"Miku...Miku..."

Someone is calling her name, but it sounds so distant, so far away.

"Miku...Miku..."

She wants to run towards the person calling her, but she finds herself trapped in this cage. This cold, metal cage, and all that's around her is an endless black void. Who is it, though? Who's yelling her name?

"Miku...Come...Miku..."

The cage doesn't budge no matter how much she hits it. She tries to yell back to the voice, but nothing comes out of her throat. Her mouth moves, yet no sound musters. Each cry is getting more desperate.

"Miku...! Miku...! Come, Miku...! Miku...!"

Her chest suddenly feels like it's on fire. She shuts her eyes, and it all fades away...

"Miku...Miku..."

--

"Miku! Miku! Get up already!"

Sitting up as fast as she can, Miku looked all around the room. Her door was being knocked on furiously as she heard Meiko's voice yelling at her.

"We have a lot to do today if you remember, so get up already!" No doubt she was still slightly drunk from last night.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Miku yelled back. She was too spooked from that dream to want to deal with Meiko's drunken yelling.

Footsteps walked away from the door and she sighed. Who's voice had that been in her dream? It seemed like she should know it from somewhere, but the name escaped her.

But she didn't have time to think if there was a chance Meiko would come back. Sliding out of bed, Miku hurriedly dressed herself and ran out the door, disregarding the dream.

--

By the time she came out to the living room, Kaito and Rin were already there. Rin was almost too busy complaining to Kaito -though he wasn't always listening- to notice Miku come in.

"Len is supposed to be up when I am! All he does anymore is sleep, eat, sing and sleep again! Honestly, he's been more moody lately too! I don't understand what he could possibly be moody about- Oh! Miku! Good morning!"

Rin's frown quickly changed to a smile as Miku walked over.

"Good morning, Miku!" Kaito chimed in, a smile on his face as well. Miku did that, she made people smile as soon as she walked into a room.

Miku gave them a smile before cocking her head at Rin. "Len's been more moody?"

"Yes!" Rin instantly went back to her frowning mode. "He gets all defensive when I try to talk to him about it too!"

"Ahh...I'm sure he's just going through some changes or something." Kaito suggested, shrugging his shoulders. Perhaps he was the second oldest male of the house, but even he had no idea what was troubling the younger teen. Rin nudged him.

"Maybe you and Len should have a 'manly' talk." She teased. Standing, she grabbed either of their arms and proceeded to drag them to the recording room before anyone bugged them to do so.

--

The room was cluttered with machines and microphones everywhere. Instruments lay in spots all over, and stacks of CD cases littered the floor, table and recording mechanisms.

Meiko was already there when they came, looking a bit more sober now than when she'd gone to wake Miku up. Her hands were busy trying to sort all the CDs on a table. Quietly, she mumbled the names written on them.

"Cantarella...Melt...Sunday..." The piles around her were stacked by who'd sung them, growing higher and higher.

"Meiko!" Kaito said from behind her.

Startled, Meiko swung her hand out, knocking over the stacks. "Kaito, you baka! Now I have to do this again!" She proceeded to hit him, only stopping once he cowered below her.

"I-I won't do it again, I promise!"

"Alright, alright..." Meiko cut off his apologies, though gave him a small slap to the head to prove her point. "Just get in that booth and let's get this recording done with!"

--

Knock Knock.

Someone is knocking on his door. But he won't answer it, because he doesn't want to get out of bed.

Knock Knock.

Now it's getting annoying.

"Len-kun? Are you getting up?"

Oh great, Gakupo is asking him to get up. If he says no, he'll probably end up getting chased around with a sword or something...

--

The door swings open and Gakupo is met by Len. His clothes are looking all wrinkled, like he slept in them instead of pajamas last night, and his hair is sticking out all over.

"Er, Len...You look rather, um..."

Luka passes by them, and though she often maintains a calm, almost emotionless demeanor, he can hear a small snicker escape her lips when she sees Len's unkept form.

Shooting her a glare, Len sighed to himself as he walked down the hall. He didn't want to move, he wanted to sleep, to just lay around and do nothing.

"Are you feeling alright?" Gakupo asked from behind him, still standing by the door.

"I'm feeling fine. Just a little tired, that's all..." He didn't stop walking as he spoke.

At a loss of what to say, Gakupo shut the door and quickly shuffled after Len.

--

Stepping out from the booth, Miku was met by clapping from her friends. Yet another successful recording and she was feeling rather good today. The dream was but a vague memory now.

Rin clapped slowly. As happy as she was, the rift of popularity that separated Miku from Len and Rin was still apparent.

Meiko and Kaito clapped with all their might, though. The sound of Miku's uplifting voice had brightened their spirits for today at least.

Here she was in her perfect house with her perfect friends and her perfect life. Miku was proud to be a Vocaloid, if not also a bit happy to boast just the tiniest bit about her fame and popularity.

Caught up in it all, the day seemed to slip by quickly...

--

The afternoon sun shined down upon the city warmly. Such a feeling was tantalizing enough that Miku wished nothing more than to go outside and take a walk.

One place she always enjoyed going was the park, where the kids would be playing and the parents gossiping and of course fans sometimes came around.

When she found herself there though, she was greeted with silence.

To her surprise, the park was entirely empty. No children were on the swings. No dogs running about and playing fetch. No parents sharing small talk.

Silence.

Sitting upon a bench, Miku stared up at the sky. For some reason, the cloudless sky seemed lonely today.

A single bluebird flew over her, it's wings flapping in the breeze as it flew towards the skyscrapers so far away. That bird...It reminded her then of her dream.

The cage and the voice calling her name out. It had been so lonely then, just like it was here...

She quickly departed, running back the way she came.

Behind her the bluebird made a lonely caw and vanished off into the distance...

----

The chapters for this story will get longer in the future. Also, I've set up a poll asking which fan made Vocaloids should make an appearance in the story, which you can view in my profile.

Ah, anyone want to take a guess on what this story is based off from?