Miku stared blankly up at the ceiling. At some point, she had fallen asleep. But waking up to a new day didn't give her the usual energy of a fresh start. She had nothing to look forward to. Her eyes refused to roam around her room like they usually did. They refused to touch upon her treasures, her pictures of herself and Kaito. Her chest still hurt, badly. Her face hurt, too. The raw places where she had wiped away her tears were red, and, Miku was sure, looked quite ugly.

Miku didn't want to get up. She didn't want to get breakfast. She wasn't even sure she could eat, her stomach felt like it was tied up in knots. And if she went to breakfast, Kaito was sure to be there. Miku, for once in her life, did not want to see the handsome bluenette's face.

As Miku remembered Kaito's smile at Luka from yesterday, fresh tears sprung up in her eyes. Miku scolded herself, as if being hard on herself would stop the pain in her heart. 'This is stupid. Crying over somebody you love not loving you back is stupid.' Miku kept crying though, so she thought to herself, 'Well, I guess this just means I am REALLY stupid, then. Because this REALLY hurts.'

After a while, Miku's tears slowed again, and she wondered fleetingly if anyone would come bother her in her room due to her missing breakfast. She wondered if she wanted anyone to. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out whether she cared about anything, anymore. Miku's mind whirled around lazily, accusing herself of being stupid, coming down on herself for being useless, of being worthless, of being unworthy of love.

Miku stared at the Kaito doll unblinkingly for many long moments, then slowly, unhappily sat up on her bed, and turned her computer on, hoping that something unexpected would present itself to comfort her. She cringed away from the desktop picture of herself, Kaito, and the rest of the Vocaloids, all smiling and making V-signs for the camera. She opened up her internet connection and browsed with blank eyes that flinched whenever one of Kaito's songs was suggested as an option to listen to.

Miku's eyes caught on a random title, "You're a Worthless Child," some English cover that was done by one of the lesser known Vocaloids, who her own Master didn't have in this household. It felt almost like it was a message for her, so she clicked the link, and allowed the song to play over her ears.

It felt oddly comforting, in a way that wasn't really comfort, but more like, an admittance that she was no good. Miku held the words close to her heart and tried to soothe her great hurt with a new, smaller hurt. She clicked "auto-repeat" on her media player and lay back down in bed, staring again at the ceiling, and letting the vicious, but beautiful, words of the song wash over her and distract her from anything but feeling bad.

She listened to the song obsessively on repeat for hours, every once in a while breaking back down into tears, until finally, finally, she felt like she was hollow inside, and the tears stopped coming. Eventually as she stared at the ceiling and listened to the soothing music, she closed her eyes in what she wanted to be defeat or acceptance but... it wasn't there.

The pain wasn't gone, but her body was starting to repress it. Instead, she felt a hollowness that resounded with the memory of the intense, unyielding pain her mind was now trying with everything it had to ignore. It felt like something had been damaged in a way that she didn't really have a grasp on.

Someone was knocking on her door. Miku didn't bother getting up or pausing the song playing on her computer, instead just calling out through the door, and hoping vainly that her cracking, hoarse voice didn't sound too obvious that she had been crying. "Who is it?"

"It's Meiko!" A friendly voice called back through Miku's door. "Do you want to come out and play?"

Miku would normally have smiled at the silly words coming from the normally relatively-adult acting Meiko. But she couldn't make her lips form the right shape.

"Uh, maybe, in a few minutes," Miku replied, feeling lethargic, but not wanting to make Meiko feel bad or wonder about Miku, by rejecting the offer of her companionship.

"Okay, I'll be waiting! I'm going to cook, you like bacon, right?" Meiko called back, and not waiting for an answer, continued, "I'll be down in the kitchen, come down when you're ready!"

Miku made a sound as if to express her consent, but didn't know if she could get the energy to get back out of bed. Miku just lay there instead, for many long, long minutes. After some time, she roused herself in a lackluster manner, knowing that she had to at least make an appearance for Meiko's sake. Miku left her room, not looking back at any of her knick-knacks or pictures, and leaving the music playing in the background.

Miku stopped in the bathroom and splashed cold water over her face many times, hoping that the cool liquid would bring down the swelling and redness of her face under her eyes to the point where Meiko wouldn't ask about it. She dried her face with a towel gently, feeling the discomfort of the raw places on her cheeks when she touched them. Miku left the towel on the towel rack and walked down to the kitchen.

Meiko was nowhere to be seen, but the smells of food were coming from the dining room, so Miku followed them, her stomach churning and feeling terrible. She wondered how she could politely turn down the offer of food, when Meiko had so clearly made something specifically so they could eat together. Miku hadn't had breakfast, and now it was well after lunchtime. Miku wondered if Meiko had noticed her absence at the table, and that was the reason why.

"Ah! There you are! I wondered if you were coming," Meiko pleasantly greeted Miku, her eyes looking at Miku's face, but apparently either Miku's efforts with the cold water had worked, or Meiko was sensitive enough not to pry. "I made bacon and eggs. You like the way I cook them, don't you?"

Miku nodded somewhat stiffly, trying to appear normal, for Meiko's sake. "Um, thank you, that was so nice of you." Miku stated lamely. Meiko didn't seem to notice her lack of energy though, and just smiled back, pushing a set of silverware across the table to the plate she had set out for Miku.

"I like eating together with you," Meiko admitted with an uncharacteristically shy smile. Miku tried to smile back, and though it felt funny, her face obeyed this time.

'Maybe, if I fake it, it will take hold, and I'll be fine again,' Miku thought, then shook her head a little as she considered how unkind that sort of thinking was.

She really did appreciate Meiko's kindness, but she remembered Luka's kindness too. Followed by Luka abandoning her in the kitchen last night as she cried into her hands. Abandoned her, to go laugh with Kaito, who loved her... Who loved Luka, not Miku. Miku sighed unhappily, feeling even more of her energy drain at the vicious circle of thoughts.

"That was a heavy sigh, Miku," Meiko noted, her fork pausing in midair, still filled with steaming hot scrambled eggs. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really," Miku glumly addressed her own eggs, not wanting to lock eyes with Meiko. Not wanting to explain, or even to think about it. She just wanted to pretend, and have the bad feeling in her chest go away. To not have to experience the sharp unhappiness she was feeling.

"Well, okay," Meiko let it go with that, and watched Miku until Miku reluctantly picked up her fork and speared some eggs of her own. Miku tried not to make a face at the uncomfortable taste and sensation of eating, not wanting to insult her sister Vocaloid, who had gone out of her way to be nice to Miku.

"What do you think? Do I get a gold star?" Meiko asked with a slight smile as Miku chewed and chewed her same mouthful without swallowing it. Miku looked back up, swallowed uncomfortably, and tried another little awkward smile.

"Yes, it's delicious. Thanks, Meiko. You are such a good cook," Miku complimented her, but her compliments lacked energy. Meiko seemed pleased anyways, and Miku was encouraged to try another bite of the "breakfast" that was in front of her.

Meiko began to chat about random things, and none of them were about Kaito or Luka, so Miku began to relax slightly as she listened, and responded at the appropriate times. Miku's stomach stopped protesting as much, though she still felt nauseous. After a while, Miku's wooden smile came easier, though it didn't feel much more genuine, and her responses started to mirror her usual energy just a little bit more.

But Miku felt exhausted, so after the conversation had gone on for some time, and even though she was feeling a little less awful for Meiko's company, she excused herself, saying she wanted to go lay down.

"Oh, okay," Meiko said, and allowed Miku to pack up her dishes, bring them to the sink, and walk back towards her own room. "I hope you feel better," Meiko called out after her, softly, as Miku walked down the hallway. It felt empty to Miku, but was comforting in its own way, so even though Miku didn't turn to say thanks, she held the words close to her.