A/N Since I'm feeling generous, I'll post the next chapter too \(_)/ - What u look like right now XD And if you can live with my weirdness and are still reading this, I congratulate you! Because I never thought anybody would actually read this! (mainly cos of the ships, but it won't just be R&L I promise!)
Oh, and I try to keep as close to real-life events as possible, so don't shout if I've got some facts wrong uwu
Four ~ Kagerou
A few weeks had passed since the day IA had met the Kagamines, and she was still thinking about that stuff, however hard she tried to forget. Most of her time since then had been learning how to self-tune and when to strain her voice when her programmers did something to make it sound better. Apparently it's what made programmers pick certain Vocaloids, along with the nature of their voice. After days on end practising vocals and scales, as well as different singing styles (not easy to do when you're an android) the Boss finally gave her the all-clear to start working on songs for different projects.
IA startled when she received many blipping emails in her cyberbrain the next morning. She spent half the day reading them all and trying to make sense of them. Apparently she was going to feature in two new confirmed projects: the Kagerou Project and IA Project. There were various artists contributing to the IA Project but only one to the Kagerou Project – his name was JIN, sometimes called Shizen no Teki-P. Weird name, yet kinda cool, IA thought, seemingly staring into space to someone who didn't know she was a Vocaloid, since her emails were sent straight to her cyberbrain and could be viewed without projecting them onto anything.
IA decided to pick something presentable to wear, as she intended to make a good first impression. She found a light blue dress and a red bow hidden in the back of her wardrobe – she never remembered seeing them before. She decided to wear it as a change to her usual black, white and pink colour scheme. She looked in the mirror, instantly thinking it was so kawaii. –Though she had to be careful about when and where she used that word, as her friends had told her not to say it around Miku too much, as the superstar thought of it as her word alone. Silly, yes, but IA had never met the green-haired singer, so what could she say?
It was kind of funny, actually; IA had met most of the Vocaloids, and some UTAUloids, just not Miku. The white-haired Vocaloid followed the directions to the studio where she'd meet this JIN person, practising her vocals on the way. She'd gotten used to the enormous building housing many of her kind, but still didn't know where everyone lived. –Plus loads of Vocaloids had to switch rooms for personal reasons, like the creators didn't want enemies to duel all the time, or they didn't want certain ones to become too… IA decided to replace what she was going to say with close – as in Rin and Len close.
...Yeah, IA must've been built with a dirty cyberbrain.
IA came to an abrupt stop as she reached the door of the supposed studio where she was to meet with this person, initially to check it was the right place, but when she looked at the door it had dark purple marks – her colour, of course – but it also had turquoise. Her eyes widened even more when she heard a high-pitched voice laugh inside the room. The voice was unmistakable. IA hesitantly opened the door and almost fainted when she saw a pair of green pigtails; she wished she'd chosen better clothes than the boring normal dress she was wearing.
"Oh! You must be IA, I've heard loads about you from Rin and Len! I don't think we've actually met yet, but you must know I'm Hatsune Miku." Miku smiled a genuine smile, the complete opposite of what rumours IA had heard about her and what she'd expected her to be – then again most of what she believed about Miku was influenced by the Kagamines, so…
"SeeU got your tongue? Come on, I'm not that big a deal that ya have to act all dumbstruck!" She shook her head exasperatedly, IA now confused instead of shocked: who the hell was SeeU and why did Miku use it in that phrase instead of 'cat'?
"Ohhhhh… You haven't met SeeU yet, have you? She's a Korean V3 who has cat ears, so I thought it would be funny to use that instead of cat,"
"No, it's fine, I was just shocked because-"
"-Because most of the stuff you've heard about me was from the Kagamines – they warned me, heh-heh," She made a dead-pan face that looked like it'd had a lot of practise.
There was a man in the room as well, IA guessed he was JIN. He was wearing casual clothes, as was Miku, who was wearing a jumper with really long sleeves, which hung over her hands cutely, an indigo miniskirt and black and blue leg warmers that changed into boots as they got closer to her feet. JIN seemed to be looking at both of the Vocaloids' costumes intently, as if he was on the brink of having an idea, which was confirmed when he stated that their costumes gave him an idea for two of the characters in the Kagerou Project. (A/N Marie and Ene, since whenever I can't help but think of IA and Miku)
IA soon figured out that she and Miku wouldn't exactly be shown in the Kagerou Project, they'd just sing the songs. A little while after she'd met the Kagamines, Boss gave IA a few new privileges, like accessing further information in her cyberbrain as well as being able to sing a few more songs, her cyberbrain being updated every time a new song came on Nico Nico Douga (NND) or YouTube (YT), the most recent being one by kemu called 'A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night'. Personally, IA thought that song was a real killer and could become very popular. JIN asked the two to sing a song of their own choice and, since IA was fed up of singing Tori no Uta, she sang A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night. Miku sang Love is War, a classic J-rock Vocaloid original by ryo (supercell) and Miku. IA thought of a lot of other songs the superstar could have sung that were better, but something told her that not choosing to sing Tori no Uta was a good choice, as she had a feeling JIN preferred rock over slow, rhythmic songs.
JIN seemed very pleased with each of the Vocaloids, as he'd done his research and was expecting this – apparently. One thing he wasn't expecting, though, was just how good IA's voice could suit his style. He admitted that he'd originally wanted to try Gumi or Luka, but had read IA's page and wanted to try her out; he also admitted that he did indeed like IA's voice better than Miku's. –Miku seemed a little down at that, but before she had perked up at the fact that Rin and Len's names had been missed out. However, she perked up again when JIN said that he was planning the first song of the series to be sung by Miku, the second sung by IA.
The rest of the day was mostly JIN and Miku practising the song, whilst IA watched and brainstormed ideas for lyrics to the next song. The second song was meant to be about a character who had this strange ability to draw everyone's attention. Her name's Momo Kisaragi, and the song's about unwanted attention… I've got it! The song shall be called Kisaragi Attention! IA sprinted out of her seat towards JIN and Miku, despite the fact they were in the middle of practising, and let the words flow out of her mouth excitedly, as if she were a girl on her birthday morning. JIN approved the idea and let Miku add some parts to the lyrics – after all, she had half a decade's more experience than IA.
The day ended with two exhausted Vocaloids and one pushy master. Miku had nearly perfected singing Jinzou Enemy, the first song of the series, and IA had been experimenting with different variations of the tune and lyrics to Kisaragi Attention, wishing she could have more of Miku's help. As they walked back to their rooms, IA found that she and Miku must live in close quarters, as they ended up walking in the same direction. IA was expecting her to take a left turn at one point towards Rin and Len's rooms, but she stayed true to her path.
I guess she doesn't live near the other CVs, then…
IA spotted a black hood with purple hair sticking out heading towards a door with slightly lighter purple lines than IA's, and the white-haired vocalist lit up with excitement, "Yukari?"
"Huh? Is that you, IA?"
"Oh, so you know Yuka-chan, IA?" Miku wondered, IA nodded with a smile. She'd only just befriended her fellow V3 a week ago, but they seemed to just click – sort of like Rin and Gumi or Miku and Luka, though not quite as, err, intimate, as Rin and Len. –No, the two had NOT done a cover of magnet yet!
Yukari walked up to the other two Vocaloids and began having a casual chat with them, "So, you finally met Miku, ne? She's not what you first think or what the Kagamines tell you," Miku giggled at that.
"Yeah, those two can be real cheeky sometimes! Most of the time I have to threaten to tell Luka about their trouble-making, but once I even mention her name they recoil – it's really quite funny, actually."
"Yeah, I can imagine that," They both laughed, leaving IA with that same feeling that she should know what Luka was like. They quickly explained that Luka could be really aggressive and angry when it came to it – she was 'a true anime lady' they had said.
After a few more minutes of idly chatting, Miku yawned, sensing that she needed to charge, which was when IA also felt a sudden dimness around her – like a computer screen going dark because of low battery. Miku and IA waved Yukari goodbye, but Yukari managed to hastily whisper a word of warning in her friend's ear.
"Miku isn't exactly what her first impression gives off, either, so I'd watch out if I were you," Those words left a chill in IA's body.
IA went the rest of the way without speaking to Miku once.
A/N Ooh, getting tense, eh~? Yeah, well, ALL WILL BE CLEAR BY NEXT TIME! Plus I kinda focus on IA a bit more next time rather than the Kagamines or Miku. Oh, don't worry, the story of Yuka and IA will be clear soon, I was just too lazy before XD Finally, the songs in the Kagerou Project will go in the order that they are in the manga, since I don't really watch much of the anime eh-heh (-.-)