Well, this is chapter 2. I know chapter 1 was quite lame so I hope this is better.

Disclaimer: I do not own vocaloid. Vocaloid is a product of Yamaha.

Chapter 2- Dreams or Reality

Upon arriving at Sweet Ann's Sweet Treats, the group found the place to be crowded and were struggling to find seats. Being located just ten minutes away from the Kaguya Academy of the Arts, the cafe was a popular hangout of its students. It wasn't surprising that it had very good business. However, that day, it was busier than usual.

"Kaito, Meiko, over here!" yelled someone from across the cafe.

Looking over to the direction of the voice, they saw Miku Hatsune, waving at them. Making their way, towards her, they noticed that she was with Lily Kamui, Gakupo's younger sister, and Rin and Len Kagamine. Miku and the Kagamine twins were childhood friends of Kaito and Meiko and although they were not close to Gakupo or Luka, they enjoyed being in their company. Lily however, was quite wary of meeting new people and just remained silent, giving the group a brief smile as they approached before averting her attention elsewhere.

*Miku's POV*

I blushed as Kamui-senpai* and Megurine-senpai came to our table. The two of them were admired by nearly everyone in the academy. They were smart, both of them being the in the top ten of their year, passionate, and had been blessed with amazingly good looks. I myself had always desired to become like Meiko and Megurine-senpai. They're strong, confident and independent, the type of woman that I've always wanted to be.

"Wow, Kamui-senpai and Megurine-senpai are much more incredible up close...and Kamui-senpai...I have never seen such a beautiful man before. Is he really a man?" I wondered to myself.

*General POV*

"There sure are a lot of people today. I mean, usually, most of the customers are from the academy but today, there are many new faces that I've never even recalled seeing before in town," said Kaito as he plopped down on the empty seat next to Miku. He saw her looking at Gakupo in awe and can't help but feel jealous.

Gakupo smiled at her upon noticing her staring at him. Something in Kaito felt like it snapped when he saw Miku blushing as she returned Gakupo's smile.

"Get a grip Kaito. The two of you are just friends, nothing more. What does it matter if she takes a liking to Gakupo? In fact, you should be happy if two of your good friends find happiness with each other," thought Kaito to himself.

"Hi, what can I get you today? And yes, it really is a busy day. People have been flocking in for the festival," said Sweet Ann as she came to take their orders.

Ann 'Sweet Ann' Okizaki was the 27 year old owner of Sweet Ann's Sweet Treats. Kind and gentle, she was the town's sweetheart and was loved by all the townsfolk.

"We'll have the usual Sweet Ann and I know what you mean. The inn is packed and there are still people who are calling for reservations. We had to turn down a number of them since there are no more rooms left," Gakupo replied.

The Kamui family owned the Yuki-Shippo* Inn, the most popular place to stay at in Matsuda Town. It provided comfortable lodging for minimal fee, perfect for travellers on a tight budget. Rumour has it that the reason the for the cost of staying in the inn being cheap was that the inn was haunted. This however, did not deter people from staying at the inn. In fact, it managed to attract more customers, particularly those interested in the supernatural and hoping for a chance encounter with the beings that supposedly haunt the inn. Whether there was any truth to the rumour though, nobody knew for sure as whenever asked about it, the staff at the inn and members of the Kamui family would just shrug it off. They would just say that there had always been many yokai* sightings in Kyoto and thus, these hauntings were probably just yokai that were passing by.

"The usual coming right up," chimed Sweet Anne cheerfully as she went back to the kitchen.

"Doesn't anyone find it weird that the festival is suddenly attracting so much attention? Of course, it has always been a popular reason for people to come to Kyoto but not that many people actually come to this part of Kyoto to celebrate it. Matsuda Town is an unknown part of Kyoto to many," Kaito shared his thoughts out to the rest.

Again, he alleged that it had something to do with his dream. Miku and the Kagamine twins looked on with confusion as he talked about his dream being a vision of the future. Even Lily was now giving him her full attention. This confusion was soon replaced by amusement as Meiko told them of the events that led to his strange assumption of this so-called prophetic dream.

"Whoa, Kaito, someone's definitely..." started Len.

"...Lost their marbles," continued Rin.

"Well, that would explain that bizarre wailing that we heard back at the academy this morning. So it really was Kaito after all," Lily went on, trying to hold back her laughter while Miku burst out into giggles, no longer able to hold it in.

While thinking of a comeback, Kaito noticed someone waving to them from the corner of his eye. He looked up to see who it was but was unable to identify the person who seemed to be motioning him to get Gakupo's attention.

"Say, Gak-kun, do you by any chance know who that is?" asked Kaito.

Turning around to get a look at the stranger who wanted his attention, a look of shock appeared on Gakupo's face as he quickly went over to the other table. Surprised by how his usually calm friend had acted, Kaito immediately asked Lily who the stranger was. At the same time, he noticed that both Lily and Luka had worried looks on their faces. Judging from the looks of his four childhood friends, he knew that they had noticed it too.

"Who, that? He's just an old friend of my brother's. He moved to another part of Kyoto a few years ago. I guess he came back to visit," Lily answered, regaining her composure.

*Kaito's POV*

I closed my eyes, thinking of why Gakupo and Lily had acted so strangely. Just who was that person? It wasn't that I didn't believe Lily but I felt that there was something more to this reaction. Then there was Luka. Why did she look worried? How was she related to this stranger? Gakupo did mention that he and Luka were childhood playmates, so maybe the stranger was her friend too?

Keeping my thoughts to myself, I pretended to accept Lily's explanation and acted as per normal as Sweet Ann came with our usual order of cakes and tea. I tried my best to focus as Meiko began to contribute her ideas towards the project but to no avail for there was something about that mysterious stranger that had caught my attention. Before Gakupo had frantically ran over to him, I could've sworn that I saw a tail coming out from the stranger's pants. However, when I looked at him again, the tail had gone.

"Was I hallucinating? Maybe Luka's right, I need to lay off the anime and manga for a bit," I quietly told myself.

*General POV*

"Hey guys, it's getting a little crowded here don't you think? We should probably find somewhere else to discuss the project," Gakupo suggested as soon as he came back to the table.

"You know what Gakupo, I think we've done enough for today. It's getting late anyway, we all should be heading back," Meiko decided.

As they headed home, the mysterious stranger looked on at the small group.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" asked the stranger's companion.

"I've already informed the master but he thinks it's best to hide our world from them for the time being. That is why they are leaving now. This cafe is currently being overrun by our kind. The only reason the other humans aren't noticing is because they don't have the power to see through our illusions," the stranger informed his companion.

"The destined time is nearing. Their powers are growing stronger by the day. That Kaito boy had caught sight of my tail...that is a sure sign that the awakening is going to take place soon," the stranger said silently to himself.

"Bye guys, Luka, Lily and I will be going this way," Gakupo waved goodbye to his friends.

"Megurine-senpai lives that way too?"asked Miku, looking slightly disappointed as she saw her favourite senpai walking away with her best friend and her new crush.

"Yup, she and Gakupo are neighbours. They've been best buddies since they were kids," Meiko told her, noticing how she was looking enviously at Luka.

"Oh boy, it looks like Gak-kun's got another girl smitten. But poor Miku, she seems so torn. She adores Luka but she's also jealous of Luka's relationship with Gak-kun," Meiko realised.

She cast a glance at Kaito, knowing how he really felt about Miku, even though he himself had not noticed it yet. True enough, Kaito was looking slightly agitated at the sight of Miku gazing longingly at Gakupo.

" Let's get a move on shall we? We better head home before it gets too late," the twins interrupted her thoughts.

At the sound of the twins' voices, Miku snapped out of her daze and Kaito out of his jealousy. Each realised that they had been standing there like complete idiots and started to blush.

As they made their way home, a figure watched them from afar.

"They're alone now. Shall we strike?" a voice asked the figure.

"Go ahead," the figure gave out his orders.

*senpai- senior

*yuki-shippo- snow tails (you'll find out why the inn was given this name soon enough)

*yokai- demon