Alex and the rest were enjoying their day normally, when his phone rang.
"This is Alex." he answered.
"Hello. I am the founder of a series of colored themed passenger planes. We have been working hard on our newest, tropical, themed plane series called the 'Tricolor Airline'. We want to have a big send off ceremony and wish for Miku and any others to help with it. The outfit designs should be in their database by now. We will pay well!"
Alex thought for a minute. It was the first time he was called to a big project out of the blue. But he replied "So you want a Theme? I think I can think of a quick song. What is the deadline?"
"We will let you have a month to get things in order. The last day is the actual ceremony. We hope to see you there." the man sounded excited as he hung up. Alex could not help but smile. The others looked at him as Miku asked "Are you okay?"
Alex got up, grabbed Miku by her hands and started to spin around.
"We got our first real paid event! We are all going to an event to send off a new airline series!" he stopped spinning, picking up Luka and Meiko from the couch.
"Master? What song are we going to sing?" Miku asked. Then he froze. Alex had no Idea what to make. Then Kaito tossed an Idea. "The name of the Airline is called Tricolor Airline. As well, the outfit color..." Kaito immediately changed into a pilot's suit. It was white with a three colored tie. Hot Pink. Sun Yellow and Ocean Green. He still wore his scarf to indicate it was him. Meiko took the chance and wanted to change her outfit too. Her pilot outfit had a pink bow above her chest, while the actual style of it caught her eye. The rest followed after that.
Miku had an attendant's outfit with an opened skirt to free movement. A blue scarf was around her neck. Rin and Len received a smaller version of the attendant outfit. Rin had her signature bow still on her head, but the color changed to the similar sun yellow. Len's part was a bow tie.
Luka received her outfit, this one with pants instead of a skirt. Her pink frilled neck piece made her look more refine than others. Neru was not intrested but Haku and Teto were clapping.
"You guys look really nice." Haku commented, a faint smile on her lips. Teto was hopping with joy already.
"Miku! You must teach me in the way of looking awesome! I will follow you to the end!" She bowed.
Then an Idea hit Alex.
"The song has to be tropical. So how about near the end of the song, you all change into beachwear? It should not be too hard, right?" Alex asked. All but Miku were happy with the idea.
"M-master gets to see my bathing suit?" her cheeks flushed at the thought of being in a bathing suit in front of Alex. Alex tried to make it sound professional.
"There are times we are forced to do things we do not like. But right now, I need to find a beat. Something tropical..." The cellphone beeping from Neru was a beat. As he listened, he started to say some words. Mostly off key.
"I'm the flight attendant for you. Tricolor Air line. Hmm... Ok. Haku, Teto. Help with making lyrics with Meiko. Miku, Luka. Come with me and let's make the beat a reality. Neru, thank
you for the inspiration. The rest of you, just overlook our work." The work began. But Neru was not too fond of it, so she walked outside and down to the city.
Her favorite place in the world cause of all the technology and how everything was organized. She passed a TV window, watching the news on it.
"And beginning next month, a new tropical airline series will be introduced. The owner had this to say." The screen changed to the airport where a bald man in front of the Tricolor logo began to say...
"I am please to say that we will be having special guests to help us launch this new series. The Vocaloids will be singing a song I hope will be our new theme. The ceremony will begin at the first day of next month and all who wish to take part should buy tickets ahead of time." The screen moved back to the news room.
"And if you are planing on buying tickets to watch the event in person, you should buy them now. Already half of the tickets are gone."
Neru turned and walked away.
"They are making it a big deal. 'Oh look at me, I am a vocaloid. I can sing and because I am fake it means I get all the boys...' Crap. Complete crap. I swear, that Alex kid is just going to ruin them like.." Neru halted. A haunting memory befallen her of her previous master. She felt her head, the one without a ponytail. She shook it off and continued on. Eventually, after some time, she returned home to find everyone was not working again.
"Oh Neru. Where were you? I tried calling you but you did not pick up?" A very nervous and slightly frightened Haku asked. Neru sighed.
"Haku. You have to call my phone. My headphones do not work." she said, walking off to her room to be alone. Haku looked down at the table, relieved but still hurt. Alex, being the kind person he was, asked...
"What does she mean her headphones do not work?" Haku looked up and tried to tell him what she could. But promised Neru to never speak of it.
"She was created but it turns out she is unable to sing. Regardless how many times you updated her box and system, she could not sing. All that would come out is nothing." Haku looked over at the hallway, hoping Neru was okay. Kaito placed some ice cream in front of Haku, trying to make her smile.
"Cheer up. They say ice cream makes you smile!" The flavor was... Rum Raisin? The smell made Meiko pounce Kaito.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH MY RUM RAISIN!" The scene was like a tiger attacking a zebra, in terms of who was winning. Kaito was repeating 'I'm sorry' but Meiko would not let up. Haku was still unsure about the current event. Alex stated
"That's enough Meiko..." stopping her in her tracks. Kaito got on his knees, looking at Alex like a god.
"Thank you-"
"You can continue the punishment in his room. This is where we eat, not fight." And Kaito felt his very soul escape him. Meiko turned back to Kaito, the face of death and pain upon her as she dragged the helpless Kaito to his room. Miku watched the incident as well.
"Master, that was cruel." She puffed her cheeks.
"You have to understand, once they are done fighting... they will kiss and make up." He said, with some knowledge behind 'Married' Couples.
Neru came out of her room. She passed Kaito's room with wails of pain and death and looked in Alex's room. She wanted to see if there was anything suspicions about the new master. She checked the drawers. All neat. She checked the nightstands, nothing but MP3 players and important information. She checked his bed for anything that belonged to the other Vocaloids... nothing. Finally, she checked his computer but it was blocked by a password protector and finger reader. Neru took a cord from her phone and hacked into it with ease.
"Idiot. No ant-hack software..." She quietly said to herself, looking through the files. Songs. Concept sketches. Profiles. Internet history. Even the files that were labeled 'do not open' but it was just previous works. She thought this guy was clean, until... she noticed something hanging from the corner of his bed. Upon closer inspection... it was a picture. The picture was of Alex and Sally. It looked as if they were on a date. It was perfect. She rushed down the hall and found Miku.
"Miku! You might want to see this picture!" she cried out. It alerted the others. Miku looked at the image and said "Oh, that's Sally. This was taken after she gained a bit of her voice back. What about it?" already aware of it. Neru was denied. She tried to think of something.
"I-isn't she a bit too close? I mean he is in Love with her, right?" Neru asked. Luka crossed her arms and felt like there was something going on.
"Neru. She has a boyfriend. Alex of all people know this." Neru, now without anything dashed off into her room once more. Haku felt troubled.
"I'm sorry everyone. Neru still has yet to trust Alex."
"What about me?" Alex came back from walking to hear his name. Haku backed up, sitting in the same chair as before. Alex now wanted to know it all.
"Tell me everything." but Haku was silent. She motioned for his ear and whispered "I want to talk about it in your room."
So after explaining to the rest, he guided Haku to his room and sat her down on his bed. He sat across on the chair for his computer. Haku then explained everything.
"Neru and I were best friends, before we were official. She always liked to be the tough one while I enjoyed her presence. You know how she has one Pigtail? Well that was because... her creator was frustrated with how she could not sing. He yelled at her constantly and called her vulgar names. He treated her like she was nothing but dirt under his feet. Eventually, he did something unthinkable."
Haku seemed to know much about Neru. Possibly, Haku is the only one Neru trusts the most. She regained her posture and tried not to cry.
"He ripped one of her Pigtails out. It was painful to see her like that the next day when it happened... but she cried and told me. And before we were official Vocaloids... Her master did something so horrible. He punched her, right here."
Haku traced an outline around her left eye. Alex was stunned. Beating up a vocaloid because she can never sing? It was horrible to think of. Alex felt like he wanted to vomit from the thought.
Weeks came and went. There was much time before the ceremony, so Alex took advantage of the basement studio to practice. He played the song that was created for now. Miku was the lead dancer for the others. Haku and Teto watched from the other side. They helped with the extra machines and keeping the beat aligned with their dancing.
"Ok, Kaito? Remember. 'Tricolor Air Line' is when you do the tracing. It's a circle, line down, line up and line down with a curve to the right." Alex instructed. He noticed Neru was not here again.
"Haku? Watch them. I need to find Neru..." he ordered, dashing off upstairs. He found Neru watching T.V alone. The channel was a music station, mostly featuring live artists.
"Neru. Come downstairs. I could use your help." he asked, but heard a shutter go off.
"Nope. I am not needed. Just go back down and finish the stupid dance. I can watch it when we go." she lied on her side, obviously acting lazy. Alex had enough. He turned the television off and stood in front of Neru.
"I am not asking for help, I need your help. You obviously know a lot about technology." it was as if Alex knew she hacked into his computer. Neru laughed.
"Me? A tech genius? I am a vocaloid. I do not have a need to do-"
"I know what happened to you!" he shouted. He was not taking it easy now. Neru froze, looking at Alex as if he was her former master.
"Neru. I know you can not sing. And Haku told me about what happened between you and your old master... Please, trust me. I want you to be happy." He reached his hand out to her. For Neru, she imagined it like it was her old master ready to give her a beating. She shrieked in fright and crawled off the couch, dropping her phone in the process. The others heard this and ran upstairs to see the scene.
"G-get away! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Neru in a frightened state kept saying. Alex looked at Haku, who walked over to Neru.
"Neru. Please listen to Alex. He is not going to harm you." Neru batted Haku away.
"How do you know that? Sure he is nice for now but when we make one Mistake. He will beat us until we are better!" she shouted, her hand covering her left eyes as if the pain was still there.
Alex looked at his hand, gripping it and dropping it to his side. He quietly left for his room, not wanting to make a scene. Neru was left to shiver in fright. Reliving the moment when she was dealt the blow. Then Miku had the perfect Idea.
"Neru. Look." she instructed her. Miku handed her a collection of images from before the move. It showed Alex in his small room. The various antics that went on. Alex chasing the Kagamine twins for leaving a mess. Miku pouting. And other images that contained faults.
"Alex never once beat us. Our faults happened and he only scolds us. Words or taking away certain things. He would NEVER harm another thing." she explained. Neru examined the photos and asked her "Are you sure?".
Miku simply instructed Neru to talk to him. Feeling safe, Neru hurried to Alex's room and knocked on his door. Hopefully she could talk with him.
"Come in."
Neru walked inside and kept her distance.
"S-sorry for acting like that." Neru responded. Alex pointed at the empty Keyboard stand.
"Do you know why that is empty?" he asked her.
"The first day when I was settling in, Miku and Luka helped with putting my clothes away. They got into a fight, Miku bumped Luka into my Keyboard and broke it. Needless to say, I was angry...but I was glad they were not hurt. I miss the keyboard but they are something I can not replace with ease. The thought of hitting them never crossed my mind. For I love them too much."
Neru did not know how to handle that. Alex turned around.
"To simply put it. I do not have the heart to hurt the ones I care for the most, including you. Akita Neru." He looked at Neru with a smile, assuring her there was nothing wrong. Neru broke down in tears, crying and sobbing where she stood. Alex got up to wrap his hands around her. Her sobs muffled by his chest.
"It's alright. Let it out." He spoke softly to her, like a small kid.
"Alex.." she muttered between her breaths. She was so overwhelmed with happiness.
"Now Neru, once you have calmed down I want you to help us out." Neru nodded to Alex's demand.
The day of the event has begun. There were roughly ten thousand people ready to see the launch of the new ships. The guests already were waiting and seating themselves for the performance. A stage was made before a large number of chairs outside. Miku gathered the other dancers. Alex rallied up Neru and Haku to help with the sound system. And Teto was out there, handing out fliers for more information on the airline.
"This is not what a vocaloid does! IS IT?" Teto shouted with her might.
Alex looked at the time.
"Okay guys. We got ten minutes till curtain. Get in position and remember, Two minutes and fourty six minutes in is when you change into the bathing suits." They nodded, adjusting themselves and standing in order. In front, Miku, Luka, Rin, Len from left to right facing the stage. But behind was Meiko and Kaito. Alex's plan was in position.
"Oh I forgot... we needed two more dancer. Haku, Neru. You two go up there as well. And do not worry about the wardrobe..." Alex pushed a few buttons on the pad, changing their outfits as well to the attendant.
"And when the part comes, you guys will be surprised what kind of swimwear you will get." Alex scooted them off completing the back row with Haku and Neru. Teto came back and sat down, taking command of the electronics.
Neru looked up at Haku and asked "A-are you sure he will not be mad?"
Haku chuckled. "Alex is a fine guy. He knows you can not sing... so why not dance?"
Neru's eyes were filled with determination. She was ready. The music started and the performance would commence. For once, Neru was happy...
But she would not stay that way forever. Neru finished writing something on Alex's face, taking a picture for later. Haku was watching over and nervously asked "T-this is not a good idea." But Neru replied "It's fine. I like to cause mischief."
Neru walked away with Haku as Miku noticed the writing.
"Property of Neru? MASTER! HOW COULD YOU!" She cried. Alex woke up lazily, noticing at the last second the leek hitting his face. Neru giggled behind the corner, listening to the argument.
"Neru." Alex stood before Neru, who could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing on the ground. She pointed at him. Alex soon laughed along with her. Neru never felt so much joy from playing with Alex. She felt like this was her true home.