Yay, new chapter. Next chapter won't be out for at least a week and a half, because I'll be travelling for the next week. The reason this chapter wasn't out sooner was because I was crying over Clannad again -_- I only looked at one funny clip on Youtube and then... well... I just had to watch the entire thing. Gah.

Well, enjoy.

Of course, Subaru had to take his seat on the plane right next to Eri. Eri huffed and squeezed herself as close to the window as she could, staring at the horizon without really seeing anything. She could just feel Subaru smiling next to her, and she tensed up without realizing it.

She flinched when she felt a poke in her side. Whipping around to face Subaru, Eri glared as hard as she could. Subaru didn't do so much as even flinch. After a couple moments, Eri dropped her gaze and sighed.

"Go away," she said, resorting to more verbal warnings.

"Make me," Subaru teased.

"You wouldn't want that," Eri replied icily.

"I don't think you'd do it."

"You'd be wrong."

"So why haven't you done anything yet?"

Eri and Subaru stared at each other; Eri was glaring, and Subaru was almost smirking.

"Ok, that's it, I'm leaving," Eri mumbled angrily. She got up and pushed past Subaru and headed towards the front of the plane. Finding Gumi and Ran at the controls, she tentatively tried to get Gumi's attention.

"Um, Gumi?" she asked, and Gumi turned around. "Where are we going to land this?"

"Kaito had made a last minute arrangement for us to land in Seoul, and from there we can get a plane to Honolulu," Gumi answered.

"Where is Honolulu? And...do you know how to land a plane?"

"It's an island that's part of the USA. Ran can take care of landing. We got this, don't worry," Gumi assured with a smile. "And the flight is two hours, so we still have quite a while to go."

"Ok, thank you," Eri said before leaving.

Eri wandered down the aisle of the plane, determined not to sit next to Subaru, and instead sat down next to the Vocaloid that Eri assumed was Kiyoteru.

"Hi," she greeted, trying to go out of her comfort zone for the sake of someone besides Subaru to talk to.

"Hey," Kiyoteru responded. "What's your name?"

"Rizumu Eri," she said. "What's yours?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Hiyama Kiyoteru," he said, and waited for Eri to say something. Seeing that she was rather unsure of what to say, he smiled and continued. "Are you excited about this? I mean, I know we shouldn't be excited, and more focused for Miku's sake, but it's still really exciting to go somewhere new, don't you think?" he said with eargerness.

"Yeah, I guess," Eri replied, glancing at her journal, which she realized she had been holding the whole time. Kiyoteru saw her look and brightened up.

"You like to write?" he asked happily.

"You could say that..." she said unsurely.

"Well I like to read," he said, grinning. "If you ever care to let me," he offered.

Eri was slightly taken aback. "I...I mean it's a work in progress...but maybe later? After we've done more 'exciting' stuff," she said, managing to smile. Kiyoteru nodded, and as Eri opened her journal to write, he looked somewhere else respectfully so that she wouldn't be uncomfortable.

Eri flipped to a random empty page, not bothering to go back and read what she had written before, and immediately started writing, suddenly feeling confident and significantly happier than she had felt in a while.

"Day (?):

Well, today I'm apparently off on an 'adventure.' Why? Because the famous Vocaloid Hatsune Miku has gone missing. The last time she was seen, or heard of, was in California, a state in the USA. Not very many of the Vocaloids and Utauloids know about it, only a select few, and we are going to rescue her. If all goes well, we'll save Miku, not to mention Meiko, who is also very important.

See, I'm going to give you a little bit of background information here. Neru and Haku were put in charge after Meiko left with Miku, Rin, Len, and Luka to go hold a concert. Kaito went to supervise SeeU in South Korea, where she is currently being interviewed by different people for a series of days. Unfortunately, Neru and Haku lost connection with Meiko, and the next day, only Rin, Len, and Luka showed up.

At that point, the only ones who knew anything were Neru, Haku, and the performers. The rest of us were lost and confused. However, in a stroke of luck, I managed to overhear Neru and Haku discover that Rin and Len had been shut down. Suddenly, I spoke without even knowing it, and suggested that we form a search party to find Miku for Rin and Len, who had been shut down for safety reasons.

I got to pick some friends, and Haku picked some of her own friends. For Utauloids, we have me, my best friend Mai, Mai's odd friend Riku, my roommate Ran, and the complete and total annoyance that is Subaru. Why Subaru? Well, because I don't know, ok?

For Vocaloids, we have Haku and Neru of course, Luka has decided to come along, then there's Gumi, IA, and Kiyoteru. I don't know much about any of them, but I just had a short conversation with Kiyoteru. He seems very nice :) I guess it might be a good idea after all to make friends with these Vocaloids. Well, I'll tell you how it turns out later, bye."

Eri stared at what she had written. A small feeling of happiness fluttered within her. She realized she sounded exactly the same as she had the first time she had written, and this time she wrote even more. She snapped her book shut and shrugged, ok with the sudden change in attitude within herself.

Within a matter of minutes, she found herself dozing off, and the only connection to reality that she could still feel was the book in her hand.

. . .

"Attention! We will be landing in the next ten minutes," a voice, apparently Gumi's, announced, and Eri sleepily opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to figure out what she was looking at. As she started to remember that she was on a plane, she felt a rush of panic as she realized she was leaning against something.

Eri quickly moved away from Kiyoteru, whose eyes were revealing a smile that his mouth wasn't.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Eri cried, feeling her cheeks redden. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you!"

Kiyoteru laughed. "It's ok, I would expect it from a girl like you," he teased.

Eri scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, feeling her normal attitude coming back.

"I'm kidding," Kiyoteru said with a wave of his hand. Eri slightly relaxed.

"Well, what would it mean if you weren't joking?" she asked, still defensive.

Kiyoteru thought for a moment. "That you are imaginative, thus you move in your sleep while experiencing dreams," he said in an authoritative tone.

Eri facepalmed. "No," she said, shaking her head. Then she started to giggle. "But whatever." She leaned back in her seat and waited for the plane to land.

A short time later, the plane landed, and everyone in the plane stood up. Luka and Neru picked up Rin, and Kiyoteru volunteered himself and Eri to carry Len, since they were the only other ones sitting at the front of the plane. Eri reluctantly agreed to help with Len, even though she felt awkward carrying a guy that she didn't even know.

Towards the back of the plane, Subaru bounded forward to join Mai and Riku. Mai was giggling about something.

"What's so funny?" Subaru asked curiously.

"Look," Mai said, pointing towards the front of the plane, and Subaru shifted to see over IA's shoulder. Riku and Mai also looked as they saw Eri and Kiyoteru struggling to pick up Len and hold him between themselves. Subaru saw Eri look up at Kiyoteru and giggle, and he snapped his gaze away as Mai nudged him playfully.

Everyone on the plane eventually filed out the plane's door and through a hallway. On the other side of the hallway, Kaito was waiting with a worried expression. After a hushed conversation with Haku, he helped escort them to a plane he had managed to hold for them, by lying to the creators about need for money.

The Vocaloids and Utauloids hurried onto the small plane, which they found had been completely reserved for them. Haku thanked Kaito, and then a professional pilot told them to be seated.

Eri and Kiyoteru set Len down next to where Rin had been set down, and Eri went over to Haku.

"What exactly just happened?" she asked, slightly confused from the sudden rush from one plane to the next.

"Kaito managed to contact the creators that were sponsering his trip, and asked for money. They gave it to him, and it's very kind of them, and now we're on a plane to an island in Hawaii, a state in the USA. At first we were going to go to Honolulu, but Kaito said that we would find more help on another island...he didn't tell me the name, but the pilot knows, so we should be fine." Haku explained.

Eri shook her head in amazement. Before she could go back to a seat, Mai and Riku ambushed her.

"Do you think Kiyoteru is cute, hmmm?" Riku asked with a childish grin.

Eri blinked, trying to take in the question. Realizing the meaning, she shook her head quickly and frowned. "What makes you think that?" she asked hurriedly.

Mai and Riku looked at each other and giggled. "Eheh, we don't think that, of course," Mai answered, keeping a straight face. "But someone might be jealous," she added, winking. Eri crossed her arms and started to reply, but Mai and Riku quickly turned and sat down, leaving Eri searching for somewhere else to sit down. She didn't really want to have to deal with them at the moment.

Deciding on a seat by Luka, Eri sat down, slightly more confident after the last flight, and smiled at Luka, who returned the smile.

After a few moments of silence, Eri's curiosity got the best of her. "Do you know anything about what happened to Meiko and Miku?" she asked suddenly.

Luka frowned. "Nothing. They were at the concert, and then they were at the hotel, and the next morning, they were gone. We had to come back though, because we'd only be in danger if we stayed. I assume that someone might've kidnapped Miku, but for them to kidnap Meiko, they'd have to know that she is in charge of the whole program, because no one else knew she was there, seeing how she didn't perform. So it had to be someone who knows the creators of Vocaloid very well."

Eri thought for a moment. "And what happened to the communication? Suddenly we lost all contact with you on the day of the concert."

Luka pursed her lips. "Our guide and communicator decided to abandon us. I personally believe he had something to do with Miku and Meiko's disappearance, but I could be wrong."

"So who piloted the airplane home then?" Eri asked, her curiosity only growing.

"Well our guide was someone different than our pilot. The pilot is the same pilot that always flies us to concerts," Luka answered.

"Wait, the guide wouldn't send the messages anymore, but why couldn't we hear the concert live? That's not dependent on a phone or anything, is it?"

"Meiko chose not to let anybody back home hear it, though I don't know why. It might've been a warning. Maybe Meiko knew something was up, and wanted Haku and Neru to be alert."

"Oh," was all Eri said. "Thank you for telling me."

Luka smiled. "No problem."

Eri was silent for a moment, then spoke up again. "Do you know how long this flight is?"

"Probably about ten hours."

Eri's eyes widened, then she slumped back in her seat. "That's a long time."

Luka laughed slightly. "Do you know IA? You might like her; you two strike me as very similar."

Eri remembered Haku's description of IA. "If anyone can calm down a group, it's her," Eri quoted under her breath. "I doubt we're similar," she added in her head. However, despite her doubts, Eri got up to sit next to IA.

"Hi," Eri said, and IA looked at her with full attention. "I'm Rizumu Eri. I know you're IA, because you're pretty famous. But, I'm kind of trying to make more friends. So...hi," she said, with a small smile, even though the voice inside her head was screaming at her that she was being awkward.

"Hi," IA responded. "I heard you're the one who came up with the idea for this search," she said. Eri nodded.

"Sort of. What do you think happened to Miku and Meiko?" Eri asked, wanting to get different opinions.

IA looked thoughtful. "I honestly don't know. Based on what I know, which isn't much, I think someone tried to sabotage Miku's concert, and when it didn't work, they kidnapped Miku and Meiko. It sounds weird, yeah, but it could happen."

"But who would want to kidnap a Vocaloid, and why?" Eri asked desperately, partially wondering to herself.

"Well, it's a reasonable guess that someone who opposes Vocaloids, especially someone whose popularity Vocaloids might jeopardize, would try to take away the relatively most important Vocaloids: the one that oversees the rest, and the one that is practically the image of Vocaloid," IA replied.

Eri considered that for a moment. "So what would they do with Miku and Meiko?"

"From what I've learned about Vocaloids in Neru's explanation to Gumi, Kiyoteru, and me, they can be shut down-permanently or temporarily-in two ways. One way is by the creators of Vocaloid choosing to purposely stop a certain Vocaloid from functioning, and I'm assuming they'd never permanently shut down a Vocaloid. The other way is by some sort of natural harm messing up a Vocaloid's system, possibly leading to that Vocaloid never being able to function again. Now, depending on the enemy's purpose, they may be trying to cause Miku and/or Meiko's system to shut down, or they may just be keeping them hostage. We won't know until we start searching."

Eri had to stop and process all of the information for a moment. "So...that means...they're basically trying to...kill...Miku?"

IA shrugged. "It's possible," she said with a grim expression. "But we're going to save Miku and Meiko, don't worry," she said reassuringly.

Eri started to panic. "But how? We don't know anything at all about her location!"

"We're smart together. We'll figure it out," IA said firmly.

"And...you kept saying Vocaloid...are Utauloids not in any danger?" Eri asked nervously.

"Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly. I remember that when I first got here, I went through quite a few classes, and one of them was the explanation of the difference between Utauloids and Vocaloids, though it was added recently, so it wasn't too descriptive. But basically, I know that Utauloids each have their own individual creator, and are less likely to be needed by someone else, though it's possible to become popular," IA explained.

Eri suddenly felt a sinking feeling within herself. "Less likely to be needed by someone else," she repeated under her breath.

Feeling restless again, Eri once again changed seats and moved to sit across from Mai and Riku.

"Geez, you move a lot," Mai commented.

"I'm so bored though," Eri complained. "And we still have like nine hours. I am not going to sleep for nine hours in a plane."

"Well it'll be night soon anyway," Riku said, glancing out the window.

"Since you're bored, we should play truth or dare!" Mai suggested enthusiastically.

Eri rolled her eyes. "No thanks," she mumbled.

"The alternative is to pester you with questions about Kiyoteru," Riku added solemnly.

Eri groaned. "Why do you guys care so much about him? I just had a conversation with him, sheesh..."

"Eri, come on. Face it. You're definitely much happier and more friendly after talking to him. He was the first one you talked to, and since then, you've been so different than you normally are," Mai pointed out.

"That isn't necessarily good," Eri argued.

"So then I suppose you prefer Subaru?" Mai asked playfully.

"No," Eri said, narrowing her eyes. She glared at Mai and Riku. "Just let it go. I can take care of myself just fine, thank you," she said bitterly.

Eri opened the journal that she had been carrying all day and thus ended the conversation.

"~Continuation~

So, three hours later, I am still riding in a plane. Three hours down, a little less than nine to go. Great. I talked to Luka and IA. They both seem nice, and they both seem really worried about Miku. Is it bad that I really don't feel worried about Miku? I mean, I know I suggested this in the first place...but I just don't...feel a sense of urgency. Maybe it's because I'm still in denial that she's really missing.

Well, we flew to Seoul, where Kaito had arranged another flight for us. I'm still confused as to where we're going, but supposedly we're going to get more help there. I don't know what that means, but I guess it's a good thing..."

"Hi."

Eri looked up to see Ran standing in front of her. Eri quickly moved so that Ran could sit down. "Hi, Ran," she greeted. Then her eyes widened as she remembered what she had been planning to ask. "Oh, Ran, can you possibly change Vocaloids and Utauloids to look like humans if necessary?"

Ran looked thoughtful. "I think so, but I'm pretty sure there's a limit on the amount and types of magic I can use, otherwise we could all just become humans and run away or something."

"So it would only last temporarily?" Eri asked. Ran nodded.

"That is, assuming it works," Ran added quickly.

"How do you not know if your magic works?"

Ran shrugged. "It's a character item, not part of my personality. Rin and Len don't know if their road roller will smash through a wall until they try, right?"

"That would be pretty bad." Eri shook her head and stared at her journal. "Well, maybe if we're getting help at our next stop, we won't need to look like humans. Who knows."

"Haku and Neru," Ran said cheerfully.

Eri gave her a sideways glance. "Eh, too lazy to go ask," she said, smiling slightly. "So, what do you plan to do for the next five million hours that we're stuck on this thing?"

Ran laughed. "It's not that long, and besides, I'll probably start sleeping in about an hour. Until then, I'll just let my thoughts entertain me," she said. "Unless you want to talk for the next hour," she added.

"Well, I was thinking about trying to talk to someone else, but I guess I've already talked to everyone. I've talked to Kiyoteru, IA, Luka, Mai and Riku, Subaru, Gumi for a short time, and you. I talked to Haku and Neru before we left, so I think that counts too. I kind of wish Rin and Len were functioning right now, since I finally have a chance to talk to all of these famous Vocaloids," Eri said.

"Wow, you've talked to like twice as many people today as you have...ever," Ran remarked. "Is that a journal?" she asked, pointing to Eri's book.

"Yeah...I wrote in it some too, today."

"I've never seen you write in it before," Ran said, examining the book with a quizzical expression.

Eri slid down in her seat and looked up at the ceiling of the plane. "Well I didn't ever feel like it until now. After all, this is more exciting than normal, right? So it's perfect to write about," she said, looking back at Ran.

"Hm. So out of everyone you've talked to that you haven't met before, who's your favorite?" Ran asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It doesn't seem very nice to call one a favorite," Eri said quietly.

"That's never stopped you before..."

Eri sighed. "Well I just don't have a favorite yet. I don't know anyone well enough."

"Mmkay."

The two settled into their seats as silence enveloped them. Eri rolled her head to the side to look out the window, where light was disappearing. She propped her elbow on the armrest of her seat and set her chin in her hand, closing her eyes slightly.

. . .

Eri awoke to find herself still in the plane, where the lights were dimmed and the window was completely dark. She realized that everyone else must be asleep, because there was absolutely no one talking. Eri looked over at Ran, who, sure enough, was asleep. With a quiet sigh, Eri did her best to squeeze past Ran without waking her up.

Finding a new seat where she wouldn't disturb anyone if she made noise, Eri flipped open her journal to see if she could write with the dim light.

"~Continuation~

Well, it could be morning. I don't know. It's completely dark outside right now though, and everyone's sleeping. I wish I could go back to sleep, but I highly doubt that now. I think I've run out of things to say, but I have nothing else to do. It's too boring to sit and think. That's what I do every day. I didn't come here to do the same thing I do every day.

I don't even know how much longer this plane ride will take. I am definitely not looking forward to the return trip. But who knows, maybe I'll be so exhausted by then that it won't matter. I don't know what I could possibly do that would make me that tired, though."

Bored of writing, Eri suddenly remembered her first entries. She flipped to the beginning of the journal and skimmed through the first few pages to try to find where she had left off. Finding it, she started reading again.

"...But it's ok because Subaru is still my friend and I think it will always be that way. I would probably get pretty lonely if Subaru wasn't my friend. I guess I could make some more friends, and I'll try that tomorrow. Byebye~"

"Day 4:

Today I am going to make a new friend. It's too bad there aren't very many Vocaloids or Utauloids yet. I wish Teto could be my friend, but she's a teacher, so she's busy. She seems really nice though. Oh well. Maybe I'll go ask her if she knows anyone who could be my friend.

~Continuation~

I couldn't find Teto :( For some reason, she wasn't in her classroom. But when I got to my room, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me. There were two new songs on my bed. I was so happy. As soon as I finish writing this, I'm going to sing them, and that would be now. Bye~"

"Day 5:

Yesterday I didn't meet anyone new, but today I met a girl named Mai. I think I like her. Subaru also wants to be friends with her. He keeps being weird though. Oh well. That's his problem. Now I'm going to go listen to Mai sing a song. Later~"

"Day 6:

...I don't even know what to say. Mai told me something weird. And then...Subaru

The page ended there, so Eri flipped the page, but found that the next one was blank. Slightly confused, she searched through her memory to figure out what had happened.

"So you wrote about it?"

Eri jumped. Turning around quickly, she saw Subaru behind her, leaning over her seat and most likely reading over her shoulder. He wasn't smiling, but he still almost looked amused, the way his eyebrows were raised.

When Eri didn't answer, Subaru spoke up again. "Did you forget?" he asked, being maddeningly vague.

"I- what are you even talking about?" Eri demanded.

"It seems like you ripped out the page. I bet you want to know what you wrote after that. I think I know, but I'm not telling," Subaru said, winking and sitting back down so that Eri had to turn fully around and look over the back of her seat to see him.

"I bet it's not even that important," Eri huffed, and twisted back around so that she was facing the right way before making herself comfortable in her seat again.

"Oh no, of course not," the voice behind her said sarcastically. Eri closed her eyes to ignore him.

"told me he liked me. The problem is, I don't think I like him...

Well, bye~"

Eri opened her eyes. She had just remembered what she had written on Day 7.

The end is a bit overly dramatic. Ahah, I just needed a way to end the chapter. :3 But it is kind of important. I guess. Oh, and I'm not trying to start a Kiyoteru vs Subaru thing here. I really don't like that stuff. I'll try to avoid it.

Also, anyone want to take a guess on who this "help" is that they're meeting up with? (The fact that it's in Hawaii doesn't matter xD It was just convenient for the story.)