Much to Miku's luck, the day after Neru forced herself on her was unusually frigid, allowing her to wear a scarf to cover up the mark she'd left behind on her neck. Of course, that did nothing to clear away the near nauseous feeling brewing in the pit of her stomach every time she remembered the feeling of Neru's lips pressed forcefully against hers, and her icy, cruel hands caressing her. And on top of that, what she had told her had haunted even her dreams, and was incessantly echoing in her mind.

"From this moment on, you belong to me."

Standing at the usual corner, Miku shivered, and not because of the cold. Quickly looking in the direction Luka would usually show up from, she heavily sighed, finding the street completely empty. This certainly wasn't the time for Luka to suddenly have some sort of late streak. Should she show up there before Neru, even if the consequences were severe, Miku wanted nothing more but to begin her day with the girl she loved rather than the demon she had come to despise. She longingly looked at the street, trying to will Luka to appear around the corner and rescue her.

"Looking for someone?"

"Shit!" Miku exclaimed, the last voice she wanted to hear pulling her away from her vigil. Whirling around, she came face to face with Neru's cruel smile, clearly announcing that she knew exactly who Miku had been looking for, and she intended to sweep her away again before that person could arrive.

"My, aren't we jumpy for someone who looks like they were up all night." Neru smirked, reaching out and running her fingertips along Miku's cheek, who quickly jerked away. As much as she'd hope it would be enough to let Neru be aware that she didn't want to be touched, it didn't help in the slightest, and only made Neru's grin grow even more in amusement. "Is it because it took you that long to finish the work I gave you to do..." Before Miku could step back out of her reach, Neru got a grip on her scarf and stripped it away, exposing the red mark she'd left there with a look of pride. "...or were you up all night thinking of me?" Miku quickly grasped her neck, covering the blemish as her cheeks began to redden.

"I certainly was not!" Miku managed to snap after stammering out several broken syllables before she found the right words. "If you're here for your homework, I'll give it to you, just give me back my scarf!"

"Awww, and why would I do that? I want everyone to see the mark I managed to leave on your perfect skin." Neru chuckled, holding Miku's scarf out of her reach. "And you don't have to give the homework to me, we all did it on our own, I just wanted to get a chance to have you all to myself last night." Miku glared at Neru who grinned back at her in response. She'd made her do all that work for nothing, but even so, if she had known it would have been for nothing she still would have had to do it. Neru had her cellphone at her constant disposal after all, one filled with all sorts of things she could use against Miku should she not keep in line. "And I'm here for that same reason. I want you to walk to school with me." As if to add a sharp edge to the rather soft, familiar sounding command, Neru used her free hand to pull out her cellphone from her school bag, casually playing with it but giving Miku a look that silently reminded her of what she still had inside of the device. "You belong to me, after all, not that silly rich girl."

"I don't-"

"What was that?" Neru asked. "You don't? Because I'm so sure you do. Or do I have to play the recording again?" Miku groaned loudly in anger, the taunts driving her over the edge as she lunged at Neru. But it seemed, as always, Neru was a step ahead, and much more capable than she let on, as she grabbed Miku's arm's in a surprisingly tight grip- a grip that left Miku feeling helpless- as she turned her attack into something else entirely. She spun her around then pulled her close, so that her body was pressed against Miku's back, who tried to break free, but to no avail.

"There's no use fighting it, Miku." Neru hissed into her ear. "Sooner or later I'll break you entirely, and being so disobedient towards your master is only going to speed that process up, you know?" Miku gasped lightly as she felt Neru's lips wander over the patch of skin she'd left her mark and felt a sick feeling overcoming her as she felt the light sensation of her tongue brushing against it. But what made it worse -oh, what made it so much worse than it could have been- was the appearance of a third person rounding the corner and taking a step back in shock when they say the scene that was unfolding in front of them. Miku looked back at their widened blue eyes in complete terror- the blue eyes of the last person she wanted to see her in the position Neru was holding her.

"W...What...?" Luka gasped, dropping her bag to the ground. "M-Miku... You..."

There were so many things Miku could say at that moment, so many things she could do: try and explain herself or try and attempt to soften the blow. But at that moment, all she could think to do was run, and run she did. With a new-found surge of adrenaline, she broke from Neru's grasp and, not even bothering to grab her scarf from her, ran in the first direction her body would fly. But no matter how fast or how far away from the scene she ran, the broken look that Luka had given her was burned in her memory, right along with the sickening feeling of Neru's hands and lips.

"Well, I'd assume you'd have to figure out sooner or later." Neru laughed, not even bothering to grace Luka with a glance, once Miku had long since gone. She held the scarf close to her, taking in the sweet scent of her pet and not exuding a bit of shock or shame that Luka had caught her with her hands all over Miku. "People can't keep secrets forever."

"W-..." Luka could feel the sting of tears as they began to build in her eyes as her heart sank lower and lower. "What were you doing to Miku!"

"What did it look like I was doing? You got a clear enough shot of it that you shouldn't have to ask." Neru smirked, finally meeting Luka's devastated gaze with one that loudly mocked her. "I was holding Miku in an embrace that you foolishly thought was reserved for you- recounting what happened between us last night."

"Last night!?" Luka's vision spun for a moment, making her feel as if she would be sick.

"Oh, maybe I'm sharing too much with you. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all, like me and Miku had agreed..." Neru sighed, hiding her widening smirk with the scarf she was burying her face in as she tried to imitate an innocent voice. "No use keeping it a secret now, I might as well tell you. It's quite clear that Miku has no intention of saying it to your face, even though you just saw it before your very eyes."

"What!? Tell me WHAT!?"

"You no longer satisfy Miku, not one bit. Maybe you haven't noticed, I'm sure she told me she was trying to send you all the signs that she felt that way, you must be a bit more innocent than I thought." Neru couldn't help but chuckle just a bit as she spoke, taking in every inch of Luka's evolving devastation. "The one Miku loves is me. Once I gave her a taste, poor girl couldn't get enough. I felt so guilty at first, but I bet you can agree with me when I say there's just something irresistible about her. I was certain she'd broken things off with you, that's what she told me. Seems we've both been had."

"No! No, that...that can't be true! Just the other day, I could have sworn-!"

"Aww, there there, don't get so sad. I think you're better off without her." Neru mockingly comforted. "I'm sure someone like you can get much better than someone like her." She patted Luka on the quivering shoulder and hid a smirk as she passed by her, leaving her to break down on her own.

"My, that was much easier than I thought it would be." She said to herself once she was a safe distance away from Luka. "I thought it would be a bit more difficult to get rid of the trash."

Miku had forced herself to go to school, despite the red mark on her neck now clearly being exposed and how sick the very thought of even going to school now made her. There was no longer some sort of safe place for her to run to, at her back was a devastated Luka and beckoning her to follow was Neru, cold and cruel as always. All throughout the day she could hear whispers of people beginning the first stages of rumors about the mark on her neck, and she swore she heard several people bring up how sad Luka had seemed when coming to school, and how "chummy" (Which was not quite the word Miku would have chosen) Miku had been with Neru lately. Some things were a bit off in the theories, but they were spot on in the unhidden mark being Neru's doing. By the time lunch rolled around, Miku could feel the stares she got with sharp clarity and could pick up every single sentence that mentioned her, and it was suffocating. Unable to stand it any longer, she braved going out into the hallway, self-consciously holding her hand against her neck, clearly hiding something -but it was either that or let the world see the incriminating blemish. Either way, people were going to notice. She longed to escape everyone's eyes and the hushed whispers about her moving from girl to girl, about how she'd been the one who hurt Luka so much, and there was only one place where she was so sure she'd be able to do just that.

By the time she reached the doors leading to the school roof, she had quickened her pace to a sprint as she forced them open, bathing the dark stairwell in sunlight. And the moment she did that, she regretted it, because it seemed she wasn't the only person who decided to spend the lunch break up on the roof. The moment she spied the movement of long, flowing, pink hair blowing in the breeze, instead of the usual feeling of relief, she felt her feelings of panic skyrocket. There was Luka, looking out at the scenery that stretched out beyond the chain-link fence, back turned to her. Maybe she hadn't heard her loud entrance, by some miracle, and she was lost in her own thoughts. If that were the case she'd be able to escape unnoticed, but at the same time she wanted to stay there, possibly comfort the older girl and try to explain herself. But before she could decide on anything, it seemed Luka had heard her, and she turned to her with the coldest look Miku had ever seen in those beautiful blue eyes she loved so much, and even though they were a distance away, Miku could clearly tell they were bloodshot. The glare that was emitted from them was such a surprise, Miku couldn't help but take a cautionary step back.

"Oh, it's you." Along with the unfeeling look, Luka's voice was absolutely barbed, her lips curved into a tight frown as she spoke. Hearing her address her in such a sharp manner made Miku's heart ache all the more.

"Luka, we need to talk!" Miku shouted, fighting every sense that cried for her to run away. She had to explain, or else the feelings brewing inside of her would eat at her until they drove her completely insane. And it was Neru, after all, the school's infamous, fiendish bully! There's no way that Luka would be able to fully buy that her and Miku were in some sort of secret relationship, or whatever Neru and everyone else had tried to lead her to believe.

"Sure, let's talk." Luka spat. "But about what, exactly? I certainly hope you haven't come here to try and explain away what I saw this morning, like all of that was some sort of crazy accident."

"But it was!" Miku cried, clutching at her chest, right over her heart that, in her panic, was beating like wild and not making things any better. "Neru... Neru's been forcing me to do all these things for her- she's been black mailing me! I would never let her-!"

"Never let her what? Never let her touch you?" Luka asked, taking long, angry strides towards Miku until she was right in front of the near-cowering girl. She grasped tightly at Miku's hand still instinctively covering up the mark on her neck and pulled it away. "Looks like you already let her do plenty of that! If it were really such a bad thing, you would have tried to get away instead of letting her put her lips all over you!" A heavy tone of disgust was added to Luka's voice as she mentioned it, the very thought of Neru's hands and lips all over the person she thought truly loved her making her sick. "If it was so bad, why hadn't you bothered to tell me!? If it were so bad, you wouldn't have been sneaking around me to keep it a secret! But instead you led me along to think everything was fine!"

"I didn't want to get you involved!" Miku cried out again, trying to free her hand from Luka's grasp so she could hide the mark again. "I-I mean, you already have enough on your plate already, I just-"

"You didn't want to get me INVOLVED!?" Luka parroted furiously, her grip tightening. "You make it out to sound like all this stuff with Neru is so awful, but you didn't want to ask me for help? That's...that's ridiculous! Do you really expect me to buy all this Miku? With how distant you've been acting all of a sudden that I've been too blind to notice, hanging around Neru more and more, or so I've heard, going home with her... Even an idiot would have tried to get help from somewhere if they were being forced against their will to do things for someone! But you just let it happen, and refused to even tell ME about it! How am I supposed to believe all of this is all a misunderstanding!?"

"Luka, stop it! You're hurting me!" Miku cringed, feeling Luka's hand wrap around her wrist like she was trying to crush it.

"And you're hurting me, Miku! You deserve to be-!" Luka cut herself off, and Miku dared to look up at her, curious about the sudden silence. The older girl was crying, her grip on Miku loosening and then vanishing as she stumbled back, hiding her tear-strained face in her hands.

"Luka..."

"Just go away!" Luka sobbed, turning her back to Miku. "Please, just leave me alone! Don't you think you've done enough?" Miku gazed sadly at Luka's back, listening to her sobs, each one feeling like they were stabbing at her heart. She wanted to move forward and embrace the girl she loved more than anything, but she'd made it plenty clear that that wasn't going to solve anything. If anything, she'd just pull away. Forcing back her own tears, Miku quickly turned around and dashed down the stairs, not even bothering to notice the person going up them that she brushed shoulders with. She couldn't stay there and the very thought of going through the rest of the day made her feel awful. There was a chance, after all, that she'd run into Neru, who wanted nothing but to drag her down, or worse Luka, who surely didn't want to see her again.

"I thought I told you to go!" Luka shrieked, hearing the sound of footsteps behind her, above her sobs. But as she whirled around, she came to find- not Miku, but Kaito standing behind her, looking just as apologetic as Miku had, if not even more so. Now in the company of someone who probably wouldn't know what was going on with her and why she was crying, she quickly began to wipe at her eyes, trying to erase them completely as she sniffled and struggled to regain composure in front of her classmate.

"Y-Yes? What is it?" She asked, voice cracking as she choked back another stray sob.

"Luka... I'm so sorry." He muttered, his gaze at the ground instead of directed at her. This was probably the first time she'd ever seen Kaito like that: Unsure and guilty looking.

"Sorry about what? If you're just giving me your condolences I don't need them, I'm fine... really." She quickly tried to assure him. "It's just... a personal matter, I'll be over it soon."

"No, it's not that... All of this is my fault." Kaito muttered. "If it hadn't been for me, Miku wouldn't be mixed up with Neru in the first place."

"W-What?" Luka gasped, "What do you mean by that!?"

"I... A few nights after the concert, I went to Miku's place. We shared a kiss, but I swear it meant nothing! It was only for closure, really!" Kaito quickly added in an explanation about the kiss when Luka's eyes narrowed dangerously. He hadn't come there to make her even more upset, that was for sure. "But... Neru cornered me beforehand, and told me that if I didn't do as she said, she'd come after me instead of you and Miku... If I hadn't been such a coward and stood up to her, then maybe..."

"What did she tell you to do?" Luka asked, beginning to feel a sharp pain in her chest, but for a whole new reason.

"To let her take pictures of me and Miku kissing, and she's been using them against Miku ever since..." Kaito told her, looking like he was bracing himself for some sort of attack. "I figured Neru was going to let up eventually, that she just wanted to toy around with you two... I didn't know she'd go to such extremes! I still feel something for Miku, and seeing her so hurt over this whole thing... I can't stand it, not any more! She never told you, because she was afraid that Neru would send you the photo and you'd jump to conclusions, but by the looks of it, I think it's about time someone told you before things get way out of hand!" At first Luka said nothing at all. She just stood statue still and stared at him, her reaction to his news slowly showing on her face that was transitioning at a snails pace from blank shock to devastation. Miku had been telling the truth all along and Neru had been using something against her to make her do things against her will. And she'd dismissed all of it and chose to stick with her own suspicions, hurting Miku in the process.

"I'm... I'm such an idiot." She mumbled as tears begin to tumble down her cheeks, a defeated look on her face. All she could picture now was the split second of Miku's own sad look she'd seen before she turned around. All of that had been for nothing, if anything she was playing right into Neru's cruel plan. Hurting Miku like that without even thinking... she was no different from her in the slightest.

And as her thoughts drifted to Neru, she felt something else- something new. In all her life she hadn't felt something so strong before, and it wasn't sadness or hurt: it was anger. Pure, unsaturated anger. And even if it would bring her to do something she'd regret, she was going to act on those feelings. Neru wasn't going to get scot free this time. It was about time someone stood up to her, and if it had to be her, then so be it. Only apologizing to Miku was going to erase the new-found heaviness in her heart, but unless she dealt with Neru now, there would always be the danger that she and her schemes would spring up again.

"Luka...?"

"Thank you, Kaito... for telling me. I'm never going to forgive you for letting something like this happen... but thank you for finally getting the guts to do something right." She told him with a weakened smile before pushing passed him.

"Hey, where are you going!?" He called after her as she began to run down the stairs.

"To make things right!" She called back, voice now full of determination as she ran. And she didn't stop running until she arrived at the doors of Neru's classroom and people blocking the doorway parted befor her like she were carrying the plague.

And there she was, plain in her sights, sitting back in her seat and laughing with her two underlings as if she'd done nothing wrong, oblivious to Luka's arrival. A hateful frown grew and grew on Luka's face as she marched over to Neru's desk, where even at an arms length away with both of her loyal minions stopping mid-sentence to acknowledge her, she pretended for a few moments more that Luka was nothing more than a breeze passing through the room.

"Heh, do you two smell something weird?" Neru asked Ruko and Teto who were too nervous to respond. They were quick to shut their mouths upon seeing the furious look on Luka's face, but Neru wasn't about to back down in the slightest, not even when faced with someone who's rage was directed completely at her. "Did someone spill garbage or something?"

"Neru." Luka snapped coldly, finally getting the girl's attention and earning an unamused side glance.

"Oh, never mind, I guess it was you." Neru shrugged, going back to looking at her cellphone. "What do you want now? Don't tell me you want me to exact your revenge on poor little Miku- she couldn't help but leave you for the better choice."

"I know all of this was because you've been blackmailing Miku, Neru, drop the act!" Luka spat, to which Neru reacted minimally. She sighed, as if having been annoyed rather than shocked that Luka knew, as she snapped her phone closed.

"Did you come all this way just to tell me that? Honestly, you're some sort of idiot." She looked up at Luka with a sickening smirk, seeming proud of herself. "Even if you know now, I still have things up my sleeve. I don't intend on handing Miku over to you, not now, and not ever in fact. Someone who's been given everything she asked for doesn't deserve to get another thing so easily, I'll make sure of that. So you want to patch things up with Miku? That's much too bad, I'll never let you have her. I'll torment the both of you so much that you'll be forced to separate to spare one another's sanity!"

Just then, Luka finally snapped. She was through with Neru talking like she'd already won. Lunging forward, she didn't even think of the consequences, only that she wanted Neru to know that if she was insisting on being relentless, she was going to fight back.

"Miku..." Miku's mother peered into her daughter's room, finding her in the place she'd deposited herself when she'd surprisingly come home early from school: Curled up in a ball under her sheets on her bed. She'd decided not to question why right away, it was clear that whatever happened at school, it had left her in tatters. Skipping classes was something she didn't approve of, but seeing her daughter's tear-streaked face as she returned home forced her to hold back her lecturing for the time being. "Your friend Rin is on the phone, she says it's urgent." Miku didn't move at first, but finally shifted out of bed and groggily made it over to the door, taking the phone from her mother.

"Are you sure you're alright, you don't need anything?" She asked, to which Miku nodded.

"I'm fine, mom, I just need some rest." Miku muttered before turning away from her and answering the phone. "Rin?"

"Oh my god, Miku! Where in the world were you!?" Rin shouted over the phone, forcing Miku to pull the phone away from her ear.

"I'm at home, what are you shouting about?" She asked, making sure to hold the phone a safe distance away just in case Rin shouted again. Her voice was shrill enough as it was when she spoke loudly face to face with someone, hearing it over the phone only added to it.

"You aren't going to believe this! Luka totally attacked Neru during the lunch break! She just walked into her classroom and went completely nuts! Some people are even saying Neru made it out with a sprain, or something!" Rin told her, still very loudly, but now that she was explaining, Miku was inclined to listen closely.

"Wait, wait, wait, Luka ATTACKED Neru?" Miku gasped. "W-Why?!"

"No one knows, she just attacked her! And by what I heard, Luka's been suspended for it! It's completely insane, I can't believe you missed-" Rin paused, hearing the clatter of Miku throwing down the phone onto the ground over the speakers of her own phone, along with the distant sound of panicked footsteps slowly getting farther and farther away. "...Miku? Um... Miku? Hello?"

The moment she had learned of Luka's predicament, Miku hadn't stopped running. She hadn't even bothered to stop to slip on shoes before she burst out of her house, following the familiar route to the Megurine estate. Hearing that Luka had literally fought back against Neru had given her a surge of energy she had been certain she had lost forever. For all she knew, Luka still had the same, hard feelings against her, but still, the news of Luka going up against her tormentor had a ring of hope to it. Struggling to take in proper breaths by the point she arrived at the gates to Luka's house, she leaned against the buzzer in exhaustion before the voice of one of the many staff answered over the speaker.

"Y-" They began, hardly getting out the first word before Miku interrupted them, panting out her words.

"Luka!" She barked out, getting a series of baffled noises from the person who had answered. Gulping down enough air to form an understandable sentence, she began again. "Is... Is Luka home?"

"I'm sorry, but miss Luka isn't accepting any visitors-"

"Tell her it's Miku!" Miku interrupted again, much too spent to be polite. "Hatsune Miku!" A long pause followed her shouting, and at first Miku figured she'd been wordlessly turned away, thought of as nothing but bothersome riffraff. But as she found the strength to stand on her own instead of using the gate for support, the gate slowly began to open before her, and through sweat-covered hair that had fallen in her face, she could just make out someone running down the driveway to meet her there.

"L-Luka!" She gasped, clumsily running forward to meet her and throwing herself into the older girls open arms. "Luka, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry I never told you, I was afraid of what Neru would do, I swear!"

"I'm the one who should be sorry!" Luka cried back, holding Miku's body close to hers, taking in her familiar scent now laced with the smell of sweat. Their bodies were pressed so close, she could feel the younger girl's heartbeat and the sweat that had clung to her begin to soak into her dry clothes. "I said all those hurtful things without even thinking... I'm an awful person. Can..." Miku could clearly hear as Luka choked back a sob. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"Luka..." Miku could feel tears building in her eyes, but a wide smile stretched across her lips as she lifted her head she had buried into Luka's chest to look up at her. "I ran all the way here without any shoes, I don't think I would have done something like that if I wasn't going to forgive you."

"Oh, Miku..." Luka sobbed lightly, returning Miku's smile with one of her own as she brushed her damp hair out of the way to lightly kiss her forehead. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too, Luka." Miku said in a hushed tone as she stood on her tip-toes, aware of what was to come next. "The next time I get into trouble like this, I promise I'll tell you."

"Well then, I hope you seal that promise with a kiss." Luka chuckled, hands moving from Miku's body to her face, lightly cupping it as their lips grew closer and closer together.

"I intend to." Miku laughed before pressing her lips against Luka's. And as they kissed, it was like a massive weight was being lifted from her shoulders, as if Luka's lips were sucking away all of the bad feelings that had accumulated over the passed days. She hadn't realized how much she needed her kisses until then as she felt her body feeling like it was growing lighter. A pleased, relieved moan escaped her smiling lips as they parted from Luka's.

"Luka..." She whispered breathlessly before losing balance on her own two feet, even when standing absolutely still. Had it not been for Luka catching her, she surely would have topped over onto the ground. "S-Sorry, I guess I'm a little tired..."

"I can't let you go home in this state, you have no shoes on and I'm pretty sure if kissing makes you dizzy, walking back to your place is going to put way too much strain on your body." Luka told her sternly.

"No, no, I really don't want to impose-"

"Nonsense, it's fine." Luka grinned. "I think we need a little time to catch up, anyways. All the time you spent with Neru didn't leave us much time to talk and I feel I need to get that wasted time back." She pulled Miku close to her as she mentioned it, lips just barely playing across the skin of her neck where the mark Neru had left was fading. And suddenly, Miku's not wanting to impose vanished, just like the awful feelings that Luka had chased away with her kiss, and she leaned into Luka's embrace.

"I guess you're right." she said with a smile. "I guess I do owe you that much."