Ch. 8: You Will Wear This and LIKE It
"Come on Ariku-chan! Hurry up and come out already!"
"Yeah, we wanna see your cute little date outfit!"
Arikusandoria was currently changing inside Rin's closet. On the other side of the door were her friends Rin, Miku, Teto, Neru, Zatsune, and Gumi.
I feel so….so naked. She thought as she sighed tiredly.
Gosh… I hope this glitch goes away soon, I don't think I can keep it from them much longer.
"Do you need help with the zipper?"
"Come on! Change faster!"
A 'click' came from the door and out walked a very shy Ariku who was rubbing her arm. She was in a short, tight fitting dress with thigh high stockings and little Mary Jane's.
"Eek! Oh my gosh you look so adorable!" Miku squealed, hugging the obviously shy girl. "Th-thanks, um… can I change back now?" Ariku stuttered, eager to put on her clothes.
"No Ariku-chan! You just got out here! And you look so cute! Kaito-nii will totally love you to death if you wear that little blue and black dress!" Rin said excitedly.
"Take you glasses off, I wanna do your makeup!" Zatsune stated to which Gumi and Teto laughed. "What's so funny?" She questioned.
"You. Doing Ariku's makeup? You'd make her look like the corpse bride!" Gumi cried and Teto laughed even harder. Zatsune pouted.
"I DON'T LOOK LIKE THE CORPSE BRIDE! I just like dark shades of colors…" Rin gave her a sympathetic look.
"You go ahead and do Ariku's makeup; I'll look for another outfit to try out in case Ariku feels too 'exposed'." Rin said with air quotes as she giggled. "But what if her makeup doesn't match the new outfit?"
"Yeah Rin-chan, we don't need Kaito laughing at Ariku for something that isn't her fault."
Rin paused and thought for a moment. "I'll be right back, don't change yet Ariku!" The girl called as she darted out of the room. "O-okay then!" Ari called out, trying to feel less awkward in her new outfit as she plopped down on the bed.
I feel really tired… I hope I don't fall asleep in front of my friends.
"Ari-chan, what's been up with you lately? You've looked really tired all week, though at school you hide it well. Mostly." Miku stated, nudging the UTAU slightly.
"Yeah what's wrong nii-chan?" Gumi asked as the girls gathered around her.
"Oh I dunno… maybe I just need some more…sleep." She said tiredly, leaning against Miku's shoulder.
"What, staying up on the phone with Kaito-sama draining your energy?" Teto asked with a giggle, causing her to smile. "Haha, something like that, I'm sure… after the weekend I'll be…. fine." She said assuringly, though she spoke slower and slower.
"Are you sure…? Maybe you're getting sick or something? I mean, Vocaloids are built to keep going and going unless there's a malfunction or something going on with…. Ariku? Arikusandoria? Wake up Ari!" Zatsune trailed off as she noticed the UTAU just knock out on Rin's bed.
"Eek! What do we do?! Kaito-sama is going to be by to pick her up any minute!" Gumi stated frantically as she got up to make sure Ariku didn't fall off the bed.
"Miku go get Rin! I'll call Len and-"
"Whatever you do, don't call Len! I'll be right back." Miku warned Teto as she ran out of the room to go alert Rin of the situation.
"Poor Ariku, she must've been getting sick for awhile in order for this to happen, why didn't she say anything?" Zatsune questioned, sitting next to Teto. The UTAU shrugged.
"I thought Vocaloids never get that tired. Or sick. Or whatever is wrong with her. Vocaloids don't randomly black out like that, do they Zatsu-chan?" Zatsune shook her head.
"As far as I know they don't, at least, none of the ones I know do…. Interesting. Master usually never makes flaws. If something happens to the modules, it is of the unit's own fault and error." She explained. "Come to think of it, have you ever seen CV number on her arm before?" Teto shook her head as Rin ran in.
"OH MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED? Ari-chan, Ari-chan, wake up! Can you hear me?" She cried frantically as she shook the unconscious girl back and forth.
No response.
"Aiyee! Kaito is supposed to be here like now! Someone call him and tell him she can't go! We don't need him seeing her like this." She stated, thinking on her feet.
"I'll do it!"
Neru volunteered, of course, eager to use her phone as she walked out.
"Zatsune and Miku, will you go downstairs and get a towel and an ice pack please? I'm not sure what's wrong but maybe it'll help." She suggested and the two girls nodded and left.
"Of course."
"Anything to help."
"Rin... Maybe it's a malfunction? All units run a slight risk of malfunctioning in certain conditions right? Maybe something this month triggered her tiredness." Gumi suggested.
"But Gumi-chan, we don't just black out like that either, not even Teto, and she's UTAU."
"Well maybe Ariku is an UTAU, just made differently, y'know?" Teto added, causing the girls to stare at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Yeah, Ariku is totally a Vocaloid."
Teto shook her head. "Think about it. We've never seen her number, she obviously had a glitch, and she can't hit extremely high ranges. She is probably an UTAU guys." She explained her point.
"You know… that actually makes sense Teto-chan." Gumi stated and Rin nodded.
"Well whatever it is, we still need to take care of her, but that means she could've been made by anybody." She said with a sigh.
"Go get a pair of my pajama pants from the laundry room for me Gumi, there's no way I'm letting Ari leave the house like this." "Right away." She answered as she got up and started to leave before Zatsune and Miku showed up.
"Uh Rin….we have another problem."
"Yeah, make that TWO problems." They said.
"What is it?"
"Len and Mitsumori are here and they said they needed to see Ariku-chan." Zatsune answered frantically and Miku nodded. Rin's eyes widened.
"Gosh dangit! I forgot Len was coming home late tonight! Uh um… I'll go deal with them, just watch over her okay?" "Got it." They said in unison as the girls traded spots.
"Who was that black haired girl with Miku just a minute ago? I don't think I've seen her before." Mitsumori asked Len as they sat on the couch downstairs and waited for Ariku and Rin to show up.
"Oh, that's Zatsune Miku, we all call her Zatsune, but think of her as Miku's sister. That's the only time you will really see her, she doesn't come around often." Len answered.
"Anyways, I'm pretty sure by the way they acted when they saw us that something is up. I'm not sure what exactly, but Miku fidgeted a lot, and she never does that." Mitsumori raised an eyebrow.
"You're really in tune with the female body and its language huh?" He said bluntly, causing Len to chuckle.
"Haha, I guess, I'm just used to seeing all of Rin's friends; they come here at least twice a week after school for something." Len replied, propping his feet up on the coffee table.
After a few moments of chatter amongst the boys, Rin walked into the living room. "Hey guys! What did you need?" She asked as she walked over to meet them.
"Whaddya mean what do we need? We told you, we need to see Ariku- I know by now you've forced her to change her style and Mitsumori needs to take her home." Len replied with a raised eyebrow. Rin pouted.
"Well, if you mean I've changed her for the better, then yes. But what do you mean Mitsumori was going to take her home? She has a date with Kaito-nii tonight." She continued. Mitsumori leaned in and Len put his feet down.
"Kaito told us he was going out of town this weekend and that they rescheduled for two weeks from now."
"Two WEEKS?!" Rin cried. "Are they like, going through something or what? Because every single word out of Ariku's mouth concerning him is always so sweet and happy. She literally just brightens up whenever he smiles at her!" The increasing upset tone in Rin's voice was very apparent. Mitsumori's eyes widened.
"You don't think he's-"
"NO! Kaito-nii wouldn't… couldn't. Ari-chan is just so sweet!" Len sighed.
"I dunno Rin; he's been different and less of a dunce since they got together. I think Ariku-chan's brain is started to rub off on him and he's just using it the wrong way now." He explained.
"Now that you mention it….Kaito-nii has been acting smarter. More pervy too…"
"And Ariku is too naïve and innocent to realize…" The twins looked at each other and then to Mitsumori. "Mitsu-san… we've gotta make her break up with him." They said in unison, shocking him.
"A-are you sure? She really likes Kaito doesn't she?" He stuttered
What the hell am I talking about? I should be all for this plan! But… I don't want her to be upset… but if she was upset about it, I could always go comfort her! Gah!
As Mitsumori fought with his thoughts, the twins were already discussing how they could legitimately break up the couple.
"So are you in or what Mitsumori?"
"Yeah, I mean, you're bound to see her whenever we can't." the twins just waited for a response as the male seemed to be processing all the information.
"Well… I don't want Ariku-chan to be upset if we're wrong. But if we aren't and we don't do anything, she'll be more upset. …I'm in." He answered and they smiled.
"Great! So I'll let you know the plan tomorrow, meet me at Café Calloway afterschool okay? Oh and make sure Ariku and Kaito don't get suspicious." Rin stated.
"Wait! I still have to take her home tonight Rin-chan." Mitsumori stopped the blond who was already heading back upstairs.
"Oh…um well about that…."
"Rin…is something wrong?" Len asked flat out, catching her off guard. She sighed and just motioned to follow her.
"Is she hurt or something?" Mitsumori asked, beginning to get worried as they walked upstairs.
"Not exactly… um… I think she's just really tired from the semester Mitsumori-san. She is like the top one in our class…." Rin trailed off as she knocked on her room door. The boys gave her a questioning look.
"I told you we were dressing and undressing up here! Gotta make sure you don't see anything you shouldn't." She explained as the door creaked open. "
Yes?"
Teto peeped her head out to look at the company Rin brought with her. "Teto its fine, is everyone decent?" Rin said quickly to which the ginger nodded vigorously. "Alright then." Rin walked in the room and the boys followed.
"Hi Len! Hi Mitsumori!" The girls chorused.
All except for Ariku, of course.
"Hey girls, where's Ariku-chan?" Len questioned as he looked around the initially before the unconscious figure on the bed.
"Ari!" Mitsumori cried as he and Len ran to the bed side.
"How long has she been out like this Rin-chan?" Mitsu asked as he felt around for a pulse on Arikusandoria's wrist.
"Like…2 hours…" She mumbled.
"Two HOURS?! Rin something could be seriously damaged within her system by now! Wait… we've been downstairs for that long?" Len stated, holding off on scolding his sister.
"Yes…I wanted to stall because I knew you two would be upset." She explained as Mitsumori stood up.
"Well, her internal system is running still, you can feel her 'pulse' normally. Perhaps she just overheated, her forehead is extremely warm." Mitsumori concluded as he folded his arms across his chest.
"But next time, please let me know as soon as possible." Miku giggled.
"What, you her keeper or something?" She stated as she noticed all eyes were on her. Mitsu cracked a sincere smile. "Not quite, but my master doesn't live here, so when we were created, she wanted me to-"
"I'm sorry; did you just say your master doesn't live here?"
"And that your master is a she?"
Neru and Miku cut off Mitsumori's explanation, baffled by his statements.
"Huh? Oh… I guess she didn't tell you her story yet." He said softly, noticing the confusion in their voices.
Len raised his eyebrow. "Mitsumori-san… what exactly are you talking about?"
Gosh Arikusandoria, this whole time you've been hiding your true identity haven't you, shy little girl? I guess you haven't changed so much after all.
Mitsumori took a deep breath. "Alright, looks like I'll explain everything to you so that way we are all on the same page. That, and this may be the only time you hear the actually truth about Ariku-chan and myself. So here goes." He began and they nodded.
It was late at night when Mitsumori finished answering all their questions and fully explaining how he and Ariku came into existence. "…and if that's all… I guess I'm done." He said, sounding very tired as he stretched. Len had sat next to Ariku, who was still unconscious. He looked at her as he spoke.
"Dude…that's intense. So this Alex person was just determined to make you two huh? She did a pretty good job." He said.
"Yeah, but as you can see, we aren't perfect. We are UTAUs, not Vocaloid. And Ariku is the one who gets all the little mishaps that my master missed, though we were made at almost the exact same time." He replied softly.
"Wow…was Ariku-chan that worried, that we would all just stop liking her if we found out? I mean, for God's sake, Teto is an UTAU as well." Rin stated, pointing at the now sleeping girl who was sleeping against the wall.
"Nevertheless, that still doesn't fix the problem at hand- has she even moved in the past… oh wow… 3 hours?" Zatsune questioned, surprised that they all were still up when clearly they shouldn't have been.
"…No, which is starting to bother me. Maybe one of her system switches just got stuck. I remember Master Alex telling me something about it once and showing me how to fix it if need be." Mitsumori began.
"I've got a laptop if you need it." Len yawned.
"Why don't we go downstairs? The girls can crash for the night up here. I'll get us some snacks too." Rin suggested and the other agreed.
"Okay, I'll go help Rin get stuff downstairs situated." Zatsune stated.
"I'll get my laptop, why don't you carry Ariku-chan downstairs Mitsumori-san?" Len suggested as the girls left. Mitsumori just stared at his best friends knocked out figure.
How the hell did I miss her outfit before? …Rin did a good job…
Mitsumori was unable to shake his thoughts and just stood there, staring. "
Yoohoo? Mitsu-san you okay?" Len tapped him on the shoulder, noticing the lack of response.
Her dress is short… what if I accidentally touch her where I'm not supposed to?
Mitsumori obviously was nervous about the whole 'carrying' thing- Ariku always made him nervous and he wasn't accustomed to having to carry her.
"Um… you look…tired. Yeah that's it. I'll carry her, you take my laptop alright?" Len said slowly, noticing how lost in thought the boy was. Len couldn't help but smile, trying not to laugh as he simply picked Ariku up bridal style. Mitsumori finally snapped out of his thoughts and jumped back.
"Tired much?" Len asked with a laugh to which he nodded.
"I didn't realize it was so late… you guys just let me keep talking." Mitsumori replied with a chuckle.
"Ha, well it was interesting, anyways; my laptop is on my bed." Len replied before walking out the door with his friend.
….why was I programmed to be thoughtful? Why..?
