In a run-down house in a run-down city, there was a run-down girl asleep in a run-down room. Miku turned in her sleep, not allowing the gloomy early morning light to pass through her eyelids. She covered her eyes with an arm, which blocked her vision and made it easier to fall back asleep.

Despite that, she could not fall asleep. She tossed and turned in confusion, but she soon realized that she was simply hungry. The girl rolled out of bed, stretching and yawning. She was still half-awake, so she was already making bets with herself on whether or not she'd make it to the kitchen without bumping into anything.

The odds were not in her favor.

Despite tripping over the coffee table, Miku managed to make her way into the kitchen. She yawned once more as she opened up the fridge. Hm, there was less stuff there than there was yesterday.

She sighed, shaking her head. She just decided to make something small, then eat at a restauraunt if she went out that day. The girl took the jug of semi-old milk and rummaged through the cupboard, eventually settling on a stale-looking loaf of bread.

Not caring to get a plate or glass, Miku sat on the counter by the oven, eating her breakfast. The bread tasted hard and flavorless, and the milk wasn't all that cold. At least it filled her up.

She had managed to finish what little was left of the milk, so she tossed it in the trash can. She wiped the stale bread crumbs from her face as she left the kitchen and walked over to Meiko's room, the door open.

"Um..Meiko?" she said, creaking the door open so it was large enough for her to enter. She looked around the room. Meiko was nowhere to be seen. Miku walked over to Meiko's nightstand, finding a notebook paper tacked to it.

Went out for breakfast with Gumi. I'll be back later.

-Meiko

Yeah, that made sense. Miku sat on Meiko's bed, taking her phone from the pockets of her pajama shorts. She went through her contacts, finding Meiko. She pressed the 'call now' button, putting the phone up to her ear.

Bbbring. Bbbbring. Bbbbbring. Bbbbbbring. Bbbbbbbring. Bbbbbbbbring...

Miku then turned off her phone after the next few rings. Meiko didn't have her phone with her, for whatever reason. Miku sighed, deciding to phone Gumi instead.

It yielded the same response, which was, to say, no response at all. Miku angrily huffed, putting her phone back in her pocket. Guess I'll have to go out then. The tealette thought, going back into her room to change into new clothes. Oh well. Maybe I'll see IA on the bus again.

Miku eventually got changed into a blue button-up sweater and a skirt that was both decent-looking and enough to keep her warm. She put on a red pair of gloves and pink earmuffs after she redid her long pigtails.

Taking her jacket from last night on her way out the door, Miku headed to the nearest bus stop. She used buses when Meiko couldn't drive her, so she knew each stop by the back of her hand. She held onto the pole of a sign with one gloved hand and the other in her pocket.

Fate deciding to spare her from the cold, the bus came rather quickly. "Careful, it's slippery." the bus driver said as he watched Miku shakily walk up the steps. Miku got on the bus soon, and she noticed IA waving with a smile.

Miku smiled back, walking over to sit with her newfound friend. "It's chilly out, isn't it?" IA asked as she scooched to the right to make room for Miku. Miku nodded, huddling up to IA for warmth. IA laughed, wrapping a sleeved arm around Miku and pulling her close.

Miku went a bit pink at the motion, but decided to not let her flustered emotion show. "I'll be going to get something to eat. You wanna come with?" IA tilted her head at Miku. Miku smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I didn't have much for breakfast anyway." The girl shrugged.

IA grinned. "It's a date, then?" Miku nearly fell over in surprise. "D-date?" IA giggled. "Kidding, kidding!" "Give me a heart attack, why don't you." Miku huffed. It was technically a date though, wasn't it?

The two talked and chatted for a while before IA found the restauraunt she had been thinking of. Miku and IA got off of the bus, Miku looking over the restauraunt IA had picked. It looked nice enough, and Miku couldn't resist the delicious smell wafting from inside.

The two entered and sat at a table by the window. Miku's mouth was watering upon seeing the rather large steak two people were sharing at a table near her and IA's. "So, are you new in town?" Miku asked, going through the menu the waiter had given her.

IA nodded. "Yeah." "Do you know anybody yet?" IA closed her menu, looking at Miku. "Well...I know you, and my friend introduced me to these two kids she used to take care of. Len and Rin Kagamine." "Oh." Miku smiled. "I know Rin and Len! My ex-boss and her girlfriend adopted them. They were orphans, you know."

"They're not biologically related, that I remember. I hears rumors that they were seperate kids who got kidnapped!" IA's eyes widened as she spoke, clutching her fists together for emphasis. Miku raised a hand. "I think that's just a rumor. Nobody really knows what happened to their parents."

IA shrugged. "It's what I was told." The waiter came by again, asking what the two had ordered. IA had apparently ordered a grilled fig stuffed with goat cheese and a dark chocolate coffee. Is dark chocolate coffee even a thing? Do we even know? Miku just settled on the same coffee along with two large lettuce, ham, and cheese sandwiches, one of which was for Meiko once she returned home.

"Don't worry, Miku-san. Food's on me." IA said, smiling at Miku. "So, do you know everybody in town?" "I recognise everybody, at least. I might not remember them later on, but I still know them. I do have a number of friends around here." IA leaned forward, intrigued. "Really? What are they like?" Miku blinked.

"Um..let's see. I live with Meiko. She's awesome, and she's really nice. Piko's quiet, but she's really nice, too. She's like a little sister to me! Um...Gumi- she's the ex-boss -kind of gets in my nerves, but her girlfriend Mayu's pretty chill. I don't talk to Gakupo that much anymore, but I feel bad for him, he's gone through a lot. Uh..Haku's pretty gloomy, but we're pretty good friends, and I know her most next to Meiko, Luka, and Kaito. Neru, we used to pull pranks on everyone, it was fun. Cul's nice enough. We don't talk much, but she's Piko's girlfriend and Piko talks about her a lot. Kaito sometimes misses social cues and he can be kinda creepy, but I still like him. Luka, she moved away. We still talk on the phone, we've been friends since first grade!"

Miku didn't realize until she was done that she hadn't stopped to take a breath during that entire rant. IA went quiet, tapping her chin with a worn down fingernail, picturing everybody in her head. Picturing a heroic redhead ready to help her dear friend in need, a cute and tiny silver-haired girl in a frilly dress, a green-haired girl in goggles with eye-bags and scattered papers and a blonde-haired goth helping her up, a sad-looking older man, a depressed girl with long silver hair in a ponytail, a girl next to her preparing mayhem, a skimpily dressed redhead holding Piko's hand, a blue-haired man inappropriately close to the others, and a pink-haired girl packing her bags.

"They all sound really nice." IA said as the waiter returned with the two sandwiches Miku ordered. Miku nodded, thanking said waiter. IA's food arrived a while later, and soon the two, like always, were talking about a number of odd topics ranging from recipes to music.

The two finished their food, Miku getting the other sandwich wrapped in aluminum foil by the waiter. "I don't wanna go home." IA whined. Miku shrugged. "I'm not in a hurry. We can go shopping or whatever if you like." IA grinned like a child off to the toy store, and nodded.

The two's time was extended. They went to the same mall Miku had been in the day before. They ended up running into Haku and Neru and the group of four girls spent the rest of their shopping day together. IA kept cracking jokes about Haku and Neru dating. The girls were not amused.

Afterwards, all four said their goodbyes, and Miku and IA were soon on the bus after paying for what they bought. "Today was fun." Miku said. IA smiled. "Yeah! It was good to meet Haku-san and Neru-san, they're nice." Miku nodded, IA leaning in closer. "Are you sure they're not dating?" she whispered, a goofy smirk on her face.

Miku chuckled, shoving IA away. "Yeah, I'm sure!" "They'd be such a cute couple, though.." IA said. Miku rolled her eyes. The bus stopped at Miku's home, and she skipped off the buss. She waved at IA a final time before the bus drove off.

Miku walked onto the patio and opened the door, and her heart sank. She was having such a good time just thirty seconds ago, but now...

They were hanging upside-down by their feet tied to a rope, which was in turn tied to the ceiling. Their red eyes were glazed over and lifeless, staring at Miku as if to ask her why, why they're here in such a sick state.

Their clothes barely covered numerous stab wounds, and while the blood had dried mostly, it was still a disturbing thing to look at. Their wrists were cut, but it wasn't a deep enough wound to cause that much bleeding and give their victim the mercy of a quick death. Well, a quick death compared to being stabbed.

Adding to that, their knuckles had been crushed, and Miku could have sworn she saw bones jutting out. There were cuts and scraps on their legs, and their teeth were bloody despite no visible wounds in the mouth.

Meiko Sakine was dead.