Thank you all for the reviews, you guys are great! I was actually gonna post this last night but... yeah, stuff came up, like a friend coming over to hang out until like 4 AM. XP Good times. Hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
DISCLAIMER: Do not own Vocaloids. Would like to own Vocaloids. Will prolly never own Vocaloids.
Chapter 10
"P-Please be gentle... it's... it's my first time..."
Gumi sighed as she cracked open her can of soda. Not for the first time since she had fired this hentai movie up, she wondered why she had kept it to begin with. Then again, she reasoned, with a little over fifty gigs of porn on her external hard drive, it was pretty hard to wade through the mind-boggling number of files on it for quality checking. Having been in the mood for delicious yuri action this morning, she'd decided on this one, though she was less than impressed thus far. Taking into account the characters, the plot, the sex, and all that jazz, everything amounted to approximately a "meh" rating, maybe a little lower. Still, Gumi thought as she took a sip of her soda, this was fine too. She'd woken up at about nine this morning; a usual time for her on the weekends. Afterwards, she'd had breakfast, washed up, and then just chilled by amusing herself with various selections in her gigantic collection. Although, strangely enough, Gumi had a strange feeling that she was forgetting about something...
"Hyaa? ! M-Mai-chan! W-Wait! Not there! Ah! Why won't you listen to me...?"
The greenette let out a quiet "Oh" of mild interest. "Hm... Not bad," she leered. Her lecherous grin widened as the moans from her speakers grew louder.
Over the sounds of a girl going to town on another girl, Gumi heard knocking from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she called out, "Come in!"
The door opened enough to allow Gakupo to poke his head in, greeting Gumi's cheerful grin with a warm smile. He glanced over at the screen, a flicker of resigned disapproval briefly flitting through his eyes before he sighed and returned his attention to her.
"Gumi, can you turn that down a little? I'm trying to study for my midterms."
She shot him a million-watt grin as she saluted. "No problem, onii-chan! I'll put my headphones on then, 'kay?"
He smiled. "Thanks, Gumi."
The door shut gently as Gakupo went back to his studies. Gumi turned back to her computer, switching off her speakers and plugging in her headphones. This was good in its own way too, so Gumi had no complaints whatsoever about being asked to put on her headphones. She took another sip of her soda as she returned her attention to the picture on her monitor. A soft sigh escaped her as the sound intensified. Why did these girls always have to sound like they were being raped when they were clearly enjoying it? She didn't get it. Then again, it wasn't like she had any experience anyway, so she was willing to concede that maybe it was just because she didn't understand. Or maybe more people in the audience liked it better this way. Either way, Gumi was content to enjoy the show.
But for some reason, as Gumi took a sip of her soda, she had the strangest feeling that she had forgotten something...
She paused as she heard her cell phone ringing from inside of her pocket. Finishing her gulp, Gumi set down the can and extracted the phone. Huh. Rin was calling her. Curious, Gumi flipped open her phone and answered.
"Heya, Rin-chan."
"Hi, Gumi-chan. Hey, are you almost here? The rest of us are waiting."
"...Huh?"
"We're already outside the library, just waiting on you."
"...Huh?"
There was a pause. Then... "...You forgot, didn't you?"
Gumi stared uncomprehendingly ahead of herself. "Forgot what?"
"Gumi-chan, we were supposed to meet up in front of the library today! At eleven? Any of this ringing a bell?"
"...Huh?"
"For midterms? Y'know, studying? Making sure you don't fail?"
"Mid... terms...?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...OH MY GOD!"
Rin sighed. "We'll be inside, Gumi-chan." The line disconnected.
It didn't help that Gakupo was already distracted by sheer boredom, but the crashing and banging noises that exploded from his sister's room weren't helping his concentration much either. He glared at the wall as if he could see through it (which he most certainly couldn't, and was glad for... he wasn't sure if he should ever bring up to Gumi that she should probably keep it down when she was... um... having Gumi time...), already able to accurately imagine his sister flailing all over the place. It was pretty easy to imagine, given that the audio was quite suggestive of this. He could hear her dashing all over the place in her room, along with things crashing all over the place. He sighed at each of the screams that came from her room, among them such gems as
"OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT MY MIDTERMS!"
"GAH, RIN-CHAN IS GONNA KILL ME!"
"WHERE'S MY WALLET? OH MY GOD, I LOST MY- Oh wait, there it is."
"SOCKS! CRAP! I HAVE NO SOCKS! Wait, never mind, I do."
"CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!"
The last one in particular made several cameos. Four, to be exact. The crashing finally came mostly to a standstill, and her loud, panicked footsteps took over instead. Gakupo looked over at his door as hers flung open and her footsteps rapidly drew near to his room, his expression still set into a highly unimpressed facefault. Sure enough, his door banged open, revealing a very panicked Gumi as she zoomed up to him.
"Hi onii-chan well I gotta run cuz I was supposed to be studying for midterms with my friends but I totally forgot about it pretty dumb of me huh hahaha well I never did say I was the smartest person out there but I prolly shoulda remembered this and besides Rin-chan can be kinda drill sergeant-y she's actually pretty scary when she gets into things you wouldn't guess from looking at her well I guess you can't judge a book by its cover right hahaha so yeah I thought I'd let you know onii-chan and I totally shoulda let you know about this before you've always been better at remembering things than me-" Brief pause for a quick breath. "So anyways I gotta run otherwise Rin-chan is gonna skin me alive well I don't think she'll actually do that she doesn't seem like the yandere type but oh my God why am I standing here still talking it is a minute later than it was a minute ago holy SHIT I'M GONNA HAVE TO RUN LIKE HELL I GOTTA GO I LOVE YOU ONII-CHAN-" Brief pause to give Gakupo a peck on the cheek. "GOTTA RUN I'LL BE HOME FOR DINNER BYE-BYE HOLY SHIT I'M LAAAAATE!!!!!"
From downstairs, he heard the front door open and then slam shut, with a muffled scream of "OH MAN, OH MAN, OH MAN, I REALLY GOTTA RUN! GUMI TURBO BOOST POWER GO!"
Still inside the house, Gakupo was still staring at where Gumi had been scant seconds ago, looking rather exhausted from trying to keep up with how rapidly she'd been firing out words. A soft noise akin to a scoff escaped him as he shook his head, running a hand briefly through his hair.
"Geez... that sister of mine..."
A faintly affectionate smile tugged on a corner of his mouth as he returned to his studies. With quiet humor, he murmured, "Have a safe trip."
Luka had spent the past ten minutes caught in that annoying limbo that is somewhere between being asleep and being awake and trying very hard to get herself back to sleep but completely unable to. Just as she'd been starting to get some ground by keeping her eyes stubbornly closed and rolling to a part of her bed where the sunlight wouldn't be able to hit her (yet), a clatter from downstairs triumphantly announced the official ending of any shuteye she'd been planning to get. Groaning groggily, she sat up, scowling sleepily at nothing in particular. She snarled a series of sour nothings under her breath as she practically rolled off the bed and trudged downstairs. No point trying to sleep again now; she knew when she was defeated.
The clatter had not stopped, and at one point had actually just turned into an explosive ruckus, along with a voice she could now hear saying, "Whoops. Oh well." She would have narrowed her eyes if they weren't already sleepy slits, because by now, even in her sleepy state, Luka knew exactly who was in the kitchen.
"Well, a pleasant morning to you, hime-sama!"
Luka groused a decidedly unpleasant phrase at Lily that would probably have made sense if she'd actually emitted something that sounded more coherent than a growl. She dragged herself to her usual spot at the table, where utensils and an empty cup had already been set out with another set across from her (which she decided to ignore for the moment). After seating herself, her motor skills decided they'd functioned long enough for the morning and promptly allowed her to faceplant onto the table. A short chuckle followed this display.
"Wow, it's been a long time since I've last seen sleepyhead mode Luka."
As the annoying blonde spoke, her voice had drawn closer. Given her poor mood, this would ordinarily have resulted in a projectile being thrown in her general direction, preferably at her face, but she was at least functional enough to smell coffee. She thrust the empty mug in Lily's direction, snapping sourly, "Shut up and pour."
"At once, your majesty," Lily replied cheekily.
Luka allowed this to slide as she heard the coffee being poured. Once the sound came to a stop, Luka dragged the cup closer to her and took a sip. Ugh, black. But as nasty as it tasted, it served its purpose. She took another sip to give her system an extra jolt before she set the cup to the side, now looking over at Lily in the kitchen, apparently busying herself at the stove.
"It's been a while since you've done this," she remarked, her voice more awake and not carrying (much of) her earlier grouchiness.
She could hear the grin in Lily's voice as she replied airily, "A whim. Only this, and nothing more."
Luka rolled her eyes, even if her friend couldn't see it. There was no need for her to ask who had let her in; Megurine Yukari had long been on friendly terms with Masuda Lily, and it rather distressed Luka to know that her mother genuinely liked both of the more annoying people in her life. But there was nothing to be done about that, she supposed. Luka imagined that Yukari had been all too happy to let her in.
"Your mom was all too happy to let me in," Lily informed her, still not turning around.
"I'll bet she missed you," Luka scoffed. "It's been a while since you've pulled a stunt like this, after all."
"This is true. And I hardly think going over to a friend's house counts as a stunt, hime-sama." Despite the words apparently trying to justify her actions, her tone was wholly unapologetic.
"Normal people announce themselves before dropping by."
"Tch," the cook scoffed dismissively. "Normal people may do such things, but Masuda Lily comes and goes as she pleases!" She actually had the gall to sound proud of herself.
This was true, actually. Lily had a habit of dropping by unannounced at her house for various reasons, a habit she'd had since junior high school. There really wasn't any way to deter her aside from surrounding the grounds with barbed wire (and even that was not a guarantee), so pretty much there was no choice but to let her do as she pleased. After all, Lily had always been the kind of person who lived life at her own pace. Lily turned from the stove and soon dropped off a plate in front of Luka before circling around to her spot with her own plate. Pancakes, as usual. Neither of them was entirely sure why, but whenever Lily decided to make breakfast, she always made pancakes. Hell, sometimes even if she was cooking dinner or something, sometimes she made pancakes. There wasn't much point asking her either, as even Lily wasn't quite sure why.
The last time she'd asked, she'd just kind of glazed over, scratching her head and going, "Uhhh... That's a good question. I dunno."
"You didn't have to do this, you know," Luka said, her tone not ungrateful.
"I never do anything cuz I have to," Lily replied without even the slightest dusting of concern. She began pouring a generous amount of syrup onto her pancakes as she continued, "Only what I feel like."
A smile tugged at a corner of Luka's mouth as she shook her head. For a time, the two friends were quiet as they ate their breakfasts, interrupted briefly by Luka getting up to grab some cream and sugar for her coffee; unlike Lily, she'd never been very good with bitter things. The silence was companionable, for once not filled with Lily slyly interrogating her or scribbling things in her damnable notebook or any of that. Just as she had finished that thought, there was a quiet snickering noise from across the table.
"This is kinda nostalgic in a way, wouldn't you say?" Lily asked with a grin.
Luka smiled genuinely, replying with a quiet, "Un."
Silence as they ate was nothing new to them. After all, that was how a certain blonde girl had found a shy, quiet pinkette years ago.
Several years ago...
"Oi."
Luka looked up, surprised at actually being addressed. She followed the source of the voice to see a blonde girl standing beside her, arms folded over her chest. Luka's confused ice-blue stare was met with a blank stare from ocean-blue orbs. Blinks from both parties. Then, the blonde spoke first.
"Are you eating alone?"
The pinkette blinked at this odd line of questioning, but nodded cautiously.
"...You shouldn't do that. Y'know food doesn't taste as good if you eat alone, right?"
Luka wasn't sure how to respond to this. Certainly she knew, but how could she help it? She looked down without answering, chewing her lower lip.
"Don't you have any friends or anything?"
Luka shook her head, still not looking up.
The blonde sighed in apparent exasperation. "Y'know what, wait here."
Before Luka could even think to say anything, she had zipped off. Quietly, she went back to nibbling on her sandwich. It wasn't like she'd chosen to eat alone... She looked around sadly at the other tables in the cafeteria, all of them packed with other boys and girls her age, all of them talking or laughing or just screwing around with their friends. She'd never made any friends in elementary school, often considered "weird" because of her unusual hair color... She supposed that if she wanted to fit in, she could have dyed it, but she liked her hair... It was the same color as her mother's... She took another bite of her sandwich, reflecting that she usually did eat alone. At school, the other children didn't like her, so she would eat by herself, and though it was only her second day of junior high, it didn't look like it would be any different here either. At home, she would eat alone too because her parents were often too busy to spend time with her. On the rare occasions that they could, she always felt so happy, but she still wasn't sure if the food actually tasted any better. All she knew was that it would feel good to not be so lonely. Luka was just about to take another bite of her sandwich when a loud clattering exploded from in front of her. In alarm, she looked up to see the blonde girl from before, grinning from ear to ear as she plopped down into the seat.
"Thanks for waiting!" she chirped.
Luka blinked, unsure when she had agreed to wait for her to begin with. She was about to ask but was cut off as the blonde continued cheerily, "Y'know, seeing you eating all by yourself is just too sad. So until you make some friends of your own, I'll be eating with you!" No sooner had the words come out of her mouth when she paused and gazed up at the ceiling, a finger resting on her chin thoughtfully. "Mm, actually, that might be too much work." Shifting once more towards full-blown cheer, she chirped, "To make things easier, we'll just be friends starting now! Un, that sounds a lot better!" She nodded proudly to herself, arms folded over her chest as she made small noises of agreement in time with each nod. "I like this idea already! Any objections?"
"Um-"
"Great! Glad to hear it!" she cheered enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" Sticking her hand out into Luka's face, she chirped, "I'm Masuda Lily!"
Blinking, Luka hesitantly accepted the extended hand, for a reason she was not sure she understood. Nevertheless, she replied, "M-Megurine Luka..."
"Nice to meet you, M-Megurine Luka!" Lily exclaimed, shaking her hand with such vigor that the poor pinkette felt as if her arm would be dislocated. "I think we're gonna get along just fine, don't you?"
"I... I suppose, Masuda-sa- OW!"
While she reeled from the sudden forehead flick, the blonde wagged her finger, tsking with disapproval. "You've much to learn, young one!" she proclaimed, leading Luka to wonder if she were perhaps a senpai. The wagging finger became one pointed straight between her eyes as she declared, "Friends don't call each other so formally! So, let's try this again, Lu-ka!"
"L... Lily?"
"Just 'Lily' is fine, no need to call me 'L-Lily'! Sounds like a weird remix, y'know?" Without waiting for a reply, she turned to her meal.
Luka sweatdropped, having a hard time keeping up with this wild girl. But... well, she wasn't so bad. And it was nice to have a companion, even if it was only for today. She smiled, feeling the pangs of loneliness fading away ever so slightly. Just as she was about to bite into her sandwich again, she saw that her companion had not touched the steaming bowl she had brought on her tray. Looking up, she saw that she was glaring hard at the chopsticks in her hand, freshly extracted from the paper sleeve. The blonde seemed to be willing it to break or... something... That, or she was having a very intense staring competition with it. Smiling, Luka reached across the table and held out her hand, catching the girl's attention. Ocean-blue eyes blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Here, let me," Luka offered quietly.
The girl looked at her with a dubious scowl. "It's really hard, y'know!" she warned. Even so, she handed over her chopsticks.
Luka gripped the bottom ends, gingerly beginning to split them apart. Lily stared in fascination and worry as the chopsticks wavered, resisting the pinkette's attempt to split them apart. Then, to her amazement, they split perfectly down the middle. As she stared in dumbfounded wonder, Luka passed them back into her hands with a small smile.
"Whoa..."
Luka blinked. "Y-Yes?"
"That... That was amazing!" Lily crowed. "Wow, I could never do that! Ne, ne, Luka, you gotta show me how you do that sometime! You'll teach me, yeah?"
"Er, I-"
"Great! You're the best, Luka!"
Luka stared at the girl as she dug into her ramen, her brain still trying to keep up with her. She covered her mouth as a quiet giggle fell from her mouth. Lily noticed. Blinking, she noisily slurped up a few noodles and swallowed before asking, "What?"
"It's nothing," the pinkette said, still giggling. "It's nothing, Lily."
Lily frowned at her, confused. Apparently thinking there was not much point to thinking about it, she shrugged and went back to her meal. The rest of their time together was spent in companionable silence, Luka feeling much happier at school than she'd ever felt before.
Present...
Lily sighed dramatically. "Haa... Whatever happened to that sweet, cute Luka from before anyway?" she lamented. "She was always so quiet and obedient!"
"She learned how to sift through all the garbage that comes out of your mouth," Luka retorted as she put their empty plates away.
"You're a real douche waffle sometimes, y'know that?" Lily groused, pouting at her back.
Luka smirked, rinsing the plates before coming back to the table. She sincerely doubted that Lily was here to study for her midterms, since Lily still enjoyed keeping everyone's expectations low (though she would still pull decent scores on her midterms nevertheless, since that was always how she was). There was no real point to asking; Lily often gave information better when it was volunteered rather than asked for.
"Came to hang out cuz I'm bored," Lily said, proving Luka's thought correct once more. "Neru-chii and Miki-chii are studying with Miku-chan and the others, so you've been volunteered, hime-sama!"
"How lucky for me," Luka remarked dryly.
"Mm-hmm." Lily critically eyed Luka's hair as she hummed out her reply. She pursed her lips as she declared, "Your hair's a wreck."
Luka rolled her eyes. She'd taken a shower immediately after coming home from the coffee shop last night, and had apparently not dried it quite to satisfaction, seeing how her hair had decided to go completely feral on her. Without waiting for any kind of retort, Luka was ushered to sit down at the table as Lily said nothing more than a short, "Hold up" and bounded off. Knowing what was coming next, Luka remained seated, taking a sip every so often of her half-full mug of coffee. She heard Lily's footsteps descending the stairs not too much later, and soon felt her usual brush going through the tangled creature that was her hair.
"This isn't necessary, I hope you know."
Despite the wording, Luka's tone was far from ungrateful, and they both knew it. Lily's grin was evident in her voice as she simply replied, "What can I say? I'm good at taking care of people~"
Luka scoffed quietly, but let it go. Again the two friends lapsed into comfortable silence, interrupted only by the sound of the brush going through Luka's hair.
As Gumi let out a sigh from her position slumped over the table, everyone could swear they saw the greenette's ghost leaving her body via her mouth. She let out a long suffering groan.
"Geez, Rin-chan... I had no idea you were such a slave driver..."
The blonde scowled unsympathetically at her. "I had no idea you were so lazy."
"I'm not lazy! It's just that I have a finite supply of energy that I must budget carefully!"
"Oh?" Unimpressed.
Gumi pouted. "What's with that look?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Dismissive. Rin picked up a few fries and tossed them carelessly into her mouth.
The greenette's cheeks puffed out as her pout deepened. "Uuu..."
Defeated, she snatched up her soda and sipped through the straw. After several hours of studying suffering beneath the incessant cracking of Rin's paper fan (actually, it was really only Gumi that suffered such treatment), their group had decided on grabbing something to eat, settling on a fast food restaurant a short walk from the library. After offering a sympathetic smile to Gumi, Miki turned to Miku with a smile.
"Ne, Miku-chan! You said you were gonna go someplace with Megurine-senpai yesterday, right? How'd that go?"
Apparently surprised at being addressed, Miku turned a surprised look onto the redhead. "Yesterday? Um..." A flicker passed briefly over her eyes before Miku pulled herself into a large grin. "It went fine! I took Luka-senpai to a coffee shop I'd wanted to try! Nothing special happened; we just ate cake, drank coffee, talked, and then left. That's all!"
Miki's smile widened. "That's good! Sounds like you enjoyed it, Miku-chan!"
"Un, I did!"
Miku failed to take notice that two pairs of blue eyes were eyeing her in a measuring way. The Kagamine twins exchanged questioning glances with each other, but broke the stare quickly as the tealette continued.
"Well... Then we went home together and..."
It took a pretty dull person to miss how her mood had dropped. All eyes, even Neru's, were on her now as she looked down quietly at her food. "We were outside Luka-senpai's house and... and she..."
Rin's heart clenched. Had Megurine-senpai rejected her once and for all? She was afraid this would happen, especially with how Miku had been acting with her, but... But Miku didn't need to hear that now. She opened her mouth to say something sympathetic to her best friend, not quite sure what she would say but sure that she would just wing it and maybe hug her for-
"She gave me blue balls..." Miku said dejectedly.
For a long moment, no one at the table said a word. The silence was only broken when Gumi murmured sympathetically, "Oh, Miku-chan... I'm sorry..." She gathered her up in her arms as Miku remained glum and somber, mumbling about what a tease Luka was and the like.
Meanwhile, the reactions around the rest of the table were far different. Neru went back to her cell phone, her expression set into an unimpressed facefault as she wondered again just how she had ever befriended a complete tool like Hatsune Miku. The Kagamine twins simultaneously facepalmed, hiding expressions that visibly wondered why they bothered worrying about someone like Miku to begin with. Miki blinked in confusion, her ahoge forming a question mark atop her head. This... admittedly didn't make sense to her...
Then again, the scenario Miki was imagining contained a cruel Ice Princess passing blue rubber balls one after another to a despairing Miku, who wailed up to the sky, "NOOOOOOOOOO! ! ! ! !"
Needless to say, no matter how many times she sliced it, this made no sense to her.
Sighing, Rin shook her head, but aimed a look at Miku. Her whining aside, she remembered that flicker she'd seen in Miku's eyes earlier; a surefire sign that something else had gone on, and she just wasn't saying anything. She stole a glance at her brother, who met her stare and nodded at the question in her eyes. She nodded back. Not just yet... but definitely later, she would get her answers.
"I can see why you like this one, Luka. The story's pretty good, and so's the action."
"Mm."
While Lily was busying herself with playing one of Luka's RPGs, the pinkette was busy studying for her midterms. It wasn't that she necessarily needed to, seeing how she always managed to land amazing scores, but she did nevertheless. Why settle for less, after all? Of course, the opposite philosophy was present right in this very room with her.
"HOLY-!" Lily gaped at the screen, her entire party apparently having been slaughtered by the very loud explosion that Luka had heard at the same time as Lily's cry. "Wow... Oh man... I... Wow, my ass hurts just watching that... Someone call the cops, cuz my party just got raped..."
"Fire resist is good for that boss," Luka said idly, not looking up from her notes. She glanced at a highlighted part and read as she continued, "Especially if you have a low DPS group. She has over four million hit points, after all. At the least, your tank needs it."
"...How much do you play this game again?"
"I've beaten it several times on the hardest difficulty," Luka replied. She flipped a page of her textbook. "It has a very good story; really makes you wonder what path you should take a lot too."
"...Lemme guess, you got all the achievements for this one."
"They're called 'trophies' on the PS3, I'll have you know."
"Nerd."
"Noob."
"I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response."
Luka smirked a bit. Lily had never been as good at games as she was, and oftentimes, it was worth throwing Lily into the fire on a game just to listen to her rant and rave each time she got destroyed. That, or the blonde would just dive into something herself and get shredded. She listened to her friend grumble to herself as she tweaked the tactics and equipment of her party. Not that she would ever admit to it out loud, but she was glad Lily had come by. She generally did get lonely on weekends if she was the only one around in the house, and really, just the presence of another person was enough for her to be okay. She would have said it needed to be someone she was completely comfortable with, but then, she'd never been entirely at ease with Miku and had still accepted her company... Though that was mostly because that wild girl would just invite herself over.
Reminds me of someone else I know, Luka thought with a roll of her eyes. She just knew that one day, she was going to have Lily and Miku here at the same time and she would be throwing them out of the house riddled with bruises.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" Lily roared with outrage. Luka didn't need to look up to know that Lily's party had once more been roasted to a fine, blackened crisp. "Ugh, screw this! I don't like dragons anyway!" she snarled.
Luka smirked again at her friend's expense and continued on with her studies. She idly wondered how the others were doing; not just her friends, but also the younger members of their group. Luka's smirk widened at the memory of Miku's scandalized expression the night before when she had "given her blue balls." That had most certainly been more satisfying than punching her face into the back of her head. She chided herself for losing concentration and took a quick sip of her tea before focusing again on her notes.
"So," Lily said suddenly. "Word on the street is that you and Miku-chan went to a coffee shop yesterday~"
The overly innocent quality to Lily's voice announced that study time was over for now. By now, Luka had come to suspect that Akita Neru was the one who slipped Lily information on Miku's activities, not that there was any way to get a response out of that indifferent girl. Well, for the moment, she had other things to deal with, like a certain nosy blonde hunting for a scoop. She replied with a simple, noncommittal, "Mm."
She thought back to the events of what had happened at the coffee shop. It was still embarrassing for her to recall how she had come so close to breaking down in front of her... But she couldn't help it. Nothing had made any sense. And after what Miku had told her, she wasn't entirely sure what to make of her anymore either...
Lily noticed the pensive silence her friend had gone into. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, "Did something happen?"
Sometimes, Luka wished Lily couldn't read her so well. It was plainly obvious to Lily that something had occurred, and being the busybody that she was, she wouldn't have rested until Luka had told her something. She wondered if Lily had ever considered a career in the military as an interrogator. Forget torture, she would simply pester people for information until they finally told her something, and she'd be perceptive enough to tell when they were just trying to get rid of her or not. She rolled her eyes at the thought. And besides... In all honesty, she didn't really know what had happened. To this end, she quietly said so.
"I'm not really sure."
"What do you mean?" Her voice was pure concern now. "Did she do something?"
"No, not really. I..." Luka hesitated. She shook her head. "I'm not really sure. We talked though."
"Huh. Sounds normal enough." Lily obviously didn't buy it, but the fact that she turned back to her game silently told Luka that she was willing to accept that answer for now. "So what did Hurricane-chan have to say?"
Luka blinked. "Er... 'Hurricane-chan?"
"Yeah. Cute, isn't it? I shortened her new nickname. She's called 'Hurricane Miku' at school now. Cuz she's so destructive when she sprints through the halls. Y'know that one hard ass of a teacher? Suzuki-sensei?"
"What about her?"
"She got run over by Hurricane-chan when she tried to yell at her to stop running through the halls."
So that was what had happened to her... Luka facepalmed. That stupid girl... It was amazing Luka hadn't sustained any injuries from being tackled by her at lunchtimes... Well, granted, she usually managed to slow herself down before doing that to Luka, but still.
"Anyways, leaving that to the side. What'd she say?"
Luka shrugged, forgetting that Lily couldn't see the gesture. "She just told me that she was serious about me."
"Hm." Lily's voice sounded vaguely impressed. "That's a first outta your fan club."
"Mm."
Luka still found it strange that she felt like she was telling the truth. She could very well be lying to try to catch her guard down. But there was something about it that had felt sincere to her. She wasn't about to dismiss the possibility that she'd just still been overly emotional and not thinking straight, and who knew, maybe there'd been something in the cake or the coffee that had affected her reasoning or judgment capabilities, but she suspected she was just grabbing at excuses. Funny, since others of course had told her that they were serious, that they really wanted her, etc., etc. She'd heard the whole song and dance a million times over by now, and had almost believed it a bit when she was younger and more foolish.
As if she could read her thoughts, Lily asked, "You believe her, right?"
With a tone that served as the verbal equivalent of a shrug, Luka replied, "I suppose I do. Not sure why."
"Do you like her?"
For once, this question was not asked with the sly note of suggestion that Lily would usually subject her to. Instead, it was asked in a genuinely curious manner. Luka thought about this briefly. She wasn't sure why, but after they'd had that conversation at the coffee shop, she'd become much calmer concerning the teal-haired pest. It really didn't make any sense. Then again, a lot of things had stopped making sense ever since the force of nature called Hatsune Miku had barged into her life like the wrecking ball she was. Well... no, maybe she was being a bit harsh. Even if that girl was noisy and disruptive, she wasn't necessarily bad company; she could at least tell that much. Still...
"As a person, she's not bad," Luka replied honestly. "It's like having another Gumi around. But I know you mean in that way. And in that way, no, I don't."
"I'll bet Hurricane-chan is disappointed," Lily quipped. She figured it was for the better though. Though she'd supported Miku at first, she'd increasingly had misgivings about just how she was pursuing Luka. It was at least nice that Luka thought enough of her to think of her on a friendship level at least. Although, really, Lily still personally thought Miku wouldn't be so bad. Maybe later down the line. "I'm not surprised though. I've lately started thinking you're asexual."
"Don't be ridiculous," the pinkette scoffed. "I just haven't found anyone that strikes my fancy yet, that's all. And you're one to talk."
Lily had no retort for this. As much as Luka had remained single this whole time, so had Lily, for reasons known only to the blonde herself. To this, she airily conceded, "Fair enough. Oh, what the crap?" She slashed a hand toward the TV screen, her eyes fixated on the seven relationship points she had just lost with a female member of her party. "What the hell's wrong with this bitch? ! I try to say something nice to her and I lose points? ! The hell, man? !"
Sensing the topic was over, Luka went back to her notes, saying with quiet humor, "You have to understand her background. She thinks people who are being overly nice to her are just being fake."
"Oh, fuck that!" Lily groused. "Tch, and this is why women are so..."
Luka shook her head as she quipped dryly, "I think you might want to check your anatomy sometime, because from what I can tell, you're a woman too."
"Bah, screw this! I'm playing something else!" In a huff, Lily saved the game and then took out the disc.
Luka ignored the sounds of the blonde muttering and mocking the character's words as she rummaged through Luka's video game library. She took a sip of her tea, still nice and cold. Just as she was about to take another sip, she heard Lily fire up another game, freezing immediately once she heard the ominous noises and music of the menu. Luka paled.
"L-Lily...?" she asked cautiously.
"Yes, your majesty?"
"Wh-What game are you playing...?"
Lily continued to face away from Luka, but she could imagine the gigantic evil grin on her friend's face as she replied, "Dead Space 2."
Luka became white as a sheet, her left eye starting to tick. The pencil in her hand trembled and she swallowed hard. Oh God, that game... It had been a game that Lily had bought for her birthday of all things. When Luka had finally played it once, she'd needed to turn it off after barely clearing the opening scenes... She trembled, memories of the horrific screams coming back to her and...
"Chill, hime-sama. I'm just gonna play the multiplayer."
"O-Oh... Oh, well, that's... fine." Luka sighed with relief. The multiplayer shouldn't be so bad. It was probably like another zombie game... or maybe deathmatch. She liked deathmatch. "Well, um... have fun."
"Mm-hmm."
Not even ten minutes into her first match, Lily had grown used to not only the screams of dying human players, gunfire, and the shrieks of attacking/dying necro... er, she'd forgotten what they were called. Necromorphs? Whatever, she preferred killer alien mutant zombies. At any rate, in addition to the sounds from the game, she'd also grown used to the terrified screams of the pinkette hiding behind the couch, doubtless covering her ears.
"The screams... The screams...!" she would hear being muttered fearfully behind the couch during lulls in the fighting and screaming.
Still very much in her game, Lily grinned evilly, shadows covering her whole face but her eyes.
I'm so bad...
Barely audible over the sounds of a renewed battle and a human player trying to fight off a smaller necromorph leaping onto his face was the ominous tolling of a distant church bell...
Seeing how the sun was beginning to set, Miku and the others decided it was as good a time as any to call it a day. Neru, Gumi, and Miki went their separate ways, while Miku and the Kagamine twins walked together, as they would need to walk together part of the way anyway. They made small talk as they went, Rin positioned between her brother on her right and her best friend on her left.
"I gotta say though, I'm glad Gumi-chan was able to make it!" Miku giggled.
The twins smiled with her, Len commenting, "It was pretty amazing how fast she came in too."
"I'm more amazed that she didn't hurt anybody on her way over..." Rin added.
They all shared a laugh as they continued walking. Their path took them near the river that ran through the city, the water shimmering in the brilliant sunset. Each of them took a look, admiring the view as their laughter faded into a comfortable silence. But unseen to Miku, who was smiling broadly at the sight, the twins' humor slowly faded as well. Rin and Len glanced at each other before nodding once. Now was as good a time as any. Rin chose to break the silence.
"Ne, Miku-chan?"
"Hm?"
"What you said happened at the coffee shop yesterday with Megurine-senpai... There's more to it, isn't there?"
The tealette halted in her steps, forcing the twins to stop as well. The contented look on her face had faded into a blank expression, though that flicker had passed through her eyes again. No sooner had it materialized when Miku turned to them fully with a broad grin on her face. "What're you talking about, Rin-chan?" she chirped. "It was just like I said, and-"
"Miku-chan."
The firm, no-nonsense tone that the older twin used was enough on its own to stop Miku's tongue. She fell silent, looking astonished. The steel in Rin's tone did not fade in the slightest as she continued, "Len and I have been friends with you since we all met in freaking kindergarten, okay? Don't lie to us. You might fool the others, but you won't fool us."
Miku's astonished expression faded as she listened to her friend. Rubbing the back of her neck, she turned her gaze aside and mumbled, "You're... You're right..." Raising her eyes to meet her friend's, she said sincerely, "I'm sorry."
Rin softened and reached out to squeeze her hand to silently convey her forgiveness. The two friends exchanged smiles before Miku's vanished into a soft sigh. "The um... The part I left out was that I almost made her cry."
There was no way for the Kagamine twins to stop the looks of surprise that crossed their faces. Frankly, it hadn't even occurred to them that Megurine Luka was even capable of showing emotion along those lines. Any question they might have had about that was silenced as Miku continued.
"I um... Yeah... She went off on me and stuff... I got to feed her cake to calm her down though!" her voice had recovered some of its usual pep when she said that. "And I mean, aside from the blue balls part, I think it turned out okay! I mean, it wasn't exactly what I'd hoped for, but I think that overall it was alright!"
The twins did not share her positive sentiment. Rin flicked her gaze away briefly before returning to her friend's teal eyes. She'd been thinking this for a while but she felt that now was as good a time as any to bring it up.
"Ne, Miku-chan. I..." She paused, suddenly unsure if she wanted to say this, but steeled herself. She needed to bring this up. "Look, I'm not saying this just to be an asshole or anything. You're like a sister to me, Miku-chan, so you know I'd never say anything just to hurt you. But I... I don't approve of this whole thing with Megurine-senpai."
Miku watched her silently, waiting for her to continue. Rin took a moment to take a calming breath. "It's not just that she beats you up or anything. It's you. I don't approve of how you're going about things with Megurine-senpai. Miku-chan, don't you think you're being kinda..." She lost steam and lowered her gaze. Again, she felt terrible for even thinking of it. There was no way, right? The Hatsune Miku she had known since she was a child would never be anything at all like this, right? There was no way the cheerful and energetic Hatsune Miku, her best friend, could possibly be...
"Manipulative?"
The twins were surprised to hear the word come out of Miku's mouth. Their gazes snapped to her, and they both were shocked at the look of remorse on Miku's face. The tealette looked away and sighed softly. "Yeah... I guess that's pretty much how I've been..." She giggled, the sound a hollow, humorless noise before continuing, "Pretty bad way to get a girlfriend, huh?"
Her empty laugh faded as she looked down, her expression the blank mask she wore whenever she was upset. Rin swallowed hard. "Well... Miku-chan, it's just that it doesn't add up to me. You've never been the manipulative type, nor are you ever scary and pushy like you are with her. I guess I could see it if all you wanted was sex, but that's not you. You want more out of her than just that, don't you?"
Miku laughed again, a hollow sound that matched the empty smile on her lips. She rubbed the back of her head as she said, "Hehe... Y'know, Luka-senpai thought that all I wanted was sex too. I guess I really must've given off that impression? But yeah," she said after a soft sigh. "I do want more than that outta her. I really do want her."
Len had been quiet for the whole conversation, wanting to allow his sister and his friend to talk but he spoke up at this point. "Miku, you know you're not going to get her if you keep this up, right?"
"I know. I..." Miku rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, turning her gaze aside once more. "I dunno. I've never liked anyone so much that I wanted to date them. I'm really new to this whole 'love' thing, so I don't really know what I'm doing. I had a plan to get her to fall for me, and I was trying to stick to it... I thought it was working too, but..." She trailed off, then shrugged helplessly.
The twins blinked. "Plan?" Rin asked. This was the first either of them had heard of this.
Miku nodded. "I actually have it with me. I always kept it around, just to make sure I stayed on track. Um..." She reached into her backpack and then took out a folded piece of paper. "Here it is."
She held out to the twins and Rin plucked it out of her fingers. The dimming sunlight was still more than sufficient for them to look through its contents and they read it. Their curious expressions quickly faded into blank masks, and then finally expressions that could be summed up with the question "Are you fucking serious...?"
The contents of the note were as follows...
1) Make Luka-senpai's acquaintance.
2) Get Luka-senpai used to me by hanging out with her a lot.
3) Keep up the pressure until Luka-senpai falls for me.
4) ? ? ? ? ?
5) Profit.
The twins were silent, their brains apparently broken by the sheer idiocy of this "plan".
Rin broke their silence. In a flat, unimpressed tone, she said, "Miku-chan."
"Yeah?"
"This... This is your grand master plan?"
"Well, it's not really grand, and I dunno about master, but it is definitely a plan." Miku replied honestly.
Rin stared at her.
Miku scratched her cheek as she stuck her tongue out cutely.
Without looking, Rin held out her right hand to her brother. Len obediently took out Rin's paper fan and placed it into his sister's hand.
WHACK!
"OW!"
"Hatsune Miku, you... you... you imbecile!" Rin screeched.
"That hurts, y'know..." Miku whined, rubbing the stinging bump on her head as anime river tears streamed down her face. It was unclear whether she was saying this in response to taking a high-velocity paper fan to the head or at being insulted.
Rolling right on over her, Rin screamed, "You idiot! This...! You...! I mean, this...! What...! In what world would this...!" Frustration stopped her tongue, her brain broken all over again as she tried to figure out just what dimension she would have to go to for this to be considered an amazing plan. She looked everywhere but at the tealette, as if hoping that some divine revelation would come to her. When none came, she deflated with a sigh. Rin passed her fan back to Len, who dutifully put it away for later use. The blonde girl pinched the bridge of her nose, but then ultimately began to chuckle quietly.
It's just like Miku-chan to come up with a plan that idiotic...
Rin glanced over at Len, who met her gaze with the same humor in her own eyes. They both laughed, shrugging helplessly. Rin shook her head as she went back to looking at the tealette, still nursing the red lump on her head. That, honestly, was more like the Hatsune Miku she knew, and in a way, seeing that was a relief to her.
"You're impossible, Miku-chan..." she sighed, weary affection coloring her tone.
Miku giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "I know... It was really stupid, but I thought that if I had a plan, I'd improve my odds with her. She's not exactly the most approachable person."
"True," Rin conceded. But she still thought Miku could have done without the perverted and criminal tendencies that only Megurine Luka seemed to awaken... Growing serious again, she asked, "Ne, Miku-chan... Do you really love her?"
Miku paused. "Uhh..." She scratched her cheek thoughtfully. "Mm... I dunno about 'love'... I've never been in love before, so I dunno what it feels like..." She cradled her chin between her fingers, her brow furrowed with consternation. "Er... Well, I dunno if I love her, but I know that I really, really, really like her. Like... if I had to choose between Luka-senpai and a truckload of leeks, I'd pick her, no questions asked."
The twins sweatdropped simultaneously. Rin facepalmed, but also knew that, coming from Miku, this was actually quite significant. That girl really liked leeks... Though Rin didn't see why; personally, she thought oranges were way better...
"Oh, but if she was driving the truckload of leeks, that'd be even better!" the tealette exclaimed. A happy million-watt smile grew on her face at the thought. "That'd be like the best of both worlds! I mean, I dunno if she can drive or anything, but even if she can't that's all cool! Just the image alone would be totally worth it and-"
"Miku-chan," Rin cut in before Miku could get herself too carried away. Her babbling was like a snowball going down a very steep mountainside at times... "If you really like Megurine-senpai, you're gonna have to change the way you approach her."
The tealette fell silent. Just the way she blinked let Rin know she had her attention, so she continued.
"Look, think about it, Miku-chan. Suppose this actually does work. You'll know deep down she doesn't actually love you, since all you did was just bully her into falling for you. Someone else could just as easily do that to her and take her from you, don't you think?"
Miku lowered her gaze. She'd been thinking about this herself, actually. Before yesterday, she'd thought she was making some progress and that Luka-senpai was getting used to having her around. She'd slipped up a lot because she just couldn't help herself with Luka, like when she'd kissed her, but she'd never thought of what she was doing as bullying. But the more she'd thought about it, the more she realized that she really was just being forceful and pushy. She'd acknowledged before that she was being aggressive, just not to this extent. She remembered how frustrated Luka had been with how she was constantly crowding her and disrupting her life, and she acknowledged that her perverted tendencies and lack of restraint around the pinkette could really only have given her the wrong idea.
Seeing that her friend was pondering this,Rin added, "Think of it like this, Miku-chan. What ifsomeone were to start doing what you've been doing to Megurine-senpai to either me or Len? What would you think?"
Quietly, Miku conceded, "Yeah... I'd think it was pretty creepy... After yesterday, I really started thinking about this, and I've realized that you're right. But then... But then what do I do?"
The sound of that plaintive voice was enough to break Rin's heart. Miku was usually just so cheerful, so impossible to keep down that it sounded wrong coming out of her, and the lost expression on her face didn't help either. Even so, it didn't surprise Rin entirely to see that. When Miku wanted something, she had a tendency toward having tunnel vision. She'd never once failed at anything that she'd set her sights on, but this time, it was obvious her plan wasn't having the desired results. In the face of this, it was only natural that Miku would feel lost.
Her tone softened as Rin told her with quiet reluctance, "I don't know, Miku-chan."
Len chose this moment to chip in his two yen. "Ne, Miku... You want her to like you for you, right? Why don't you start off by being yourself around her?"
Miku blinked, confused. "But... Isn't that what I've been doing...?"
The younger twin facefaulted. "I mean, be normal Miku. I'm sorry, Miku, but you're pretty creepy when it comes to Megurine-senpai."
She laughed bashfully, rubbing the back of her head. "Ahaha... yeah, I... I really have been... I can't help it though. I just see Luka-senpai and I just can't control myself..."
"You're gonna have to, Miku-chan," Rin said. "Otherwise, you might scare her off. Or just make her think you're yet another slavering fangirl that wants her just cuz she's gorgeous."
"You're... You're right..." Miku conceded.
She'd told Luka yesterday that she was serious about her, but it was possible she'd just think she was saying that. Miku was not willing to dismiss the possibility that she'd already heard that before from the previous "admirers" of hers. She had to admit to herself that all the "signs" she'd thought she'd seen that Luka was warming up to her could very well just be wishful thinking. After all, hope was good to have, but hope could also cloud judgment and perception (as she'd read from one of Len's light novels). Miku knew she tended to get tunnel vision when she was focused on something, and that coupled with her boundless enthusiasm and determination also meant that she tended to miss a lot of details. It was very well possible that Luka still thought of her as a dangerous person, maybe even more so now than when she'd first confessed to her.
Miku sighed inaudibly. Really, a rational person would probably have given up, she thought ruefully. After all, she'd dug herself a very nice grave with a steam shovel as far as her chances with Luka-senpai were concerned, and now she had no plan to work with.
Steep odds are steep indeed...
But she didn't want to give up... She liked Luka for real. She'd meant it when she confessed to her, and she'd meant it every time she'd told her that she liked her. And yesterday, when she had told Luka that she was serious about her and didn't want her just for the reasons her other admirers did, she'd meant every single word. If Luka would just give her a chance, she'd be able to show her she meant it...
Miku blinked. Hey, wait a second... Her hopeless expression faded into wide-eyed thought. What was she doing thinking so negatively at a time like this? Did she want Luka-senpai or not? Of course she did! She could do this! She could definitely do this! She wasn't sure what basis she had for saying such a thing, but dammit, she could do this!
I just need to change my approach!
And really, she thought to herself, it was a naïve hope for her to have believed her original plan would have worked. Sure, the original plan was to practically badger her into dating her and then take her time having Luka fall in love with her for real but the more she thought about it, the more she figured there was no way that could actually work. So there was no need for a flawed plan. She'd do without it!
But what will I do now?
She pondered this. In all honesty, this was up in the air. In fact, she'd probably have to wing it. But this was hardly a deterrence to her. She would just have to approach this the way she had approached every other previous challenge in life: with energy, enthusiasm, and her cheerful million-watt smiles. She nodded to herself. Yes! That was exactly what she was going to do!
"Yosh!" she exclaimed suddenly.
Beside her, the twins did not react with any surprise. They had been watching the play of emotions on Miku's face, watching thousands of different expressions flicker over them until it had finally settled onto the peppy Miku that they knew and loved. The two exchanged glances, smiling. She was going to be fine.
Miku pumped her fist into the air. "I can do this!" she cheered. "I can definitely do this! I just need to put my best foot forward!"
Just as she'd said that, her foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk that she had not noticed, and with a loud scream of alarm, Miku slammed flat on her face onto the concrete. Alarmed, the Kagamine twins rushed to her side.
"Miku-chan!"
"Miku! Are you alright?"
Groaning in pain, Miku sat up, clutching her nose. "Ugh... I really hope that wasn't some kind of evil omen... Ow... Oh man, that hurt..."
End Chapter 10
In all honesty, I'm having trouble believing that I'm on chapter 10... I sometimes wonder if I really will end up making this some kind of 40 chapter monstrosity, and then when I think about that, I wake up in a cold sweat and realize it was just a dream, but it's actually Inception so they heard I like dreams so they put a dream in my dream in my dream, so I can dream while I dream while I-
Y'know what, I'm gonna stop right there. *coughs*
So... Chapter 10 is up, and I'm still having trouble believing that I'm quite a (long x_x;) ways from the end. The development that I have planned is actually much lengthier than I had originally projected... Then again, this started off as a one-shot idea, then I felt that leaving it a one-shot was too lacking for what I could really do with it. And then I thought I'd finish it in 8 chapters, maybe 11 or 12 tops.
Feel free to facepalm, I've done it to myself many times over by now. -_-
To address a few critiques, first of all, yes, I'm aware that the relationship between Miku and Luka is highly unbalanced. The timing on it was kinda funny to me though, just because I'd already been planning for Miku to try to turn a new leaf in this chapter. XD; But yeah, honestly, I was not intending for Luka to seem to be falling for her already; I was gonna have that wait for later. XD Admittedly, I went overboard on a few parts so I think I really gave off the wrong idea. This is called shooting yourself in the foot, people. You don't wanna do that. It's painful.
It's also not exactly romantic at this point. In all honesty, it should prolly be Humor/Romance, but I'm lazy. Sue me. (No, please don't.) The romance wasn't supposed to come until later, since I wanted Miku and Luka to both be developed more before reaching that point. I'm aware their relationship may seem pretty strange at this point. It's actually what I've been going for, but... I'll be the first to admit I may be being far too ambitious.
Also, just in case anyone finds Miku's thought pattern strange in the last part... I actually have personal experience, or know people with personal experience, in those kinds of situations. None ever as criminal as how Miku was behaving before but... y'know, it's pretty easy to have your hopes about something cloud your judgment/perception of a given situation. Not very good. In fact, it sucks. XD
I make no promises on the future of this fic, other than that I will try my best to make sure that it's entertaining.
I... think that about takes care of my State of the Story address. XD No review responses this time, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I thank all of you for your reviews, and that you guys are a great audience! I appreciate all your reviews, and I hope'll enjoy this one as well! 'Til next time! ^_^v