Chapter 7

"Jeez, you are soooooo lazy! What, you have this perfect, expensive, state-of-the-art, fancy, and did I forget to mention, expensive synthesizer in your possession and you don't even make any songs with it?!" Miku shouted, walking back and forth through the room.

"I'm sorry, but I have too much homework to get through. I can't waste time on writing songs! I don't even know how to work Vocaloid, much less come up with a song!" I yelled, frantically writing answers down on a math sheet.

Before anything more could be said, Miku snatched the paper I was working on out of my grasp, along with the other piles of homework on my desk. Miku carefully analyzed the papers before doing what seemed impossible; writing the answers down with inhuman speed (Quite possibly one-thousand miles per hour) and handing them to me. She looked as if she was doing something as simple as fetching a bottle of water for me.

"Done." Was her only response to it.

I, literally on the verge of passing out from sheer shock, took the papers into my hands once more, to see that the answers were all written such nice, clean handwriting, and all of the answers were, what I suspected to be…correct.

"Uhh," I stupidly said, not able to comprehend this. No words could describe what confusion and amazement I was feeling at that point in time.

"Now can we sing?" Miku asked.

"You said that you couldn't think like a computer," I said, finally getting air into my lungs.

Miku grinned wide. "I lied."

I found my face falling into my palm for the millionth time this month. Hanging out with Miku just made that happen to you. I started wondering if there was a huge bruise on my head as a result.

"Whatever, Miku. Just whatever…"

"Aw, thanks! You're so kind and considerate! Now, get to work, slave!"

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, sorry, I'm mean SERVANT! Is that less degrading?"

There was a moment of silence between us.

"That wasn't very nice."

"Kid, is most the stuff that comes out of my mouth pleasant?"

"…Give me a second to respond to that…"

"Oh, and I'm not very nice?"

Miku turned on the computer and set up the Vocaloid software.

"Okay, let's begin. First, to make a good song, you must have…"

Miku motioned to me, expecting an answer.

"…musical skills?" I guessed.

"That helps. But what I was looking for was…experience!"

"Experience?"

"Yes! Life experiences! You can't write your name without learning how to write first, yes?" Miku smiled.

"Okay, I see what you mean…"

"You can't just start singing about heartache if you haven't even felt it! It's hard to get the feel of an emotion in a song if you can't describe it just right, so we have to start with an experience you know all too well. You got any ideas?"

I thought for a moment. "Um…I think…well…I guess…"

"What? You can't think of anything? Anything at all? Come on! All humans have emotions! We laugh, we cry, we die a little on the inside, but that's okay, 'cuz we're human! So let out a song for me! Give me an idea!"

"Uh…well, why don't you sing about something you've experienced?"

"I experienced sitting in a little box for a couple of years until I was opened up by a nerd who loves RPGs. I think it would be better if you handled this one. You're more human than I am."

I sighed. "Fine. How about…a girl helping a guy out?"

"Like…how? Helping the guy get sick to healthy or lonely to in love?"

"I dunno. Maybe…the guy is picked by bullies a lot. The girl helps him."

"Okay, so we have lift off. Now give me the specifics. Is the guy being bullied because he did something bad, or for no good reason?"

"Oh, I don't know…no good reason?"

"His personality?"

"Stupid. Clumsy.

"And the girl?"

"Sassy and smart."

Miku sighed with relief. She looked thankful for the cooperation.

"Now, this isn't gonna turn into Kagerou Days, right?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Oh, never mind. Anyways, how does the girl help the boy?"

"Do I have to write this whole song by myself, or are you gonna help me out?"

"Alright, alright. The girl is like, 'Oh, tee-hee, if you don't have the strength to speak out, than let me sing out your feelings!'" Miku joked.

"'Tee-hee'?"

"'Tee-hee'!"

"Okay…"

"And, of course, since you can't come up with a good song to put this idea into, I guess I must come up with it myself."

"Miku…"

"What, do you have a better idea?"

"…No."

"Well, okay then! Let's get this party started!"

And so, me and Miku started on our very first song together. I gotta say, I never thought it would come to this. Well, the first part being a girl coming out of my computer and bossing me around, I did not see coming. But actually using the Vocaloid to make real music was surprising. And I couldn't remember having so much fun.

"So…what do we call it?" I asked during the project.

"The odds are against him! It's the end of his world! We'll call it 'Odds and Ends'!" Miku said.

"I don't think that's what they mean when they say odds and ends."

"Oh, you know I'm kidding! But the name fits, you have to admit."

"Yeah…'Odds and Ends'."

"Hey, Bakura. Bakura. BAKURA! WAKE UP!"

A hand slapped my face.

Whoa. Déjà vu.

A opened my eyes to have the warm, Sunday morning sunlight embrace the room. I could hear birds chirping peacefully outside. All was normal and calm, until I noticed Miku was sitting on me.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey…" We both just stared at each other for a moment. "So, uh…you feel like getting off of me?"

"What? Oh, yeah…sorry…"

Miku held something big and clunky in her hands. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes to see her wearing my old Duel Disk.

"Miku! What are you doing with that?" I said, sitting up.

"What? It's not like I'm doing thing bad with it. Why are you freaking out?" Miku said.

"Well…I guess…I just…"

I took a good, long look at the Duel Disk. It was a device that you put on your wrist, and then you used it to duel (Meaning play the card game "Duel Monsters") with other people wherever you went. I got it during a Duel Monsters tournament called "Battle City" that took place a couple of months ago. I can't remember where I got because…well, that's a very long and complicated story that involves me getting stabbed in the arm. In fact, I should tell Miku to take that off. I think I might have gotten a little blood on it…

"I've heard about this! It's a duel disk, right?" Miku smiled, examining the Disk.

"Uh, Miku-"

"-By the way, I had to wipe some blood off of this earlier. Now, why did I have to do that?" Miku glared at me.

"Um…maybe you should just, you know…take it off and never put that back on again…" I mumbled.

Miku gasped. "DID YOU RIP THIS OFF FROM SOMEONE?! IS THAT WHY THERE'S BLOOD ON IT?! HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!" Miku pried the device off of her arm and threw it to the ground.

"No, I did not rip it off-well, at least I don't think I did…did I? Oh god, I did, didn't I?"

"DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT?! MAKE UP YOUR MIND, DAMMIT!" Miku started shaking me. She was freaking out immensely, but it was the kind of freaking out that was so ridiculous that it was a little funny.

"Um…I…have to go…" I broke from Miku's grip and ran to the door.

"What? Where are you going?"

"I need to get…milk from the store." I slipped my coat and shoes on as fast as humanly possible.

"There's a whole freaking gallon in the fridge that we haven't even opened yet!" Miku yelled as I left the apartment.

"Later,"

The wind was colder than usual today. I guess it wasn't as warm as I thought it was.

Never mind that, I thought. What am I going to do? I wanted to get through this without her finding out…oh god, why did this have to happen?

A newly-awoken Yugi answered the phone.

"Hello? Game shop…" He mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"YUGI!" Miku yelled into the phone, causing Yugi to jump.

"M-MIKU! IS THIS YOU?! HOW'D YOU GET THIS NUMBER?!"

"A PHONEBOOK, STUPID! YOU EVER HEARD OF ONE? NOW LISTEN…WHAT DID BAKURA DO DURING BATTLE CITY?"

"Huh? Why are you asking that?" Yugi scratched his head.

"NEVERMIND THAT! JUST ANSWER ME!" Miku yelled even louder than before.

"O-Okay! He, uh…dueled against me and lost."

"And?..."

"Miku…just listen, okay? That's all you need to know. I know it sounds confusing right now, but just…don't bother Bakura about it, alright?" Yugi said, snapping out of his sleepy talk into a more serious tone.

"Yugi, is there something you guys are hiding from me? I'll understand, I promise you."

"That's just the thing…I don't think you would understand. Sorry…I got to go…bye." Yugi hung up in a hurry.

"What? Don't you hang up on me, dammit! Yugi…Yugi! Ah, for the love of god…why won't anyone tell me what's happening?" Miku hung the phone up.

She turned at looked at the Duel Disk she had set on the floor next to her feet. Miku picked it up and held it in her hands, thinking it was totally ridiculous to think of the device as such a thing, but she felt as if she were holding a murder weapon.

Miku shoved the disk into a plastic bag and walked outside with it. She was going to get someone to talk, no matter what. She had to know if Bakura was the boy Miku thought he was. Was he a thief? A liar? Some douchebag who sold illegal Egyptian back-scratchers? Or, worst of all…a murderer…a monster.

Miku was walking down the sidewalk when a familiar face greeted her.

"Hey, Miku! Is that you?"

It was a teenage boy with blond hair and hazel eyes. It seemed to be Katsuya Jonouchi.

"Oh, it's you. Are you going to ignore me too?" Miku scowled.

"Huh? Whaddaya mean?"

Before she could answer, Jonouchi looked down at Miku's plastic bag.

"Hey! Would you look at that!" He said, pulling it out.

"W-Wait!"

Jonouchi was holding Bakura's formerly bloodstained Duel Disk in his hands. He smiled at Miku.

"Oh, so you're becoming a duelist! You bought a Duel Disk!" He exclaimed.

"Well, I…um…say, Jonouchi."

"Yeah?"

"You and your friends wouldn't keep any secrets from me, right?" Miku asked, unsure.

"What? Of course not! We'd never do that! You can trust us, Miku!"

"You promise?"

"Of course!"

"Then…tell what went on during Battle City with Bakura. Did anything…strange or out of the ordinary happen to him then?"

Jonouchi's face turned pale white.

Didn't see that coming, he thought.

"Well, uh…let's get something to eat before we go into that, okay?" Jonouchi said, pointing at a Burger restaurant. "My treat."

Free food? Sure, I can wait for an answer! "Sure!"

Moments later, Miku was nibbling on a cheeseburger as Jonouchi sat, merely staring at his. Within seconds, Miku finished up her snack and waited for an answer.

"Miku…you know in life, there a lot of weird things we can't explain, right?" Jonouchi said.

"Uh-uh…"

"Well…Bakura in Battle City was one of 'em. I'm mean, he didn't kill anybody…well, as far as I know…"

Miku jumped in her seat. "WHAT?!" She screeched. Suddenly, that cheeseburger didn't feel so right in her stomach.

"Yeah…so…Bakura went through a pretty rough time during Battle City. He…suffered. It was a very painful time for him. And most of us don't wanna bring up those bad memories. You see, we're not trying to keep secrets from you, Miku. We just want to live in right now and not in the past, okay?" Jonouchi explained.

"Okay…"

Jonouchi stood up, getting in a lighter mood. "So, whaddaya say we go make a deck for your new Duel Disk, Miku?"

"Huh?! But I-" Jonouchi pulled Miku up, dragging her with him down the sidewalk.

"Don't be so shy! We'll get the best cards we can find! And yours truly will teach you how to duel! Believe me, you're in good hands. I didn't get second place in Duelist Kingdom for nothing, you know!"