..:::VERSE THREE:::..

[Vegetable Soup - GUMI explains why she cannot bear to stay.]

-'So many
Bright lights, they cast a shadow
But can I speak?
Well is it hard understanding
I'm incomplete
A life that's so demanding
I get so weak
A love that's so demanding
I can't speak'-

Gumi was packing her bags. It was one in the afternoon, and she'd been at it for two hours, trying to figure out what she wanted, what she needed, and what would remind her too much of her old life.

Gakupo couldn't help but stop by. After their fight last night, he couldn't leave things this way. He had to talk to her one more time. If she wanted to leave, she could leave, but he at least wanted her to do so with his blessing.

"Gumi… I'm making myself some lunch. Would you like anything? We've got stuff for vegetable soup."

That was a favorite food shared by both of them. They had spent many a cold winter afternoon in the Vocaloid house in the kitchen, making vegetable soup and sharing it when it was done.

She turned and looked at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd like that." She was sincere, and Gakupo could hear the obvious sadness in her voice.

"You can stay and do this if you want. I'll bring some up when it's ready." He turned to leave.

"Gakupo…" Gumi called after him, weakly.

He poked his head back in the door.

"Thank you."

"Sure thing."

He got the feeling the thanks wasn't just for the soup.

..:::..

Gakupo carefully climbed the stairs, trying not to spill the two bowls of soup on the tray he carried.

He was successful, and made it to Gumi's room without spilling a drop.

"This is for you. Extra carrots, like you like it."

Gumi had her back to him, and didn't turn around.

"…Gumi?"

He set the tray down and approached her, looking over her shoulder.

Pictures. Pictures of them, that night, plastered all over the covers of sleazy magazines.

'Megpoid: Popstar or Pornstar?' accompanied a close-up of Gumi's face, licking white from her lips.

A second picture showed them kissing, Gakupo pinned up against the wall, and said 'Kamui Gakupo and Megpoid Gumi: Not-So-Secret Lovers!'

And the most incriminating, a picture of Gumi on her knees, unzipping Gakupo's pants. The headline and subtitle read 'Caught in the Act! – Vocaloids Gumi and Gakupo Exposed!'

"I'm not a pervert." She answered. She didn't turn to look at him, just stared fixedly down at the depictions of herself.

"No, you're not." He agreed, calmly, hoping maybe this was her coming around.

"This—" She picked up one of the trashy publications and waved it in the air, turning to face him, "isn't me. I mean, it's me, but it's not who I am…" She seemed frustrated, fumbling for words. She did this often, and Gack was not only used to it, but found it slightly endearing. Finally, she settled on, "People only ever see you when you screw up."

Gack stared at her, listening intently. She would go on.

"I mean, I've been a singer for years, you know? This is my sixth year in Vocaloid. I've been a part of four albums. I've written songs, I've toured, I've traveled, I've met important people, gone to cool places, worn really cool outfits… Did they ever publish that? Ever give a damn about any of that? Did they put it on the front of a magazine when we all helped build a church in Africa, or helped raise money for that poor school in the next town over? No! No, they didn't! They don't give a fuck about the good things! You can do all the good things you want, and no one cares! But oh, as soon as you make one little screw up, bam, everyone's all over you!" By this time, her voice was shrill and wavered with the effort of holding back tears. "It's so, so not fair!"

"It's not." Gakupo answered calmly, his eyes full of the exact pain she was feeling.

"People love misery. Everyone wants to see the decay of the pop star. I worked hard to get here, just so people could watch me and wait for me to self-destruct. I just want to make music. And society demands that I be some sort of superhuman. I can't make mistakes, I can't have feelings, I can't have my own life. It's like I have to give all that up, just to do what I love. I don't get to be a whole person. It's like… I can either be a human, or a singer, but not both. It's not fair! It's not fair, it's not fair!

"It's really not. I know. But the thing is, you've got to keep trying. You've got to be better than those people trying to destroy you. You know they're wrong, so prove them wrong. You've got to keep doing good things, even if you mess up."

"Why! What's the point? Nobody will even care!"

"Maybe they won't. But you've gotta try! Whether anyone cares or not! Gumi, it'll fade. In a month, no one will even remember what happened. They'll move on to something else, they always do. And so will you. You just… Gotta stay with me!"

She was quiet for a second, wondering if she could even speak, and if she even wanted to.

"So that's what my life is now. Waiting for people to forget about me. I get it."

"That's not what I said. That's not what I said at all. You're twisting up my words and I don't like it."

"Maybe I don't like you!" She yelled back, reflexively.

He stared her down, patiently.

She would apologize. He knew her.

In the silence, they could hear Rin and Len rehearsing down the hall.

Sometime after they finished the song, Gumi finally broke down with an "Okay, that's not true."

"I know." He answered, tolerantly, almost as if Gumi was a small child, yelling at her parents for not giving her a toy.

Gumi tangled her hand in her hair, and looked away, as if gathering her thoughts, before she looked back up at Gakupo.

"I love you." She said. "You know that, right?"

Gakupo nodded.

"And even though I'm leaving, I'll still love you, even when I'm gone."

"Yeah." He whispered.

"Can I hug you now?"

"Sure." Gakupo had to smile. It was just so like Gumi to say that.

And she did love him.

He loved her back.

He wrapped his arms around her. She felt so very small, so vulnerable. The world could do such terrible things to her. And she was about to venture right off into it, without him. But right now, this second, nothing and no one could do anything to her. Right now, he would protect her. From the things trying to hurt her from the outside, and from the things inside her own head.

He held her tight, and didn't let go.

"Gack?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you put up with me?"

He smiled. "You're worth it." This, Gakupo did not doubt, for even the slightest moment. Never did he, never would he. "And anything you want, I am willing to allow. Even… If you want to leave. I accept that."

There was a lump in Gumi's throat, and she couldn't speak. She was shaking, coming to the realization of how much Gakupo and the others would miss her.

And as much as it hurt, she couldn't change her mind.

"Here. Have some soup with me. One more time, for old time's sake." She said, smiling.

..:::VERSE THREE END:::..