Miku pulled the jacket close to her face despite the hot summer sun shinning down heavily down on her. The backpack she was carrying, filled with cans of food and other supplies, weighed her down. She had been travelling for about twelve hours now, and soon enough lunch hour will cause the streets to be busy with workers taking their hour off to go out. Maybe she could stop at a McDonalds or something and grab a bite to eat. Miku wanted the food she was carrying with her to last as long as possible, so eating a dollar burger will spare a can of ravioli for now.
Walking to the next town took much longer than simply driving, but Miku finally made it. Her first instinct was to throw herself down on the nearest park bench and close her eyes as she tilted her head back. Maybe she could start taking the bus and travel that way. At the thought, Miku pulled her wallet from her backpack and checked the amount of money she had. She had enough all right, but Miku decided to just walk to the next town, which wasn't that far away, and to take the bus then as the city after was much farther. Miku placed her wallet back into its place before returning to her relaxation on the bench. She wasn't there five minutes before she had the crud scared out of her.
"Look! It's my little friend!"
The voice made Miku jump three feet into the air as a high pitched squeal escaped her lips. Placing a hand over her racing heart, Miku looked at the girl that had nearly scared her to death.
"Ooops," a girl with light purple hair giggled. "Sorry about that."
"It's okay," Miku managed out. "It's nice to see you again, uh . . . Yukari, was it?"
"Bingo!" Yukari cheered. "And you're Miku!"
"Yes I am," Miku answered.
"Yay! I remembered!" Yukari exclaimed. Miku couldn't help but smile at the girl's cheerfulness. "So where's your protector?" Yukari asked.
Miku countered her. "Where's IA?"
"I asked first," Yukari answered.
"I asked second," Miku replied.
"I asked first so you answer first," was Yukari's comeback.
"How about I won't answer unless you answer first?" Miku said. Yukari could do this all day if she wanted to, but having been best friends with the Kagamine twins for the past twelve years gave Miku plenty of opportunities to master the art of arguing.
"Two can play at that game," Yukari said.
"You're on," Miku replied. She honestly didn't care where IA was or what the white haired girl was doing, but if Yukari didn't answer Miku's question about IA then Miku had no reason to answer Yukari's question about Rin.
Miku closed her eyes and went back to her attempts at relaxing, but Yukari's presence made Miku feel a little uneasy. Fifteen minutes of silence passed before Yukari said, "Okay, I give up. You win."
Miku opened an eye and looked at Yukari. "So you're going to answer?"
Yukari nodded. "IA's with a couple of vampires."
Both of Miku's eyes shot wide open. "Vampires?! Is she trying to get herself killed?!"
"Shhh!" Yukari shushed Miku, as Miku's outburst got the attention of some nearby park goers. "Quiet down, why don't you? IA's fine, okay? We've known Teto and Ted our whole lives, so there's nothing to worry about."
"But won't they-" Miku started.
"They would never hurt IA," Yukari interrupted.
The look in Yukari's light purple eyes began to scare Miku. "Okay, I understand. The vampires won't hurt IA." Leaning forward, Miku whispered "Are Teto and Ted half-vampires, or full?"
"Full blood vampires," Yukari said.
"And they won't kill you for immortality?" Miku asked.
Yukari shook her head. "Not every vampire wants to be immortal, Miku. Especially if it means killing an innocent life. Besides, Teto and Ted are rather religious, so they believe in eternal souls and life after death. What's living forever in this life worth to them? "
"You don't believe in eternal souls ?" Miku asked. The way Yukari was talking gave Miku the impression the girl wasn't so sure about life after death.
Yukari shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Why not? If there's no life after death, then what? Is it like going to sleep and never waking up? Does who you were become a nothingness? Or is just simply moving? Leaving this life behind and beginning anew a life that will never end? If we really have souls, then there must be a Heaven and a Hell; but if we don't have souls, then what becomes of us when we die?"
"So these vampires don't care for immortality because they believe in the afterlife?" Miku asked, finding the concept of vampires having souls strange when as a child she aslways heard otherwise.
Yukari nodded. "They took a lot of time thinking about immortality. Sure, it might be great at first, but what about fifty years from now? Or one hundred? Sooner or later enternal youth will get boring and then what? Dying is nearly impossible when you're immortal so suicide's out. With that in mind, what are you going to do?"
"But what about the eternal afterlife they so believe in?" Miku asked. Despite knowing the danger of vampires, Miku felt drawn to meeting the two. Miku may have grown up in church, but never once did she think about life on this level. Of course, unless it were possible for her to become immortal as well then she would have no reason to think about life in this way.
"There is no time in Heaven, or so they say," Yukari answered. "Besides," Yukari smirked, "who wants to be here when the world ends? I don't know about you, but I would rather be long dead by then. I actually feel sorry for the vampires dumb enough to become immortal only to perish with the Earth's destruction."
Miku smiled at the thought of that. Working up the nerve, Miku asked, "May I meet them?"
"Without your protector?" Yukari asked with a grin.
"What she doesn't know won't kill her," Miku said as she stood up.
"By the way," Yukari began, "where is your protector?"
"I ran away from her," was all Miku answered.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Wait," Miku said as she looked at the building with uncertainty. "They're here?"
"Here" was a tall church building with a steeple and stained glass windows. It reminded Miku of a Catholic church, but the sign labeled the church as Baptist.
Yukari gave Miku a weird look. "Why wouldn't they-" she cut herself off when she understood what Miku had meant. "Oh, you're hooked on the belief that vampires can't enter holy ground, are you?" Miku shamefully nodded. Yukari smiled. "Trust me, as far as religion for vampires goes, Teto and Ted break all the rules." With that Yukari lead Miku inside the building and made her way down the aisle towards the podium. "Hey, IA," Yukari greeted.
"Hi, Yukari," IA returned. Spotting Miku, IA said "It's so nice to see you again."
"Same," was Miku's response. Standing next to IA was whom Miku assumed to be the vampires Teto and Ted. Honestly speaking, Miku was surprised by their appearance.
Miku was expecting cold, dead looking vampires, but that wasn't the case. Their eyes, especially the girl's, were so filled with warmth and life that Miku found it hard to believe that the two were vampires. Minus the incredibly white skin, these two could have been human. Miku then noticed what Yukari meant when she said that the two broke all the rules. Sitting comfortably on top of Teto's collarbone was a silver cross necklace, and there were no signs of burning. This girl was a vampire on holy ground, touching silver, and wearing a cross and was yet not burning. The only question Miku had left was this: Can this girl speak the name of God?
Noticing that Miku was staring at her neck, Teto placed a hand on her necklace and said, "Do you like it? Or are you just surprised that it's not hurting me."
"Both," Miku quietly answered.
Teto approached Miku and stuck her hand out. "I'm Teto Kasane. Nice to meet you."
Miku shook the hand. Teto's hand was cold, but not entirely like ice. "Miku Hatsune," Miku responded.
"I'm her brother," the boy said as he, too, held out his hand, "Ted Kasane."
Miku shook his hand as well. "Pleasure to meet you both."
Ted smirked. "You smell really good. Mind if I have a taste?"
"Quite fooling around, Ted," IA snapped.
"It's . . . it's okay," Miku managed out. Miku couldn't explain it, but she felt attracted to these two. Both of their cherry red eyes drank Miku in, and Miku had an unexplainable urge to get closer to them. Was this a compulsion that vampires were said to possess, or was this Miku's own honest curiosity?
"So why did you decided to risk your life to meet vampires you know nothing about?" Ted asked.
"I'm . . . I'm," Miku kept searching for an answer in her head. In the end, she decided to tell the truth. "I'm curious."
"I like your honesty," Ted said as he flashed his sharp fangs.
"What are you curious about?" Teto asked as she walked down the stage and sat in a pew. Crossing her skinny legs, she said, "There must be something you want to know if you came all the way here."
Miku swallowed as she chose her words carefully. "Yukari told me you had no interest in immortality. In your own words, would you tell me why that is?"
Ted smiled at Miku. "I am loving this girl's honesty more and more by the minute."
"Ask yourself this," Teto began, "if you could become immortal right now, would you?"
Miku didn't have think too long before she had an answer. "No."
"And why is that?" Ted asked.
"Because one day everyone I love and care about will be dead," Miku answered. "What would be the point of living forever if you're lonely all the time?"
"Exactly," Teto answered. "I have so many friends. Mortal friends. Only a few are vampires, so most of my friend will die one day no matter what."
"Sure," Ted continued, "we don't need all of our friends in order to survive, but that won't stop us from never wanting to abandon them."
"As for your eternal souls?" Miku asked.
"Why should we be soulless?" Ted asked. "We can't help what we're born to be."
"You know," Teto said as she stood up and walked closer to Miku, "it was the Roman Catholics who started saying that vampires and shapeshifters couldn't enter holy ground, touch silver, nor speak the name of God." Teto gave a wide smile. "I'm in a church, I'm wearing a silver cross, and I can say God, Jesus, and Jehovah. Either the Catholics were wrong, or the medieval vampires were total sissies."
"As for the shapeshifters," Ted started with curiosity, "do they have the same limitations?"
Miku didn't have to think for a second. She and the twins went to church together ever since youth, Rin has worn silver jewelry, and Miku had even heard Len pray. "Wolves had no limitations," was Miku's final answer.
"See?" Teto smiled. "We're all not so different after all. Vampires are harmless to humans, and some would never hurt White Flowers. White Flowers possess healing abilities so I doubt your kind aren't dangerous unless armed."
"And shapeshifters?" Miku asked.
Both Teto and Ted shifted uncomfortably. "Dangerous," Ted answered. "Our parents - innocent in every way but what they were - were killed by shapeshifters. I don't trust them, nor will I ever."
Miku said her next words with force. "A White Flower was killed by a single vampire not too long ago. If one vampire killed something innocent for immortality, then wouldn't the rest of the vampire race?"
Ted and Teto stared daggers at Miku. "Absolutely not," Teto growled.
"Then why are you saying shapeshifters can't be trusted?" Miku challenged. "My best friends are shapeshifters, and they would never kill anyone - vampire or not - who didn't do anything wrong. If all vampires aren't like the one murderer, then not all shapeshifters are like those murderers."
Ted continued to stare at Miku. After half a minute passed he sighed and said "I can't say she's wrong."
"You're a rather just person," Teto said, "to not judge what some of our kind has done as what the rest of our race would do. You truly are something. You know that, right?"
"I suppose," Miku said. "So," Miku said in an attempt to change the subject, "what were you guys talking about?"
"There are vampires - vampires we know nothing about - making appearances in this area," IA answered. "So far there have been no crimes, but no one wants to risk it. Perhaps if could just figure out what they want then maybe they will leave."
"I know what they want," Miku quietly said as she looked down.
"What would that be?" Yukari innocently asked.
Miku kept her answer simple. "Me."
Author's Note: I seriously need to stop dying on you guys. -.- I have just been writing sooooo many stories lately that it's crazy, even for me. I need to finish most of my fanfics ASAP, but I'm afraid that's not going to be as easy as it sounds. . . .
So yeah, here's Miku-Sama. She's alive and doing well. I had zero intentions of bringing IA and Yukari back into the story, but now I think they were a great addition to begin with. I will try not to wait so long to update the next chapter, but being me I have to say that has a chance of not happening.
-Ray