Rin and Len: Happy summer, readers!
Miku: And also, happy birthday to Elise-sensei! Hope you have fun today!
EliseArainai: Aw, thanks Miku-chan! *blush*
Miku: Anyway, we've got a brand-new track to kick off the summer with, and Luka nee-chan's narrating again!
Luka: I'll do my best! As usual, Elise-sensei does not own Vocaloid; she just writes stories about us.
Miku/Rin/Len/Luka: Enjoy~! ^^
"Kampai!" we all cheered as we clinked our glasses together. Meiko was throwing a party in her apartment in celebration of the release of my first album, along with Miku, Rin and Len's albums. All six Vocaloids were there, as well as Gumi, Haku and Kaiko. Even Chusei, my male friend, was there to celebrate.
"Here's to the lad and lasses and their first albums!" Meiko added, already a bit flushed in the cheeks. While most of us had various non-alcoholic drinks, the older woman had apparently snuck in her usual sake.
"Honestly Meiko-san, you're making me blush!" I admonished.
"By the way, just how many drinks have you had so far?" Len questioned, cocking an eyebrow.
"Oh don't worry 'bout it, Len-kun!" Haku piped up, also somewhat buzzed. "Me an' your onee-chan can handle ourselves!"
Kaito sighed and muttered, "I'm not so sure about that…"
"Well, I'm having plenty of fun!" Miku said happily. "Thank you so much for this party!"
"You guys deserve it," Kaiko said. "According to nii-chan, your albums have already gotten into the Top 10 New Albums list. In fact, I think Miku-chan's album is currently number 1."
"That's wonderful!" I exclaimed. "Congratulations, Miku-san!" Although I said that, I was actually just a little bit jealous. Of the four new Vocaloids, Miku had proven to be the most popular several times.
"So you guys are on summer break, right?" Chusei mentioned. "Any idea what you're gonna do?"
"Hmm… I'm not sure," I answered. "I'd love to go to the beach, but –"
"But nothing! That sounds perfect!" Meiko interrupted. "C'mon Gumi-chan, surely we can take 'em to the beach, right?"
"What are you asking me for?" Gumi asked. "I'm not stopping you from going."
"Yay!" Rin cheered. "We so gotta go swimsuit shopping, Miku-nee! I need a new swimsuit! You too, Luka-nee!"
"M-Me?!" I asked, my face suddenly flushed. "But I already have a swimsuit…"
"School swimsuits don't count! You gotta have a little variety!" Rin objected. "That's it; we've got the day off tomorrow, so we're going shopping!"
"Sounds like a plan!" Miku agreed before I could say anything else.
Oh well, at least they all agreed to the beach, I thought, although I'm not really a clothes-shopping kind of girl. At least Rin would be there, and she was practically an expert when it came to fashion.
…
Finally, the day that we would go to the beach arrived. As we rode the train heading for our destination, Miku and Rin were practically bouncing up and down with excitement, much to the amusement of Kaito.
Len, who was sitting next Rin, placed a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down Rin, or you won't have any energy once we get there."
"Hey, can I help it if I'm excited?" the blonde girl retorted. "I've been looking forward to going to the beach since our break started! And besides, you get to see me in my new swimsuit! You're gonna love it, I promise!" As she finished, she gave Len a cute wink.
Shaking his head, he smiled as he muttered, "What am I gonna do with you?"
I couldn't help but smile at those two. It was still strange to think that Rin and Len weren't really twins, let alone that they were now dating. While they tried to keep their new relationship low-key in public, that didn't stop the occasional flirtations. Either way, I think they were much happier than they were before.
We soon reached the Japanese-style inn where we would be staying and proceeded to settle in. Once we had dropped off our things, we got changed and headed straight to the beach.
Miku was the first to dart out onto the soft sand. She looked adorable in her new teal and white striped bikini. "Wow! We're actually here! Look Luka nee-chan, it's the ocean!"
I chuckled at the younger girl's enthusiasm. "Just don't forget to put on your sunscreen, Miku-san. You don't want to get sunburned."
"I know, I know!" she said before noticing that I was still wearing my coverall. "Aw, why are you covering up?"
Blushing, I glanced off to the side and pulled the coverall closed. "Well, uh… because it's a little embarrassing…"
"Oh, knock it off!" Rin said as she ran up to me. She was dressed in a white bikini with yellow polka dots and a fringe along the top edge of her bikini bottom. "You'll look gorgeous and you know it! Now off with the coverall!"
"Rin, you can't force her," Len scolded, folding his arms as he spoke to his sis- er, girlfriend. He had chosen some simple black swim trunks with a yellow edge.
"Aww, but I worked so hard in finding a suit that shows off her features!" the blonde girl pouted, and her comment caused me to tighten my grip on my coverall. "That is the one you're wearing, right Luka-nee?"
"Um… yes?" I answered nervously.
"C'mon, I wanna see it too!" Miku piped up before she and Rin started giving me puppy-dog eyes. "Pleeeeeeeease?"
"O-Okay okay, I'll take it off!" I told them quickly. Taking a deep breath, I removed my coverall to finally reveal my brand-new swimsuit; a brown bikini with gold detail which matched my usual brown and gold headband.
"Wow! That looks perfect!" Miku gushed. "You look so beautiful, Luka nee-chan!"
Rin glanced past us and giggled. "Hee hee, looks like we're getting some attention already." I looked back and saw that several guys on the beach were already looking at me, Miku and Rin. I couldn't help blushing from their gazes.
Len quickly took Rin's hand in his own. "Well I'm not letting any guy try to pick you up, got it?"
"Ooh, who would've guessed you were possessive?" the girl teased as the two started walking down the beach while Miku and I followed.
As we walked, we kept an eye out for Kaito and Meiko who were supposed to be setting up an umbrella further down the beach. But before we got there, Miku noticed a volleyball net nearby. "Hey guys, wanna play a little beach volleyball?"
"Sure, that sounds fun!" Rin agreed. "How bout me and Len against you two?"
"I'm all for it," Len said with a nod.
Looks like there's no getting out of it, I thought with a sigh. "Okay, let's play."
"Alright!" Rin and Len exclaimed as they ran up to the net. As Miku and I got on the other side, Len picked up the ball and prepared for the first serve. "Get ready!" he warned before throwing the ball into the air and hit it over the net.
"Ah! I got it!" Miku cried out as she ran to get the ball. She was able to reach it and hit it back.
Rin leapt up and slammed the ball straight down on our side, and it hit the sand before I could get to it. "Yes! First point!" she cheered.
"We'll get the next one!" Miku said with a pout as she picked up the ball. "Right, Luka nee-chan?"
"Uh, right!" I replied, although I'm actually not very good at sports. Dancing I can handle, but sports not so much. Nevertheless, I readied myself as the teal-haired girl served the ball.
As the game went on, Rin and Len proved to be amazing players who synchronized perfectly. On the other hand, Miku and I had only gotten a few points in and they were mostly made by my teammate while my playing was somewhat clumsy.
Eventually, Rin and Len won the match 21-10. "Alright, we did it!" they cheered as they high-fived each other.
"Good job!" I told them. I had forgotten how good the two of them were at sports, especially at times when they had to work as a team. Not going to lie, I was a little jealous of their teamwork.
Suddenly, we heard clapping and we turned to see Kaito watching us. "Nice game, you guys!" he complimented. He was dressed in blue swim trunks with a white stripe down both sides, and (for some reason) still had his usual blue scarf.
"Oh! Hi, Kaito nii-chan," Miku greeted, blushing immediately at the sight of the older man. "Y-You look so cool!"
"Thank you, Miku-chan!" he said with a smile. "You look pretty cute, yourself." This once again caused the girl to blush and I had to catch her when she nearly fainted.
"Uh, where did you set up?" I asked, eager to get to the beach umbrella.
"Just a little ways down from here," Kaito answered. "You guys were taking too long, so I came to look for you." He then led us to one particular umbrella, where Meiko was spread out on a beach towel. "Found them, they were in the middle of a beach volleyball game."
"Ehh? And I missed it?! Rats!" Meiko commented, lifting her sunglasses as she sat up. My jaw almost dropped when I saw her swimsuit; a dark red one-piece held up by a couple of strings halter-style which showed off her breasts and some of her stomach. She looked absolutely gorgeous and sexy, and my self-consciousness suddenly came back.
Meiko looked at us and smiled. "Ooh, lookin' good! Looks like you did a good job shopping, Rin."
"Aw, it was nothing," Rin replied sheepishly.
I then noticed that Miku seemed to be fiddling with her sunscreen bottle. "Is something wrong, Miku-san?" I asked curiously.
"W-Well, I was thinking of asking Kaito nii-chan to rub sunscreen on my back," she told me quietly so Kaito wouldn't hear her. "But I'm afraid he'll say no."
"I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask, at least," I said. "And on the off-chance he does say no, then I'll rub it on you instead, okay?"
Miku grinned. "Thanks, Luka nee-chan!" she said, hugging me before walking over to the blue-haired man. "U-Um, Kaito nii-chan? Would you mind putting some sunscreen on my back? I can't reach it."
"Not at all," Kaito answered as he took the sunscreen from Miku and asked her to turn around. The girl's cheeks flushed when his hands touched her bare back.
"Here Luka, I got your back," Meiko called me over, and I walked over to her beach towel. As she applied the sunscreen, I couldn't help but sigh. "Something bugging you?"
Shaking my head, I replied, "Nothing's wrong."
"Aw c'mon, you can tell me!" the older woman pressed. "What's wrong?"
Len-kun's right; there really is no hiding anything from this woman, I thought. "I… I guess I didn't realize how jealous I can be."
"You? Jealous?" Meiko asked.
Nodding, I continued, "Jealous of Miku-san's popularity, of Rin-san and Len-kun's skill with sports, of your beauty… I must sound terrible, don't I?"
"That's completely normal," Meiko reassured. "Everyone's jealous about something. But you've got nothing to worry about in the looks department: you're quite beautiful yourself!"
"Really? I mean, I know Miku-san says that all the time, but…"
"See?! There you go!" the brunette confirmed. "Just don't think about it and have fun, got it?"
"Okay," I said with a small smile. But still… there has to be something good about me.
Once we all had our sunscreen on, Miku shouted, "Hey guys, let's race to the water!"
"Don't forget to take your scarf off, Kaito!" Meiko called from her towel, opting to stay onshore and sunbathe.
"Yeah, yeah!" Kaito shot back as he removed his scarf and tied it to the umbrella stand so it wouldn't blow away.
"Last one in buys watermelon tonight!" Rin shouted before taking off, the rest of us in hot pursuit. We all ran into the cool water laughing, and no one was really sure who got in last, although we didn't really care at that point.
Rin and Len quickly got into a splash fight until Len ducked underwater out of the girl's view. She looked around for him until she let out a startled yelp and he popped out of the water laughing. Rin got back at him with another splash to the face and they continued chasing each other.
Meanwhile, Kaito had figured out that Miku wasn't a very good swimmer and was slowly pulling her through the water to help her learn. "That's it, just keep kicking your legs," he instructed while Miku blushed at the fact that she was holding both of his hands.
That left me to my own devices, which mainly meant me looking for shells. I wanted to hang out with the others, but then I would pretty much be a third wheel. Sighing, I picked up a particularly nice scallop shell before I noticed that a wave was forming right behind me. I turned just in time to be caught by the wave, sweeping me off my feet and forcing me under the water.
Luckily, I was pulled up so my head was above water and I coughed up any seawater that I had swallowed. "Are you alright?" I heard a voice ask as I took in deep breaths of air. My eyes finally opened and I saw my rescuer; an older man with long purple hair and bright blue eyes.
"K-Kamui-san?" I asked in surprise. What is he doing here?!
Rather than reply, Gakupo gently grasped my shoulders. "Are you alright?" he repeated firmly.
My breathing finally returning to normal, I answered, "Yes, I'm fine."
"Oh, thank goodness," he sighed with relief. "You worried me for a minute, Megurine-dono. You really shouldn't be swimming by yourself." It was then that I realized that the purple-haired man was topless, causing my whole face to turn red.
"U-Um, I'll remember that next time," I stammered, running a hand through my wet pink hair. "So, uh… what brings you here Kamui-san?"
"Gakupo-san is fine," he told me. "Nothing really, just felt like going to the beach today." He then saw the scallop that I had managed to hold on to. "Looking for shells?"
"Oh yes, I'm lucky I didn't lose this," I said. "I always try to bring back a few nice shells whenever I come to the beach."
"I see," Gakupo said as he examined the shell. "It's very pretty. Mind if I give you a hand? That way you won't be all by yourself."
My face turned red again, but I nodded nonetheless and the two of us started combing the beach for shells. Eventually we got together quite a collection and were now just sitting on the beach talking. "I don't know, it just seems like everyone's good at something besides singing and dancing except for me," I was telling him, still bothered by the idea.
"Come now, I'm sure there's something," Gakupo suggested. "Everyone has something good about them. It doesn't necessarily have to be a talent or skill, but perhaps a quality or personality trait."
Before I could reply to this, there was a sudden cry for help. My head whipped toward the ocean where a young girl was struggling in the water.
Without really thinking, I rushed out to the water despite Gakupo's protests and started swimming out to help the girl. I made sure to duck under any waves that came at me until I finally reached her, taking her hand and pulling her to me. As the child clung to me, I took note of the strong current nearby and carefully swam back to shore.
Gakupo ran up and helped us out of the water. "That was dangerous, Megurine-dono!" he scolded before his face softened. "But still, you were able to help her, so good job." He then gave me a gentle pat on the back, which made me blush again.
"Thank you, Kamu – I mean, Gakupo-san," I corrected myself before checking on the whimpering child in my arms. "Are you okay?"
Sniffling, the little girl looked up at me and nodded before asking, "Are you an angel?"
"Oh! Goodness," I muttered in response, letting out a light chuckle.
"Ami-chan! Oh, thank goodness!" a woman cried as she ran over and carefully took the girl out of my arms before bowing to me. "Thank you so much!"
"Thank you, Angel-sama!" the little girl, or Ami, piped up as she copied her mother's bow.
"You're welcome," I said sincerely, although I was a little embarrassed from being called an angel. "I'm just happy you're alright."
Suddenly, I heard someone say, "Hey, isn't that Luka Megurine-sama?"
"It is! She saved that little girl's life!"
"You were amazing, Luka-sama!"
"Beautiful and brave! I love it!"
A crowd formed around us, and I glanced around looking for a chance to escape. But by the time I spotted an opening, I was tackle-hugged by three certain friends of mine.
"Luka-nee, you're alright!" Rin and Len cried happily.
"You were so cool, Luka nee-chan!" Miku exclaimed. "I could never do that!"
"Y-You guys saw that?!" I asked in surprise.
"Ha ha, I think everyone saw that," Gakupo chuckled before placing a hand on my shoulder. "You see? You are a very compassionate person; you put the needs of others before your own. That's your good trait."
I smiled, liking the sound of that. "Yeah… I suppose you're right!"
"Hey Luka! Smile!" Meiko called as she suddenly appeared with a camera.
Ami quickly ran over to me and hopped up and down in front of the older woman. "Me too, me too!"
"Aww, I think you have a new admirer!" Gakupo commented as he crouched down to her level and I joined them.
"Look at the camera," I instructed as I carefully turned Ami to face Meiko. The brunette set up the shot, Gakupo, Ami and I smiled and flashed "V" signs, and the photo was taken.
…
The excitement finally died down and after one or two impromptu interviews (when did the reporters show up again?), I said good-bye to little Ami before going back to the inn for dinner.
"Megurine-dono, wait a minute!" I turned around to see Gakupo dashing up to me. He then held up a watermelon. "I thought you might like some, after your big day today."
"Ooh, that looks delicious!" I exclaimed as I took the fruit from him. "Thank you, Gakupo-san." Then I summoned up my newfound confidence and asked him, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"
His bright blue eyes lit up and he bowed his head to me. "I would be honored, Megurine-dono."
"Great! We would love to have you," I said before the two of us continued walking. The two of us seemed to be getting closer all the time, and my feelings for him continued to grow. Asking him to dinner was a good step, but there was one other thing I could do. "Um, Gakupo-san?"
"Yes?"
"You gave me permission to use your first name, so…" I looked him straight in the eye. "I would like you to use mine, too."
A little startled by my boldness, he nevertheless gave me a soft smile and a pat on the head. "As you wish… Luka-dono."
Next time…
Miku: Yay! I get to spend a whole day with Kaito nii-chan!
Kaiko: You should take advantage of this. Tell him how you feel!
Miku: You can do this, Miku. You can do it!
Kaito: The stars sure are beautiful…
Next time: Track 20 - SPiCa