Oh my god, here comes the plot at last. Red's finally got his s!*t together, it seems? You'd be surprised.

Oh: I'd rather not hear any anti-Luka/Gakupo, please. I happen to enjoy the pairing, even if it's not my favorite - so please, just remember that this is categorized as a LUKA/MIKU fic for a reason, and be patient.

"What a day," Luka sighed, leaning back in her chair until her head bumped against the wall. "I just want to get home and finally take a shower…" She took a sip of her hot chocolate, now cooled to pleasant warmth, and closed her eyes against the orange light of the setting sun.

The little corner café was officially the 5th Street Coffee shop, but the students and faculty of Kuniaku U. universally called it Teto's. Under the management of the high school student and her brother Ted, who had taken over when their father died, the café had become a haven for anyone looking for a romantic lunch, a last-minute all-nighter, or a good post-test crash. This particular chair was pretty uncomfortable – it was a simple cushion on a wrought-iron frame, not suitable at all for napping – but Luka thought she might make a game effort anyway.

"I'm sure you did quite well, Luka-san," Gakupo said quietly, smiling. Luka twitched, opening an eye to look at him.

"Who said I'm worried about the test, Gaku?" she asked. "I'm just really, really tired…" Letting her chair fall forward again, Luka set her head down on the sparkling-clean, if a little chipped, wooden table between them. She inhaled, letting the shop's ever-present aroma of coffee and fresh bread drain some of the tension from her body.

"You were at the club again last night, weren't you," Gakupo not-really-asked, his tone not changing. Luka felt the tension that had leached from her muscles fill them again, and she made a move to sit up – but Gakupo's warm, strong hand was atop her head, fingers idly combing through her hair, and she relaxed again.

"…Yeah," she said, after a moment. "I talked to Meiko-san again," she added, remembering, "…but she said she still can't let you in until you're twenty-one. I'm sorry."

"I'm not concerned about the club, Luka-san," Gakupo replied, continuing his slow ministrations. "I'm concerned about you. This is not healthy – staying up all night, getting three hours of sleep before waking up again… it will catch up to you."

"I always get enough sleep," Luka protested, lifting her head enough to stifle a yawn with the back of her hand. "Besides, I –" She was interrupted by a burst of electronic music from her bag, and Gakupo lifted his hand away to let her get at her cell phone. The little ceramic charm attached to it – a tuna – clattered against the back of the phone as Luka flipped the top open. She stilled it with her free hand.

"Hello, Megurine Luka," she said, casting an apologetic look at Gakupo. There was a pause as she listened to the tinny voice on the other side of the phone, then she sighed. "Right, right. I got it. I'll make something when I get home." Closing the phone with a flick of her wrist, Luka stood and shouldered her bag.

"I need to bring Ruko some dinner, looks like," she said, stooping to give Gakupo a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you –" She paused as Gakupo returned her hug, holding her in place for a moment.

"Don't go dancing tonight, okay? Stay in and get some rest," he whispered. Releasing her, he stood and picked up his empty cup. "Would you like me to walk you to the train station? It's getting dark," he said, speaking normally.

Luka smiled, hitting him gently on the head. "You don't need to worry about me, Gakkun," she said, placing her own empty mug back on the counter. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She waved a goodbye to Teto, who paused in cleaning long enough to return it, and left in a sweep of chill air.

"You know, you shouldn't worry so much about her, Kamui-san," Teto said after a moment, bending down to root around behind the counter for something. "She can take care of herself, y'know? Aha," she muttered, pulling a rag from some mysterious drawer and starting to buff the counter with it. "She'll run out of steam eventually," the pigtailed girl finished.

"That's what I am concerned about," Gakupo murmured, setting his mug down next to Luka's. He let his gaze drift out the window, his eyes tracing the peach swirl of Luka's hair in the afternoon wind.

"That's what I'm concerned about."

It was only once she'd gotten within three blocks of home that Luka remembered that they did not, in fact, have anything to make dinner with. Pinching the bridge of her nose – no wonder Ruko had called her instead of simply mashing whatever she could find into combinations that might be called edible – Luka turned her feet toward the convenience store nearby, on Sensou Street. She could just pick up a few bento and bring them home, then go shopping tomorrow when she had more money on her. Problem solved.

Opening the door, Luka found herself in a world of artificial lighting, preternaturally clean linoleum and pop music so instantly forgettable she almost didn't hear it at all. The store was mostly empty this late on a Wednesday; a pair of blond high school students too similar not to be twins seemed to be arguing about what fruit to buy, but aside from that the place stood quiet. There wasn't even a cashier in sight.

Luka drifted over to the bento section to pick out some of the lunch packs. There was only one left with tuna sides; she grabbed it quickly despite the fact that there were no other customers within ten yards. For Ruko, she picked out a vegetable-and-barley pack and a pair of iced coffees. One would be necessary to wake her up in the first place, and she'd complain if she didn't have one to drink with dinner. Juggling the groceries around until she was fairly certain that she wouldn't drop them, she headed over to the register, which was still deserted.

"Hello?" Luka called, setting her items down on the counter. A door stood ajar behind the counter, and she leaned over a little to see if she could see into the room. A quiet sound was filtering out through the crack; it almost sounded like… singing…? "Hello? I'm ready to pay," she repeated.

"Ah, sorry, sorry," someone called from the back room. The door swung open, and the speaker dashed back to the register. "I was – um, that is, I –" Luka blinked, surprised.

The green-haired girl from the train stopped immediately when she recognized Luka, and her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. When she spoke again, it was with a clean-cut sort of politeness much cooler than the weather outside. "Hello again," she said. "Is that everything you want?"

"Can I apologize for what I said?" Luka asked. The girl pointedly ignored her, mouth moving silently as she counted up the prices. She stacked Luka's bento into a bag, keeping the coffees aside. "That's ¥1200 even."

Luka sighed, looking down at her nametag. "Look, I want to apologize, um, Hajine-san*. I actually do like leeks, really, and it was rude of me to –"

"Hatsune," the girl said quietly.

Luka paused. "Sorry?"

"It's Hatsune," the cashier repeated. "Hatsune Miku." Surprisingly, some of the frost in her eyes had melted away. "You were having a bad day, right?"

Luka let out a short laugh. "You could say that, yeah. I was late for an exam, lost my train fare, ran into a junior perv…"

Miku nodded to herself. "I knew it," she said. "I guess I can forgive you, then," she said, smiling. "Let's start over, huh? I'm Hatsune Miku," she said, offering a hand. "You won't forget it, 'cuz it's the same way you write 'nice to meet you'."

Luka, after a moment's hesitation, took Miku's hand and shook. "I'm Luka," she said. "Megurine Luka, like 'wandering sound'."

"The same 'ne' as my name*," Miku exclaimed. "That's pretty cool, huh? What a coincidence." She handed Luka the plastic bag, taking the bills and tucking them into the register. "Thanks for shopping here, and have a nice day," she said. "I have to say that to everyone," she added, "but I actually mean it with you."

Luka picked up Ruko's coffees, putting one into her pocket to leave a hand (mostly) free. "Thanks, Hatsune-san," she said, turning to leave.

"Hey." At the sound of Miku's voice, Luka paused, one hand still on the door. Cold air blew past her into the store, stirring her hair across her face, as she turned back to face Miku.

"Come back again sometime," the green-haired girl said, smiling as she leaned over the counter.

Luka nodded, smiling herself. "I will." Then her phone rang, and she tucked the other iced coffee into her elbow to open the device. "Yes, I'm coming," she said, holding the phone a bit away from her ear. "Yeah. I bought you coffee, too, so stop shouting…" her voice trailed away as she walked into the night, eventually cutting off completely as the door closed behind her.

Miku watched her retreating back disappear into the burgeoning twilight. After a moment, she looked over at the only other customers in the shop, the argumentative twins. "So, you two gonna buy something, or what?"

"What," said Ruko, her tone completely flat.

"She followed me home," Luka said, stepping past the dumbstruck woman and kicking off her shoes. "Can we keep her?"

"I –" Ruko tried, turning back and forth between Luka, who was setting down a bag of groceries, and Miku, who gave her an apologetic wave from the hallway. "You bought another high schooler?" she asked, after a moment. "She's not going to fit in the closet with the others."

"Ruko, this is Hatsune Miku-san," Luka said, pushing Ruko gently aside so Miku could step in. "Miku-san, Yokune Ruko, my roommate."

"Nice to meet you," Miku said, bowing to Ruko, who returned the gesture somewhat bemusedly. She closed the door behind the green-haired girl, bending to set Miku's shoes against the wall.

"Miku-san's a freshman, and apparently she takes Voice with Kiyoteru-sensei too," Luka explained to Ruko. "Since I run into her at the convenience store all the time nowadays, I figured she might as well come over and sing tonight."

"She takes Voice with us? No way I missed someone with hair that color," Ruko said, folding her arms and giving Miku a critical look.

Miku returned the look, adopting the same pose. "I take Voice with you? No way I missed someone that tall," she replied.

Ruko burst out laughing and patted Miku on the shoulder. "We're going to get along just fine," she said, nodding happily. She fairly skipped back over to the kotatsu, sliding under it with practiced ease. "So, can we keep her, Luka?" she asked, burying herself under the heated table until only her face was visible. "Freshmen are so cute."

"Um, I brought along some music," Miku offered, pulling the sheets out of her bag. "I'm sorry, Yokune-san… I didn't know Luka-san had a roommate, so I didn't…"

"Ah, that's okay," Ruko said, shrugging under the table's skirt. "I can wing it, right?"

"Well… I mean, it's a duet," Miku continued wretchedly. "I'll bring a trio song next time, but…"

"That's really okay," Ruko insisted, pulling herself out from under the kotatsu. "Really. I actually just remembered I have some studying to do, so I'll let you two sing, okay? I'll be in the library." She slung on her coat and shouldered her bag, disappearing out the door before Luka could stop her.

"Should I go after her?" Miku asked Luka, shuffling from foot to foot. Luka shook her head, frowning at the door, which stood open about an inch.

"She's just being pissy for some reason," she replied. "She gets that way sometimes if she's had too much coffee." She offered a chair to Miku, sitting down on the couch after the younger girl accepted. "Ruko's right, though. It's weird how we've never seen each other around before, you know? Especially since we're in the same Voice class."

"Oh, well, I have seen you around before," Miku said, laying her bag on the floor next to her chair. "In the dining hall, you know? Around," she finished, shrugging.

"You have? Really? Why didn't you say anything on the train?" Luka asked, interested. Miku gave a small laugh.

"Well, it's hard to fit in," she said. "Hi, I'm stinky, have I seen you somewhere before?" She laughed again, but stopped as Luka frowned.

"You're not allowed to bring that back up," the senior chided her kohai**. "I already apologized for that."

"Hey, I'm the one who was called stinky," Miku retorted, mischief sparkling in her eyes. "You should apologize again."

"I won't apologize a second time for saying you smell like leeks," Luka said, folding her arms across her chest. "If you want me to apologize again, you'll have to smell different."

"What do I smell like now, then?" Miku said, sitting forward. Luka stood and leaned over her, putting a hand on the younger girl's shoulder to balance herself.

"Well?" Miku asked, looking up at her. Luka blinked, surprised. "You smell... really good," Luka said, unconsciously leaning closer. "Like flowers, or something. I like it..." Catching herself, she sat back quickly, wondering why her face suddenly felt hot.

"Um, thanks, Luka-san," Miku replied, smiling. "It's a new perfume, so..." Come to think of it, were her cheeks a bit pink as well...?

"So, what'd you bring?" Luka asked maybe a little loudly, picking up the sheet music. She leafed through until she found one she recognized, showing it to Miku. "How about this one? Kiyoteru-sensei taught me a trick with the harmony I want to try out –"

The door closed with a bang.

"Wha-?" Miku performed a strange little jump away from the door. "Ah… I guess we left it open… I guess air pressure closed it?"

"Maybe," Luka said, standing. She crossed to the door and opened it, looking out into the hall beyond. It was empty, the faux wood paneling on the walls staring back at Luka in the glare of the fluorescent lights. Frowning, Luka retreated back into the apartment, closing the door behind her.

It would have taken a more sensitive nose than hers to detect the faint smell of coffee that lingered in the hallway.

Ah crap, drama. What's this mean for our heroes and heroines...? I'm not going to tell you. That would defeat the whole purpose.

Notes!

* All these asterisks relocate to the same footnote, since it's the same thing, basically. Miku and Luka are telling each other how to spell their names using the proper kanji, many of which can share the same pronunciation. Luka's mistake - calling Miku 'Hajine-san' - comes from the fact that the first kanji of her family name, 初, can be read as 'hatsu' or as 'haji', as in 初め (hajime, or 'start'). Both girls' names contain the character 音, 'ne', for 'sound'.

** Underclassman, or coworker/fellow student with lower status. The correspondent term for addressing a senior is 'senpai', which is much more commonly used in anime and such.

Oh, by the way. I realize some of y'all may not have, in point of fact, heard the songs I've been linking these chapters to... so here you go! These are only the extensions; you'll have to plug them into a certain video-sharing site that starts with You yourself, since FF will redact the link if I post 'em directly.

Luka Luka Night Fever (Chapter 1): SQhfd6nQbbU [Any translation of this song you find that starts with 'No no too bad boy' is INCORRECT to the point of making me nerd raeg.]

Turkish March Owata! (Chapter 2): fs5_vNMg1xc

Konbini (Chapter 3): 0Sp9rU5OIBc [Subs aren't great, but understandable].

As of next chapter, I'll be posting them at the end of the chapter they're titled for, so please keep a lookout for that.

Cheers!