Slice of Life

Chapter 13 – Music Box of Time

Ah, a chapter for SoL… I'm sorry for the delay. OTL I just wanted this chapter to be just right, before anyone began to jump the gun about what I may have in store for all of you! Thank you all for being so patient with me, and for putting up with reading "Matryoshka!" in the meantime. xD;

Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloids. I never have, never will, and will only ever own this story.

Why don't you wind it up.
Open the splendid box.
And Presto! It begins to sing.
A dream of the beautiful days…

The room was silent. The furnishings of the room clearly showcased that the residents of the mansion were living in splendor. Upon entering the room, one would promptly notice the floor to ceiling windows on the left "wall". Opposite of the windows were bookcases, which neatly lined the wall. These too were floor to ceiling bookcases. In order for a resident or guest to reach the books of the top shelf, they would have to climb the wooden ladder attached to the case itself, which could be easily pushed along the track to get to the appropriate book case. Scattered throughout the room were several armchairs, love seats, and couches, each one offering comfort and solace to anyone who happened to stumble into the mansion's library. A visitor would be able to choose between having a cloth seat or a leather one, a reclining arm chair or a still one. The whole room was designed to provide upmost comfort to those who found refuge there. And of course, coffee tables were also readily available for either piling books on, or using them to rest any beverages.

Sunlight shone through the windows, successfully providing the area with more than enough light. None of the lamps or ceiling lights were turned on due to the ample source of sunlight, which was fine with its only occupant. She preferred natural light to the dull glow of the light bulbs anyway. Nestled on her favorite black leather couch was a girl. Curled up on one end, a worn leather note book placed on her lap. Every so often, her slender fingers would gently turn the page, as if she were afraid to cause any deformity to its worn pages. A quick glance at the notebook would lead one into thinking it was in relatively good condition, and would cause them to wonder why the girl was treating it with such care. The truth of the matter was that within the pages of this black leather notebook were the contents of the deepest corners of her mind and heart.

It was within this notebook that she poured out all of her thoughts and worries with her favorite pen, hoping that by writing the words down, she would no longer be haunted by her thoughts. Although she knew that this was not always possible, she found some sort of peace of mind through writing. She had had the notebook for quite some time, and it was nearing the end of the journal. There were only a few more pages left before it would need to be replaced; and this thought saddened the girl. True, she may not have written in the journal daily, but when she did write the entries tended to be long and heartfelt. There were things written down on the pages that she had kept hidden from the rest of the world. These were things that even her closest friends had no inkling about, and the girl was determined to keep it that way. The words she had scribbled down were secrets of the heart; meant for her and her alone. She did not plan on sharing these words with anyone else… And if she ever did reveal these things about herself to another, they would have to prove that she could trust them completely.

And there was no one that she could trust so completely.

And so her words were kept hidden from the rest of the world.

Fwip.
Her eyes stopped as she read the first few words of the entry. Although she was normally seen smiling, the smile that was currently on her face was filled with sorrow. Her eyes looked distant, melancholic, even, as she recalled what had happened on that fateful day….

"What?"

"I can't be with you," Miku answered as she wrapped the fingers of one hand around the cup of coffee that she had ordered only minutes ago. She brought the black plastic lid to her lips and took a sip. The coffee had been sweetened with two packets of sugar and a splash of French Vanilla cream. It was something that she had become quite fond of ever since she had begun to date the girl seated across from her. After all, the other girl insisted on getting coffee together at least once a week. It was only a matter of time before Miku began to have her own favorite cup of coffee.

Emerald eyes narrowed at her, a look of hurt and anger displayed on the owner's face. "Why? Why can't you be with me?" Gumi asked, her voice quavering as she fought for self-control. The cup of black coffee in her hand began to shake. "That doesn't—Why, Miku?"

The teal haired girl only offered the other a sad smile. "I have my reasons," she answered ominously. She looked away from the green haired girl, her teal eyes choosing to focus out on the street outside of the window. "I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry at all," Gumi hissed, her free hand clenching into a fist. "This doesn't make any sense!" Her expression was wild, anger overtaking the pain that had once been displayed on her face. "Why can't you be with me!"

"I can't tell you that." Miku used her free hand to rest her head on the knuckles. "I'm not asking you to understand my reasoning behind my action," she replied. "I only want you to understand that I can't be with you anymore."

The green haired girl glared at the teal one sitting across from her. Thoughts of rage raced through her mind, overpowering the thoughts of sorrow. She was in complete and utter turmoil. "That's stupid!" She exclaimed, as she stood up. "That's so fucking stupid!"

Miku looked at Gumi from the corner of her eyes. The sad smile was still on her face. "I know. I'm sorry," she apologized once more. "I am stupid, but it's for the best, I think."

"No. It's not!" Gumi snapped back. "Was all of this just a game for you?" Her hands slammed down on the table as she leaned across to shove her face in front of the others. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"Ah…" Miku lifted her head up from her hand, and leaned back in her seat. She placed both hands on her lap as she gazed back at her now ex-girlfriend. "Better?"

The corner of Gumi's mouth twitched, and her jaw clenched tightly as she only glared at Miku.

The teal haired girl was quiet for a few seconds as she continued to meet the furious gaze that Gumi gave her. "I'm hurting you…"

"Of course you're hurting me!" Gumi's fingers clenched back into fists, but she kept them planted on the table. "I don't understand—I thought you—We-…" Stumbling over her words only irritated her more. "Was this whole thing just a game to you? Were you just playing with me? My emotions?" Her tone was accusing, and rightly so. How could Miku suddenly call their relationship quits when they had only been together for a month? Officially, a month, but Gumi had known that feelings had developed when she first moved into the mansion half a year ago. "Am I just a toy to you?"

"No. Of course not," Miku shook her head at this accusation. "You're not a toy."

"Then why can't you be with me? Give me a reason," she demanded. She could feel her entire body shaking now. "Is it because of someone else?"

A teal eyebrow was arched at this question. "No. There isn't."

"Then why!"

"I…" Miku hesitated. "I can't tell you that—Gumi-chan, please.."

The green haired girl had snapped. Gumi was now gripping onto the collar of Miku's jacket, bringing the girl up close. "What the fuck Miku!" she hissed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I thought—We had something.." Her emerald eyes showed the confliction she felt. Could she really be mad at Miku?
Yes. Of course she could.
Miku was breaking her heart. Slowly, but surely.

The teal eyes widened a little at the sight of the tear drops that were beginning to pool at the corner of those emerald eyes. "Gumi-chan…" She whispered back, her own eyes brimming with pain. "I—I'm sorry…"

Gumi shoved Miku back into the cushioned seat of the booth. "Whatever. Fuck this," she muttered, as she shook her head. With the sleeves of her favorite orange hoodie, she quickly wiped at those salty tears that were threatening to stream down her cheeks. "Fuck it. I—Whatever.." She grabbed her cup of coffee and began to walk away from the booth. "I hate you…"

Miku sat very still, and watched as Gumi walked away. Her teal eyes darted over to look out the window, and she continued to watch her ex walk down the street and disappear around the corner. Her teal eyes looked at the bag next to her, and she withdrew the black leather-bound journal from within it. Carefully, she set it down on the table and flipped over to a new page. Her bag quickly produced a pen, and she began to write across the pages.

"Telling her goodbye was harder than I thought it would be. I didn't tell her why I had to leave her… I thought it would be obvious to her, but I guess it wasn't."

She paused, and took a deep breath before continuing.

"She must hate me for ending things the way I did. Not that I blame her. I didn't give her a good reason for ending our relationship..
But I know it was the right thing to do. I hope that she'll see that one day, or at least be able to forgive me for this.."

Another pause, this time to take a sip from her coffee.

"It was so hard to tell her that we couldn't be together.. Especially when she began to cry. Gumi never cries… Not in front of others, anyway.
We couldn't be together. I couldn't make things work, even though I wanted us to be together. Things weren't supposed to be this way."

She sniffled, and bit down on her bottom lip as she tried to fight back tears.

"Reading those articles in those magazines was just too awful. I don't want anyone to look down on Gumi because she and I are were dating. People shouldn't write that what we feel for one another is wrong or damnble. I never want anyone to say such things about Gumi. Those words were just too painful to read. And on top of that.. Her parents… They haven't tried to contact her since we first made our relationship public. It was as if they had completely abandoned her."

Miku put her head in one hand. Her body shuddered as she took in a shaky breath. A few tears managed to escape and roll down her cheeks. She hurriedly wiped them away with the sleeve of her gray cropped pea-coat.

"It isn't fair for Gumi to have to suffer through the awful words of the world and have her parents disown her because of me. It would be selfish of me to keep her from making amends with her parents. So I had to let her go… Only to stop the world from saying those hateful things about her. No one deserves to be treated so awfully…

But saying goodbye hurts so much. If I'm doing the right thing, should I be crying, too?"

The last few words were smudged from a few tear drops that had fallen onto the page. Unable to contain herself, she dropped the pen onto the table and cradled her head in both hands. Deep within her heart, she knew she had fallen in love with Gumi during that half-year they had both been living together. But no matter how much she may love Gumi, she couldn't bring it upon herself to continue to date Gumi knowing that she had inadvertedly ruined the other girl's life.
At least… This was how she had come to feel about things.

Gumi dating her had caused Gumi's parents to abandon her.

Gumi dating her had caused a media fiasco, with magazines taking it upon themselves to either completely slander their names or show some sort of minute support for the couple. Yet those spiteful words were always more dominant in the press.

The green haired girl had constantly lied about her state of mind. No matter how many times Miku may have pressed the Gumi to see how she was, Gumi would always answer that she was perfectly fine and Miku did not need to worry.
Which, of course, only caused Miku to worry all the more. It was unhealthy for Gumi to keep things to herself when it was clear that the emerald girl was not okay.

And Miku couldn't stand to see Gumi try and hide the pain that came with the stress…
Which led her to the conclusion of releasing Gumi from the pain by ending their relationship...

Memories get more and more brilliant,
Seducing you into the past..

She traced the last few words, the smudged words, with her teal polished index finger. A heavy sigh escaped her.

"What an awful day," Miku murmured to herself, greatfull that there was no one else in the library. Not that this was surprising. She was normally the only one to come to the room on a daily basis. It was her personal retreat.

She frowned a little when she noticed a fresh water mark on the page of the journal. One finger slowly went up to touch her cheek. To her surprise, she realized that she had been crying while reading the entry. "Ah… I guess I'm not strong enough to revisit the past…" The girl shook her head, and wiped away the tears with the back of one hand.

When she was sure that she had recomposed herself, she flipped to a blank page. She withdrew the pen from her pocket and began to write carefully.

"It seems that I'm still hurting Gumi. I may no longer love her the way I once had, it looks like she isn't completely over what once was. This isn't good if Miki-chan is interested in her. The thought of them being together is actually super cute. I think they would be great together! Miki-chan would be able to give the comfort that Gumi so desperately needs… It's something that I had never been able to do for Gumi.

Aside from that, Lily and I both know of each other's interest in Luka… And it terrifies me. I know if she really tried she would be able to win Luka over. I'm scared… I've never had to compete against anyone for someone's love. With Gumi, things just came so naturally… And at first it seemed the same with Luka… Until Lily realized that she had always had feelings for Luka. Now everything is complicated, and I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to win Luka over at this rate.

I don't mean to be so forward with her. I thought I would be able to just tease her the same way I did with Gumi, but I don't think it will work…"

Miku paused, and bit down on the end of the pen as she tried to organize her thoughts into a way that she would be able to understand in the future. Her teal eyes closed for a moment as she continued to think. They opened once more, and she continued to write.

"I don't want to scare Luka. I don't want her to feel nervous around me… I think I'll have to be careful around her. I can't be too forward that she'll force herself away from me, but I can't be distant to where she feels isolated.

Love is too complicated. I don't think I should really be thinking this much about it…

But…

Lily. I don't know what to do about her. Because she knows she has an advantage over me. She's already incredibly close to Luka, and she knows that. And even though I act like I still have the confidence to get Luka…

It's a lie. I don't think I can anymore… As much as I want Luka, I'm afraid that I'll lose. And it's worse than when I had to leave Gumi to get her parents to talk to her again… Because I feel so different about Luka. Stronger feelings…

But if Lily really loves Luka… Then maybe I should just leave them be…

But God. It hurts to even think about that option…"

She stopped writing and flung the pen across the room in frustration. She couldn't write. Not about this.
This was becoming too hard for her. Her chest felt tight, and her breathing was shakey...

Miku massaged her temples, her teal eyes never looking away from the open journal in her lap. Another sigh left her lips. "I'm such a selfish person…. I'm the worst," she said to herself, as she shut the journal and stood up from the couch. "There's no way anyone could possibly love me… Maybe Lily's right. Maybe she should just kill me."

The teal haired girl went across the room and picked her pen up. She slipped it into her pocket before she headed to the only exit. Maybe she really should back down and let Lily- No. After coming this far, she couldn't back down. She had to keep going. She needed to at least try and see if there was any chance of her and Luka ending up together. And on top of that she needed to find a way to bring her two best friends together.

She knew Gumi could be a complete idiot when it comes to romance, so it was up to her to get Gumi to realize her feelings for Miki. It was already made known to her that Miki had some sort of feelings for Gumi… Now Miku just needed to find a way to have the two become a couple, and all would end well. At least… All would end well for Gumi and Miki.

As for her own personal happiness, that remained to be seen.

Miku shook her head and exited the library with a heavy heart, and a severe original purpose in coming to this room was to relax and plan out how she was going to ask Luka on a date.
But it seems that the only thing that she could do was bring up painful thoughts and memories, which served to only worsen the headache that had developed from crying alone in the silent room.

Why don't you wind it up,
Open the splendid box,
And presto it begins to sing,
Sweet, Peaceful and poisonous dream.

Note: I know this was an incredibly short chapter in comparison to some of my other chapters for this series… But I really needed to publish it. I wasn't sure when a good time to get out Miku's personal chapter, but after everything that has occurred so far, I think it was best for her to have her own chapter at this point. xD; I promise, there'll be some more Luka and Miku tension.

Please bear with me!

And I felt bad for not replying to everyone's review in the last chapter. ;n; So I'm replying to everyone who reviewed Chapter 12!

To the Reviewers:

Jak656: Thanks! I love that you enjoy my story. But yes, you're right. Lily does have a dark side to her. :P And the dates, and maybe some Gumi/Miki fluff, are coming up soon!

PaperCutVictim: Indeed, Luka was very greedy in her dream. XD And I do feel bad for putting Luka in such a damnable position. But, ah… It had to happen. XD;;; Thanks for your support!

Meislovely: o.o Oh my… Such a strong reaction to the chapter…

Urfandomnewfan: Ahh! Really? Hahaha. Well, that is pretty funny! And I'm really glad you enjoy my story so far! (: Thanks for choosing to read it!

OohLala: XDDD Ah, it seems like a lot of people are hoping for a 3-somey ending to the series!

Reviewer: Nah, for me, these seem like a lot of delays between chapters. Hahaha. But ah, okay. I actually watched the first episode last night. My mind was overwhelmed with the amounts of WTF that took place in the first episode. I think I may continue on with watching, but I dunno. XD; It depends on how much homework I can get done… haha

Psychomaid: It's a great song, isn't it? : D I love it. Although.. I prefer Magnet over White Lily Basket. XD; But yes. I'm playing Switzerland for now. Hahahah Thanks for your support!

Ouo: LOL. I'm glad you found the whole Kagamine scenario to be so hilarious! : D It's always good to hear that I can make people laugh with my ridiculous sense of humor! Thanks for your support, man!

LukaFan: Yeppers, it's war now. Hahahaha. I've got a lot of ideas for what could happen, but I'm going to keep my mouth shut. ;D

Major Mike Powell III: xD Yeah.. Miku and Lily are definitely not up for a three-some in reality. It has to be one or the other. No compromising. xD Thanks for reading!

IdrewAcow: (^^)b Definitely going to be a lot of tension between Lily and Miku. Trust me. But I'll try to update as soon as I can!

Chinesis' Fan: Ah, it makes me really happy to hear that you enjoy my fic so much ;w; I love reading reviews from new fans! And I can honestly say that "Call of Duty: Sex Ops" had me giggling in the middle of my English class… XDDD I got a lot of strange looks from my classmates during that time.

.

AHHH. Once again, thank you all for your reviews! And if you didn't review, thanks for just reading! ;w; You're all great people.

See you in the next chapter!