Disclaimer: The Vocaloids featured in this story obviously do not belong to me. They belong to their rightful owners which includes Zero-G and Voctro Labs.

Notes/Comment: I really hope this story won't get cheesy and the pacing isn't too slow or too fast. Then again, I'm okay with the pacing being a bit on the "slow" side. Rushing the plot could ruin it.

I guess. Maybe.

By the way, the information I brought up in the previous chapter's "notes/comment" thing may not be accurate at all; so, if it's not...uh...well..."AU where Clara, Bruno, and Tonio got to meet because they were all under development at the same time"? I don't know.

Getting to know you.

"So, where are you from?" Clara asked the man beside her on the rather comfy couch. "You have an English accent, but...it sounds like it's mixed with something else when you say certain words."

It had been a mere five minutes after the trio met one another with two of them being practically lured by Tonio's singing from within the walls of this suite. Bruno offered to order something to eat and drink in the meanwhile as Clara and Tonio had time to get to know each other as well.

"I'm from Italy," was Tonio's response. "I was born and raised there; however, I moved to the United Kingdom to reside for a year. Are you, upon a guess, Spanish?"

"Sure am! Say, how long have you been here at this hotel?"
"Just arrived. This is my first time being on my own, also."

She quirked a brow. Interesting...perhaps Tonio was younger than she had assumed he was. He looked - well, not hesitant but - cautious with a hint of innocence. Maybe Tonio was from a family and once he was recruited into the Vocaloid family, he moved out as some sort of deal. Wow, poor Tonio.

Tonio's eyebrows scrunched at how Clara began to think and place her hand into the palm of her hand. What could she be wondering about? Was it something he said? He admit, Tonio wasn't the best with social interactions; so, he could've said something he shouldn't have...

"Clara?"
"Huh, what is it?"
"Did I say something that bothered you?"

"Ah, no," Clara assured him, "I was just thinking about what you said. Sorry if I worried you about something."

"Oh, alright..." He sat back against his seat with his hands moving to his lap. "So," he decided to change the subject as he questioned her, "What were you doing prior to coming here?"

A small grin came to her face. "College," was her response, then further explained, "we both were finishing our classes at a college in Madrid before Voctro called us out and brought us here. How about you, Tony?"

'Tony?' Tonio repeated the nickname in his head. "I honestly..." he paused once he suddenly ran into a mental roadblock. Good Lord, that was a good question for him. He honestly couldn't remember what he had been doing before arriving at this lovely hotel. It was as though every single thing he would do, he'd forget his steps momentarily! He must have had an attention problem, a memory problem, or something even serious...

In fact, the only time he would remember things was through certain opera songs: "Una furtiva lagrima" and "Con te partirò". Perhaps he could try telling Clara his life with the assistance of the photos which played within his mind during the songs that played.

"I honestly," he started again, "didn't do much. I was attending a school that focused entirely on opera."

"Really? Sounds cool. What was it like?"
"Interesting. The teacher seemed to favour me; although, I can't be entirely sure if it was my imagination or not."

"Considering how you sounded when Bruno and I came inside," she replied, "I'll bet that you imagining your teacher liking you is definitely false. The fans are gonna love you at this rate!"

The compliment...God, why did it have to make his cheeks and ears burn a deep shade of cherry?

"Hey, also..." Clara decided to add in as a way to cause Tonio to warm up to her, "I took an opera workshop on the side. Opera's a pretty difficult genre to master! Was it easy for you?"

"Yes," he immediately responded. Opera came rather easy to him, but he couldn't master other musical genres such as pop for some reason.

"Ever heard of Andrea Bocelli?"
"I...yes? Why?"
"I'll bet you'd sound great doing a duet with him. Two, strong tenors singing together passionately in Italian!"

Tonio felt a tiny smile creep onto his face. "What makes you believe that, Clara?"

She simply shrugged. "I don't know. I just think you'd sound nice with someone within your range instead of a soprano."

"If you say so."
"Yeah, I say so."

Bruno came back from one of the rooms to the left of the deluxe suite, telling the other two Vocaloids, "The stuff should be here within an hour or so."

"Great!" The Spanish woman stood with her hands clasping together. "Hey, I'm gonna grab some ice just in case we need any for later. Be right back."

"Oh, uh...okay, Clara-belle."

Clara tried not to flinch at the nickname as she grabbed the ice bucket off the kitchen counter. Yes, alright...her hand did twitch in mid-air whilst she reached for the bucket, but showed no other obvious signs besides that action. She walked towards the door, opened it, then she said over her shoulder, "Don't get too wild for Tonio while I'm out, Bru-Bru."

Having the feeling that Tonio was raising a brow over at him upon hearing the nickname, Bruno coughed into a closed fist. "I won't."

The door closed once Clara left Tonio and Bruno by themselves.

Bruno took the spot which his friend formally sat on. "So, where were you before you came here?"

"I was in Italy for as long as I could remember, but I had to move to the United Kingdom last year," he answered the same question without feeling annoyed.

A smile came to his face at the reply. "Did you study opera or something while you were there, or is it all come naturally to you?"

'I hardly remember much of myself beyond a year ago, so I'm not sure,' was a thought which came to Tonio's mind. What a pain in the arse to have a horribly memory span. "A bit of both," he instead told the man beside him. "I was an opera student and learnt a bit on my own."

The smile on Bruno's face never went away and, instead, widened. "I should've guessed. You know, Tonio..." he confessed, as embarrassed as he felt admitting it, "I used to listen to some of the songs that had you in them and thought you sounded great...so much so that I wound up listening to you once in a while."

Tonio felt his ears and cheeks heat thanks to Bruno's compliment. "You think I sound 'great'?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I-I mean," he quickly added, "we were given these demos of how you and the other Vocaloids sound like while we were still in college. I've got to listen to...all of you, but I thought you sounded the best." He noticed the blush on Tonio's face remained and soon found himself blushing from his own embarrassment. Hopefully, Tonio didn't think he was trying to subtly flirt with him.

They glanced away from each other, both men feeling a little awkward for whatever reason or reasons that ran through their minds.

With the clicking of the door being unlocked, Clara returned, lightly swinging a filled bucket of ice. She instantly saw the two Vocaloids with their eyes glancing from each other while blushing heavily.

"Oh come on," Clara spoke up, breaking the brief silence, "I was only gone for a few minutes, Bru. What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Bruno cried out to her.

"You guys are blushing, though. Pretty sure it wasn't 'nothing' that caused it."
"..."

"He was simply..." Tonio got out of his seat, explaining for the two of them, "complimenting on my singing capabilities and how he listened to it once in a while."

She raised a brow, then she shot a small grin at her friend. Oh-so-subtly, Clara said, "I see. I know I've said this earlier when we first met you, but I think you're pretty awesome at singing. You'll kick the asses of the opera-wannabe Vocaloids since you know what you're singing!"

The red in his face deepened as he turned his head from the Spanish woman, grumbling in reply, "I-I...thank you, Clara."

Tonio suddenly excused himself, claiming he was going to take a shower. He went to fetch his suitcase, then he retreated into one of the bathrooms without another word to say to either Spanish Vocaloids. Clara let out a small chuckle while Bruno sighed and laid back against the couch as the red in his cheeks faded.

"Blew it, Bru."
"You're not making me feel better, Clara-belle."

She joined him on the couch and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Sorry."

He huffed.

"...Clara?"
"Yeah?"
"I think Tonio's shy, either that or this is the first time he's ever been complimented in his life."

"I have a feeling it's both," she answered with a shrug. "What do you think of him so far?"

He thought for a few seconds until he smiled. "He seems nice. You?"

"Pretty cute. He looks pretty sophisticated and blushes at the simplest of things!"
"You think...if we ask to hear him sing, he'd get embarrassed again?"

Clara took a moment to think. Her eyes glanced about the room while water running could be heard from the bathroom, followed by the sliding of a curtain opening and closing. Finally, she responded, "He might, but maybe we'll hear him when he's by himself. Remember? He was singing to himself just as we got here. He must like singing when nobody's looking..."

Bruno hummed in thought, his blue eyes wandering over to the bathroom door. "That could be it..."

A knock came at the suite's door.

"I'll get it," Bruno told Clara before she had a chance to get up.

Clara watched his retreating back as a lazy grin came to her face. Well, Bruno got the chance to meet a guy he couldn't seem to get enough of; especially during the time they stayed at their little apartment back in Madrid as college students. What a nerd he was...

Hello, Bruno and Clara!

From all of us, we're hope you are doing well as you're continuing on with college. By our estimates as of 2009, we may be able to have you two finished with development while you complete your last semester. Of course, timing could change if we need to tweak anything.

Also, thank you for recording and sending the files for us to study in order to figure out if either of you need to come by and let us adjust anything. Oh, and please don't worry about only having a plain USB microphone, it should be good enough!

Anyway, we're contacting the two of you today because we wanted to know if you're doing okay. Please let us know if you need assistance with college needs.

Plus, we've added an attachment below containing MP3 files of each Vocaloid in case you wanted to hear how they sound. We've chosen the best of each one in order to show them in their best. Note: One or two files contain a demo of a currently unreleased Vocaloid named Tonio. There's a possibility that you'll meet him soon; although we're not sure how soon it could be.

We will talk to you soon. Have a nice day!

Sincerely,
Voctro Labs

A yawn and the sound of bare feet hitting the wooden floor of the apartment was what caused Clara to look over her shoulder to see Bruno in boxers and a tank top with bed hair. She let the attachment on her slick black laptop download as she greeted her university buddy with a grin.

"Good morning, sleepyhead We've got a message from Voctro again."

With still half-lidded eyes, Bruno plopped into a seat next to her at the kitchen table. "What?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Check the email and the attachment when it's done downloading. I'll get breakfast out."
"Mngh."

Clara slid out of her seat, leaving the sleepy Spanish man to stare blankly at the laptop screen while she warmed up their breakfast in the miniature microwave. She heard him groan and shift about in his seat, then a few clicks were heard. Bruno must have been scrolling through the e-mail, followed by him clicking around on the laptop to find the files they were sent.

Glancing over at her shoulder, she asked, "So, what is it?"

He squinted his eyes whilst reaching a hand to rub at an eye, replying, "MP3 files..."

"Ohh, so that's what the e-mail talked about."
"Did you want me to try one of them?"
"Sure."
"Just sit there and I'll get our drinks and stuff."

Bruno nodded, listening to her instructions. In the alphabetical order they were in, the music files played as Clara did what she needed to whilst Bruno slowly snapped out of his sleepy state. Waking up at seven in the morning was the worst for him, honestly...it was inhumane; after all, sleeping into the early afternoon was the best...

...according to Bruno, anyway.

Later on, the air in the kitchen was filled with the scent of a strong espresso, something which completed Bruno's process of awaking all the way as a Vocaloid named Sonika started her song.

With a chuckle, Clara said over her shoulder, "Cute. Sonika sounds pretty young..."

"She's probably fourteen or fifteen," Bruno guessed.

"Hey, Bru...move the laptop to the middle of the table. I'm bringing the drinks over."

He carefully lifted the computer and sat it down while the cheerful pop music - and equally cheerful singer - continued playing. Seconds after he moved the computer, Clara placed the two cups of espresso then the matching bowls of warm oatmeal sat beside the cups. They two ate in silence as they listened through the rest of the song featuring Sonika.

"If I had to match voice with personalities," Clara commented once the music ended, "Sonika probably gets along easily with Miku. They're both cute in tone and seem to sound nice singing pop music."

"Next file?"
"Sure. It's Tonio, right?"
"Yeah."

With a double-click on the file "Una furtiva lagrima (Vocaloid2 Tonio)", the two went back to eating and drinking. At first, there was silence; however, an orchestra slowly beginning to play as an introduction occurred. Clara sat up a little in her seat, sitting her espresso down.

"Una furtiva lagrima?"

Bruno glanced at her with a raised brow. "Is that a popular song...?"

"Not really sure about its popularity besides the fact that it's from 'L'elisir d'amore', but," Clara told him, "it's a song I heard about in that opera workshop I took last semester. Pretty nice song! It makes me wonder how Tonio will nail it."

The Spanish man took a sip of his own espresso as he relaxed in his seat.

That was when the vocalizing began.

"Una furtiva lagrima..." a tenor voice started to sing gently yet loud enough not to overpower the orchestra in the background. As he - Tonio - went through the first section of the song, an amused smile came to Clara's face. Bruno, with the brim of the cup to his lips in order to take another gulp, steadied his eyes at the computer.

"Nice! He and Prima were definitely the right voices for opera! Then again, they were made to." Clara glanced over at Bruno, asking, "What do you think of him so far?"

Wow, the way he handled Italian with care as he sung the last lines of the songs and in such a passionate manner! Yeah, the other Vocaloids had passion within their songs and sounded great; however, there was something about this opera Vocaloid which grabbed his attention. Was it how deep he sounded but not to where he cracked or was obviously struggling? Could this be because of the emotion Tonio had in his tone?

Clara took notice of how his brows furrowed in a matter of curiosity and not of anger or frustration. She raised an eyebrow at him, but then saw a tiny sparkle in his pretty blue eyes. She was getting a feeling that Tonio might have captured her buddy's attention. At last, Bruno sat against his chair as the song ended.

"Let me guess...you like him."
"You read my mind, Clara-belle."

To what extent of "like" was anybody's guess and Clara didn't feel like asking at the moment. There was another demo song featuring Tonio entitled "La Donna e Mobile" which Bruno and Clara listened to whilst the two finished their breakfast. Clara witness Bruno smiling with a chuckle escaping him. How cute, Bruno must have really liked Tonio's singing. It would only be after their day at college ended that they would see what each of these Vocaloids's appearance was...minus Tonio. They would have to wait until an image of him was posted on one of the Vocaloid forums or something.

Once in a while - probably one time a week, to be precise - Clara heard Bruno listening to Tonio's cover of "Una furtiva lagrima" from the living room while she studied in her room. She had to stop herself from laughing on various occasions due to assuming that Bruno might have liked Tonio even more than a "this person is so cool; I like them" manner.

Three months later, the duo received a message minutes after they arrived home.

Hello there, Clara and Bruno!

We're glad to know you've been doing fine since the last time we've contacted you!

As of this month, we're actually excited to announce to you that once you graduate, you both will be moving in to a hotel suite we've picked out for you until it's time for you to move in with your fellow Vocaloids!

To continue on topic, you'll also be joined by Zero-G's Vocaloid: Tonio. All three of you will be evaluated at least twice a month and the rest of the time there will be up to you. (No limitations as long as it's realistic like a trip to the moon. That would be silly...)

We will contact you over the phone to discuss whatever time is convenient to head to your temporary housing and whatever else you're curious about, regarding this plan.

Sincerely,
Voctro Labs

"They sure love spoiling us..." Clara said, quirking an eyebrow. "And hey, we get to meet Tonio!"

The Spanish man beside her made a toothy grin as he rested his chin in a hand. "This should be good. Can't wait to meet the guy..." He paused, then turned to Clara as he asked, "You think he might be able to understand Spanish?"

"He should. Italian differs a bit from Spanish..." she replied with a shrug, but then she shot a grin of the same kind back at him. "And I can tell you're pretty ecstatic to see Tony. Are you going to fanboy over him?"

"...excuse me."
"Heh~..."

"I'm going to keep it civil, of course," said Bruno, then he crossed his arms loosely. "I'll tell him how admirable he is and hope I don't scare him."

Her grin softened. "That's nice. He'll be glad to meet you."

"Do you think so?"
"Yeah, you're a sweet guy!"

His own grin faltered, but then he smiled at her whilst a blush made it to his cheeks. Embarrassed but touched, he mumbled a "thanks, Clara-belle" to the woman beside him.

Present day

Bruno pushed the cart full of trays with metal tops on them over to the couch as he spotted Clara grinning ear-to-ear to herself.

Cautiously, he spoke up, "Uh, Clara? Are you okay? You're worrying me."

Clara, instead of telling him she had a flashback, shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm okay. I was thinking of a funny joke just now."

"Oh."
"Anyway, let's eat. Leave Tonio's stuff on the cart though."

to be continued