A/N: I'm trying to get this out as fast as I can but dear readers, you have to keep in mind that I am not doing this solo. I have people I depend on working with me, and they have their lives too, so sometines editing ( content ) and editing ( Grammar ) takes a bit. That said, chapter 5 is being edited as we speak, and I am going to write chapter 6 as soon as I manage to break free from my Grandia addiction D:
Hear My Song!
Chapter IV
Sake and Dance
Haku had finally managed to explain what had happened with Luka the evening before. Neru was still in a bad mood about it, but at least they were going to be at the inn any minute now. Walking from the train station took roughly fifteen minutes because Neru's agency wasn't that generous with expenses. But the little exercise worked wonders for her temper.
As they walked quietly next to each other, they made an odd pair. Neru, short and flat, looked a bit like a street punk. She was wearing a simple yellow tank top, black jeans with a pair of cheap bootees, and her hair up in a ponytail. Haku, on the other hand, was wearing a black shirt and a denim dress on top which doubled as a skirt. It nearly reached her knees. With her knee-high laced boots, Haku was quite a view.
The inn wasn't big or expensive. Neru had been boiling when she found out Luka was taking Miku to the most expensive inn around the Kusatsu Hot Springs. Haku had been very quiet on the train, listening to Neru's ranting patiently.
It was unlikely that anyone would still recognize her, and it felt good to be away from home for a change. Haku actually was enjoying this little trip more than Neru was. Her depression let up just a little whenever she went somewhere with Neru. Miku knew about Haku's past, but she just didn't care about Haku as much or as intently as the blond girl did.
"Finally. Thought we'd die of old age before we got here." Neru was the same everywhere she went. She took Haku's hand and pulled her along, as she wanted to get rid of their luggage. The checking-in and a hot bath couldn't come fast enough. Neru still had to work, but at least she could spend the entire time with Haku without hiding their relationship.
"Neru, you don't have to pull so much." Haku was being dragged along quite forcibly and was having problems keeping up. The silver-haired woman was not used to walking much and she wasn't feeling too well. Neru had not let her drink anything for the past few days.
"Sorry." Neru eased her grip.
After talking to the employee in the lobby, Neru quickly got their keys. She already had marks on her shoulders from carrying the heavy bag. While Neru hurried to the room, Haku spent a bit more time looking around the place. It was not very expensive, but the people were nice and friendly, and the atmosphere was relaxing. It was completely different from home.
The door was already open when the former songstress reached the right room and found Neru sprawled out on the floor. A tiny smile flitted over her lips, and when Haku knelt down next to the tiny girl, a few strands of her silver hair tickled Neru. With an annoyed expression, Neru got up again and crawled to the door, kicking it closed.
"It's been a while since we've been alone somewhere…" Haku felt a little embarrassed all of a sudden. For a moment, she felt like a young girl going on a trip with her friend. But truly, things were nothing like that. Neru was her lover, not just her friend. And she wasn't young anymore. But still, feeling like that again made her just a little bit happy.
The blond girl crawled on all fours to her partner and caressed her cheek with her hand, followed by a short kiss. Neru had never regretted getting into this sort of relationship with Haku at all.
"Neru…I want to take a bath. I'm all sticky." Haku pulled at her hair and seemed quite displeased. It was sweaty. The A/C in the train hadn't been working properly. It had been way too hot. Pulling on the upper edge of her shirt, Haku felt like she was being steamed.
With a gentle smile, Neru looked into the eyes of her partner and happily nodded. She would enjoy being able to bathe with Haku. Usually she couldn't, because Miku might get suspicious, but now…
Coming even closer, Neru laid both arms around the taller woman. No matter what happened, they would always be together.
Though Haku was now looking directly into Neru's golden eyes, she still couldn't get rid of the little shyness that remained. Closing her eyes, she eagerly awaited Neru's kiss. Whenever she was alone with Neru, she felt different. Like everything else didn't matter anymore.
Neru kissed her cousin passionately, poking Haku's lips with her tongue. She wasn't one to do things half-assed. Haku's face flushed as her tongue met Haku's. Their bodies shaking from excitement, Neru's hand slipped under the shirt of the other woman, fiercely groping her breasts.
Haku grabbed Neru's arm and shook her head. "Can't we take a bath first? I feel all dirty like this."
It was rare that Haku voiced her opinion against Neru's actions. The blond girl backed off immediately and smiled, oddly happy about Haku taking a stand against her.
There were no towels in the room; they would probably be at the bath. Neru took the keys and the two left for the bath, leaving everything as it was. Neru still licked her lips, with made Haku avert her eyes. It turned the novelist girl on when Haku acted shy.
To Neru's disappointment, there were other people in the bath as well, which meant they couldn't act like a couple. Neru was oddly cautious when it came to her relationship with Haku being exposed to other people.
The big bath was one very large tub. It was nice, with stone plates. It looked very well maintained. It was open air, so both women got chills on their back before they went into the water. There were several small wooden buckets to wash with, too.
"I'll wash your back later," Neru whispered, and hoped that the other guests would soon leave.
Neru could see one woman in the other corner of the tub staring at Haku's chest. Haku was quite well endowed, so it was not uncommon for people to stare at her. Her silver hair, large height, and red eyes didn't help that matter.
Neru got angry very easily when people stared at Haku. She was the type to get jealous quickly. But Haku simply turned around and grabbed Neru's wrist. "Neru…"
When Haku said her name with her sad face, all resistance and anger simply vanished.
It took nearly ten minutes, but at last, the other guest—the staring woman—left. They were finally alone in the bath. Neru took the chance right away and kissed Haku. She was always painfully reminded of how she lacked in the chest area when they were like this, but Haku never said anything or made fun of her. Neru hated the fact that she was so flat, and envied even Miku a bit, but…Haku accepted her as she was.
Returning the kiss as passionately as it was given, Haku laid her arms around the smaller girl. She felt a little dizzy, and she was sure it was not from the warm water.
But the two girls were plagued by bad luck. They heard the door to the bath creak open and they jumped apart seconds before another guest came in. He eyed them curiously as he went into a tub in a different corner.
"Come, I'll wash your back." Neru sighed with resignation and helped Haku out of the tub.
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Miku had never eaten a dessert like that before. What was it called? Baumkuchen? It was so absurdly delicious that she wanted another serving, but she was a little bit worried about what that cake would do to her figure if she couldn't stop herself after the next piece…
The German restaurant was called Bernard. The name meant "forest spirit" and the dishes were quite exquisite. They had lentil soup as appetizer, then fried potatoes with curd cheese and salad. For dessert, they had a variant of cake called Baumkuchen, which was a German specialty.
Luka was wiping her lips with a napkin while Miku watched other people dance. It was not just a simple restaurant. The tables were all in a big circle around a dance floor. Classical music was playing. Miku watched the other people so intently that Luka needed to poke her hand before the green-haired girl turned around.
"What?" Miku had been spacing out.
"Want to dance?" Luka offered casually, and Miku instantly waved her hands. She was not that good of a dancer—not to mention she had never danced to this sort of music before. She knew the basic steps from looking at the others, but…
Luka stood up with a smile and knelt next to Miku's seat. "My lady, may I have this dance?"
The songstress had a smug grin on her face, and a few people were already looking over at them. With Luka kneeling before her and asking for her hand to dance, Miku just couldn't refuse now.
"You demon!" Miku whispered as they slowly walked to the dance floor.
The current song was already coming to an end. The next song was one that Miku knew from a game that Neru played often. "Waltz for the Moon." She had the soundtrack of said game and often listened to this specific track. She knew it by heart.
"I'm the man. I'm taller!" Luka whispered and took position—right hand on Miku's waist, the other holding Miku's right hand. Miku laid her free hand on Luka's shoulder. She had seen the scene for this so often, she knew how it went.
Sidewards stepping, forward and back, both knew exactly how to move. Miku was grinning with malicious joy. Luka had obviously planned to lead her and show off, but she hadn't anticipated that Miku might know this particular dance. Any other song and the songstress would have had her way, but not with this one!
Luka was surprised, but quickly adapted. Going faster, they did the difficult movements perfectly, and Luka really started to enjoy herself. She looked just a little bit down at Miku's face. Would it be bad to kiss her after the dance? Better not go too far…
The song ended and loud applause suddenly came from every corner. Miku looked around, startled, and found that everyone in the room had been watching them. With a fierce blush in her face, Miku felt her hand being taken by Luka. Both of them bowed and gracefully left the dance floor.
There was a waiter waiting at their table. "Was für ein großartiger mond waltzer! Sehr beeindruckend. Der oberkellner lässt ihnen diese flasche wein als zeichen seiner anerkennung zukommen, werte ladies." He spoke in German and Miku didn't understand a word.
"Luka…what did he say?" Miku whispered after Luka took the bottle of wine from the waiter and thanked him. That was the one of the very few German words Miku knew. Danke.
"He said he thought you were so beautiful that he wanted you to have this." Luka pointed at the bottle of wine after Miku sat down. It had already been opened. The younger girl seemed very embarrassed all of a sudden.
Luka could barely contain her laughter. After laughing on the inside for nearly a minute, Luka started to giggle and earned a very harsh glare from Miku, who was now sure that Luka had made that up.
"He said we were dancing so magnificently that the chief waiter sent us this bottle of wine. I think. My German is a bit rusty," Luka said and filled their glasses with wine. She was feeling a bit thirsty now from the dance.
"I didn't know you could dance the Moon Waltz this well. Where did you learn it?" Luka lifted her glass and waited for Miku to clink glasses.
Miku averted her eyes and started to mumble. "Video…"
Luka looked confused, leaned forward and repeated her question. "What did you say?"
"I saw the scene countless times in a video game. Satisfied?" Miku snapped and started sulking. It wasn't her fault she didn't have the time or money to learn such things!
Luka started laughing so hard that she nearly spilled her wine. "Really?" she gasped. "That's where I learned it!" Miku was obviously hurt by her outburst of laughter, as she was now looking away from Luka. "Sorry. I just found the coincidence funny."
Miku looked a bit offended, but forgave Luka. After all, it was quite comical to learn a dance from a video game. Taking a sip of wine, Miku remembered the last time she had done this. What kind of tricks did Luka pull every time to get them to serve her wine? That woman was a real succubus.
"Don't drink too much. I don't want to carry you," Luka warned her. This wine was delicious, but also strong. It was nothing like Japanese wine. This was the real deal. She probably shouldn't let Miku have more than one glass.
Luka was gazing around the room when she noticed a familiar face approaching them. Marching directly towards Miku was Gumi, the star of J-Net. Luka sighed. What in the world was Megumi Lyoid doing here? It would be so bothersome if Gumi found out that she was dating Miku. The press would be all over her in a matter of hours.
"I knew it was you!" Gumi was wearing a very fancy green dress that was completed by nice black high heels and an orange scarf. The girl was really simplistic, wearing her trademark colors even here.
Miku only noticed Gumi now and almost knocked over her glass of wine. She had only met the star once before, briefly, when they had exchanged contact addresses. What was she doing here? This was bad…she would get suspicious of Luka now. Why would the songstress be here, eating dinner and dancing with Miku? How could Miku get out of this mess?
When Gumi looked at Miku's escort, her expression changed a bit. "Luka Megurine. Why are you here?" Gumi wasn't too pleased with Luka. She knew that her whole stage act was just that—an act. And she disliked when people deceived their fans.
"Megumi Lyoid. I could ask you the same. We finished working on a song and I invited her here for dinner. Is it so odd, two colleagues celebrating together?"
Luka had the whole thing under control. As long as Miku played along with her story, they could make a clean getaway.
"Don't call me that. So it's true that she's the one saving you after the critics nearly ate you alive? Lucky you." Gumi was always a little bit sarcastic when it came to Luka, but she really had to go on a stretch to be mean. She just wasn't like that.
"What about you? I heard your new single was delayed for unknown reasons. What kind of reason could that be?" Luka felt like having a duel of wits with Gumi. She won most of them, and her bad habit of wanting to impress Miku was edging her to do it.
"It's fascinating how two grown women can turn into twelve-year-olds when it comes to their work," Miku said in an extremely sarcastic tone. She was giving both of them a disappointed glare. This was not how people should behave…especially not adults. Even if they were rivals in the same business.
Miku concentrated her glare on Luka, who averted her eyes, and then on Gumi, who seemed a little embarrassed now.
"I guess it's not really my business who works with you," Gumi said, and turned around to leave. Luka kept silent until Miku kicked her leg under the table. Her look said, Apologize!
Taking a deep breath, Luka rolled her eyes and said in a slightly louder voice than normal, "I guess it's none of my business why you took a break either…Gumi." Luka usually called Gumi by her real name to piss her off, but now Luka didn't want to risk Miku getting mad.
Gumi turned around once more and eyed Luka suspiciously. "You've…changed. You're a lot more tolerable than you used to be," she said.
Luka gave her such a burning glare that Gumi pretended to hide behind Miku's back. "Ooh, scary." Gumi smiled and stuck out her tongue. She had a mischievous side too.
"Will you two cut it out, please? You're making my head spin." Miku meant that literally. Her vision was a little shaky now. The wine had been even stronger than she'd thought. "But Luka's right, what are you doing here, Gumi? We're here to celebrate, like Luka said." Miku picked up the conversation and hoped the two women would stop attacking each other.
"I'm here with a friend. He came back from a tour and invited me." Gumi pointed at the far corner of the room—the VIP corner. Luka had to look a second time until she recognized the man sitting there.
She gulped. How did Gumi know that guy? He was really famous and had just finished his world tour. "Gakupo Kamui? You're serious? He is your friend?" Luka seemed quite amazed. Kamui was currently one of the world's most famous singers.
"He's a childhood friend of mine. He used to live next door to me," Gumi said. She left her hideout behind Miku, who seemed to stagger dangerously in her chair.
Gumi looked down at Miku. "I think you should take her home," she said to Luka, as she pointed at the empty glass of wine.
Luka bit her lip. Meeting Kamui Gakupo was a rare chance, but she'd have to suck up to Gumi for that. And then there was the problem with Miku. Well, she would have to take her chances and hope to meet him another time. Miku was more important now.
"You're right. I'll, uh, see you around then." Luka awkwardly excused herself and bade Gumi farewell, who returned to her seat to talk about whom she had just met with her friend.
Miku was a little insecure on her legs. To save face, Luka locked arms heavily with Miku and put her other arm around her waist, supporting her. She asked the waiter to send the bill to the inn. Given the respectable name and her looks, the waiter accepted her demand and let them go.
The fresh air hit Luka like a road roller. She was now a little insecure on her own legs, but thankfully Miku had some sense left in her and they both supported each other. It would take a while to reach the inn like this.
"You never mentioned you know Gumi," Luka started a few minutes after they had left.
"I only met her once, briefly," Miku answered. "She was singing for the local kids in my neighborhood." She stopped to take a little rest. Luckily, there was a wall that was perfect to sit on nearby. Sitting down with her lover, Miku leaned against the pink-haired woman.
"What are you thinking?" Miku asked and looked up into the face of the songstress.
"I just wondered if you and Gumi will end up as rivals. You're both the natural, cute type. That is, if you want to keep going with singing. I…would love to work with you." Luka was always a little worried about Miku's career. What if Miku would not be well received in the end? What if the agency abandoned her? Luka felt a little insecure thinking about that scenario. There was a pain in her chest when she thought about working as a songstress without Miku by her side.
"I'll deal with that if I get that far, Luka." Miku smiled and closed her eyes. "Right now, being with you is all I want. And I feel like I can go anywhere as long as you're at my side." The green-haired girl took a deep breath.
Luka patted the younger girl's head and kissed her on the forehead. She was just so cute sometimes.
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Meiko had gotten wasted like never before. She had gone way overboard with her drinking and was feeling quite miserable right now. After throwing up for ten minutes straight, there was finally nothing more.
She had never been so thankful for anyone to be at her side before. Kaito had carried her from the bathroom to the bedroom, had gotten her some clean clothes, water and whatever she needed. Meiko felt quite bad for putting him through all that trouble.
"This is your own fault. You should know how much you can drink," Kaito scolded the woman. He sighed. She really had outdone herself.
"I know." Meiko bit her lip. He was actually right. She couldn't blame or fault anyone for this. If someone had told her to stop, she wouldn't have listened.
"You need something else? I put a bucket behind you in case you feel sick again. There's also a bottle of water. " Kaito stood up and tried to think of something else she could need, but he couldn't think of anything.
"I'll sleep in the next room. Get some rest." Kaito was up and about to close the door when Meiko pulled herself up and looked at the guy, a bit concerned. It wasn't fair of her to put him through all this. To accept his help and then ban him to the next room.
"You can sleep here. I don't think you would do anything weird anyway." Meiko felt like throwing up again, but nothing came out and she fell back down on the futon. Her stomach was growling and howling. Grabbing the water bottle, she took a large gulp. The disgusting taste of vomit was still in her mouth.
"I don't think I'd be able to sleep with you in the same room. I don't mind the throwing up, but I'd be too nervous to close an eye." Kaito said things with a straight face that would make others melt with embarrassment.
Meiko almost wanted to blush, but she felt too bad to do so. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess. Probably wasn't a very fun trip for you." Meiko felt just a little repentant after all. Kaito was a nice guy, and she was starting to see that too. His bluntness was still getting on her nerves, though.
"It wasn't so bad. I got to see you naked, had a nice bath, and had some nice food and drinks. And I got to spend some time with you. It's a lot better than my usual weekend," Kaito answered, and knelt down to feel Meiko's forehead. "But you really should rest and drink some more water. You're going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow."
Finally leaving, Kaito left the door open a crack. "If you need something, yell. Good night."
Meiko sighed. The guy was too honest for his own sake. But it was a nice change to know exactly what someone was thinking. No lies, no excuses, just the brutal, bland truth. In one way or another, it wasn't really that bad. Annoying, yes, but also…nice.
Her stomach acted up again and Meiko cursed. She would never drink this much again. Maybe she should lie low just a little bit for the next week. She didn't even want to imagine what her hangover would be like tomorrow.
Thinking of Kaito's words, Meiko grabbed the water bottle and let out a big sigh. She would feel sick now, but at least not tomorrow. Meiko opened and drank the whole bottle, then burped. If that wasn't enough water, she didn't know how much was. But now she couldn't sleep.
"Are you asleep?" Meiko said in a quiet voice. The lights were already out in the next room and she didn't want to get up to check. The water just might come back up. And she had had enough hurling for some time.
"Not yet." Kaito replied, and everything returned to silence. Meiko really didn't have anything to talk about, or at least she couldn't think of anything right now. She was thankful for Kaito, but really, he was a bit of a pain to talk to.
Kaito looked at a certain spot on the wall and said, "I always wondered. Why is your singing not popular? You have a nice voice, you look good. Well, I'd be lying if I said that you have a nice personality, but I still like it."
Meiko could have sworn that he was looking her way. She was a bit annoyed about what he said about her personality, but at least he wasn't pretending to like her for something she wasn't. "I don't know. I could ask you the same. Letting your…personality slide, your voice isn't that bad," Meiko answered and turned around, her back towards the simple sliding door.
"Maybe we're just unlucky. Luka is popular right now, and we're just not fitting in the same genre. But we get by, don't we?" Kaito redirected his gaze to the ceiling. It wasn't that he hated to work in his shop. He liked it enough to put in the effort. He was just curious.
Meiko was not too different. The work in the shop was okay. It had decent pay, free days occasionally, and the boss didn't complain if she got her own booze there as well. But singing was still her greatest pleasure. Next to sake, of course.
The woman felt her eyelids getting heavy. The remaining alcohol was doing its job. Her consciousness slipped away quickly until she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
"Meiko?" Kaito wondered why she wasn't answering. "Must have fallen asleep," he whispered to himself. He closed his eyes. Tomorrow would be another turbulent day. It was never boring with Meiko. It was just one of many reasons why he had a crush on her. And things were finally moving forward. Maybe getting dragged along was really a stroke of luck?
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Luka kicked her shoes off at the entrance of the room. Miku had the decency to put them away, but she felt as tired as Luka. As Japanese, they weren't used to the dry wine of the Germans. Miku had a bit of fierce red in her face, while Luka seemed to be less affected. Maybe she should lay off alcohol for a while, Miku thought.
Miku leaned against a wall, while Luka was in the middle of the room, leaning on the table. Slowly crawling on all fours, Miku went to her partner and hugged her from behind. "Didn't you want to take another bath?" the girl whispered.
They both were tired and a little drunk, so maybe it wasn't the best decision to take a bath now. Luka grabbed Miku's arms and let herself fall to the ground, pulling the surprised girl with her. The floor was not as cold as expected and Luka just stayed like that, lying on her side, quietly watching Miku, who was next to her.
"I wish we could just keep going like this. I don't want to think about working the day after tomorrow…" Luka complained and sighed. She then took Miku's hand and played with her fingers.
"And I'm the hopeless romantic. Talk about glass houses." Miku smiled and teased the older woman a little bit by moving her fingers out of reach once a while. She was feeling a little light-headed from the wine and the walk afterward, but it was nothing big.
"One day you'll going to jail for making a minor drink," Miku said and snickered. She would never tell anyone that Luka had allowed her to drink or lied about her age.
"Are you gonna visit me?" Luka crawled a bit closer. Miku had let her hair down earlier, so she started to play with it. Twirling it around her fingers and letting go, Miku soon imitated her. She couldn't help but ask herself what Luka would look like with other hairstyles. Maybe the same as Haku?
"No. I'll let you rot." Miku stuck out her tongue and earned herself a moping expression from Luka.
She moved closer. Miku was now in Luka's arms, her head lying against the songstress's chest. Miku could hear her heartbeat. It was just like Luka said. Miku too wanted to stay like this. Carefree in a hotel, just spending the day with her lover. But that would become old really quickly. And it wasn't like Miku hated work or school.
The pink-haired woman was still playing with Miku's hair, but her hands slowly moved further and further down, until they were resting on Miku's butt. She didn't seem to mind, and Luka's hands skillfully slid under her dress. She could have sworn that Miku was whispering "Pervert!" under her breath.
Miku moaned just a little bit when Luka touched and then groped her butt. It was a new and weird feeling, but not…unpleasant. She was slowly getting used to Luka's actions.
The songstress had a deep neckline and Miku made use of that. She blew air on Luka's silky skin, and Luka gasped in surprise as chills ran down her spine.
Luka's hands moved up from Miku's butt to her back. Once in a while, she too felt romantic. Her fingers moved gently between her shoulders, making Miku sigh happily. They were lying there just like that, close to each other, not doing much but teasing each other ever so slightly.
"Let's take a bath before I fall asleep in your arms like this," Miku whispered, and felt the resistance of not wanting this happy moment to end in her body.
But Luka pulled her hands back and actually lifted herself up. Miku was on her back now, looking up into two beautiful blue eyes that were passionately looking down at her. Luka leaned down, causing several strands of pink hair to tickle Miku, and gave her lover a short kiss to get her up.
"I am not carrying you," Luka said, and let her dress slide to the ground. After striking a seductive pose, she watched Miku pull herself up and get rid completely of her halfway-removed dress. Just in underwear, the two women made their way to the bathroom. The few steps there were quickly littered with the little clothing they still had on.
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Neru was brooding over her review article. There really wasn't too much she could say. The rooms were decent, the bath was nice, and the food good. She really wasn't too skilled with being generous on descriptions. Or with praise for someone else's work, for that matter.
Haku was using Neru's MP3 player and listening to the new album from Supercell, one of Neru's favorite bands. They couldn't help it. It was already dark outside and Neru had to at least start while the impressions were fresh.
She didn't have much yet. She leaned back until she was back-to-back with Haku, who took out the earphones and gave Neru a confused look.
"Not going well?" Haku wanted to help the blond girl in situations such as these, but she wasn't too good with words.
"Not really, no. Bit boring here, so there isn't much to say," Neru complained. She let Haku support her while she stretched. The bones in her elbows cracked, and the girl let out a moan of satisfaction. She always got tense when writing.
"Gimme one." Neru pointed at Haku's left ear and Haku handed over one of the earphones. They occasionally did this at home, too. Since Neru was the only one who had an MP3 player, they could get away without Miku getting suspicious.
They sat quietly, next to each other and listening to music. Neru decided that it was useless to try and come up with something when her attention was focused on Haku and not her work. She looked over at the woman, who was wearing only a bathrobe. Neru remembered the last few hours and blushed a bit. She didn't like just wearing a bathrobe, so she had dressed in some casual and sloppy clothes she had brought exactly for this reason—a wide shirt and some jean shorts. They both had their hair down. Neru was a little jealous of how shiny Haku's hair got after she washed it. Neru only achieved a bland and dim gold, while Haku's really shone like silver.
Haku pulled her legs close to her body and rested her head on her knees. She was tired. Not just from sleeping with Neru before, but also from traveling and from being in an unfamiliar place. She wanted to go to sleep already.
"Neru…I'm tired. It's past midnight." Haku's voice was more like a whisper. She was about to fall asleep. Turning down the volume of the music, the silver-haired woman closed her eyes. Whenever she was alone with Neru, she managed to temporarily let go of her depression. The world seemed like a nicer place.
Neru ruffled her hair and sighed in disappointment. She could still finish the review tomorrow. Now that she thought about it, she was feeling a little tired now. And they had stayed so long in the bath that she had felt dizzy afterward. Neru stood up and grabbed Haku's hand, helping her cousin up.
The day had been eventful. The futons were so close to each other that they were practically one big futon, and Neru was lying so close to Haku that they might have fit in one just fine. It was the same as at home.
The usually depressed woman had already closed her eyes, but was instinctively looking for Neru's hand. She had not once let go of her at night. It was the time of the day she hated the most. At night, her nightmares came to haunt her, to remind her of what a failure she was. The few rare occasions when Haku had to sleep alone were hell for her. She often woke up crying and cowering under her blanket. She hated it. If Neru were with her, the nightmares weren't so bad. Her presence was a charm that kept Haku's fears under control.
Grabbing the older woman's hand, Neru too closed her eyes. She didn't have to look for what she was about to do.
Moving closer for a bit, Neru gave the woman a goodnight kiss. "I love you, Haku." Neru told her every day, and it still made the silver-haired woman visibly happy.
"I love you too, Neru," Haku whispered and slowly drifted away to sleep. As long as Neru was with her, the nightmares wouldn't come. Or if they came, at least her lover was there to comfort her.
Neru took a few minutes and waited for Haku to completely fall asleep before she let herself drift away. Her dreams were often plain and she couldn't remember them. But there was one that was always very real and vivid. It was more a memory than a dream.
Haku's reputation had just started to go downhill. She was getting more and more depressed, and everyone knew it was only a matter of time until her career was at an end before it had even started. Neru hadn't had much to do with Haku at the time. She had moved out of her mother's house early on, at sixteen years old. Her mother was a beast who had divorced Neru's father not long after Neru was born.
Neru hated her mother. It seemed so unreal to her that she could be such a monster when her mother's sister was so gentle a woman. Her daughter, Haku, was Neru's cousin. Neru envied her. After she moved out, Neru was already following the events around Haku. Calling Haku one day, Neru asked her if she wanted to meet a cousin she had never seen before.
Haku, at the time happy for anyone that cared about her, went to see Neru. They met for just a bit, and Neru found the easily depressed and somehow meek woman to be oddly captivating. She never felt the urge to tease her, as she did with everyone else. It was mysterious.
They met again a few times, and Haku gradually started to trust Neru. By the time Haku was fired and had nowhere to go, Neru had already taken her in.
A long time passed before they found out the truth. It was true that they both had the same great-grandparents. But things between Neru and Haku were more complicated than that. It was a letter that Haku got from her mother one day that told them of the truth. Her mother said that she wanted to tell Haku, since she was living with Neru now.
Haku was shocked at first. But it explained why she had looked nothing like her parents. Haku had been given up for adoption before she could even walk. Her mother's sister had adopted her, and her name became Yowane.
Haku's biological mother married and had another child—Neru. Legally Neru and Haku were cousins, but they were actually half-sisters. They had the same horrible mother, but different fathers. Nobody remembered even the face of Haku's biological father. But that didn't matter for Haku. Her father was the man that she had known as her father all her life.
Haku had never been told that she was adopted. The truth hurt her badly and it took her a long time to show Neru the letter.
Neru was more angry than shocked. She had never liked her own mother, and this only made it worse. To think that she had divorced twice and she just gave Haku away.
But at that time, it only got them closer together. Neru was now aware why she was so fascinated by Haku. She was Neru's sister. Only her half-sister, but still, the closest relative she had now. But her feelings slowly changed. Neru knew it was wrong to feel about her older sister like that, but she was gradually falling in love with her. It took all her courage to finally confess her feelings after she could no longer ignore them.
Haku had been surprised, but not scared. She liked Neru for all she had done for her. Taken her in, helped her with her depression. And even though she was her sister, Haku just felt different about her. They didn't have the moral barriers that usually existed between siblings. Haku was happy to hear that someone loved her for what she was. She accepted Neru's feelings, and they became lovers.
A forbidden relationship between blood-related sisters. They could never tell anyone. Nobody would understand just how important they were to each other. So they hid their love from everyone around them and continued to be together in secret. They didn't even want to imagine what would happen if someone found out.
Neru woke up, sweating and breathing heavily. She looked to her side. In the room's darkness, she could see her older sister quietly sleeping. It still felt a little bit weird to call her sister, even in her thoughts.
Neru leaned over the woman and whispered, "I love you, Onee-chan." She rarely did this, and they never called each other sisters if they weren't sure that nobody could hear them. And even then…they knew it was wrong for them to be in love. Not just that it was love between two women, but also between siblings.
Lying down, Neru found herself unable to sleep. Sometimes, she asked herself if she would still love Haku if they weren't sisters. The answer to that was always the same. It didn't matter who Haku was, Neru loved her for what she was. Not for the blood flowing in her veins.
Haku started to move, afraid of something. Neru knew just too well what it was. Another nightmare plagued her. If only Neru could do something to make those terrible memories go away.
She had just graduated from college when an agency scouted her. It was a small company that was just using Haku for a promotional experiment as it later turned out. The girl had been fascinated by singing and wanted to become a songstress. She recorded a few songs, and even had a single live performance. But in the end, she had not been picked for talent or skills. Haku was just a guinea pig for a company testing a new model of PR.
The live performance was a traumatizing experience. Soon after Haku excitedly starting singing, people starting booing, one after another. Trying not to let it get to her, Haku continued. She didn't even get to finish a single song. People started to riot, leaving and throwing empty cans at her. Haku was left cowering in a corner of the stage in an empty hall, crying and sobbing. The company nearly vanished overnight and Haku was left unemployed, depressed and with a track record of a failed songstress. It was only thanks to Neru, who took her in a little while before the live performance, that she didn't have to sleep on the street.
She couldn't find a job for some time, which made her depression worse to the point where she started drowning herself in alcohol. Neru and Miku, her cousins, tried to get her away from her addiction, and though they got stricter in time, Haku never managed to get over her depression.
Tears flowing from her eyes and sobbing uncontrollably, Haku woke up and found herself already embraced by her younger sister. She didn't need to say anything. It was obvious to Neru which dream she'd had just now. It took both women some time to finally fall asleep again. But this time, it was a deep and dreamless sleep.
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Miku was still breathing heavily, so she backed off from Luka a bit. Making love in the hot water had gone to her head. She was feeling dizzy and light-headed, but it still had been an amazing experience. Luka was the same—gasping for air, her chest heaving quickly. Miku was a quick learner, that much Luka knew by now. She still remembered the touch of Miku's fingers.
With red faces and red skin from the continued exposure to hot water, they both left the tub and grabbed their towels. They opened the window in the main room so the cold night air streamed in and cooled their hot bodies and minds.
Luka rummaged through the little bar in the room and pulled a rather suspicious bottle with a dark red liquid out. "Don't worry. It's just some iced tea. I have to drive tomorrow," Luka said and smiled. She looked for two cups, but didn't find any.
"At least we only used our fingers and not tongues." Luka opened the bottle and took a large gulp, burping after she finished and handed the bottle to Miku.
"Way to kill any remaining romantic mood," Miku complained, but she took the bottle and gulped down its contents. She burped too, but not without covering her mouth with her hand. Now that the arousal and adrenaline was slowly fading away, Miku felt her body demanding sleep.
A look at the clock and Miku nearly spat out the iced tea. It was past two in the morning. They had to be ready to check out at ten. Miku sighed. That probably wasn't going to be a very relaxing Sunday. But well, so far it had been an amazing weekend.
"Let's go to sleep, Luka. And no more groping. I think I'm going to get marks from your nails anyway!" Miku said, and took another gulp. She pulled a shirt from her bag and got ready for bed. She still had to brush her teeth, but going back into the bathroom seemed kinda…
"I'm going to cut them before next time. But you're one to complain!" Luka pulled her hair to the side and turned around, pointing at several love bites on her neck. "I won't be able to put my hair up for a while. If anyone sees those…" Luka sighed. After exchanging looks, both of them started to laugh. It was kind of funny.
Miku gave the bottle back and took her toothbrush and toothpaste from her bag. She always came prepared. Luka made a shocked face. Was is that unusual to bring your own toothbrush? Miku was a bit worried about Luka's common sense.
"I forgot mine. You mind me using yours?" Luka made a pleading gesture. She usually wasn't that forgetful.
Miku didn't mind. Considering how much they had kissed alone in the last day, it really made no difference. "I'll go first, if you don't mind," Miku said and vanished in the bathroom.
Luka picked up Miku's towel and made sure that the girl was brushing her teeth and not paying attention before she sniffed the wet towel. It smelled exactly like Miku. She was developing a fetish for things with her smell. First Miku's pillow, and now the towel…
Luka put on some underwear and looked for a shirt of her own. She just couldn't find one, while she was sure that she had packed one. Instead, she found a white chemise. Well, it was good enough. Using only the bottom two buttons, Luka walked over to the bathroom, just to bump into Miku.
"I left the brush at the sink. Nice chemise," Miku said, and smiled. She left with a yawn for the futon room.
Luka brushed her teeth in silence. She had never expected things to be this nice. Were all relationships like this? She really was lucky to have a nice, down-to-earth girl like Miku as her girlfriend. It would bring problems in the future, that was for sure, but she would cross that bridge when they reached it.
Miku was already in the futon when Luka came into the side room. She had placed her own futon a bit away from Luka's.
"I promise I won't do anything," Luka said, sighing heavily.
"I'm gonna give you a big purple hickey on your forehead if you do," Miku threatened and watched Luka move her futon right next to hers before turning out the lights. It didn't take a minute for the older woman to snuggle up to her and take the same position as they did when they slept at Luka's place—the pink-haired woman hugging the green-haired girl from behind.
"Thanks," Miku said after the two of them had remained in the dark room without words for a while, just calmly lying next to each other.
"What's this all of a sudden?" Luka was curious for what exactly Miku was thanking her. There were a whole lot of choices right now.
"I just hadn't said thanks yet. For taking me on the trip and to that restaurant. And most of all, you actually acted like a decent person for a whole day. That must've been hard on you," Miku said and had problems suppressing her laughter. She really was thankful, but she had to tease Luka a little in the end. Luka's bad nature had actually rubbed off on her.
"Yeah, it was terrible. Thank God I can go back to being the same old heartless monster I always am, right?" Luka put some emphasis on the last part by playfully biting Miku in her shoulder. "Rah! I'll eat you!"
Miku rolled her eyes but played along, purposely acting like a victim and putting on an extremely bored voice. "Someone, help. Oh no, I am getting eaten alive. Oh no," Miku said, and watched Luka stop and lean over her, looking in her eyes.
"Your acting sucks. You need to work on that if you want to make it anywhere in the business." Luka poked Miku's forehead with her index finger and shrugged. "You should take me as example!"
She showed off and showed first a sad, then a happy and then an angry face, including false tears of rage, laughter and sadness. It was obviously too dark for Miku to see much, but she could easily guess what kind of face Luka was making.
"The born diva, aren't you." Miku snorted, but she could no longer hold it in. Starting to laugh to her heart's content, Luka soon followed her and started laughing just as loudly after a quick moment of sulking.
Going back to a pleasant silence, Miku lay there, her eyes closed and nicely snuggled up to Luka. She was almost asleep when Luka called her name with a whisper. Miku ignored her in hopes that she would just give up and go to sleep. But instead, the pink-haired woman started whispering in her ear.
"You want to wear black stockings, you want to wear black stockings, you want—" Luka repeated the same line over and over.
"Pervert," Miku said, loud and in a very cold tone before moving away a little bit.
Luka tried to grab her but got a death glare from Miku and sighed, deciding instead going to sleep. Her plan had failed. Hopefully Miku wasn't going to be angry the next day.
The younger girl rolled her eyes and sighed. She would end up awake in the arms of the woman next to her anyway. Waiting a few minutes until her bad mood had mostly given way to the more positive feelings she carried, Miku crawled back to Luka, who almost instinctively embraced her, already asleep.
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
Miku was boiling in her seat, and a somewhat annoyed and confused Luka was driving the car. The whole morning had been a catastrophe. It all started with waking up, which was harmless enough—despite the fact that Luka had both her arms shoved under Miku's shirt and was quite shamelessly groping the girl in her sleep.
The next thing Miku remembered was going to the bathroom to brush her teeth and something itching on her neck. She finally realized what was itching when she combed her hair. Luka had, one way or another, left her an enormous hickey on the left side of her neck. It was so big that anyone from five meters distance could see it.
After waking Luka up (quite violently so), the pink-haired woman was just as surprised as Miku at the love bite. "I've heard of sleep walking…but sleep biting?" Luka tried to make an intelligent face, but quickly dropped it when she felt that Miku was really angry.
"You don't really expect me to run around like this, do you? What about school? They'll ask me where the hell I got a love bite this size!" Miku was giving Luka a hazardous glare, her hair only half done and not quite dressed yet.
"Nothing I can do about it! It's a bit warm to wear a scarf now…I could try to conceal it with makeup, but that'll be difficult. And I don't have any with me now. Just keep your hair down and it'll be hard to see unless someone knows it's there." Luka tried to somehow ease up the rather explosive mood in the room. Her timing really was the worst. She had slept with Miku in the same bed often and had never bitten her in her sleep before.
The checkout at least went over easily. Miku kept a safe distance from everyone but Luka and paid a bit too much attention to her hair, which drew a few gazes. After loading their luggage into Luka's car, Miku sat down in the passenger seat and looked out the window, still angry.
Luka didn't know what to say. The trip was nice, but the ending—somehow not so much. Well, maybe Miku would cool down by the time they were back home.
They were on the road for nearly half an hour when the silence between them got a bit too much. God had mercy on them and let Luka's cell phone ring.
Miku picked it up on instinct since the woman was driving, and given the way they came here, Miku didn't want to risk another roller coaster trip. "Yes?" Miku just assumed that whoever knew this number must also know that she was with Luka.
It was Erico. He talked a bit, and Miku's mood went from better to confused to tired to normal in a matter of minutes. When Miku finally closed the cell and put it back in the little box in the middle of the car, Luka gave her a surprised look.
"I can already guess who it was. What did he say?" Luka asked, and was so thankful that Miku seemed to have forgotten her bad mood. At least temporarily.
"Erico. There was a producers' meeting yesterday evening and even though he says he doesn't know how it happened, they want us to make a PV for 'Magnet.' I bet he got them all drunk in a bar and talked them into this." Miku sighed and shrugged.
After a short moment of silence, Miku grabbed Luka's hand on the clutch. "Don't you dare think I simply forgot about the hickey. But I guess I've been angry long enough now."
Luka knew too well that Miku wouldn't just forget this, but at least she wasn't unreasonable when it came to such things. Whenever Luka did something stupid, it was usually enough to take Miku out somewhere fun to make it even. This time was probably no different.
It was a very warm day and the sky was nice and clear, so Luka opened up the windows as soon as they left the highway. The wind felt nice on their skin and Luka resented that she had to work the next day. Life as an idol was sometimes a lot harder than she liked.
When they were talking about the producers' decision to make yet another PV, time seemed to fly. Before they knew it, Luka took the turn for Tokyo and from there on, it was silent again. Tokyo's streets were stressful even for Luka and Miku usually kept quiet and read or simply listened to music when they drove somewhere through the city.
Parking and letting out a huge sigh because of the terrible city traffic, Luka let go of the wheel and leaned back in her seat. She often got a slight headache when driving through the city, mostly because there were so many careless drivers around. But whenever she complained about that, Miku cut in and told her she didn't want to hear that from her.
It seemed like Neru and Haku weren't at home yet as everything seemed normal and nothing was burning, but the Kagamine twins were outside and sitting on the wall, enjoying the nice weather. While Len was reading, a typical scene and something that would look odd if Rin did it, his sister was lying lazily around while listening to music on an iPod.
They waved when they saw Luka and Miku coming out of the car. It took barely a minute and Rin was already next to Miku, asking her about the trip—especially about any juicy details. Miku always thought that the girl thought way, way too much about adult stuff for her age. According to Len, she had a big stash of ero-doujinshi too.
Luka didn't even bother getting her own luggage out of the car and helped Miku carry hers instead. When Miku let herself into her apartment, Rin simply followed the couple inside, leaving Len behind outside.
After Miku vanished in the bathroom and Luka sat down in the living room, Rin smiled at her with a big, diabolical grin. "So, how was it? Did you seduce her?"
Luka felt a bit annoyed at how blunt that girl was. Rin reminded her of Kaito. But Luka could tease her a bit. "What, you're interested?"
Luka had not talked to the girl before. She had only seen her once, but it seemed like the Kagamine twin was all but impressed by talking to Luka Megurine, the idol. It was almost annoying how casual she was.
"My neighbor, a lesbian who's sleeping with Luka Megurine? Who wouldn't be interested?" Rin sat down and helped herself to some of the leftover cookies on the table. The girl's manners were non-existent, Luka thought to herself.
"You have an awfully big mouth for your age." Luka started to smile the same diabolical grin as Rin as she talked. "I don't know about telling some little girl about our…adult relationship." Luka put a thick, heavy emphasis on the word "adult." So much that she said it letter-for-letter again.
"Tsk, you probably haven't even gotten to first base yet if you're talking like that." Rin waved Luka's words away with a sarcastic smile and saw the desired effect kick in. Luka was getting annoyed.
"Oh, you think so, huh? Well, let me tell you that—" Luka twitched when someone hit her on the head. Rin got the same treatment just a split second later. Miku had come out of the bathroom and found Rin going after her favorite hobby—trolling people. She was like a little Neru that concentrated on real life instead of the Internet.
"No trolling in my house! I told you that." Then Miku bowed down and whispered something in Rin's ear, which caused the girl to grit her teeth and look at Miku with a forced smile. Luka didn't know what she had just told the blond girl, but it couldn't be something nice.
Len knocked on the door, which they had evidently left open, and Luka noticed for the first time that the two really were polar opposites. Rin, barefoot, in a simple midriff-baring top and a short skirt, was the wild one. Len, with his more refined look, sneakers, khakis, and white t-shirt was clearly the quiet one. Luka instantly thought of some anime with gender-bending but couldn't remember the name.
"Welcome back, Miku." Len carefully closed the door behind him and exchanged looks with his sister. The girl sighed and shrugged. Maybe she would just go back to being lazy outside and get a bit of a tan. Now that Len was there, things would get boring anyway.
"Later." Rin waved and got up and passed Len, not without accidentally stepping on his feet, and left the door open behind her. She was the very definition of a tomboy.
"Is your sister always like that?" Luka was a bit astonished at just how bad someone's manners could be.
"She's always like that when she meets someone new. And when she's around Miku." Len knew that if he said anything more than that, his sister would lynch him. It was top secret that Rin had a little crush on Miku, and he was well aware that he was in for some….unspeakable things if he blurted that fact out.
"She'll calm down soon. She's not that bad once you know her better," Len said and started to sweat. That wasn't exactly true, but at least she was bearable when she was in a good mood. That wasn't that rare, but it often happened to be when no one was around or when she was teasing people.
Miku sat down and took the last cookie. It was as hard as stone. How in the world had Rin eaten those? She threw it back into the bowl on the table, suddenly feeling incredibly lazy. Well, that was kinda normal after a trip, but it was a nuisance anyway.
Len was a bit nervous. It was the first time he had been over at Miku's place since Luka Megurine started showing up there. He was a big fan and admired her a lot. But his image of her wavered a bit when the woman was, in real life, nothing like the woman on TV.
"I wonder when Neru and Haku are coming back," Miku wondered and started to think about what she should do for dinner.
"I think my sister is hanging out with Neru a bit too much. Lately, she's been giggling and smiling a lot when she browses the net." Len knew well what that meant. Rin's mood was almost exclusively determined whether or not she could troll people.
"I heard you two are in a music school. What instruments do you play?" Luka took this opportunity to learn a bit about Miku's friends. She didn't really know any of them well, and if her relationship with Miku was going to be a long one, she should change that.
"I play the bass guitar. Rin is learning the drums. We're both majoring in singing, though." Len didn't want to admit that he was not that good at playing bass yet and that Rin was an acoustics catastrophe when she was practicing.
Miku stepped in, remembering something. "Didn't Rin used to play the keyboard?"
"She changed to drums after seeing this new anime…what's it called…uh…K-something. She really likes the character that plays the drums." Len wasn't too big on anime. He preferred to read and watch the Kamen Rider Sentai series.
Miku only watched anime very sparingly, and didn't know which one Len was talking about. The answer came, unexpectedly, from Luka.
"K-On? I heard it has really good ratings but I found it rather boring." The songstress had only seen one episode but was constantly reminded of the good sales the anime made due to her working in a not-so-different business.
"That's the one. She's recording every episode. She even has a big poster of it on the wall above her bed." Len wasn't sharing a bedroom with his sister anymore, but he still had to go in there to get her for school and a few other occasions when they had an appointment somewhere.
Someone outside was shouting. "Len! I'm hungry."
That was, quite unmistakably, Rin's voice. It was barely three in the afternoon, so it was early for dinner. They had traded lunch for some popsicles because it was such nice weather. Well, he could make some sandwiches.
In a way, Miku could relate pretty well to Len's situation. Trade Rin for Neru and it was mostly the same. Sometimes, Miku wondered if Neru and Rin had the same ancestors because they were so alike.
"I'd better go before Rin…well, you know." Len rolled his eyes, sighed, and left, leaving the couple alone in Miku's apartment.
"Poor guy. But he'll surely grow up to be handsome," Luka said, and evaded Miku's questioning look. "Don't worry, I'm not into shota!" Luka said and was a little worried that Miku seemed to know very well what that term meant.
"Should we check in with the guys at the studio? They must be going through hell with us gone." Luka smiled and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. It seemed to natural to be with Miku already. Like it was an obviously right thing.
"Yeah, why not. I'll just fall asleep if I stay like this. Let's go to the park first. I kinda want to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts," Miku said and pulled herself up to go to her room to change. When she picked up her hair ties, she remembered the embarrassing hickey. Thank God Rin hadn't seen it!
She took a box of band-aids from her drawer and just put a large one over the hickey. She would simply say that a cat scratched her, or she had cut herself with her nails while doing her hair. Something like that. It was silly to be endlessly mad at Luka for something she didn't consciously do.
The songstress was already outside, leaning on the guard rail and enjoying the ever-so-slight breeze of wind when Miku showed up.
"You're okay like that? You don't want to change?" Miku was not sure if it was such a nice idea to wear the same clothes she had worn all day to work.
"It's fine. I even hope they smell a bit, so they don't let me work today," Luka said with the most relaxed expression ever.
Miku laughed and shook her head. Luka would never change. But that was a good thing.
~~~ End of Chapter IV ~~~