Okay, I'm very sorry for the long wait. Two weeks after I posted chapter 8, I opened up chapter 9 and realized I had only written 1000 words so far -_- so now it's been three weeks, but I hope the quality makes up for the wait. The good news is that the reason I was so slow was that I was studying for finals, but now school's out for me and I can write freely! :D


Gumi and Oliver gasped simultaneously as they exited the plane.

"There are so many people," Gumi whispered as she moved closer to Oliver. "Okay, now what are we supposed to do?"

Oliver sighed. "Didn't you pay attention to Meiko? There's a car waiting for us outside. Now be useful and find out how to get out."

Gumi and Oliver began to walk, with Gumi looking in every direction for signs. "Why me?" she asked as they walked. "You're the natural English speaker here."

"I need to text Neru," Oliver replied coolly.

"No, I have the phone," Gumi said, suddenly stopping and crossing her arms. "You read the signs, I'll text."

"Fine." Oliver said, squinting at the nearest sign. "Baggage claim...terminal...bathrooms...which one are we supposed to go to?"

"I'm pretty sure we don't want bathrooms..." Gumi said. "I've heard of them, but I've never seen one. Actually, I really want to see one now. We should go that way!" Gumi said, forgetting about texting.

"Gu- Gwen, we need to focus. We don't have all the time in the world, you know. Let's try baggage claim, even though we don't have any baggage."

Gumi giggled at the name. "You sound old. You should go back to being young."

Oliver sighed once more and moved onward, and Gumi pulled the phone out of her pocket to text. After they arrived at the baggage claim, Oliver glanced around again and spotted the correct way to exit.

"Hey, we need to get on this bus," Oliver said, pointing to the bus that Meiko had advised him to get on. Gumi looked up.

"Where will it take us?" Gumi asked as she walked towards it with Oliver.

"Car rental," Oliver replied as they boarded.

"Car rental?" Gumi asked, her eyes wide. "Car...as in those?" she asked, pointing to all of the parked cars through the window. Oliver nodded.

"And no, you're not driving," Oliver said when he saw the look on Gumi's face.

"Hey, I helped fly the airplane that got the Japanese Vocaloids and Utauloids to your home," Gumi protested. "I am very adept at the art of navigation."

"Then you can drive, but remember, we need to keep this car undamaged for two months."

"Isn't that going to cost a lot of money?" Gumi asked with concern.

"The English Vocaloids don't spend much of their money, so we have a lot saved up," Oliver said.

"Oh," Gumi said quietly, looking down at her lap. "You guys are sacrificing so much for Miku."

"If we were going to be concerned about anything, I'd be concerned about the amount of time we have," Oliver said, worry edging his voice.

"Well," Gumi said, brightening up, "We actually have ten months, if we neeeded it, you know? The magic may not last on us any more after two months, but I'm sure it'd still last on the others. I don't think we'll need that much time though, with me searching," she said proudly.

"You're so modest," Oliver said, shaking his head.


Eri and Mai wandered throughout the building, unsure of what to do. It was already evening, and there still hadn't been any significant texts from Gumi and Oliver. Eri knew the search wasn't started for entertainment values, but she still found herself wandering back towards the extra meeting room where Neru was staying.

As Eri peeked into the room for perhaps the tenth time in an hour, she saw Neru actually typing. Eri quickly walked into the room and Mai followed.

"Did you get a text from Gumi and Oliver?" Eri asked with suppressed eagerness; after all, she felt kind of silly being so worked up about something. It was more in Riku's personality to do that.

Neru nodded, her eyes not leaving the phone. "I do speak Japanese, you know," she said shortly.

Eri smiled slightly, feeling embarassed for no particular reason. "I figured I might as well get used to English, for when I have to go on a search."

"Fine, well, Oliver and Gumi have apparently rented a car and are on their way to the place where Meiko hired the guide," Neru said.

"Where exactly are they supposed to be staying?"

Eri turned to see Riku and Subaru standing in the doorway, Riku having just asked the question.

"See, that's a difficulty we're going to have," Neru replied. "We don't actually have anywhere for anyone to stay."

"What?" Subaru asked. "What are we supposed to do then?"

"To quote Meiko, 'learn on the job,'" Neru said with a shrug.

Riku grabbed Subaru's arm. "That sounds dangerous," he said nervously.

Subaru glared at the short Utauloid and pulled his arm away. He then replaced his frown with a smile so quickly that Eri wasn't sure if it was fake or not. "I'm sure Gumi could talk anyone into letting her stay in their home," he said coolly.

"Yeah well what about us?" Riku asked. "Subaru's not exactly the most charming guy out there. I mean, look how much Eri hates him."

For a moment, Eri caught a glimpse of hurt in Subaru's expression, and almost felt sorry for him, but then he continued the smile that Eri was sure had to be fake by now.

"We're supposed to be brothers, kids, right? Somebody has to take pity on us if we need a place to stay," he reassured Riku, ignoring the last comment.

"Not everyone is that nice," Meiko warned, appearing behind Subaru and Riku, who stepped forward into the room to let her pass.

Neru looked over at Meiko. "Hey, should I be instructing them on anything else?"

Meiko smiled slightly. "You can't always depend on me for instructions," she said. "Make some decisions yourself. It'll be a learning process."

"But this 'learning process' is supposed to be serious, for Miku!" Neru protested.

Meiko tilted her head. "You're not as bad at making decisions as you feel. If you were in Gumi and Oliver's position, would you want a text telling you where to go?"

"They already know where they're supposed to go," Neru said quickly. Then she looked down at her phone. "Oh. So, I should just wait for another update?"

"Part of being in charge is letting them come to you for help. You don't need to smother them in instructions; after all, they're the ones that are actually there."

IA and Ran walked into the room. "Did Neru get a text?" IA asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, here: 'We are in the car (I'm kind of scared, because Gumi's driving), on our way to the place we're supposed to go, which apparently Gumi is perfectly capable of finding,'" Neru read aloud from the phone. "I sure hope they're using the names I gave them," she said with a giggle.

"Do they know what they're supposed to do?" Eri asked, not knowing how much had actually been planned ahead of time.

"I gave them instructions on how to get to the home of our guide, since he doesn't really have a business or anything, he was just recommended by the creators who set the concerts up," Meiko replied.

"He doesn't have a real business or anything?" Eri asked. "So what, he just volunteered to take care of extremely popular Vocaloids because he can speak Japanese and English and happens to live in the right city? Isn't that suspicious?"

Meiko shook her head. "It's not quite like that. He's not officially a part of the organization that creates Vocaloids and helps form Utauloids, but he does help collecting voices and promoting the popularity of Vocaloids-Japanese Vocaloids, at least."

Eri frowned, and opened her mouth to speak again, but at that moment, there was a scream followed by laughter.

"Rin! I swear! I will..."

Rin ran into the room and looked around with a grin. "Quick, hide me," she said with a giggle. She was too slow, and spun around as she heard Len approaching rapidly. Everyone in the room stared at Len, who was soaked from about the shoulders up.

Rin blinked and tried to recover herself, smiling and waving lightly. "Oh, hi, Len," she said with a cheerful smile.

"Rin, what did you do?" Meiko asked.

Rin raised her eyebrows. "Ah, me? Mm, nothing..." she said slowly.

"Rin you dumped a bucket of water on my head!" Len said in irritation. "Where did you even get water?"

"I found that place that was in some of my songs. 'The ocean.'"

Len rolled his eyes. "And you decided to dump some of it on me. How thoughtful."

Meiko turned to Neru. "Do you think you could be in charge of making sure Rin and-well mostly Rin-stays out of trouble?"

Neru's eyes widened and then narrowed. "That seems like a lot of work, but I guess so."

Meiko smiled. "Thank you. I'm sure they'd be helpful as long as you are on their good side. After all, I know they're very loyal to Miku." She turned to look at everyone in the room. "Okay, I think we should leave Neru alone now, she's said all there is to know."

Slowly, the room emptied, except for Eri, who hesitantly stayed behind to talk to Meiko. Her attention had been caught by a certain phrase. As Meiko began to leave the room, Eri stopped her.

"Um, Meiko," Eri said in a small voice. "You said 'the organization that forms Vocaloids and helps form Utaloids.' What do you mean by 'helps form' them?"

Meiko thought for a moment, as if trying to remember the context, and then nodded. "Oh, yes, Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly..."

Meiko kept talking, but suddenly Eri remembered a past conversation with IA.

"Utauloids and Vocaloids differ slightly. I remember that when I first got here, I went through quite a few classes, and one of them was the explanation of the difference between Utauloids and Vocaloids, though it was added recently, so it wasn't too descriptive. But basically, I know that Utauloids each have their own individual creator, and are less likely to be needed by someone else, though it's possible to become popular."

"...so since each one has a specific creator, and it makes them perhaps even more purposeful than Vocaloids," Meiko was saying. "Each Utauloid is created to sing specially for their creator, who personally provides the voice of the Utauloid."

Eri's eyes widened as she tried to process it. She remembered that the way IA had said it, it sounded like Eri was a pointless creation. But now, the way Meiko explained it, she felt for the first time like she was needed.

"So my voice belongs to the person who gives me songs occasionally?" Eri asked hopefully.

Meiko nodded. "The only reason that Utauloids don't always sound as good as Vocaloids is the fact that they're not professionally refined, to save costs. But that's not to say that you're less important."

"Okay, thank you for telling me that," Eri said, nodding. She mentally scolded herself for missing how the Vocaloid creators helped form Utauloids, but she guessed it had to do with the actual forming of the physical Utauloid. Making her way back to her room, Eri smiled a little bit, feeling happier than she had felt in a while.


"My stomach feels weird," Gumi said. "It's really uncomfortable."

Oliver ignored her. "This is the address?" he asked, looking at the rather ordinary house.

Gumi looked over at the phone Oliver was holding. "You're the one with the address, you tell me."

"So who's going to knock?" Oliver asked. "Do you think there are any rules for humans about knocking on doors?"

Gumi shrugged and stepped forward towards the home's entryway. "Eh, I doubt it. Come on," she said, raising her arm to knock.

"Wait, what's that little button?" Oliver asked, pointing to a small button next to the door. Gumi bent down to peer at it closely.

"I don't know. I think I'll push it," she said with a grin. Before Oliver could tell her otherwise, she poked the button tentatively. The two waited for a few moments before Gumi frowned. "Darn, it didn't do anything," she complained.

The door to the house opened, and Gumi and Oliver both jumped before quickly turning to face the lady in the doorway.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the lady asked kindly.

"I'm Oliver, and this is G...Gwen," Oliver recovered himself, stepping forward. "We have some business with your husband, I believe. He is associated with Vocaloid, am I correct?"

The lady's mouth opened slightly, but she quickly blinked and then nodded. "Yes, he's...away right now, but you're welcome to stay until he returns," she said, stepping aside hastily and motioning for the two to go inside. "Please, come in, come in."

Oliver went inside, followed by Gumi, and looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where to go. He spotted two children peeking at him from around a corner that led away from the main room he was in.

"You can sit down on that couch, if you'd like," the lady said, closing the door and walking past Gumi and Oliver to sit down on a chair. The two guests followed her instructions and sat down on the couch the lady had indicated.

"So, is it possible that you could enlighten me on any specifics about the business you're here for?" the lady asked curiously, before shaking her head abruptly. "I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Jennifer Ross, wife of Steven Ross."

"We're actually here to ask your husband a few questions," Oliver answered truthfully. "We're aware that he acted as a guide for the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku at her most recent concert, and..." Oliver trailed off at the part that Meiko had told him about right before he left, the part where the guide had apparently abandoned the singers.

"...And we were wondering if he has any extra information on her," Gumi finished. "We're researchers."

Jennifer's expression immediately brightened. "Oh, okay. You see, my husband is a semi-linguist. Lately, Vocaloid has been trying to expand to different languages, and they recruited my husband to go promote Vocaloid in other countries, and right now, he's trying to get some details on a trip where he may actually get to collect a voice sample. Unfortunately, the major part of Vocaloid is in Japan, and because of family, we can't just move to Japan, so Steven is not officially part of Vocaloid. He just picks up the extra jobs that he can..." she explained, trailing off at the end.

Gumi nodded, finally getting her courage back. "That's interesting. So how long do you think it will be until he gets back?" she asked.

"He should be here by morning," Jennifer replied. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Gumi and Oliver shook their heads. "We...weren't expecting to stay long," Oliver said.

"You can stay here, if you'd like," Jennifer said.

Gumi's eyes widened. "Are you sure it's okay to stay here overnight?" she asked nervously.

Jennifer smiled. "Of course," she said. "There are two extra bedrooms here, but I assume you only need one?" she asked, seeing Gumi's ring.

Oliver glanced at Gumi and sighed inwardly. "Um, yeah..."

Jennifer looked over to the children that were still spying on the scene. "It's past your bedtimes, go to bed now," she said sternly, looking apologetically at Gumi and Oliver. "Sorry, I hope they don't make you uncomfortable. Children are curious, though."

Gumi's expression brightened. "What are their names?" she asked eagerly.

"Hannah and Charlie. Hannah is eight, and Charlie is six."

"Years?" Gumi asked.

Jennifer gave her a funny look before nodding slowly. "Yes, eight years old and six years old..." she said.

Gumi realized her mistake and resisted the urge to hide her face.

"Well, I can show you to your room now," Jennifer said, standing up and waiting for the couple to follow. She walked up a set of stairs and led Gumi and Oliver down a hallway until they reached a door. She showed the two inside and was about to leave when she stopped. "The bathroom's right next door. Are you hungry at all?" she asked them. "I don't know if you've been travelling, but you're free to have some food if you'd like."

Gumi glanced at Oliver, who looked just as confused as she was. Hesitantly, she decided to go with her instinct. "Do you have carrots?" she asked, remembering her character item.

"Yes, wait just a moment."

As Jennifer left, Gumi studied the room. "It was really easy to gain her trust," she mumbled.

"Maybe her husband gets visitors often," Oliver said. "What in the world are carrots?"

"Food that humans-like us-eat. Surely you know what eating is," Gumi said.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "So we're humans, and we have to eat now?"

"Guess so," Gumi replied.

A moment later, Jennifer replied with a bowl full of baby carrots. "Here you go," she said. "Let me know if you need anything else," she added as she left.

Gumi stared at them. "Well, here goes nothing." She picked up a carrot and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing it awkwardly. "This is awesome," she finally decided, before stuffing another in her mouth.

Oliver hesitantly picked up a carrot and bit off the tip. "It doesn't seem very awesome to me," he said, making a face at the taste. "But I guess I'll eat it."

"So," Gumi started hesitantly. "Should I...sleep on the floor?"

Oliver sighed. "No, you can have the bed. I'm sure there's another room around here. Jennifer said there were two extras, right? We'll just meet back up in the morning."

Gumi's expression saddened slightly. "I think I'd get lonely," she said slowly.

"Come on, I'm not letting you sleep on the floor. You slept practically by yourself while Rin and Len were shut down, didn't you?"

Gumi twisted a strand of hair around her finger nervously. "It wasn't very fun," she said quietly.

Oliver sighed again. "I'm not arguing anymore, stay in here please. I'm going to find the other room. Go to sleep while you can."

Gumi pouted as Oliver left the room. "Goodnight," she whispered. Oliver stopped for a moment in the doorway, but didn't turn around and kept walking.

Gumi set down the bowl of carrots and lay down in bed, staring up at the unfamiliar ceiling. She sat up five minutes later, remembering that they hadn't texted Neru about anything yet, but she slumped back down, deciding against interrupting Oliver's sleep.

Gumi tried to close her eyes, but ended up opening them almost immediately.

"I knew I wouldn't be able to handle this trip," she said to herself, pulling the sheets over her head and staring into the fabric until sleep got the best of her.

Empty eyes stared from beneath the surface of unclear waters. The long teal hair that normally hung gracefully was now drifting ever so slightly in the shifting current. A red glow came from the computer-like features of the girl's outfit. Suddenly, the glow started to dim. Air began to run out. Bubbles of escaped oxygen jumped upwards suddenly, bubbles that didn't belong to the teal-haired girl. The red glow faded to black, and the girl disappeared. A muffled cry of shock released another flurry of bubbles, and...

Gumi threw the covers off of her face and tried to catch her breath as she wiped away the drops of sweat that had formed on her forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut but she could only see the fading red glow.

Sitting up in bed, Gumi glanced around the room frantically before sliding out of bed and running out of the room.

"Oliver," she whispered as she looked around for another door. "Oliver!"

Gumi found a door around a corner and knocked hesitantly, despite her state. "Oliver?" she whispered again, feeling out of breath. She slid down a wall as her chest tightened and her breaths began to sound like wheezes. Gumi closed her eyes as dizziness engulfed her, but not before she saw the dark outline of a figure in front of her.

"Gumi?" Oliver whispered, crouching down in front of her with a worried expression on his face. She had slumped over rather abruptly, her breathing slowing down unnaturally. He reached forward rather tentatively and brushed her hair aside so that he could see her face, noticing that her face was very warm as he did so, and saw that her eyes were closed. Looking around and seeing that no one else had heard, Oliver stood once again and tried to figure out what to do.

With a quiet sigh, he tried to best position himself and Gumi to lift her up. With quite some effort, he managed to hold her up bridal style. He walked back to his room as quickly as possible with her and set her down on the bed. He ran to find the bathroom, which he had looked at earlier, and found the sink. He soaked a towel in cold water and ran back to Gumi, placing it on her forehead.

Not sure of what to do, Oliver pulled a small chair over from the corner of the room and sat by the bed. After a while, Gumi stirred and Oliver looked over at her as she opened her eyes.

Gumi stared up at the ceiling for a moment, as if trying to remember where she was, and then noticed Oliver.

"Ha, I thought you said we should sleep in separate rooms. Why are you in my room?" she asked lightly with a playful smirk.

"Don't pretend like that, you're in my room," Oliver said sternly.

Gumi's smile faded. "I had a nightmare," she said quietly.

"And then you thought it would be a good idea to run around looking for me?" Oliver asked. "What if you had stopped breathing? You need to try to calm down next time!" Oliver scolded.

Tears came to Gumi's eyes. "I can't help it!" she said weakly. Oliver sighed.

"I'll let you stay in here tonight, but if we end up staying around, you have to be by yourself."

Gumi nodded. "And...we forgot to text Neru..." she said.

"Oh yeah," Oliver said, and got up to retrieve the phone. "Okay, so did we figure out anything that wasn't already known?" he asked, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Not really," Gumi said. "Do you think you could ask her if Meiko knows what to do about my breathing? I'm kind of worried about it."

Oliver nodded and started texting. Gumi closed her eyes, and Oliver stared at her for a moment.

"You're way too good at pretending," Oliver mumbled as he shook his head, to which Gumi didn't respond.

A few minutes later, Oliver received an answer and checked the phone's screen. As he read the message, his eyes widened in surprise and worry, and he rubbed his forehead in an effort to calm himself down.

"...Meiko is...we think she's been shut down. We don't know why. But I can text Kaito and ask him, since he has a computer."


Gumi's kinda bipolar. But not really. She just has stress problems, and then hides it because no one knows. Just a random note, I really do have a friend that gets anxiety-induced asthma. It's sometimes really scary...

Anyways, I should have the next chapter up MUCH sooner than three weeks, so you'll know what happened to Meiko ^_^ Well, thank you for reading, (and reviewing, if you do), and look both ways before crossing the street.