Slice of Life
Chapter 16 – Satellite
Ah, another chapter! I'd like to apologize that it's starting to take longer and longer for me to update. X_x; That aside, I hope that you enjoy this chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloids. Okay.
The lounge was occupied by a single girl, who was seated on an arm chair. Her legs were crossed and on her lap was a book. Red eyes quickly scanned through the words, and delicate, slender fingers turned the page once she had finished reading it. Essentially, Furukawa Miki was killing time. She had already finished recording her next single, but she did not want to be the first to return home. It was an unusual day, given the fact that the entire household had gone to the studio to work on their respective upcoming singles and gather together for a Halloween photo shoot. The photo shoot had taken place as soon as all of the members of the residency were assembled, and once it had been completed, each idol scurried off to a recording booth to work with their managers and producer for the day.
But Miki hadn't been expecting to finish before everyone else. And she knew that if she returned home, she would probably be home alone for another hour. The thought of sitting in that obscenely large residency by herself was a dreadful thought, and so she had opted to wait in the lounge until someone else had finished their session for the day. She would much rather be alone in a lounge knowing that the others where somewhere in the building, rather than take the twenty minute ride back to the house, and then sit alone in her room or in the game room.
With a sigh, she turned to a new page in her book and read through the lines. "I wish someone would finish soon," she mumbled out loud, as she pursed her lips into a small pout. "I don't like being alone…"
"Aw, Miki-chan! You're just adorable, ne?" A giggle came from behind the arm chair, and caused the ahoge'd girl to jump in her seat. Miki whirled around, and looked up to see who had intruded on the quiet area.
"Ah, M-Miku-nee…" Miki smiled a little bit, but she could still feel her heart pounding in her chest from the initial shock. "Are you done for the day?"
The tealette shook her head no, and propped an arm up on the top of the chair. She cupped her face in her palm, and sighed. "Sadly, no, I'm not. They decided that while I'm here I should start looking at the new songs that some composers submitted and go ahead and pick the ones that I want to work with," she explained with her standard empty smile.
An empty smile that Miki noticed, and was sad to see. The red head had been hoping that after the talk that Miku had with Luka during their date, Miku would start to open up ever so slightly to the others. But the presence of that secretive smile, the smile that prevented others from even trying to reach out to Miku, told Miki that this was going to be a slow process and difficult process. It would seem that Luka and possibly Gumi were the only ones who could even pry a sliver of the truth from Miku.
"Oh, really?" Miki looked a little disappointed, both with Miku's smile and with Miku's answer. "I had to choose a few songs earlier, but they gave me the CDs to listen to while on the car ride home, or to listen to once I actually get home." She turned her attention back to the book in her lap, and began to half-heartedly skim through the words on the page. "I thought I could just wait here and find someone to ride home with."
"Like Gumi-chan?"
The redhead blushed and her ahoge twitched as she stiffened a little in her seat. "Ah—N-not necessarily," she stammered as she tightened her grip on book. "Just someone to talk to—"
"You want to talk to Gumi-chan, right? I heard you confessed during your date, ne? That's so cute."
"M-Miku-nee!" Miki groaned and looked back up at the still smiling tealette. "It's not like that. I…" She bit her bottom lip and shyly looked away. "I embarrassed myself while we were still at the restaurant. I shouldn't have said those things, and I spoke out of turn." A sigh escaped her and she hung her head, her bangs covering her eyes. "Gumi-chan probably thinks I'm just a naïve little girl or something…"
Miku blinked a few times, surprised to see Miki react in such a way. When Gumi had first explained what had happened to her, Miku had thought it was absolutely adorable. Although the green haired girl didn't reveal the specifics, Miku understood that Miki had said some pretty serious things. "I don't think Gumi-chan would think you were like that," she said, as she playfully ruffled up Miki's red hair. "I'm not sure what you said to her, but I think it made an impact on Gumi-chan."
"Mm… You think so?" Miki asked, as she looked up at Miku once more. "I thought it was kind of dumb… Well, embarrassing. I didn't mean to say so much to her—"
"What did you say?"
Miki's face became red once more, and she frantically began to wave her hands around. "M-Me? I said—Well, it's—I just—Sort of—It's a long—I didn't—Well, maybe I did-!" She stumbled over her words as she tried to find a way out of answering the question. Was it really appropriate to tell your crush's ex-girlfriend that you confessed your feelings?
The tealette laughed, and patted the panic struck girl's head. Miku smiled, and stood back up. "Ah, never mind, never mind! " She giggled, as she turned her back to Miki and strode towards the door. "I don't want you to have a heart attack over this!"
"M-Miku-nee!" Frantic, the younger girl turned around in the arm chair, and kneeled on the cushion of the armchair. Her red eyes were wide with panic as she peeked over the top of the arm chair and stared at the teal figure that was already by the door. "Y-You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Miki had to admit, even though Miku was only dressed in a pale pink, short sleeved button down, black skirt, and matching black flats, the tealette managed to look stunning. No wonder Gumi-chan had loved Miku so much… Could she ever begin to compare to the teal haired girl in Gumi's eyes?
"Hm?" Miku looked at Miki from over her shoulder, an almost puzzled expression. Almost.
"About—About me liking Gumi-nee?"
The smile was back on the teal haired girl's face as she shook her head no. "If you don't want me to, I won't say anything," she answered. "Just wait here.. I'm sure someone will finish up soon. Then you won't be alone!" A giggle came from her as she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, and shut the door behind her.
"Huh—Oh—Ri-…. Okay, bye…"
Giggling, the tealette strode down the hallway with a smile plastered onto her face. The fact that Miki was so worked up about Gumi was just too cute, in her opinion. She couldn't wait to see how things would play out between her two closest friends. While lost in thought, she failed to notice the girl who was standing mid-way through the hall.
"Miku."
The teal haired girl snapped back to reality, and halted a few paces away from the tall blonde before her. "Ah, Lily-nee," she nodded at the older girl. They hadn't spoken since the day before Lily and Luka had gone out on a date. Tensions in the mansion ran high between the two of them, and they avoided talking whenever they could. But this was the first that Lily had approached Miku after their respective dates. And Miku couldn't help but feel a little awkward, or even somewhat intimidated by the tall girl that stood before her.
Lily was dressed casually, and much to Miku's surprise, not wearing a pair of sweatpants like she normally wore when she had to go record a song or two. Instead of the sweatpants an t-shirt that Lily normally wore to the studio, a pair of brown short, chic shorts were donned, as well as a yellow scoop neck t-shirt. The shirt was layered by a brown, chic, leather jacket, and the outfit was completed by a pair of brown boots. "Miku," Lily repeated herself, this time with a frown on her face. Her blue eyes were narrowed at the younger girl and she shook her head. "Did you say something to Luka?"
Miku blinked a few times and tilted her head slightly to one side. With her hands clasped behind her back, she shrugged her shoulders. "What do you mean? Luka-senpai have only talked on occasion the past few days since our date," she answered honestly. The non-smile that she used for defense was back on her face. Pokerface time.
"She seems… Different," Lily answered, as she shoved her thumbs into the front pockets of her shorts. "I don't know if I like this sort of different. I guess I do, since she seems happier. But what did you say to her while you two were on your date? She was pretty tense before your date, but after she seems to have relaxed a bit."
"Ah," Miku gave Lily a knowing look. Of course Luka would feel more relaxed. Both she and Luka had said they could talk to one another about Gumi and Lily and their feelings on their love lives if they needed to. It had relieved stress from both of their shoulders knowing that they had someone to talk to about the complex love situation that had gripped the four of them. Over the course of the few days, when they did have the chance, the two would mention a few things here and there about the stress they were under. They were normally short conversations, but even mentioning in passing that things seemed to be slightly better or worse helped the pair to relieve some of the stress that they were feeling. "Well, I don't know if it's my place to tell you what we were talking about," she answered, as she shrugged her shoulders once more. "If you're so curious, I think it would be best if you asked Luka-senpai—"
"Cut the crap and tell me, Miku," Lily spat out, as she clenched her teeth together. "What did you do to Luka? Did you drug her or something and convince her you're the greatest person on Earth?"
"I didn't do anything!" Miku exclaimed, her pokerface slipping as she puffed her cheeks out at Lily indignantly. "Honest! I didn't kiss her, I didn't grope her, I didn't do anything!" A touch of irritation could be found in her tone as she reined her emotions back into control. "Luka-senpai and I talked, that's all."
The blonde gave Miku a look full of distrust. "I don't believe you. I'm trying to be civil here, but I don't believe you."
"You don't have to believe me," Miku sighed, becoming exasperated with the situation at hand. "But all we did was talk. A heart-to-heart, that's all."
At this, Lily stiffened. Luka had a heart-to-heart with someone other than her? This was… Unxpected. Extremely so. Ever since they were children, Lily had been Luka's sole confident. Hearing that Luka had chosen to talk to someone other than herself hurt her just a little bit. It was like a blow to her ego. "What? A heart-to-heart?" She repeated in disbelief. "No way…. Are you kidding, or… What?"
The tealette nodded and began to walk once more, hoping to pass by Lily and return to her assigned recording booth. "Yes, but, ah, I need to go finish up recording some songs-… Lily-nee, please."
Lily had stuck an arm out, blocking Miku's path. "Wait, no. Tell me what she said to you," she demanded. "Tell me first, and then you can go. What'd koneko-chan say?"
"Koneko-chan?"
"Shut up. Don't ask. Just tell me what she said."
Miku shook her head no once more. "Really, Lily-nee," she sighed. "I thought you would be able to understand that it isn't my place to repeat what Luka-senpai had said. Can I just go—"
"No."
Another sigh escaped Miku's lips. Getting out of this situation was quickly becoming hopeless; and it was gradually upsetting her. She had promised Luka a few days ago that what they had said to one another about Lily and Gumi would stay between the two of them. No one else needed to know that Luka was sure she had strong feelings for Lily, but she was afraid to ruin their friendship by pursuing or denying those feelings. And no one needed to know that Miku was afraid that by continuing to pursue Luka she would hurt Gumi, or that she had only slight mixed feelings about pairing Gumi and Miki together. As happy as she was to hear that Miki liked Gumi, Miku was afraid that things may eventually end poorly between Miki and Gumi. Not to mention that Gumi's parents may end up taking the whole dating thing poorly once more. And that was the last thing she wanted; to see Gumi hurt again and again…
"Miku. Tell me," Lily repeated herself once more when she noticed that the younger girl had spaced out a little bit.
"Ah—No, I can't."
The corner of Lily's mouth twitched. Before she knew it, she had gripped the collar of the younger girls shirt, and glared down into her teal eyes. "Tell. Me."
"L-Lily-nee…" Miku's pokerface was gone as she stared back into those deep blue eyes. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't betray Luka's trust. With a deep breath, she recomposed herself and smiled back at the older girl. "No."
"Why I outta—"
"OI! Knock it off!" a girl's voice shouted from the end of the hall. "Put her down, Lily-nee!"
"Lily-chan, let Miku-chan go.." Another voice chimed in, this one masculine.
Both Lily and Miku looked at the pair that had arrived. Gakupo and Gumi strode towards the rivals in love, and both wore vastly different expressions. Gakupo was as composed as ever, yet the corners of his mouth were twitched down into a slight frown of disappointment. The purple gentleman brushed aside his purple bangs and turned his gaze onto the blonde. Beside him, his younger cousin looked absolutely furious. Rage and fearlessness shone in those emerald eyes as Gumi quickened her pace and ripped Miku out from Lily's grip. She shoved the teal haired girl behind her and stood in front of Lily, emerald eyes narrowed into slits.
"What the hell are you doing to Miku?" Gumi snapped at Lily. Her hands clenched into fists. "You better have a good reason for putting your hands on her, 'cause there's no reason for you to even try and hurt her!"
Miku groaned, and shook her head. As cool and somewhat hot as the whole hero bit may be, she did not want any more tension to be added between her and Lily. "Gumi-chan, it's okay," she said slowly, as she put a hand onto the green haired girl's shoulder in an attempt to pacify her.
"No! It's not okay at all!" Gumi retorted angrily, her voice shaking with the fury that she was feeling. She shrugged her shoulder, pushing Miku's hand off of her. Her emerald eyes never broke the gaze of the navy blue ones. "So answer me, Lily-nee! What were you doing to Miku?"
Lily folded her arms across her chest and turned her head away from Gumi. "I don't need to answer to you."
Gakupo slid into place beside Lily, and frowned at the blonde. "No, you don't have to answer, but you probably should," he stated, his tone disapproving. "I don't think you should have done that, either, Lily-chan. We all live in the same house, after all. We don't need to make things any more strained for everyone else." He was acutely aware that he needed to act as the mediator at the moment, and bring everyone down to a calm, civil level.
At least, he was hoping he could do that.
"What—Gakupo-san! I don't have to answer—"
"But you should," he repeated once more, this time more sternly. "I would like to know, myself, why it looked like you were going to knock the living daylights out of Miku-chan." Patient purple eyes made eye contact with the irritated pair of navy blue ones. "Now, if you would..?"
Lily threw her arms up into the air, clearly frustrated with all of those present in the hallway. "What the hell, man!" she shook her head. "All I did was ask a question, and Miku wouldn't answer!"
Gumi stared at Lily. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"HOW OLD ARE YOU? FIVE? THAT'S SO STUPID!" The green haired girl snapped at her senpai in utter disbelief and continued rage. "SO FREAKING STUPID! I THOUGHT YOU'D BE MORE MATURE THAN MEIKO-NEE, BUT WOW! THAT'S BEYOND ANY OF HER DRUNK ANTICS!" She felt Miku slip her hand into hers and tug at her arm. But she was not about to let go of the situation so easily. "AND YOU HAD THE BALLS TO PUT YOUR HAND ON MIKU? ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE—"
"Gumi-chan, let's go," Miku mumbled, this time pulling the girl behind her as she headed back towards the lounge area she had left not too long ago.
Lily twitched and began to stride towards the retreating pair. "Why I outta—Get back here! I'll kick your ass and teach you to show your elders respect!" she snapped as she tried to follow Gumi and Miku.
Gakupo shook his head. He followed Lily, and looped his arms underneath her armpits, successfully holding the blonde back. "No, Lily-chan, you need to calm down.. Just let Miku-chan calm Gumi-chan down, and you… You just go back to your recording booth and take a breather," he said slowly, trying his best to keep the squirming blonde in place.
"NO! GAKUPO LET ME GO!"
"Yes."
"NO! LET ME KICK BOTH OF THEIR ASSES! YOU DAMNED EGGPLANT HEAD! LET GO!"
"I'll buy you ice cream."
"… What kind?"
"Any kind you want."
"… Okay. Let's go get ice cream."
"And then you have to go finish recording your song."
"Yeah, yeah. They can wait half an hour. They'll be alright."
Gumi adjusted the red goggles that had gone slightly askew during her heated moment with Lily. She frowned and let Miku tug her down the hallway. When they had stopped, she smoothed out the red v-neck sweater that was layered on top of her white button-down shirt, whose top few buttons were left unbuttoned to expose Gumi's collarbone. The outfit, as Miku noted, was completed by dark denim skinny jeans that were tucked into gray high-top Converses. Did this girl only wear sneakers?
"Why did you stop me?" Gumi asked Miku, interrupting the teal haired girl's fashion oriented thoughts. It was clear that Gumi was still riled up.
Miku sighed, and gave Gumi a smile. She reached up and fixed the collar of Gumi's white shirt It was not one of her mocking, empty smiles, but a weary one. "I didn't want you to get hurt," she explained. "Or, well… Involved. I didn't want you to get more involved in this than you had to."
The green haired girl twitched. "Whatever… That's a stupid explanation, but I'll take it for now."
A sigh escaped Miku's lips, this time one of relief. "Good… You didn't have to do that, you know," she pouted at her friend. "I would have been alright on my own."
Gumi snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You're useless when it comes to confrontations like that. And the fact that you were smiling at Lily-nee while she was pissed wasn't going to make things any better," she added. "You probably would've been strangled if Nii-san and I didn't show up."
The tealeatte shrugged her shoulders and clasped her hands behind her back once more. "Maybe, maybe not," she replied, almost indifferently. "But… Thank you for what you did." This time her smile brightened a bit, and the sight caught Gumi off guard.
"Uh—Yeah, no problem." It was a smile that she hadn't seen in ages. That genuinely happy, cheeky smile of Miku's had been absent for such a long time now. The last time Gumi had seen it was when they were dating…
"Ah, Gumi-chan?" Miku blinked a few times, staried at her friend, and the smile vanished.
"What?" Gumi frowned slightly, a little disappointed to see the smile was gone.
"Are you done for the day?"
"Eh?" Gumi blinked and then nodded once. "Yeah, I am. Why?"
"Could you keep Miki-chan company, then? She's been alone for a while, I think, and she's just been waiting for someone to finish so she wouldn't have to go home alone."
"Oh… Uh, yeah…. I guess I could do that," the green haired girl mumbled, a little surprised by the request.
Miku giggled, and opened the door to the lounge. "She's in here. Maybe you two could stop and get coffee and a snack at that café on the way home, ne?" Still giggling, she skipped away and headed off towards her recording booth.
Gumi watched her friend leave, and shook her head. What kind of request was that? Take Miki to a café? It almost sounded like a date.
Wait a second…
"Is this a date!"
Miku laughed, and looked at Gumi from over her shoulder. "Your last date was interrupted, ne? Maybe you should make it up to her," she replied, before she opened a door and entered the room.
"MIKU-….. Aw geez… I'm no good at this stuff, though," Gumi groaned, before she went into the lounge to find Miki.
The redhead had fallen asleep while reading in the armchair. Her bangs were messily strewn across her face, and her striped navy and white cardigan was a unbuttoned, revealing the pink blouse she wore beneath it. As she breathed in slowly, and exhaled slowly, her chest rose slightly and fell. But what had caught Gumi's attention was the fact that navy skirt that Miki wore was messily hitched up higher than normal due to the redhead's restless sleeping. The green haired girl gulped, and she felt her cheeks warm up as her emerald eyes continued to stare at Miki's exposed thighs.
"Bad. This is bad, bad, bad," Gumi told herself sternly, as she shook her head quickly. "Don't look. You can't look. That's bad. She's sleeping. She doesn't even know. God, what the hell is wrong with me… Checking out sleeping people…"
"Nn…" Miki yawned, and pushed herself up in her seat. She rubbed at one eye with a closed hand, and peeked at Gumi groggily. "Huh? Who's checking who out?"
"Huh—Nothing! Nothing at all!" Gumi said quickly, allowing a nervous laugh to escape her. "I wasn't—Just forget about it."
The redhead blinked a few times, and shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, alright.." She closed the book that was on her lap and threw her arms into the air as she stretched out her back. Falling asleep in such an awkward position was not one of her most brilliant ideas, but at least she managed to get a quick nap out of it.
Gumi watched in silence for a few moments, her thoughts going back to the tantalizing view of skin that she had seen moments before. And then she remembered Miku's request. "Oh—Miki-chan, you're not busy, right? I mean—you're done with everything for today? The studio stuff?" she asked lamely, as she tried to shove those thoughts of the skirt and skin from her mind.
Miki looked up at Gumi and nodded slowly. "Yes, I am," she answered. "Are you done?"
"Cool, I'm done for today, too," Gumi replied. "Uh.. You wanna start heading home? I was thinking we could just walk, you know, and hang out for a bit. Maybe.. Go to that café that's on the way and get a bite to eat."
The redhead stared at Gumi in disbelief. Was she hearing things? "Like… a date?" Miki asked slowly, waning to make sure she had things right.
Gumi gulped, and looked away quickly. She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I guess you could call it that.. It doesn't have to be like that, though," she said quickly. "We're just hanging out is all." The touch of pink that danced across Gumi's cheeks did not go unnoticed by Miki.
"Ah, alright, alright," Miki giggled, as she stood up onto her black boot clad feet. When she stood up, Gumi noticed that her stockings only went half-way up her thighs, and between the stockings and the skirt, a bit of skin could be seen. Miki picked up her dark gray newsboy hat from the coffee table and put it on her head. Her ahoge protested, and decided to peek out it's tip from beneath the brim of the hat. "Let's get going, then!" The redhead was completely unaware of Gumi's thoughts as she skipped towards the door, clearly happy that the two were spending time alone.
Gumi was quick to look away from that teasing strip of skin, and made sure to focus her emerald eyes on Miki's back. "Right, yeah.. Let's go."
The pair sat in a booth at the ice cream shop. One was devouring the ice cream sundae before her, and the other was slowly licking at the soft-serve chocolate ice cream that he had ordered. When the blonde had finished eating, she set her spoon down on the dish, and leaned back into the cushioned seat of the booth. "Aaaaahhh! That was good!" Lily said in complete content. "Thanks, eggplant!"
Gakupo was nowhere near finishing his ice cream cone. He offered his companion a smile as he continued to lick at his ice cream. "I'm glad you liked it," he replied, choosing to ignore the nickname and stares that he received from the shops other patronages. "Now, are you ready to talk about what happened?"
Lily blinked her deep blue eyes at Gakupo in a temporary lapse of amnesia. "Eh? What are you—"
"What happened earlier between you and Miku-chan."
"Oh…" Lily frowned a little bit. "That."
Gakupo nodded and motioned for her to continue.
The blonde folded her arms across her chest and blew a puff of air at her messy bangs. "It's like I said before, eggplant! I asked her a question and she didn't answer," she replied bluntly. There was a pause as she stared at the empty sundae dish. "But.. Eh. I guess I did lose my cool back there. Tch…" She scowled and her brows furrowed together. "I dunno. She wasn't answering my question and I really just wanted an anwer. And then she said something that got under my skin…"
The purple haired boy seated across from her raised a brow at this. He leaned forward, and took another lick of his ice cream. "Hm? She said something that bothered you?" Gakupo asked incredulously. "That's interesting. It takes a lot to bother you. You're normally a joker."
Lily shrugged and looked out the window. "Eh."
"So, what did she say?"
"Something about talking to Luka more now," Lily answered with another shrug. It was clear that she was not happy with Luka and Miku suddenly growing closer. But that couldn't be helped, she supposed. "I guess they 're a lot more comfortable with each other. Or something." She gave Gakupo a sidelong glance, and then rolled her eyes. "I don't know."
"You're not happy about that."
"'Course not… That means Miku might get Luka," she replied, as she began to drum the fingers of her right hand against the upper part of her left arm. "I'd be fine if Luka and I were still friends and all… But losing in a love war to Miku of all people… She's a brat!"
Gakupo shook his head at the answer he received. "You're only saying she's a brat because you're a sore loser, Lily-san," he pointed out with a small smile. "And you're clearly afraid to lose Luka-san forever. Although, if you don't end up dating Luka-san, I doubt she would completely ignore you because she was in a relationship with Miku-chan."
Lily snorted. "I know she wouldn't.. She's not that type of person," she said. "It's just…" She hesitated, and wondered how she could phrase this properly.
"You're afraid to get hurt."
"Yeah right!" Lily rolled her eyes and stood up. "As if I'd let myself get hurt. I'm Masuda Lily!" She announced, no longer caring who happened to overhear their conversation. "I DON'T LET ANYTHING STOP ME—Uh…"
The teenagers who had just walked into the ice cream parlor swarmed around the booth that the two Vocaloids had been occupying. Adolescent boys and girls alike began to shout at both Gakupo and Lily how much they adored their music, or loved their good looks.
"LILY-SAMA! CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!" a girl shouted.
"GAKUPO-SAMA! I WANT YOUR AUTOGRAPH! WRITE IT ON MY FOREHEAD!" another girl shouted from the back of the swarm.
"NO! TATTOO MY AUTOGRAPH TO MY ARM, GAKUPO-SAMA!" this time a boy near the front pushed his way through the others while shouting.
"MARRY ME LILY-SAMA!" A girl.
Both Lily and Gakupo scooted as far back as they could into the booth. "Ah, Lily-san, see what happened?" Gakupo sighedd as he shot the blonde a dirty look. "You just had to go and scream your name out, didn't you?"
Lily glared at the purple haired boy. She reached over and tugged on his ponytail. "Shaddup, will you?"
"OOOOH! LILY-SAMA IS A SADIST! TAKE A PICTURE! QUICK!"
"DOES THAT MAKE GAKUPO-SAMA A MASOCHIST?"
The pair twitched and exchanged mixed looks.
They were never going to get back to the studio at this rate.
Gumi and Miki walked along in silence. Miki was excited to be going to the café; she had heard good things about the place, and that the store sold delicious pastries. She had a bit of a sweet tooth, and she couldn't wait to satisfy her craving for something sweet.
Beside her, Gumi looked around awkwardly, trying to find something to focus her attention on. It was a difficult task, especially since she had only discovered this afternoon just how, erm, "mature" Miki had become over the past year or so. She shook her head and glanced down at the petite girl beside her. The younger girl was clearly happy, given the huge smile that was plastered onto her face. And suddenly, Miki darted over to the glass window of a shop.
The redhead squealed and pressed her face against the glass, her red eyes wide. "Ah! Everything looks so good!"
Gumi stopped beside Miki, and looked at the display case lined with pastries and other assorted sweets. The corners of her lips twitched into a smirk of amusement. "Yeah, it does look good," she admitted, as she put her hands up behind her head. "But, ya know, they'd probably taste a lot better than they look."
"Uh-huh!" Miki's grin only widened, and she tried to press her face against the glass even more.
The green haired girl snickered. If Miki kept this up, she'd probably end up pressing her whole head through the glass. "Yup… So. We should probably go inside so we can try some," Gumi pointed out, as she began to step towards the door of the café.
"Eh—Oh!" Miki blushed a bit from embarrassment, and followed Gumi into the café. She stayed close behind the older girl, unwilling to look at anyone else. Partly because she was embarrassed that she had been so caught up with looking at the pastries in the window, and because she was hoping that by avoiding eye contact, they would get away without being recognized by a rabid fanboy or fangirl. One hand reached out and clutched onto the back of Gumi's mock sweater. "Are people staring?" she whispered to Gumi as she closed the gap between the two of them, her red eyes looking down at her shoes.
Gumi, whose arms were still behind her head, craned her head so she could at least peek down at the flustered girl who was trailing behind her. "Eh?" She quickly scanned the room, and realized that people were in fact staring at them. "Uh… Nah. They aren't." One white lie wouldn't hurt. And besides, it seemed like Miki wasn't going to look around and find out about this lie any time soon. She stopped at the counter, and grinned at the barista. "Oi, Miki-chan, what do you want?"
The redhead peered from behind Gumi, and looked at the display case before them. Her expression lightened, and she gave Gumi a childish smile. "Ah! I don't know what to get!" She exclaimed, before she looked back at the case. "It looks like there are even more options to choose from!" The girl kept her grip on Gumi's sweater, but stepped forward to get a better view of the pastries that were on display.
The barista looked at Miki and then at Gumi. Her expression said "Is this kid really the famous Furukawa Miki?"
Gumi gave the barista an expression that said "Keep your opinion to yourself, or I'll make your life miserable."
The barista gulped, and nodded to signify that she understood their silent exchange.
"Miki-chan, oi, are you going to order something?" Gumi asked, as her expression shifted from a death threat to a smirk of amusement. "I'll pay for it."
"Eh?" Miki looked up at Gumi so fast that the hat she was wearing fell off of her head. And her ahoge promptly jumped up now that there was nothing holding it down. "Really? Oh, no, you don't have to do that. I can pay for myself, Gumi-nee." She smiled up at the girl who was only slightly taller than her.
The green haired girl shrugged. "If you say so…" Gumi muttered as she moved her hands away from the back of her head. She watched as her companion placed her order.
"Let's see…" Miki tapped her pointer finger against her lips. "I'd like a strawberry Danish, a chocolate éclair, an apple strudel, a red velvet cupcake, a blueberry tart, a chocolate croissant and a slice of that vanilla cake, please. Oh! And a medium herbal tea, please." She smiled up at the awestruck barista, her ahoge bouncing as she rocked from her heels to the balls of her feet in anticipation of trying all of the sweets.
The overwhelmed barista looked at Gumi helplessly. There was no way a single person could digest all of that sugar without puking up rainbows and unicorns.
Gumi grinned at the sight of the stunned barista and shrugged her shoulders. "I'll have a medium coffee, please, with milk. No sugar."
At this, the barista nearly facepalmed, but kept herself composed. "Right away…" She opened up the case and pulled out each pastry in order. Normally, she would put it on a single plate, but the staggering amount of sweets that had been ordered needed to be put away into one of their take-home boxes. Once all of the sweets were put away, she went ahead and put their drinks into the cups and put a lid on both. "Separate bills, I'm assuming. Well, Furukawa-san's bill comes to—"
"Nah, put them together. I got it," Gumi was quick to pull out her credit card and hand it over to the barista. "Thank you."
Miki's eyes widened when she saw the barista swipe the card. She looked at Gumi and pouted. "I said it was fine, I could pay for my own things. I ordered a lot—…" She was interrupted by a wink and a smirk from the older girl. She instantly shut her mouth, and looked away with flushed cheeks.
Darn that Megpoid Gumi for being so cool without even trying.
"Ah, can—Can I have an autograph, Megpoid-san?" The barista asked timidly.
"... Yeah, sure," Gumi laughed, and quickly scribbled a note onto a napkin, signed it, and handed it to the barista. "Thanks for the pastries." After slipping her card into her pocket, Gumi grabbed the handle of the white cardboard box and her cup of coffee. "C'mon, Miki-chan. Let's find somewhere to sit." She looked around and found a table towards the back of the café. Perfect; it was away from the windows and they wouldn't have to worry about being pounced on by the nosey paparazzi or insane fans. Smiling to herself, she headed towards the table. "Don't forget your hat. It fell on the floor."
The redhead's cheeks darkened at the reminder, and she hastily scooped her hat up from the floor before following after Gumi. It seemed that their whole time together was one embarrassing moment after another. She was surprised that Gumi hadn't laughed at her or called her an idiot by now. Miki slid into the seat of the booth, and sighed.
Gumi slid in across from her, and set the box down at the center of the table. She took a sip of her coffee before she slid the box towards Miki. "Here ya go," she said, as she leaned back into her seat.
Miki wanted nothing more than to rip the box open and shove all of the pastries into her mouth at once. But then she realized that she was too tiny to achieve such a feat. And then she realized that she would probably look barbaric and embarrass herself even more not only in front of Gumi, but the whole café as well. "Arigatou gozaimasu," she thanked the older girl. "Thank you for buying me all of this. Even though you didn't have to," she added, despite the fact that she was already opening the top of the box. Her red eyes widened at the sight of all of the delicious pastries that were screaming to be eaten.
"Can't you just say 'thanks' and leave it at that?" Gumi asked, her lips curved back into a smirk. She watched as Miki pulled out the small, palm-sized blueberry tart from the box. "Besides, I know you'd rather be eating right now than talking to me." There was a teasing edge to her tone.
Miki had her mouth open and was about to take a bite when she registered what Gumi had just said. "Ah-.. Th-that's not true!" She stammered, flustered once more. Why was she getting flustered so easily today? Oh, that's right. She was alone with Gumi. "I do want to talk to you!"
"But that tart is just looks so appetizing, huh?"
"Yes! I mean—No! No!"
Gumi laughed, and shook her head at the other girl. She leaned forward, put her elbow on the table, and propped her head up in her palm. "It's fine, Miki-chan. Go ahead and eat. It doesn't bother me." She took another sip of her milked coffee and gave the redhead another smirk.
Cheeks heated, Miki took a bite out of the tart. At this rate her face would permanently be red. She held out the tart to Gumi. "It's—It's really good, Gumi-nee," she said, with a small, timid smile on her face. "Try it."
Emerald eyes stared at the blueberry pastry held before her. "Eh? I dunno.. I'm not big on sweets," she said passively as she bit down on the black plastic lid on the top of her coffee cup. When she noticed the adorable pout that accompanied Miki's deflated look, Gumi reconsidered the offer. "But, ya know, if it's really that great…"
Miki's eyes lit up and she leaned forward eagerly, bringing the half-eaten tart closer to the short haired girl's face.
Gumi lifted her head from her palm and leaned forward. She took a tiny bite out from the tart and glanced back at Miki.
"That doesn't count as a bite. Taking a bite that tiny is probably illegal in some countries," Miki scoffed as she pressed the tart at Gumi once more.
"Wha—That's definitely a bite-.." The tart was now only a few centimeters away from her eyes. Just looking at the tart was forcing her emerald eyes to go cross-eyed. "Geez, okay, okay. Calm yourself." This time, Gumi practically inhaled the remnants of the tart. She cupped her cheek in her palm once more while she chewed the blueberry pastry. "Ah…" Her face revealed to Miki how surprised she was to find that the tart actually was good.
Miki gave Gumi a triumphant grin. "I told you."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Gumi shrugged a shoulder and grinned back at Miki. "It's good."
The redhead squealed in delight, and her ahoge bounced to and fro as the petite girl began to pull out the rest of the pastries from the box. "I'm happy that you like it! That means you can help me finish all of these!"
Gumi's face went blank as she stared at the massive amount of sweets that were now spread out across the table. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face as she mentally calculated the amounts of sugar that could possibly be contained within these cutesy baked goods. "Uh…. You're not serious, are you?"
"Very serious."
"Great…"
Miki giggled and took out one of the plastic forks that had been graciously placed into the box. She used it to get a forkful of vanilla cake. "You won't notice that you're eating if you talk," she said, as she put the piece of cake into her mouth.
"Talk about what?"
"Anything! Here, I'll get us started!" Miki smiled and clapped her hands together. "One time I had boyfriend in middle school. He was kind of a buttmuffin—"
Gumi snorted at this label. 'Buttmuffin'? It sounded like something a kid would say.
"But he was okay, I guess. I mean… He was good looking." Miki nodded her head as she recalled the boy's face. "He was just sort of… A jerk." At this, the normally good natured redhead scowled. "All he ever wanted to do was try and kiss me. And if I didn't want to, he would get angry and tell me I was trying to play 'hard-to-get' even though we were already in a relationship."
The green haired girl raised a brow at this. She had never expected Miki to get involved with a bad guy. She had at least figured that Miki would hold guys to a high standard. But apparently that assumption was shot. Gumi watched Miki carefully as she took a piece off of the strawberry Danish.
"Either way, I broke up with him and he became a psychotic stalker," the redhead gave her a thumbs up as she bit into another forkful of cake.
Gumi nearly choked on the Danish. "What?"
Miki nodded passively, and broke off a piece of the Danish for her to try. "Yeah. But in the end the school had him removed from campus and he had to transfer to a new middle school. It didn't really matter, though, since I ended up moving here a year later," she added as she popped the pastry into her mouth.
Gumi stared at Miki, wondering how the other girl could mention such a tale with such an indifferent tone. "Uh… Well…. I'm glad you were able to escape him?"
"I am, too," Miki laughed. "So, what about you? How'd your last relationship go?" She knew she was making a dangerous gamble, and things were sure to turn sour… But she couldn't figure out any other way to get Gumi to at least open up a little bit about the past. She knew it was an awful thing to remain trapped in the past, and that keeping things locked in the heart would provide temporary relief but would definitely hurt in the long run.
The color drained from Gumi's face, and the mood in the booth instantly became tense. She sat back in her seat, her arms now folded defensively across her chest. "No. We're not going there, Miki-chan," she said icily. "Not today." It amazed her that she didn't see this coming. There were warning flags all over that story that even screamed at her "HEY. CAREFUL, THERE'S DANGEROUS SHIT AHEAD!"
The redhead sighed and set her fork down on a napkin. She gave the other girl a pleading look, her red eyes wide as she begged Gumi to open up just a little bit. "Please, Gumi-nee. I know you're hurting, and it isn't good to—"
"No means no, got it?" Gumi snapped back, her emerald eyes narrowing. "I get that you're just trying to help but this is none of your business."
Miki bit down on her bottom lip. She was afraid that things would go bad, but she wasn't expecting such an acidic reaction from Gumi. "I—Gumi-nee, it isn't good to keep these things bottled up," she dared to go on. It was a risk, but a necessary one. "You just need to talk to someone. You don't need to tell me everything that happened," she added hesitantly. "But just tell me how you're feeling or what's going on in your head… I don't want you to suffer alone—"
"No." Gumi stood up and frowned down at the startled girl. "No. I'm not doing that. Don't worry about me, because I can handle myself." She picked up her cup of coffee. "Enjoy the rest of your sweets. I'm leaving," she huffed as she strode towards the exit of the café. The short haired girl paused, and turned on her heels. She came back to the table and picked up the napkin that held the half-eaten strawberry Danish. "And I'm taking this.. Because… It's really good. GOOD DAY TO YOU, SIR!" With that, she turned back around and promptly exited the café.
The short haired girl strode out onto the side-walk, and furiously devoured the rest of the strawberry Danish. She felt like an idiot for falling for such an obvious ploy. Of course a conversation goes two ways; one starts and the others add in their own experience or opinion… The set up was so simple and Gumi had been so blind. She chomped down on the pastry and swallowed the bit that was in her mouth. "Damn it.. Damn it… I don't want to talk about that at all," she thought to herself as she tore through the afternoon crowd. "I'm fine. I don't need anyone's help. I've been able to deal with all of this on my own since Miku and I first broke up, anyway. If I can survive for this long, I'm damned sure I don't need Miki telling me that I need to talk to her."
The other pedestrian began to steer clear of the glowering green haired idol. It was as if a black aura of dark feelings had enveloped the girl completely, and the average passerby was able to feel the amount of irritation, confusion, and fear that Gumi was feeling herself.
Still fuming, Gumi allowed her feet to lead her to her favorite retreat. There was a park nearby the gated community that their mansion resided in. Although the park was a bit out of the way, Gumi didn't care. The park was her safe haven, away from the other Vocaloids and the prying eyes of nosey fans. She knew she would not be disturbed if she went to the park, for the only others to frequent the area were children who had no idea who she was. In a matter of minutes, she arrived at the park. Out of force of habit, she went up the playground, and headed straight for the completely enclosed slide. She swung her legs into the slide as if she were about to go down, but remained seated, somewhat uncomfortably since her back was hunched over.
"Stupid Miki… Stupid Miku… Damn it all!" Gumi roared as she threw her arms up into the air and laid back. Still an awkward position, but she didn't care. She blinked her emerald eyes in sudden confusion. Instead of looking up at the dimming sky like she had been expecting, she was now looking up a skirt. More specifically, at a pair of black and white polka dotted panties.
Oh shit.
"G-Gumi-nee!" Miki stuttered, as she frantically pressed her skirt closed in an attempt to conceal her panties.
"HOLY SHIT! I WASN'T TRYING TO—OOF!" Gumi had sat up too quickly and slammed her head against the red plastic at the top of the enclosed slide. And her head then came crashing down onto the hard plastic "floor" of the playset. The last thing she saw was Miki's panicked face circled by dark spots. "Damn it all.." She repeated once more before her vision darkened.
Gakupo and Lily had finally managed to escape the ice cream parlor. After being there for hours, the pair strode down the side walk. Gakupo's normally neat ponytail was a mess, and his long purple hair had knots within itself. Likewise, Lily had not escaped the rabid fans unscathed. A slight bruise was forming on her left wrist, thanks to a fan that had unceremoniously slammed her wrist against the booth's seat while trying to get her to sign a napkin.
"I hate you right now, Lily-san."
"I hate you, too, eggplant.
The two glared at one another.
"If you didn't have to go around shouting 'I'M MASUDA LILY'…"
"Idiot! Shut up! Someone might hear you—"
"MASUDA LILY? WHERE!" Someone shouted from the other side of the road.
Lily twitched. She turned around and gripped onto the collar of Gakupo's shirt. Furious, she began to shake the samurai back and forth. "YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!"
"OH MY KAMI-SAMA! THAT'S GAKUPO-SAMA WITH HER, TOO!"
"I WANT THEIR AUTOGRAPHS!"
Gakupo groaned, and braced himself for another few hours trapped by fans.
Lily continued to shake him, not caring that fans were tugging at her leather jacket in the hopes of getting her attention.
"DIE, EGGPLANT, DIE!"
Miku stood outside of the bedroom door, her teal eyes absently staring at the white wood whie her mind raced. Should she be doing this? After all of the progress that had suddenly been made? She clenched her teeth together and sighed.
Probably not.
But maybe it would be for the best.
She knocked on the door once, and waited for it's occupant to answer. When the door swung open, she smiled up at the pinkette. "Good afternoon, Luka-senpai."
"Ah, Miku-chan!" Luka smiled back at the teal haired girl. "Hello. Come in! Is there anything I can do for you-"
"Actually, it's fine if we just stand here," Miku interrupted. Her teal eyes broke the eye contact with the light blue ones as she struggled to find the right words to say.
Confused, the taller girl nodded slowly. "Uhm, alright..." She stared at Miku, noting that the secretive mask that the girl had normally hid behind was not present. It came as something of a relief to her; to see that the younger girl was indeed beginning to open up to her. Although she knew that the process could be a long one, Luka was determined to find a way to help alleviate some of the stress that iku was feeling. They did not need to be best friends, and being confidents at the moment was fine. "Is everything alright?"
Miku shook her head no. She took a deep breath and looked back into Luka's eyes. "No, it's not, Luka-senpai," she answered seriously. "I... Something happened today, and it made me think."
"Oh? Do you want to talk about it?" Luka asked, as she leaned against the doorframe.
"Not really... I mean, maybe, but not right now," the tealette said quickly. "I just think that maybe we shouldn't talk to each other like this... Like how you wanted to and how I wanted to."
This caught the pink haired idol off guard. "What?"
"It's just- After what happened, I don't want anyone to get hurt," Miku answered, with a slight frown on herself. "People were angry and I didn't like it. Normally, I wouldn't mind if Gumi got upset, since I do like to tease her and she teases me, but... It was different. It was a different kind of angry, and things could have happened that they wouldn't have been able to apologize for." She knew her explanation would make no sense to Luka without telling the older girl what had taken place that afternoon, but she did not want the pinkette to think poorly of Lily or Gumi.
At this, Luka frowned a bit herself. Her eyes shone with worry, and she stood straight once more. "Miku-chan," she said slowly, drawing out each syllable to make it clear that she was concerned for the younger girl. "What exactly happened today?"
"N-nothing... Just... Maybe I'll tell you later," Miku mumbled, as she took a step back from Luka. "Ah, well..." She hesitated, and bit her bottom lip. "Let's just say that maybe our whole love situation is a lot worse than either of us realized." She turned on her heels and sped off down the hallway, unwilling to say anymore than that.
"W-Wait! Miku-chan!" Luka called after her. She sighed, and shook her head.
What could that possibly mean? Things were worse than they had thought?
A groan escaped her lips as she finally began to get a grip on consciousness. Gumi brought a hand up to her forehead and she rubbed the tender spot gingerly. "Ow… Damn, that hurt," she muttered.
"I'm sure it did."
…
Who in the world…?
Gumi's eyes fluttered openand she was surprised to be looking up at Miki's smiling face, which was framed by a few strands of her red hair. "Uh…" Clearly disoriented, Gumi looked around.
Oh. She was using Miki's lap as a pillow and she was laying down on the "floor" of the playset. Nice.
Wait. What?
Realization and the memory of those black and white panties took hold of Gumi and her face became red. "Ah—Shit—I'm sorry!" She sat up quickly, but was shoved back down by Miki. Confused, Gumi looked up at the redhead. A stern look was on the younger girl's face.
"You shouldn't try to move around a lot, Gumi-nee. You hit your head pretty head…" Miki paused. "Twice."
Oh. So that was why the back of her head was throbbing, too.
"I didn't mean to startle you when you were sitting on the slide," Miki added, with an apologetic smile. "But… I didn't want you to run off on your own like that. I wanted to apologize for trying to pry into your personal life." She shook her head but continued to smile. "You were right to be angry with me. I shouldn't have pushed things like that."
Gumi stared up Miki, surprised to hear the other girl apologize for her actions. She wasn't surprised by the act of apology itself, but rather by the amount of sincerity that was in Miki's voice. It was sincerity that could be heard back at the café when she spoke of how worried she was about Gumi, and sincerity that could be heard now that she was apologizing. And Gumi had no idea how to handle it. "Ah—Well.. Uh…" She shrugged one shoulder, and turned her head to look at the railing of the playset instead of staring back at those ruby eyes. "It's whatever… It's fine."
They sat in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say next. Time passed by, and they were soon sitting in the dark, save for the few beams of light that managed to reach them from the lamp post on the sidewalk a little away from them. The air began to cool off, and it was soon becoming quite cold. Miki shivered, and Gumi knew it was time to go. The shorthaired girl got up, and held a hand down to Miki. "C'mon. We should head home. It's getting cold," she said.
Miki nodded in agreement, and grasped onto Gumi's hand. She stood up, and glanced down at their hands. Instead of releasing Gumi's hand, she smiled, and pulled the other girl towards the slide. With a giggle, she jumped into the slide, released Gumi's hand, and slid down and away from the gaping greenhaired girl.
"Wha—Miki-chan!" Gumi shouted into the tube slide. "Wait up!" She hopped down the slide, her hand holding her goggles down to the top of her head. When she reached the bottom, she looked around. Miki was nowhere in sight. "Eh..?"
"BOO!" The red head popped her face up in front of Gumi's. But… It was upside down. Miki smiled at the startled girl who had scrambled back up the slide.
"HOLY SHI—Geez, Miki-chan!" Gumi slid back down and gave the other girl a scowl. She failed to realize how close together their faces were.
Miki giggled, and gave Gumi an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it! It was too good of an opportunity to pass up," she explained, with slightly flushed cheeks. "But, uhm…"
"What?"
The red on Miki's face deepened in color. She bit down on her bottom lip, and her red eyes glanced around.
"…What is it, Miki-chan?"
Miki gulped, and looked back into the waiting emerald eyes. The smile on her face was a nervous one. "Hold still?"
"… What-!"
The ahoge'd girl pressed her lips gently against Gumi's, eyes closed. Gumi hesitantly shut her eyes as well, deciding that it would be alright to enjoy this moment. When Miki pulled away, Gumi opened one eye, and gently took a hold of her ahoge. "Where do you think you're going?"
"…B-Back to the mansion?" Miki stammered in confusion, her red eyes widening a little bit.
Gumi shook her head and closed the gap between the two, sealing the deal with another kiss. She smirked a little when she felt the redhead stiffen and then relax. "There. Now we can go," Gumi said, as she ducked under Miki's head and got off of the slide. She was quick to turn her back to Miki in an attempt to her flushed cheeks. Without waiting for the other girl, she began to walk towards the general direction of the mansion.
Miki, on the other hand, was in a state of shock. Her face was scarlet, and her eyes were wide as they vacantly stared at the spot where Gumi had once been sitting. When she realized that Gumi had left her on the slide, she quickly climbed down and chased after the green haired girl. As soon as she was close enough, Miki latched herself onto Gumi's arm and buried her face into the gray sleeve of Gumi's sweater.
The older girl glanced down at Miki, but made no attempt to pull her arm away. She simply continued to walk onwards. And the pair walked in silence for a short span before Gumi broke the silence.
"You know.. About what you were asking me before," she began almost hesitantly.
Red eyes looked up at her expectantly. Patiently.
"Ah, well… You're right," Gumi admitted, as she turned her head away from Miki. The greenatte hated admitting when she was wrong. And she hated admitting the fact that she did have weak moments. "But… I'm glad that I have you to talk to. If I can't talk to Miku about things, I'm glad that I know that I can go to you. So… Just be a little patient with me, okay?" She felt her cheeks heat up as she continued to speak. "I'm gonna try and fight you, 'cause I won't want to talk. But I need to."
Miki smiled a little bit, and pressed her tiny body against Gumi's arm. "Okay…"
Gumi nodded once and continued to speak. "And with me and Miku…" She frowned a little bit. "Things are complicated, I guess. She doesn't want to do anything to hurt me, and I don't want to see her get hurt by Luka, or Lily." She paused, tensing at the thought of what had occurred earlier that day. It was best if Miki didn't know about it for now. Miku would tell the redhead eventually. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not over Miku. I'm not even sure how I feel about her, too," Gumi added. "It's confusing. It's like I told you that one time. Sometimes I miss being in a relationship with her, other times I hate her for leaving me without a real reason, and then again I'm just happy to know that we're still best friends."
The redhead nodded, understanding the complexity of the situation. It was clear that talking about this was going to be hard for Gumi; especially since the older girl's voice was becoming strained. "It's okay.. You don't need to keep talking about this right now," Miki said, as she laced her fingers with Gumi's. "I can wait until your're ready to talk about all of it." Smiling, she gave the other girl's hand an affectionate squeeze.
Gumi blushed at this. "R-Right…" She exhaled, and shook her head quickly. "Uh… But since we're being all open and stuff right now.. Can I say something?"
"Of course!"
"… I don't think those panties suit you."
Miki slapped Gumi across the face. "… Ack! I'm sorry, Gumi-nee! I didn't mean to—I don't know what came over me—I'm sorry!" She groaned as she flung her arms around Gumi.
Gumi brought one hand up to her now stinging cheek slowly. "Ow…"
That was the first time she had ever been slapped.
Boy, oh, boy. Miki sure was a surprising kid.
Note: And that's the end of the chapter! Honestly, I wasn't planning on having this chapter focus so much on Gumi and Miki. xD; I mean.. Yes, they were going to be playing big roles in this chapter. But… It turned out to be a bigger role than I had expected. Which is fine. I don't mind rearranging a few things to make the story work. :P
Also. I am feeling better! Thanks for all of the "get well" wishes, guys! Much appreciated! :D
Now let's see… I hope I reply to everyone!
Reviewer Replies!:
Thyrokio: Yeah, I've been picking on him a lot recently. xD; I decided to give him a break this chapter and pick on Gumi and Miki instead. Glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter, though! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
PaperCutVictim: You and I… Between the two of us, poor Len'll end up dead in an alley somewhere! XDDD I still think you should write a one-shot involving the twins, though. Knowing you, it'd be a hilarious read. I'm really glad to hear that my writing style for the last chapter worked out well, though! I was scared it would confuse some people since it kept jumping from one situation to another, and back again. X_x;; But it worked out, apparently. :D Even though we've got a PM going on… Thanks for reading and reviewing!
LukaFan: Out of curiosity, what're your dreams about? o3o I'm happy to hear you're okay with how the chapter went. xD; Honestly, I was afraid of getting some backlash about the way the chapter proceeded. And yes. It is a little shallow-minded of her, but it's whatever. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, right? Haha
Altair SV: Ahem… ASSASSIN'S CREED FTW! Okay. Now that's out of the way… I think this is the first time you've reviewed my story! ;w; Thank you for the review! Ahahah It's good to hear that I was able to surprise you, though! That's what I was going for with this chapter. (: Your review was really nice to read. Has anyone told you that you're an extremely nice person and great at complimenting someone? If they haven't, let me be the first to say so! :D Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Jak656: Ah man. XD; As much as I love knowing that this was your favorite chapter, it makes me wonder how I'll be able to top it! I'm happy that you do enjoy the story, though! :D Thanks for everything! (And alright. I'll be looking forward to the day you get the chance to use it. Haha! :D Good luck!)
IdrewAcow: Thanks, man! I really appreciate the fact that you've been reading since I first started writing. It's nice. ;w; I appreciate it a lot. (Also. I went to your profile page for the first time, and realized that you really did draw a cow…. Needless to say, I laughed.)
Masaru2509: Len caught a break in this chapter! (Which is good for him. Hahah). Ah, I'm glad to hear that I've been doing an alright job at developing Miku. ^^; Thanks for reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it!
Major Mike Powell III: It took me a week to update this story…. Sorry, sir! (Also. I'm glad you liked the chapter LOL)
NyanNyanL: Ah, did you really read it in 2 days? I'm impressed.. XD I once went back to read through SoL myself, and had to stop after an hour. I didn't realize how long my chapters were! XD;; I'm glad you like the story, though.
Ah.. I hope that I can make Miku more realistic to you in the future chapters! I'll do my best to work on that. Thank you for reading and reviewing! Can't wait to hear more from you! (:
(Also, your English is fine! Don't worry about it! :D )
Chinesis' Fan: I guess everyone enjoys seeing Len get picked on by Rin. XDD! Yes, Luka did become a stronger person in this chapter. :D Thank you for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it!
Meislovely: Don't even worry about not commenting last time! It's fine. :D I gotta admit, I do grin every time I read the reviews you leave me. They're always entertaining! XDD Thanks again, guys!
ALRIGHT. I think that's everyone!
But first, I'd like to thank everyone that's been reading SoL. You guys are great! ;w; I love all of you, and appreciate the support! And to all of the reviewers… I wish I could give you all a big hug. So I'll settle with a virtual air hug at the moment.
Thanks for all of the support everyone! I'll see you all in the next chapter of SoL!
(Or, if you're reading Matryoshka!, too, I'll see you there! :D)
Take care everyone!