There were drawings and photos scattered all over the living room carpet. Kaito, Miku, Rin, and Gakupo sat in the middle of the mess, pouring over their fond memories. Miku looked mainly at the images that had Kaito in them, smiling in happiness as she remembered different times they had spent together, either with or without their sibling Vocaloids present. She was looking at one particularly memorable photograph as her pink-haired, soft-spoken sister, Luka, walked in the room.

"Hi, Luka!" Miku cheerily greeted her sister Vocaloid, who smiled back.

"What are you all doing? Looking at pictures?" Luka sat herself next to Kaito, who was currently working on drawing a picture of Miku, Kaito, Len, Rin, Meiko, and Gakupo. "Oh, is that a drawing, Kaito? How come I'm not in it?"

Miku watched Luka as she leaned a little too closely to Kaito, and felt a twinge of annoyance and jealousy. Miku wondered if she could use the same excuse to hang over Kaito, too, and maybe Kaito would stop drawing and wrap his arms around her... Miku smiled at the ground as her imagination ran away with her.

"I will add you in there, too, okay, Luka?" Kaito smiled gently at the pink-haired beauty, not seeming to mind her proximity in the slightest.

"Oh! Thank you, Kaito! I love you," Luka enthused in her quiet, low voice, and hugged Kaito spontaneously. Kaito smiled a silly smile and returned the hug.

"I love you, too," Kaito said in reply before letting Luka go from his arms.

Miku's face froze. Her head raised and she stared at the pair, sitting comfortably right next to each other. Stared at Luka's smiling face, at Kaito's happy face. Watched Kaito as he began to draw Luka into the picture, right next to the drawing he had done of himself.

Miku got up jerkily, without saying a word, and left the room. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of cool water. As she raised it to her lips to take a sip, she noticed that her arms were trembling. There was a strange feeling in her chest. Something hurt.

Out of nowhere, hot, hot tears filled up Miku's eyes. She was astonished at herself as the tears spilled over, rolled down her face, and splattered against her hand and her clothes. 'Kaito doesn't love me. He doesn't love me. He loves Luka.' The words appeared in Miku's head, and the pain in her body increased. It felt like some sort of damage being done, but Miku couldn't understand, couldn't figure it out. All she knew was that something was hurting, and it was hurting badly.

"Miku?" A soft, low, feminine voice asked. Miku looked up through her tears to see Luka standing there in the doorway. Luka's eyes opened a little wider as she noticed Miku's tearful counternance. The pink-haired Vocaloid stepped into the room and gave Miku a quick hug.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Luka asked, sounding concerned. Miku's heart throbbed again. Luka was so nice, was so nice.

"It, it's nothing. It would just sound stupid, even if I told you," Miku whispered through her tears, feeling lower than dirt. How could she confess her love of Kaito like this? Luka frowned slightly, her pretty pink lips going into a pout.

"I don't want you to cry, Miku," Luka said after a moment of silence. Miku felt like Luka really cared, and that just made her feel more guilty.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to calm down and stop crying." Miku wasn't sure she could actually stop at this point, but she wanted to thank her sister Vocaloid for being so kind and caring, and she really, really didn't want to explain the reason for her tears. How petty would it sound? 'Kaito loves you but not me,' Miku could imagine saying the words, and they made her feel ashamed. Not just because she wasn't worthy of Kaito's love, but because she didn't want to admit the painful truth that she wasn't worthy. But Luka was worthy.

Miku didn't want to feel this conflicted, hurtful jealousy. She didn't wish Luka ill, she didn't wish Kaito ill. Miku liked both of them, quite a lot. They both deserved to be happy. But Miku wanted to deserve to be happy, too. Miku remembered earlier that morning, when Kaito had kissed her cheek. She had thought it was the best day in the world from that happening... until just now.

"Please. For me," Luka softly said and released Miku from her hug. Miku turned her eyes downwards, feeling even more lonely as Luka let her go from her arms. The feelings bubbled up and up in Miku's chest, and in a sheer moment she felt like she couldn't breathe anymore.

"Luka... I'm not fine! I don't think I can stop. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Miku felt a fresh flood of tears, and a rapidly growing feeling of helplessness and agony that was crushing her heart. "I... I don't know what to do! Luka, please... please help me!" Miku cried into her hands, her slim shoulders shaking as she was overcome by sudden emotion. Maybe it was stupid to ask your love rival for help, but Miku felt so overwhelmed. She just needed an ally. Miku waited for Luka to respond, and slowly managed to raise her teary eyes from her hands to look back up at the pink-haired Vocaloid.

But Miku was alone in the room. At some point during Miku's outburst, Luka had quietly left. Something in Miku's heart felt like it twisted as she heard Luka laughing quietly from the other room. Luka's laughter was joined by Kaito's voice, also laughing quietly, from a distance.

Miku clenched her hands together as her heart began to hurt even more. She walked woodenly away from the kitchen, away from the living room, not even saying goodnight to everyone because her face was covered in shameful, hurting tears, and even if she asked for help... even if she asked for help...

There was no one left to comfort her.

Miku walked to her room and quietly opened her door, closed it behind her. The room was dark, but she didn't turn a light on. Her Kaito doll was still snugly tucked into her bed. She stared at it, and her heart wasn't comforted by its sight. She didn't want to touch it, so she lay down at the foot of the bed, far away from the doll, and stared around at her room.

There were a lot of mementos there. Pictures of herself and Kaito. Trinkets, souveniers that they had bought. Her treasures. There were pictures of the other Vocaloids too. Len, and Rin... and Luka. Miku stared at all of these, seeking desperately for something that would comfort her, but there was nothing. Everything left her with the same empty feeling of tight pain in her chest.

Miku looked back at the doll, which had always, always comforted her when she was down. The doll that reminded her of Kaito. Of Kaito... who didn't love her. Of Kaito, who said to Luka, "I love you, too." Of Kaito, who kissed her cheek after she had touched his beautiful blue hair with her fingers, fixing it. Of Kaito, who she loved the most out of everybody, despite everything. It hurt. It hurt, and badly.

There was nothing to comfort her, and she couldn't sleep. Miku cried, cried and cried and cried, until her cheeks were raw from her gently wiping the tears off of them, until her eyes were bloodshot, her face was puffy, and she felt like she wanted to vomit, to curl up in her bed and die there.

The Kaito doll stared down at her from the head of her bed and watched silently, not offering any comfort, for hours, as Miku cried helplessly, as quietly as she could.

...Something hurt.