Chapter 9: Synchronicity

The noise rang in his ears, trying to blast every sense of self out of him. He struggled against the cacophony of madness, what was no longer even a melody but a pounding, scraping, cracking roar. He felt it wrap its tendrils around his body. He tried to speak but the monochrome nothingness drowned out his voice. He would be nothing, just scattered notes and echoes. He would be everything, the sum of every screeching fragment. Flailing around as his body broke apart, he found nothing to save him…

As Kaito snapped back to wakefulness, the wretched sounds in his head ceased… the only remaining sound the calm morning rain.

Ever since he'd purified Haku, he began to have a recurring nightmare of being torn apart by a terrible sound. After purifying Yuma, they'd become more frequent. Tonight, hours after saving Mizki, the details felt so much clearer…

As he lay his head back down on the futon, he lamented that his dreams had grown so negative. Would that he could have relived the joy of a sky lit up again, or tasting so many delicious sweets, or playing silly games.

With Miku.

"Seal of the Seruva…" he murmured. Every Herald called him this, yet the title meant nothing to him. Maybe they'd mean something to a priestess though…

'Luka…'

Sometimes instead of nightmares, he'd start seeing fragments of another life. Of flying over a human city, of playing with a child whose face he couldn't recall, of watching his mother dying from seizure fits. Yet Meiko assured him she'd died alone… that he'd been unconscious due to the attempt on his life, he'd never left the Islands, he'd had no other friends…

Perhaps it was merely echoes of the Noise he'd been repeatedly exposing himself to. He had no guarantee that his actions were safe. Only that he was saving others. He could already hear the rebukes from Meiko and the Elders for giving so freely of himself to humanity, the sworn enemies of the people he'd once nearly died trying to lead…

But for now, all he could hear as he lay in bed staring at the ceiling of Miku's apartment was the rain pounding against the patio outside.

For Luka, sleeping in her own bed again had quite a different feeling to it after having spent three weeks on a couch.

Of course, it hadn't been her idea.

"Gakupo, we've been through this. You can't sleep on the couch."

The Seruva warrior cocked his head at her, a seductive smile on his lips. "Who said anything about me sleeping on the couch?"

The lustful melody in his voice, coating his shameless invitation…

She studied his sleeping face carefully. If he suffered even a single nightmare, his face betrayed nothing. Even in sleep, he was able to control himself when he so willed it.

Luka carefully crawled out of the bed, gathering her undergarments from the floor. Perhaps it was reckless to become so intimate with someone she knew so little about. But the freedom he offered her… not needing to keep her secrets, not needing to feel ashamed of where she came from and how she got here. How could she deny that? Relationships with humans always ended quickly due to the necessary lies and deceptions. With another Seruva… she could be truly free.

As she slipped her robe on, she was careful to tiptoe out of the room so as not to disturb her warrior. Yet he stayed at peace, the only sound the soft raindrops on the windows.

"So we're super heroes now, right?!"

Miku watched Rin's body shaking with excitement as the gathered group sat in the Kagamine's living room, her hands balled up into little fists as she bounced around in her pink sweater and yellow skirt, her brown boots thumping the floor. The continuing rain had ensured the Vocaloids were not going to be gathering outside for the next few days at least. Naturally, none of them even bothered putting their costumes on for fear of getting them wet. Gakupo appeared with his wings unveiled – no doubt rather comfortable given how he'd have to hide them for hours on end. He wore a ¾ length black sleeved shirt and tight black pants.

Miku wore a blue jacket, black tank top, and white skirt over a pair of knee-length black boots. "Rin, we're not fighting crime," Miku said, waving her hands, "we're just helping Kaito get rid of these weird Herald people…"

"So… Kaito-niisan can knock buildings over with his voice, right?!"

"I… no, I can't do that…"

Naturally, Kaito was still wearing the same clothes Miku had given him the first day they met… apparently he was just sentimental about them. At least he kept them regularly laundered…

"Geez, no wonder you two are so weird!" Len said as he adjusted his green hoodie over his white t-shirt and brown cargo shorts, "You're practically from another planet!"

He looked at Luka, who leaned on the back of the couch Gakupo sat upon. She looked every bit as elegant as ever, her pink and black knee-length waistcoat complementing her pink pinstriped blouse and black shorts. The black tie hanging off her neck flopped onto the couch cushions.

"But you don't act that strange, Sempai…" Len said, "I mean, you blended in so well everyone at the academy worshipped you!"

Luka chuckled. "I can assure you, when I first came here, I was even worse than these two! At least Kaito and Gakupo have help!"

Rin still hadn't stopped staring at Kaito in pure hero worship. "Kaito-niisan, can you shoot lasers out of your eyes?!"

"I… can't do that either…"

"So… how do we find these people anyway?" Len asked more seriously.

Luka rested her chin in one hand, leaning closer to Gakupo. Miku noticed his eyes tracking to her face and… 'Wait… he used to only make that face for Kaito… didn't he!?'

"So far, we only managed to track one on our own," Luka explained, "I wish I could say we'd uncovered a pattern… but even my contact is stumped…"

Len leaned back against his seat. "Still though… how do we know nobody was watching us?" he asked, "We were fighting in public…"

The conversation dropped for a few moments as that thought sunk in. "Technically… we don't even know who's behind these generators…" Kaito said, "I mean… I have my suspicions it has something to do with the people who kidnapped me. But I don't know why."

Kaito seemed to have an easier time talking about his own experience now – he still refused to discuss his torture in detail, but the twins gathered rather quickly from his behavior in telling his story how traumatic the experience had been for him. Still, just the way his eyes quaked as he tried to put up a brave front… Miku found herself wishing she could find the ones responsible and make them pay for it herself….

"So… can Gakupo slice through boulders and steel with his sword!?"

"Why would I ever cut such a worthless object? Though I have to admit I've never tried…."

Miku sincerely hoped Gakupo wasn't about to start stabbing steel girders to test his strength. Still, she was wondering where in the world Rin's imagination was taking her. Nonetheless, her boundless energy was about the only thing keeping the tension from snapping. The last Herald of Noise had attacked dozens of people in public. Their attacks only seemed to escalate in the level of danger they posed.

"So what can we do to help you guys?" Rin asked, "Maybe we could take fighting lessons like Miku!?"

Gakupo looked away from Luka and to Rin, causing her to squeak. "I'm not unopposed, but I know little of hand to hand combat… and we possess no additional weapons."

That didn't seem to stop Rin. "But what about teaching us all that cool magic so we can make lasers and stuff fall out of the sky like Kaito-niisan!?"

Kaito looked particularly flabbergasted at that one. "I… I definitely can't do that…" he said.

He looked disappointed. "I can't actually teach you song magic either… it's a power of the Seruva to anipulate magic like that. Even if you sang my ballads perfectly, they would just be songs to you."

Rin looked particularly disappointed. "So… our help is going to be more like what we did in that park…" Len said, "Trying to break whatever it is generating all those… Dark Notes or whatever."

"So… so… are we going to stop being Vocaloids now?"

Though Rin looked sad, Miku bounded forward, fire in her eyes. "No way! I'm not giving up on being a Vocaloid just because there's a bunch of crazy people out there!"

"I… I agree with Miku," Kaito said, drawing attention to himself, "I think it's useful for us to keep working on something else while we gather information."

"I can't help but agree," Gakupo chimed in, "Conducting exercises as a unit will only increase our cohesion in battle."

'Gah… Leave it to Gakupo to turn a pop group into a military strategy!'

Luka started chuckling at his words, to Miku's confusion. Was he putting on a show for her? Gakupo was definitely looking at her sempai differently… and… they had run off together at the hanabi… and Luka was dressed up like she was on a date…

'… HOLY COW!'

Rin's eyes darted across the room. Of course she'd picked up on some very subtle changes in her friends – Gakupo and Luka were much closer now, and she was certain she'd seen them holding hands when she saw them coming up the walkway earlier. How could someone as scary as Gakupo charm someone like her sempai?

But now that it had happened, Rin could already imagine it... a big scary tall guy brought to his knees by an elegant maiden and her winsome ways.

She watched Miku and Kaito – they certainly weren't holding hands or anything, so whatever they did at the hanabi, they weren't dating yet. Little comfort to Len, who was definitely starting to look uncomfortable.

"We Seruva believe deeply in the concept of Harmony," Luka explained, "And not for mere philosophy. Two Seruva who can perfectly synchronize their melodies can cast incredible magic, layering spell upon spell."

'Harmony, eh? Hmmm… that gives me an idea...'

Rin rose to her feet. "If singing together will make us stronger, then… we should try a new exercise this week!" she declared, "Everyone should break up and perform duets together!"

"Oh, Rin, that's a good idea!" Miku said, "I've been wanting to try something with Kaito and-"

"No no no!" Rin said, flailing her arms around, "It's… it's not going to work if we just pair up like we always do!"

She looked to Len who suddenly appeared rather nervous. She tried to give her brother a reassuring wink. She did not see Len sink even further into his chair. "Since Len and I always perform together, we need different partners!" Rin said, "So I say… we go boy girl, boy girl… and… and… work with people we don't work with much! Or at all!"

'Okay… can't just throw Len at Miku right away or he'll get embarrassed…'

She pointed at Kaito and Luka. "Kaito and Luka, you two barely know each other AND you don't live together!"

Kaito seemed happy enough but… was Luka nervous? She thought sempai liked Kaito! Still… next she pointed at Len and Miku. "Len, you can work with Miku! And… make sure she learns to practice more!"

"WHAT?!" Len exclaimed.

Miku crossed her arms. "I don't see what's so bad about working with me…"

Len's mouth snapped shut – clearly he had no idea what else to say.

'There… and that leaves… leaves…'

Rin's blood froze when she realized who that left her with. "That would be me and you, Rin," Gakupo said.

His blue eyes stared right into her soul. Rin swallowed and tried not to cause any major commotion. Gakupo was a good person. He had a nice voice. And he was the scariest man she'd ever met.

"I… I… I… I can't wait to work with you, Gakupo…" she squeaked out.

Meanwhile, at Shigesato Park…

As the rain beat against Gumi's umbrella, she glared through her binoculars and monitored the amphitheater where those people apparently spent all of their time. This time… this time! They would not escape her reporter's instincts. 'Finch ain't let me down yet!' she thought to herself, 'Whatever these clowns know… Megpoid Gumi, the PEOPLE'S reporter, will find them!'

Luka watched as Kaito thumbed through her collection of sheet music. She didn't think he was going to have trouble with finding something that fit their vocal range… their voices had a nice complementary tone. But clearly a question nagged his mind and the awkward mind was trying to give voice to it.

"Luka… I didn't want to ask in front of everyone earlier but… you and Gakupo…"

"…yes, I am seeing Gakupo."

Her cheeks took on a rosy hue. "We weren't sure how to say anything," she said, "It's not like we're getting married or anything. And we already see a lot of each other."

Kaito let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he found someone," he said with a smile, "He always spent so much time with me, I was afraid I was getting in the way of him having a life outside of me."

Luka's expression shifted to one of embarrassment. "Yes… I know he was… dedicated to his work…" she said.

'Poor Gakupo…'

As Kaito kept looking through the songs, Luka felt tension in her heart. Rin had no way of knowing that she had a past with Kaito, and she'd still not found a way to tell him. Technically, this "duet" exercise might give her the chance to come clean with him. But as he had a smile on his face, humming a few bars to himself as his eyes settled on a page, she also feared breaking the friendship she'd built with him in the present.

His fingers stopped on a certain page. "What about this one, 'Lie'?"

"What?! Kaito, that's a break up song! Why do you always pick such sad melodies!?"

Kaito crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling, his facing depicting his consternation. "Well, if you're dating Gakupo now, we shouldn't sing something romantic right in front of him…"

Such an innocent man. How had he come out of such a cruel world with such a kind heart? "Gakupo understands a performance, Kaito. But if it makes you uncomfortable…"

Luka wandered over next to him and began flipping the pages. "If the point of this exercise is to extend our range, I'm going to insist you sing something happier," she said.

She slipped a piece of music out of the book with the words "Ai Kotoba" on the top of the sheet. "This one is one of Teto-chan's," Luka said, "It's about someone confessing how important a valuable friend is to them."

She didn't realize the sad notes that had slipped through her voice until Kaito's expression shifted. "Um… that is happy, right Luka?" he asked.

She buried the fear and sorrow in her heart. The secret was going to have to wait for another day. "Here… let's take the first verse and see how we sound, okay?"

"You've actually been looking out for me since childhood, you've always heard me out, so you deserve a lot of my thanks…"

Len inspected Miku's apartment carefully – he hadn't been inside since Kaito had arrived. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd expected find though… aside from the obvious signs of a second person living there, it appeared perfectly normal.

"So… Kaito's… pretty tidy, huh?" he said.

"Oh yea, he's always really big about not wanting to impose too much on me," Miku said as she casually tossed her raincoat on the wall and slipped her shoes off, "Ugh… I had to practically beg him to stay here. The guy almost DIED and he still didn't want to make a big fuss over anything."

Len felt a little guilty at some of his baser suspicions of Kaito – of course he had no way of knowing how the former Seruva had come to live with Miku. And of course, had he not seen a flying Gakupo and a magic wielding Kaito and Luka with his own two eyes, he definitely wouldn't have believed Miku a few weeks ago. But still… he needed to be willing to steel his heart and move forward. If Kaito hadn't said anything to Miku yet, he still had a chance.

"So, what kind of stuff did you have in mind for us anyway?" Miku asked, "Rin'll clean our clocks if we just do one of your usual duets."

'Rin. Why do you have to make this stuff so awkward?!'

Sometimes he couldn't tell if her insistence on slamming him and Miku together was legitimately good concerns or simply her romance obsession kicking into overdrive. "Well, there's all kinds of stuff we could try," Len said, "You have a really high voice and… um… I don't…"

Miku laughed. "Oooo… have I uncovered your secret?" she said, "You only work with one person?"

Len smirked at her. "Well… if that's how it's going to be," he said, "Then I'm making YOU pick the song! That way I know you'll take the practice seriously!"

Technically he knew he shouldn't be teasing her like this if he was going to just confess his attraction to her, but by now Len knew when Miku was playing around with him. She grabbed her laptop out of her bedroom and sat down on the futon. Tentatively, Len sat down on the futon with him.

"Hmmmm… so many choices for us…." Miku said, clicking through the files.

Suddenly she had a devilish grin on her face as she pointed to a song. "Hee hee… I think I know a good one for the two of us…"

Len looked at the lyrics and gawked. "Crybaby Boyfriend!?" he shouted.

"You said you'd let me pick!" Miku laughed, "So no whining!"

'Ugh… Miku, why do you make these things so hard!'

As Rin flipped through her notebook of songs, she could practically feel Gakupo's eyes on her. She had no idea what to say to him. Clearly, he felt the same way as he wasn't making small talk. The silence in the room grew more and more uncomfortable.

'Okay… uh… Meltdown? That might work as a duet but…'

She imagined Gakupo's powerful voice cracking on a high note and thought against it.

She tried to think of the sorts of songs she shared with Len. Their voices always carried such a similar range it was easy for them to play off of each other. Plus they knew each other inside and out, every note and technique. But she and Gakupo were night and day – their voices had two different ranges, two styles. She was looking for a completely different song…

'I… I know he's scary… but… this isn't going to work if I don't get to know him better…'

She swallowed and tried to think of anything to say to him. As she lifted her head from the notebook, she saw Gakupo's eyes tracking her pet fish in the bowl she'd purchased for it. "Oh! That's Oliver, the one you got for me!"

As Gakupo's eyes shifted to Rin, it took all of her restraint to not make a sound. At least when he was sitting down, he wasn't towering over her. "Did…did… did you have a pet?" she asked, trying to control her stuttering.

"We don't keep companion animals amongst the Seruva."

"Oh…"

The conversation dropped again. "Oliver… is an interesting name…" Gakupo finally said.

"… I named him after my big brother."

Rin's grip on the binder grew a little tighter. "So… so I know to take good care of him."

Gakupo looked perplexed. "I assume your brother is no longer with us?"

Rin shook her head. "I see… my apologies."

"It's okay… I wouldn't have named the fish you gave me after him if I didn't want to talk about him…"
Rin said sadly.

"Were you a triplet then?"

"Aww… that would have been cool!" Rin said with a happy sigh, "He was the Hearts' only child, before they adopted us."

Rin gazed at the little fish floating around the bowl without a care in the world. "But the Hearts… they were always so cold. They made me and Len and Oliver sing together all the time. We were educated at home… and Oliver was the only person who was really nice to us. It was like he looked out for us even though our parents wouldn't. But… he started getting really sick all the time and… one day he didn't come back from the hospital."

Rin hoped Gakupo hadn't seen the tears forming in her eyes. "Um… what's your family like, Gakupo? Any brothers or sisters?"

Maybe now that he didn't have to keep a secret about his past, he could tell her about his family. A decent conversation starter, right?

"No."

… or not.

Gakupo let out a strong sigh. "My apologies… it's not a terribly common story for humans, is it?" he said, "About… twelve years ago? Yes… a plague ripped through the Seruva. Our numbers were so small already, there's not one of us alive that didn't lose at least one family member in it."

"… Did you?"

"… Both of my parents."

Gakupo told the story so casually Rin briefly wondered if he truly felt anything about losing his family so swiftly. "But… but… you guys have all those healing powers!" Rin protested.

At this, Gakupo smiled bitterly. "Magic is little use against disease. We're just as reliant as humans on medicine for such ailments… and I understand humanity has advanced far beyond our kind in that regard."

Now Rin just felt guilty for making him think of something so sad. But Gakupo looked at her with such understanding eyes… was he trying to soften up his scary face? "It's an understandable question, Rin. As I said, most Seruva have some form of my story. Luka lost her parents in the same plague. Kaito lost his father and his aunts in the plague, and his mother died a few years later."

This time when his eyes met Rin's, she didn't feel the need to jump. "We all have a story. What defines us isn't the story, but how we write it ourselves."

'Wow… Gakupo thinks… deep stuff…' Rin thought to herself.

She stared at her book of songs and realized nothing in it was going to work. She let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry… I'm still not sure what kind of song we should sing together… ugh, and this was MY idea too…"

"What's giving you so much trouble?" Gakupo asked.

Rin didn't want to admit the real reason but… "I think I'm just too used to singing with Len… your voice is so different from his…"

"So you need a song that works with two different voices."

Gakupo wore a sly grin on his face. "If you're all right with learning a Seruva ballad… I know a song designed to be performed in rounds, by two singers with distinct voices each carrying their own melody…"

A ballad?! "Is it MAGIC?!"

Gakupo's laugh was so deep… "We sing more than just magic ballads, Rin!"

She huffed in embarrassment. "I… I didn't know… but I'd… I'd still like to learn…"

At least he looked comfortable around her now. "Excellent… it's called 'Dreaming Little Bird…'"

As the week progressed, the duet pairs continued to meet during the afternoons during Vocaloid practice hours, trying to iron out their chosen songs for an expected performance by Saturday. If Rin had hoped her elaborate plan to get Miku and Len together would finally work, she was quickly disappointed. Every evening when her brother came home, the first question out of her mouth was the same: "Did you tell her yet?!"

Len, for his part, found it rather difficult to approach Miku on such a sensitive topic because her mind seemed to be everywhere but on their song. Working on the duet with her helped get some of her focus back, but he also couldn't easily release his feelings of jealousy. It seemed like everything in her life revolved around Kaito now. How was he supposed to compete with a guy that basically fell out of the sky and into her house?!

While one of the duos was clearly struggling, the other two flourished in the challenge. In spite of Rin having started off their duet being terrified of her partner, a few days of singing by his side seemed to make him a much less imposing presence. Similarly, Gakupo began to relax more around her as well, throwing himself into his every performance.

Luka experiment in making Kaito sing more pleasant songs paid off, as he smiled far more often during their performances now. If she'd ever felt the urge to tell him her true identity, she always found a personal excuse to ignore it. Which proved easy to do as whether Kaito realized it or not, a certain pigtailed girl was a common character in his conversations now. Luka could hardly deafen herself to his excited melodies – she kept expecting Kaito to ask her for advice on how to approach her friend yet he seemed innocently unaware of the depth of feeling he expressed when he spoke of her.

But soon Luka's excuses were irrelevant. For the longer Kaito sang with his partner, the more some of his strange memories gained clarity.

On Thursday morning, Kaito awoke with full recollection of the face of the friend he'd lost.

As Kaito walked over to Luka's apartment, he closed his damp umbrella, gently shaking off the clinging water droplets. Approaching the door, he backed off as it swung wide open. Gakupo began to leave before getting tugged back by Luka. She wrapped her arms around him as he bent in and kissed her.

Kaito coughed and Gakupo pulled back from Luka. "Oh! You're… early."

Kaito tried to hide his embarrassment at interrupting something so… intimate. Luka had a contented smile on her face as she looked away from both men. "Len wanted to get an early start with Miku… so I figured I'd do the same."

The notes in Gakupo's laughter were the most genuine Kaito had heard out of him since the warrior arrived on Earth. "I'll be sure to tell Rin-chan you're being so studious…" he said.

'Rin-chan?' Kaito thought. "Has she adopted you too?"

Gakupo leaned against the open door, a kind smile on his face. "No, but she's quite the hard worker. She's already memorized Dreaming Little Bird!"

Kaito smiled at hearing the title of the song. "I remember that!" he said, "They performed that in the spring pageants every year!"

"We've already gotten the harmonies down," Gakupo said, "Actually… she seemed to learn it after I sang it only once…"

Kaito looked surprised. "Wait… a human learned a song like that? On the first try?!"

"Len and Rin have always been able to learn songs immediately," Luka said.

Gakupo seemed to understand Kaito's implication. "And the two of them always sing in such perfect synchronicity…" he murmured.

He let out a dismissive grunt, putting his hands in his pockets. "It's not that important… I'll leave the two of your to your performances."

Gakupo waved a hand to Kaito as he sauntered off. "I'm glad those two are getting along…" Luka said as Kaito followed her into her apartment, "Gakupo was convinced Rin was frightened of him..."

As the door closed, Kaito's stride inside slowed as he watched her shuffling around the apartment, doing some mild cleaning. The couch cushions were in obvious disarray… he tried not to think about why.

Luka seemed to pick up on his silence and stared at him with curious eyes. "Kaito, is something wrong?"

He deserved the truth… he just feared learning it. Finally he spat out what needed to be said. "Luka… we used to know each other in the past, didn't we?"

Luka's happy demeanor fled her. She folded her hands over her heart, clutching the tie hanging around her neck.

"Luka… I started to remember you… just fragments… but you attended to my family as a priestess, didn't you?"

Her grip on her tie grew tighter – her silence answer enough. "Why did you keep it from me?"

Luka looked away, her eyes filled with tears. "Because you didn't remember me… and I was afraid they'd told you something awful about me…"

For several minutes, the only noise in the apartment was the rain against the windows. Luka seemed to be struggling to speak. The longer she stood their twisting her tie, the more Kaito's anxiety increased.

"… were you the assassin?" he asked.

"If you truly believe that… my answer won't matter…" she said.

…he didn't know what to believe.

"I… I kidnapped you, actually."

Kaito's mind returned to Luka's story when she'd finally confessed to being a Seruva.

I tried to save a friend from the Elders. I broke every law we had to do it. I… never found out what happened to him.

The human city in his dreams… he felt his nerves tingling as the realization of her confession truly hit him.

"Luka… that boy you brought to the human world… that was really me?"

Her silence became far more nerve-wracking then her words as Kaito sifted through what this meant for him if it was true. "But… the Elders told me I'd been attacked! I was unconscious for weeks! They said I never left the islands…"

He clutched his chest. "Meiko… said I was unconscious when my mother died… I didn't even get to say goodbye…"

Either the Elders and Meiko were lying… or Luka was. Unless the memories floating around his head were wrong – some trick of the Noise. What was he supposed to believe?! "Why would they lie to me?!" he gasped.

"I assume it would have something to do with the 'sealing' your mother warned me about before she told me to take you and run."

Seal of the Seruva. "Luka, please, tell me what a seal is! All the Heralds keep talking about it right before they vanish!" Kaito begged.

"I… I don't know…" Luka said. Kaito strained to hear any signs of deception in her voice, but failed to hear even a single wrong note. "Believe me, Kaito! I wish I knew! It's the key to all of this, somehow!"

Her hands shook around her strained tie. "Lady Prima was in the middle of another fit… I was trying to calm her, to assure her I wouldn't leave…"

His mother's death… The Elders had claimed she had a terminal disease. He'd had snatches of recollection that her death had been unpleasant, a series of violent seizures and hallucinations.

"Lady Prima was like… another mother to me…" Luka admitted, "To see her suffering so… I would have done anything alleviate her pain. She wouldn't stop crying out for you. You were rarely far away, but you'd also started your Spirit Caller training since… obviously, Lady Prima was in no state of mind to speak to the spirits."

"But all of a sudden… I… I can't explain it, but it was as if for a few moments, she was entirely lucid. And she told me one thing."

Kaito swallowed hard, anticipating Luka's next sentence. "Take Kaito and fly as far away from the Islands as you can. Never let them seal my son."

Luka's expression somehow became even more dour. "I… I did exactly as she asked. As soon as you came back from prayers… I grabbed you and told you your life was in danger. And… we left the Islands."

The pink-haired woman looked outside at the rain, her notes growing melancholy. "Of course, what would a child know to keep you safe in the human world? By the time the warriors found me, I'd separated from you… and… I never saw you again."

"Meiko… Meiko was there. When they Severed my wings and cast me out."

"…was Gakupo?"

Luka shook her head. "I… I couldn't be with him if he was."

Kaito had spent his life serving the Elders, to the point where he assumed he'd die in a prayer hall still trying to gasp out the last words of the ancestors. He'd let them have complete control over him and the proclamations he made, always "For the good of the Seruva." When he lost the voices of the ancestors, he still covered for them… always, "For the good of the Seruva."

Was it all a lie!? Was Luka lying?!

He grasped at his head. "I don't remember anything…" he whispered, "And… I don't even know why…"

A few moments of silence passed. "Luka… what did they do to me?"

She looked to Kaito, her eyes filled with sympathy. "I've told you all I know. If Meiko is the High Priestess now, she probably knows… but it's sounding more and more like she's not the person she used to be when we were children."

He heard the sadness in Luka's voice. "It's funny… I really idolized her as a child… she was so much stronger than me. She used to argue with the Elders about your welfare all the time… but listening to Gakupo… we may as well have known two different people."

Meiko… of course Kaito remembered her in happier days. He still had clear memories of her. But ever since his ascension, since the death of his mother, the benevolent protector morphed into a cold, manipulative person, obsessed only maintaining perfect order. "For the good of the Seruva."

'But maybe it wasn't mother dying…' he thought to himself. If the kind-hearted girl had been forced to watch one of her charges endure a Severing… how might that change her?

Kaito silently took a seat on the couch, staring out at the rain falling against the cars outside. "Luka…" he said softly, "Let's… let's not practice tonight. Okay?"

She couldn't meet his gaze. "If you're not able… then no, we shouldn't."

Luka… was his friend. She'd always been his friend. Even when she knew she'd been erased from his mind, she did everything she could to protect him. He knew he should be angry that she'd lied to him but… they were Vocaloids.

"Luka… could you tell me about what we were like as kids?"

She looked up at Kaito in surprise, but slowly a smile spread upon her face and she released her thoroughly crumpled tie. "I'd love to."

"Will the day come when the bird cooped in the cage has a dream? If I can stay by your side when you shed tears, my will to stay here shall never waver."

Two utterly different voices chasing two melodies. Rin let out a cheer as they finished the piece – she'd never thought she'd have this much fun performing with someone other than her brother. "Gakupo, you're good at this!" she said, "You know, I really did think you were a street performer before because you're so good!"

"When I was a child, I performed in the pageants with my mother… we Seruva all value the strength of melodies and song, be we bards or warriors!"

"So you were an actor too!? No wonder you talk so weird!" Rin giggled.

"Eh? What's unusual about my method of speech?" The taller man appeared perplexed, causing Rin to giggle even harder at his own ignorance.

At least he didn't appear angry. Letting Rin's laughter die down, he grew more serious. "Rin-chan, I did find it unusual you learned the song so quickly... well, unusual for a human."

Rin bounced onto the couch, still filled with energy from her duet. "Well… Len and I have always been able to do that…" she said, "Our parents were always drilling us like crazy too. Trying to get us to sing in these weird recording studios."

She stuck her tongue out. "It was awful! They'd make all three of us sing for hours, and it was never good enough for them!"

With a huff, she added "But they didn't take my love of singing from me! Now, I sing for me! And for Vocaloids!"

Gakupo looked curious. "I've heard of difficult parents but… that does sound excessive…" he said.

Rin looked over at Oliver the Goldfish encircling his bowl. "Our parents were always weird," she said, "I guess because Len and I are weird too."

Again she stuck out her tongue. "But this isn't really practice, is it?!" she said, "I don't wanna talk about my dumb parents anyway!"

Gakupo waved a hand in defeat. "I was merely curious about your upbringing," he said, "Though now I have another curiosity."

He looked at Rin with those piercing eyes and suddenly for the first time in a few days, she felt nervous talking to him. "Rin-chan, you were present during the fight with the last Herald. Do you think you could humor me and try to replicate the song you heard us use when we created shields?"

"Whaaat? But… you guys said…"

"I don't expect results," Gakupo added, "I just want to know how good you really are at picking up on a new song."

'Fine… guess I'll humor him…'

Rin took a few steps into the living room, trying to find a clear space. She extended her hands as she'd seen her dear Kaito-niisan do. With a shout, she tried to sing the short melody he'd cried out to protect her. Her heart pounded at that memory… she'd been terrified for her life but her "brother" had saved her.

Sadly, no shield of light erupted in the middle of the Kagamines home. Rin let out a sigh of disappointment. "Aw… that would have been so cool…" she muttered.

"It was still impressive, you mimicked it perfectly without anyone teaching you," Gakupo said, "You shouldn't even be able to hear a Seruva's battle songs. Our second voices are supposed to be undetectable to human ears."

"But… but Miku can hear you guys!" Rin pointed out.

"I personally suspect it's due to all the time she spent training her ear for song with an actual Seruva…" he mused aloud, "Though… it is surprising you can do so well."

"Is that bad?" Rin said, starting to get scared.

The older man shook his head. "To the contrary… it makes you special, Rin-chan."

'AH! Gaku-niichan thinks I'm special!' she thought to herself. 'Wait… Gaku… niichan?'

Wasn't he supposed to be the scariest person she'd ever met?

Still, if he wasn't that scary now… she'd had a question on her mind ever since she'd seen his lovely white wings for the first time.

"Ah… Gakupo…" she said, blushing, "Can I… Can I… your wings…"

He looked confused. "What about them?" he asked.

"…can I touch them? Just once?"

Rin covered her face in embarrassment. Gakupo blinked then suddenly let out one of his mighty laughs. "If you so wish," he said.

Rin walked over to him and delicately extended her index finger. She softly tapped one of the feathered appendages… and felt a wave of peace rush over her on contact. 'They're… so… sofffffffft… Softer than kitten's fur… softer than a teddy bear… ahhhhhhhhh…'

She didn't even notice the goofy grin on her face. "Does Luka like them too?"

At that moment, Rin discovered the Gakupo could blush. "Well, is that why she's dating you?"

"You… have an unusual knack… for phrasing…" he stammered.

"Well, I think it's romantic!" Rin said, "The fallen wingless priestess, locked to the Earth for years… and the mighty winged warrior who ferries her around the sky! Ahhhhh! I'm so jealous of my sweet sempai for having such an EPIC romance!"

She stopped rambling when she noticed Gakupo was several shades redder. "Um… are you okay?"

He let out a cough. "That's a very… Rin-chan thing to say…" he finally said.

"The ring…"

"Chosen to match yours…"

"I put into my pocket…"

"It will hurt…"

"Your feelings…"

"I realize that…"

"But I must say it now!"

Len stopped the song and grumbled. "Miku… You were late on that harmony. Did you really practice? The whole point is that they have two conflicting feelings that they choose to express… at the same time!"

Miku and Len had spread out in the lobby of her apartment building to have some more space for their dance routine. Her laptop was plugged into an electrical outlet.

Miku laughed half-heartedly. "Sorry… I've got a lot on my mind…"

Len figured he might get away with a light joke. "Sure you weren't just up late watching mushy movies?"

"Har, har," Miku said, "I was totally doing Vocaloids work, I promise! I even asked Kaito to sing your parts for me so I'd be able to practice with another person…"

Len prickled at hearing Miku prattling on about Kaito again. For some reason, just thinking about the blue-haired man rattled him. What was it about Kaito and his performances that made him so much better anyway!?

This morning he'd snapped at Rin as she tried to coax him into another confession… an action he promptly regretted. Rin just wanted him to be happy… Miku was their first real friend and she understood why he'd fallen for her. He just hated having so much pressure on something so important. Kaito probably didn't have these problems…

Time to play things cool for Miku, get her mind off of him. "Come on Miku, if you just wanted to practice some more, you could have come over to my place…"

At that, Miku looked embarrassed. "Well, I mean I didn't want to interrupt your time with your sister…" she said, "Plus, Kaito wasn't half bad…"

She got a dreamy look in her eyes. "Maybe the next time we do duets, I'll get him to be my partner…"

"Sorry I'm not a good enough partner for you," Len huffed.

The jealous melody playing in his heart prevented him from hiding his bitter feelings. He glanced up at Miku who looked hurt. "Len, you've been acting really weird all week," Miku said, "Did I do something wrong? Am I really that lousy?"

'Yep… knocking this one out of the park, Len…' he thought to himself. If he was trying to confess to her… getting angry wouldn't help.

"It's not you, Miku… it's just been… well… crazy, you know? I mean, bird people? And magic? Nearly getting blown up?! That's a lot for a guy to take in!"

Miku appeared relieved, so Len hoped he'd thrown her off the scent. "Yea… it was pretty overwhelming for me too…" Miku admitted, "I mean, I found Kaito and… and I thought he was dead… then he fixed himself up and… I mean, I barely knew him and I was fighting off those crazy people at the wharf!"

Kaito again. Len had known Miku for years and never made this much of an impression on her, and somehow this jerk did it over summer break?!

"Well, none of this is getting us any closer to learning this song!" Len said, "So.. why don't we try the choreography, huh?"

Miku brightened. "Oh yea, I was trying some new steps out last night with Kaito! Here, let me show you…"

Finally Len felt his feelings boil over – how could he possibly keep trying to compete with Kaito?! "Miku, is there one stupid thing in your life that you do anymore that doesn't have to do with Kaito?!" he snapped, "You don't sing by yourself, you don't dance by yourself, what do you honestly do by yourself anymore?!"

He saw Miku's eyes fill with tears and he instantly regretted every single word. Miku hadn't done anything wrong and he'd just blown up at her. "Len… I'm sorry…" she said, "I… I just wanted to help him… I didn't want to hurt Vocaloids…"

Miku stood up and started running for the door of the lobby, seemingly ignorant of the pouring rain. Len didn't move, planted in place, his feelings and the dissonant song rooting him in place. He didn't hate Miku… he hated the person he couldn't best. The one who'd stolen her heart.

He barely registered static appearing on Miku's laptop screen as a fragmented entity of light in a female form began to emerge…

Tears flowed freely down Miku's face. Yes, she knew she was close to Kaito. Yes, she knew she deeply cared for him. And yes… she knew that deep down, she had stronger emotions for him than she'd felt for any person she'd ever met.

But having Len call her feelings out so callously? She must have been truly selfish for Len to think that about her… even so, that didn't give him the right… this whole project was turning into a disaster and it was her fault…

With a crash, she knocked over someone entering the lobby. "Oh my god… I'm so sorry!" she said, trying to apologize.

"Ah HA! Paydirt!"

Miku looked up in fright as she was eye to eye with Megpoid Gumi, who had a dark gleam in her eyes. "Finch tipped me off you lived around her and damn, I just hit gold! C'mere you, you're going to tell me all about that fireworks lady at the hanabi!"

Miku didn't want anything to do with Gumi or her maddening questions. She just wanted to be alone… she began to turn and run into the lobby again, hoping to stay out of her way. "HEY! Get back here, information saboteur!"

'Leave me… just leave me! Please!'

But as Miku burst back into the lobby, all her miseries vanished as she walked in to the sight of a winged, featureless female form emerging from her laptop. Her body resembled the jagged nature of pixels… and her hair began to split into long tendrils to reach for Len. The boy's eyes were blank, his body still – she realized what was happening and lunged through the air to drag him to safety.

As she jumped between them, knocking Len to the floor, she felt the tendrils wrap around her, pixels and electrical charges flying off of them. Dragging her into the laptop, the creature appeared unmoved as Miku flailed around looking for anything to free herself with.

"…I… am… MiRIAM HERALD OF NOISE!"

The Herald's voice broke up, like badly compressed audio. Gumi reached forward and tried to grab on to Miku's hand. "LET GO OF MY SOURCES!" she shouted.

"M…Miku?" Len mumbled.

Gumi's death grip wasn't enough as Miku crossed the threshold, her body breaking apart into data and drawn into an ever deafening cacophony of horrible sounds and energy…

Len snapped back to attention as the melody left him… only to watch Miku slip away from Gumi's hands. "MIKUUUUU!" he screamed. He tried to grab her again only for her hands to disintegrate into light and energy and disappear inside the machine.

As Miriam's body broke apart and followed Miku's path, the laptop screen flickered and returned to the girl's Kasane Teto desktop.

"Miku…" he choked.

A/N:

Poor Len. ALWAYS getting his confessions ruined by the Noise!

And welcome to our next Herald. She hails from England, is named after her voice provider Miriam Stockley, and her hobbies include consuming human life! Like the last several Heralds I picked, she has no official design. I had a little fun this time and deliberately obscured all of her distinguishing features. Frankly, I wanted a Herald that came out of the Internet and Miriam was a strong choice given Stockley was herself quite vocal about the inevitably of technology substituting for real singers.

I'm starting to break down on the honorifics… I couldn't think of a "cute" nickname for Rin that Gakupo could use, so I just started using "Rin-chan" to show greater familiarity. I just assume he would have been using more formal honorifics up until this point. I really don't want to break away from Rin's "niisan" and "niichan" habit since it's important that she keeps adopting people as "big brothers" and "big bro" often sounds weird.

SONG CREDITS: Argh, why do I keep making Kaito and Luka sing together, they have NO duets! But I did in fact find a pleasant duet of Miku's "Ai Kotoba" over on Youtube... so that became their song. Gakupo and Rin sing "Dreaming Little Bird." Actually, I didn't realize there was such a strong GakuRin shipping fandom until I had to research this chapter and I just expected it would be harder but they ended being the easiest pair to grab a song for. Because while there's a number of good MikuLen songs, most of them weren't translated! But Crybaby Boyfriend is, and thus they are the only pair singing a song originally performed by them. The chapter title calls out the famous Kagamine series "Synchronicity." "Lie" was also a duet by Circus P, though a Kaito and Luka version exists. Luka pretty much summed up why I didn't use it.