"Nicole-sama...wake up."
A warm synthetic voice in my ear. Wait... This feeling was sure familiar. I smiled a little at the memory...the first night that Kaito stayed with me... I snuggled further into my sheets.
"Please wake up...please?"
The voice pleaded, a little panicky in tone... That wasn't how it was supposed to go. A frown touched my lips, as I woke up gradually.
A small gasp of surprise as I found Kaito kneeling next to my bed.
My eyes flittered to the digital clock, the blue face of the clock glowed, just past 3am.
"What's wrong..." I sat up slowly, the fact that Katio was awake two hours after we'd said goodnight was strange.
"She's gone," he stared at me and said, his eyes meeting mine dully, he looked somewhat lost.
"Wha...who's gone?" my brain was clearly still in its sleep mode.
"Miku," Kaito repiled, just one word, but I guess it cleared up a lot of things.
I slapped my face lightly trying to wake myself up...I wanted to go back to sleep, "It's not the first time she's gone right?" I remembered the time in Japan...
"Yes, but this time I think she turned."
"Turned as in turned real...human...?" I clarified. I was still trying to find a spark plug for my brain.
Of course, we had talked about Miku becoming real, she did have strong feelings for Barzini after all. We speculated what would happen if Barzini were to find out that Miku could be real, and knowing him, he would freak out and possibly chase Miku away, not very reassuring at all for her all too caring big brother.
Kaito nodded, his eyes flaring with anger, "Yes, and this time I don't trust Barzini." he bit out harshly.
I sighed, "I thought we talked about this, and said this case was closed right? You saw Barzini's online journal, he loves her."
The fire in his gaze, died down a little, "Then why won't he show it."
"It's not that easy," my voice taking on a edge, losing sleep after such a long day was making me grouchy and I was trying hard not to snap. Kaito and I had talked about this, a long detailed conversation, enough to probably write a two thousand word essay, until I thought there really was nothing to talk about anymore regarding Miku and Barzini. Everything was about those two these days...
"If it's not easy now, how is he going to handle it when she's real?!" he shouted.
Oh...gimme a break!
"Love is never easy! Of course he's going to freak out!" I shouted back.
I blinked, surprised by my own outburst. Well, anyway, that woke me up, what do you know, 3am and my good-natured vocaloid decides to snap on me. And I decided it was in my best interest to shout back.
Catching my slightly shocked expression, he dropped his gaze and whispered, "I'm sorry...But..." he paused then continued, "...you didn't freak out..." Oh? So instead of Nicole-sama I was 'you' now... That sent a curious feeling through me.
"Yea...I guess I didn't..." I mumbled, "...I'm used to weird things I guess..."
"So...I'm a weird thing huh?" he said, his voice sounding strange.
Scooting over on my small bed, I patted the side that was now empty, "come here," I murmured. Looks like I was in for a long talk.
He eyed the spot for a while before sliding in next to me, resting stiffly against the bed head. "Anyway she's gone from the voca plane..." Voca plane meaning the platform which the vocaloids could sense each other and communicate.
"I'll call Barzini in the morning okay..." I tried to give my assurances, I knew how much of family Miku was to him. Sometimes, I think he thought about her whenever he wasn't thinking about singing or aisu...or me... Did I want him to think about me?
"I won't let her get hurt again... I won't... I can't... She's my dearest imouto..." he turned his face into the crook of my shoulder. I patted his head, wondering if he could feel it, I wanted to crush him against me, and tell him it would be okay, but of course, I couldn't...well not for real anyway... after that one incident of him becoming real, he never did turn into flesh and blood again.
"Do you really think Miku became real?" I asked, my fingers running though his translucent filmy blue locks.
"Yes, if love is what I think it is, then yes Miku loves him, and you have always told me that love is the most powerful emotion."
"What is love to you?" I wondered out loud. Curious to know his answer, most people take a life time to understand the simple word, some people will never understand it, even I'll admit I don't know all of it. What was love to my blue-haired vocaloid? Crypton did tell us to teach our vocaloids emotions, so what had my vocaloid learned?
He lifted his head from my shoulder, looking out the window steadily, he half sang, half spoke, in his unique voice...
Saying, "Love is, resting next to you like now. Love is, lying on that breakwater, and catching stars for you. Love is, wanting to hug you when you're sad, angry, or frustrated. Love is, singing together. Love is, making ice cream parfaits with pocky. Love is, listening to you tell me stories. Love is, riding a bike with you and watching you smile. Love is, you letting me see you in pink pajamas with kitty prints. Love is..."
And he went on, and on, singing about, each memory he had of me, of us... From the very start when we had met just those mere months ago, all the way up till now.
Every tiny shared moment, even those that were insignificant to me had a place in his heart, he remembered and he shared them with me in his song.
Slowly I felt the weight of his words, morphed into the weight of his body pressing to mine. Suddenly, it was terrifying, he knew his love for me, he made sure I knew now, but how did I feel? Of course I loved him, but did I love him as much as he loved me?
He was real, I could feel him solid now, I looked and admired him in a way I hadn't the first time he was like this, his features human, my vocaloid's eyes an uncanny crystal clear blue, his hair a beautiful inky colour, he was real, as his love was real. But why did I feel like, I was the hologram in the room, my feelings flimsy and unsure.
"...Love is, just being with you..." Kaito ended, his fingers fiddling with my sheets.
So, for probably the first time in my life, I was at a loss for words. I couldn't help it, his song was beautiful, and tears just pooled in my eyes. I didn't feel very worthy of his sung devotion.
"You don't have to answer you know... I know you like Yuuchun hyung... And I could never be worthy so..." Kaito said softly at my side, till not looking at me.
Wait, what? I backtracked a little at the last part. Never be worthy... His words reflected my thoughts.
I placed my finger on his lips, silencing him, he looked up at me then, my tears falling on his cheeks.
"I made you sad..." he murmured, his fingertips reaching out toward me.
Sighing, I said, "I thought I was the one who wasn't worthy..."
A look of shock passed over his features, "why..."
"Same reason as you I guess...my parents haven't been exactly loving you know..." I laughed stiffly, unwilling to share more.
"Oh...that makes the two of us..." his warm hand brushing away my tears.
"That's why crypton matched us...I guess..."
More silence ensued after that, but it wasn't an awkward one, more like, a quiet revelation between the two of us.
"Sleep?" Kaito questioned, lifting his head off my lap, sliding from my side.
I nodded, "Goodnight," I whispered.
He turned, tilting his head back, "Oyasumi, Nicole."
A small smile, so now...we were equal...I was no longer Nicole-sama... I was finally Nicole...
Xxx
The receptionist glanced at Kaito again, from beneath her lashes, now that he was real (permanently too apparently, since he didn't fade back to hologram like last time), and looking like some idol straight from a magazine cut, it seemed that everyone was flirting with him. I secretly shot the receptionist a dirty look.
"I've called their room but no one has picked up," the lady behind the counter said, blushing...
I nodded briskly, turning to leave and hastily pulling Kaito away, wanting to get him out of her sight. We were getting anxious now, I couldn't get Barzini on his phone, and no one was picking up in their room?
"Nicole," Kaito tugged on my sleeve, "there…" he pointed.
It was...Miku?
I blinked a few times, eyes tracking the girl walking briskly past the glass front doors. She looked like Miku, but her hair wasn't a shocking turquoise colour anymore, like Kaito her hair was toned downed much more and took on a more subdued hue. Her dressing was the one that threw me the most, gone were her silvery wear, and in its place were earthy colours, her bright eyes hidden by a pair of shades. She was Miku and …she wasn't Miku at the same time.
Then Kaito didn't wait anymore, and he dashed out the doors.
I watched for a while through the glass.
Kaito grabbing her by the arm, flicking off her shades. I watched it fall.
Miku looking slightly shocked.
Kaito shaking her at the shoulders, saying something.
Miku shaking her head.
Kaito's shoulders dropping slightly, fists clenched.
Guess that was my cue, I took a breath and stepped out the doors.
"He left," Kaito gritted out.
"Hello, Nicole-san," Miku said politely, her voice completely devoid of emotion.
"Miku-chan…"
"He left her, when she turned real, Nicole," my vocaloid repeated…was he just my vocaloid now? Anyway this wasn't the time to be thinking about that.
I saw Miku's lips tremble a little.
Then I looked around, we were getting stares. Starting this kind of conversation in front of any music agency was never a good idea.
"Let's go," I said, walking away from the agency.
Xxx
We finally ended up in a small café round the corner. The three of us seated in a booth, holding cups of steaming coffee, saying nothing for almost a minute.
"Well…" I started awkwardly.
Kaito was giving off the 'I'm going to kill Barzini' vibe, so I pinned my hopes on Miku saying something.
"It's like Kai-nii said, he left me," Miku said softly, her lips were trembling again, and she bit down this time to still them.
"He'll come back," I said lamely.
"Thanks, Nicole-san," Miku whispered back.
I took a sip of my mocha.
My vocaloid looked like he was going to crush his drink, when he finally said something, "I'm gonna punch him…"
"No!...No…" Miku replied quickly, "Niisan, please…"
That was when Kaito turned his pleading eyes to me, he wanted to do anything and everything to help Miku.
"Is there anything we can do?" I tried.
Miku gave a small smile then, but her voice was rough when she replied, "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone…"
Well…
I tilted my head to Kaito in a 'let's go' motion. He was torn, I could see it on his face, so he said his last piece before he left, "Okay, but I want your hand phone number first…"
Miku nodded stiffly, and I watched with mild interest as she wrote a string of numbers on a paper napkin.
Kaito picked the paper off the table, and mumbled, "…if you need help, any help, call Nicole…"
I shot him a questioning glance, Kaito obviously hasn't told me about all of this turning real business.
Xxx
So we were walking along the streets of Korea…me and my vocaloid…I was stopped in my thoughts again…stealing a glance from the corner of my eye, what was Kaito to me? Definitely not just a vocaloid…well…he was a friend…a boyfriend? Lover?!
I stopped in my tracks, I stared at Kaito's back, I watched it move further away from me, then stop, then turn, and then he looked back.
"Nicole? Are you okay?"
"Eh…yea…I perfectly fine~"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you everything…but I will now…" he held out his hand toward me.
And I took his hand of course, and we walked together, somehow ending up at a park. I looked around, hyperaware of our linked hands, when I noticed that mostly couples surrounded us.
"Miku would have a phone with her because Crypton told us if we were to fall out of the voca plane for any reason we have to acquire a hand phone, and dial a number," Kaito said out of the blue.
"So you have to get one too?"
"Yes."
But I was curious about one thing, "Where did Miku get the money from?"
"Eh…um…emergency money?" Kaito flustered a little.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Yea…I have some," he said sheepishly.
All this time he could have been buying his own ice cream…
"What's this number you have to dial?" I steered us toward a bench and sat down.
"Crypton's direct hotline."
"Whoa, so what do you need to tell them?" I asked, even though I had a feeling where this would go.
"The only reason why we would need a phone is in the event that we turn real we would have to call, if you remember I told you that none of us believed it at that time, but look what happened now…"
"Yea…" I murmured, it was still amazing that Kaito was real, I squeezed his hand.
He squeezed back.
"I suppose we should call then, you can use my phone right?"
"I think so…"
I fished my phone out of my bag, I hadn't looked at it since last night…one glance at the screen.
5 missed calls
35 whatsapp from 9 conversations
Kaito peered over at the small phone screen. I opened my whatsapp first.
Mai:
Hello.
Luka sa…IS MIKU GONE?
ASK KAITO TO CHECK!
Kaito is gone too…did he…D:
That was Luka btw…
Karina:
How is it going?
The assignment is crap! (Two days to write a proposal?!)
Len says Kaito and Miku are missing?! Did you lose him again?!
Or did they…!
ELOPE?!
Jk jk…
But really…what's going on…Len's been acting strange…
Allen:
Dear Nicole, I hope you are doing fine with your assignment, Haku tells me that Kaito and Miku are gone? Any idea? – Allen
Yukina:
Nicole! I need some help in choosing which pocky to use in a commercial I'm shooting.
Piko is mumbling about something is missing…do you think he's sick?
Hannah:
Heyy…I think Korean sake is pretttyyy goooodd…I recommend…
Zhengyi:
Arghh…the assignment…why is it 35% of our grades!
Neru's been getting worse and worse!
She's constantly getting agitated about something…
Michelle:
Good to have a Korean speaker with me…
SeeU recommends you try the patbingsu
Nya~ SeeU here~ Kaito ish okay yesh nya? :3
Amy:
-Hops- How was your first day?
I'm
So
Excited
We
Are
In
Korea!
:D
Amoz:
Yo!
What was your assignment?
Rin here! Amoz finally gave me the phone…bleh
Kai-nii there?
"Looks like they noticed," I commented, "well, most of them noticed…"
Kaito nodded, "Aki is too young and Meiko too drunk to realise probably..."
Then I scrolled through the whatsapp messages again, and replied to each one something along the lines of...yea the assignment is crappy! And Kaito is okay. Oh, and I recommended rum and raisin pocky to Yukina.
It felt superficial, but I didn't want to share that Kaito was real too quickly, and I wanted to know what Crypton had to say first.
I opened by missed calls logs next, three calls from Karina, one from Mai and one from Yuuchun.
Yuuchun? I instinctively, open the call log, my thumb hovering over the call button, when I remembered…
"It's okay, call back," Kaito nudged me, a nudge that I could feel, looked up, there…there it was plain in his eyes. He didn't want me calling anyone…
I moved my finger down, and pressed the back button instead, pivoting the phone toward him.
"You call first," I said firmly.
"Okay," he didn't argue, didn't question, he only simply took the phone from me.
I stared off into the distance, as I heard the person on the other side of the line pick up almost immediately.
My ice cream loving partner, talked for a while. Then a soft tap on my shoulder, "he wants to talk to you…"
I brought the phone to my ear.
"Hello, Miss Nicole."
"Hello," I said back cautiously.
"Congratulations," came the reply, though from his tone he sounded more informative than congratulatory.
"For what?" I asked.
"You did it, you and Barzini, you accomplished the mission that Crypton set." The man continued.
I kept quiet, if anything I was even more confused.
"You and Barzini were the first to be admitted into the school right? We never expected results so fast. The board is scrambling…" He rambled on.
"What are you talking about?" I said quietly.
"You managed to teach your vocaloid-"
"Kaito," I cut him off.
"Okay, Kaito, you managed to teach Kaito emotions. Specifically, the most powerful emotion, love. As a result he turned real, as I'm sure he would have somewhat explained to you already. We have tried to teach them emotions through other means like watching TV programs and reading books, even providing a real life stimulation program in one of our production facilities but all of it didn't work. But with you two it was successful." The man on the other side of the line said all that rapidly.
"So, what happens now?" I was trying to be rational and process what the man just said, while half my brain was screaming 'why didn't you tell us this would happen earlier!'
"Don't worry, we will call you back soon to tell you the plan of action, good-"
"Wait!" I shouted.
"Yes?"
"How's Miku?" I said.
"Miku? Isn't she with Barzini?"
Crypton really didn't know anything huh…
"Barzini is not with her now. He freaked out."
"Thank you for informing us, Miss Nicole, we will see to it, thank you," the man said, he sounded a little more concerned now.
He hung up.
"Thank you for asking about Miku," Kaito murmured.
"Yea, Crypton said that they will call back as to what to do next."
The phone started ringing then, the screen flashed the name…'Yuuchun'.
"Answer it," Kaito said.
So I did.
"Nicole!" Yuuchun's voice came though, his tone urgent, "we need you back in the company for a special training course."
"Huh…"
"I know it's late but it's regarding your assignment as well, hurry back."
"Okay, I'll be there in 30 minutes," I told him.
Things were quickly spinning out of control, I squeezed Kaito's hand.
And he pulled me in for a hug, there I stayed for a while.
Xxx
The special course consisted of a short course on filming and learning the camera angles of the people who the company had already decided would be the actor in my music video, they chose Junsu. Crypton had apparently already called the company about my now real Kaito, which I'm not sure if they really got it or not, because they seemed pretty unfazed by it and just ran with it.
After that the week flew by, I picked a song from Junsu's repertoire and submitted my rough proposal for my project to the CEO. Miku never called. Barzini never returned any of calls either. Crypton…well they were sure slow on their decisions.
I was kept busy, deciding lighting and costume changes (which I left up to Kaito in the end), did I need green screens or not, how many cameras I needed, all I did was constantly run around, telling people what to do. Finally I decided on the outdoor location I would use, simple and impactful, with the first half sung acapella and just the sound of nature to express the mood of the song.
Everything was ready, when a day before the shoot, Crypton called.
"Hello, Miss Nicole."
"Hello," I said, checking my watch for the date, it had been four days since Kaito first called them.
"We are sorry for the late reply, we have rushed and lined up everyone's schedule and everyone is done with onsite shooting, thus due to the unforeseen circumstance of Kaito and Miku turning real, Crypton has arranged for everyone to go back to Singapore tomorrow night, where we can better handle the situation." The person explained.
That explained why the project was forcefully rushed. I didn't like the sound of how they were going to handle the situation either. And what about my hard work put into the project so far, I wasn't prepared to hand it over so easily.
"What about the grading and assignment?" I asked.
"The School of Music has granted a week long editing period with the material that you have before final submission for grading. Also Miss Nicole, we have a favour to ask of you."
"A favour?" What could they possibly want?
"Yes, we would like to put Miku in your care, as Barzini's particular project requires him to stay an extra few days." The man said straightforwardly.
"Wait what…"
"Yes, we chose you for the convenience that your dorm and Barzini's dorm is easily accessible due to a hole?" The way he said the whole sentence with a lilt at the end showed that he wasn't even sure if we had a hole between our rooms.
"Anyway, that will be all, the ticket back to Singapore is now at C-Jes admin office, we will see you back in Singapore, goodbye."
The line went dead.
And I wanted to kick something. I kicked the chair, not very effective.
I picked up my phone from the charging block, and stabbed out Barzini's number.
And he picked up…finally!
"Hi," he said.
"You!" I shouted, then I took a breath, "where did you go?"
"Around…doing my project."
"And Miku what happened to her! What is this about not coming back with the rest of us?" I burst.
"Well…Miku is staying in the dorm now, I think."
"You think!" I exclaimed.
"Me leaving means she gets the place right?"
I wanted to scream a huge 'No' into the phone.
He continued, "Anyway, I need some time alone, like a small break from the whole vocaloid thing." He told me. He's telling me the almost the exact same thing Miku told me four days go…oh man…crypton had an uncanny way of matching people, it was creepy.
"Ulgh!" I groaned, if he was like this, what could I do? This stubborn nature something that I couldn't win against. "Can't you just accept that she's real!" I tried anyway.
He didn't say anything.
"Anyway, Crypton just… let you take an extension?" I demanded.
"Hey…it's part of my assignment too okay."
"Fine! Just so you know, I'll be taking care of Miku while you're on 'holiday'," I hoped my tone of voice conveyed my feelings.
"Yea…Oh okay. And ah…" he paused liked he was going to say something, and then all I got was, "Nevermind."
"You owe me! And I can tell you this for sure, Kaito is not going to give Miku back to you that easily."
"Fine, and you can tell that Bakaito to mind his own business." Barzini retorted.
"He's not called Bakaito…he's Kaito!" I retorted back.
"Mhm…sure sure, well see you back in Singapore," he told me.
"Bye." I said, too tired to argue, I threw the phone on the bed.
"Hey. So we're taking care of Miku." Kaito commented, while setting the chair I kicked back into the right position, and steering me into it.
"You seem to be taking this quite well." I felt him come from behind and rest his chin on my shoulder.
"Oh I'm…angry…" he held out his closed fists for me, knuckles turning white at how hard he clenched them, "…but I figured you didn't need to see that now," Kaito ended.
I leaned in to him, and said, "Oh…being a mature now huh…"
"Hmph…just trying not to add on to your stress," he positively pouted…ah…it was even cuter real.
"Please…let's just bust out the ice cream," I said teasingly.
"Really?" Kaito was trying not to sound too excited.
"Yes, really." I felt him move to our little kitchen corner, I smiled a little, we could both use a treat.
Xxx
I barely slept last night, the sugar kept me up, but it was worth it to be high and happy, even if it was just for a while, Kaito was being funny all night, getting ice cream everywhere, oh we busted out the soda and made floats too. I loved him so much. Yea, love him, I'll figure the rest of it after the music video shoot.
I turned my attention to the camera screen.
"Okay, Junsu-sshi, just like we practiced, the shoot will purely showcase your voice, you'll walk from there," I pointed to a marker, "to here, and you'll stand in the middle of the prop arrangement, the camera will rotate around you and in-between the props."
Junsu nodded his understanding, I made sure to use the translator so it was clear, and then we started.
The difficultly of shooting just one continuous take for a music video, one mistake and we had to start again. Not only that of course, lightings and angles were also much harder to shoot outdoors, and I wanted the most options to choose for the final editing.
"Okay break then last take! Can we have makeup please," I called out, and watched as Junsu was rushed to the tent to have his touch up, now I was battling daylight, we only had enough time to shoot one more.
"Here." Something cold and wet hit the side of my cheek. I yelped, nearly falling out of my chair.
Turning around I glared at the scarf wearing man, who was laughing. I reached back and slapped him on the shoulder. At least, he was trying to stop himself from laughing now.
"Drink," Kaito told me, holding out the iced green tea properly.
"Tsk." I turned back to face the set, smiling like an idiot to myself.
The last take was the best take, everyone focused and we had the shot, complete with the crickets who cooperated and didn't try to drown out Junsu.
"That's a wrap, guys, thanks for the hard work," I murmured to the staff, bowing as I went along and hopping into the van to take us back to Seoul.
"Thanks for your hard work," Kaito said to me, handing me a box of pocky.
"Man, you guys are really into it huh…" Junsu popped up from behind us suddenly.
"Mhm…" I mumbled noncommittally and just munched my pocky.
Junsu shook his head and laughed, "You'll be leaving tonight?"
"Looks like it," I replied.
"Hope to see you around soon then, it was fun working with you," he told me.
"Thanks, it was fun."
Xxx
Last few hours in Korea…
After dropping Junsu off at his house, Kaito and I were whisked to the airport.
Where I was glomped by Karina.
And for Kaito…really…it was an awkward moment.
"Kaito!" Luka ran toward him, and then she stopped.
"So, you really?...turned…" she stared for a while, speechless.
Kaito shrugged, "I guess…"
"Wait wait, that means that I can…" Luka went into a bit of a daze.
"Kai-nii," Rin said, in awe.
"Dude, you are seriously real," Amoz, poked him in the shoulder.
"How? How did you do it?" Len demanded.
"Technically, it was only a hypothesis, it shouldn't have been possible…" Piko started on his techie ramble. Haku was just nodding in tandem with him.
"Well, it just…um…happened…" Kaito said.
Then Miku walked in, without Barzini of course, looking very fragile, dressed to the current korean fashion.
"Miku-chan," Aki quipped, running toward the twin-tailed girls and throwing her arms around her, only to find herself passing through Miku.
Aki frowned, and ran back to Amy's side, "But I was quite sure it was Miku-chan," Aki said.
"So, she turned too huh," Neru said in a bored tone, trying not to sound too impressed?
I could see the look on Zhengyi's face, furiously trying to wrap his head around this, and then I saw the look of realisation cross his face, if Neru turned real…katana must have been the only thing in his head right now.
"R-real…" I heard Meiko mutter behind me, I felt my skin crawl, when she sneaks up on people like that…downright creepy.
Meiko stumbled forward, her hands coming up to Kaito's face, fingers poised to pinch his cheeks.
And when she failed, she called back to Hannah, "Yep! Real all right!"
I sighed, couldn't imagine the news we'd make back home, vocaloids turning real…
And then there were the matters of the heart when it came to Miku and Barzini.
That Barzini…tsk…he so owes me.
Xxx
-Peeks-
Hi…ah haha…yea…I was erm…busy…and I don't really know why but writing this chapter was harder than writing any of the other chapters for this fic…T T I do hope you enjoyed it though.
If anyone is interested, the MV that was featured in this chapter is Junsu's 11am.
So, thank you for reading and sticking by I'm sure Barzini is ready to uh…write...I think…Are you ready Barzini?
Anyway, mata ne minna~
Barzini: SO SHE GOT AROUND TO IT YAYYYY. Mine should be out soon :) So stay tuned aight!?
