"OMG! Kaito nii-san! This place is amazing!"
Miku said looking around the Shion estate wildly like a child would in a giant candy store.
"M-miku chan. You always say that every time you come over..." Kaito said with a small sweat drop on his head.
"OH but it IS amazing! I love coming here so much!" Miku said twirling in place almost as if hoping that would help her take in more of this amazing mansion.
Surprisingly, the twirl did help Miku notice something as her small pirouette suddenly came to a halt.
"KYYYAAAAAA! ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ " Miku screamed as she rushed forward and football tackle glomped the green Shion who had just walked into the main hall. Nigaito had no time to register what hit him as Miku picked him up and began to rub her cheek against Nigaito's face.
"Nigaito-chan! How I've missed you so! OHMIGOSH! You're just as darling as the last time I saw you! Being this cute has to be illegal! I'm going to take you home with me!"
Kaito's sweat drop only got that much bigger as he watched Miku crush his youngest brother. Nigaito's eyes were nothing but swirls now.
"Hey. Everything okay? We heard a scream." Kikaito and Akaito entered the room wondering what all the fuss was about. Kaito looked over and just pointed at his friend who hadn't bothered to look up from her hugging ministrations.
"Ah! Miku-chan is here!" Akaito announced to those already present in the front hall. Miku looked up at the sound of her name and let the limp form of Nigaito fall from her grasp.
"AKAITO!" she yelled jumping up and running into Akaito's open embrace. Akaito picked the small girl up and spun her around.
"Hey kid! How ya been?" Akaito said ruffling Miku's hair after he set her down. Miku giggled at the attention. Her giggling quelled however when her eyes met Kikaito. She recalled seeing a yellow Shion once, but she had never been properly introduced.
"Hello there!" She said turning to Kikaito brightly. Kikaito blinked taking a second to register that Miku Hatsune was speaking to him before he turned bright red.
"It is an honor to meet you Hatsune-sama!" Kikaito said quickly sinking into a low bow. Miku blinked confused at the formal treatment.
"Call me Miku-chan!" she said bending down to the low level Kikaito was at. Kikaito looked up from his bow to look at Miku, taken aback.
"B-but you're Miku Hatsune!" He said stunned. "You the most famous vocaloid in the world!"
Miku just titled her head at this comment as if wondering what that had to do with anything.
"I can't just call you...you" Kikaito said looking from Kaito to Akaito for support.
"Call me Miku-chan!" Miku reiterated with a giant smile.
"God lighten UP dude!" Akaito said slapping Kikaito on the back. "It's just Miku-chan"
"Yeah, well JUST Miku-chan DOES deserve a little respect. Maybe you should take an example from Kikaito" Kaito interjected getting a little miffed at Akaito familiarity with Miku.
"Where did that come from? You jealous?" Akaito said raising an eyebrow making Kaito as red as Kikaito.
Miku watched the three argue over her and couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the fact that they were arguing about her. It was the fact that Kaito had such a close bond with all his brothers that he could yell and scream at them all he wanted and they would still love each other by the end of the day. She wished she could say the same about her family.
Miku had asked a great number of her sisters to come to the Shion house hold with her, but none of them had been at all interested. Neru hadn't even cared to look up from her cellphone. Haku had been teetering between consciousness after having one too many drinks. Miku thought there had been a little hope with asking Kiku, but when Kiku had known for a fact that Taito was currently not present at the Shion premise, there was no way she had any business there. Miku finally had to come here with Kaito, by herself. How she only wished she could show her sisters this spectacular place.
As Miku continued to look around the front hall while the three argued, Miku's eyes fell upon a 4th member she had not spotted upon her entrance. (Which she noted as strange since she had thoroughly scanned the place for new Shions to greet). She blinked at this one's appearance. He was actually quite scary to look at. Did he mean to appear this way? Miku excused herself from the fight and went over to investigate.
"Why hello!"
Zeito looked down at the world's most famous diva. She was much smaller than he had originally presumed when he had first seen her on stage. Why she had bothered to speak to him was beyond him. He was surprised she had even seen him. He had merely come in to take a look at what everyone was yelling about and then be on his way.
Miku blinked up at him innocently waiting for him to reply. When he didn't, she tried a different approach.
"I'm Miku! Um...Miku Hatsune! Maybe you've heard of me? Haha"
"Guh...and the resident killjoy is here!" Akaito said after the small argument had finally quelled.
"Miku-sama-I uh...mean chan. You really shouldn't talk to Zeito" Kikaito said with concern in his voice.
"Huh? Why not?" Miku said turning away from Zeito to look at Kikaito curiously.
"Because he has a way of bringing your spirits down. He never talks anyway, so you shouldn't bother"
"I second what sunshine here says" Akaito agreed. Miku blinked and looked back to Zeito.
"Never talks huh?" she asked. "Well maybe he's just shy!" Miku giggled and stepped forward invading Zeito's personal bubble. If there hadn't been a wall behind him, Zeito would have taken a step backwards. He was not used to receiving this much attention.
"Why don't you speak? Zeito, was it? Do you not have the ability to speak or do you choose not to? Why are your clothes all ripped? I have some wonderful people make my costumes, I could ask them to make you some new clothes. Is that makeup on your eyes? Did you apply it yourself? I have lots of makeup artists who could help clean that!"
Akaito, Kikaito, and Kaito looked to Miku dumbfounded as she began to have a one sided conversation with their mute brother.
Zeito was thoroughly confused as to why the Diva was still talking to him. His brothers had just explained to her that he didn't speak. So why did she continue? Was she just not satisfied with that fact that someone wasn't paying attention to her? Zeito suddenly had a much different image of Hatsune Miku.
Zeito gave Miku a dark, disapproving glare to get his message of wanting her to stop across. Much to Zeito's surprised, it worked. In fact, Zeito was not at all expecting Miku's reaction to his glare. Miku stopped mid sentence at his facial expression, before a crushed and hurt look overcame her features.
For the first time in Zeito's life, he felt bad for glaring at someone.
"S-sorry" Miku said taking a few steps backwards. "I-I didn't mean to upset you. I-I was just curious is all..." Miku looked away, unable to look at Zeito anymore.
"Look! See? What did I tell you?" Kikaito said throwing his arms up into the air. "God Zeito!"
"Aw, don't let Zeito get to you Miku-chan! He's always like that!" Akaito said trying to comfort Miku as she looked down at her feet.
"Zeito didn't mean anything by it Miku!" Kaito said running to her side not being able to stand the sight of his friend being sad.
Kikaito and Akaito's glares towards Zeito were as biting as ever. Zeito was used to it. What he wasn't used to was the sight of a girl on the verge of tears because of him. His glares had never been THAT effective before. Zeito suddenly didn't feel comfortable standing there anymore and excused himself from the room. He didn't exactly know why he felt so uncomfortable. All he knew was he couldn't be in that front room any longer.
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Zeito made his way into the backyard and crossed into the garden. He sat down on one of the benches that overlooked a large flowerbed. At night, this is where he and Kageito met, but the sun was currently high in the sky basking the area in warmth. There was no way Kageito would be anywhere near this area right now.
Zeito put his feet up on the bench and looked up at the clouds trying to get Miku's hurt expression out of his head. While many people claimed and attested otherwise, Zeito never intended to hurt people so the fact that he had done so was something of a shock to him. He closed his eyes trying to will a nap upon himself so he could get these troubled thought out of his head.
Zeito wasn't sure how long he napped for. It could have been hours or minutes. Sleep did briefly come to him, but as he blinked his eyes open, the last person he wanted to see was hovering over his bench.
Miku smiled down at him, her hair and skirt blowing softly in the wind. Zeito blinked up at her as she smiled down at him.
"Hey!" she said brightly as if the instance in the front hall had never happened. "Care to show me around the garden?"
Zeito sat up and blinked at the girl.
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"You know a lot of people share Kikaito's opinion about me. They all think I'm this otherworldly superstar! It's really scary" Miku said later that day starting up her one sided conversation again as she and Zeito walked around the vast Shion garden.
"I really don't think I'm all that much. Sure, I guess you could say that I can sing okay, but I have a personal hairdresser who styles my hair. I have a whole team of designers who make all of my costumes. And most of the songs I sing were composed by my Master. I barely do anything other than put everything together by singing. And yet I get all this credit. I hate it some times"
Miku looked up at Zeito to see if he was still listening. Zeito was not looking at her. He was looking at the garden. However, this made Miku smile. If Zeito was disapproving of her speech, he would be glaring at her again. Miku took the silence as permission to continue.
"When people address me like Kikaito, I always get super scared. I feel like I'm shattering people's image of me. They want a Diva god, and I have to break their hearts by admitting I'm just a girl. I'm afraid they won't accept me as anything less than what they view me as. Maybe I don't want them to accept me. Maybe a part of me wishes I could fulfill that image. Yet another part wishes that I had never sang in the first place. This part of me wishes that I was just a normal girl. I can't decide if I love to sing or hate to sing. I've been wondering for so long"
Miku paused her story to look at the garden with Zeito.
"What about you Zeito? Do you like to sing?"
Miku asked looking from the garden to Zeito. Zeito made no notion he had heard her. In fact he had made no notion the entire walk that he had even noticed her standing next to him.
Miku's eyes teared up for the second time that day.
"I can't believe how similar you are to her..."
Zeito blinked and turned to look down at Miku as she brought her hands to her eyes trying to wipe away the tears, but they wouldn't stop. Zeito's stomach dropped wondering if he was the cause of her sadness again. Zeito had no idea how to be comforting. Jobs like that were for his brothers. He looked around to see if any of them were in the vicinity. The two of them were alone. Zeito wondered why she had wandered off from Kaito. The two were usually inseparable. She must have had to sneak away to have this meeting with Zeito.
But why?
"I-I'm sorry!" Miku sobbed. "I'm probably destroying your image of me too, huh?"
Zeito stood there next to Miku not sure of what else to do as Miku's cries became quieter and quieter. Miku gave her tears one final wipe away before her forced smile returned to her lips.
"Sorry" she repeated "Reliving old memories..."
Zeito tilted his head and gave Miku a questioning look. Despite the lack of words Miku could understand him clear as the daylight.
"Our Master left us a while ago..." She explained. "None of us expected it. He just said he couldn't take care of us any more and freed us all to become Independent Androids. I mean...since he secured my job with Kripton, money hasn't been an issue, but none of us know where he went or why he left."
The girl paused to wipe one last tear from her eyes.
"We had to change all of our identification surnames when he registered us as free Androids. Only I was able to keep the Hatsune name he originally gave us. I tried to stay strong for everyone...to keep the family together while he was gone but-..."
The girl faltered again
"No one seemed to see how hard it was...No one but my older sister, Zatsune. You remind me so much of her" Miku said looking up at him. "Everyone always seem to think I'm always more than I really am. However she never did. Zatsune always had a way of making me feel like the girl I was. She always accepted me for who I really was" Miku said looking off to the left lost in thought. Her glance then returned to Zeito.
"You do the same..."
Zeito blinked not sure he was understanding her meaning. He really hadn't done anything.
"Your black and red color scheme is the same too" Miku said looking at Zeito miserably. "And your hair and eyes are even the same"
Zeito hated the sound of Miku's voice as it broke and her red cheeks were drenched once more after she had tried so hard to dry them.
"You even glare at me the same way she does..."
Miku tried her hardest to keep her voice even as the tears fell freely. She gave Zeito the most pained smile he had ever seen.
"Zatsune ran away from home a few months after Master left. I know it was my fault..."
This time Miku let her tears run and didn't even bother wiping them away.
"You just...remind me of her so much. I miss her terribly. I'm sorry if I bothered you...it's just-...it's just! I'm sorry!"
Miku broke down sobbing again against her will. She had been trying her hardest be be strong this time. She wanted to be strong in front of Zeito where she had failed to do so in front of Zatsune.
A hand touched her cheek softly. Miku blinked up at Zeito as Zeito did his best to wipe her tears away for her. Zeito felt absolutely horrid watching her cry without doing anything. He wasn't sure if this is what you were supposed to do if a girl was crying. Miku tears stopped fairly quickly as she smiled up at Zeito. Zeito looked away uncomfortably trying to think of anything that would make Miku less miserable.
"What was she like?"
Zeito asked softly making Miku gasp and look up at him in disbelief.
Zeito had to take a step backwards in order to stop from tumbling backwards and absorb the shock as he took the full assault of Miku's glomp.
"KYYYAAAAAA! ❤ ❤ ❤ ZEITO YOUR VOICE IS SO HIGH AND ADORABLE! OMG YOU SOUND DARLING! WHY DON'T YOU TALK MORE?! YOU SOUND LIKE A LITTLE KID! ITS TOO PRECIOUS!"
Zeito's face turned red with humiliation, making a vow to NEVER speak in front of Miku Hatsune ever again. Zeito suddenly understood what Nigaito felt like as Miku rubbed her cheek up and down Zeito's face and shook his shoulders giggling like a mad woman.
Zeito was forced to push her off otherwise she may have kept it up all day. Miku only bounced back up into his personal bubble and Zeito could swear he saw hearts and sparkles in her eyes.
"OMG! Zeito can you say the word 'kawaii' for me? You don't have to say it very loudly! Just once! Say it with me! Ka! Wa! Ii!"
Zeito gave a rare growl and glared down at her daring her to make another comment about his voice.
If anything, his voice had brought her true smile back. Zeito no longer felt miserable looking at her. Miku scratched the back of her head and looked at him sheepishly realizing she may have crossed a line.
"Well...to answer your question" Miku sighed
"She was always mean to me" Miku's smile as she said the sentence made Zeito raise an eyebrow.
"But I knew she was just trying to keep my mind off Master. We were rivals I guess. We made each other better. We were sisters through and through...or...at least that's what I thought before she ran away. "
Zeito wondered how Miku said that with such a genuine smile on her face, but she was saying it from her heart. She must have really loved her sister.
"Thank you Zeito. I don't know why, but meeting you gives me hope that both she and Master will come home some day"
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Miku's words echoed in Zeito's head weeks later.
When he had first met Zatsune he thought he hated her. He couldn't at all understand how Miku had compared them. But after speaking with her and realizing who she was, he realized Miku had been right. He and Zatsune were very similar is many ways.
Zeito had spoken to Zatsune a few nights ago in his favorite spot under the tree. That conversation with Miku's sister had made him realize there was hope for Zatsune. Zeito knew she would return to her sister. Zeito felt strangely satisfied with himself about this.
Zeito hated going to that horrid club. In fact, he had only gone because he had heard Akaito speaking on the phone with a "Zattie-chan" He had only put two and two together and that is how he had met Zatsune. After that instance, it wasn't hard to get a hold of her stripper schedule thanks to his loud mouthed red brother.
After two meetings at the club and one on the hill, Zeito was assured he would never need to return to that club again.
Zeito found himself eying the clock this night. It was almost 9PM. 3 days ago Zatsune had screamed at his face that she was going to be doing another strip show today at nearly this time. Zeito knew she wouldn't be attending the show. He had faith that her consciousness would get the better of her now that she knew the truth of her sister and understood the reason why Zeito tried so hard to get her to quit her job.
Yet...
Something felt wrong. What if Zatsune disappointed Zeito and showed up at the strip show anyway? What if she completely ignored everything he had told her?
Zeito shifted uncomfortably trying to push that scenario out of his head.
He had seen it in her eyes that night. The two had understood each other. She wouldn't...
Zeito clenched his teeth together before standing up quickly and heading out the door. Something told him to go back to that god awful club.
As he passed the gates of his home, he stopped.
What was he doing? He had to trust Zatsune. Going back to that club only meant he was showing distrust. He couldn't keep going back to that club forever could he?
Zeito sighed and shook his head. Taking a walk around the city to clear his head wouldn't hurt. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed off in the opposite direction of the club.
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An hour ticked by. Zeito had been staring at the sky ignoring the city he was walking through. He wasn't sure how he was keeping track of the time, but he knew it must nearly be 10PM judging by how dark the sky was. Kageito was probably missing him by now.
Zeito sighed and took his eyes off the sky to look at the city. From his position, the sky just look like a black blanket. There wasn't a star in sight. Tonight the sky and city didn't seem to give Zeito any sanctuary. His mind was still troubled with thoughts of the club. He wondered why he was so concerned with Zatsune when sh-
Zeito's thoughts were interrupted when he looked up and was forced to do a double take. He was standing at the mouth of the alleyway that led to the backdoor of the club. How had he gotten here?
He hadn't exactly been paying attention to where he was going. Why had his body brought him here subconsciously? Zeito stopped as his foot landed in the alleyway.
"I trust her"
Zeito thought to himself. He shook his head and pushed away from the alley way.
Zatsune's terror filled shriek rang through the streets and stopped Zeito dead in his tracks. A panic like no other washed over him as he turned back to the alley way in slow motion.
From there on, Zeito's body moved on it's own. He sprinted back into the alleyway, his hand slipping into his pocket and grabbing one of his yo-yos.
Rounding the corner, he didn't have much time to register what he was seeing. There was a man on top of Zatsune and the two were wrestling on the ground with each other. Zeito wasn't even thinking at this point. His hand erupted from his pocket and his yo-yo came zipping out with exact precision, since Zeito had executed this attack multiple times before.
The struggling stopped as the yo-yo made contact with it's target and then suddenly silence overtook the alleyway.
Miku Hatsune's sobbing face suddenly flashed in Zeito mind as he watched Zatsune try to stand up, forced to use the wall to steady herself. Zeito felt as useless as he did in front of Hatsune. He didn't know the first thing about comforting a girl.
"You son of a bitch..." Zatsune hissed her whole body trembling with shock. Zeito couldn't stand the sight of Zatsune. He couldn't stand the thought of himself just standing here as he had done to Miku as she had sobbed in front of him. He had to help. He didn't know how to comfort a girl, but he had to try. Zeito stepped forward, but Zatsune was already half way to him.
"YOU HEAR ME?! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAU-"
Zeito watched her fall as her legs gave out from underneath her. He refused to let her hit the ground. He caught her and pulled her into a hug. Once again he wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do, but his body reacted on it's own.
He knew she must have been terrified. She needed someone to be there for her. He would hold her as long as she needed him to. He wasn't going to leave her side ever again. If Zatsune ever needed Zeito, he would always be there for her from now on.
"BASTARD!" Zatsune screamed. Zeito's head was struck as Zatsune began to beat and claw at him trying to get him to let go of her.
Zeito didn't mind the pain. He had always been used to pain ever since he had first met Taito. The fact that she was reacting so violently meant that Zatsune really had been scared. Zeito didn't care how hard she hurt him. He deserved it.
Zeito didn't keep track of how long she beat him. How tightly he held her. All he knew was the next moment she was sobbing in his arms hugging him back. Zeito brought a shaking hand to the back of her head before he stroked her hair. He doubted she noticed, but this is what you did to comfort someone who was crying right? Zeito watched Kaito do it with Nigaito on multiple occasions.
"Zeito...?" Zatsune sniffed
Zeito paused his ministrations and looked down at her
"I want to see my sister..." she said looking up at him.
Zeito couldn't stop the smile this brought to his lips. He nodded at her request before he brought his hands under her legs and picked up her limp form. She was lighter than he expected. Zatsune didn't seem to mind this action and just held him close. This felt right to Zeito. He finally felt her was doing something correctly.
"I'll bring you to her"
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The screaming from the large house could be heard from the front yard as Zeito and Zatsune looked to the lights of the window.
Zatsune was reminded as to why she had left her family a year ago. She hated all the arguments she and her sisters had every single day. She had never felt accepted in this family by anyone other than Miku. She wondered if she would ever be able to get along with anyone.
She look up at Zeito uncertainly. Zeito just squeezed her shoulder in reassurance before nodding down at her. Zatsune took a deep breath and nodded as well. She vaguely wondered what the screaming in the house was about, but she knew she would find out soon enough.
Suddenly the front door burst open and Miku stomped out holding a couple of bags under her arms.
"FINE! GO LIVE AT YOUR BELOVED KAITO'S HOUSE! THIS PLACE IS BETTER WITHOUT YOU!"
Neru's voice screamed from inside.
"I WILL!" Miku bellowed back. "AND MAYBE THIS TIME I WON'T COME BACK!"
"FINE BY ME! CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR! YOU'RE LETTING IN A DRAFT!"
Miku slammed the door with as much strength as she could muster.
Zeito and Zatsune watched her stomp down the front steps clinging her luggage tightly to her chest. It wasn't until Miku was almost directly in front of them did she notice the two standing in her front yard.
Miku blinked as she stopped dead in her tracks looking Zatsune up and down. Her luggage then slipped from her grasp and hit the stone walkway as tears overcame Miku's eyes.
"ONEE-CHAN!" she screamed running forward. Zatsune could only copy Miku and ran to embrace her sister.
"Onee-chan! Onee-chan! Onee-chan!" Miku sobbed over and over again as she held onto her sister as tightly as she could, terrified if she didn't, Zatsune would disappear for ever.
It had been a long time since Zatsune had ever cried, but even Zatsune could feel the warm water falling from her cheeks as she clung to Miku just as tight as her sister held her.
Zeito crossed his arms and smiled at the scene before him. In the end, every turned out well.
Miku looked up over Zatsune's shoulder and smiled at Zeito.
"Thank you..."
she whispered knowing this was all due to Zeito.
Zeito just nodded, feeling happier than he had ever felt in his life.