Time for a new story.

Before I say anything else, I would like to say a big thanks to my beta reader Code03x1, who not only did a brilliant and speedy job getting this chapter sorted, but also came up with the name and the summary for this story as well.

If you have read any of my other stories then you should know what paring will be present, and for those of you who haven't, it's Miku and Luka of course.

This story is not only hurt/comfort and romance, but it also has a little angst and drama, just to let you know. It also differs slightly from how I described it in the little preview I gave. While what I said is true, this story isn't as happy and fluffy as I made it out to be.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, although it is sort of a prologue/set-up chapter, so I hope you don't find it too boring. As always, I would love to hear what you thought, so if you have time, leave me a review.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Vocaloid

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Teal orbs scanned the rundown exterior of the large public building as the pink haired woman involuntarily shuddered at the thought of entering. The only school in the area that would take her- Vocaloid High- was one of the lowest ranked, poorly funded, and overall one of the most scummy schools in the entire area.

After being kicked out of the prestigious Crypton academy a few weeks ago, Luka had no other choice to look for another school to work at. Unfortunately for her, her boss had slated her in the statement he had given, and virtually no other school would take her seeing as she would be too much of a liability. So after days of desperate searching, Luka finally let the realization hit her, she finally let herself see that Vocaloid High was the only place left.

"This is going to be a nightmare." She muttered to herself as she continued to grimace at the school's rather unappealing exterior. The building she had been used to was immaculate and looked as if it were built ten years ahead of its time, but this… this was, quite frankly, atrocious.

Nevertheless, Luka approached the main entrance and went to go and find the teacher's lounge, wishing that she'd be able to find someone friendly. Hopefully, someone that she could perhaps relate to, although she knew how unlikely that was. "H-hello?" She nervously inquired as she opened the door to the room she was looking for.

All eyes in the room focused on the jittery pink haired woman, and Luka couldn't help but blush slightly under the pressure. "Who are you?" A gruff, brown haired woman stood there.

"Oh brilliant." Luka's inner voice said to her with faked enthusiasm, as she felt her fears surface. "I'm the new teacher. My name's Megurine Luka- pleased to…" she mumbled against her stage fright related anxiety.

The brunette heard the shaky voice and looked at the quivering hand that had been presented to her, and laughed through her nose before rudely interrupting. "I really don't care." She spat, causing Luka to recoil from the (partially) unexpected impoliteness. "Why are you even talking to me?"

"So what I've heard is true- even the teachers here are disrespectful lowlifes" Luka thought to herself, sighing silently at the disappointing realization. Luka had heard that the students that attended Vocaloid High were not very bright, polite or- in some cases- mentally stable, but she hadn't really anticipated that the staff would follow the same pattern. Then again, this was one of the worst schools in the area, and it's students left with some of the poorest grades imaginable, so Luka guessed that the teachers had to be at least partly to blame. "I was wondering if…" Luka started, but was cut off by the seemingly annoyed brunette.

"The question was rhetorical." She barked, standing up to face the pinkette. "Why the hell are you still here?"

Luka panicked and fled from the enraged woman, and sheepishly went to look for someone else to converse with. She clumsily stumbled over a chair leg and fell forward into the arms of another woman who Luka hoped wasn't as angry as the one she'd just met.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" The tall blonde shouted, pushing the now blushing pinkette off of her.

"S-sorry, I tripped." Luka threw her hands the air, waving them apologetically. "I didn't hurt you or anything did I?"

The woman shook her head, quickly reverting back to her state of disinterest. "Nah, although you nearly made me spill my coffee."

Luka bowed politely. "I'm so sorry; I'll try to be more careful."

"Really, it's no problem." The blonde stately flatly as she curiously eyed the pink haired woman's odd behaviour, finding it somewhat similar to a baby deer trying to walk for the first time; nervous, unsteady and rather clumsy. After Luka had finished bowing a few more times, she was met with an outstretched hand, and was pleasantly surprised that her incident with the brunette seemed to be a one off. "The name's Lily." The tall woman introduced herself.

Luka took the other teacher's hand and returned the handshake with gusto. "I'm Luka, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Luka breathed a sigh of relief as it looked as if her worries had been for nothing; she had already found someone pleasant enough, and only had to go through one nerve-wracking ordeal to do so. "I was wondering if you could possibly help me with something?"

Lily's expression was one that closely resembled a grimace, although it was laced with confusion. She found this new teacher rather odd and she could almost certainly tell that the pinkette wouldn't fit in here. "What d'ya need?" She asked as she leant back against the counter and sipped her coffee.

Luka smiled politely. "Well, I was just wanted to know where my room is. It says I've been assigned to B-3, and I was just wondering if you could provide me with directions...?" Unbeknownst to Luka, most people in the room were viewing the scene confusedly, finding Luka's rather posh way of speaking to be an assault on their poorly trained brains.

The blonde nodded slowly, still trying to figure this peculiar woman out. "B-3 huh? Um, you take a left from here and then take the first right you see. B3 is the first door on the left I think."

The confused woman was met with yet another round of bows from the pinkette. "Oh, thank you very much; I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to find my class." She exclaimed as she fiddled with her hands nervously, eyes darting around the room sharply taking in the new surroundings.

The blonde scoffed almost inaudibly. "Don't mention it." She grumbled nonchalantly.

The pink haired woman smiled, and decided that it might be a good time to partake in some idle small talk. Little did she know that was one of the worst mistakes she could make. "I don't see why that other woman couldn't have just told me in the first place, she seems rather rude don't you think?"

The blonde's rather low energy demeanour shifted immediately, and she looked just as angry as the brunette had moments ago. "What are you trying to say, that Meiko is impolite?"

Luka wasn't really thinking and so just answered instinctively. "Well yeah, she didn't even…" She started nervously, before being cut off by Lily, which let the pinkette know that the blonde's attitude and personality where akin to Meiko's, and that she was most likely in quite a bit of trouble.

"Oi Meiko, this bitch thinks you're rude." She shouted over at the brunette, and a devious grin grew on both their faces. "I think you should come over here and teach her a lesson, don't ya think?"

Meiko set down her bottle, letting Luka know that she was already under the influence of alcohol, and stood up abruptly. "What, don't like the way I spoke to you, you stuck up little bitch?" She asked as she neared the trembling pinkette.

"Well you see I, well… um, it's not like that really." Luka bumbled over her words, trying desperately to explain, but failing horribly in the process. Her lack of inexperience in social situations was really hindering her now and she rapidly began to fear for her safety.

Meiko jested at the pinkette's inability to reply. "Try using your fancy words now, you stupid fuc…"

"Whoa Meiko, there's no need for any of that." A purple haired man called out and promptly put himself between the two women, stopping the brunette before she uttered a word that would have surely disgusted the pinkette. "Our newest teacher doesn't deserve that kind of treatment." He said kindly.

Luka was thankful that a knight in shining armor had appeared just in the nick of time. Little did she know, protecting her, was the last thing on Gakupo's mind. "A woman as beautiful as this shouldn't be subjected to that kind of treatment." He exclaimed before sliding his hands down the pinkette's shoulders, caressing her sides and eventually stopping at her hips. "A woman like this should be taken care off, if you know what I mean." He shot a perverted wink to Luka, and began to maneuv2er his hands around to her ass.

Luka's eyes shot open wide when she realized what the perverted, purple haired man was up to. "W-what are y-you d-doing?" She asked fearfully a she felt fingers grab at the skin of her buttocks. "This…this is sexual harassment." She pointed out in a terrified whisper, but it didn't put a stop to the lecherous man's actions, it only seemed to make his sleazy grin stretch.

"It's not if you like it..." He whispered in a husky tone and leaned in to steal a kiss from the flustered woman.

Luka ripped herself away from the tall man and ran for the door. "You…you are all despicable people." She whispered unbelievingly before sprinting to her designated classroom, spending the few spare minutes she had sobbing quietly. Today was going to be truly awful.

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Homeroom hadn't been much better than her experience at the teachers' lounge. For a start, only about two thirds of her pupils actually showed up and most of them were late anyway. Luka however was glad for the reduced numbers. Not a single person had shown an ounce of courtesy or politeness and had all pretty much spat a barrage of insults at her as soon as they realized how spineless she seemed to be. The pinkette was thinking that at this rate, she would surely be fired from her new job seeing as she would have great difficulty with controlling even one student, let alone an entire class. Luka was just glad that ten members of the class were missing as it meant that she didn't have to endure their rude comments that she knew they would shamelessly throw at her.

After essentially cowering behind her desk for the entire homeroom period, Luka was given a few minutes to collect her thoughts and compose herself before the first lesson started. She tried telling herself that her first class would be easier to handle seeing as they were only freshmen, and that she needed to show some backbone and assert her authority if she was going to get anywhere in this dreadful shambles of a school.

Luka was pleasantly surprised that the frequency of insults was lower. There were still some who felt the need to demoralize their new teacher, but some seemed to be either too scared, too uninterested, or too tired to bother. The pink haired woman seemed to managing quite well, but it all came crumbling down when two blonde twins showed up.

"Who the hell is this?" The short girl asked bitterly, looking her new sensei up and down.

"Don't you remember silly? Gakupo-sensei told us at the end of last semester that we'd been getting a new teacher." The cute blonde boy chimed. "Sorry about her, she's a little forgetful. Oh, and sorry we're late, could you still mark us in, we're the Kagamine twins by the way."

Luka nodded and penciled in ticks next to the respective names. "Don't worry about it; we still have a few minutes before the lesson starts."

"Oh good, I didn't want to be in trouble on my first day back at school." Len said with enthusiasm, bringing a grin to the pink haired teacher's face. "Let me just fetch you an apple before I sit down."

Luka smiled gleefully as she realized that there was hope after all. Even if all the other kids didn't have any interest in learning, Luka thought that she could concentrate her efforts on one student, invest in him and get him a good grade and possibly a future. "An apple? Why thank you, that's very generous of you." She said naively, missing the quite obvious signs that most other people would have been able to see. Even though Luka was incredibly gifted when it came to academic matters, she was next to hopeless with social interactions, which not only led to her being fired but also made making acquaintances and friendships difficult

Rin had barely been able to contain her giggles, and Luka's blindly trusting comment pushed her over the edge. She burst out laughing, letting loud chuckles go right in front of the pinkette. "Len, stop; you're killing me. How the hell do you manage to keep it up that long?" She asked between fits of giggles.

Len started sniggering himself. "I don't know sis, I really don't." He replied, causing confusion for the now uneasy woman. He pulled his hand from the depths of his bag and instead of the apple that had been promised, the boy's middle finger came shooting out and he thrust it up at the pinkette's face, laughing all the while.

The pinkette nodded shakily, acknowledging the rude gesture. "Very well. Thank you." Was all she could say. Her stupid polite tendencies made her look a fool in front of the entire class. Although, she was actually thankful that Len hadn't hit her instead, and she took a small solace in the fact that only her pride was hurt. "P-please, sit d-down."

"I'll sit down when I want to, bitch." The cuteness had faded from his voice, being replaced with the gruff, dirty undertone that everyone around here seemed to possess. The blonde proceeded to walk down the rows, slapping every hand presented to him, all the while basking in the appreciation for such a well-executed prank.

Luka no longer felt safe standing at the door to welcome her new students so she retreated behind her desk, looking down at the floor the whole while. She waited for a good few minutes before starting, even though a large portion of the register was still blank. She began to write her name up on the board when she was interrupted by the familiar voice of the female Kagamine.

"No one cares who you are!" she shouted, causing uproar of laughter in the classroom.

Luka soldiered through and managed to get all eight letters of her surname down on the board, despite the heckling that came with each one. She had intended to actually teach her vast knowledge of the English language to these children, but she saw no use in trying to branch out from the curriculum when she knew that not a soul in the room was bothered. "T-turn to p-page 64 of your textbooks p-please." She commanded weakly, while she did the same. "Do the first two exercises." She instructed, all the while never removing her gaze from the grimy floor.

Luka retuned to the shelter of her desk shortly after, and didn't speak for the rest of the lesson, not only because she knew no one would listen but because she was much too afraid to do so. "Well, it looks like I'll be out of here in no time." She thought to herself, mixing optimism with pessimism as she remembered the reason why she got fired from her previous job; her inability to deal with her students.

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Even though she'd only been at this new school for a couple of hours, Luka felt as if it had sucked the life out of her; drained her shy, yet still bubbly personality. For her second class, the pinkette didn't even bother greeting her students, instead deciding to use the traditional method of taking the register once everyone who was going to arrive did.

She checked her watch and decided that it was time to get her lesson underway, but just as she was about to being, one last late arrival walked through the door. "Sorry I'm late." A female voice said with genuine apologetic undertones.

Miku had overslept; forgetting that today was the first day of the winter semester and so had missed most of the morning. Miku however, was a girl who wouldn't miss a day of school for the world and so even though most people would have just gone back to bed or called in sick, Miku had hastily gotten ready and shot off to school.

Teal orbs read the one piece of text on the board and she committed her new teacher's name to memory. "I… sorry. It's not too late to mark me in is it?" She asked worriedly, scared that she might get a bad mark against her otherwise perfect record.

Luka sighed lazily, and was disappointed with her own self when she realized the action. It seemed as if this school was already beginning to have an effect on her. "No, what's your name?" She asked with only a slight slither of interest.

Miku was still breathing hard after sprinting from the train station "Hatsune… Miku...!" The tealette exclaimed between a final pant for air.

"Hatsune…Hatsune… where have I seen that name before?" Luka wondered to herself, and took a second to think. She quickly remembered that it was one of the no-shows from homeroom, and was a little annoyed that she had even bothered to show up. "What time do you call this, school started over two hours ago…?" The pink haired woman started, and when she heard the mildly assertive tone in her voice she gave herself enough confidence to look up at the offending student. Although, as soon as she met the girl's eyes, she stopped, feeling as if she was physically incapable of producing words anymore.

Luka's incapacitation wasn't because the girl's eyes were captivating beautiful or because she was surprised at how the shade of teal was remarkably close to her own. The thing that rendered her speechless was the innocence that they held; the pure gentle softness that she had yet to see so far today. Luka could see that this girl was nothing like the rest of the delinquents she was surrounded by; Luka could clearly tell that Miku was special. In an instant, she felt a powerful bond between her and the tealette form; an attachment that she had never felt towards anyone let alone a random stranger.

Miku's breath hitched when she was presented with the full image of her new teacher. She had only seen a veil of soft pink hair surrounding the woman up until now, but once she looked up, Miku was met with unparalleled beauty. Miku could see that her new sensei was like her, not destined to be here, meant for better things. Everything about her told Miku that Luka shouldn't be here, whether it be her perfectly articulated words, her expensive clothing or the cute, naïve innocence that she read in her eyes, they all showed her that Luka was just as rare as she was in a place like this. "I'm sorry, it's just that I overslept. You're not going to punish me are you?" She asked nervously as she snapped herself out her little trance in which she was marvelling at the pink haired woman's beauty.

Luka too was off in her own little world; lost in the untainted gem that was the teal haired student. "N-no, I… I… w-wont punish you." She bumbled over her words, causing the most adorable of smiles to appear on the tealette's features. Luka's heart fluttered uncontrollably as she continued to gawk at the tealette, and she knew it was strange but she felt as if she and Miku were already good friends. It felt like they would complement each other perfectly. She felt comfortable and at ease with Miku and, for a few precious seconds, she forgot all her fears and worries and just focused on the perfect teal gem before her.

"Oh thank you, you don't know how much this means to me." Miku replied dreamily. She too felt as if the pink haired woman had been what she'd been missing her whole life. Her heart was beating much faster than normal at the sight of the pinkette, but it didn't bother her in the slightest because she just knew that Luka felt exactly the same way. She couldn't help but be pulled in by the alluring woman, finding the bond they shared to be strong even though they had just met.

"No problem." Luka replied quietly. "Why don't you take your seat and we can get started." She suggested politely, quickly feeling better about the situation knowing that was one genuinely nice person in this sorry excuse for a school; one person actually worth teaching.

The tealette nodded cutely. "Okay. I look forward to learning from you Megurine-sensei!"

Luka smiled brightly, and the two women shared one last look with each other before Miku turned on her heels and headed for her seat. Now that she was no longer focused on the tealette, she could see a whole classroom of curious faces, all wondering as to what happened. They all knew that Miku liked each and every one of her teachers and was probably the most polite person in the whole school, not to mention the most popular and the smartest, but something about hers and Luka's encounter seemed a little odd; it seemed a little too intimate and felt like a daydream, even for Miku.

Luka considered sitting down and employing her previous tactics to hide away from the majority of the hurtful banter directed at her, but as she took a cursory glance over her classroom she saw that Miku had already set up and looked eager to learn. The tealette already had her reading glasses on and had her book open at the appropriate page whereas half the class hadn't even opened their bags.

Luka quickly decided that even know she would have to step in the firing line, she would try and actually teach this particular class, seeing as she had gotten a brilliant vibe from the tealette. She went up to the board and started writing; opening the tap to the vast bank of knowledge so that she could feed these kids (more specifically Miku) some useful facts, not just crap from an old textbook.

"What is this?" A green haired girl called out, and Luka involuntarily shivered, waiting for the insult. "Just give us something from the textbook; I didn't come here to learn."

Luka watched her hand shake and could feel her will fading quickly as she realized that she overestimated her confidence. She was about to give up when the familiar angelic voice spoke. "Quiet down, Gumi." Miku commanded. "This is a school, we come here to learn." She spoke slowly, almost as if she was trying to teach the less than intelligent greenette about the building she was in. "Megurine-sensei is already way better than Gakupo ever was; she's actually teaching, not just supervising. So why don't you stay quiet so those of us who want to learn can do."

Luka turned and imagined that she see a book or a various pieces of stationery thrown at the teal haired girl, not just from Gumi, but from all the other rough looking students. However, nothing of the sort happened and what was even more surprising was that the greenette actually followed Miku's instruction.

Teal orbs locked again for a brief moment as Luka shot a grateful look and a relived smile at her new star pupil. Miku quickly reminded her that she had a lesson to be getting on with, when she gestured for Luka to carry on after she had lost herself again. "Um… where was I? Oh yes… as I was saying…." Luka started up cutely, much to the amusement of the tealette.

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Luka's second lesson had been relatively successful and she managed to get everything done that she had planned to. There were still a few idiots who tried to make fun of her, but the studious Miku would always intervene, much to the nervous pinkette's relief. Over the short time she and Miku spent together, she had developed quite a rapport with the teal haired girl, not only because she found it easy and refreshing to converse with her where she would usually be awkward and embarrass herself, but because Miku loved asking questions and Luka was all too happy to supply an answer for each one personally; taking the time to go over to the tealette's desk and unravel Miku's numerous inquiries in great detail.

Luka had spent break time locked away in her classroom and suffered through her next two lessons until lunchtime. After contemplating about whether or not to once again remain hidden in her classroom, Luka decided that she might as well try to get out and make an attempt to bond with her fellow teachers.

After ordering a portion of spicy tuna hand rolls, a simple salad and a bottle of water, the pinkette made her way over to the teacher's seating area. "E-excuse me." She nervously said to the purple haired fiend that had his legs sprawled out in the pathway between two tables.

Gakupo smirked when he heard the newest sensei's voice and nodded slyly to the other members of his table. "What can I help you with beautiful." He asked, his tone being what he considered irresistible, but turns out was resistible.

"Y-you're blocking the path. Can I get through please?" She inquired politely

The tall man shook his head slowly. "I'm afraid not, I'm still a little disappointed about our earlier encounter. I am quite annoyed that we didn't get to finished what we started."

"We didn't start anything, and therefore there is nothing to finish. That was sexual harassment, so imagine how I feel?" Luka snapped uncharacteristically, hating the cheeky grin plastered on the purple haired man's features.

Gakupo's playfulness went out the window, and he quickly became angry at the tall woman's outburst. He grabbed the pinkette's arm roughly and pulled her down to his level, leaving Luka to balance the suddenly heavy tray of food solely with her left hand. "You better keep your voice down, you stupid bitch, or someone's gonna get hurt." He whispered sharply into the pinkette's ear.

Luka struggled in the man's firm grip, but he held tight, not letting Luka go. She instead pulled herself as far away from him as she could so at least he couldn't try anything. "Get off m-me." She weakly commanded, as she tried to pull free, all the while being cautious of the heavy load in her left hand. "If you don't stop I'll have no choice to report you to the head."

"Oh really?" He amusedly asked. "Why don't you report me right now? The head's right here." He informed, nodding to the blue haired man across from him. "Kaito, do you see any problem with this?"

"None what so ever." He replied, before he and the purple haired man proceed to chuckle at the situation.

While Gakupo was distracted with the worst excuse for a head teacher the pinkette had ever seen, Luka managed to pull her arm away and put enough distance between them so that he wouldn't be able to latch back on. "You should be ashamed of yourselves." She reprimanded at a barely audible level and took the long way round like she should have done in the first place.

She was in such a rush get away from the lecherous pair that she failed to notice the outstretched leg of a certain brunette, who still held a grudge from earlier. Luka watched as various salad leaves and pieces of food levitated from her plate as gravity took hold, lifting them from the tray as she fell.

The pinkette fell hard on her face and only narrowly avoided colliding with her sushi. She closed her eyes as she heard every mouth in the room release a deafening chorus of laughter, and she couldn't stop tears leaking from her eyes knowing that she was being heckled by hundreds of people.

Luka rose slowly and brushed off the filth that she was sure lurked on the floor and turned to see that all eyes were on her. She sheepishly picked up the only salvageable thing; that being her bottle of water and ran to the nearest exit as tears streamed from her eyes, which only served in perpetuating the heckling she received.

Over at the other side of the cafeteria, Miku disgustedly watched as everyone lost themselves in fits of giggles. She was mortified that such a pleasant, intelligent and innocent young woman could be treated in such a way. She desperately wanted to chase after her favourite teacher and comfort her, but her popularity only stretched so far, and she knew that doing that would be considered unacceptable no matter how many people liked you.

So she sat there and struggled in silence as rage and sadness wracked her body, helpless to do anything to help the poor woman. It hurt her to think that she was letting Luka down, especially seeing as she considered her a friend. Even though their time together had been relatively brief, Miku felt as if a strong bond had formed between them and she felt terrible knowing that her so called friends were mocking the person she felt most attached to; hating that social convention stooped her from going to comfort the woman in distress.

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Miku left her after school singing club disappointed. She usually loved singing with her friends, but she found that she couldn't even look at them without getting mad, so singing harmoniously was out of the question. She was still furious that the people she called friends had laughed at the pink haired woman, especially seeing as what happened wasn't funny in the slightest. Miku thought that any normal person would have gone over to help; checked to see if she was okay, but then she remembered that she shared the school with a horde of brain-dead apes, who have nothing better to do that mess about, take drugs and get themselves into trouble.

After cleaning up the practice room on her lonesome because everyone was too lazy to help, it was already nearing five o'clock and everyone had gone home. She made her way to the main entrance but stopped when she passed her English classroom.

Miku was presented with the image of the pink haired woman; face down on the desk, as she silently cried to herself. Without even needing to think about it, Miku burst in and knelt down beside the dishevelled woman's chair. "M-Megurine-sensei?" she tentatively inquired, finding it saddening that the pinkette was crying by herself.

Luka had jumped at the sound of the door being flung open, fearing that it might have been Meiko coming to drop off more marking for her to slave over. Although, when she heard the concerned whispers, she realized that it was the only kind person she'd met so far. She nervously peered through her veil of hair and caught sight of the distinctive shade of teal that could only belong to Miku. "I…I... it's not w-what it looks l-like." She stammered through gentle sobs, trying to hide the fact that she had broken down in to a heap of sorrow.

Miku could tell that her new teacher was embarrassed for crying in front of her, but the tealette didn't care in the slightest. "Hey, shh. It's okay to cry, I won't judge you." She said soothingly as she gently stroked the tearful woman's arm, trying her best to comfort her without weirding her out. She would have preferred to give the pinkette a hug, but she didn't know whether or not she'd be okay with the gesture, even though she and her were on very friendly terms already.

A small smile formed on the pinkette's features as she watched Miku attempt to comfort her. She found that the simple presence of the tealette was enough to make her feel better, and that coupled with her gentle gesture, allowed Luka's tears to come to a stop. "Thank you." She whispered hoarsely, pushing her bangs from her eyes to get a better look at the tealette.

Miku's brow furrowed slightly. "What are you thanking me for, I haven't done anything." She stated while continuing to stroke the pinkette's arm.

"You were here for me." Luka blurted, quickly blushing when she heard her voice. "You've been nothing but kind and considerate to me while everyone else showed me nothing but disrespect." Luka continued when she noticed Miku's small smile caused by her previous comment. "If I'm honest, you're the only thing that's kept me going all day." She admitted nervously.

A rose tinge appeared on the tealette's cheeks, and she was flattered that she had had such an effect on the older woman. Without thinking, Miku latched herself onto her new teacher and hugged her tightly, hoping to cheer the woman up.

Luka's eyes widened and she felt her heart shift up into the next gear. She usually hated physical contact, especially displays of affection, so she was expecting to be disgusted with the teal haired girl's actions; she thought she would have torn herself away just like she usually did. But, in actuality, Luka found the foreign contact to be just what she needed and so- after a few seconds of contemplation-she brought her arms around the girl weakly, and tried her best to return the gesture.

Luka quickly broke down again, finding Miku's actions stirred up powerful emotions within her. She pulled the tealette close and snuggled into her warmth, loving the feeling of her hands on her back. After all the crap she had to endure today, a hug was exactly what she needed, and she was glad that she could share it with someone so considerate, so intelligent and someone who smelled so nice… wait, what? Luka snapped herself out of her mini trance and found herself to be greedily sucking in the girl's sweet scent in through her nostrils, using the aroma to calm herself down, using it to relax after her stressful day.

Miku also noticed it too; she felt the woman take long inhalations against her neck and realized what Luka was doing. She didn't mind however, she just found it amusing that such a refined and beautiful woman could be so… cute. What made her cuter was her nervousness and the way she would always stammer when speaking to the class, things that made the tealette smile whenever they would occur, which as it happened was quite often. "You are adorable Megurine-sensei." She stated out of the blue, and pulled back to gauge the other woman's reaction.

Luka turned into a red as a tomato at the tealette's comment. "I…I'm n-not adorable. W-why would y-you say that?" She stuttered nervously, finding being called cute had really thrown her off guard.

Miku's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Because it's true." Miku offered. "Everything about you is just the cutest; your stuttering, your blush, the way you seem so skittish, it just makes you look so… adorable." Miku felt the overwhelming need to tease the older woman, knowing that it would just make her cuter in the process.

"I'm a grown woman. I don't have it in me to be cute." Luka said with a stern voice once she composed herself.

Miku shook her head, obviously disagreeing. "That's incorrect, because here you are- cute as button." She pointed out triumphantly, laughing a little at her victory.

The sound, brought back the mortifying memory from the cafeteria, and Luka quickly became quite upset again. "Hey, I thought you were one of the nice ones, don't you bully me too." She reprimanded, before looking down at the floor, sulking after being made fun of.

Miku heard the woman's slightly gloomy tone and felt bad for taking the mic. "I'm sorry, I was just teasing- I was trying to cheer you up." Miku offered and successfully brought the pinkette's gaze back to hers. "After what happened to you in the cafeteria I thought you needed some comforting, I thought you'd like hearing how cute you are." She said sincerely, losing the teasing tone from earlier.

Luka realized that the tealette genuinely thought of her as cute, and blushed faintly. "Yeah, I guess I could." She conceded. "I can't believe Meiko tripped me, it was terrible… mortifying."

"I know… I was horrified at what Meiko did to you." Miku agreed immediately. "And I just want you to know that I didn't laugh at all, even though everyone seemed to think of it as hilarious."

Luka breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she hadn't expected the tealette to be one to find such an immature thing funny, Luka was glad to have it confirmed in words. "I'm glad." She simply offered before standing up and pulling the tealette back into her arms.

Miku didn't find it weird that she was hugging with a teacher; she instead loved the way that Luka gripped onto her needily even if the reason behind it was rather sad. After staying connected for a long while, the two eventually separated, both smiling happily at each other. "Feeling better?" Miku asked cutely, scrunching her nose as she did so.

"I guess." Luka responded with little enthusiasm, causing the tealette to frown slightly. "But it's not that about that." Luka quickly tried to rectify the situation when she saw the sad look on the Miku's features. "You did a great job in cheering me up, it's just I seemed to have misplaced my purse, and I can't get home without it."

Miku nodded in understanding. "Oh… I see. Has it got your car keys in it?" She inquired inquisitively.

"No, I don't drive." Luka stated as she tried searching the room again. "But it does have my money and without it I can't buy a train ticket." Luka explained, instantly bringing an idea to the tealette.

"I can pay for you." Miku exclaimed cheerfully, pulling out her purse to check her money.

Luka smiled sincerely, but shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't take your money, it's not fair on you."

The tealette quickly totaled up her spare change and found that she had enough for two tickets, but only just. "I have enough for the both of us, and you can just pay me back later if you feel you need to." Miku offered, but she could still tell that the pink haired woman was hesitant. "It's the least I can do after that amazing lesson."

Luka opened her mouth, but closed it shortly afterward, taken aback slightly by the compliment. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I can't accept. Plus, I've got to stay here and look for my bag."

Miku found the pinkette's naivety cute. "I hate to say this, but I think it's probably been stolen. This school has a lot of thieves and I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to take it from you." The tealette pointed out, making Luka nod her head in defeat. "So…seeing as you have no other way of getting home, why don't you let me pay for you?" She reiterated, hoping that Luka would accept.

Luka saw no other alternative and so agreed with the tealette's proposal. "Alright. I'll pay you back tomorrow morning- first thing, alright?" She offered seriously.

The tealette let out a small giggle. "Like it said, it's no problem, pay me back whenever you want to."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After learning that Miku lived in the same neighbourhood as her, Luka was glad when she realized that she could get the train home with the tealette every night. During the journey, Miku eventually dropped the topic of schoolwork when she managed to ask all the questions that she didn't have time for in class, and switched to more personal matters.

Once Miku had found out the reason for Luka losing her job, she couldn't help but tease her for it. She remembered how skittish and nervous Luka was in her lesson with her, and found that she couldn't stop herself from bringing it back up to playfully toy with the pinkette, finding the way she would blush or deny things rather childishly endearing for such a sophisticated looking woman.

"Cut it out Miku, don't make fun of me for losing my job. You're just as bad as the rest of them." Luka stated with a pout, knowing she'd make the tealette cease her light hearted joking by playing the emotional card.

"I am not, I don't even compare to them." She declared proudly. "I wasn't making fun of you for that anyway, just the way you were in class. You just need to stop being so unbelievably cute. I can't stop teasing you when I see how cute you are; you only perpetuate the situation." Miku was once again met with a glare from the pinkette, silently telling her to cut it out. "I'm sorry Megurine-sensei."

"Apology accepted." She said quietly. "Hey, you know we're not in school anymore you don't have to refer to me as sensei. Why don't you just call me Megu…-" Luka started, but quickly realized that friends wouldn't address each other by such formal titles. "Just call me Luka when we're out of school okay?"

Miku's eyes widened a little, as she found the prospect of referring to a teacher by the first name oddly exciting. "Really? Are you sure?" She asked with the slightest hint of giddiness present in her voice.

The pinkette chuckled, finding her student's reactions delightful. "Of course. While we're out of school, we're just two friends and we might as well go by our first names, I see no reason why...

Luka stopped when she heard the train's announcement system crackle into life, announcing their stop. "Looks like it's time to get off." She said almost disappointedly.

The tealette grabbed her teacher's hand and they made their way off the train. They walked for a little while in comfortable silence, still with their fingers intertwined, not caring about what anyone who saw thought. "I had a really nice time today, you really made the day worth going through." Luka stated shyly when they reached the point at which they had to part ways.

Miku blushed. "Me too, you're a really great teacher and I can't wait until tomorrow." The teal haired girl admitted. "I guess I'll see you then."

Luka nodded and reluctantly let her grip on the tealette's hand loosen. She waved goodbye and watched as the tealette walked off into to the early sunset, and noticed a pain quickly forming in her heart.

Miku looked over her shoulder, and she felt her throat grow tighter with emotions. She felt bad for leaving the pinkette and could also feel emptiness where warmth had been only seconds ago. She considered going back, but thought she would look silly seeing as she had no logical reason to do so, and so carried on walking.

Luka began her walk, and felt weaker with every step. The tealette had given her strength to get through the day, but being apart from her let the memories of the day flood back into her mind. She remembered how scared she felt whenever Gakupo would touch her, and how humiliated she felt when she fell ungracefully to the floor in the cafeteria, and couldn't stop tears from leaking from her eyes.

She then remembered that without her purse, she had no keys and so couldn't even get into the lonely place she was walking to. She turned round and caught sight of the teal ponytails vanishing around the corner, and she set off after them, hoping she'd be able to see which door they'd disappear behind before it was too late.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Miku barely had the chance to put her bag down before she heard knocking on her front door. She was pleasantly surprised to see the pink haired woman, finding the way she was panting slightly charming. "Luka, what are you doing here?"

Luka took a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "I forgot that my keys were in my purse." She replied.

"Luka…"Miku said with fake exasperation. "What are we gonna do with you, eh?" She asked teasingly.

The pinkette heard her tone and frowned. "Would you stop that, I'm not your toy that you can just tease all day long you know?" She reprimanded playfully, finding herself slightly annoyed with how persistent Miku was with her teasing. "I was just wondering if I could use your phone to call a locksmith, mine's in my purse you see."

Miku giggled at her sensei's adorable forgetfulness. "Sure, come on in." She said sincerely, knowing that she was probably edging on the pinkette-teasing limit. "The phone's just through there, on the wall."

Luka walked into the small building, and while she found it quaint and homely, she found it a bit depressing that Miku had to live under such poor conditions. The space was rather small, and it looked as if it hadn't been redecorated since it was built. There were only a few luxury items, namely an ancient television and an outdated game's console plugged into it. "Arigato." Luka bowed politely and went to the wall phone that looked as it were from the eighties.

Miku couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by her… modest accommodation. While it was only her parents and her living here, it was still a tiny house and she felt rather poor next to the pinkette, who she regarded as an elegant and sophisticated woman, especially when she remembered Luka telling her about her wealthy background.

"Well…he said he'd be here in a few hours at the most." Luka declared as she hung up, snapping Miku from her mildly depressed train of thought. "Thank you again for letting me use your phone."

"Oh, it's no problem." Miku brushed it off as no big deal even though she did actually have to be cautious about using the phone due to monetary restrictions. Luka bowed once again and then made her way to the front door. "Wait!" Miku called out, grabbing the pinkette's arm before she could leave. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to wait for the locksmith." The taller woman replied a little confusedly. "Where else would I be going?"

"You can't just wait outside; it's freezing out there and it's already getting dark." Miku pointed out. "Why don't you just wait here?" Miku suggested, partly because it was a practical solution, but mostly because she just wanted to enjoy the company of the intelligent and enthralling pinkette for a few extra hours."

"I can't wait here, wouldn't I be imposing?" She asked worriedly, but just got a defiant shake of the head from the tealette. "What about your parents, wouldn't they mind having an uninvited guest?"

"They don't get home until late, so they won't even be here." Miku quickly retorted, wanting nothing more than to have Luka stay. "And besides you can't be any worse than my friends; I doubt you'll eat all my food and mess the place up will you?" She rhetorically asked.

"Of course I wouldn't." Luka replied sincerely, finding it sad that the people Miku considered friends were just lowlifes completely different from her. "What about the locksmith; he's meant to be meeting me at my address?"

Miku beamed and grabbed the phone of the wall. "Just call him up silly." Miku answered playfully, causing them both to giggle at Luka's uncharacteristic lapse in thought.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

After a frankly wonderful evening with the pinkette in which they had talked extensively about school, Miku had cooked dinner for the two of them after much protest from the pinkette, and they were now sitting on the tealette's sofa, discussing Luka's employment issues.

Both girls' conceptions about the evening had gone out of the window. Luka had initially thought that being alone with a brand new student, not to mention eating a meal she had cooked while talking with each other intimately, would be very peculiar. She felt that if it had been anyone else, that probably would have been the case. But with Miku, something was different. She wasn't afraid to be open with her, she felt comfortable and safe in her presence and for the first time in a long time, she actually felt wanted. All those pleasant feelings had shattered her misconceptions and she found the experience to be one of the most enjoyable one's in recent memory.

Miku had also wondered about the strangeness of their situation. She thought that inviting her teacher in to her house and then cooking a meal for her would be embarrassing, awkward and just plain weird. But with Luka, it was like she'd know her for years; it was like the pinkette understood her completely, like she was her best friend. Miku loved having someone with an IQ that was at least in a double figures to talk to for a change, finding the conversation enthralling and interesting, instead of tedious, and borderline repulsive.

"I still can't believe they kicked you out for something so… silly." Miku declared sympathetically.

Luka shrugged. "Well… it's kind of understandable; I couldn't control the class. What use is a teacher who can't teach?" The pinkette pointed out with a defeatist attitude.

"I just can't imagine you being that bad though." Miku thought out loud, blushing when she realized. "I mean… you were excellent in our lesson today. I have to admit that you were a little skittish and you did take all those insults on the chin, but as far as the teaching goes, it was superb, I've never learnt so much in one lesson before." The tealette elaborated passionately, brining an embarrassed grin to the pinkette's lips.

Luka thought a little before answering, knowing the reason for her relative success in Miku's lesson, but was too uncomfortable to say. "Well… all my other lessons went to hell. The only reason yours went so smoothly is… well… it was because of you." She sheepishly admitted.

The tealette's brow furrowed curiously. "What do you mean; I didn't do anything did I?"

"You did." Luka blurted instantly. "From the moment I met you I knew you were special, I knew you were different from the others."

"Well yeah, I try hard, and I'm a little bit smarter than the rest, but I wouldn't call myself special." The younger woman replied, in an almost self-loathing manner.

Luka pulled Miku into a warm hug, completely disagreeing with the tealette's objections. "You are, you were so enthusiastic, so intelligent, so… so perfect."

Miku giggled. "That's a little over dramatic don't you think? I mean I'm just better than most of the people in my school, there are plenty of other people who…" She started, but Luka didn't let her finish. The pinkette whispered a gentle 'shh' in to the shorter girl's ear, causing her to stop instinctively.

Luka didn't really know how to put what she felt into words, finding it too difficult to express herself. She knew from the moment she first lost herself in Miku's brilliant teal orbs that this girl was one of a kind, a beautiful diamond in the rough. She knew that Miku had the potential but was being held back by her surroundings. "No there's not. You have so much potential; so much enthusiasm, you're just different from everyone else; you're one of a kind."

Miku pulled back, and looked at the serious expression on the pinkette's' features. "Y-you really… think so?" her breath hitched and her throat tightened with emotions, as she was overjoyed that someone was taking an interest in her for who she really was; what she really cared about. No one really cared that Miku was intelligent, not even her own parents, and so she was finally glad to get some recognition. The fact that it came from the smartest person she knew made it even better.

Luka brought her hands up to the girl's cheeks and smiled softly when Miku nuzzled into them affectionately. "I know so. I knew from the very first moment that I saw you how special you are, it just pains me to know that all that potential is going to waste." The pinkette answered passionately, causing a lone tear of joy to escape from Miku's eyes. "Someone as perfect as you deserves so much better." She added in a whisper.

Miku felt her heart speed up, and she couldn't believe what the pink haired woman was saying. "Luka… that's so sweet…" was all she could manage, before emotion suffocated her.

"It's the truth." Luka replied instinctively, her voice no more than a gentle whisper, and her face only showing a serious, determined expression.

That's when it hit her. She realized that not only was she completely captivated by the pinkette's intelligence and wisdom, she was drawn in by her beauty, her charm and her unbelievably caring and innocent personality.

That's when it hit her. Luka understood that the bond they shared wasn't just one of friendship; it wasn't just a mutual thirst for knowledge, or the fact that they were both where they didn't belong. Luka felt a different side to that bond, a foreign feeling that she never thought she would feel.

They remained there motionless, staring into each other's eyes that were no more than a foot apart and realized what they both wanted, what they both needed, and what they had both been saving themselves for until the day they found a person as perfect as the one opposite them. Without having to say a word, their eyes closed in unison, and they tentatively began to close the distance, edging closer towards the other's lips.

"Hello! Is anyone in?" A gruff voice shouted, penetrating the otherwise silent air.

Miku and Luka opened their eyes to find that their lips were almost touching, just about brushing against each other, and they didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest. Although, while there was no awkwardness, they both knew that it wasn't the wisest decision to go down that road at the moment. Therefore, instead of proceeding, they mutually pulled away from each other. "Ahem, well... I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Luka said, while a faint blush quickly formed on her features. "I'll see myself out."

Miku nodded and smiled, partly because she found the rose tinge adorable as always, but mostly because of what just happened, or more specifically, what almost happened. She watched as the beautiful woman left her home, and she sank back against the worn out furniture, sighing blissfully.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Damn, someone always comes and interrupts them just at the wrong moment.

If people like this, then I'll continue. If not I'll focus on my other stories. So give me some feedback and let me know what you thought of it please.

Also, it might be a while until I update again because my beta reader is going away today and might not be work as fast. But don't worry; we will still try to get chapters out as soon as possible.

The world crashes down when you can't bear it anymore. And that's when everything starts to blur- when you look around and see the wrong place. When you can't tell if you've crossed the line.