Chapter Ten

Her blue eyes skimmed over the sheet music curiously. "It's good we get to a duet together," Luka said. "That'll be nice."

Gakupo looked upwards. He had been thinking hard about the music in front of him, trying to figure out what it would sound like, and how he could understand the character that sung the lyrics. "Yes," he agreed. "I've heard you've got a good voice, but I've never heard you sing."

From a little way off, Master and Meiko were watching the two interact.

"They're so stiff with each other," Meiko whined, turning to Master and pulling a face. "I still don't see why they even have to do a duet with each other when you know about our relationship."

The man focused on Gakupo and Luka before turning to the complaining brunette. "You're right. They are stiff with each other, and that's exactly why they need to sing together." A little smile appeared on Master's face. "A lot of the fans put them together romantically, too. This song will be very popular, and good for business."

Meiko grimaced, pretending to vomit before speaking. "The fans are idiots, if they think that. Luka belongs to me, and me only," she said, with a pout.

"Unlike a vase, or any other sort of item, I belong to nobody but myself," Luka remarked casually, walking past Master and Meiko to fetch a drink of water. "I should have known you'd be the jealous type."

The observation made Meiko flush. "I'm not jealous!" she argued, watching Luka turn and meeting her eye line. "I just think if you must be doing a duet with anybody, you should be doing it with me. If you should are being…'romantically paired' with somebody, you should be romantically paired with me. That's all."

Luka began to smile. Her and Meiko had been dating for a while now, but they still learnt more about each other all the time. The pink haired woman wrapped one arm around her girlfriend loosely and sighed happily. "Okay. I get it."

Being in love was nice.

"You know, Meiko," Master said, after the two women had separated. "Seeing as you haven't told anybody apart from me about this relationship, you can hardly complain about Luka doing duets with other people. It doesn't seem like Gakupo has any romantic interest in Luka anyway."

"I'd better get back to Gakupo, anyway," Luka said suddenly, excusing herself. Master raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask.

The brown eyed Vocaloid frowned. "She's anxious about people knowing. About us, I mean. Not this stupid duet."

Master looked away from Meiko, and watched Gakupo and Luka practicing their song together. They were facing each other, concentrating hard with their eyes closed. As the climax of the verse came, Luka had to hit a note that was an octave above Gakupo's. "What do you expect? Luka isn't good with her feelings. I don't think she likes people knowing she has them."

As the pink haired Vocaloid tried to hit the note, her voice cracked horribly. For a fleeting second, there was look of utter dismay upon her face, but as Gakupo went to reassure her, her face went completely neutral.

"My apologies, Gakupo," Luka muttered. "I'll try harder next time."

Gakupo tried to touch her hand comfortingly, but Luka crossed her arms and hid her hands. "It's okay, Luka. If it's too high for you, the music can always be taken down a little. It's not a problem."

The pink haired woman shook her head stubbornly. "It won't need to be altered. Just give me some time to practice."

Back where Meiko and Master were standing, Meiko couldn't help but feel disappointed. Luka was using that tone of voice again: the one that made everybody assume she was cold hearted and cruel. She wasn't like that at all.

The brunette woman glanced to Master. "Did you make her like this on purpose?"

Master began to smile, very slightly. "You can't blame me for everything."

The comment set Meiko off. Her fiery temper was unleashed. "I didn't mean it like that! Don't be so stupid. She is the way she is and that's fine. I was just wondering, you moron." Her voice had escalated, as she had forgotten her surroundings completely.

Meiko walked off, not giving Master a chance to reply, and muttering things to herself. Luka watched. Both her and Gakupo had turned to see what the commotion was about.

Luka supposed that Master and Meiko had been discussing her.

When Meiko arrived home, the house was quiet. Kaito and Gumi were on a date; Gakupo and Luka were at the studio; Len had gone to buy a new video game, and Miku was at a photo shoot.

"Meiko?"

The said woman turned, and followed the voice. Rin was in the kitchen, painting her nails the usual sunny yellow colour. "Did you visit Gakupo and Luka at the studio?" She asked, still concentrating on her nails. The girl quickly finished her thumb nail, and focused her interest on Meiko.

"I did."

"Did they sound good?"

"Course they did."

Rin seemed to frown a little, as if the idea that Gakupo and Luka would sound good together was distasteful or unpleasant. "I wish I could do a duet with somebody."

The older Vocaloid was confused. "What're you going on about? You sing with Len all the time."

The teenager rolled her eyes, and went back to painting her nails. "Singing with Len all the time is boring. I deserve a duet with somebody interesting."

"Such as Gakupo?" Meiko couldn't help but feel uneasy. If Rin had a crush on Gakupo, but he didn't feel the same, it could make things awkward. Especially if she took her feelings very seriously.

"Yeah. Like Gakupo. Luka always gets to do duets with all sorts of people, but I'm just suck with Len. That's so unfair."

Meiko couldn't help but feel irritated by Rin's comment. "Luka has to do a lot of duets with Miku. Maybe they get bored of each other."

"Luka does duets with Gakupo, and Kaito and pretty much everybody else, too. I don't. I deserve the chance to collaborate too," Rin protested. She had finished her right hand now.

"If you don't like the arrangements, you'll have to take that up with Master," Meiko snapped, walking over to the fridge and taking out a bottle of juice. "It's not Luka's fault, is it?"

Rin blinked, looking up in surprise. "Who put you in a bad mood? Geez, Meiko, chill out."

"Don't insult my girlfriend then," Meiko mumbled under her breath, pouring the juice into her glass. Rin's eyebrows furrowed, wondering whether she had heard what she had thought she had heard.

She'd just have to ask Kaito, later. He was Meiko's best friend, after all. He would know.

After working all day on the duet, Luka was exhausted. Meiko had left the studio after snapping at Master, and Luka had been thinking about it for most of the day.

'I'll have to ask her about it,' Luka thought. 'Then I can sleep.'

However, as soon as she was through the door, she was cornered by a grinning Kaito. He looked happier than usual, because his tongue was poking out of his mouth.

"Luka," the blue haired man said. "I know we don't know each other all that well, despite living in the same household, but you know I'm Meiko's best friend, so I…I needed to know. Are you and her…you know?"

The woman frowned, pretending to be confused. It was too soon. Perhaps he was talking about something else. "I'm sorry…I don't understand."

Kaito laughed cheerfully. He always seemed to have good humour and an enthusiastic outlook. Gumi was the same. "Luka, there's no need to be shy. You know what I mean. You and Meiko. Dating, right?"

Luka couldn't deny it now. He knew. Somehow, Kaito knew. She tried to forbid the blush on her cheeks, but she couldn't stop it. Her heart was beating, and she was fumbling with her fingers. 'Stop looking so guilty! Stay cool!'

"I'm right! You are!"

She shook her head hastily. "No! You don't understand. It's not like that," she insisted. "Do you not remember how Meiko and I used to fight?" Before the woman could stop herself, she began to snap at the man. "And why is it any of your concern anyway? As you said, you don't know me."

The man was lost for words for a moment. "I didn't realise…Sorry Luka! You're right. I shouldn't have stuck my nose into your business." He paused for a moment, beginning to think about Meiko. She would probably get the blame for him knowing, even though, it was Rin who had brought it up. "I just kind of assumed. You and Meiko seemed very close, especially during those videos on the Vocaloid site. Opposites attract, right? I must have got it wrong. I just like to keep an eye on Meiko, seeing as she's my best friend, and all."

Luka sighed, hanging her head in shame. "My apologies. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

'She looks like a wilted flower,' Kaito thought to himself. 'All sad like that.' He continued to smile at Luka sympathetically. "It's not a problem. You've probably had a hard day, working on the duet. Don't sweat it."

She nodded in response, muttering a quiet, 'excuse me', and sliding past Kaito. She jogged up the stairs, and found herself pausing at Meiko's door. Did she confront her?

Before Luka could make up her mind, the door opened. Meiko was wearing pyjamas, and sipping something that looked like alcohol, but could also have been water.

"What're you doing here?" Meiko asked, smiling at Luka fondly. She felt guilty about talking with Master about Luka, and she wasn't quite sure whether her girlfriend had heard them or not. The brunette tried to hug her girlfriend, but Luka wriggled away. She seemed upset about something. "What's up? Can't I give you a hug?"

The pink haired Vocaloid wrinkled her nose. "I've just had Kaito asking me whether I'm dating you or not." She ran a hand through her hair and avoided Meiko's eyes. "I thought you might have let me know, if you were going to tell someone." She tried to make the situation less tense, but her smile was so weak that it hardly worked.

Meiko frowned. "I don't know how Kaito knows. How does he know?" Her voice was quizzical and airy. She was obviously trying to make light of the situation.

"That's what I'm interested in too," Luka replied huffily. She felt Meiko tug on her hand, and lead her into the bedroom. The door closed softly behind them.

"I don't know how he'd know," Meiko replied honestly. "He's intuitive. He probably just guessed." She hesitated for a moment, still holding Luka's hand. "Why does it matter, whether they know or not? I love you. And I think you feel the same. What's the problem?"

Luka scrutinised the ground. If everybody knew her and Meiko were a couple, they'd expect them to act like a couple. To do public displays of affection, and, do couple-y things. They'd expect her to show all her emotions and suddenly become a 'fun' person because she was Meiko's girlfriend. "I thought you'd understand. I'm just a private person."

The brunette wrinkled her nose a little without realising she was doing so. "It seems like this will all be revealed soon enough anyway, now that Kaito knows."

"No, no," Luka murmured. "I denied it."

Their hands slipped apart. Meiko looked hurt. "Oh?"

Luka hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a few seconds, she finally spoke. "Are you okay?" She felt stupid asking.

The brunette shrugged, pretending to be aloof. "You seem to be embarrassed by me. Being with me, I mean."

"I didn't mean to be like that." Luka's eyebrows had creased unhappily. "I wouldn't mean to hurt you."

Meiko began to laugh. "No, it's cool. You can tell me that you're ashamed to be my girlfriend. That's okay." Her eyes seemed to be watering a little, but perhaps Luka was mistaken.

"That's not true-"

"Then why are you so secretive about all this?" Meiko's eyes met Luka's fiercely as the brown haired Vocaloid flung her hands out in frustration. "Not only have you kept it a secret, but now you're denied it, too. I am trying really hard to understand and respect your privacy, but, really Luka! How long did you want to keep it just between us? Six months? A year? Until it ended?"

"I'm just trying to come to terms with things myself!" Luka's tone was defensive and hurried.

Again, Meiko laughed coldly. "Because you never thought you'd end up with someone like me."

There was only a slight hesitation, but it made Meiko's eyes widen in disbelief. "So I'm right," the brunette whispered. "You are disappointed that you've ended up with me."

Luka shook her head frantically. "You're putting words into my mouth."

"But you had to think about the answer! You paused, Luka, you fucking paused!"

The pink haired woman flinched at the accusation. She was frozen to the spot.

"I want to be alone for a bit," Meiko said. Her eyes burned into Luka, and the blue eyed woman couldn't help but think of the times where her and Meiko used to argue horribly.

"Are you sure?" Luka asked. Her voice was timid and weak. She wanted to slap herself.

"Of course I'm sure. Go and get some sleep, or something."

AN: My apologies that this took a while! Tensions building in this chapter... As usual, I hope you enjoyed. Please read and review!

Also, to those who are currently off for Summer, I hope you're having a wonderful time.