A/N: Since I already have this written, I figured that I might as well post the second chapter today ^-^


"So," Luka began, walking down the white-tiled corridor, "if I hadn't walked away...what would you have said?" Miku paused for a moment, thinking.

"I would have said... 'Hi, my name is Miku Hatsune, unit 01. I can't wait to start working with you.' then I would have smiled, probably, and said 'You look nervous. Don't worry, I can already tell you're going to be great!'"

"Oh." said Luka. She paused, entirely uncertain of how to respond to her arch rival turning out to be a good person. After a moment of consideration, she spoke again. "Well then I would have responded: 'Hey, I'm Luka Megurine, unit 03... what happens in the rooms?'" she paused, "I mean I know now, but at the time, I was curious and terrified." Miku was silent for a very long period of time."So I've been angry at you for all of these years purely over a hastily escalating misunderstanding?" she asked.

"Looks like I'm guilty of the same thing." Luka responded, not wanting her to take all of the blame.

"No, but at least you had a reason to. I mean I started acting out based off of a misjudgment that I made, and you started acting out based on my actions." Miku argued. "I could have at least gone up to you a few days later."

"But you thought that when I kept scoring above you and glancing over, that I was being subtly aggressive, so it's understandable that you didn't. And besides, when you kept glancing at me, I made the assumption that you were angry, so we both acted on assumptions at first." Luka explained.

"The feud that we've been undergoing since we were of an eligible age to compete has been purely based off of assumptions." Miku concluded, sounding slightly exasperated.

"It would seem so." Luka responded. They kept walking in silence for another moment before Miku came to stand in front of her, bringing her to a halt and executing a cliché older than time itself.

"Right then. I'm unit 01, Miku Hatsune." she stated, extending a hand. After a moment's hesitation, Luka took the hand and shook it.

"I'm unit 03, Luka Megurine." she said, feeling slightly silly for going through with the significant yet meaningless exchange. After they shook hands, they resumed walking down the hall in a silence that wasn't necessarily uncomfortable.


Their temporary room was like an apartment used to be, having the necessary number of rooms to sustain bionic lives, but it was not precisely a comfortable and open space. In any regards, it was tremendously larger than the tiny, rectangular bedroom that each new fighter would be given to live in until they passed through their training. Whatever few possessions that they had managed to obtain over the course of their lives were arranged about a small living space before them, which was complete with a couch, table, and bookshelf. After rooting through each of their possessions, they entered the sleeping room and sat down on the bed, facing one another.

"We are supposed to be in this room when the food appears, right?" asked Miku, glancing around. Luka confirmed her suspicions by nodding. After a brief silence that was spent taking in the room around them, Luka was the first to speak.

"What do you suppose it'll be like?" she asked. There was no immediate response.

"The way I hear it, full of chaos and war." Miku responded honestly, knowing full well that the thought terrified both of them despite their training. "Whatever it's like, we were designated partners for a reason. When they put us out there, it'll be because they knew we'd be the best potential partners for one another. We'll have to feel it out first, but I'll have your back."

"And I yours." Luka muttered. After a while, she spoke again. "Do you think we'll actually affect the chaos?"

"There's no way to know for sure until we see what it is that they've been telling us about." Miku responded, turning to Luka with a small smile, "But I'd guess that we have a fighting chance. I might've been frustrated by your constant ability to outrank me by just a few points, but I have no doubts that you're more than my equal in this situation. I also know that I constantly scored second-best, and so I should be a competent partner. Whatever awaits us, we might not be ready, but we're pretty prepared."

A tube slid from the ceiling, hanging just six inches from the bed. Panels on either side of the tube opened so that the partners could see one another, as well as plates of actual food before them. At the sight, Luka's eyes widened considerably, and Miku brought her thumb up to the corner of her mouth slowly to wipe away a bit of drool.

"That's..." Luka muttered.

"Yeah..." Miku responded, transfixed by the real food before them. They both sat forward, eager to dig in, yet making certain to eat the meal slowly so that they could savor the taste of real, pure food that wasn't inorganic goo. Not only wasn't it goo, but it tasted delicious. After taking a few bites, Miku reached to a space between their plates where a note sat, reading it thoroughly. To eat all of the food so suddenly seemed to be a waste, and yet she knew of no alternative, especially with no way to store anything anyway. After almost an hour spent making conversation over a slow meal, the two women sat back, and the tube receded. Miku had passed the note to Luka, and they had both read that they had one week of preparation before being released to the top forever, as was normal. It also suggested pressing their hands together so that they would be able to direct energy as a method of energy sharing, which neither woman had been taught in training. It hadn't been taught in training because various powers were wildly different. Partners were partnered because of multiple factors, one of which would be sharing compatible energy that wouldn't cause any harm to either party. Without knowing their future partners, it was remarkably dangerous to attempt, and they were supposed to complete training alone to assess their partnership potential in the first place, among other things. The only exceptions to that rule had been Rin and Len, who were born twins and instantly assigned partners at birth.

Miku glanced up at Luka, who didn't meet her gaze, and they both decided to wait until the brief conclusion training was offered to test it out, falling asleep instead.

Miku surprised herself by being the first to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly, surprised by the comfort of the bed and the fact that, for once, walls were not practically touching both sides of her body. When she had taken the time to get her bearings, she noticed the pink-haired woman beside her and practically jumped out of her skin, barely able to keep herself from instinctively firing a shot of energy at her as she remembered the previous night's partnering ceremony. Exhaling slowly, she felt the muscles in her body slowly relax and sat with her back against the headboard of the bed. She turned her head slightly to regard the face that she had grown to hate, becoming thoroughly confused. She asked herself if Luka had really turned out to be such a decent person, and if it was the truth that she had been stupid enough to start a multi-year long feud over an extremely simple misunderstanding.

Luka's eyes sleepily rolled open before widening considerably. She had also forgotten about the previous night's ceremony, but unlike Miku, she was less physical about expressing it because she was less spontaneous. Miku bid her good morning before automatically changing her clothes with the press of a button as Luka did the same. It wasn't long before breakfast arrived, coming from the ceiling in the same silver tube-like table as it had the previous night. Miku's eyes widened considerably at the meal before her. Not only had she been given dinner in bed, but she had been provided with a delicious looking breakfast consisting of real food. They both ate it slowly and sparingly, but also hurrying to enjoy the taste of unfamiliar foods such as toasted bread and a substance that looked sort of like the goo that they were fed, but was yellow and of a much more delicious consistency. Alongside that, there was an orange beverage that was thicker than water and tasted like fruit, which in its solid form was an extreme rarity around the training center.

"Do you like the color teal?" Luka asked out of nowhere. Miku blinked.

"I haven't really thought about it before." she responded after a moment, taking it into consideration. "The walls in this place have no color, and before I was training-ready, I suppose it was the only color I saw. I think I like it, yes, why do you ask?"

"Your uniform is themed in teal, and I was curious. You wear an abundance of it, and so I was unsure as to whether or not you chose it that way or that was your natural assignment, since I had thought that we were assigned uniforms in a mostly random fashion, as well as physical traits." Luka responded. This was the first mundane conversation either of them had ever had that didn't revolve somewhat around training.

"Did you get a practice doll?" Miku asked after a moment's pause. Luka nodded and raised her hand. Momentarily, a stuffed pink octopus was taken into the room and set by her side. She finished the last of the food, and the table went back into the ceiling. Placing her hand on the creature's head, which looked a bit like an extremely simplified version of her face, Luka channeled her energy through the doll. Eventually, she removed her hand and had it walk around on its eight legs, jumping and dealing tiny attacks that would cause no harm. Miku had floated what appeared to be a stuffed tinier version of herself and brought it to life. Smiling slightly, Luka channeled a bit of her energy through one of her stuffed-animal's front tentacles, making sounds that were similar to gunshots in a videogame with her mouth. The energy hit Miku's, and she manipulated it to make it appear as if the tiny stuffed animal was hurt, stumbling back a little. She then channeled a harmless amount of her energy through a tall, greenish plush vegetable in her stuffed-animal's hand and had it hit her opponent's plush. Luka made the creature stumble backwards on its eight legs before declaring war.

Quickly, both women were moving their stuffed-animals in a fast-paced battle, still remaining careful not to deal any actual damage. Elegant leaps and dodges were tossed into the mix, soon creating an elaborate battle scene as they both expertly manipulated their lifetime possessions. Miku moved her doll to attack Luka's physically, still making certain to be too gentle to cause harm, but when contact was made, she nearly dropped it entirely. An unfamiliar energy coursed through her veins, surprising her with it's different feel. Not knowing what to do, she channeled it back into her stuffed-animal and saw it shoot out from the place where both creatures were touching, crashing into the wall and leaving a scorch mark.

"I..." Miku tried to find the words to apologize, but she was still slightly dazed, absentmindedly levitating her stuffed-animal into her lap.

"I'm sorry!" Luka beat her to it, provoking confusion from Miku. "I-I don't know what happened, I just felt... I'm sorry!"

"What?" Miku's confusion intensified, before turning to shock. The other woman appeared to be terror-stricken and on the verge of tears. "Luka, I don't know what you mean." Miku explained, having absolutely no experience calming anyone down.

"Don't you see? The m-mark on the wall that I just made." Luka had actually begun to cry, and Miku shifted a bit closer to her, still entirely unaware of how she could make the other woman calm down.

"Luka, I thought I made it." she responded.

"But I...I p-pushed the energy through my hand b-because it was unfamiliar and it felt weird-" Luka began, breaking off once she met Miku's gaze and realized that she wasn't angry.

"There's no reason to get upset about it, I'm not angry and the wall's repairing itself anyway." Miku said, pointing to the almost entirely pristine space to her right. "Besides, I thought that I was the one who pushed the energy... You don't need to cry, I wouldn't get angry at you even if it was your fault."

"You're not mad at me?" Luka asked shakily. Miku had absolutely never seen the other woman in even the slightest of a vulnerable position, and she was thoroughly out of her comfort zone.

"No, not at all." On top of her empathy, there was an echo of something else. Miku felt as if she had two entirely separate tracks of emotion that were somehow one at the same time. Deciding to push her luck and experiment a bit, she exhaled, relaxing all of the muscles in her body and becoming calm. As she did that, she saw an extremely subtle change in the other woman. Suddenly she smiled, laughing a little bit and provoking an indignant response from Luka.

"I think we just mixed energy, like the instructions that the card gave us last night." she said, responding to the incredulous look that she was being given. Realization dawned on Luka and she appeared to entirely calm down. Miku felt the last traces of the other woman's emotions leave her body, and was subconsciously disappointed, wanting to share energy again.

"That was..." Luka muttered, not finishing her sentence.

"Yeah." Miku responded. They both got lost in thought for a long while before Miku's mind clicked, reminding her that she and Luka would have to be at the conclusion training in five minutes. Exiting the bed and cleansing her teeth with a 'click', she reminded a still dazed Luka of the time, provoking similar actions from her before they both left the room.


A/N: Things are off to a slow start but you know me, I like to lay the foundation for a story before telling it (in most scenarios). As usual, please feel free to post your thoughts in the reviews, I am a growing author and I can use all of the input that I can get. With that, see you next chapter!