A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I've had exams to deal with and am in a huge emotional slump at the moment, you know, suicidal and unstable and all that stuff. I hope this chapter will be worth the wait.

To Dummy Perception, I'm sorry that it seems slow to you, but everything is planned out so don't you worry, things will unfold with time…

To sgtranglin, I would go after that café owner too if he were real, and give him a lecture on why homosexual love is real love too. The butt-kicking begins here, so I hope you will enjoy it!

To LepainChu 18, thanks for the review! I am glad you enjoyed the story, and I hope this will be a satisfactory read for you!

To Yuzu-kun, thank you! Well, things will unfold in the later chapters and I assure you that there is at least one of the Vocaloids you mentioned you want to kill who does not deserve it.

To Truna, thanks~ I am so glad you like this! Good that you puked unicorns, the world needs more of them fluffy tailed one horned horse things. :D

Haruka

Previous chapter:

To be cruel enough to want to buy half a liter of undiluted sulfuric acid to pour down Miku's throat… What else could they have done to her? What could they have not done to her? I highly doubt that any kind of cruelty is beneath Shion after what I have heard about him today. I wonder, is Kamui a minion of his? And if the Kagamine who hurt Miku did worse, what in the world could he or she have possibly done…?

Luka's POV

While Miku slept, I went out again to get something to eat. Surviving on sandwiches and canned tuna isn't the healthiest of diets, and though I enjoy it I know that I have to get some greens and proteins into my body. Luki has gone back to the city with dad, but mom is still staying for a while longer, and she is nagging at me about my diet more than my conscience is.

"Luka, lunch is ready!" I roll out of my bed and pad down the stairs to the dining room, feeling rather guilty that I am still making mom cook for me. However, I am not the world's best cook and I refuse to cook anything but seafood, thus mom refuses to trust me to regulate my own diet. Good call, mom, good call.

The two of us settle down to the meal with a cheery "Itadakimasu!" Mom is smart, as always, she has already split all the different dishes into two portions so I have no choice but to take the greens instead of pigging out on the tuna and octopus. I make a face, which makes her laugh; and we dig in. She asks me about Miku's wellbeing and I tell her honestly that though my sweetie is getting better, I highly doubt that we will get anywhere soon.

"Take your time and remember not to rush her, Luka," Mom says as she slaps my hand away from her half of the seafood, "Healing is a slow process, but I am sure it will be worth it when we see more of the old Miku-chan again. You two will be running around in the woods and driving your parents up the wall like old times." She chuckles, remembering all the times she yelled at us for nearly getting caught by wolves or bears while we were playing in the forest.

I sigh and reluctantly tackle the vegetables as I reply, "I'm willing to stay by her side, no matter how long it takes." Mom raises an eyebrow and says, "It sounds like someone's childhood crush hasn't faded." She says it teasingly, which both irks me and confuses me. If one's eighteen year old daughter shows signs of being in love with a fourteen year old girl, won't a typical parent be disgusted or concerned?

"When you were eight, you always told me about how you'd marry her someday, don't you remember?" Mom smiles, spotting the look on my face, "I don't mind at all, Luka, and nor does your dad or Luki. Love is love, no matter what form it comes in." She chuckles at my shocked face, advising me to close my mouth before a fly buzzes in. "We'll throw you a grand wedding perfect for such beautiful girls!" A dreamy look appears on mom's face, which makes me blush a deep crimson.

My family approves… even though my words back then could have been the silly, whimsical words of an eight year old, they still took me seriously and found that they could and would accept me even if I really turn out to be a lesbian. My eyes start to water, my family has stayed by me through thick and thin and has been through a lot due to Luki's mental breakdown, and this is no exception. If I want to marry Hatsune Miku, a girl, they would happily spring for the festivities. I should have known… The Megurine family is much too close-knit to be affected by things like sexuality.

"I love you guys," I croak, trying not to cry, and mom smiles at me gently. "We love you too, Luka. All of us." That was it, screw self-control; I cried.

[After Lunch]

"Mom, I'm heading out again! See you tomorrow!" I shoulder a fresh bag of clothes and leeks, looking over my shoulder as I prepare myself to head back to the mental hospital.

"Bye, sweetie, take care! Say hello to my future daughter-in-law for me!" Mom can tease me the way Lily can, she really knows how to ruffle my feathers and turn my cheeks the same delicate shade of pink as my hair. "Mom!" She just chuckles in amusement while I escape the house as quickly as I can.

I walk by the Kagamine household on my way to the mental hospital, and once again I peer inside. All I see is that girly boy playing with a kitten, cooing at it and baby talking to it. I am firmly convinced this boy is not the Kagamine who hurt Miku; he is much too gentle and sweet for that. He is not even allowing the fluffy kitten to attempt to harm a butterfly.

Kittens and butterflies… they awaken a sleeping memory deep within me… "Luka!" Miku is tearing after me with an expression of mock anger on her adorable face. I have stolen both her rubber bands and replaced them with ones with cat ears on them, and she is not too happy about it. She had to go to school with those cute cat ears on her head and she got laughed at by a few people (which I dealt with after school in dark corners). I continue to run towards where my surprise is hidden, the best birthday present I have managed to find for Miku.

I race up the gravel pathway and swing into the backyard of my house quickly, tumbling on the grass next to a cardboard box with holes in the lid where my gift is waiting. Miku arrives shortly after me, red faced and on the verge of tears, and I instantly feel terrible. I made Miku cry… that is the worst nightmare I could ever have.

I wrap my arms around her and apologize immediately; Miku hits my chest feebly and chokes out, "You're the worst, Megurine Luka…!" She starts to sob, and I remember how sensitive my dear, sweet Miku is. She cannot stand getting laughed at, it makes her feel bad about herself and she has a really low self-esteem. I pat her head gently and apologize again, flopping down next to the box and pulling Miku with me. She is blushing now, on top of me in a rather awkward position, and before she can start scolding me while impersonating a tomato, the gift in the box lets out a squeak.

Miku's eyes widen, and I grin triumphantly, "Happy birthday, Miku." Curiously, she asks me what it is as she struggles with the ribbon, and I stick out my tongue and tell her to wait and see. She pouts but not for long, having finally wrestled the ribbon off the box. She opens the lid, peers inside and then cries out in delight, "A kitten!"

She scoops up the sleepy-eyed bundle of white fluff, cradling it to her with a warm smile. "Thank you so much, Luka!" The kitten nuzzles into her and purrs, it likes her, and I am not surprised. It is difficult to dislike Hatsune Miku unless you are jealous of her, and animals do not get jealous.

She sets the kitten down on the grass and we watch it tumble around, smiling warmly at the adorable fluff-ball's antics. Just then, a yellow butterfly flits past, and the entranced kitten stares at it in wonderment. Kitten and butterfly begin a strange dance of some sort, the captivated little ball of white fluff following the beautiful butterfly's graceful movements in a clumsy, stumbling manner. The kitten does not try to reach up to bat at the butterfly but instead simply follows it, until it runs into the cardboard box face first.

Miku and I crack up, entertained, and Miku says suddenly, "I know, we'll call her Magnet!" Reminded of the beautiful song, I remember that the lyrics did indeed mention a butterfly, fluttering chaotically, entranced by forbidden love. This little bundle of fluff is currently entranced by a butterfly, stumbling chaotically after it, a parallel to the song. I nod enthusiastically, approving of the name choice. That little fluffy kitten christened Magnet became the source of much entertainment for the two of us, until she was killed by wolves a few years later.

I wondered back then if it was a sign that forbidden love between two girls, like the one the song Magnet spoke of, was meant to die painfully, snuffed out by exterior forces stronger than the love that bound them. Did the cat Magnet's death signify that my love for Miku would be challenged by society, by the very world I knew?

So be it, I thought, bring it on, world. Give me your best shot. I will not let you destroy my feelings for Miku easily; they will not go down without a fight.

That was a full eight years ago, if I remember correctly, and my love for Miku has burned stronger than ever before. Society had tried to snuff it out, school sexuality educations always told us that we had to be attracted to the opposite sex, that homosexuality was "gross, immoral, unnatural and just plain wrong", but I never once despised my feelings for Miku nor felt repulsed by them. I love a girl, I accepted that the day I heard Magnet for the first time in that café, and I know that love is beautiful because Magnet was beautiful. I repeated the lyrics to myself alone in the shower or in my bedroom at night, telling myself that no matter what the world thought about it, my feelings for Miku were real, they were amazing, and they were not disgusting in any way. They were tragic, yes, but not the least bit disgusting.

When I near the hospital, I am alerted to a presence that has been following me almost the entire way. I catch the flash of purple hair, Kamui Gakupo, and I snarl out his name angrily. He appears wearing a cheeky grin, "Fancy running in to you here, pretty lady." Is he seriously doing this? I am a good two years older than him, at the very least, and he should show respect to his elders. Don't they emphasize on that in school?

"Save it, kid, I know you stalked me," I growl, sky blue eyes smoldering with barely restrained anger and hatred. He still looks cocky, shrugging off my response and asking me what I am doing outside a mental hospital. I refuse to tell him, not wanting him to know that I am visiting Miku, pushing him out of my way so I can enter the hospital. I warn him not to follow, my eyes smoldering like the hottest cinder in Hell. He stays outside, hopefully having recognized the signs that I absolutely loathe his guts, and I head to Miku's room while trying to cool down.

I did not know that Kamui followed after me a few minutes later, tailing me from a distance and pretending to be here with me on a visit. When I opened the door to Miku's room, I found out, as the annoying bastard barged in before me and stalked over to my trembling sweetheart, snarling, "Found you, runt. Did you think you could get away?"

Miku's response was to shriek, a pained and frightened cry akin to the shrieks of wounded horses on the battlefield, pained cries that tore into the soul and curdled the blood. He grabs Miku by the wrist and she wrenched herself from him, flattening herself into the wall and trembling like a leaf in a whirlwind. I try to control my temper and ask him to leave somewhat civilly, but before I can get a reign on my inner devil, the purple haired bastard kicks Miku.

He kicked my Miku. He kicked my Miku. He. Kicked. My. Miku.

That did it; I fly at the Kamui brat and fling him to the other side of the room. I stride over before he can recover, grab him by the collar and smash his face into the wall. He tries to put up a fight but is no match for me, I have never been this furious in my life and the pink haired devil is completely free from her restraints, boiling with anger. I dodge his weak uppercut and give him a roundhouse kick to the stomach, sending him flying again. Before he can get up I am at him again, kicking him in the face, chest and stomach. I hit him, kick him, throw him around and smash him into the wall until he is a bloody, bruised mess begging for mercy, having completely gone on a rampage. I grab the fool's long purple ponytail to prevent him from escaping and kick and punch him, sending him flying away from me until his hair runs out and he stops, rebounding back, somewhat like a paddleball. His hair tears off in places, some in bloody clumps, but I cannot care less about how hurt he is becoming from my vengeance. He pleads for mercy and swears blind that he will never dare to even look at Miku again, and I kick him out the door and yell at him to leave, to get out of my sight and pray he never sees me again.

"If I ever set eyes on your pathetic hide again, I'll kill you!" I roar after him, slamming the door on his fleeing ass. I turn to my frightened Miku and gather her in my arms; assuring her everything is alright, singing Magnet to her in an attempt to calm her down.

I have nearly sung myself hoarse by the time my sweetheart calms down again, and I have a whole lot of questions to ask her about Kamui's involvement in her torture for the past six years I was gone. However, I know it is much too fresh for her to talk about right now, and I cannot push her for I will only make things worse. I shall bring up some peaceful past memories to calm her first, and then see if she is ready to tell me what has happened to her.

"Luka…" she croaks, her voice hoarse from all her crying and screaming, "Tell me…something nice…"

Understanding, I dig through the archives of sweet childhood memories for something to reminisce with her about. Stroking her head, I gently rub the velvety cat ears between my fingers as I begin…

For the last three weeks, I have been on a holiday in Tokyo with my family, and I have missed Miku unbearably. Every single day in Tokyo, I pestered my parents with "When are we going home? I want to see Miku again!" and the only way they could get me to shut up was to give me some money to buy Miku a gift at a store we were in or a store near the hotel.

At the end of those three weeks, I have an entire luggage of gifts for Miku, sweets, stuffed toys, hairbrushes, new rubber bands for her hair in different colors and shapes, books, little souvenirs like key chains of the Tokyo tower… Every single yen I was given for the trip all went into buying Miku something for when I got back.

Now, I am standing at the Hatsune's door with the bag full of Miku's gifts in my hand, nervously ringing the doorbell. To a nine year old, three weeks is an immeasurable period of time that feels more like an eternity, especially when they are three weeks away from the apple of my eye. Miku opens the door and just stares at me, as if she cannot believe I am back. Before I can say anything, she throws her arms around me and says in a shaky voice, "I missed you so much, Luka!"

"Already on the verge of tears, eh, Miku? That's just like you," I tease, and she mutters a slightly moody 'shut up' into my chest. I laugh, my Miku is such a tsundere sometimes, and I pat her head gently. "I missed you too." Before she can start crying on me, I tell her I have plenty of things to show her and many stories to tell her, which cheers her right up again. Miku says she loves to hear my voice, and she loves to hear my stories even more.

We troop into her bedroom and huddle together on the bed, and I hand the entire bag to her to let her slowly sort through her presents. Mom is talking to Miku's mother outside; I can hear her telling Miku's mother with a laugh, "That girl bought your daughter a present more than twice a day. She couldn't stop thinking of Miku-chan!" Her mother responds with, "Miku couldn't stop asking us when Luka-chan would be back. I don't think it is wise to ever separate them for so long again."

While I listened to our parents conversing, Miku was slowly emptying the bag in wide eyed wonder, unable to believe the amount of gifts I brought for her. The leek shaped light stick is a hit, as I expected, she is waving it around with a huge smile on her face and thanking me repeatedly. She cannot believe the amount of things I have bought for her from Tokyo, and can barely fit it all on her single bed. Stuffed toys, key chains, packets of sweets and other snacks overflow to the ground, and she keeps bending down to pick them up.

Together, we sort out my gifts into piles based on what they are, and I am surprised myself at the amount of things I have bought for her. "You really shouldn't have bought anything at all, Luka," she says repeatedly, "the best present in the world is having you back here again." I spend the entire day with flushed cheeks, telling her stories about my trip as we munch on the food I bought for Miku together. She is amazed by my descriptions of the skyscrapers in Tokyo, for the tallest building in this town is the mental hospital at five stories.

Miku has calmed down and is laughing along with me, remembering the sheer amount of gifts I had bought her. It was no exaggeration that I filled an entire luggage with those gifts; I had probably spent a year's worth of pocket money on Miku in that trip alone. "I still have that light stick," Miku says with a nostalgic smile, "It's in my bedroom, on the nightstand, if I remember correctly." I chuckle, expecting that the leek light stick would be the most well-loved and maintained of all my gifts to her. It is a glowing leek, what's not to like when you are absolutely in love with the vegetable?

I grin widely and ask her about the fate of some of the other gifts I can remember. One of them is a customized plush toy with my face on it in chibi form, with my hair serving as tentacles. Miku and I took to calling it 'tako Luka' because it is based partially on me and partially on one of my favorite foods, takoyaki. They have very good takoyaki in Tokyo, with tuna flakes on top that make it even more delicious. I probably contributed to the mass murder of octopi and tuna significantly within those three weeks alone.

"Tako Luka is in my bag somewhere," she says with a fond smile, gesturing to under her bed, "Dad brought some of my favorite things shortly after I…" She trails off, obviously not wanting to talk about it, and I do not press her. I simply get on my knees and reach under the bed to produce a rather dusty black backpack, which I unzip to reveal a rather dirty but none the worse for wear Tako Luka. I brush off the dust and say, "I'm glad you still remember her."

"How could I ever forget? She's half you, remember?" Miku responds cheerfully, grabbing the plush toy from me and hugging it to her. She is quick to forget bad things, probably shoving them away forcefully because she has not the strength to deal with them.

However, I do not want to let her shove it away this time. I want to know what has happened to her over the past six years when I was in the city. How should I tell her this…? I watch her hug Tako Luka with a blissful and childish smile on her face and decide to cheer her up more before I bring up the subject again, reminding her of the time she brought Tako Luka to school and got us both teased about it for a week or so.

"People thought we were dating," Miku reminisces with a smile, blushing slightly, "We had a few lectures, didn't we?"

"Goddess, we did indeed," I grin, remembering the first lecture myself…

"Are the two of you together?" the Principal asks suspiciously, looking at the two of us coldly. Miku just hugs Tako Luka to her chest and refuses to say a word, so I deny it for the both of us. "Just childhood friends, sir," I growl, I dislike the Principal; he always scolded me for beating up the kids who tried to hurt Miku. Goddess knows the amount of detentions this man has given me for fighting and beating people up.

"Homosexuality is a sin, do you know that?" I want to lie to him and give him the answer he wants so he will let us go, but Miku explodes. "It's not! It is all because of people like you that homosexuals have to suffer and live in pain! Judging people as if you are god is the real sin here!" The Principal and I are both equally shocked by Miku's outburst, but I approve of her bravery and honesty and I agree with her every word, while the Principal is muttering something to keep away the 'Devils of pollution'. I resist the urge to whack the balding old man, snarling a profanity under my breath at him.

"A girl loving another girl is beautiful," I chip in to help Miku, speaking my honest opinion at last, "Love is love no matter what form it comes in, and it will not be stopped by balding old men like you!" Miku giggles, looking at me gratefully for my support, and the Principal's jaw has dropped. He looks like a fish, it sends both Miku and I into little giggling fits. His face is turning purple, I think he might die or something, not that I would care.

He takes a breath and his face color returns to normal (what a pity), and he tells us to leave his office immediately. "I have no place for dykes in this office!" he shouts, and I tell him, "I have no time for ugly old men like you!" I think he might call my parents again, but it is no threat to me. My parents are on my side, and Miku's on hers, and they have never liked the Principal who only tries to stop me from protecting Miku instead of stopping the bullies from picking on her.

"I'll never forget the look on his face," I chuckle with amusement, "He was utterly shocked!" Miku nods with a grin of her own, looking much more relaxed than before. She tells me the Principal died of a heart attack shortly after I left to the city, because he discovered two girls making out in the gym after school and went ballistic.

"You'd expect a man to enjoy a good girl on girl show," I remark, and Miku looks at me disapprovingly, "Eww. That's disgusting." I shrug and tell her that men are like that, naturally attracted to girls getting it on because it is hot to them. "What they don't know is that they're losing hot and cute girls to other girls."

Miku chuckles, she agrees with me. Stroking Tako Luka's head absently, my turquoise haired angel is definitely much better than before. I think I can ask her my question now, at the risk of prompting a flashback or meltdown.

"Miku," I say hesitantly, drawing a confused tilt of the eyebrows from her, "Can you tell me what happened to you while I was gone?"

Miku snaps upright, turquoise pupils shrunk to slits, and she starts to tremble. Before I can apologize, she tells me, "Alright, Luka, I will." She clutches the toy to her tightly and takes a deep breath, readying herself to tell me what I am rather frightened to hear.

A/N: A little cliffhanger here for all you awesome readers! :P Sorry for the long wait, though I cannot promise that I will never make you guys wait this long again. I will try to update my other stories first before I get started on the next chapter, so please be patient with me!