A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews; I appreciate it! n_n
Here's chapter two!
Miku didn't see the mystery vocaloid for the rest of the day. Most of the newbies are very busy their first day in, considering they have to unpack, get assigned a department, and get assigned a master. Her mind never drifted from the pink-haired teenager, however. It just didn't add up. Vocaloid Inc. is where you go to become a virtual pop star. How could you not be excited about that?
"Miku, would you like some mashed potatoes with your vegetable soup?" Luka's voice shook her from her thoughts.
She blinked in surprise, her gaze snapping to the elder vocaloid. "Ah, no thanks, Luka-chan."
Luka nodded and continued stirring a large pot. She stopped a few minutes later, her head tilting towards Miku. "Say, Miku. Is something bothering you? You haven't been acting right since V3 came in earlier."
Miku drummed her fingers against the wooden kitchen table, her gaze drifting away from Luka's. "No... I'm fine. It's just one of the vocaloids was acting strange to me..."
"What do you mean strange?" Luka questioned as she added some spices to the stew.
Miku shrugged her shoulders. "Well, she looked like she didn't want to be here. I thought everyone is excited about working and learning here..."
Luka blinked in disbelief at the teal-haired teenager. "Miku, you can't possibly expect that everyone is excited. She was probably very nervous. Think of all the competition she has. If she doesn't make the rankings, then she's considered a failure."
"It wasn't bothering the others, though..." Miku trailed off, her eyes full with thought. Luka had a point, and she hadn't even considered what she said. But you would think that meeting and working with your favorite pop stars would excite you a little. Miku normally doesn't brag, but she knows she's quite popular. All of the new vocaloids had looked at her as they came in, yet that one in particular hadn't raised her gaze from her shoes. That alone bothered her.
Luka sighed as she turned off the stove and pushed the pot off the burner. "Don't let it bother you so much. She'll come around." She looked up at Miku and smiled a small, reassuring smile. "Alright?"
Miku returned the smile and stood up from the table. "Okay, Luka-chan. You might be right. I'll go get the others and tell them dinner is ready."
Dinner was very noisy. Everyone was buzzing about the newcomers; everyone had already formed thoughts about who would succeed. Gossip was circulating fast. Especially with Rin.
"Did'ya guys see that boy in the sailor's uniform?" She leaned in dramatically, whispering loudly. "I think he's going to be the new Len."
Len rolled his eyes as he chewed his vegetable soup. "You're ridiculous."
Rin blinked in faux confusion. "What? He's got the blonde hair, the shota appearance... All he needs is to put on your cute little outfit, and he'll be a mirror image!"
"You're completely forgetting that he sings in English, not Japanese," Len pointed out, slightly amused yet annoyed at his sister.
"Fine, then he'll be the English Len. How's that?"
"Just shut up and eat dinner," Meiko muttered through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
"...What Meiko means is you're all great in your own ways," their master said with a smile, shooting the brunette a warning glance. "No one is going to be replaced."
"Well, Miku, Len, and Rin have nothing to worry about. It's me, Kaito, and Luka who should be worried," Meiko said, scooping up another spoonful of food.
Kaito's eyes widened. "We're going to be replaced? I don't want to be replaced!"
Luka huffed, throwing daggers at the brunette. "No, we aren't. Meiko is being ridiculous."
Meiko shrugged indifferently. "Whatever you say."
"Anyway, this soup is delicious, Luka," Master commented, changing the subject. "What did you use?"
Miku zoned off, her head resting on the palm of her hand, her hand absently twirling the spoon in her bowl of soup. Worried about the rankings? Well, I guess that's something I don't normally have to worry about, so I wouldn't ever consider it. But still... When I first moved in, I wasn't worried about it... Not that I had much competition, though... Her brows furrowed. Why is this bothering me so much?
"What about you, Miku? Do you like the soup?"
Her master's voice snapped her out of her thoughts yet again. She hastily brought a spoonful of the lukewarm soup to her mouth, smiling a bright smile. "Yes, Luka-chan makes great soup!"
She returned the smile then looked back down at her smartphone, pressing a button. "Oh my, it's getting late. We should go to bed soon; We have to get up early tomorrow."
Rin bounced up from her chair, stretching her arms out about her, her white bow bouncing like rabbit ears. "Yep! Early to bed, early to rise! Let's go, Len-kun!"
"Hey, wait - Rin!" She grabbed Len's tie and dragged him out of the room with her. Len scolding Rin could be heard echoing throughout the house, causing Miku to giggle in amusement. The twins were always trying to get under the other's skin, yet they cared about each other deeply. In truth, they weren't even considered siblings. But they're so close that they might as well be.
Miku stood up as well, bowing politely. "I think I'm going to go to sleep too. 'Night, Luka-chan, Kaito-kun, Mei-chan, Master-chan."
"Night, Miku," they chorused back.
Miku climbed up the wooden stairs up into the bedroom area. Rin and Len's bickering could be heard quite clearly as she reached the top, considering their shared bedroom is right in front of the staricase.
"Len, it's not funny. Give me my pajamas!"
"What was that, Rin? I thought I heard you say something, but it didn't sound like 'Len will never be replaced ever'."
"Len! We have to go to sleep soon!"
"You're right, we do."
"...I'll run all the hot water out so you can't shower!"
"And tick Meiko off? You're not that brave."
"Len!"
Miku giggled again as she walked past the bedroom and into hers, which was right next door. "Tomorrow will be a better day," she reassured herself as she closed the door behind her. "I'm sure she will be extra excited. Tomorrow's her first work day, after all!"
She smiled to herself, unclipping her hair-ties and letting her long, teal hair fall down behind her back. Yes, tomorrow will be better. I'll make sure of it!
"Sekai de ichiban ohime-sama!" Miku's hand smacked down on the alarm clock forcefully, surpressing a groan. It's morning already?
After waiting a few moments, she found the energy to sit up, stretching widely in the process and causing her spine to snap. She glanced at the clock. 7:34. She actually did groan this time, falling back down on her plush comforter. I hate mornings...
Meiko busted in her room not even thirty seconds later. She knew that Miku's alarm clock wasn't usually enough to get her own her feet, so she usually stopped by to be her second wake up call. "Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty. We have to be out the door thirty minutes earlier than usual."
She sat back up, giving Meiko a drowsy, annoyed look. She managed to try and sound friendly as she replied, "How come?"
She shrugged. Meiko was already dressed, as probably the rest of the house was. Miku was normally the very last one up in the entire apartment, but only Meiko was brave enough to actually barge in like that. "Something the head-masters planned. We have to be in the conference room by nine o'clock."
Miku sighed and kicked the covers off her body, the warmth and comfort that they brought leaving with it. "Okay, thanks for telling me, Mei-chan."
Meiko hummed in response and closed the door, leaving Miku to get ready. She pushed herself off of her bed and grabbed her iPod, shuffling it before placing it in her speakers. Her song, Melt, began to blast in her bedroom. Listening to music always gave her a bit more energy and got her excited about the day.
She then went by her daily routine: take shower, brush out hair, get dressed, apply makeup, put hair into pigtails, then leave. Everything went smoothily, despite the fact that she couldn't take her time like she normally did.
Miku took a deep breath as she looked into the mirror. Her teal hair had been brushed out; she could feel it brushing against he ankles. She put it up in the her trademark pigtails then smiled brightly at her reflection, a determined look reflecting in her bright blue eyes; she clenched a single fist. "Let's make this a perfect day!"
She turned off all of the lights, turned off her iPod, and grabbed a sheet of paper off the top of her dresser before leaving her bedroom. With a music sheet in hand, she traveled down the staircase, only to find that the rest of the household had already left. Miku was confused. I'm not that late, am I...? She wandered into the kitchen and glanced at the clock. It read 9:06.
"Ah! Baka Miku!" she exclaimed to herself. "I'm late!"
She rushed to leave, when she noticed a leek that had been left on the counter. A bright, neon-green sticky note was attached to it. She peeled it off, curiosity reflecting in her eyes. It read:
I knew you wouldn't make in down in time. Well, the rest of us are gone. Here's some breakfast. You're welcome.
-Meiko
Her face reddened. "I didn't think I was that behind!"
She crumbled up the note and threw it back on to the counter and bit into the leek gratefully as she rushed towards the front entrance. Upon entering the hallway, she noticed the building was eerily quiet. She grew more worried. Is this one of those meetings where everyone is invited? Hatsune Baka... So much for that perfect day.
Miku tried to put those thoughts behind her as she raced down the hallway towards the conference room. It was located at the very end of the hallway that had all of the apartments in it so everyone could reach it quickly. Yet to Miku, it felt like a mile away. She chomped another hole out of the vegetable, chewing forcefully as she finally arrived. She pushed the doors open, swallowing down the mouthful and announcing loudly, "Miku's here, sorry for being late!"
Everyone's eyes were on here, and Miku noticed Meiko had slapped her forehead in response to her abrupt entrance. The head master, the man who runs the entire building, smiled a small, nervous smile. He was standing on the stage in front of a podium, the members of Vocaloid3 sitting behind him in a row. "That's quite alright, Miku. We just started. Why don't you take a seat with your department?" He gestured towards the front row where the Crypton department was sitting.
Her face bright red, she bowed politely. "Right!"
She skipped down the aisle. She could feel everyone's stare burning into her. It's something that she was used to, considering she's performed in front of a live audience, but it's different when you're embarrased in front of your friends.
The seat beside Luka was empty, so she sat down next to the pink-haired Vocaloid.
She felt her nudge her. "Where were you?" Luka whispered. "Meiko had said she knew you would be late."
"I was getting ready. I guess I wasn't watching the clock closely," Miku murmured back. "Have I missed anything?"
She shook her head. "He just started."
Miku breathed out a sigh of relief. "Good."
The head master, also refered to everyone as Sensei, cleared his throat into the microphone. "As I was saying, we're wanting to try something different today at Vocaloid Inc. Normally we've left all of the training to the masters, but we felt that the vocaloids here are very experienced already. So we've decided to assign some of the V3's 'mentors' to train with on the side. Aside from singing, mentors with help their V3 get accustomed to life here. This is a system we are likely to keep if it succeeds."
Excited murmuring started to sweep amongst the room.
"Ooh, I'd like to be a mentor!"
"This system will never work. Some of the vocaloids here couldn't even mentor themselves."
"Mentoring... How exciting!"
Sensei unfolded a piece of paper before tapping the mic to calm everyone down. "Alright, I will now read off the list of assigned mentors. Gumi, you have been assigned SeeU. Len, you have been assigned Oliver. Iroha, you have been assigned CUL. Lily, you have been assigned Yukari. Lastly, Miku, you have been assigned IA. Please immediately go greet your V3s, mentors. They are sitting the order I called them out in, from left to right."
Miku's gaze slowly drifted upwards to the far right, immediately locking eyes with IA. The same odd clothes, the same braided, pale pink hair, the same shy demeanor. Of all vocaloids to be assigned to, Miku just had to be assigned to the one that was bothering her. The sharp blue eyes were blank, and renewed the feeling of confusion inside of her. She gulped. This is going to be a long day...
A/N: Miku meets IA in the next chapter! I hope you guys are liking it so far! (Those of you who reviewed/favorited/followed.)
Review? :D
