Chapter 7 – Chloe

Hey! I'm back with another chapter. I hope I can continue to entertain all of you with my story!

Right now, I'm taking a break from studying for my classes. And what better way to relax than to write up another chapter, and jot down ideas for future use? :P

And for reference, the title of this chapter comes from a song by Lily. It's called "Chloe". You should listen to it. :D Go on youtube, and search "Chloe english lyrics". (^^)b

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I still don't own any Vocaloids… Do I really have to say this for every chapter?

It was a warm, comfortable Saturday afternoon, exactly a week since the eHarmony incident occurred. Thankfully, the grounds of the Vocaloid Mansion were silent, save for the rustling of leaves on the trees and the chirps of birds. In a corner of the grounds, far away from any curious eyes that may be watching from the mansion was a patch of trees. It was here that a girl had put up a hammock, creating her own peaceful corner of the world. Whenever she felt that the pressures of life were no longer bearable, she would retreat to the hammock and spend hours there. Those long hours alone allowed her to relax without any of the interruptions that her housemates may pose. It was here that she could organize her thoughts when she felt troubled.

And on this beautiful day, she was troubled. The girl was snuggled comfortably within the hammock, the wind gently rocking her to and fro. Normally, this would put her to sleep after laying in the hammock for a quarter of an hour, but today she was wide awake. Her discussion that she had had with her dear friend last night put her in a melancholic mood and had set her mind brimming with new thoughts. As she thought, the fingers of one hand drummed against her stomach. A habit of hers, it was something she did when she felt anxious or passed time by thinking. She just had trouble keeping still, so her fingers would tap out rhythms whenever she was still.

She shut her eyes, and exhaled softly. "Last night… Just made things complicated…"

Yesterday Evening

The back door to the mansion swung shut behind her. When the cool night air whipped through her hair, she shivered a little and was glad that she had decided to change into a charcoal pullover hoodie and jeans before leaving the mansion.

Automatically, her feet led her to the familiar hammock. The grin on her face appeared as she sat onto it, her hands pulling the hood up and over her hair. She pushed her feet off the ground, allowing the hammock to begin to swing her just as it had a few days before.

Her stomach was content, filled with the well-prepared meal that one of her house mates had cooked up. If she continued to swing on the hammock, she was sure that she would fall asleep. As a way to counteract any sign of drowsiness that may appear, the girl looked up at the night sky.

She was glad that she had placed the hammock between these two trees. Although there were leaves on the tree branches, it was still easy to spot the twinkling stars that were spread out across the dark sky.

"There's the Big Dipper," she mumbled to herself, as she raised one hand in the air. With her pointer finger, she traced the outline of the constellation, her grin slipping into the frown that came from concentrating. "So that must mean that Orion's right there." Her finger halted as she pointed up at a patch of the sky.

"No, silly, that's not it," a voice laughed.

The girl on the hammock only smiled at the sound of the voice. Although this patch of the Vocaloid grounds was what she considered to be her territory, she would gladly allow this person into the area. "What? Where is it then?" she challenged the newcomer, as she planted her feet on the ground. She looked over at her unexpected guest, taking in the site of jeans, a white blouse, and a stripped white and gray knit sweater.

The hammock came to a halt, and the newcomer carefully sat down beside the girl.

With practiced ease, the two pushed off from the ground, letting the hammock swing once more.

"It's right there, Lily-chan," the newcomer said to the girl, pointing at a different area. "See?" With one finger, the outline for Orion was traced for Lily to see.

Lily laughed, and playfully shoved the other girl. "Yeah, whatever, Lu-chan. I didn't know you were into stuff like constellations anyway."

Luka smiled and shook her head. "I don't find them to be that interesting," she admitted. "But you've shown me it enough times that I could find it if I wanted to. I'm surprised that you didn't find it, though."

The blonde snorted at this. She brushed aside her bangs before she turned her head to look at her companion. "Yeah, yeah… What're you doing out here, anyway?" she asked. "You don't usually come following me after dinner unless there's something that's really bugging you."

"Ah, well… I wanted to talk to you. Something happened today," Luka answered, as she looked back at Lily sheepishly.

"Something happened?" Lily paused, and blinked a few times. "Look, you don't need to tell me every time you slip and hit your head in the shower, Luka-chan. I already told you, there's no ghost that's shoving you down when you're bathing. And besides, if there was a ghost that was haunting you, I doubt they'd want to push you over, seeing how they'd be distracted by your naked, wet bod—Ow, ow, ow! I give! Let go!"

Luka had gripped Lily's wrist in one hand. A death grip, which was currently attempting to snap the blonde's wrist in half. "It's nothing like that," the pinkette stated after releasing her friend's wrist.

A pout on her face, the blonde massaged her throbbing wrist. "Ne? Then what's up?"

"It's…" A pause from the other girl. "Miku-chan. This morning Miku-chan—"

"Lemme guess," the blonde interrupted with a teasing smile on her face. "You got another taste of her strawberry chapstick."

Her jibe was met with silence.

Lily stared at Luka. Even though it was dark outside, Lily was sure she could see pink on the other girl's cheeks.

"Seriously?"

Luka nodded once.

"Damn, that girl works fast!" Lily laughed, shutting her eyes as she did so. "So how'd it happen this time, hm? Were you guys eating breakfast? Don't tell me you ended up getting more food on your face. 'Cause if that's how Miku-chan got away with stealing another kiss, then you should just stop eating around her. Before you know it…" She paused and gave Luka a suggestive smirk. "You two'll add real strawberries and whipped cream to—Ah! Hey! DON'T DO THAT, JERK!"

Her arms flailed as the hammock jerked violently. Pale faced, Lily gripped the edge of the hammock and glared at Luka. The unamused, red faced, pinkette had hopped off of the hammock and began to make a beeline straight to the mansion.

"You jerk! Don't make the freakin' hammock shake like that! I could've fallen off and injured my beautiful face!" Lily shouted at Luka's back. "Learn to take a joke, why don'tcha!"

Luka ignored Lily, and continued to walk into the mansion. She folded her arms across her chest as she headed up the stairs. "Baka. Baka, baka, baka, baka.." she thought irritably, as she strode into her room, letting the door slam shut behind her. The pink haired girl crossed her room and walked into her walk-in closet.

Of course, she was still worked up by Lily's teasings. "What could possess her to say such… Such…" Luka tore off her sweater and flung it aside. "Such perverse things!" This time her blouse was angrily thrown across the closet. "Doesn't she realize that she sounds like a lecherous old man!" And now her jeans were gone.

An exasperated sigh escaped her as she grabbed her pajamas, a pair of black shorts and a light blue tank top. When Luka began to pull her top on, there came a knock on the door.

"Oi, Lu-chan! I'm coming in!"

"Ah- No, Lily. Wait-!"

"Sorry for messing with you back there- Whoa," Lily had opened the door. Before her was Luka, who had scrambled to pull her light blue tank top on. And failed to get it to cover her bra-clad chest.

The pinkette's face went scarlet as she stared at Lily, mortified.

"Wow, I didn't know you liked blue and white striped panties," Lily observed. Her heart began to pound, and she quickly brought a hand up to her nose to stifle any blood that may happen to trickle down. "But striped panties and a black lace bra? That could be a deadly- HIYAH!"

In a desperate attempt to shut Lily up, Luka had flung a pillow at her at neck breaking speed. To Luka's extreme horror, Lily had managed to karate chop the pillow before it made contact with her face.

"That won't work on me twice!" Lily shouted triumphantly. "Masuda Lily is a freaking ninja!"

Luka tugged her tank top down, and glared at the gloating blonde. She grabbed the novel that was sitting on her bedside table, the hardcover edition of the final Harry Potter novel, and threw it at Lily.

"Nothing will stop me from- D'WAH!"

The book slammed into Lily's forehead. The velocity of the projectile sent her flying back into the hallway. With a thud, she landed on the floor, the thick carpet softening her fall. A groan came from her as her body shuddered in pain.

With a huff of annoyance mixed with embarrassment, Luka went and slammed her door shut once more. This time, she made sure to lock it before she went back to put her pajama shorts on. She threw herself onto her bed, eyes shut tight. Still a little irritated, but now slightly calmer, she hugged her body pillow. The girl laid there like this for a minute or so, willing herself to calm down. It was all a joke, after all. She should know by now that her best friend lived to have a good time. It wasn't in Lily's nature to be so serious about everything. The blonde would always have to force herself to be serious when she had to be, and clearly, that was not the right moment for a serious conversation.

Nor would she be able to have a serious conversation after being walked in on like that. Luka realized that she should have been more careful. The door should have been locked if she knew she was going to get changed. And she should have known that Lily would natural follow after her to make it clear that she was only joking around when they were on the hammock.

Once she was relaxed, Luka took a deep, slow breath. She exhaled just as slowly, feeling a wave of calm take over her. "Perverted idiot," she mumbled, as she buried her face into the pillow.

An involuntary "eep!" escaped her as the bed shook from weight being added beside her.

"Who's a perverted idiot?" asked the very girl that Luka was mentally cursing only a few minutes ago.

Luka sighed and kept her face buried. "Lily-chan, please. I just calmed down. I'm not in the mood for any more of your jokes."

To her surprise, she felt Lily shift. Curiously, Luka turned her head away from her pillow, and yelped at how close the blonde's face was to her. Nose to nose. The pinkette had thought that Lily had only sat down on the bed, it would appear that Lily had taken it upon herself to get comfortable. And the shifting? Lily had maneuvered herself so they would be touching noses when Luka looked at her.

The pink haired girl immediately scooted away from Lily. "Wh-what're you doing!" she asked, her face flushed.

Lily's mouth twitched into a smile. "I was just checkin' to see if you were in a better mood," she answered with a laugh. "And if you're back to acting all shy like this, then yeah. I'd say you're not mad anymore."

Embarrassed, Luka only tightened her embrace on the body pillow. And once more, her face was buried into it.

"Anyway. What'd you want to say about Miku-chan kissing you?" Lily continued, ignoring the fact that her best friend was acting like a flustered little girl. Her smile widened when she noticed that one of Luka's blue eyes was peering at her from behind the body pillow.

"I just wanted to say that I don't know what to do about Miku-chan," Luka mumbled. "I tried avoiding her after that… Run-in in the hallway… But I don't think that will work forever. She's just too determined. She called us magnets."

Masuda Lily blinked a few times, and shrugged. "Magnets, huh?" she asked, not really understanding where this was going. "And that's supposed to be a compliment or somethin'?"

Luka shook her head, and sighed. "No, no. It was an analogy of sorts," she explained. There was a pause as the pink haired girl tried to think of a good way to explain everything. "Now that I think about it… Miku-chan basically said we were magnets—"

"You said that already."

"And that opposite ends of a magnet are attracted to each other," Luka continued.

"Opposites do attract, Luka-chan."

The pink haired girl felt a headache coming on. "Yes, I know..."

Opposites attract, hm? With that being said, Miku's analogy was quickly becoming more applicable to their situation. The teal and the pink girls were opposites in some aspects. Miku was pretty light-hearted, and had an easy time dismissing unnecessary details. She lived for the today, and had an innocent, almost child-like, feel to her. Luka herself was easily the more mature out of the two of them; and she tended to take things quite literally, which led to her cool, serious nature.

The pinkette unwrapped one arm from around the pillow so she could rub her temple.

Lily grinned and gave the body pillow a nudge. "What? Does that make you nervous?" she asked. "That you might really be attracted to Miku-chan like the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the south pole?"

There was a long pause before Luka spoke. "Yes," she whispered. "It does make me nervous. I don't know how I feel about Miku-chan at all."

Something felt wrong about that statement to Lily. The blonde felt something inside her clench at the thought of Luka possibly ending up with the tealette. Now that was new. Only a few days ago, Lily had been mercilessly teasing Luka about Miku. So why would she suddenly be bothered now? "Whatever... Maybe Kaito's cooking is making me sick," Lily thought dismissively.

"I mean, Miku-chan isn't a bad person or anything. I'm just… Confused. Too much is happening too quickly," Luka continued. "I'm having a hard time keeping up with all of this. Almost a week ago my first kiss was stolen from me, and now I have to deal with Miku-chan being more.. Forward. With everything."

The blonde listened to her friend in silence.

Luka took this as a sign to continue speaking. "I haven't dated anyone in a while—That's not to say that I will date Miku-chan," she added hastily. "But I wish she would give me some space. I don't know what to do when she's around. I don't know if I should tell her that I want to be left alone for a little while, or if I want to let her continue and see what happens next."

Lily spoke up. "Well, let's look at it in a black and white perspective. Black being the negatives about Miku-chan, and white being the positives," she instructed. "Maybe you'd be able to make more sense of things."

Luka removed her face from the depths of the pillow, and rested it on top of the pillow so she could look at Lily more clearly. "Black and white..?" she repeated.

Her blonde friend nodded back. In the back of her mind, Lily hoped there would be more cons than pros. Lily may think that Miku was a good kid, but Miku certainly wasn't the perfect fit for Luka... "Hold it, Lily," she mentally scolded herself. "Who Lu-chan falls for isn't up to you.."

The blonde was jolted out of her thoughts when Luka began to speak.

"Hm... Miku-chan smiles a lot and it's quite cute. She's free-spirited, and doesn't seem to let much bring her down," Luka said, her blue eyes looking up at the ceiling. "And she she's kind. She helps out when you ask her to.. She can sing and dance—"

"Thank you for pointing out that last bit. I had no idea Miku-chan knew how to sing."

"But, really, she is pretty…"

"Oh ho ho! You think she's pretty?" Lily teased, as she grinned at her friend. "Now that's new. Before you just called her cute and such—"

"Lily-chan, please—"

"But pretty? That implies that you've got some interest in her, right?" Lily pressed, as she rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows. The teasing smile may have been on her face, but inside, Lily felt conflicted. "So does this mean you like like her?"

Luka rolled her eyes, and her cheeks involuntary flushed. "'Like like'? I haven't heard that since we were in middle school," she scoffed. "But, if I have to answer that…" Her voice faded out.

Lily held her breath as she waited for an answer.

"Yes, I suppose I'm a little interested," Luka whispered. "A little. Emphasis on the little part."

"Really?"

"Really. But I won't let her win me over that easily," Luka said, with a definitive nod. "I refuse…"

At this, Lily raised a brow. "Mm? Why not?"

Luka avoided making eye contact with her friend. She could feel her cheeks warm up even more. "Because I'm scared that I'll get hurt in the end," she mumbled, as she buried her face into her pillow once more. "What if she doesn't actually like me, and is just infatuated with the idea of being with me? I don't want to get hurt and get left behind. "

Her best friend's answer surprised Lily. But maybe she shouldn't be so surprised. It was Luka that she was talking to.

"Aw, c'mon, Lu-chan," the blonde sighed, as she reached out to pet the pinkette's head. "You shouldn't worry about stuff like that. You're never gonna find your other half if you just say that you're afraid to get into a relationship."

The pink kitten tilted her head towards the reassuring palm. Her eyes shut and she let out a small sigh. "I don't know… "

Lily continued to pet her kitten. "Just calm down, okay? Give it a chance, you never know.." She grinned, and winked at Luka. "The right person might just be here all along. So be open about it all."

Luka smiled a little bit, and nodded.

Suddenly, the bed shifted as Lily stood up. "Yup.. Well, I'm gonna head back to my room now, since it looks like you're about to fall asleep—Wha?"

Her hand was locked in place by Luka's tight grasp. The pink haired girl's eyes had shot open, and she looked up at Lily with wide, blue eyes. "D-don't go…" She yawned. "Just stay with me until I fall asleep…"

The blonde felt her heart beat quicken just a little bit at the thought of staying in Luka's room. "Geez, you really do get lonely easily, huh, Lu-chan?" She teased. "Just like a little kitten."

"Sh-shut up, don't call me that! Just stay with me…"

A chuckle came from the blonde as she obediently sat down on the bed. "Whatever you say.." She went back to petting the pink haired girls head.

The two stayed like this, enjoying one another's company in silence. It wasn't until a few minutes later that Lily realized her friend had fallen fast asleep. It was then that Lily realized that she had never seen Luka's sleeping face. Even though they had slept over together countless times, the blonde had always been the first to fall asleep, and the last to wake up.

Curious, Lily peeked down at the pink haired girl. She inhaled sharply when she took in the sight.

Luka was just too adorable. The pink haired girl's bangs messily strewn across her face; her mouth parted slightly as she took in slow, deep breath. Lily couldn't remember the last time the pinkette looked so at ease.

And the sight melted her heart.

"Ah, geez," Lily thought, flustered when she realized that she was blushing. "I need to get out of here." She shifted as gently as she could, trying to maneuver herself off of the bed without disturbing the other girl.

But Luka's hand shot out and gently grabbed onto Lily's. "Mm… Stay.." she murmured, as she put her face to the blonde's hand.

The blonde gulped, and sat still. With her free hand, she rubbed the back of her head as she tried to figure out what to do. Leave her attractive friend alone, or go back to her room and act like nothing between them had changed?

Against her better judgment, Lily laid down on the bed. Her sleeping friend instantly curled up to this new source of warmth and let out another soft sigh. Luka's hands gripped onto Lily's hoodie, subconsciously making sure that the warmth would not escape. Yes, Megurine Luka was a cuddler, thus explaining why she clung to her body pillow in her sleep. The blonde girl stiffened at her sleeping friend's actions, and Lily was sure that her face was scarlet by now. This blush was only worsened by Luka burying her nose into the red faced girl's shoulder.

"You damn kitten… You're just begging to make things worse for yourself," Lily mumbled. She shifted a little, making herself comfortable while her eyes slowly began to shut from drowsiness. "How am I s'posed to let Miku-chan get you if you're slowly worming your way into my heart?"

Present Day

"…chan…"

Lily whined, and shifted a little bit on the hammock.

"Lily-chan… Dinner's ready," a voice called out, slowly pulling the sleeping girl from her dream.

An impatient sigh came from her the person who was futilely trying to wake her, followed by a rough shake of Lily's shoulder. "Lily-chan, please. You're going to miss dinner if you don't get up."

With another whine, Lily pushed the hand off her shoulder before she sat up. "Oi, Lu-chan, quit it—Oh.." Once she had opened her eyes, she was surprised to see how unexpectedly close Luka's blue ones were to hers. The two were nose to nose just like last night. And just like that, Lily's heartbeats quickened and her stomach began to do flips. This was bad.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Lily's mind raced, as she slowly felt her cheeks become warm. And to her surprise, even Luka's cheeks became tinted with a very faint shade of pink.

The pink haired girl stood up straight, and gave her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to have woken you, but I didn't want you to miss dinner. I came looking for you when everyone realized you weren't at the table," she explained. "If you aren't hungry, I'll just go ahead and set aside some food for you for later."

Lily nodded slowly, and watched her best friend walk away. She pushed the hood off from her head, and ran her one hand through her hair as she sighed. Carefully, she stepped off from the hammock and slowly made her way back towards the mansion. "I think I'm just going to have to distance myself from Lu-chan, or else she'll just freak out even more than now," she thought numbly, looking a little disheartened by this realization. "I'm just going to fuck things up for Miku-chan, too, if I stay this close to Lu-chan."

As she walked, she began to sadly hum a song. One of her songs. It amazed her that she could even think of this song while the memory of those blue eyes and pink hair, which were only centimeters away from her a minute ago, raced around her mind.

My thoughts keep repeating

This love is only for you

I still continue to struggle obsessively

Sad, unrequited wishes…

Note: And we've reached the end of chapter seven. It's a little shorter than I had hoped it would be, but I felt like I was starting to drag out the chapter. For that, I give you my most sincere apologies.

But yes, a lot of this chapter was more dialogue between them. Lily is a more vocal character, and that's how she expresses her thoughts best. xD; Through words.

I've been really eager to write this chapter. The idea of creating a love triangle had been floating in my mind for quite some time now, and I had to find a good time to put it onto (digital) paper.

I'd also like to apologize for the lack of Miku and Gumi in this chapter. I'll be sure to fix that in the upcoming chapters!

To the Reviewers:

Jak656: (^o^)b Thank you!

Justa person: haahah! Trust me, I won't be a bionic person for the next day or so. x_x I just found out I have more quizzes to study for… But yesss, Miku's becoming quite a smooth worker with all of these stolen kisses!

PaperCutVictim: Bahaha! I just imagined Miku dressed as a ninja, silently waiting for you to let your guard down.. Oh boy, it's best not to interfere with her plans! And thanks! I'm glad you like my Gumi. XD I must admit, I'm quite fond of her, too. (Yaaaaay! I'm excited to read your next chapter! :D )

Magnet: Every good LukaxMiku story should have some sort of "magnet" reference. ;) But I agree with you, those are two excellent duets by the two of them!

Lovecakes98: Aaahh! My cousin broke her iPhone recently. xD She accidentally kicked it off the couch, and BAM….. But thanks! I'm glad that I was able to finally answer your question about Miku's actions. (^^)b And yes, I sort of pictured Len, Rin, and Miki that way, too! LOL. Long review is long, but HIGHLY appreciated. :D thank you!

LukaFan: Oh yeah, Miku's definitely a smooth worker. She's gonna be a pro by the end of this series.. haha. Yes. Cheshire Luka is extremely cute. (: And thank you for your review and support!

IdrewAcow: Luka is a very fragile person. So yes, she'll have to do something if she doesn't want to be swept away so quickly! Thank you!

Thyrokio: Luka IS a kitten! So I think it's really fitting that she plays the role of the Cheshire Cat for the song "Alice in Musicland". :D And yeah, I was hoping someone would think Len sounded like a dirty old man! Hahaha Thank you!

Major Mike Powell III: YES! I made you LOL. AGAIN. I love reading your reviews. They're always entertaining. Hahaha. Thank you, thank you. I'll do my best to update ASAP.

Meislovely: xDDD Oh man, you two are insane! In a good way, of course. Hahaha thanks, guys!

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And once again, thank you everyone for your continued support. Just knowing that you guys STILL find this story to be entertaining is a good feeling.

I really appreciate all of your reviews! If you have any pointers, lemme know!

Thanks again, everyone. See you in the next chapter!