A/N: I have finished Lss 4 and I am working on HmS 6 right now. I am a little busy with IRL work so please be patient.
Hear My Song!
Chapter V
Montblanc and Bad Apple
How should she tell the girl? It hadn't been her decision. The company wanted to concentrate more on their star, and despite her local popularity, she just wasn't bringing in the sales they wanted. As far as Japan went, she was really well known and the sales weren't bad, but Luka was selling just as much and Krypton had recently picked up a girl who was making huge progress and who targeted the same market group as her client.
The middle-aged woman opened the door to Gumi's room and adjusted her sunglasses. She was greeted by a smile, but she could tell that the girl had to force to do it. Not even she could keep up her mood when the board of directors was discussing her future.
Sighing heavily, her manager stood next to Gumi and laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear. They decided to axe you down and concentrate on Gakupo from now on. At the end of the month, they want you to have packed your things. There was nothing I could do. They said you weren't selling enough."
She had only worked with Gumi for a few months, but she still felt sorry for her. It was weird that her sales were so low. She ranked neck-to-neck with Luka Megurine in popularity charts, but her sales weren't anywhere up to par with hers.
And then that new girl from Krypton. Hatsune, was it? She had been the final nail for Gumi.
"Eh…?" Gumi could feel a tear running down her cheek. She was really fired? They got rid of her just like that?
"I have an appointment with another client." The manager looked at her wrist watch and left, not even looking back.
The door slammed shut and a crying Gumi was left behind.
She didn't know how long she stayed like that. When she finally calmed down and packed her few things, there was almost no one left in the building. They had all gone home already. Gumi really wished she could've talked with someone.
She flipped open her cellphone; she had no new mails. Gumi didn't feel like going home. It had been a while, but maybe she could call her sister…
Gumi quickly typed the number. She'd had it memorized since long ago. The phone beeped a few times before someone picked up. "Yes?" It was nearly accent-free English.
"Onee-chan… " Gumi's voice was still shaking and she suddenly felt like crying again. The background noise that came through the phone sounded like a party or something similar.
"Gumi, is that you?" After someone with a very loud voice seemed to shout in the background, the woman shouted back. "Shut up, George, I'm on the phone! I said shut up. What is it?"
After a second of silence, Gumi was too intimidated to say something, the woman on the phone continued talking. "Please call back later. I'm recording a video." The phone clicked and returned only beeping sounds.
Gumi stared at the display as it signaled that the line was disconnected now. She flipped the phone closed and left the building, hanging her head. Not even her sister had time for her when she really needed someone to talk to.
She didn't even make it a hundred meters before her phone rang. Her sister's number was displayed. Gumi answered the call immediately.
"I'm sorry, Gumi, but I'm going through hell right now. They messed up the setting for the promotional video and now we have to redo the whole thing."
The the familiar voice was shouting again. "Sonika, move your pretty ass over here! You can answer your goddamn calls in your break time!"
"I told you to shut up, George. If my sister calls me, I will answer the phone. Is that clear?" Sonika shouted back.
"Sonika-nee, they fired me from the agency," Gumi said and broke out into silent tears. She had reached the parking lot behind the building now.
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Gumi. I wish I—" There was suddenly a lot of noise and she could hear people shouting and arguing and the line was disconnected again. Gumi tried to call the phone, but the power was off now.
Gumi didn't know what to do. If she went home, there was nobody waiting for her.
So she simply wandered around. Her steps slowly led her to the park where she had sung for the local kids not so long ago. She sat down on a swing and moved back and forth. What should she do now?
She didn't even notice that a local kid had recognized her and came closer. "You're that girl who sang for me and my friends!" He was right in front of her and Gumi rubbed her eyes, forcing a smile for the little guy.
"Are you crying?" he asked.
"I'm just a little sad." Gumi didn't want to burden a little child with her worries.
The boy looked a bit confused but was quickly called by his mother, who stood at the border of the little park. "Bye-bye, Onee-chan! Thank you for the other time. Cheer up!" He waved and smiled.
The sun had already gone down when she finally realized she was still there. Gumi had been so spaced out that she had forgotten the time. Her eyes were red and burning. Her mouth was dry and she felt miserable. And even now, there was only the empty apartment waiting for her. She pulled out her cell phone and tried to call Sonika again. It was no use, the power was still off.
Staring at the ground, she lost track of time again. She remembered the first time she had been on stage. The first single she recorded. How nervous she was. And just how much the smiles on her fans' faces were worth all the hard work.
But she was not all alone.
Someone laid a hand on her shoulder. Looking back, she could see the girl she'd met in this park before. The girl who had been with Luka in that restaurant. Miku…
"What's wrong, Gumi?" Miku felt a little weird about talking to Gumi so casually. But she had already met Gumi twice before and she seemed really lost and alone at the moment.
Those three words were all that she wanted. It had been half a day since she was told she was no longer working as a songstress until someone had said those three words. Gumi stood up and buried her face in Miku's chest as she started to cry again. Her tears were not silent like before, but loud and emotional.
Miku was surprised—not only at Gumi's behavior, but also at her own. Before she knew it, she had already laid her arms around the only slightly-smaller girl and was rubbing her back. She was still crying when Luka came over to see what was going on.
The two had just come back from shopping. Luka was disguised in order to not cause an uproar. She was carrying two big white plastic bags of food.
"What did you do to make her cry like that, Miku?" Luka asked, and earned a pretty powerful glare from Miku.
Luka had hit a bad nerve. Her foul mouth had gotten the better of her. She knew that Miku was really touchy when it concerned people crying. With a cousin like Haku, that was somehow understandable. And yet Luka still had to open her big mouth! Deciding to wait at the exit of the park, Luka shot Miku an apologetic look and walked off.
It took five more minutes before Gumi finally stopped crying and Miku had calmed her down. But she did not say a word about what had happened. Physically, she seemed to be fine. Luka probably wouldn't like it, but Miku couldn't just leave Gumi here.
Taking the green-haired girl's hand, Miku dragged her along and joined up with Luka at the exit. The pink-haired woman knew better than to open her mouth again and decided to ask Miku what exactly had happened later on. They had just been walking by when Miku saw the girl sitting on the swings all alone and decided to check on her.
It wasn't far to Miku's place. Neru and Haku were out and probably wouldn't be back for a while. Neru had won some all-you-can-eat coupons for a Korean barbecue.
Luka was in the kitchen, putting the food in the fridge and on the shelves while Miku tended to Gumi. She finally opened her mouth to talk, but seemed to be near tears again.
"They fired me," Gumi said and stared at the floor.
Miku was smart enough to not ask "who?" in this situation and knew Luka would have probably blurted it out. Gumi was an idol, so if she were fired…well, it would explain her breakdown in the park. If Luka were suddenly fired, she would probably react in a similar way…only with lots of violence and fire.
"Why did they do that?" It was probably for the best for Gumi to talk about it. The usually upbeat girl seemed really depressed.
"My…my songs aren't selling so well." Gumi felt a little better already, seeing that Miku actually cared about her—something people had not done the whole day.
"That's surprising to hear. Your singles are always at the top of the charts," Miku said, and offered Gumi some of the cookies on the table. Thank God she had replaced the nearly iron-like cookies with new ones just a few hours ago.
Munching on a big cookie, Gumi let her shoulders sink. "I don't know why. They didn't explain anything to me. They just said I need to have my things out of there before the end of the week." Gumi took another cookie.
"They must be stupid. Who am I gonna fight with for the top of the charts now? What are you gonna do now?" Luka had returned to the living room. Miku gave her a questioning look and Luka sighed, kneeling down next to Gumi.
"Listen, Megumi." It seemed to have the desired effect. Gumi looked at her former rival. "You have talent. You're nice, cute, and you can sing. Well, basically you're just like Miku over here, but you have more experience and you aren't quite as lazy as—ouch!" Miku had punched Luka on the shoulder.
"That last bit was unnecessary. And I don't want to hear about any faults from you, anyway!" Miku said, glaring at Luka.
Luka responded by glaring back. But she'd won. Gumi had a tiny little smile on her lips.
"Thank you, Luka. I didn't think you'd care. I thought you'd gloat and laugh at me," Gumi said, looking a little embarrassed.
"Luka is right. Well, partially. You're cute and you have talent. And you're really, really nice to your fans. I think they'd want you to somehow continue…hey, Lukaaaa." Miku looked at her lover with a very smug grin.
Luka stood up and retreated a few steps. "No. No, no, no! I know exactly what you're doing. No!" Luka said, and retreated even further, back into the kitchen.
"I am sure you could work at Luka's agency. If they had you both, they would simply dominate the national charts. Your old agency was stupid to fire you, they'll see." Miku said this with full knowledge that Luka would probably rather eat nails than ask her boss to let Gumi work there.
"But wouldn't that cause problems for you, Miku? I think my manager once said you're my rival or something…" Gumi felt much better now, but was a bit worried. She didn't want to cause Miku problems after she was so nice to her.
"I'm not even really working with them. I signed up for a few promo videos and songs, but that's as far as it goes. I think you would be happy to work there. The people are really nice." Miku tried to encourage the green-haired girl and it seemed to work.
"You really think so? I…don't know what to say. I'm so happy. Thank you, Miku!" Gumi leaned forward to hug Miku, but she hadn't noticed her legs had fallen asleep. With more or less a lot of force, she hit the floor with her face.
She made a loud bumping sound and Luka poked out her head from the kitchen to see what had happened. Gumi was holding her nose and leaning over, Miku patting her back.
Maybe Miku had rubbed off on her. Luka felt for her and dropped an ice bag on her head, which Miku took and put on Gumi's nose.
"Luka really does hate me, doesn't she?" Gumi said, almost weeping from the pain.
"It's her way of showing that she's concerned. I think they call that tsundere. Well, or just crazy…" Miku whispered the last part and Gumi smiled.
"She really knows her way around your place. It's really late, too. Are you two working on a song again?" Gumi was a little curious now. Miku didn't seem to mind Luka moving around her apartment so freely at all.
"Something like that. Are you feeling better?" Miku wasn't sure how the girl really felt, but Gumi at least had gotten her smile back for now. It probably wouldn't be easy to get Krypton to take her under contract, though. She really needed Luka to talk to her supervisors for that.
And then there was her own work, too. She really didn't actually have the time to worry about others like this. But Gumi was…well, she just couldn't leave her alone.
"I'm really feeling better. Thank you." Gumi put the ice bag aside, her nose still red and a little dented. "I hope we can be friends." Gumi smiled happily, and Miku knew she couldn't refuse such a request. It was a little bit dangerous to befriend Gumi, since she knew Luka apparently well enough to get curious about their relationship if she got too close.
But in the end…even if she found out…Gumi was probably not the type to run to the media with photos of them kissing.
It was almost ten in the evening and it was pitch black outside. Miku really didn't want to send Gumi back home like this. She was worried that someone would recognize her and do something stupid.
"If you want, you can sleep in my room tonight. You'd need to share the guest futon with Luka, though."
Miku didn't know which scared the girl more—the thought of imposing any further, or actually spending a night in the same bed as Luka, who had a bit of a reputation.
"I'll drive you home, Gumi. I need to get home anyway. It's kinda late. I'll show up early tomorrow, Miku. We need to finish working on that song." Luka twirled her keys around her finger and waited for Gumi to get up, all the while giving Miku a questioning look. What was the girl thinking, offering for Gumi to stay the night? She would notice one hundred percent that there was something going on between Luka and Miku.
Gumi fawned a bit over Luka's car and then sat down in the passenger seat. Luka sighed and scratched her neck before sitting down herself. Before she turned on the car, she leaned on the seat and looked at the girl next to her. Luka still felt a bit of pity for Gumi and decided to help her out at least a little.
"I'll talk to my manager and the president and put in a good word for you. It's up to you after that. The music business isn't a nice place, after all." She had the feeling that Miku would have forced her to do it anyway.
"I think I know why Miku likes you," Gumi said in a casual tone and grinned. Luka wasn't such a bad person after all. Or maybe it was Miku who'd changed her?
Luka turned her head so quickly in shock that she hurt her neck. "We…we're only colleagues!" Luka said, and seemed to sweat. At least it was dark and there was no way Gumi could have seen that.
"I know. But you two really get along. You're good friends, aren't you?" Gumi seemed a little confused by Luka's reaction.
So that's what she meant…Luka had thought her heart would stop beating if Gumi had already found out.
"Where do you live?" Luka asked and plugged in a little navigational device to help her find the street. It turned out that Gumi lived a whole lot closer than she'd thought. The apartment building was right next to her own. It was a lot smaller than her place, and pretty cheap.
The first few minutes of the night's drive were in complete silence. "Do you really want to work at Krypton? Or are you just looking for a way to continue singing?" Luka was a little curious now.
"I really just want to sing and make people happy with my songs. What about you, Luka? Why do you sing?" Gumi asked, and looked at the pink-haired woman next to her. She was a bit older, but it really didn't feel like that at all.
"I don't really know. I like singing too, but that alone wasn't the reason I started," Luka answered in a dry tone and it went quiet again. After a few minutes, they came to a stop at a red light.
"I really liked your songs 'Coward Montblanc' and 'The Last Revolver,'" Luka suddenly said. "I listen to them often. But don't you dare tell that to Miku. I will make you a head shorter."
Gumi blushed a little at hearing that the elitist songstress Luka Megurine liked her songs and even listened to them on occasion. "Thanks. I really loved your 'Luka Luka Night Fever.' I think it really fits you."
Luka was surprised to hear that and stared at Gumi for a few seconds in disbelief. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
Miku, back at home, was sitting over her homework. She had carelessly neglected her homework lately, and her grades would suffer if she kept this up. Maybe she would just concentrate on school and singing from now on. With Luka paying part of her living expenses, she could do that.
Speaking of Luka…Miku looked at the clock. It was way past twelve now and Luka had been gone for two hours already. A little worried (more about Gumi than Luka), she tried calling Luka's cell phone. It was turned off, so she tried Gumi's phone next. It rang, at least.
"Yesh? Whosh ther'?" A very drunk and babbling Luka answered Gumi's phone. Miku could make out from the background noise that she was in some sort of disco and had been drinking.
The phone made a crackling noise and Gumi answered next. "Night fever, yeeeah!" she shouted. The line disconnected.
Miku stared at the cell phone, put it slowly away, stood up, and stripped down to her underwear. She was going to bed. She already knew how this would end.
But she just couldn't fall asleep. What was that woman thinking? Miku punched the wall and regretted it immediately. She got up to get that ice bag for her hand.
Luka had just ordered the next set of cocktails when a fast, powerful beat came soaring through the sound boxes of the huge disco. The mood of the whole building livened up instantly and people started shouting. It was a song Luka knew very, very well. Her own voice started booming though the speakers and the crowd started shouting the lyrics.
"Dame dame yo!" The sound blasted through the whole building.
Before Gumi knew what was going on, she and Luka were on the stage, right between the big speakers. People yelled at them, pointing and throwing things, until Luka undid her disguise in a flashy manner. She threw the hair ties, the cap and the jacket into the crowd. Most people recognized her and started chanting, "Luka! Luka! Luka!"
Luka picked up two microphones that were sitting at the back of the stage. Only now did people start recognizing the girl who was up there with her—that was J-Net's Gumi! Luka threw her a microphone, which Gumi had problems catching but somehow managed to grab. The volume went up even further, and the two started singing.
The song was a disco remix and had looped itself in the beginning for a while but now the lyrics were finally coming. Luka opened and sang the first two lines. "Migi kara hidari he to kotoba ga nagareru! Taikutsu sou na kao gamen mitsumeru kimi!" She then pointed at Gumi. It was her cue.
"Jigen no kabe koete itsudemo ai ni yuku! Kokoro no junbi wo chanto shite oite ne!" Gumi's voice boomed through the room and people cheered every bit as much for her as they did for Luka.
They joined together in a duet when the refrain came on. Jumping around, they waved their hands and sang. In the middle of the song was an instrumental loop again, so Luka took the chance to say something. "Give me some cheers for my good friend, Gumi! Do you like her?" Luka shouted and pointed at Gumi with one hand and moved it slowly over to the crowd in front of her.
The crowd exploded with cheers and people shouting. Luka smiled, staggered over to Gumi, and laid an arm around her, pointing the microphone at the crowd and shouting. "Do you want more?"
The result was stunning. People raised their hands and showed their support. "Then let's party! Gumi will be working with me from now on!" Luka shouted, and the crowd seemed confused for a second. Seeing how the desired result was not happening, Luka in her drunk state simply pulled Gumi's face around and kissed her in front of hundreds of fans.
The people cheered and whistled. It almost was louder than the music.
Gumi pulled up her microphone and waved at the people. "Thank you so much! I'll be working for Krypton now, together with Luka! Give me all your support, please! I love you all!" the green-haired girl said, and earned herself some extra loud cheering.
When the lyrics came back in, the girls were dancing, hand in hand, singing the remixed version of "Luka Luka Night Fever," which they dubbed now "Luka Gumi Night Fever."
The song lasted for nearly twelve minutes, thrice the time it usually ran. The two girls escaped backstage before the crowd got out of control and started climbing the stage.
They went out the back door, panting and laughing and completely out of breath and dizzy. It was nearly four in the morning according to Gumi's cell phone. Arm-in-arm, they staggered towards the streets of Tokyo.
They'd sobered up a bit when they finally managed to get back to Miku's apartment. Luka knew that there was a gigantic scolding waiting for her. Gumi was leaning on Luka, close to passing out. She didn't even remember half of what had happened after they'd ordered the first couple of drinks. And where exactly was Luka's car?
She rang the bell. It didn't take even a minute for an angry Miku to open the door.
"I figured as much," Miku said, and was about to slap Luka even though she knew she should have expected something like this. "Come in, I'll get you some water."
Luka put Gumi down, not saying anything. If there was one thing she had learned, it was that if Miku were angry about something Luka'd done, then Luka was almost always at fault. And aside from her expression, Miku was pretty angry.
Luka could feel exhaustion kicking in, so she leaned her back against Gumi's. Her mind faded and she would have fallen asleep if not for Miku slapping the back of her head. "Drink this before you go all K.O.'ed." She gave Luka a big glass of water. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."
Miku couldn't simply leave the two girls in the living room. Haku and Neru had come back earlier, after Luka left, and had quickly gone to bed. Neru had constantly burped from eating too much and Haku was complaining about her doing so. There would be a big ruckus the next morning if she left Luka and Gumi in there.
Pulling first Luka in her room and then Gumi, she somehow managed to fit them into the guest futon she had prepared ahead of time. When she dragged Gumi away, she noticed that the girl had pink lipstick all over her mouth and cheeks. Giving Luka a little check more or less confirmed it. They'd literally gone all "party-hard," as Neru would say.
Miku went to bed, leaving the two party girls in the futon. First thing tomorrow, she would send them showering. Best cold. Very cold. After that, she would give Luka a good scolding. There was no doubt that this was Luka's fault.
She'd just closed her eyes when suddenly she could hear something weird from the futon next to her. Luka was doing that again. Gumi would wake up with a giant hickey on her neck. But well, maybe that was just about the right punishment.
~~~Hear My Song!~~~
"Where the hell…what…ugh, my head…" Luka rubbed her face and forehead. When she looked over at the bed, she saw that Miku was already gone. Well, it was a weekday, so she had school…
She tried to get up, but something held Luka back. She looked beneath the futon and saw that Gumi was clinging to her, completely undressed. She herself wasn't exactly wearing more than Gumi.
"This has gotta be a bad dream…else I'm dead meat," Luka said, rubbing her forehead some more.
After the image didn't go away, she blushed quite a bit. She had…cheated on her girlfriend, right? Yeah…this was clearly cheating on Miku. In her own room. Probably right under her nose. She was so dead, Luka started to sweat.
"Hey, Gumi, wake up. Gumi, wake up!" Luka shook the green-haired girl a bit and got her to slowly open her eyes. Gumi immediately put her hand to her mouth and looked like she felt like throwing up, but nothing happened.
"Where am I? Luka…?" Gumi only slowly came back to reality and realized what was going on. She let go of Luka at almost light speed, moving as far away from the naked songstress as she could without leaving the futon.
"Wha-wha-what did we do? Ugh, my head…" Gumi held her skull. It felt as if a whole swarm of tuna fish were swimming right through it. She remembered talking to Luka about her songs in her car, and then…
"What do you think it looks like we did?" Luka said, trying to keep her voice down. She wasn't exactly turned on at the moment by the naked Gumi, despite her good looks. If Luka weren't with Miku and quite devoted to her, she might even be interested…but even so, this would be a really bad way to start things.
"My first time was with a woman…and on top of that I don't remember anything!" Gumi whined and buried her face in her hands.
"Don't make it tragic. My first time was with a woman too," Luka said casually and remembered that time quite clearly…which made this situation even worse.
"Miku's gonna kill me…" Luka said, searching for her clothes. They were nowhere to be found. At least she had learned to store a few of her clothes in Miku's closet for such cases. Dressing, with an embarrassed Gumi hiding under the futon, Luka managed to get into some clean clothes. Maybe she should shower too…
Come to think of it, neither she nor Gumi smelled of alcohol or sweat.
Luka threw some of Miku's clothes over the blanket, knowing they would fit Gumi. "Get dressed. I don't want to sit around in this room all day. I have to get to work. That reminds me…do you remember where we parked yesterday?" Luka was a little embarrassed to ask.
"I don't really remember anything from yesterday, much less where we parked. How much do you remember?" Gumi was having difficulty dressing under the futon, but she was too embarrassed to simply stand in the room naked and dress like Luka. Did the woman have no shame at all?
"I guess that means we'll be walking. I…I'll try to speak to my boss about you. Might as well do so while you're there. Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll decide to take you under contract right away," Luka said and looked for some makeup on Miku's desk. A bit of lipstick was all she needed and some concealer for the bags under her eyes.
Luka then disguised herself by tying her hair into a big ponytail and putting on fake glasses and a cap. She didn't have anything to disguise Gumi, but well, nothing could be done about that.
Gumi was really curious now about how well Luka found everything in Miku's room. Just how often did she crash at Miku's place after drinking that she had so much stuff prepared?
It took them another fifteen minutes to get going. It was noon when they finally got aboard the train. Nobody seemed to notice them. When they arrived at the big Krypton building, Luka was welcomed not-so-happily by her manager.
"Would you care to explain to me what the hell was wrong with you last night?" Erico seemed quite angry, and Luka could guess why. The news that she had showed up drunk and singing at a disco was probably really bad PR.
"Well, at least you brought Gumi with you. The bosses are in a fury, just so you know! Thanks to you, we have no choice but to negotiate with J-Net for a change of contracts with her. That is going to come out of your salary, let me tell you that!" Erico said. He walked away, followed by the two girls.
"What the hell do you mean? I have no idea what's going on anymore. A change of contracts? Gumi, didn't you say they laid you off?" Luka was feeling a bit awkward. Everyone was seemingly aware of what had gone down last night—everyone except her and Gumi.
Erico opened the door to Luka's wardrobe room, where a small PC was running the same video on endless loop. The moment Luka entered and saw the screen, it zoomed up to Luka energetically kissing Gumi, which drove a powerful red in Gumi's face.
"Eh?" Gumi gasped.
The video looped after ten minutes, and the two girls were quite baffled. Not just at what they had done and said, but also that someone had actually screened their little gig.
"Thanks to you advertising that Gumi here is going to sign a deal with Krypton, we've had calls from fans all day. They want to know whats up with J-Net and what exactly your relationship is with Gumi. You can imagine that a lot of people think you two are going out—and that's the tame story!" Erico said, and cut the power to the PC.
Luka felt like fainting. Maybe she could just lose consciousness and never wake up so she didn't have to face Miku's anger.
"Uh, Mister Manager…J-Net cut their contract with me yesterday. I am currently without an agency," Gumi said in a small voice. She didn't dare to look at the rather intimidating man.
"Well, there's at least some good news then. You can probably imagine that neither you nor Krypton have much of a choice after the chaotic stunt Miss Irresponsible here pulled last night. I'll talk to the bosses. Luka, I called Miku earlier to let her know what's going on. I pray you are sturdy enough." Erico crossed himself and said, "Amen," before leaving.
Luka sat down on a chair, a bit pale. Just why the hell did she have to do that? She loved Miku, so what was wrong with her to kiss and make out with Gumi like that? In front of hundreds of people, too!
"Why are you so afraid of Miku?" Gumi had more or less figured out what was going on, but she still couldn't be absolutely sure.
"I'm dating her. I can imagine she probably isn't very happy I made out with another girl in front of a huge crowd," Luka said. She didn't even care anymore if Gumi knew or not. Things couldn't get any worse than they already were.
Gumi refrained from saying anything inconsiderate. She was partly at fault, too. She hadn't exactly held back on the drinks or anything. Maybe if they both explained things to Miku, everything would work out. Or so Gumi thought.
They had spent a good ten minutes in silence when a very annoyed (even more so than before) manager burst into the room. "You've really gotten yourself into a fine mess, Luka. The board of directors is deciding whether or not to use your little stunt as a publicity gag. Let me warn you, if they do, you're going to have to pretend you're going out with Gumi. Two Russian girls did something similar in the past and it was a huge promotional kick, so I'd say your chances that the board decides against this is very slim—about as slim as your chances of survival when you tell Miku what I told you just now." Erico's cell phone rang and he answered it without even giving Luka the chance to explain herself.
"Is Miku really that scary? She seemed really nice…" Gumi was a little afraid now, considering that she was the one who'd gotten kissed by Miku's girlfriend.
"In a cold, eerie way, yes. She's not actually violent or the furious type, but the cold, silent type that rubs in the fact that it's entirely your fault when she's angry. I hope she'll let me…us explain what actually happened," Luka said, and felt a lot worse than any hangover could make her feel.
Gumi finally sat down on a chair in the back. The day had just started and things were rushing in on her way too fast. So what now? Krypton take her under contract because Luka had said so last night? And now they were discussing how to make use of Luka's mishap of kissing her? Didn't she get some say in things?
"No use sitting around like this." Luka grabbed Gumi's arm and forcibly pulled her along, marching towards the board's office room with huge steps. She wouldn't just let them do as they pleased.
Luka interrupted the meeting by throwing the door open so hard that it slammed against the wall. Still dragging the helpless little Gumi along, Luka took position in front of the long table the board members were sitting at.
"Listen up." She was shivering on the inside. Maybe she shouldn't use any cuss words…
"The two of us got a little drunk yesterday and did some stuff that's haunting us now. But that is no excuse to use underhanded promotional tactics and claim we have something going on. Neither Gumi nor I need that kind of publicity. I apologize for claiming that Gumi would be working for Krypton by myself, but her contract with J-Net was dissolved yesterday and she is a free musician right now." Luka was talking like a machine pistol, not giving anyone a chance to interrupt her.
Flailing her arms around, Luka stared quite intently at the chief of directors. "Gumi's work has constantly been in the top five spots of the charts. She's even knocked me off first place twice. I do not know what kind of reasoning J-Net had to fire her, but I am sure Krypton as a whole would profit from taking her on. I ask you to consider taking her under contract regardless of what I might have said yesterday."
Luka slammed her hands on the table. "However, I will not stand for any suspicious treatment just because she is a former employee of a rival agency. If Gumi is mistreated, I will consider that a serious breach of trust and I shall have to reconsider working for Krypton in the future." Luka pointed back at the slightly confused and hungover Gumi, who politely bowed out of reflex.
"That is all." Luka crossed her arms in front of her chest, took a few steps back and leaned against the wall.
There was absolute silence in the room. Luka feared for a moment that things would go out of her control and she'd be fired right away.
Finally, Krypton's president, Matsumoto Hirachi, stood up. "Well, we see you are very serious about us employing Miss Lyoid. We already knew that J-Net had dissolved their contract with her. Such news travels fast, and while we had planned to ask her to consider working for Krypton, it was quite a bad move for you, Miss Megurine, to announce such things publicly without consulting with us and your manager first," he explained.
While Luka stared, he slowly walked over to Gumi, who still seemed a little out of it. "We're very familiar with the success of Miss Lyoid," he continued. "We're obviously not able to give her a contract akin to yours, Miss Megurine, until she has proven her ability to sell. I personally, however, have no doubt that it will go well."
He extended his hand and waited for Gumi to take it. "Welcome aboard, Miss Lyoid. I am aware that you'd probably like to keep your stage name, so I will instruct my staff to use it."
Gumi smiled and happily bowed, feeling a little dizzy. Things had gone more easily than she had expected, probably partially thanks to Luka's efforts.
"If you could excuse us, we have a few things to talk over with Miss Megurine here," Matsumoto said, and like a gentleman, he opened the door and escorted Gumi from the room. He then slowly—it seemed like slow motion to Luka—walked back to his seat.
"Regarding the incident last night…well, it is true that we thought about utilizing the same pattern of advertising as t.A.T.u. a few years ago. However, the market here is different, and we decided against it. We will, however, apply a penalty to your salary for this month. Do not let an accident like this happen again. Ever. I hope I am making myself clear. We will publicly announce that it was a promotional gag from us and that things got a little too heated up."
He shuffled a few papers that were in front of him and looked up again when the room remained silent. "You may leave now," Matsumoto said, and watched a pale Luka leave the room.
Luka went even paler when she left the room. A frightened-looking Gumi was waiting for her—along with the devil itself.
"M-Miku. Why are you here?" Luka was visibly nervous and shocked.
"School ended early today. Everyone is talking about your little stunt last night—there are a thousand videos on NicoNico. I had a call from Neru earlier. Half of 2ch is talking about you two. And there are a thousand and one theories about what's going on in Krypton," Miku said, arms crossed, standing a few feet away from both the party girls.
"Look, I have a good expla—" Luka wasn't allowed to finish her line, though. Miku interrupted her simply by sighing heavily.
"I know you. You probably decided to get along better with Gumi, or simply wanted to party, and took her to a club. After a few drinks, you stormed the stage in a fit of megalomania and insanity and pulled Gumi with you. Is that about right?" Miku glared at both of them and they nodded. It wasn't quite the truth, but Luka didn't want to tell her that they got to drinking because they liked each other's music.
"Then you know what's coming for you, right?" Miku said, and waited once again for Luka to nod. She had never seen Miku so seriously angry.
Miku took three steps forward and slapped Luka's cheek so hard that the loud smacking sound echoed throughout the whole floor. It left a red handprint on her face.
"I am not going to be needlessly angry for days or do something stupid, but you do deserve at least that much," Miku said and then turned to Gumi. "I'm not sure how much of this is actually your fault. What do you think?" she asked Gumi, glaring at her as well.
"I just went along with everything without resisting. I think I'm about as guilty as Luka," Gumi said. She closed her eyes and waited for the smack. It hurt a lot more than she thought it would.
Luka's left cheek and Gumi's right cheek were now blatantly marked by the signature of an angry girl.
"Let's go. You two are going to treat me to dinner. After that, we're even. I hope there won't be a next time for this kind of thing. Right, Luka?" Miku looked at her and smiled. "Right?"
Luka felt incredibly relieved. Thank God Miku was a reasonable girl who didn't want to bloat up an issue like this. Just treating her to barbecue and getting slapped weren't such harsh punishments.
"Did we…have our clothes when we got back last night?" Luka asked, and felt that she should probably tell Miku of her little adventure with Gumi.
"You two were passed out like zombies. I put you in the futon for a while, but I couldn't stand the smell in the end. I stripped you, threw you in the shower, and let some hot water do the trick. I'm not sure if I should be surprised or frightened that you two were so drunk that that didn't wake you up. Don't worry. You couldn't even move, much less do anything with Gumi. That's what you thought, right? I could see it in your eyes earlier." Miku gloated and snickered. "Serves you right. By the way, Gumi…"
Miku moved behind Gumi and pulled back some of her hair and pushed on a little spot. Gumi felt a little pain and twitched, moving away from Miku. "Luka has a tendency to leave gigantic hickeys on people. You're lucky you wear your hair like this. It looks terrible," Miku said, smiling.
Gumi looked at Luka as if she were a little frightened and seemed to remember something from the last night as she touched her lips on reflex. She blushed heavily and turned around.
"I guess you really did your best there, Luka." Miku took Luka's hand and held it tightly. "But don't forget who you belong to."
Luka sighed heavily, not understanding anything anymore. "I thought I would be the dominant partner in this relationship…"
"The dominant pervert you are, at least." Miku responded, and grinned, earning some giggles from Gumi and complaining mumbles from Luka.
"You might want to check on your apartment, Gumi. I figured out, with Neru's help, where Luka and you were last night. Her car must be somewhere there. We're going to walk there, Luka," Miku said, as if it were a punishment. "And it's still early. How about we go for dinner at eight? At Baccano's?"
Miku had picked an expensive restaurant. Gumi didn't seem to know and nodded, and Luka sighed, thinking about her wallet.
The three separated. While Gumi was called back into the room with the directors to clear details on her contract, Luka and Miku made their way to last night's disco. They were barely out of the building when Miku pulled Luka with her behind a wall.
Wrapping both her arms around Luka's neck, Miku pulled the pink-haired woman close, energetically kissing her. Luka tried to break it off, but Miku had amazing control over her. The kiss intensified when Miku started to use her tongue. Luka's face turned a bright shade of red and she finally responded by laying her arms around the younger girl. It seemed like she wasn't free of jealousy after all.
They only stopped when Miku had to gasp for air and broke off. She was panting a little bit and her chest was going up and down rapidly. "I won't say I'm sorry for slapping you—you did deserve it, after all. But maybe I was a little too mad. You didn't do it on purpose." Miku closed her eyes, leaned on Luka's shoulder, and tightened her hold on her girlfriend.
"I do love only you, Miku. I know it sounds silly now, but it was a spur of the moment thing. I was…quite drunk, I suppose. I don't remember anything after the third drink." Luka murmured, stroking Miku's hair, which she hadn't bothered to tie in twin tails that morning, apparently.
"I already forgave you, but…what would you have done if Gumi had taken a liking to you? What if she does?" Miku was a little worried. Gumi was a nice girl, and obviously knew that Miku was dating Luka. But if she still fell for Luka…
"That won't happen. She seemed quite shocked when we thought we slept with each other. Don't fuss over that. And even if she did, I wouldn't leave you." Luka smiled and giggled. "Don't we sound like some couple out of a soap opera?"
Miku groaned and playfully hit Luka's shoulder. "You really love ruining the mood, don't you?" She separated from her lover but held Luka's hand and was about to leave when her cell phone rang.
"Yes?" She answered it with her other hand while still holding Luka's. She didn't want to let go of her for now. The last night had taught her that it wasn't her natural right to be Luka's girlfriend and that Luka had chosen her.
"It's me." It was Neru's voice. "Buy some eggs, milk, bread, and rice on your way home." The line got disconnected before Miku could even say no.
"Who was that?" Luka looked at the suddenly annoyed girl next to her.
"Princess on the pea." That was enough to make very clear who it was to Luka. The only times Neru actually called Miku was when she needed something.
"I'll need to stop by a convenience store on the way back. Apparently a legion of cats raided the fridge or something." Miku used a sarcastic tone and sighed, trying to get into a good mood. "You'll need to get to your place and take a shower. Yes, another one. I could still smell the alcohol when I kissed you."
Luka was a little surprised, but put her hand in front of her mouth and breathed. The alcohol smell was still there. "And you still kissed me? Miku, you're so cute." Luka giggled and patted the green-haired girl's head.
"Also, pick out a nice dress or something. I'll tell Gumi to show up wearing one too." The place they were going was quite a high-class restaurant. They didn't have to make reservations since not many people actually went there during the week. It was a Western restaurant, although there was no distinct nationality.
Her cell phone rang again. Miku picked it up in a fury. "Neru, I cannot fly! I am not the Flash or whoever! So sit patiently until I get home; you won't die of hunger!" Miku vented her anger.
A very timid Gumi responded after her initial assault. "M-Miku? Did I get the wrong number?"
"Gumi? Jeez, I'm sorry I yelled. My good-for-nothing cousin called just now and I thought she was gonna add more to the list."
Luka was surprised that Miku had called Neru the good-for-nothing and not Haku. She felt a bit depressed when she actually thought about that. Haku wasn't like that out of her own fault.
"Oh…what was I gonna say…right." Luka's cell rang as well, and she picked up, turning around, while Miku continued her conversation.
"They want you to come back and do some work. They want the video for 'Magnet' out ahead of time. I'm sorry, it's probably because of me." Miku could just imagine Gumi holding her hand in her face, apologetic. Miku sighed, simultaneously with Luka, and they both closed their cell phones.
"I thought we could get away without work," Luka said, and Miku shrugged.
"I did too."
~~~ Hear My Song! ~~~
"A small fire from the bottom of my heart, my passion has become a blaze long before I knew. My butterfly flew around, here and there, to you. Its scales came off and fell down on your hands. Letting go of each other's hands…" Miku stopping singing and moved in toward Luka, their hands aligned together, almost kissing.
"We kissed passionately," Luka continued and Miku joined back in for the next sentence. "Because our love is forbidden, our passion blazes up. Embrace me and make sure our love isn't wrong, let me believe and kiss me, to change the world." They switched positions, Luka moving behind Miku, one hand on her chin, lifting her face slightly up and the other crossed over her stomach. "Poisoned by your love, I want to drown in our enchanted time."
Miku fell silent and closed her eyes, one arm up and behind Luka's neck, the other on Luka's hand on her stomach. "Fence me in, need me more and more, show me your passion if you really love me. I truly love crazy things, go crazy, as much as you can."
Miku all of a sudden freed herself, grabbed Luka's hands and pulled her towards her, reversing the situation, with Luka slightly bent over and Miku holding her face with both hands, staring into her eyes. It was Luka's turn to stay silent.
"If we've truly lost our minds, we'll melt as one. As if we had no time to tenderly feel each other, what we went through is not the dream we wanted but our undeniable reality. We realize it's too late to turn back now, after knowing you, I don't care about anyone but you, my love."
Miku let go of Luka and they went back to their initial poses of leaning against each other, faces close and hands aligned. It was still only Miku singing. "I feel scared when the morning comes, and when I cry, you say there is nothing wrong with us, to calm me down. Weren't you crying as well?"
Their voices joined together again. "Embrace me and make sure our love isn't wrong, let me believe and kiss me, to change the world. Poisoned by your love, I want to drown in our enchanted time."
With another position change, Luka pulled Miku close and the green-haired girl looked up at Luka, her eyes half closed as if dreaming. "Drawn to you like a magnet, even if we part, someday, we will find each other again. Never let me go, I don't want to go back, I don't care about anyone but you, my love."
Miku slowly got up on her toes, moving in closer and closer, until it really looked like they were about to kiss.
In the background, someone yelled, "Cut!"
Miku took a deep breath and felt her legs nearly give in. That had been the twentieth take of the clip, and it was only four minutes of mostly standing around. Luka helped her to a seat in the back when the producer approached them.
"Okay, that about does it. Went much better than I thought." Miku was a bit offended that twenty takes were considered quicker than expected. Just how bad did they think she was at acting? "But really, you two have the right chemistry going on for a video like this. Most people would show some reluctance or something when asked to shoot this sort of clip." He left and talked to a few different people.
"If he only knew," Miku whispered and had problems suppressing her giggles. She felt incredibly tired now. It was past five. Three hours to get Luka's car, go shopping, take a shower, dress up and meet up with Gumi. Said girl was coming over to them now, staying behind to watch the production of the clip.
Now that Miku thought about it, she had never seen any promotional videos for Gumi. Krypton did them a lot, but she had never seen any from J-Net at all.
"That was awesome. You looked so nice together. And that outfit looks so cute, Miku." The short-haired girl was totally taken aback by the stage dress Miku had to wear for the video. It was white and sleeveless with black vertical stripes and black frills ending right over the knees. Red stockings and black pumps made it look especially nice. To suit the image of the song, Miku had been wearing headphones adorned with red butterfly wings.
Luka was the complete opposite. She was wearing white stockings, but the same black pumps, and a dress that seemed like a mix of corset and mini skirt and showed a lot of cleavage. It was completely black with white frills at the top. She had the same headphones, also adorned with butterfly wings, but hers were gray.
"You could easily go out like that!" Gumi said and seemed really eager to try a dress like that for herself.
"I don't really like this outfit," Luka said, and tried to take a deep breath which was impossible due to how tight her dress was. A little annoyed, she got up and waved to the two green-haired girls, signaling that she was going to change.
"I think it's kind of obvious, but you can't tell anyone about us, Gumi," Miku said in a low voice while the other girl sat down next to her.
"I wouldn't. I thought about it at first, but Luka actually seems like a decent person if you get to know her," Gumi said and watched Miku roll her eyes.
"I wouldn't go that far. Almost a decent human, maybe. She's the god of all perverts, I tell you. She got me drunk during our first date and…" Miku paused meaningfully.
Gumi gasped and blushed, looking around as if Luka was listening in. "Really? That's terrible! And you still date her?" She seemed really shocked at first, but that quickly yielded to an amused expression while Miku was bent over trying to hold back her laughter.
After about a minute of laughing, she finally explained. "She took me home, but my keys were inside. So she took me to her place. I spent the night there. Luka didn't do anything immoral. She was a real lady. It's hard to believe, actually." Miku leaned back and smiled happily.
"What lies are you telling her?" Luka popped up from behind them, now in her casual clothes. She turned to Gumi and made a serious face. "Don't believe her. I am not an octopus alien from a tuna planet, or whatever she told you."
"Luka…you watch too much anime," Miku said and patted the songstress's head.
"Miss Lyoid? I mean, Miss Gumi." A staff member had approached them, not really sure how to address Gumi. "The board has decided that it would be best to make a debut single as quickly as possible. It was originally planned for Luka to sing this song, but they decided to give it to you instead. Luka's schedule is pretty full with her collaboration with Miss Hatsune anyway." The staff hand gave Gumi a few sheets of paper with notes and lyrics. The title of the song was "Bad Apple."
Gumi read through it and seemed a little uncomfortable with it. It wasn't exactly a happy song. One of the board members was present and approached Gumi when he saw her holding the notes and sitting with the other two girls.
"The board has decided that it's probably best to show your fans, and also to pull in new fans, that Gumi can sing serious and dark songs as well. We'd like to start recording in the next couple of days. Please familiarize yourself with the lyrics and the melody. We sent a demo tape of the music to your apartment already. Good day." He nodded and left.
"The staff here is always a bit weird, but they're fair and hardworking." Luka leaned on Miku's shoulder, who pretended to groan under the burden. "I do like working here, though. I didn't like that song anyway, so I'm happy they gave it to you, Gumi. If you do well, they'll do a promo video for you next." Luka gave a thumbs-up sign and got back up, pulling Miku with her.
"Come and let's change.." Luka pulled a somewhat lazy Miku with her. Gumi was left behind and looked through the lyrics once more. The clock was pointing to five-thirty now. Gumi still hadn't showered and hadn't picked out a dress for later. She had to treat Miku to dinner, together with Luka.
Gumi was quite happy with her new contract. Not only did Krypton pay more than J-Net ever did, they also had better conditions. With her pay, she could easily save as much as before and still get a bigger apartment. She didn't have a driver's license yet, but maybe she could get one for a bike. She didn't like fancy cars like Luka's too much.
Gumi left the building, keeping the papers with her. The girls had agreed to meet in front of the restaurant. It wasn't too far to the train station, and from there it was only a squirrel's leap to home. It was quite funny that she basically lived next door to Luka but had never seen her there before.
A few people recognized her on the train and outside, and Gumi could hear them whispering. She was able to overhear some of them when she left the train on her stop.
"How lucky for Luka! I mean, to be able to work with Gumi and to kiss her!"
Another girl said, "I think Gumi's the lucky one. She's cute, yeah, but Luka is a real lady and a star."
"Those rumors will stick around for a while, I suppose…" Gumi sighed but didn't really let it get her down. The day had been very, very chaotic and she really needed the shower now. She was going up the stairs when she heard tires squeal. It was undoubtedly Luka getting home in a hurry.
When she opened the door to her apartment, the tape was right there on the ground. It was just a small packet. She picked it up and dropped both the papers and the tape on her bed before she Gumi simply stripped in the middle of the room and went for the bathroom. Finally, a nice hot shower!
She felt really tired. Her days at J-Net had been chaotic too, sometimes, but never on this level. Just knowing Luka was apparently enough to destroy any means of ordered lifestyle. Gumi couldn't even imagine how bad it was for someone who practically lived with her. Miku's nerves must be made of some indestructible material.
After noticing that she was low on shampoo, Gumi checked her legs. No need to shave. She did notice that there was a slightly purple mark on her left breast, but after the shock of thinking that she had actually slept with Luka, this discovery wasn't that unsettling. The woman really had some uncontrollable desires and issues.
The main room was flooded with hot air and steam when Gumi left the bathroom and went to her drawer. She didn't exactly have many clothes that would fit the description "elegant" or "graceful." She didn't often go to any events where she needed such things.
She picked out the white dress that she had gotten from Sonika as a souvenir from England. She took off her goggles and combed her hair straight, except for one ahoge that refused to be smoothed down. Gumi tried really hard to look good.
She resembled her older sister Sonika quite a bit when not in her usual attire and without the goggles on her head. The green silky hair, the cute face and the one ahoge that always stood up unless it was forced below the goggles. Sonika had two of those and was a bit taller, but those were the main differences.
She looked in her mirror. Gumi was quite happy with her outfit. She put on some white pumps since she was unable to walk straight in high heels. She was all ready to go when someone knocked on her door quite energetically.
"Hey, aren't you done yet?" Luka yelled, almost giving Gumi a scare.
Gumi hurried to open the door. When she did, she almost forgot to breathe. Luka was looking quite stunning. She wore a sleeveless, open-backed blood-red dress that showed a lot of cleavage and was very short. The dress was accompanied by black heels. Luka was almost a head taller than Gumi now.
"Wow, you look nice." Luka leaned forward, as if to inspect Gumi close up. "I was right this morning. You are bigger than Miku." Luka grinned and then broke out in laughter at Gumi's embarrassed face.
"Don't bring that up! That moment took years off my life." Gumi looked a bit confused now. "Aren't you with Miku? Did you just come to…check on me?" Gumi actually thought "check on my boobs" but she didn't want to know what Luka would say.
"The restaurant is on the way. I'll drop you off, get Miku, and then come back. Still gotta think how I can get you two back since I plan to stay at Miku's place," Luka said and grabbed Gumi's hand.
"Wait, my purse!" Gumi stopped Luka before she was dragged out of her own apartment and grabbed a expensive-looking white leather handbag from her closet. "A gift from my sister," Gumi explained when Luka eyed the handbag curiously.
"I didn't know you had a sister. Where does she live?" Luka was a bit interested in Gumi now. She liked her a lot more now than she had just two days ago. Maybe because they had already gone through some really, really weird moments.
"She lives overseas, in London. She works for Zero-C, a famous corporation that produces sound libraries, effects, that sort of stuff. She's their mascot and also doubles as a songstress. Zero-C is basically her agency." Gumi walked with Luka to her car. She had already experienced once how Luka drove, so at least she was prepared now. Each step was accompanied by the sound of Luka's high heels hitting hard stone.
"I know of them. They do some business with Krypton as well, I think. They have this revolutionary new system where a person records their voice and then they can use that to create a media library. Krypton was talking about letting me do that, but Zero-C wasn't willing to pay what Krypton wanted. Been a while since I've heard of them. And your sister is working for them? What's her name?" Luka pressed the button on her keys and her car's lights lit up for a second, unlocking the car's doors.
"Sonika Lyoid." Gumi still didn't like her surname, but her sister commonly went by it. Most people just called her Sonika, though. She was on her way to become as famous as the superstar Gakupo.
"Makes sense. You resemble her, too. I saw a picture of her a while ago. She's really beautiful," Luka said and sat down, waiting for Gumi to sit in the passenger seat. "I like your looks better. Sonika looks older than she probably is."
"If she heard that, she'd kill you. Sonika can be really scary if she gets mad." Gumi smiled and was happy about the compliment. She could see why Miku actually loved this woman. She was rough, blunt, and probably quite perverted, but she was fun to be around, and when it really counted, considerate.
"How did you and Miku get together?" Gumi was curious now, and waited for Luka to answer after she started the car.
"Silly story, really." Luka laughed and started to tell Gumi of how she and Miku ended up together.
The car slowed down too quickly, and Gumi unwillingly bent over in her seat. The woman really didn't know what safe driving was. Or traffic laws, for that matter. When Gumi got out of the car, she could already see Miku waiting on the other side of the street.
She was wearing a very light green dress with a white cloth sash around her waist. The dress ended at her knees and she was wearing a pair of white pumps. She was the same height as Gumi, so Luka more or less towered over them. Somehow, Gumi imagined Luka walking around, one girl on each arm, with the words "pimp" floating in golden letters over her head.
That idea was so funny that Gumi couldn't hold in the laughter. Miku waved to Luka and Gumi, who shortly made their way over the street.
"It's not easy to survive driving with Luka, right?" Miku laughed and watched Luka pull an annoyed face.
"Shush, you. My driving is perfectly safe," Luka insisted, and took Miku's hand. Gumi walked to left of Miku and Luka to the right. There was already a waiter at the entrance, welcoming them and leading them to a table.
"You look really nice, Gumi. I would have thought you were someone else if Luka hadn't been with you." Miku was a little embarrassed to say that.
"She resembles Sonika Lyoid, don't you think?" Luka pointed at the ahoge and the white dress. There was a famous glamor shot of Sonika in a very similar dress. The only difference was that she had a double ahoge.
"I don't know who that is. I don't know that many people in the music business, Luka." Miku felt a bit offended that Luka apparently thought she'd know.
"Zero-C's mascot and a songstress. My sister," Gumi said, letting the cat out of the bag. "She lives in London." Gumi sat down and looked around.
The restaurant was quite an exclusive place. The whole building was looked old-fashioned, with big, finely carved wooden support pillars that seemed to be mostly for decoration. The tables and chairs were all made of some kind of dark, noble wood. It felt really nice.
A waiter brought them the menu and asked them what they wanted to drink. Miku warned Luka with a short glare and Luka ordered a mild wine for them. Gumi remembered that Miku was still underage, but didn't dare to ask. Apparently the girl was already used to drinking.
"What do you think, Gumi? Will you like working at Krypton?" Miku asked and leaned one arm on the table.
"They seem nice enough. And you two are there, too. If you had asked me this a week ago, I would've said I'd rather eat a can of bugs. I really hated Luka back then. But she isn't that bad a person after all," Gumi said and got an angry look from Luka.
"Miku, you're rubbing off on her already. Stop talking about me like I'm the kraken or some other mythical monster already." Luka frowned and rolled her eyes.
The two green-haired girls laughed and after a few seconds, Luka joined in. Their drinks came just as they calmed down. The waiter looked a little bit suspiciously at Miku when he placed the glasses on the table and poured the wine, but he didn't say anything.
"Cheers to Gumi working with us now!" Luka said, and held her glass in the air. The other two picked theirs up, and the sound of glass clinking marked the beginning of a new life for Gumi.
End of Chapter V