len sighed. Him and his roommate, Piko, were currently walking back to their dorm after Piko dragged Len to go to the electronics store with him. The silver haired male had spent an hour and a half searching for things he needed to tinker with the electronics he currently has. "I could've had tons of ideas for my manga right now," Len thought as he took a look at his watch. "It's already nine."

All of a sudden the two boys heard a shriek and at the same time, a girl was thrown on the sidewalk, out of an alleyway, with a seemingly drunk man staggering behind her. "What the…"Piko gasped. He and Len were about to stop the man when a small girl threw herself out of the alley and onto the man's back, putting a choke hold on his neck.

Len's eyes widened as he recognized the petite girl. "It's the girl from today," he muttered. He looked at the other girl on the ground and realized that it was the petite girl's companion.

The drunk man took a hold of Rin's collar and threw her harshly on the ground as well. "What are ya girls if not prostitutes, huh? Ya don't have any right to talk back, dirty beggars!" The drunk man drawled as he staggered towards the girls. Miku scrambled to Rin and helped her up. Before the drunk man could attack the girls again, Len took a hard drive out of Piko's bag and flung it at the man's head. The drunkard turned to Len and Piko. "Ya guys are scrawny. Lookin' for a fight, little boys?"

As the drunkard charged towards Len and Piko, Piko dodged sideways while Len aimed for the drunk man's feet and slid, making him fall. Using two long cables that he just bought, Piko swiftly tied the man's hands and feet tightly, rendering him harmless, then immediately knocked him out. His heterochromatic eyes searched for the hard drive that Len threw and saw that the small blond girl had picked it up.

The two girls walked towards them and bowed. "Thank you very much for saving us." When the two girls took a closer look at the boys, they recognized Len from earlier. Len warned, "You two shouldn't be out in a dark alleyway this late."

"We were just taking a shortcut to the convenience store," the blond girl replied in a small voice. She gently pushed Piko's now cracked hard drive into his chest, earning a thank you from the silver haired boy.

"We wanted to buy something for the others since they didn't have enough money to buy food," the tealette continued.

"Be careful next time though. You never know who else can attack," Piko warned.

The girls nodded. "Thank you." They then scurried off, past Piko and Len.

"She was the model I was talking about," Len said. "The blond girl."

"Ah, she was pretty cute," Piko commented. He glanced at his now unusable hard drive, then at the cables that were used to tie the now unconscious drunkard, then at Len. "You're coming with me to the store again." The blond boy sighed and went along with Piko's wish, since he was the one who threw the hard drive after all.

The next day, Len decided to go back to the place where he first heard the two girls in rags perform so that he could start working on creating his characters for his new manga. On the train, he bumped into his close friend, Kaito.

"Len, where were you going?" Kaito asked.

"I wanted to ask the blond performer yesterday if I could use her as a model," Len replied.

"For your manga?" Kaito asked, and Len nodded. The bluenette continued, "Those two sung really well together. I was going to see them perform one more time too."

Once they reached their destination, Kaito and Len made some small talk as they walked to where the two girls they saw the day before performed.

Just like the day before, there was a large crowd gathered where the girls were performing. They just finished their song when Len and Kaito arrived and were already collecting donations from the onlookers. Once the crowd dispersed, Kaito gave a friendly wave towards the girls as him and Len approached them. "Would you girls be interested in grabbing lunch with us? Our treat," Kaito offered. Len raised one of his eyebrows but decided to go along with Kaito.

The two girls looked at each other, then at Kaito and Len, and nodded simultaneously with the idea of a free lunch in mind. They went to a nearby restaurant and since the girls couldn't read the menu, Len ended up ordering for Rin and Kaito ordered for Miku. While waiting for their orders to arrive, they started talking. "So, what are your names?" Kaito asked. He pointed at himself and continued, "I'm Kaito Shion, and this, " he pointed at Len, "is Len Kagamine."

The teal haired girl spoke, "I'm Miku Hatsune." She then pointed at the blond girl, "And this is Rin Hatsune."

"You two are related?" Len asked.

"No. Rin just took my last name since her parents passed away first, and I basically think of her as my little sister," Miku replied. "Even though both our of parents are gone I think we've been doing pretty well earning money. I think if we keep it up, we'll be able to climb out of poverty!"

Kaito smiled and complimented, "You're pretty optimistic. It's cute, really."

Not used to being praised so openly, Miku gave him a dazzling smile and lightly blushed. "Thank you very much."

"Be careful of him, Hatsune-san," Len warned jokingly. "He may look nice but he actually works at a host club."

"Um, you can just call me Miku," the tealette responded.

"Hey Len, you shouldn't tell them that so easily," Kaito half-complained.

The blond boy chuckled then turned to Rin. "Rin, can I call you Rin?" The blond girl nodded and Len continued, "I would like to ask a favor. Right now, I'm trying to create a manga, and I would like to use you as a model for one of my characters. Would that be ok?"

"Oh, so that's what you meant by model," Rin realized. "The other day you mentioned something about a model too. I'd be happy to be your model, Len."

"Great! Do you two perform at that park every day? Since you don't have cell phones I guess it'd be best to come and meet you if I wanted to talk about my manga," Len suggested.

"That's fine with me," Rin agreed, happy that she could help out the person who got her and Miku out of trouble.

"I would also like to ask you girls something," Kaito said. "I'm a first year student at Osaka University majoring in Musicology and Theater Studies, and I thought that you two sung very well. I can tell, even though I only heard the last few lines of your song. So, I would like to ask you two if you were interested in auditioning for a chance to debut as idols."

Miku's and Rin's eyes widened and both girls' smiles widened. Miku immediately nodded her head yes multiple times while Rin just stared at Kaito in awe. A few seconds later, the waitress arrived with their food. Kaito continued, "I'll get back to you with the details later."

Rin slurped her Udon noodles and almost immediately Len could see her eyes literally sparkle. "Is this your first time eating Udon noodles, Rin?" Len asked.

Rin nodded. "Miku and I could only afford instant ramen and bentos from the convenience stores since we grew up on the streets. I've never tasted anything from a restaurant. This is really good!" Rin squealed excitedly.

Miku on the other hand hadn't started eating yet. Instead, she was poking at the yellow folded omelet with her spoon. "Kaito-san what did you order?" she asked.

"It's called Omelet Rice," Kaito replied. "Inside the folded omelet, there's fried rice."

Miku tore the omelet open and sure enough, there was rice inside. She scooped the rice with a part of the omelet and put it in her mouth. Just like Rin, her expression lit up. "The egg's fluffy! And the rice is delicious! Nothing like the rice in the instant bentos we always eat," Miku rambled.

The girls finished devouring their food in a few minutes while the boys took much longer to finish. Rin and Miku thanked the boys for their treat and once they finished paying, Kaito glanced at his phone and said he had to go since he had something to do with Meiko. Rin and Miku were about to leave as well, when Len grabbed Rin's wrist. "Is it ok if I borrow her for a while longer?" He asked Miku.

She just nodded happily and said, "You can borrow her for as long as you want. I'm going to walk around for a little while." She then happily skipped out of the restaurant. Despite wearing torn clothing and having long, dirtied hair, Miku shone with happiness as she exited the restaurant, drawing stares from the people around.

"She's always like that," Rin said. "Her happiness is infectious. I'm glad she was always by my side all these years."

"You're quite happy yourself," Len commented.

"There were times when I almost gave up trying to even live on, but Miku was the one who supported me and got me up every time I feel down. I'm kind of jealous of her ability to always cheer people up," Rin admitted.

"You have quite the sunny personality yourself," Len complimented.

"Haha, not really. I'm as happy as the next person on the streets," Rin said.

Len stared into Rin's blue orbs, as if he was analyzing her personality. They say eyes are the window to your soul, and Len definitely saw the years of wear and tear that the young girl had to go through in order to survive the harsh outside world. The strength and pain that was evident in her eyes made Len want to know more about her so that he could have a better grasp on her personality for his manga character. But more than that, he wanted to help her; he wanted to show her the world that normal, middle-class teenagers experience. He then reached for a napkin, asked a waitress for a pen, and started writing down his cell phone number.

"If you ever feel like talking, or if you ever run into an emergency, use a nearby public phone and call me," Len offered. He slid the napkin on the table towards Rin.

The blond girl picked it up and said, "You're very nice."

"Not really. I'm also using you as a model so it's fair that I give you something in return," Len replied.

"Thank you very much," Rin thanked. "I think I should get going now. I've taken up a lot of your time."

"No worries," Len said. "I look forward to working with you." He then stood up from his chair and bowed.

Rin scrambled to get up and bowed as well. "Me too. I hope to help you in any way I can with your manga."

So, here's the first chapter! I've already thought about what pairings I want in this fic, and I've also already decided on what pairings will be endgame. I've already hinted in this chapter that Gakupo and Luka are dating, but what about Rin, Miku, Len, Kaito, Meiko, and Piko? Since I've already decided on the pairs, I hope everyone will stick with me and read through until the very end, even if the pairs may not be to everyone's liking.

Please review! They make me feel motivated! :D