Chapter 10

The start of a new school year was often an exciting and devastating time. Jittery students were either happily reuniting with their friends in the same class or tearfully saying goodbye to those they would miss for the next ten months or so, save for lunch breaks and after school. Although as of right now, a certain tealette was doing neither of the two.

Miku nervously tightened her grip on the strap of her book bag as she looked for room 2-1. It should be at the end of the hall, hard to miss but the clutters of people busily gossiping or sharing timetables obstructed much of the view.

By some miracle, Miku had performed outstandingly on her final exams. She practically aced all of her subjects, with the exception of English and biology, both of which fell just under the "A" standard. Her test results placed her within the top one hundred of the school and top twenty of her grade which also meant Honours class.

For the next year, she would be working in a class full of school-approved 'advanced' students, separate from her middle school friends. Miku didn't mind all that much. They were drifting apart anyways, perhaps this was the best way to end it all.

'2-4, 2-3, Library…2-2, stairs… … …'

In the innermost corner of the winding hallway, Miku finally reached her destination. The crowed had thinned out towards the end of the building and, other than a few loitering upperclassmen who seemed to enjoy the peace and quiet, no one was there.

Heart thumping painfully in her chest, Miku carefully pried open the classroom door with shaky hands and slipped inside.

Barely anyone was there.

Of course.

She was early.

Everyone else was too busy gossiping with their friends outside or, unwilling to embrace another year of educational torture, wandering around the school's perimeters.

A group of quietly giggling girls were gathered around one of the window seats. Miku remembered them as the 'unbreakable trio': Miki, IA and Yukari. They were always together and had apparently been friends since elementary school.

Another girl sat by herself in the corner farthest from the door, her long, blonde, side ponytail almost trailing to the floor. Miku didn't know her. She looked up for a brief second as Miku entered before returning to texting at what seemed like lightning speed.

The other student in the class, who appeared to be the only boy, sat anxiously at one of the desks at the front. Miku didn't recognize him either, but thought he looked European, messy blonde locks covering one eye as he fiddled with his sailor cap.

All the previous tension left her body and Miku sighed. She scolded herself for thinking that something interesting would happen with the coming of a new year. Something novel… meeting new people, perhaps fitting in somewhere…yeah right. Why did she even bother to think such things when she hated dealing with people?

Taking a tip from the blonde girl, Miku shuffled to the unoccupied corner at the end of the room. Hopefully no one would sit beside her. Honours classes were always smaller than the usual and spare seats were abundant. Worst case scenario, Miku would have to find different people to work with every time there was a group assignment. She would take that over having to deal with an annoying desk partner any day.

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The clock ticked closer and closer to the first bell. After five to ten minutes, in pairs and trios, Miku's new classmates began trickling in. She saw some familiar faces, acquaintances at best and others whom she didn't recognize at all.

The blonde boy at the front seemed to be startled by the sudden stream of people and stumbled over himself to reach the back row, where he settled just two seats away from Miku. The poor thing was almost trembling as he shied away from the incessant chatter that increased in volume as more students filled the room.

Miku felt sorry for him and for a moment, she almost wanted to walk over and comfort the boy. She suppressed the impulse. There were way too many people here now to have a proper conversation with anyone, much less someone she'd never seen in her life before.

The bell rang. Harsh and grating, it was effective in silencing the new second years. All that was left were hushed whispers. An almost palpable tension fell over the entire room as everyone held their breath and waited for their teacher to enter.

A click and the door slid open. A woman who appeared to be in her late twenties walked in, green hair pinned up in a messy bun. She was holding a large binder full of papers in one arm and a heavy-looking bag in the other.

The class stood up and bowed in unison.

Their new teacher eyed them coolly and adjusted her glasses.

"You may sit now." She commanded to the room full of awkwardly standing teenagers. Quiet shuffling and the class sat back down.

"I will be your teacher this year. You may call me Ms. Sonika. From today on we will be studying every subject, except for P.E. and the Arts, together so I hope we get along." Her voice hardened in a warning at the "get along" part as she glared at the boys in the front who had dared to whisper and joke with each other during her intro.

"Now-"

*thump*

"Oww, owww, that hurt…"

Ms. Sonika was interrupted by a rather heavy impact on their classroom door and voices from outside.

"Rin! I told you…you shouldn't run around so recklessly like that!" A second voice chided the first as the door slid open to reveal the latecomers.

Their hair was a matching shade of golden blonde, equally messy. One was adorned with a childishly cute but somehow fitting bow and the other tied into a simple ponytail. They'd be practically identical if it weren't for the exuberant mischief radiating from the first pair of blue eyes and the contrasting exasperation coming from the second.

The ponytailed one pulled his companion down in a deep bow.

"We're so sorry for being late Ms. Sonika! Our timetables had the wrong class and we had to get it fixed at the office…"

The class tensed and waited for their strict teacher to begin the two's execution. Surprisingly, her previously narrowed eyes softened at the apology.

"Len, I know you're a responsible kid so I believe you. Rin…you should be a little more mature, like your brother. It wouldn't be fair if he got in trouble because of your behavior now would it?"

It seemed like their teacher had a soft spot after all. One for their school's prodigy twins that is. Most people, even Miku, had heard of the two talented younger students in their grade.

A whole two years ahead, Rin and Len were described to be incredibly smart, borderline genius even, by those who had met them. They were practically legends.

The two always stuck together and never fit in with the rest of the student body and neither seemed to mind. It was always Rin, the energetic one and Len, the serious one who kept Rin manageable. The teachers adored them for their intelligence. After all, they were the first ones in many years to have passed the school's notoriously difficult entrance exam for early entry.

Already, Ms. Sonika seemed to have forgiven the twins and turned to address the class again. Rin and Len didn't move. Rin was pouting a little, probably from their teacher's earlier statement about maturity, while Len was starting to turn red from the extended period of exposure at the front of the class.

"Oh, right. The class is pretty full this year isn't it? You guys can sit in the back. Unfortunately those are the only seats open." Ms. Sonika finally noticed the twins' predicament and released Len from his embarrassment.

Rin seemed to have recovered and bounced in the direction that Ms. Sonika pointed them, with Len in tow. They were aiming for…oh. Miku dully realized that the only seats open were the two in between her and the scared boy with the sailor cap.

Rin happily plopped down beside Miku while Len quietly sat next to the other blonde boy.

For the next thirty minutes, Miku tried to stay focused on what Ms. Sonika was saying, but she couldn't help but sneak glances at the 'famous' twins sitting next to her. Although she was pretty secretive, Rin seemed to have noticed anyways and flashed her a friendly smile. Miku's ears burned as she awkwardly returned the gesture.

Work time came around after the teacher had covered everything in the course outline. It was the same old routine: 'Get to know your partner and introduce them to the class later.' Miku was unsurprised to find that she still hated doing this. It was always either people she was already acquainted with, or complete strangers whom she'd never talk to again. She never understood the point to the brief exchange of feigned interest.

Reluctantly, she turned to Rin. It would be lying to say that Miku didn't feel nervous at all. After all, she was talking to one of the practically famous twins. But then again, both of them were her junior and the way Rin's ribbon flopped as she turned excitedly to Miku wasn't exactly very imposing.

"Uh, um. Ah, my name's Kagamine Rin! It's nice to meet you!" Rin smiled and broke the silence, seeing as Miku wasn't going to speak any time soon.

"I know," Miku nodded, "I mean. Who here doesn't know? Twin geniuses, talented singers…It would be strange if you knew who I was though." Miku had meant the remark to be somewhat passive aggressive. Instead of discouraging conversation, Rin just stared innocently back at her.

"Well I won't know who you are unless you tell me." The younger girl pouted a little. Miku just sighed and felt a little guilty. She should at least try on her first day of school.

"Hatsune Miku." She muttered, while staring disinterestedly at her pencil. Rin just bounced happily at the revelation, as if it solved all the problems in the world.

"There we go! Now we know each other, right Miku?" The ribbon-wearing girl gave Miku a friendly pat. Miku could feel the temperature rising around her cheeks already. She wasn't used to being around such affectionate people. But she couldn't find it in herself to dislike Rin, which was strange since that was usually the easy part for Miku. Maybe it was the cluelessness, or the optimistic demeanour but this girl definitely had every bit of her rumoured charisma.

"S-sure…" Miku mumbled a response to Rin, who was already reading over their 'Get to know each other' worksheet.

"Mmm…so it says we need to find one difference-"

"That's easy. You sing and I don't." Miku answered quickly, hoping to finish the assignment as quickly as possible. Rin nodded and jotted down some notes on their paper.

"-and one similarity?" Rin paused to look up at Miku, who was stumped. Although she knew the question was coming, she just failed to see what she could have in common with bubbly, happy and popular Rin. She hung her head defeatedly.

"I-I'm not sure…what do you want to put?" Miku looked up at Rin with a questioning gaze, only to meet a confident smirk on Rin's part.

"Heh, I thought of this already. How about our undying love for RPG's?"

"Wh-WHAT?!" Miku was caught completely off guard. "How-" Rin pointed to Miku's bag before she could even finish her sentence.

"Tenth game, twentieth anniversary special edition bonus keychain." She said matter of factly, then frowned. "You don't know how much I wanted a Leyran…got friggin Kaspar instead." Miku allowed herself to stare at Rin in shock for a few more moments before finally letting a genuine smile surface. This Rin was crazier than she had thought, Miku's kind of crazy.

"Wanna trade? I liked Kaspar better anyways." She offered, in response to the slightly salty aura that had manifested around the blonde.

"Whaaat? No way! I mean. Yes on the trade but how can you like…how can you like him better…! Hey, what was your favourite game in the series?" Rin suddenly demanded, almost aggressively.

"Fifth." Miku parried with matching ferocity. She was used to seeing these heated exchanges on the forums where people like her gathered. She never thought she'd participate in such a discussion in real life.

"Figures." Rin pursed her lips. "You're one of those 'Old guard' people or whatever aren't you. Even with those graphics…" Miku laughed at Rin's slightly repulsed reaction.

"Guilty as charged." She held up her palms in resignation. Rin was getting easier and to talk to. The younger girl giggled a bit at the exaggerated motion.

"Well mine's is the fourteenth." She winked at Miku as she said it. Miku blinked back at her.

"That game isn't out yet though." Miku deadpanned.

"I know!" Rin smacked her arm playfully. "But the previews look sooo good…"

"That…that I agree…" Miku was about to say something else but the teacher had walked to the front of the class again.

"Ok everyone, why don't we start sharing. From the front left please." Miku looked at Rin, panicked.

"Wait, we're going with the video game thing?" She whispered to her blonde partner as the first pair stood up to present.

"Yeah?" Rin looked at her, puzzled, "Unless you're embarrassed or something." She teased, mischief dancing behind her sky-blue irises.

"Of course not!" Miku scoffed. She wasn't really eager for the class to know that she was a video game nerd but if Rin was ok with it, then why shouldn't she be.

"Heh, ok then." Rin gave a triumphant little snicker at Miku taking the bait and smiled at her twin-tailed partner. Miku couldn't help but return the gesture. Rin was just so easy to get along with. 'Maybe school wouldn't be so bad this year after all…' She thought to herself as she prepared to stand for their introductions.

A/N: Uhhhhhhh...haha...ummmm. SO. Life happened and I forgot about this. For anyone still reading, I'm very very sorry...please forgive me? ;-; *hides*

I actually had this chapter mostly written out for a long time but didn't know how to finish. And my writing style kinda changed in the eternity that this was on hiatus for so...:'D Re-reading this, I have no idea where I was going with the plot and it needs a lot of editing. Especially the first few chapters...

I'm thinking of continuing the story though, with slight changes to the original plot (don't worry, the ship will come) but it'll be slow as hell because of uni orz. Please bear with me and I'm back...sorta...

(AlsohappybirthdayLukamyqueenIloveyou 3)