Neru stood still like a statue in front of the thick, metal double doors. She hung on to the books in her hand as she tried not to shake.
"Get out of the way!"
Neru squeaked as a girl on an orange skateboard whizzed toward her. The green-haired girl tripped off her skateboard and put both her hands out, crashing into the doors. She landed on the ground.
"Ow... That didn't go exactly as planned..." The girl rubbed her head in pain.
Neru snapped out of her moment of fear. "What was that for, huh?!" she shouted, dropping her books as her hands curled into fists, "You could've killed me!"
"S- Sorry!" The girl scrambled up and almost fell again when she accidentally stepped on her skateboard. Sweat dropping, she laughed nervously. "I don't think I've ever seen you around before."
Neru made a face. "... I'm new," she grumbled finally, her face turning red.
"Ohhh, a new girl!" She put one hand at her hip and the other out for a handshake. "My name's Gumi. I'm a senior."
Neru turned away from the hand. "It's Neru."
Unfazed, Gumi opened the door and picked up her skateboard. "C'mon," she grabbed Neru's wrist, "I'll take you where you need to go!"
"Wait!" Neru cried, trying to wrench herself free, "My books!"
Running, Gumi dragged Neru down a hallway, turning down corridors seemingly at random. In moments they were in front of a door with a sign that read 'Principal's Office.'
"They'll help you in here," Gumi said, pulling the door open.
"H-Hold on!" Neru stuttered as Gumi pushed her in.
"Good luck!" Gumi sang darkly, and then she shut the door.
Neru found herself in complete and utter darkness. She rubbed her eyes, hoping they'd adjust to the light, to no avail. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out, her voice echoing.
"Greetings," a robotic female voice suddenly said. Neru tried to find the source of the voice but couldn't.
"Who are you?" she demanded, "What's going on?"
"I am Lola." A light suddenly turned on, and Neru threw up an arm to keep it from blinding her.
A woman made from thousands of pixels had materialized in front of her, emitting a soft, blue light. Each pixel kept changing color, and she had no discernible features; even her face was impossible to pinpoint.
"And you, my dear?"
"Akita Neru," she answered proudly, standing up straight.
"Neru... A strong name." Neru allowed herself a nervous smile. "You have a large task ahead of you, child."
"I can do it!" Neru insisted stubbornly. Lola let out a melodic laugh.
"I know you can, young one. But first you must find your place. Are you ready?"
"Of course!" Neru said determinedly, hands on her hips.
"Then go, and be brave." The door swung open and before Neru knew what was going on, a wind was blowing her away.
Someone was poking her stomach. Neru twitched and made a grumpy sound. "Stop," she grumbled, and someone gasped.
"You're awake!" A chipper voice exclaimed, and Neru opened her eyes.
It was the turquoise-haired teenager and her two twin lackeys. "You!" Neru gasped, sitting up, "You were there when I was born!"
The little blond girl clapped her hands. "That's right! We claimed you first! You're Neru!"
"And you're giving me a headache," Neru muttered. The teenager chuckled and helped her up.
"My name is Miku," she introduced herself warmly as Neru got up, "Hatsune Miku." She gave a bright white smile. "And this is Rin and Len."
The twins gave her identical grins. "Why were you on the floor?" Len asked innocently. Akita looked around.
She was in a locker-filled hallway. The principal's office was nowhere in sight. "I- I don't know."
"She's new, Len, she must've just met Her," Miku reminded him, putting emphasis on 'her.' Neru assumed she meant Lola. "And you're probably very confused, aren't you, Neru?"
"Yeah, I am. What's going on?"
"You're at Harmonia High," Miku told her, picking a black book bag off the floor, "Are these yours?"
Neru took the bag and looked inside. "My books!" she said, riffling through them, "Hold on, what's this?"
Neru pulled a passport-like object out of the bag. Inside was a list of traits.
"Name: Akita Neru," Neru read aloud, "Meaning: I'm bored, I'm going to bed." She sweat dropped- the others gave her a funny look. "Age: Sixteen. Class: Freshman." She skipped to an unfilled status. "'Race?'"
"You're a Vocaloid," Miku said surely, "You're one of us."
Neru snapped the profile shut. She didn't want Miku to see that she wasn't what Miku thought she was… at least, for now. "Does everyone have one of these?" she asked carefully.
"Yeah," Len answered, pulling his own out. He showed it to her. Everything was filled in, right down to the last status.
"…Wait… You're enrolled here?!" Neru gasped, "How is that possible? You're like twelve!"
"I'm thirteen," Len said coolly, "And classes here aren't based on age. They're based on how good you are."
"At what?" Neru asked blankly.
"'At what?!'" The three of them looked at her in shock.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here."
Neru looked up and saw what seemed like a badly copied version of Miku. The girl had her hands on her hips, and behind her stood six other students. Her hair was black, her eyes were red, and instead of Miku's warm smile, she had a cruel sneer.
"Leave us alone, Zie," Miku warned with uncharacteristic anger.
"I don't think so." The girl called Zie walked past the twins, who sprang out of the way and hid behind Miku. She approached Neru and put a red fingernail on her chin, lifting her head up to meet her eyes. Neru scowled.
"Is this the little girl who escaped us last time?" she crooned, and Neru pushed her hand away roughly.
"She's a Vocaloid, Zie," Rin spat at her.
"Yeah," Len piped up, "Not one of your kind."
A girl behind Zie, one with long, grey hair let out a high-pitched cackle. "Oh, Len," she sighed, still chuckling, "One day you'll understand how sexy being a Vipperloid can be." She winked at Len, who looked positively green at the thought.
A calm looking boy stepped forward, his long, red hair tied back in a ponytail. "C'mon, Zie," he said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go. We'll get the next one."
Zie shrugged his hand off her shoulder, then turned to Miku, who leaned back. "Next time, twerp," she growled, and then she swept away, her entourage following behind.
Neru watched them walk away, stunned at how plain mean they had been. "Who were those guys?" she whispered.
"Those were Vipperloids," Miku answered, her tone serious, "Except for Zie. Zie is a Boukaloid. The one and only Boukaloid."
"What makes her a Boukaloid?" Neru dared to ask, watching Zie's retreating back.
Miku gave her a tortured look.
"She can't sing."
Neru paced back in forth in her dorm room. She was a Boukaloid. She had to be a Boukaloid; after all, she couldn't sing. But Miku said Zie was the only Boukaloid. Plus, she was nothing like Zie.
Neru stopped and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Was she?
The door slammed open, causing the books and knickknacks on the shelves to fall. "Oh my goodness!" a voice squeaked, "I'm so sorry!"
Neru turned to see the source of the voice, but before she could, its owner was dashing around the room fixing things. "I'm really, really, really sorry!" She stopped and bowed to Neru several times in apology.
Neru stared. "Hey, it's your stuff, not mine." She looked curiously at the girl; she had big, mahogany eyes and tawny hair, and her pink hoodie had wolf ears on top. She wore gloves and mary-janes (Ugh, Neru thought, Not my style,) and from her skirt peeked out a long tail.
"My name is Neru," she introduced herself slowly, unsure if she could trust a person so… jittery.
"You must be my new roommate!" she squealed and twirled in joy; Neru flinched. "My name is Miko, Ooka Miko."
"Nice to meet you…?" Neru said, though it sounded more like a question. Miko finished picking up the books and flopped onto the bed.
"Can I ask you a question?" Miko chattered, lying on her belly, supporting her head with her hands, "Well I just did, but can I ask you another one?"
Neru took a seat on the opposing bed. "Why not, kid."
"Good, I needed someone without a biased opinion." Miko's tail was wagging back and forth in the air. "Does my voice sound funny to you?"
"Uh…" Taken aback, Neru searched for a polite answer. "Not… really…?"
"Oh it does, doesn't it!" Miko wailed suddenly. She sat up and put her hand to her forehead melodramatically. "I try so hard! No one can even tell!"
Neru stammered a compliment, but it was as if she had said nothing. "I'll never be a true Vocaloid!" Miko sniffed, pretending to shed a tear.
Neru jolted. "A true Vocaloid?" she repeated quickly, "What are you then?" Could she be a Boukaloid? Was Miku wrong?
Miko snapped out of her act and looked at Neru oddly. "I'm a Utauloid. What else could I be?"
"What the hell is a 'Utauloid?'"
Miko's hoodie ears flicked up inquisitively; Neru was starting to suspect that there were real wolf ears under there. "Oh. That's right. You're new."
"Really? I hadn't noticed," Neru muttered under her breath; Miko didn't seem to hear.
"Well… where do I begin?" Miko contemplated thoughtfully, "Well, Vocaloids are 'loids who have their own voice. Their sound is strong and unique. Utauloids all have similar voices, and they don't sound 'professional.'" She put air-quotes around the word. "We can be different from each other, but we're not as unique. Oh, and Vocaloids are branded with a logo."
"Yeah," Neru agreed softly, looking down at her shiny golden plate. But why does it say Vocaloid? she thought, making a face, when I can't even sing?
"Are you alright? You look upset."
"Of course I'm fine," Neru snapped, which shut Miko up. The rest of the evening, Miko did not say another word. Fine, Neru thought, I like it that way. But deep inside she was starting to feel lonelier than she ever had before.
Class One: Orchestra, Room 203. 9:05 A.M.
Neru stood in front of yet another door, yet again frozen by fear. Except this time Gumi wasn't there to force her inside. Her hand hovering over the doorknob, she tried to force herself to open it.
"Excuse me," a quiet voice said with a hint of irritation, "Can you please get out of the way?"
The arrogance in the voice hit a nerve somewhere in Neru. "I'll move out of the way when I want to," she retorted, spinning around. She came face to face with a boy a year or so younger than her, with snow-white hair and deep red eyes. His face was one of someone who did not sleep very often.
"No, I think you should move now." He took a step forward, his tone getting sour.
"Dell, what's going on?"
They both turned to see a girl with the same white hair, same red eyes as the boy. Neru felt a chill; she was one of the Vipperloids who had been with Zie yesterday. The girl stopped in between Neru and the Dell.
"Are you the new student?" the girl asked gently. Neru gave a curt nod, suspicious. Then suddenly the girl smiled. "Please excuse my little brother. My name is Yowane Haku. What's yours?"
"Uh…" The kindness caught Neru off guard; she couldn't help but smile back. "It's Akita Neru."
"Neru!"
She looked over her shoulder to see Miku running towards her with another girl who had bouncing, curled red pigtails. Looks of distaste crossed Haku's and Dell's faces.
Miku and her friend slowed down as they realized who Neru was with; the pigtailed girl looked annoyed at Haku's presence. Neru suddenly felt like her and Miku's friendship was at stake.
"Look," she barked to Haku, who seemed surprised by Neru's sudden angry tone, "I know who you are. You're a Vipperloid. So don't talk to me, okay?"
"Don't talk to my sister like that!" Dell yelled suddenly, pushing Haku out of the way.
"Hey! No fighting!" a teacher said suddenly from down the hallway. He was a sharply dressed man with modern glasses on his nose; a jacket was in his hands.
"Sorry, Mr. Hiyama," Haku said grumpily. Miku and her friend caught up to them just as Mr. Hiyama did.
"Ah, I see our new student has arrived," Mr. Hiyama said happily. Neru had the feeling that he was a very kind, simple-living person. "Are you all welcoming her?"
Suddenly the bell rang, and all their heads turned toward the sound of it. "Well, technically you're late to my class," Mr. Hiyama said, adjusting his glasses with a frown.
"Mr. Hiyama-!" Miku's friend whined.
"But!" Mr. Hiyama interrupted her with a grin, "Seeming as I'm late too, I won't count this time."
"Thank you Mr. Hiyama," Miku, Haku, and her friend chorused; Neru noticed that Dell continued to look quite pissed.
"Now, come on in." He opened the door, and they all stepped into the classroom.
Miku, her friend, Haku, and Dell all took their seats in front of music stands; Neru took an empty one by the front of the room. She noticed Gumi, who gave her a quick wave, and the Vipperloid with the long red hair. Other than that, the students around her were strangers, though the class wasn't very big. Many different instruments lined the walls and were stashed in the corners, and on the board was a series of musical notes.
"Rollcall!" Mr. Hiyama sang, and little by little the students stopped talking. He took out a sheet of paper.
"Akita Neru."
All eyes turned to her. Why does my name have to be at the top? Keeping her head up, she answered, "Here."
"Hatsune Miku?"
"Here!"
"Honne Dell?"
"Here…"
"Kasane Ted?"
The boy with the red hair drawled, "Here."
Mr. Hiyama kept reading down the list, all the way done to "Yawane Haku," who answered, "Here," in a whisper.
"Alright, today we'll be having a basic lesson for the trombone…"
The end-of-class bell could not have been more welcomed. Neru walked out of the classroom, chatting and complaining about the class with Miku and her friend from before, Teto. Neru was happy to learn that Teto, despite her brother being a Vipperloid, was very sweet and even a little mischievous. She was a Utauloid, but apparently looked upon with as much respect as a Vocaloid, because she had been the first.
Classes went on uneventfully until lunch; Musical Theory, Choreography and Technology were difficult, but Neru was a hard worker. In each class, she had at least Miku, Teto, Gumi, Miko, or the twins to help her. The real challenge came to her at lunch.
Neru wandered around the cafeteria with her tray, unsure of where to sit. None of her friends were in her lunch period. What luck, she thought darkly.
Suddenly a foot stuck out from nowhere, and Neru tripped; her food went flying out of her hands.
Laughter erupted from the nearby tables. Her hands hurting from smacking the tiles, Neru looked up to see Dell standing over her. "That's for this morning," he sneered.
"Dell!" Haku was stomping over from a table with a few Vipperloids. "I told you not to do that!"
"She deserved it," he argued lazily.
Neru sat up, salvaging her juice-box and a salad that was still wrapped in plastic.
"Need a hand?" She looked up to see Haku extending her hand, as if to help her up.
"No thanks," Neru answered coldly, "Not from you." She got up on her own and started to walk away amid the quieting giggles.
After a few yards she realized Haku was following her. "I'm really sorry," she apologized to Neru, sounding sincere; Neru ignored her anyway, "My brother's an ass, he really is. I won't let him do it again." Neru remained silent and sat down at an empty table, opening her salad.
Haku sat down next to her. "I know you're angry. I just wanted to warn you about Miku."
Neru covered up the fact that she had just choked on a piece of lettuce. Haku kept talking.
"Miku just wants everything to be happy-go-lucky all the time. But that's not all there is to music. That's why Zie was born." Neru kept chewing and acted like she couldn't see or hear Haku. "I just wanted you to know what was going on," she continued pleadingly.
When Neru still didn't answer, she sighed and got up. "I hope you listen to my advice," she said, before walking back to the Vipperloid table.
What does Haku mean? Neru thought suspiciously. Zie was… well… a bitch. And Miku was the kindest person Neru had met so far. Could it be that Zie wasn't so bad after all? And Haku… unlike her brother, she seemed kind. Why was she with the Vipperloids?
Neru finished her salad and threw it away as the bell rang. She looked down at her schedule and felt her stomach drop.
Class Five: Singing Lessons, Room 421. 1:30 P.M.