Author's Note: An exercise in writing dialogue which I did not expect to turn somewhat fluffy in the process. It's about time I write a fic about these two.

Pairings Included: Miku/Kaito (though it seems more platonic than romantic)

This takes place in the same universe as my other one-shots "Labyrinth" and "The Cat's Fugue", but that's not vitally important. At least, not right now... *laughs evilly*

"Do you fear death?" Kaito asked the girl beside him, breaking the silence of the sunny afternoon.

Miku nearly choked on her chocolate ice cream. "What kind of a question is that?"

"It's still a question," he murmured, working on his own vanilla.

Miku stretched, leaning back against the tree they were both sitting under. Her eyes closed. "How did we get from Vivaldi to death again?"

Kaito shrugged.

The next few seconds were silent between the two of them, with only the sound of the wind whooshing around them for company. The branches of the tree rustled, sending a few leaves spinning to the ground.

Kaito looked up at her again. "So, do you?"

"Doesn't everyone?"

"Maybe, but..." Kaito stopped to think. "I thought it would be kind of different for us, being Vocaloids and all..."

Miku glanced at him, worryingly. "Is this about that V3 girl?"

"No," Kaito answered immediately. He thought again. "Yes..." With a deep sigh, he resigned himself to uncertainty. "Maybe…"

Noticing the look on her face, he quickly added, "But I heard from Mei-chan that Master said she was going to be fine. He's preparing a new bank for her right now."

Miku's eyes lit up. "Really? That's great! SeeU-chan told me that everyone was so worried. Does anyone else know yet? I can't wait to-"

"Your ice cream's melting."

"Eeep!" Miku rushed to lap up the ice cream that was now dripping all over her fingers. Kaito chuckled, and looked off into the distance again.

After she managed to get the sticky mess under control, she noticed that he had gone unusually silent. Hesitantly, she asked, "Why are you so interested in death all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Kaito shook his head, trying to snap out of his mini-trance. "She came as close to death as the three of us did six years ago. Don't you remember?"

Miku shuddered, memories of fear and panic close to flooding her mind. "Yeah, but we lived, didn't we?"

"We also thought it would never happen again. Master swore that to us himself." Kaito's expression darkened, before a sad look overtook his face. He sighed and leaned back right next to the girl.

"Just think, Miku. If one of us dies, what's stopping those humans from uninstalling anyone else? What if they decide one of us is no longer useful, or desirable? What if they decide to get rid of the failu-"

"Kaito, stop." Miku sat up again, giving him a hard glare. "Master wouldn't allow it. Mei-chan wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't allow it." Her eyes softened. "There's still no way I'm letting them take you, or anyone else away."

Another bout of silence, until Kaito pulled her into a hug. "Thank you..."

Miku involuntary closed her eyes, nuzzling into his warm chest. Eventually, Kaito pulled away, staring at his hand. "Huh, now my ice cream's melting." Miku giggled and started on her own ice cream again while he tried to clean it up.

A minute later, Kaito mused out loud, "What happens when a Vocaloid dies anyway?"

"Well, we know his systems are shut down," Miku started. "And then... I don't know..."

"Do you believe in an afterlife, Miku?"

"A lot of humans have asked that question too, and I don't think they've figured it out."

"But do you believe in one?"

Miku stared at the half-eaten cone as she rolled it between her fingers. "I don't know. Don't you need a soul for that?"

"So now the question becomes whether or not we have souls." Kaito had nearly finished his and was now chewing on the tip thoughtfully.

Miku sighed. "That's an even harder question."

"I guess Master tried his best to make one out of circuit boards and transistors."

"Does that even count?"

"I can't exactly call you "soulless" can I?" Kaito grinned at her.

"Good point."

"So maybe, somewhere, there's an afterlife out there that accepts artificial souls. Maybe that's where we go." Kaito smiled blissfully. "That would be nice."

Miku finally licked the remnants of the ice cream cone off her fingers. "Anyway, it's too nice of an afternoon to be talking about these kinds of things. All this talk about death gets depressing." Miku said, looking up one more at the clouds, just as she had been doing before he had brought the question up in the first place.

Kaito stood up. "I'm getting more ice cream."

Miku stared. "But didn't we just eat some?"

He smiled. "I know, but why not? It's a warm day, and we have the rest of it to ourselves, for once." He extended a hand down to her. "Join me?"

Miku thought for a moment, and then took it, smiling back at him.

"Sure."

fin.