Aneko: Chapter fourteeeeeeeeeenn! I apologize for this completely random updating schedule going on. But then again, I think that's the way I've always written, whether it's fanfiction or anything else.

AND AND AND! As of this chapter, this fiction has the most chapters out of any fiction I've ever written. :) Yay, hooray!

Disclaimer: Don't own Vocaloid, even though I wish I diiiiiddddd!

Chapter fourteen

"I close my eyes and I see your face

If home's where your heart is then I'm out of place,

Lord won't you give me strength to make it through somehow

I've never been more homesick than now."

Mercy Me

Kaito pulled back from Saki. "We need to talk."

They did not go back inside. Instead, they walked across the grounds, until they reached the lake Saki had found earlier. They sat in the shade of a cherry blossom tree, facing each other.

For a few minutes, they were silent, until Kaito sighed. "So now you know everything."

"Saito-san said that you and Meiko and everyone else are programs…" Saki let the half question hand in the air.

Kaito nodded. "We're essentially just computers that can move and speak."

Saki frowned. "I can't really imagine it. I mean, you look like a human. You sound like one. You act like one."

"I can prove it to you, if you want."

"How?"

He reached up to the top of his black coat, unbuttoning it. Beneath was a white shirt and a waistcoat. He hesitated before beginning to unbutton his shirt. "Don't freak out too much, okay?"

He shrugged out of his shirt, and just when Saki was starting to wonder about the statement, he touched the skin at his collarbone and peeled it away from his chest.

Saki didn't scream, exactly. She just jumped back and gave a little garbled yell. She put a hand over her mouth, looking up at him sheepishly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. It must be strange to see."

Where his skin used to be, there was a metal plate.

"This is where my interface panel is," Kaito explained, tapping the metal. "I've got a battery life, the way a laptop does, so in order to keep going, it needs to be charged at night."

"May I see?"

Kaito reached for the left side of his chest near his arm. There was a slight indent in the metal, which he pushed down, and the metal plate swung outward.

"This is my circuit board."

Saki had no idea what was what. All it looked like to her was a bunch of flickering lights and jacks. She looked up at Kaito's face, then back down at the inside of his chest.

"It's just so strange to think about. That you're not…" She drifted off, but they both knew what she had almost said. "It's so strange. Your hand…when I touch it, it's warm, but that's not the same warmth that a human has." She took his hand and felt it. It was indeed quite warm.

Kaito shrugged. "My system getting heated while in use."

"But you blink, you move, you do everything that a human can do…"

"Saito—" He spat the name. "—wanted us to be as realistic as possible. Really, if you think about it, living creatures are more intricate creations than anything else in the world. Most people don't think about it, but the coordination it takes for everything in your body to go right…it is amazing."

They fell silent again. Saki pulled shreds of grass from the ground by her feet as Kaito closed the panel and pulled his shirt back on. Eventually, though, she cleared her throat. "So, now that I know the truth, you'll tell me about the check up you made me go through, right?"

Kaito flinched.

Saki felt her stomach drop. "…Kaito?"

"Ah, right, your results—"

"Does it have to do with my fainting that's been happening?"

"How did you know?"

Saki gave him a look. "It wasn't that hard to realize. You asked me right after I had recovered from fainting at the concert. I figured you and I were thinking the same thing."

Kaito stared hard at the ground. A muscle twitched in his jaw.

"Kaito." Saki took his hand. "You have to tell me. No more secrets, okay?"

He nodded and let out a breath. "The doctor said the reason you've been fainting is because of the software in your body. Since you hadn't sung anything since you were a little girl, the software remained dormant for many years, sleeping, kind of. When you did start singing, the software "woke up," I guess. But your body can't handle it. Your immune system has been trying to reject it, like a virus, but the software is attached to you, and so your body has been exhausting itself in trying to get rid of it."

"So every time I sing, my body gets more rundown. But Kaito, the first times I did faint, I hadn't been singing at the time."

"The doctor said that the first two times were just delayed reactions, signals taking a while to get to the brain." Kaito bit his lip. "Saki…if there isn't a way to fix it, you shouldn't be singing any more. He said…that even if you didn't continue to sing, that there is a large chance that your body would still continue to deteriorate."

"Why can't we just…find some way to turn it off? Or I could go into surgery to have it taken out, right?"

Kaito shook his head. "Once it activated, it can't just be…'turned off.' Since the software has been in your body since you were young, your body has accommodated it into bone growth and such. It's basically imbedded in you, so because of its location, if you tried surgery, there would be a very low percent chance of you surviving the operation.."

Saki took a deep, deep breath, and then she let it go. "So, is there a way to 'fix' it?"

"I don't know. But there has to be someone we can ask. We'll figure it out."

Saki nodded, then paused, giggling. "Yeah. After we go back and apologize to the director for completely running off like we did."

Kaito's eyes widened. "I totally forgot!"

Saki laughed. "I noticed that. Well, should we go back to shooting for the videos? It should be fine, right? Since we won't be singing until we go back to the recording studio."

"Yeah, let's go."

They went back inside, and Kaito practically prostrated himself to the director in apology. The man rolled his eyes. "Well, at least you've already given me plenty of footage to work with. While you were gone, I had time to figure out what's already useable, and what else we still need." He raised one eyebrow. "And since your costumes are looking a little worn from your adventure, go change into your Cendrillon costumes and we'll keep shooting that."

"Okay."

"Kaito, I was wondering," Saki said as they walked to the stairs. "Remember when I asked about why you were being so weird during the video shooting? Was that really just you 'getting into character,' or…"

"Well, sort of. Physically, it was me, and I remember talking to you at those times, but I wasn't really the one talking to you."

Saki opened her mouth. "How does that work?"

"You believe me?"

"At this point, if I didn't, that would be a pretty bad case of denial, don't you think?"

Kaito laughed. "I guess so. Well, for me, it's kind of like…the way you'd change the background on a computer screen—while it may seem different, it's the same computer. If I make certain small adjustments to my program, I can change my speech pattern and a few behaviors. As a computer, I have 'personality parameters.' I was given certain character traits to stick to as a rule for how I act every day. But by altering the coding slightly, I can modify those parameters. Not by much, but enough to make my acting more realistic."

"Then I guess 'getting into character' actually is the perfect description."

"I really did do it to help you. I thought that if you weren't just trying to act for the cameras, we would have an easier time filming."

Saki crossed her arms. "That was a weird way of doing things."

"I'm sorry."

"Just…don't do it again, okay? I'd much rather be in a video with the real Kaito this time."

He smiled. "Okay."

The rest of the shooting that day went off without a problem. Saki was almost too tired after she got back to her room to shower, but she knew she would regret it if she didn't, so she forced herself off of the bed where she had collapsed and headed for the bathroom.

When she was done, she went back to fall onto the bed again, staring up at the ceiling.

Vocaloid. Her head had yet to stop spinning. This morning felt like it had happened a week ago. The more she thought about everything that had happened, the colder she felt. Saki covered her eyes with the palms of her hands. Don't think about it, her mind whispered. Just don't think…You will be fine.

She didn't even realize her phone was going off at first, she was so lost in thought. When she finally picked up, her mother's cheerful voice was on the other end.

You'll be…

"Hi, Saki! I just wanted to check up on you. How's the video shooting going, sweetheart?"

Saki pulled her knees to her chest. "Mom…"

"Hmm? What is it, Saki? You sound upset."

"It's, ah…" Saki swallowed. "It's nothing. It's just nice to hear your voice."

…Fine…

"Hm?" She heard her mother chuckle. "Are you homesick? It's only been a couple of days."

Saki looked out her window, where stars were beginning to flicker into existence.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"Well, only a few more days and you'll be home again."

"Right."

"Good night, sweetheart."

"Good night, mom."

She rested her head on her knees and took a few slow, deep breaths. "I am fine!"

Saki threw her phone on the bed and got up. All her tiredness had deserted her, so she grabbed a jacket, pulled on her shoes, and headed for the door.

Since it wasn't all that late yet, some of the film crew was still around, checking over their equipment, moving props around, talking to the director. Saki skirted by close to the wall in an effort to keep out of their way. She was passing a doorway when she heard piano music.

She went back to it and pushed the door open. It was the bottom entrance to the library she had been on the balcony of earlier, and Luka was at the piano, playing the same song. Saki tried to close the door quietly, but just as the latch clicked, Luka spoke.

"What do you want?" Her hands continued to float over the keyboard.

"Oh, uh—well, I heard you playing and I wanted to come and listen because it was so beautiful."

"There is a reason I'm playing alone, and not where anyone can see."

Saki frowned. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were trying to keep it private."

"Well there certainly aren't any camera crews or microphones around, are there?"

Saki let out a puff of air. She was running out of the ability to be polite.

"Haven't you left yet?" Luka asked.

Saki almost turned and headed for the door.

Almost.

Instead, she plopped herself down in a chair by the wall. "You know, I think you need to make up with Gakupo."

The sound produced as Luka's hands slipped on the keyboard was absolutely horrendous. Saki tried not to be too pleased by the reaction.

"You—what—?!"

Saki couldn't help chuckling. "It's really not that hard to figure out, Luka-san. You aren't that big on hiding your feelings. All I had to do was ask Gakupo, and—"

"Oh, so you got the whole story from him, huh?" Luka snapped. "What did he tell you, that I'm being stupid? Petty?"

Saki looked up at her. "He said he was sorry."

Luka's mouth was open, but no sound came out. "W-well he should be!"

"He also said that you wouldn't let him explain. That's not very fair.'

"What do you know?! It's not like you know how it feels."

"Well, actually, I almost got into the same situation with Kaito. He had been hiding things from me, and I didn't want to listen to him or believe him about anything…ever again. I thought everything he said would just be some kind of excuse and that I could never trust him again. I almost decided to never speak to him again. But I was wrong. I did talk to him, and I forgave him."

Luka wasn't looking at her. Her gaze was fixed somewhere in the opposite direction.

"People don't try to explain themselves so persistently unless they care—otherwise Gakupo would have given up by now. Anyways, don't you think you'd be happier if you guys could talk again?"

Luka's face was bright red. She slammed the cover down on the piano hard enough to make Saki wince, and then she was out the door.

Saki scratched the back of her head, staring at the door. "I hope I didn't just make things worse for Gakupo."

The next day, as there was a break in the shooting, Saki sought out Kaito.

"I still have questions about Vocaloid," she said when she saw him. "Could we go talk somewhere?"

"Sure. We're still on break for a little while longer."

They sat on the staircase, where they were out of hearing and sight, but close enough to get back to the shooting in a few moments.

"So what did you want to ask?" Kaito said, leaning back against the step behind him.

"It's really just silly stuff. Like, how come you can eat and drink? I've seen it on enough occasions to know you can."

Kaito laughed. "Oh, stuff like that. Well, Saito wanted us to be as human-like as possible, so I have the ability to eat and drink without harming my operating systems. The food simply goes to a special compartment in my frame where it does no damage."

Saki did not comment on how much that made him sound like a trash can. "It sounds pretty obvious that this has been kept secret from everyone, not just me."

Kaito looked down at his hands clasped together on his knees. "Saito saw the profit in a group of singers who don't age, who can sing anything as long as it's in our database, and…" he stopped.

"And what?"

He glanced at her, then looked away. "And can't feel."

"What? No. No, that's not true. Kaito, you—there's just no way that—"

"Saki." She hated the look on his face. "I'm a machine. One of the things that sets us apart from humans is that we don't feel."

Saki shook her head and stood up. "No."

"No?"

"No, I don't think that's true. I know that's not true."

Kaito ran a hand through his hair. "Saki, no matter what it may look like, we can't feel. Remember what I told you yesterday—about our personality parameters? They dictate how we react in different situations."

"But you 'think,' right? You have likes and dislikes. Did Saito give you those?"

"Not directly. But my personality—"

"Is what gives you your likes and dislikes just like everyone. 'Parameters' don't matter—people all have certain ways and patterns that they act in. Kaito, if you all didn't have feelings, you wouldn't have tried to spare my feelings about the whole Vocaloid thing, and Gakupo and Luka-san wouldn't be so caught up in this problem between them. Luka-san wouldn't be acting so irrationally."

Kaito gave a feeble chuckle. "Don't let her hear you say she's irrational."

"See?!" Saki jabbed a finger at him. "You just pointed it out too—if I said that to Luka-san, she wouldn't like that—she would get angry."

Kaito put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, you got me…Tell me, Saki, do you have a magical power that makes people agree with you?"

Saki plopped back down beside him. "Wouldn't that be nice? I tried to talk to Luka-san about Gakupo last night. I don't think it helped anything."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. Look over there."

Saki looked where he was pointing. Luka and Gakupo were standing close together in costumes Saki didn't recognize. They spoke for a few moments, and then Gakupo offered Luka his arm, which she took, and they walked down the hall together.

"Well how about that…I guess we'll have to ask Gakupo about that later."

"So it's 'happily ever after' huh?" Kaito asked.

Saki allowed herself to lean slightly into his arm. "For now, I guess."

"That sounds ominous."

"I can't help it. I tried to tell my mom last night about the…program. I couldn't do it. I don't know what to say, and even if I do, what if she doesn't believe me? And we still don't know if the problem can be fixed." Saki's hands were twisting together in her lap.

"Saki, calm down." Kaito put a hand on her shoulder. "We will figure this out. And about your mom—I'll go with you to talk to her."

"Really?"

"Yeah. And don't worry about her not believing you. Remember?" He knocked against his chest. "Proof."

"Yeah, that'll convince her if all else fails. I just hope it doesn't all fail…" Saki pursed her lips. "And actually, it would be best to tell Riko at the same time. It would save us the trouble of another explanation."

"Good idea."

"And then we can figure out some way to fix me."

"There will be a solution, Saki."

Saki sighed. "I know. I just hope it doesn't mean I have to stop singing forever."

Aneko: I think I'm going to go back to all my old chapters and rename the chapter headings. To actual names instead of "Chapter blah blah." Because you know, that's just too boring.

Lyrics at top by Mercy Me.