Shaking.

Shaking and darkness.

As well as a distant voice calling his name.

Kaito struggled to open his eyes, his vision bleary as he looked up at the figure shaking his shoulder. "Kaito-kun, you have to wake up! Master has an announcement, but he won't do it until everyone's up! Come on!" Kaito let out a groan, rolling onto his back. Even turning left him feeling exhausted. "Are you okay, Kaito-kun?" The bluenet lazily raised a hand to rub his eyes before he could clearly see the blonde that woke him up.

"Rin-chan?" He rasped, squinting up at her now concerned face. "Don't worry, Kaito, I'll go get Master!"

As she turned to leave, Kaito grabbed her wrist. "N-no...I'll be fine. I'll be up in a moment." The young Vocaloid searched his face, seeming to decide what to do. He didn't know what he looked like just then, but he knew that he felt awful. That was no excuse, though. Master had felt awful, but he still pushed himself and didn't stop working. Kaito can do that, too.

Rin nodded and quietly left, with a hesitant look back at him before she slowly closed the door, out of character with worry for her older "brother".

Throwing back the blanket, Kaito swung his legs over the edge of the bed and struggled to push himself into a sitting position; Even when he managed it, his shoulders slumped like gravity was pulling him down with all its might. He looked around and let out a heavy sigh. I don't want to get up... Deciding that even getting dressed was too much of a challenge, he lazily wrapped himself up in his blanket and slowly, somewhat unsteadily made his way to the living area.

He ignored the stares he received for his greeting, his voice worn out and quiet, and stepped around a surprised Len to make it to a chair, which he unceremoniously fell onto. He curled up, fully enveloping his body in the warm blanket he brought with him, as Miku approached him. Concern was written all over her face as she gently felt his forehead and began questioning him. "Are you okay, Kaito-chan? You're really warm! Are you sick? Did Master get you sick somehow? I didn't even know that was possible...I'll go get Master! He'll know what to do!" At least her heart is in the right place.

Kaito allowed the blanket to fall from his shoulders as he sat up and crossed his legs, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He jumped as he felt another hand touch his forehead and looked up into the kind face of his Master. "You are warm...It seems you may have caught my cold. I'm sorry, Kaito-kun." Master looked guilty for a moment, but before Kaito could tell him it wasn't his fault, the expression was gone as Rin shouted,"How'd you catch it?!" and made a kissy face alongside Miku. The two of them dissolved into giggles as Kaito's eyes widened, his face reddening by the second. Turning to Master, he didn't know what he was expecting but the older male's cheeks turning pink wasn't it.

Master sighed, looking to Meiko. "Kaito skipped breakfast, so would you please make him something, Meiko-san? We should also still have medicine...If not, I'll run out to the store later" Meiko smiled gently and nodded as Kaito watched in admiration of Master's ability to smoothly allow the teasing to roll off his back.

As Master turned his attention back to the remaining Vocaloids in the room, Kaito sunk back into the fluffy blanket, letting himself rest while he listened to the calm voice of his Master as he addressed the room. "I did say I had an announcement, didn't I? Though, now I'm wishing all of us were in top condition for this occasion..." He cast a guilty glance in Kaito's direction before clearing his throat and continuing. "The thing is,"

"I'm going to go out to lunch today with a friend of mine and...She will be gifting me two new Vocaloids."

Holding his hands up, Master waited for the exclamations of surprise to settle down. "She has been busy with work and recently went back to college. She said she feels like her Vocaloids have been neglected and she just can't find the time to work with them, so she wants me to take them home with me, said I always treat you guys so well and equally."

Miku jumped up, not the least bit perturbed by the news. "Who is it?!" Master chuckled at her enthusiasm. "You've sung with one, Miku-chan. Their names are Gumi and Gakupo." As Miku squealed at the name of her friend, Luka emerged from the kitchen where she was helping Meiko. "I've heard of those two before. It's really nice of you to take them in, Master. I look forward to having them here." The pinkette said with a smile.

Even though the rest of them were expressing varying degrees of excitement, Kaito's mind couldn't help wandering back to his conversation with Master last night at the mention of the male Vocaloid's name. His guilt overpowered the pang of jealousy he felt and he smiled as best he could, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He was, of course, excited for their family to grow and yet, why did he suddenly feel like Master would allow him to be overshadowed? Hell, it was just pointed out how equal everyone is to Master!

Bowing his head, Kaito stood up and wrapped his blanket tightly around his body, hugging himself. "Sorry; I really want to meet them, but my head hurts right now and I'm tired...I-I'm going to go back to bed." Master nodded, a sympathetic look on his face. "Of course, Kaito-kun. Rest is important. I'll ask Meiko-san to take your food and medicine to your room."

With a few more well-wishes from the others, Kaito slowly padded down the hall, barely closing the door before he flopped down onto the bed. Haphazardly, he spread the blanket out on the bed only to curl up underneath it again, his head falling heavily onto the pillow.

He already felt much better, being able to lie down, but his mind was still burdened. In the back of his mind, he knew that there was really nothing to worry about, but the louder part still voiced its concerns. Master wanted another male Vocaloid so Kaito would have less songs, right? That's what he said...Then, if this Gakupo is better than Kaito...

Rolling onto his stomach, Kaito buried his face into his pillow with a groan as he clutched his pounding head. Now is really not the time to be dealing with this. He just hoped he'll feel better soon and can get back to singing. He needs to work extra hard to get noticed over the arrival of the newcomers or else the two are just going to do so much better and Master will only want to give them more and more songs and then there'll be less and less for Kaito until-

Kaito turned his head and frowned at the wall, trying desperately to banish the thoughts from his head. Please just let me get better soon...