Sugar-Coated Accident
Chapter Ten
"There's Only One Fish In My Sea"
"My life is over."
"Oh come on, it's not that bad," said Miku comfortingly, wondering whether to put an arm around the purple-haired Vocaloid. After all, you should love thy neighbour. That is, if your neighbour wasn't so incredibly self-obsessed they'd assume a simple action was really a confession of undying love. So Miku let her arm hover, then flop back to her side.
It was better that way.
Gakupo turned and gave Miku a look of pain and suffering, eyes sparkling just a little under the lighting of the store. "But Luka was my everything, and now I have nothing."
"Don't be so melodramatic," said Rin – although telling Gakupo not be overdramatic was a bit like telling Kaito not be so stupid. They really couldn't help it; Kaito was a moron, and Gakupo was a drama queen- err, king.
"Yeah, Rinny-chan's right! There are loads'n'loads more fish in the sea!" exclaimed Teto.
"But how can I go on when I only that that Luka-fish?" asked Gakupo, all melancholy and seriousness, like he hadn't just called his part-time girlfriend a trout.
It was all Rin and Miku could do not to laugh, attempting to mask their improper snorts behind their hands.
"You know, Gakupo-san," Haku interjected quietly, "Luka-san must like you, otherwise she wouldn't have come here in the fist place. I think she was just a bit embarrassed."
Haku was good on picking up feelings like that – she spent all her life being embarrassed by something or other, so it wasn't too hard to spot it in other people.
"You mean she was embarrassed to be seen with me. I'm just bad company. Luka-san would be better off without me- ow!"
Unwillingly, Gakupo was pulled out of his misery via a painful whack to the head, courtesy of a smiling Rin, who'd watched a martial arts video once and considered herself to be an expert.
"Gakupo-san," she said sternly, "you can't mope around forever."
"Mmn," muttered Neru, flipping her phone shut with a click. "She agreed to go out with you even though you're selfish and rude and vain and conceited and arrogant and stupid, and if she could look past all that and see a tiny little bit of good then it's fairly obvious she does like you."
"Yeah! To Luka, you could be her Prince Charming, with a slightly effeminate hairstyle!" exclaimed Miku.
"Luka-san will probably call you back and apologise for her behaviour," said Haku, nodding her head.
"So stop being so mopey and pull a happy-happy face!" beamed Rin, leaning forwards and putting two fingers at the corners of Gakupo's mouth. With a violent tug, she had pulled his mouth into a grotesque, leery sort of smile, which would have been better placed on a Halloween pumpkin. A Halloween pumpkin carved with a cleaver instead of a knife. "See! You look cheerful already!"
"And me'n Rin-chan know just how to make you forget all about Luka!" cried Miku, punching her fist in the air.
"W-Whaaa'?" asked Gakupo, words obscured due to the intrusive digits still jammed into his mouth.
"With a little bit of retail therapy!" chorused Miku, Rin and Teto in perfect unison.
"Um, Miku-san, is wearing this really going to help anything?"
"Yeah, sure, it's pretty! And this one's very nice too – Gakupo, hold it!"
"But I can't hold any more-"
"And this one, too!" Miku continued blithely, not paying a blind bit of interest to Gakupo's protests. "You'll make the most adorable sweet Lolita!"
"Sweet Lolita?"
"But hey, Miku," frowned Rin, grabbing her green-haired partner in crime. Her voice dropped to a whisper, as she said, "do you really think he can pull of 'cute'? He's more of a… I dunno, 'self-obsessed' kind of character."
"We'll just have to wait and see," said Miku mysteriously, tapping her nose.
If any of the shop assistants had been going to ban the Vocaloids from their store for their over-the-top antics, they were all very glad they hadn't once Miku had handed over the money.
All 300,000 yen of it.
"Oh, I love being a rich pop star," sighed Miku happily.
"You could buy a small country for that, you know," said Neru, peeping curiously into the contents of Miku's shopping bag. That was just the tip of the iceberg, however – there were seven other bags, most of them held by Teto, who couldn't see where she was going due to the bulk that obstructed her face.
"Yeaah, but it was worth it," said Miku nonchalantly, turning to inspect her latest work of art. "He looks like a totally different person now!"
"You were right, Miku-onee-chan, you were so right," giggled Rin. "He really does pull off the 'cute' look."
"Mmn. I just wish he was a little shorter."
"I think I look feminine enough as it is," Gakupo pouted, pulling at the hem of his skirt with obvious distress. Indeed, he did look very female – more so than usual. His hair was still down, gently brushing his waist, and the white'n'pink ruffly thing, sprinkled with ribbons and complete with a corset,Miku, Rin and Teto had picked out was doing a good job of hiding his lack of a chest. It was hard to walk in the stupid shoes, as well. "Seriously, this isn't making me feel better at all."
"No, but we feel better!" Rin cackled.
"You didn't have to hide my real clothes," said Gakupo, looking dejected, defeated and humiliated.
"But we did," said Miku cheerfully. "And you really do look quite adorable."
"Yeaahhh~" Teto squealed, "I wanna take him hoomeeeee~!"
"S-speaking of home," said Haku, gently plucking a few bags out of Teto's grip before they all spilt to the floor, "don't you think it's time we got going? We've been here a few hours, and everything'll close soon…"
"Nahhh," said Meiko, who had been unusually quiet up until that point. "Let's go out drinking!"
"Half of us are still too young. Teto has the mind of a six-year-old," Neru pointed out, in that practical, down-to-earth way of hers. "Besides, I'm tired. I want to go to bed."
"Let's go back home, Rin-chan," Miku agreed, nodding her head sagely. "We've done all we can do here."
"Alright then. We'll leave. But-" Rin paused dramatically, hands spread wide. "Let's all go to Gakupo-san's house instead!"
There was utter silence.
One could almost see the tumble weed rolling through the mall.
And then Neru said what everyone was thinking.
"Um, like, no way. Are you out of your mind?"
"Miku-onee-chan. A word, please," said Rin, grabbing her accomplice's shoulder and dragging her roughly to one side. "You see, it's like this. I tried to get Len to come, but he was busy! As in, he had something do with Kaito! Don't you think that's a little suspicious, having 'something to do' with Kaito while everybody else is out shopping?"
Miku's eyes widened slightly, "So you mean… By 'doing something'…?"
"I dunno, but you know Len-kun likes Kaito-nii, right? I mean, really… So let's give them a while to themselves, just in case-"
"-they are 'doing something'-"
"-so we'll go over to Gakupo's-"
"-and they'll have some alone time together-"
"-and finally realise how much they love each other!" they both squealed in harmony. "Oh, Miku-onee-chan, this is the perfect plan!"
"Plus, Gakupo definitely won't try and violate us because he's more female than we are!"
"Yeah, he only likes Luka because she's the man in the relationship!" Rin agreed, nodding her head so vigorously her over-sized hair ribbon jumped up and down. "And we'll get Neru and Haku to come along by saying we bought popcorn and horror movies! No normal, thrill-seeking girl can resist a good slasher flick, right?"
"Well, I'm not too sure about Haku…"
Meanwhile, Gakupo watched the squealing, dancing, jumping girls, with a distinct feeling of unease curdling at the pit of his stomach.
"Gakupo-san, are you feeling ill?" asked Haku worriedly, placing a hand on his forehead.
"No. I'm just fine," lied Gakupo transparently.
Of course it was a lie.
He'd gone green.
a.n: chapter 10 already O: wowz. this story is starting to remind me of fruits basket, though xD like, there are a load of characters, and it keeps going off talking about them instead of the main pairing, which is the most important bit of the story, and the reason why people /read/ this fic. but i wanted to catch up w/ the girls, & let everyone know why they wouldn't be in the house the next few chapters. next chapter is straight back to len and kaito =3
as always, thank you for the reviews ^^
renahhchen~