Slice of Life
Chapter 5 – Just Be Friends
Hello, bonjour, hola, and konnichi wa! I'm back with another chapter! Thank you for your continued support, and I hope that I continue to meet your expectations.
And now without further ado, chapter 5!
Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the Vocaloids. I only own this story, the product of my mind.
A soft, intricate melody came from a baby grand piano located in the bedroom of Hatsune Miku. The owner of the room sat on the black piano bench, eyes closed. Her teal-polished fingers danced across the white and black ivory keys, stroking out a masterful melody. The girl was completely absorbed in what she was doing. It wasn't very often that Miku allowed one to enter her room while she played the piano, but this was an exception. The girl had invited Megpoid Gumi into her bedroom after breakfast to discuss her strategy of winning the heart of her favorite housemate.
"You really think that will work?" Gumi asked once the piece had ended. On her face was the unmistakable look of skepticism.
The tealette opened her eyes, and gave her friend a sidelong glance. She smiled and nodded once before shifting her attention back to the waiting keys of the piano.
Even though she had listened to Miku play the piano before, Gumi still found it fascinating. Yes, everyone in the house could sing extremely well. But only a few of them had ever bothered to become virtuosos with an instrument. After living in the Vocaloid household for a few years, Gumi still had no idea when Miku was able to find the time to practice. The two were always together, so she supposed it had to be when everyone was getting ready for bed.
The green haired girls thoughts were interrupted when she heard Miku play the opening lines for one of the most famous songs in Vocaloid history. A pretty melody when played properly on the piano; the mood it set was solemn, filled with hints of sorrow.
"'Just Be Friends'?" Gumi thought, with a smirk of amusement. "Does this idiot ever stop thinking about Luka-nee?"
"It's a pretty song, ne, Gumi-chan?" Miku asked softly, as she continued to press down on the ivory keys.
Gumi nodded in agreement. Yes, the meaning behind the song may be sad, but it was an excellent song. She knew better than to actually speak and interrupt Miku's concentration. The tealette may have spoken to her, but she was sure that Miku was still focused on finishing the piece. After all, it was one of Miku's personal favorites.
When the final chord was played, the tealette exhaled slowly. Her eyes fluttered open, and she spun around in her seat so she was facing Gumi. The usual smile was on her face as she waited for her friend to begin her barrage of questions, or point out all of the flaws in her plan. Yes, Miku was well aware that there were some vulnerable spots in her proposed blueprint; but at this point, she didn't care. All that mattered now was winning the heart of her beloved Luka-senpai.
The green haired girl seated across from her impatiently fiddled with the zipper of her red zip-up hoodie; a souvenir from the shooting of their video for "Matryoshka". Gumi's hair was still unkempt, a sign that she had literally dragged herself out of bed because of the intoxicating smell of pancakes that had wafted from the kitchen and up into her room. Now that they were seated in Miku's room, she realized how sloppy she must have looked when compared to her friend. Miku had already tied her hair up into her signature twin tails, and donned a pair of white shorts and a striped navy blue and white ¾ sleeved shirt. Gumi herself wore only a white tank top, the unique red hoodie, and a pair of gray short shorts.
Whatever.
"Yes, Gumi-chan, I think it'll work," Miku broke the heavy silence, and snapped Gumi out from her musings. The smile stayed on her face even when she saw her friend's green eyes narrow.
Gumi shook her head, and pulled the hood on to cover up her bed head. "Mou, Miku-chan, you have to be the biggest idiot I've ever met if you think you can win her over that way," she frowned. "I'm pretty sure Luka-nee doesn't like girls. And even if she did, don't you think Lily-nee would have snatched her up by now?"
At this, Miku's smile faltered slightly. It was true. Since Luka had moved into the Vocaloid household, she had never once displayed a preference of girls over boys, or vice versa. And even when Gakupo arrived, things had remained the same in the house. He may have once shown interest in Luka (and this was widely supported on the internet, and exploited by their music producers), but she had quickly established the fact that she had no romantic feelings towards him. And Lily….
What was Masuda Lily to Megurine Luka? Miku and the other Vocaloids knew that the two long haired, young woman had grown up together. But other than that, the others held different views of the two's relationship. And a whole hour had once been devoted to discussing Lily and Luka.
"Childhood friends," Kaito and Meiko agreed. "Which makes them best friends now."
"Obviously, they're best friends. I guess it's a little surprising, if you look at the differences in their personalities," Furukawa Miki had said.
"Fraternal twins, where Lily-nee-chan or Luka-nee-chan's parents gave one up for adoption because they couldn't afford to keep them both!" the Kagamine twins had stated simultaneously. "They kind of look similar… Blue eyes, right?"
Gakupo had joined the twins in their ludicrous idea by adding, "But by a twist of fate, they had grown up on the same street, instantly drawn to one another because of they felt like they were missing a piece of themselves!"
"Secret lovers," Gumi had stated then, with an apathetic shrug.
Miku sincerely hoped that Lily and Luka weren't lovers. She shuddered at the recollection of this memory, and focused back on the conversation at hand. Her and Gumi. Discussing her plan to win Megurine Luka.
Oblivious to Miku's minor flashback, Gumi continued to speak. "Seriously, though," she said, her tone blunt. "If Luka-nee liked girls, then I think Lily-nee would have asked her out. There's gotta be something going on between them. You can tell, can't you, Miku-chan?"
The tealette stiffened a little, and avoided making eye contact with her friend. Her teal eyes looked back down at the worn keys of her piano. It was true. There was something different about Luka when she was around Lily. It was almost as if Luka let her guard down when she knew that Lily was close by. The pinkette seemed more at ease, as if having the long haired blonde with her made things more bearable.
And seeing Luka like that with Lily vexed Miku. Why couldn't Luka be like that when she was around her? What made Lily so special?
"Ah, right," Miku responded softly. "But, I don't think things are like that between them. They're just best friends."
"And best friends are extremely close," Gumi added.
"We're best friends, but we don't see each other that way!" Miku said, exasperated.
"But Miku-chan, I think you're so beautiful. Sexy, even," Gumi said, with a straight face. "I'd totally bang you right now."
"Exactly—Wait, what did you just say?" Miku's eyes widened as she stared at her friend.
Those teal eyes met dark green ones. The longer they held their eye contact, the more heated the tealette felt her cheeks become.
Then the green eyes closed as the owner began to laugh uncontrollably. "Idiot! I was kidding!" Gumi laughed, as she clutched her sides.
Flustered now, the tealette stood up. "I-I knew that!" She stammered, as she headed out of the room. Her cheeks puffed up as she tried to glower at her best friend. "I'm just going to go ahead and put the plan into action—You better not tell anyone!"
Her green haired friend quieted her laughter, and grinned at Miku. "Yeah, yeah," she snickered. "I won't tell anyone. Have fun with that."
One last huff, and Miku exited her bedroom, not caring that Gumi was still there.
The green haired girl leaned back in the seat, arms behind her head. She continued to grin to herself. These verbal exchanges were nothing new to her relationship with Miku. They were the type of best friends who loved to get the other riled up.
And Gumi loved the fact that this time it was easy to get Miku worked up.
Alone and able to gather her thoughts, Miku strode down the hallway. Her mind was still on the conversation that she had just ended.
"Gumi-chan can laugh all she wants or call me an idiot," she thought to herself. "But I know this will work. It has to."
A soft sigh escaped her lips as she rubbed her temples. There was no use in bringing herself down by thinking about Lily. Those thoughts would only distract her from her plan. Gumi didn't have to bring the blonde to her attention; it wasn't the first time that she had considered Masuda Lily to be a threat. With Lily being so close to Luka, Miku naturally considered that the blonde would be a strong influence on the pinkette's opinion of her. That was why Miku had already included the blonde into her plan.
"That's right, the plan," Miku reminded herself, as she opened her teal eyes. They focused straight ahead. As she walk, her posture became better, thanks to the sudden drive of determination that flooded her mind.
It was easy enough. Even Gumi even had to admit that the plan was so simple, that even a idiot could follow it. And she proceeded to point out that in this case, Miku was the idiot. (Gumi's insults were always dismissed by Miku. The teal haired girl knew that Gumi was the type to pick on the ones she cared for, so it was easy for Miku to let Gumi's insults roll off her shoulders.)
"Step one," the teal haired girl thought, as she held up a finger while going over her plan. "Stay on Luka-senpai's good side. But give her enough space so she isn't uncomfortable."
She frowned a little bit at the second thought. Giving Luka space was already hard enough. But after that date, that kiss, Luka was going to need to feel comfortable around Miku. If Luka felt awkward around her, then she might as well kiss any chance that she may have had with the pinkette goodbye. Therefore, she needed to be friendly but not too friendly.
A second finger went up as she continued to think and walk. "Step two, lower her inhibitions." Here, Gumi pointed out that Miku may run into even more trouble. Getting Luka to slowly let her guard down around Miku would be tricky now that the pinkette was even more aware of the younger girl's affections. How exactly Miku would be able to pull this step off was still somewhat of an enigma to her.
"Maybe if we spent more time together- eep!" Miku's mumbling was interrupted as she walked into something soft and warm. She could have sworn that from her peripheral vision she saw a flash of pink as well.
Wait. Pink?
A squeak was heard from above her, and Miku quickly lifted her head up. Her teal eyes took in the sight of a blushing Luka. Her senpai's usually composed face looked different. For starters, the blue eyes that would normally project a sense of calm were wide with shock. Luka's soft, pale pink lips were also pursed tightly together.
The tealette tried to make sense of what was going on. "Why would Luka-senpai look so flustered? And why did it suddenly get warm—Oh."
Luka's expression of shock and embarrassment…
The warmth surrounding Miku's face…
Pink in the peripheral of her vision…
The pieces of the puzzle clicked together in Miku's mind. She, Hatsune Miku, had walked right into Megurine Luka's chest. She must have absentmindedly walked all the way down the hall into the wing housing the older Vocaloids. And her feet had subconsciously led her straight into the arms, well, bust, of her dearly beloved!
Her confused expression was quickly replaced by an overjoyed smile. How lucky was she to have been given such an incredible opportunity at 10 AM? And on a Tuesday-
"!"
But it was a shame that her state of euphoria was interrupted by Luka's shrill scream, and the warmth that had once enveloped Miku's face disappeared. The embarrassed pinkette had stepped away the tealette, and covered her (accidentally) violated chest with her arms.
So much for giving Luka some space…
"Ah-! Luka-senpai!" Miku wailed, as she quickly reined in her perverted thoughts about how soft Luka's chest was. "It was an accident! I swear!"
The tealette frantically looked up and down the halls, hoping no one would come rushing towards them to investigate the cause of the scream. But, due to a stroke of bad luck, someone was running down the hallways. The investigator had their cheeks puffed out, a result of stuffing the remnants of their pancake into their mouth. They were running at full speed, ignoring the fact that they were still in their pajamas. Pajamas which consisted of black sweatpants and an oversized white shirt. And the owner of such comfortable pajamas happened to have her long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail; her way of hiding the awful bedhead that she tended to get.
Yes, Masuda Lily had shoved her breakfast into her mouth once she heard her best friend scream. Why waste such a delicious pancake? Everyone knows pancakes taste best while they're still warm.
"Lu-chan! Lu-chaaaaaan!" Lily panted, as she stopped beside the red-faced pinkette, and the embarrassed tealette. The blonde's deep blue eyes looked at Miku, wondering what could have happened to have caused her dear friend to panic.
Miku looked up at Lily with her wide, pleading, teal eyes. "It was an accident! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going—Had a lot on my mind, see. It's kind of Gumi-chan's fault—Uhm, anyway—And I ended up walking into Luka-senpai," she explained in one breath. The younger girl took a deep breath before she continued. "Well, I walked into Luka-senpai's, uhm.. You know. Her—"
"My chest!" Luka interrupted, as she hid behind Lily. "Miku-chan—Sh-she walked into my chest. But it was an accident, so it was nothing really. I was just over reacting. Now, I think I'll go downstairs and get something to eat." She was eager to avoid giving Lily any reason to tease her. And she knew that what had just happened would be teasing material; at least a week's worth, in Lily's books.
"Mm… I walked into her face first, might I add," Miku chimed in, with a nod. As soon as the words left her mouth, she instantly regretted saying them. Her beloved pink haired senpai's cheeks only darkened in hue.
Lily looked at Miku, and then glanced over her shoulder at Luka. "Is that true? Face first?" she asked, the corners of her lips twitching ever so slightly.
That tone of voice which Lily was using was something Luka dreaded. It sounded like the blonde was just too happy to hear that Luka had a run in with the girl who had stolen her first kiss. "Ah—Well, y-yes…" Luka answered meekly.
The blonde's deep blue eyes seemed to sparkle at Luka. It was then that Luka knew she was in trouble.
"Oh ho ho!" Lily gasped, as she whirled around to face her friend. "What's this? Getting so comfortable around little Miku-chan, are we?"
Frantic now, Luka waved her hands in front of her in protest. "No! It was nothing like that—"
"Were you trying to seduce this little girl?" Lily wrapped an arm around Miku's shoulders, and pulled the younger girl close to her side. "It's illegal for you to have relations with a minor, ya know."
"Lily-chan! Stop saying things like that!"
Lily was only encouraged by Luka's feebly protests. "I know you have an amazing rack and all, but geez, Lu-chan! Taking advantage of a young girl, especially when you know how much she likes you!" She continued. "Were you hoping to get another taste of her infamous strawberry chapstick?"
At this, Luka's face was completely scarlet. She clamped a hand over Lily's mouth, her eyes wide as they pleaded with her friend. "Lily! Stop!"
The tealette looked up at her blonde senpai, a frown on her face. How dare this blonde buffoon tease Luka-senpai like this! Miku slipped away from Lily's grasp, and glared at Lily. "Mou, Lily-nee, you shouldn't tease Luka-senpai like that," she scolded. "Look! She looks like a tomato! A pink haired tomato!"
This did not help Luka's mood at all. The pinkette couldn't bear to hear what else Lily may have to say. Rather than stand there and take any more of her best friend's jokes, Luka ran into her bedroom. The door slammed shut behind her.
Both Lily and Miku stared at the door in silence. Simultaneously, they rounded on each other.
"So does Luka have a big chest or what?"
"Yes, she does, Lily-nee."
The pair continued to look at one another, blue eyes meeting teal. After a few more seconds of silence, the two began to laugh, successfully breaking any lingering tension.
Lily then shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants, an easy grin on her face. "But seriously, Miku-chan," she said, once the tealette had quieted down. "You really like Luka-chan, huh?"
Miku blinked, and nodded her head a few times. "Yeah, I do," she answered without any hesitation, returning Lily's grin with a smile of her own. This must have been the first conversation she had alone with her blonde senpai, and she planned on getting every second's worth of it. "Why do you ask?"
The older girl shrugged her shoulders. "Just curious," Lily answered. "Good luck with trying to get her, though. You're going to need it. The last relationship Luka was in was back when we were in high school. And trust me, that didn't last very long."
"Really? How long were they—"
"Just a week," Lily interjected. "Apparently it took the guy a few months to get Luka to even warm up to the idea of dating him."
A week. Luka's last relationship had only lasted a week. And it took months for this guy to win her over.
Wait. Luka dated a boy?
Judging from the sudden crestfallen look on Miku's face, Lily realized that mentioning Luka's ex-boyfriend was not the best thing to say. "Ah—Uh-… He was an idiot to begin with," she added quickly. "But don't worry. I don't think Luka really cares what gender a person is, as long as she likes them—"
"So she's bi?"
"… I wouldn't say that," Lily answered. "Look, kid. I was just trying to avoid completely crushing any hope you had. I don't really know what kind of person Luka's into. She's never really talked about it. I just know she's a big romanticist… She's really into those fancy candle-lit dinners and all."
The tealette's face brightened at this sudden revelation. Oh, she could definitely use these new tidbits of information for later use. "Really? That sounds just like Luka-senpai," she giggled. "Is there anything else you could tell me about her?"
Lily laughed. "If you want to date Luka-chan, then I think you should find out more about her on your own. It wouldn't be very fair to Luka-chan if I told you all the ways to impress her," she reasoned. "Think of it this way. Wouldn't you feel better knowing you won her heart all by herself instead of having me giving you the cheat sheet to get to her heart?"
A few seconds passed by in silence as the younger girl mused over the words that the blonde had said. "I suppose you have a point there, Lily-nee," Miku finally responded. She gave her senpai a warm smile as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Thank you for your surprisingly helpful words of wisdom."
At this, the older girl shrugged. "Nah, don't thank me... I didn't really do anything except give my opinion," Lily replied. Yawning, she rubbed at her eyes and turned her back to the younger girl. "I think I'm going to go take a nap."
"Ah, okay. Have a good nap then," the tealette sang, as she began to skip down the hallway, heading towards the East Wing to tell Gumi about her newfound knowledge on Luka.
Lily began to walk to her bedroom. She opened the door, but made no motion to enter the room. "Hey, Miku-chan?"
"Yes?" Miku stopped skipping.
"What will you do if Luka-chan doesn't want to be in a relationship, and just wants to be your friend?" Lily hoped that she wasn't putting a damper on Miku's mood. But she was genuinely concerned with how things may go between Luka and Miku.
A giggle came from the teal haired girl as she began to skip away once more. Lily could only watch Miku leave in silence. With a shake of her head, she entered her bedroom. Masuda Lily only wished that the teal girl had answered her question.
If worst came to worst, would Hatsune Miku be able to accept that she and Megurine Luka may only just be friends?
Note: Yay! The end of chapter 5. Damn, I'm on a roll! I hope this chapter wasn't too difficult to follow..
I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter. (: Primarily, it will focus on Luka…
To the reviewers:
Major Mike Powell III: xD Thank you! Happy to hear that even after all of that, my story was still amusing. :P The whole "captain" and "lieutenant" relationship between Gumi and Miku was inspired by your username, actually.
meislovely: LOL Oh, Kuro, don't hurt Shiro! xD I don't mind if Shiro's excited! Thank you for your review, guys!
Thyrokio: It seems that your wish is slowly being granted. (: I promise you'll find out more of Miku's plan in the near future!
Justa Person: Oh man. Are my chapters really getting longer? o.o;; That's.. a good thing, right? xD;; I hope so.. But thank you! (^o^) Hearing you say that my work gets better really makes me feel good about myself! You're more than just a person. You're a really nice person :D
LukaFan: hahah! Yes, Miku did send the text to annoy Gumi. Well, she did want to tell Gumi that she had a plan. But the two of them have that relationship where they like to tease one another. XD And don't worry! Next chapter has a lot to do with Luka and her thoughts. :P
LoveCakes98: ….. LOL Why did your review make me laugh! XDDDD But I'm happy to have.. refreshed your day. xD
PaperCutVictim: Oh man, I'm just way too familiar with your Miku's "Ehehehe~" XD But thanks! I'm glad that you like the relationship I've made for Miku and Gumi. :D I had pancakes for breakfast this morning… Thus the pancake reference… only difference was that it was Friday when I had my pancakes. Not Tuesday.. xD;
Once more, I'd like to thank you all for reading my fanfiction. And thank you for your reviews! (: I enjoy reading each review I receive, and they tend to brighten my day! So, really, thank you for all of your support!
See you next time!