"Living on my own is fun." Miku said right outside of their quaint pink-painted building. "It's a little scary I guess. And a little lonely. But it's like going on an adventure! I get to do anything I want, first of all."
Luka nodded, noticing that Miku was quite talkative and had taken off into a ramble.
"Don't you think so, Luka?" Miku asked, poking at her friend's jacket-covered shoulder.
"It's... okay." Luka said, unenthusiastically. She thought living alone was scary and lonely just as Miku had said. Except to her, not as fun.
As they entered the lobby of Seabreeze's north apartment building, the two were greeted by a familiar fresh smell.
They took it in... a dry, succulent, lightly seasoned scent. The very distinct scent of...
"Negitoro!" they eyed and beamed in unison.
In the corner of the lobby, a man with straight blond hair stood behind a stand, handing out extra-fresh samples of the splendidly rich raw fish. The tuna was wrapped up in cylindrical rolls with sticky white rice, lush salted seaweed, and the perfect flavorful topping of emerald-green leek.
"Free negitoro samples!" Miku cheered, feeling sparks run through her.
"I certainly want more!" Luka chimed in, enchanted by the aura of mouthwatering tuna lingering all around the cheerfully-lit lobby.
The two raced over to the corner with blissfully goofy smiles on their rosy, flowery faces. They smiled wide at the sampler man, politely and elatedly took their negitoro sample, stood at the corner together and gobbled it up.
All four flavors melded together and spread out across their tastebuds in the most divine of sweet, sweet harmonies. The deluxe flavor lingered in their senses and was begging them, beseeching for them to eat more.
"That was great..." Miku waltzed around the floor in dizzy euphoria, "But I want moooooooore!"
"Me too!" Luka moaned, her mouth still watering. "But we probably can only take one free sample each."
"Aaaaaah!" Both girls romped around the floor as if they were being tickled by angels.
After a bout of thinking, Luka talked again.
"I have an idea. Miku... I'm going to get us more."
"Hm?" Miku, with her wide aqua eyes resembling two globes, eyed her taller friend curiously.
Luka bashfully took a pair of dark sunglasses out of her pocket and slid them onto her slender face. She took the hair tie around her wrist and tied her long salmon-colored hair into a bun. Miku thought instinctively that Luka's hair bun resembled one of those cooked salmon buns.
"Miku, if you switch your jacket with mine, I'll look different enough." Luka said, in a sudden serious flat tone. "I will disguise as a different person to get us more negitoro."
Miku eyed her friend in bewilderment.
"Wow..." she thought. "This girl would do anything for negitoro." she said.
"Okay, I approve of this plan!" Miku, bursting into a fit of quiet giggles, slipped off her jacket and handed it to Luka.
A smile spread on the small girl's lips. "I've found my partner-in-crime! Go Luka!"
Luka lifted her sunglasses down and gave Miku a sly, corresponding grin.
"Wow..." Miku blushed for just a second. "She... looked so cool."
Luka, in a fashion most unlike the way she first danced up to get her sushi, was now walking sleekly up to the stand with a completely different spicy attitude.
She immediately looked like a completely different person, plus the sunglasses his her face and her conspicuously icy eyes as well.
"Hello." Luka tilted her sunglasses a tiny crack, seductively eyeing the man at the stand with an attitude her normal persona had nowhere inside of her. She wanted to make a hundred percent sure that she was passing as somebody different.
"Haven't... I seen you before?" the man asked, his blond eyebrows lifting up.
Luka shook her head nonchalantly and tilted the sunglasses again. She lowered her voice to a husky, womanly octave.
"I reckon you have mistaken me for someone?"
She curved her body and leaned her hip against the wall as she brushed her forehead with her slender, black, gloved fingers.
"Mm... looks delicious. Mind giving me a sample of that?"
Miku's eyes expanded as she watched as how Luka was acting. She had acting skills! Her entire aura had changed and Miku was now unsure that the sexy dynamite at the stand was even her friend, Luka.
"Luka can sing, but... now she can act?" her cheeks turned red.
Once Luka recieved her negitoro, she ran back and gave two to Miku, and two for herself.
Luka bit into hers seductively... and once she was sure that the man at the stand wasn't looking, she ripped off her sunglasses, gave Miku a cheerful smile, and at an instant returned back to her normal self.
"I managed to charm him." Luka said, her cheeks turning pink. "I said I was going to give one to my friend, and he gave me four!"
Miku burst into squeaky laughter and pat her friends shoulder.
"Great job, Luka!"
The two gobbled up their delicious negitoro the same way, and yet they still yearned for even more of it.
"Luka, I almost forgot to show you the secret box of disguises!" Miku said, looking into the corner.
In the other corner of the lobby, behind a grand piano, was a spotty polka-dotty big box of dreams. Or it looked something like that. It said "Dress Up" in a bright colorful font and letters.
"It's just a dress-up box. I donated it to the lobby so that kids can play dress-up down here! I'm sure we can get lots more negitoro with all the disguises we can pull off with it..."
So and therefore, the two friends then disguised themselves many times, each time getting a negitoro each until they were both full.
Miku wore a baker's hat, a mustache, and a apron, becoming a chef. At the stand, she put on a act and said she was going to critique the negitoro. After she critiqued it as "absolutely positively magically delicious and the enchanting flavor just melts in my mouth and aaaah", she gained more free samples as a thank-you gift. (She shared them with Luka and gobbled them up again.)
Luka put on a pirate's cap, an eyepatch, and a ripped dress, becoming a pirate. She told the man that she (shiver me timbers!) was sailing the seven seas (aargh!) in search of a(n aargh!) tuna, but with no luck. Out of pity (and intimidation) for the poor pink-haired pirate, the man gave her half the plate of samples (which she shared with Miku and inhaled them as if they were vacuums. Though of course they also savored the flavor.)
Eventually, the two were almost full, and they also had only one set of disguises left.
"There's 3D glasses, a bunny mask, a maid outfit..." Miku pondered through the pile.
"I have no idea what we're going to do with these." Luka said, lifting up a hamburger hat.
Eventually, they decided on their master plan.
"We are the bunny gangsters!" Miku and Luka yelled in unison as they did dynamic jumps all the way to the sample stand. They were wearing the most ridiculous clothes in the universe, but that only made them look much more intimidating, right?
Miku, with an angry expression drawn on her bunny mask, pulled a pink star wand out from her pocket, pointing it directly at the man's face. She pressed the button in the middle and the wand made a silly sparkly sound.
"Give us all of your negitoro." she brooded, in the most intimidating tone she could pull off. (which was oddly very intimidating for someone like Miku.)
Luka was in the background wearing a maid outfit and with a hamburger hat on her head, howling in the background to increase the tension.
"You guys are scaring me..." The man's eyes began twitching. "What's with all these kids I've seen today begging for negitoro?"
The guy became more and more irritable until he growled aloud.
"I SURRENDER ALL THE NEGITORO!" he stuck his hands up in the air and dashed away, leaving behind an entire plate full of the succulent treats.
Miku and Luka eyed each other, eyed the negitoro, and began to eat it.
"I feel a little guilty." whispered Miku.
Luka nodded solemnly.
"Negitoro... it's the best." Miku said softly. "But we got a little carried away..."
"And we look silly." Luka added. She took the hamburger cap off her head.
Both girls sighed.
"Maybe we'll leave him a tip." Miku said.
"Good idea." Luka slowly nodded.
A combined amount of eight dollars out of the wallets of both felt like a sufficient enough apology.
"But we did make a funny memory. You are a great partner in crime, Luka." Miku said, once they walked out of the lobby and up the stairs.
Since Miku's room was only on the third floor, they decided they could simply take the steps. It was also an exercise to walk off all of the sushi they had eaten that day.
"I live on the eighth floor of the building." Luka said, with a shiver crawling through her.
"The eighth floor... is uncomfortable. The paint peels and everything is grey... the corners creak and are dusty with age and I feel the shaking of the building in the wind. Especially at night, the eighth floor is scary."
"Aww... Luka, are you afraid of the eighth floor?" Miku sympathetically said.
Luka bashfully nodded.
"It's childish of me, I know." She muttered, her tall body slumping a bit.
Miku shook her head.
"I do not think its childish! I'm sorry you had to move in the eighth floor! I'll always be happy to keep you company if being alone up there becomes unsettling. Always remember, we're living in the same building!" Miku smiled.
Luka smiled back and slipped her hand in Miku's.
"We're almost at my room."
They had finished climbing up the stairwells and were walking through floor three's cozy, turquoise-carpeted hallsーa significant difference from the eighth floor's unsettling air.
Miku pulled out her keys, and on room 308 she unlocked the door and had Luka step inside.
Miku's room wafted with a comforting feeling. The interior glowed with warm colors and felt as if it contained the company of more than just one person. But it was Miku's room which she lived alone in. It had a nice flowery scent of a well-kept home.
Luka stepped inside, feeling already welcome. A small grey animal was soon at her feet, making her flinch a bit in surprise. It looked at her with its big black eyes and twitched its fuzzy little nose.
"Oh, Luka. That's my rabbit, Mimiko!" Miku kneeled down to the blue carpet to pet the bunny as it cuddled up to her gentle hand and closed its small eyes.
"She's friendly. You should try petting her."
Luka kneeled a bit timidly, took her hand gently and apprehensively stroked the rabbit's fur. It was soft and fluffy and Luka soon couldn't stop feeling it. She was petting a real-live animal. It made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"She's soft, huh?"
Luka only blushed and didn't respond. For almost a minute, with Miku watching with a smile the whole time, she pet and pet Mimiko. The bunny began to curl up and squeak softly, closing its little eyes.
"I think she likes you, Luka." Miku said.
Luka became a little embarrassed, yet she smiled and kept petting the rabbit with her kind expression.
Mimiko suddenly jolted up and began spinning around the floor on her little bunny feet. Luka was startled.
"That's just Mimi's way of showing she's happy!" Miku said. "Mimiko, this is my new friend, Luka."
Mimiko continued to prance around the floor as Luka watched it.
"Come on Luka, let me show you my special magical room."
Miku took the rabbit, patted her, and lifted her back into her large cage.
Across from Miku's rather normal-looking living room was a whole other world... Miku led Luka there, and the place mesmerized her. It looked like a studio, complete with a karaoke machine with lights, microphones, and a large stereo. It was hooked up to a TV screen, implying that one would be able to record right onto the TV. Not to mention, there was another spotty-polka-dotty-big-box-of-dreams in the corner, larger than the one in the lobby. Miku must really love to dress up!
"Luka!" Miku called her name as she was looking around bewildered. "You want to meet the rest of my friends? Well, I got a video mail from back home right before I was leaving to go to the restaurant... I was going to watch it right when I got back. So... want to watch it with me? You'd get to meet my friends from back home!"
Luka, feeling intrigued, nodded.
Miku put the video into her TV screen, and the video started playing. The background was a autumn-colored backyard lined with tall trees. Three girls appeared on the screen and started waving.
"Hello, Miku!" They sang in unison, smiling.
One of the girls had wavy verdant hair almost resembling twisting vines. She was in the middle, with a bright smile and a lush green dress draped over her tanned body.
The tallest of the three stood at the right. Her hair was shockingly white like snow, held back in a low ponytail. Her clothes were rather slack and casual and her smile was welcoming, yet coy.
The smallest of the three had sunshine-yellow hair, cut short. Her clothes were cute and her orange hoodie had a little yellow chick printed on it. Her smile looked sweet yet feisty.
"Luka, those are my friends, Gumi, Haku and Rin!" she said, pointing to them respectively, in order.
"Miku, how are you doing?" Gumi asked.
"I'm doing great!" Miku talked back to the video, even though she knew they wouldn't be able to hear her.
"We really miss you, Miku! I hope you're doing great!" Haku waved.
"Miku, I have funny news for you!" Rin said. "We were watching Finding Memo together and Haku started crying at it!"
"Oh, Rin... Oh, Haku." Miku commented.
"Rin, that isn't funny! That movie was sad!" shy Haku suddenly snapped and ran to the small girl as she chuckled and ran off screen.
"Heh..." Gumi was now alone in the center, awkwardly laughing. "As you can see, we all miss you and everything's been keeping up the way it has. And, wait..."
Gumi lifted up a white cat to the camera.
"Snowbell misses you!"
Meow! The kitten mewed.
"That's Haku's cat." Miku mentioned to Luka.
Haku and Rin ran back on screen, and Gumi lifted the kitten back into Haku's arms where it comfortably was held.
Gumi showed Miku one of her new drawings, and Haku recited a poem she wrote about autumn. Rin showed Miku a new dance she came up with.
"You and your friends are so talented, Miku..." Luka mentioned.
"Goodbye Miku!" Everyone waved at the camera and Miku said good-bye right back at the screen. The video faded away and ended.
"Oh..." Luka mumbled to herself.
"Hm? What's wrong?" Miku eyed Luka.
"Me... I didn't have any friends back at home." Luka started saying, out of her train of thought. "It started when I was little. I was quiet and very shy because people teased me. I never broke out of my shell, not even now..."
"Aww..." Miku inched up to Luka and gave her a hug, sending soothing chills down Luka's spine.
"Luka, I'm here now! Miku's here always, you don't need to be alone anymore."
"Miku... thanks." Luka felt a small bit emotional.
She just realized now that Miku had removed her brown headband and stuck bunny ears on her during the time she hugged her. She blushed once she noticed they were on her head.
"You remind me of a bunny, Luka." Miku said, hugging her in a gentle embrace. She stroked her long soft hair.
Bashful Luka wanted to wriggle free from Miku's grasp, but it felt strangely soothing and really comfy.
"Bunny Luka." Miku cuddled close to her. She was warm.
"We just met today... didn't we?" Luka was turning red from embarrassment yet she strangely couldn't break free from Miku.
"And why would I remind her of a bunny anyway?" Luka thought. "I'm not small and I'm not cute. But... Miku is."
Luka found herself giggling a tiny bit.
"You remind me of a bunny too, Miku." she said, rubbing her cheek on Miku's shoulder.
"Heehee... aaaah, eating negitoro makes me sleepy..." Miku squeaked. "Lukaaa, let's take a bunny nap together... Lukaaaaa."
Miku's eyes were fluttering shut and her grip loosened,
"But Miku, I'm not tired..." Luka said.
"Aw, it's okay. I can stay up... I think." Miku let go of Luka and sat up straight. "Oof..."
"Miku, I have an idea..." Luka said.
"Hm?"
"Maybe... your friends can meet me? We could send a video mail back to them. You have a lot of recording equipment, right?"
"Yeah!" Miku cheered. "We can show them Negitoro! I mean our duo of you and I! Quick, maybe we'll come up with our first single and send it to them!"
"But I... a simple hello will be enough." Luka negotiated.
"Come on Luka! They showed us a fancy video filled with dancing and art, we should make a video showing our talents... and YOUR talent, Luka! Plus, you looked really cute in the maid outfit, so you could wear that in the video!"
"But I..."
"Come on Luka, let's write Negitoro's first single! You seem like someone who'd be good at songwriting!"
"But Miku... really, I'm not..."
Luka felt overwhelmed by Miku's spontaneousness, yet she felt that they were already becoming best friends.