Slice of Life
Chapter 20 – Our 16-Bit Wars
And here comes another chapter of SoL! Man. 20 Chapters… It's just amazing to think about. XD; To be honest, this story was supposed to be roughly 12 chapters, but my mind ended up coming up with more and more ideas until it became this. I'm glad to see that a lot of you have stuck around with it, and you all put up with me updating at all sorts of crazy hours (I think I updated the story at 3 AM in my time at one point).
This time around I was able to update faster because I had less work for my university classes this week! XP so there was certainly more free time to write out this chapter and get it to where I wanted it to be!
I finished this chapter a few hours ago, and was planning on waiting until this weekend to release it, but I decided I wanted to share the chapter with all of you ASAP! XP Maybe because I had quite a time writing this chapter...
Going on a tangent here, I can officially say that while writing this story, Gumi has become my favorite character (thus explaining why the title for this chapter is taken from one of her own songs, and it's quite fitting). And out of my own curiosity, who is your favorite SoL character at this point?
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Disclaimer: Keshite, watashi wa "Vocaloids" o yuusanai. I will never own Vocaloids. u_u
It was quiet.
Too quiet.
The silence in this room was unnerving, and she was having a hard time adjusting herself to such a quiet environment. Hesitantly, she took a step forward. The sound of her black and white Authentic Lo Pro Van's skate shoes echoed across the room. Just this tap made her head spin. When she was alone in her own room, she would tend to have music playing in the background. And now that the room was silent, she became hyperaware of just how lonely she was. Frowning to herself, her deep blue eyes looked around the bland, white room. It was completely bare, void of any furnishings. What was the point of having such a large room if you were going to leave it empty?
Lily looked the room over once more, her eyes stopping on the white door that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. She could have sworn that it wasn't there the last time she allowed her eyes to wander the empty room. So where had this door come from? With another glance around the room, she concluded that she would have to use the door as her only means of escape, whether she wanted to or not.
What a hassle.
She crossed the room and put a hand onto the silver doorknob. It was ice cold, but she wanted to leave this room. She needed to escape the silence, and escape the blindingly pure white of the room. Without a second thought, she twisted the doorknob open, and stepped out into an equally white hallway. Her left eye lid twitched at the sight of more white. White, white, white.
It seemed like the only other source of color was her outfit, which was composed of black skinny jeans, a black, fitted leather jacket, and a light gray tank top.
What dull colors…
Lily shook her head and began to walk down the hallway. Thanks to the white walls, white floor, and white ceiling, she felt like her depth perception was off. The hallway was seemingly endless, but Lily knew that couldn't be possible.
All things come to an end, for nothing can go on forever.
As she walked, Lily became aware that someone was watching her. She halted, and looked around. To her surprise, portraits now lined the once empty walls of the hallway. And the portraits of the people depicted on the canvas stared at her, almost condescendingly. The blonde twitched when she realized that every portrait in the hallway were of people that she knew.
The other residents of the Vocaloid mansion.
Lily tore her gaze away from the portrait of a smirking Kaito, and began to walk once more. But that feeling of being watched… It continued to bother her. Mentally reprimanding herself, Lily glanced to her left and saw a portrait of Megurine Luka. The pink haired girl was depicted with a warm, inviting smile on her face. The sight made Lily smile herself.
But…
The next portrait, and the portrait after that… They were all of Luka, but with each new portrait came a slight change. The smile on Luka's face became smaller and smaller, and eventually became a frown of disappointment and shame. The last portrait of Luka, or so Lily assumed that it was of Luka, showed the back of the pink haired diva. Luka's head was turned slightly to the side, and her deep blue eye stared at Lily as if she was disappointed at the blonde.
Confused, Lily continued to go down the hallway, wondering what the other portraits looked like.
The next portrait she came across was that of her teal haired rival. Miku's teal eyes had a guarded expression to them, but a smile was on her face. No, that wasn't right.
It was a fake smile.
The pokerface that Miku had worn for such a long time had returned, albeit on a portrait version of the twin-tailed girl.
A shiver went down Lily's spine the longer she stared at that empty, meaningless smile. She forced herself to move on to the next portrait.
Her stomach twisted itself into knots and her chest tightened at the image depicted before her. The angelic face of the sixteen year-old redhead was marred with tears. Miki, or rather, portrait Miki, was curled up in a ball, seated in what seemed to be a corner of a room. It was clear that she was crying, for the artist had made her tears almost sparkle. Her long, red hair was messy, and the crying girl was rubbing at her eyes in a desperate attempt to fight away the tears. The sleeves of navy and white striped cardigan that Miki wore were damp, probably from her tears.
Lily looked away from the portrait, her hands clenched into fists. Miki wasn't one to cry… Crying didn't suit her. She glanced back at the sad portrait, and felt her chest tighten once more. She needed to walk away from this picture. And walk away she did.
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her head when the final portrait in the hallway was that of Sakine Meiko. The brunette had one hand on her hip, and the other arm outstretched with a thumbs up. Meiko was winking, and a cheeky grin was on her face. But it was easy for Lily to interpret the meaning of this portrait.
Good job.
And that single thumbs up made Lily realize the meaning behind the previous portraits. They were all connected. Miki was crying because of her joint plan with Meiko. Miku's creepy-ass smile was back because she was trying to hide her pain. Luka's back was to her because she was ashamed of her best friend…
Lily wanted to destroy that painting of Meiko. A frown was on her face as she reached up to tear the picture and it's frame from the wall.
"Ah, Lily, I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The sound of the voice sounded like an explosion to Lily. She had grown accustomed to the silence, and it was shocking to hear someone speak. The blonde turned her deep blue eyes at the source of the sound, and they widened in confusion.
There, in the center of the hallway, stood Nekomura Iroha. A coy grin was on her face as she stared at Lily with those smoldering golden eyes. And under that gaze, Lily felt herself tense up. How could Iroha have arrived in the hallway without her noticing? After all, it had been silent… Wouldn't she have heard the catlike girl's footsteps?
"Nya~ I wouldn't worry about minor details like that," Iroha laughed. "How I got here isn't very important, Lily."
"Wha—How did you—Cats can't read minds, damn it!"
Another bout of giggles was earned, and Iroha shook her head. "Nya, no, we can't but the look on your face said it all," she answered. "That's not what I'm here to talk to you about."
Lily rubbed at her temples, and closed her eyes. What the fuck was going on here? "Okay… Then what do you want to talk about?" she asked. "The pictures? 'Cause they're starting to freak me out a little. The one of Meiko's pissing me off, but, yeah…"
Iroha shook her head once more. "No, not the pictures. Although," she paused thoughtfully. "I guess they are kinda related to what I want to talk to you about." She shrugged her shoulders.
"What?... What do you want to talk about?" The blonde opened her eyes and stared back at the younger girl.
"Nya, I think you already know the answer to that," the ponytailed girl replied. "I mean, you are the reason that they—" she gestured towards the portraits. "Look the way that they do. Your plan with Meiko-san caused all of that, you know."
Lily stiffened.
"But, you know… I tried to warn you," Iroha continued, with an exaggerated sigh. "I told you it was a bad idea to toy with people's emotions back when you first called me. And earlier, too. I told you so. Toying with emotions can only lead to pain and destruction. It's quite awful, I think."
"Yeah, well—"
"Well, it's time for you to face the music."
"What?"
Iroha continued to grin at the puzzled blonde. And to Lily's amazement (or was it horror?), the catlike girl began to slowly vanish into thin air. "Best of luck to you, Lily." The last thing to vanish was that damned grin of Iroha's.
Oh, the Cheshire Cat himself would be proud of this girl…
Once the cat-girl disappeared, Lily began to walk down the hallway once more. To her surprise, another person had entered this odd building. Standing at the end of the hall was a black clad figure. The robe that they wore was wrapped tightly around their shoulders, and the hood was pulled up, concealing the stranger. The closer Lily drew to this person, the more anxious she began to feel. Just who exactly was this person? And how was it that this stranger and Iroha were able to enter the building, while she was struggling to leave?
"Er—Excuse me," Lily said, as she came to a halt. There was more than enough distance between the two, for the blonde was careful to keep some space in case she needed to turn around and run.
The figure kept their hood up, their face hidden beneath the black shadow that it cast. They nodded in acknowledgement.
"Can you tell me what's going on here?" Lily asked, as her blue eyes warily watched the cloaked person. "Where are we? How'd I get here? And who are you?"
"We're in the inbetween," the figure answered softly. Ominously.
That voice sounded familiar. But Lily couldn't recall where she had heard it before.
Someone she knew? Or someone she had passed on the street? Who…?
"You're here because it was decided you would be here."
That voice… No, it was someone she knew.
"I'm the Reaper." The figure threw back the cloak, and revealed a fitted black pin-stripe suit. Everything about the suit hugged the figure's body quite nicely, and the blood red tie that completed the ensemble was neatly tucked behind the jacket of said suit. The once cloaked figure gazed at the startled blonde with brilliant emerald eyes. "Are you ready?"
"Wha—Gumi?" Lily stepped back, her head spinning.
Gumi gave Lily a half-smile, one side of her mouth curling up. It was a mocking smile, and her emerald eyes glared at Lily condescendingly. With a flick of her wrist, she pushed her bangs aside, and reached into the inside pocket of her suit. A silver hand-gun was pulled out from, and the green haired girl cocked the gun. Her emerald eyes narrowed into slits, and her lips curved back to reveal brilliant white teeth. "Sayo-fucking-nara. And good riddance."
The gun was pointed at Lily's forehead, and the reaper took aim at her target. There was a bright flash of white and Lily squeezed her eyes shut. "NOO—"
"—OOOO!" Lily sat up, her free hand clutching the bed sheets. Her chest was heaving as she gasped for air, and her blue eyes looked around the dark room erratically. It took her a moment to realize that she was in her bedroom, away from the green eyed shooter in her dreams. She took a deep breath, and gripped at her shirt, just above her heart. "What the hell…"
She was surprised to see that she had woken up in a cold sweat, for she shivered once she pushed the blankets off of her. Lily looked beside her, and was mildly surprised to see that Iroha had remained in her room, their fingers still laced together. It would appear that their catnaps had lasted longer than either had anticipated. A quick glance at the digital clock told Lily that it was 11:30 PM. What time had they fallen asleep?
Lily wasn't sure.
The girl slipped her hand out of Iroha's grip, and got up from the bed. With a yawn, she threw her arms up over her head, earning a few satisfying pops from her back. Lily shook her head and walked out of her bedroom. "What kind of messed up dream was that?" she mumbled to herself, as she quietly shut the door behind her. After a wild dream like that, she was sure that she needed a drink or two. It wasn't often that she dreamt, but apparently when she did dream, they were insane.
Lily ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and shook her head. She paused when she saw her best friend walk out of her own bedroom. "Ah—Lu-chan!" She grinned and quickly ran over to join the pinkette.
Luka glanced at Lily, and smiled slightly. "Good evening, Lily-chan," she replied. "You weren't at dinner."
"Ah, yeah…" The blonde laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "I took a nap, and ended up sleeping for a few hours. But, geez, I had the craziest dream!" She walked beside Luka, who was heading towards the hall closet. Lily raised a brow, silently wondering why Luka would need another futon when she already had a king sized bed. "It was insane, Lu-chan! You don't even know how weird it was!"
"A dream?" Luka repeated, as she opened the closet door. "That's weird. You don't usually dream. What happened?" She paused, and looked back at Lily, giving the other girl her undivided attention.
The blonde took a deep breath before diving headfirst into her story. She recounted to Lily the blandness of the all-white room, and how it had been completely sealed shut until that mysterious door appeared. "I should've figured something crazy was gonna happen once that door popped up," she added, with a shake of her head. Lily continued on with the story, giving a detailed description of each and every portrait she saw; from the smiling, friendly Luka to the gleeful, almost triumphant Meiko. The hardest part of describing the portraits had been recalling the image of the sobbing Miki. At this, Lily noticed Luka's curious expression had become filled with sorrow. She supposed it was because Luka couldn't stand the thought of someone they knew being in distraught. Pressing on with the story of her dream, Lily mentioned how ominous Iroha had been.
"And that cat even said something like 'It's time to face the music.'"
"That's kind of witty," Luka mused. "Since we're all Vocaloids, after all. Foreshadowing, maybe? With a comedic spin…"
Lily snorted. "Yeah, well… After that, I saw Gumi there. She was in a suit lookin' pretty cool, I guess," she shrugged. "But she pulled a gun out and BANG!" At this point, Lily's hands were held up to form "guns" to emphasize her point. "She shot me, and I woke up. Crazy, right?"
Luka stared at Lily, and slowly nodded her head. "Y-yeah.. That is a pretty, uhm, intense dream," she agreed. "I had a dream earlier, too, when I took my nap."
"Yeah?" Lily grinned, wondering what her best friend dreamt of this time. "Was it another dream about snowmen becoming alive and taking over the world?"
"N-no!" Luka's cheeks flushed as she scowled at the blonde. "It wasn't anything like that. It was just ridiculous, because I know it could never happen."
"Yeah, yeah? Wanna tell me about it?"
"Mm…" Luka propped one elbow up on the palm of her hand, and tapped her cheek thoughtfully. "Where to begin… Ah, well, from what I can remember, I was in the library with Miku-chan."
The story just began, but Lily was already dissatisfied with it.
"Miku-chan and I were sitting on the couch talking. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, since we were just talking about our troubles," Luka continued, oblivious to the slight frown that had made its way onto Lily's face. "She talked about how worried she was about Gumi-chan and Miki-chan, and how they weren't on speaking terms." She paused, and shook her head. "I think I really only dreamed about this since I'm worried about the three of them myself."
Lily could believe that. Luka was the type to worry about others, after all.
"Ah, anyway… Our conversation was interrupted by both Gumi-chan and Miki-chan storming into the library—"
"Miki-chan stormed into the library?"
"…Gumi-chan stormed into the library, and Miki-chan was dragged along," Luka amended with a slight smile on her face. "Gumi-chan was yelling at me, and Miki-chan was trying to make her stop… Mm, let's see… Ah! The unbelievable part that I mentioned before," she paused and made eye contact with Lily. "Miku-chan told me that you were the type to fight dirty. I didn't think that was true, but she was saying all sorts of things in my dream… Like how you would go as far as to mess with Miki-chan's emotions and create a domino effect with it. It'd start with Miki-chan, and then it would hurt Gumi-chan, and then it would hurt Miku-chan, too."
Lily stiffened and paled at this new development in Luka's dream.
"But, it was just a dream," Luka laughed airily. "There's no way you could ever do something like that! Right?"
"Huh—Right!" Lily agreed a little too quickly. A forced, nervous laugh escaped her. "I'd never mess with them like that. That's just really messed up—"
"Uso!" Luka's light-hearted smile instantly vanished. The look she gave Lily was loaded with disappointment and distrust. "Liar… You did do that to them. That's awful…" She shook her head and turned her back to Lily. "I can't believe you would do something so low! Hurting Miki-chan by toying with her emotions… She's too sweet to ever deserve something like that."
"Wha—N-no—I—That's not—" Lily struggled to find the right words. But it was too late. She had been caught.
"And I can't believe you had the nerve to lie to me about it, too," Luka added furiously, as she snatched up a futon from the closet. She spun on her heels to glower at her best friend. "What's wrong with you? Why would you do that to them? Why would you lie to me about something like that?"
"I—I didn't want you to be mad at me—"
"It's a little too late for that, Lily," the pink haired girl retorted, unable to hide the hurt in her voice. She walked past Lily, carrying the futon in her arms.
Lily chased after Luka, quickly falling into step with the other girl. "Look, Lu-chan, I know what I did was wrong," she said quickly, desperately. "It was wrong, and stupid, and horrible and all that! But—I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have done it—I didn't mean to hurt anyone—"
"How can you say that when you wanted to hurt them…?"
"No—Just—It was only supposed to be Miku that got hurt!" Lily groaned. She realized that nothing she could say would appease the pink haired girl. After all, the objective of the plan was to hurt all three members of the Secret Police…
"What?" The tone of disbelief in Luka's voice caused Lily to stop for a moment. The blonde shook her head and continued to walk beside Luka.
"Okay, that sounded really, really bad, but—"
"No, Lily, it's horrible." The pinkette stopped outside of her bedroom, and stared at her childhood friend in disbelief. "I can't believe that what Miku-chan told me was true… I… I was hoping that if I managed to talk to you about it, you would be able to tell me that it wasn't… That maybe Miku-chan was making it up… But I can see that she told me the truth."
Lily grimaced, and her heart sank. "But, Lu-chan, I'm sorry. I really am. I'm really, really sorr—"
"You're only sorry you were caught," Luka said quietly, before she walked into her room and shut the door behind her.
The blonde could only stare at the closed door. She groaned, and pushed her overgrown bangs out back and puffed her cheeks up. There was no point in trying to defend herself at this point. She knew that Luka had every right to be upset with her.
"FUCK YOU, YOU DRUNK BITCH!"
"BRING IT, YOU LITTLE—"
"NO! STOP! KENKA SHINAIDE! DON'T FIGHT!"
THUD!
Lily whipped her head around and looked down the hall only to see….
"Aw, fuck!"
She took off in a sprint towards the group.
Half an Hour Ago…
"Th-thanks for walking with me," Miki sighed as she rubbed at her eyes. It was clear that she had been crying for a good portion of the day. Her heart had been crushed and her mind was let as a mess after hearing that Iroha had been a part of Lily's twisted plan. On either side of the ahoge'd girl were her two closest friends, who made up the remaining two thirds of the Secret Police. Miki felt much better knowing that they were all on reasonably good terms. The last week had been unbearable for her since she had been unable to communicate with neither the twin-tailed tealette or the snarky green haired girl. . But now that things were clear, the Secret Police was united once more, much to Miki's relief.
"Yeah, no problem," Gumi shrugged. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants, since she had left her hoodie behind in her bedroom. The girl had decided that her white shirt and gray sweatpants would be enough if she was only escorting Miki to Luka's bedroom. "Uh… Miki-chan? You sure you don't wanna spend the night in my room? I mean.. It's cool that Luka-nee said she'd talk to you about everything, but you know you could talk to me."
"Oh, ah, th-thank you, Gumi-nee!" Miki smiled brightly at the slightly blushing green haired girl. "But I already told Luka-nee I would probably fall asleep after talking to her, so that's why I'm spending the night in her room," she explained, as she continued to walk down the hall. "Maybe we could have a sleepover another night?"
"Wha—Uh—s-sure…" Gumi was quick to look away as the blush quickly spread across her cheeks. Her emerald eyes happened to meet the gaze of a cheekily grinning tealette. Although Gumi hadn't seen such a genuine, cheeky expression on Miku's face, the green haired girl was certainly filled with a heavy dose of "this bitch better not say anything."
And, of course, Miku opened her mouth to speak."Kya! Gumi-chan! You want to spend the night with Miki-chan?" she asked, with a teasing edge to her voice. Her teal polished fingers covered her mouth and she mock gasped. "You two aren't a couple but you're asking her to spend the night? Ne, ne! Does that mean you're trying to steal her purity—ack!"
Gumi had reached behind Miki and tugged on one of Miku's pigtails. Hard. "Baka iwanai deyo!" she snapped, her cheeks as red as the pair of goggles on her head. "Never, ever, speak again, you idiot."
Miki looked at the ill-humored green haired girl, and then at the tealette who was rubbing her head in pain. She promptly decided it was best not to ask the two older girls what had just happened. The only thing that she understood was that Miku had said something to irk Gumi. The only problem was that Miki had no idea what Miku had been getting at. "Ano… I don't really understand what was wrong with Gumi-nee inviting me to spend the night in her room…" she said timidly, as she looked at Miku with wide, red eyes.
Gumi stiffened, and Miku smirked.
"Ne, ne! Miki-chan!" the tealette giggled and leaned forward to whisper into the younger girl's ear. "Let me explain—ah! Gumi-chaaaaan!" she whined when the green haired girl promptly shoved her towards a bedroom door with a blue sign on it.
"I thought you wanted to go talk to your baka Nii-san," Gumi hissed as she pushed Miku once more. "Go talk to Kaito-nii and leave us alone."
Miku gasped once more. "Leave you alone? With Miki-chan? You might try and—"
"DAMARE!" Gumi yanked open Kaito's bedroom door and kicked Miku into the older boy's bedroom. She slammed the door shut and looked back at Miki, who was staring with wide eyes. "Er… Don't worry about it, Miki-chan," she mumbled, as she strode down the hallway.
Miki quickly followed after Gumi, easily falling into step with the older girl. A smile was on her face when she realized that they were moving in sync, both moving the same leg at the same time. Although they were both walking in silence, the redhead was quite content. Even if they had nothing to say at the moment, being alone with Gumi was fine with her.
And it came as a surprise to her that Gumi was the first to break the silence. "Hey… Miki-chan…" the green haired girl began, as she looked at her petite companion from the corner of her eyes.
"Mm?"
"I'm…" Gumi paused, and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for ignoring you and being all pissy and stuff." It was clear that she was uncomfortable about the topic that she had brought up, yet Miki remained silent. The redhead knew that Gumi had difficulties opening up to others to begin with. "So… Yeah. I just wanted to apologize."
"It's alright," Miki smiled up at Gumi, her expression was completely forgiving. "I'm just happy that we can talk like this again."
"Ah—Y-yeah, me too," the green haired girl stammered. "But—It's not okay. At all. I shouldn't have treated you that way, 'cause you didn't deserve it. The whole thing was stupid… It wasn't your fault that that stupid cat—Iroha kissed you or anythin'. So I had no reason to be mad at you… But damn, I was really pissed at Iroha for pulling that little stunt…" Gumi clenched her teeth and her emerald eyes narrowed at the very thought of the Sanrio Vocaloid.
Miki shook her head. "Daijoubu, Gumi-nee," she replied. "Really, it's okay. I wasn't angry with you for ignoring me or anything like that. I was just upset that what happened made you stop talking to me… And I'm a little upset that all of us forgot about Lily-nee and Meiko-nee's plan." She sighed, and flicked her bangs away from her face so she could get a clear view of the tense girl that walked beside her. "I wasn't expecting it to really work so well… But they were smart in picking Iroha-senpai to mess us all up…"
The commander of the Secret Police nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's a good thing Miku managed to remember," she added. "And it's about time she told Luka-nee about that damned plan, too. But, hey—Don't worry about them. I'm gonna kick all of their asses," she promised, as she cracked her knuckles to emphasize her point. "Luka-nee, that drunken idiot, and Iroha-san."
"Eh? N-no!" Miki stammered quikly. "You don't need to—No! Don't fight them, that's bad," she protested. "I don't think Iroha-senpai would have really joined in on their plan, though… She—She mentioned something about being able to use the plan to get closer to someone she admired." There was a pause as she looked up at Gumi. "I… I can understand her reasoning, because I sort of did the same thing to get closer to you…"
Gumi was quiet for a moment before she sighed and shook her head. "I seriously don't get people like you… You guys make no sense…"
Miki smiled slightly, and shrugged her shoulders. "When you like someone, or even love them, you do things that don't make sense to anyone else except for you," she giggled at her own explanation. "People in love do crazy things."
The green haired girl had to stifle back a snort when she saw the expression on Miki's face. It seemed that the younger girl wholeheartedly believed in what she had said, and Gumi didn't have the heart to point out every flaw in her statement. "Yeah… I guess you're right," she coincided. Her emerald eyes glanced away from Miki when a door was unceremoniously thrown open, disturbing the somewhat tranquil atmosphere of their walk.
From the bedroom stumbled a brunette, a nearly empty bottle of sake clutched in one hand. One of the straps to her red tank top hung off of her shoulder, and her sweatpants appeared to be a size or two too big. Gumi assumed it was Kaito's…
"Oi!" Meiko pressed one hand against the wall of the hallway, forcing herself upright. She glowered at Gumi. With the hand that held her personal brand of liquid heroine, she pointed a finger at the green haired girl. "I hate you." Her words were slurred, and her cheeks rosy.
Already wasted and it wasn't even midnight.
Gumi rolled her eyes, and came to a halt a few meters away from the intoxicated woman. "Yeah? That's fan-freaking-tastic," she retorted. "Because, right now, I hate you, too."
"No, I really hate you," the brunette continued, as she took a swig from the bottle. "So much. You're just a little brat, and you're always all pissy. Seriously, it's like you have a stick shoved up your—"
"M-Meiko-nee!" Miki interjected, horrified that the older girl would use such coarse language.
"Great to hear, you drunken bitch," Gumi hissed back. "I really hate people like you. You pick fights with people for no reason, and expect the whole world to bow before you just because you want it to happen. And then you had the nerve to try and fuck us all over with that damned plan of yours! What happens with Lily-nee, Luka-nee, and Miku-chan has nothing to do with you. You throwing Iroha-san in there to fuck with Miki-chan, Miku-chan and myself…" She stopped herself, and shook her head, her hands clenched into fists. "You had no right to do that."
"What?" Meiko snickered. "I had no right to get involved? You and Miki-chan did the same thing, didn't you? Involving yourself in their little love triangle? No one asked you to try and help Miku-chan. You're the one that set Luka-chan and Miku-chan up on their date to begin with, right?"
Gumi flinched at this. That was true. She had been the one to come up with the idea for creating the E-Harmony accounts…
"I thought it'd only be fair if I tried to even up the playing field for Lily-chan." Meiko brought the bottle to her lips and emptied it of its contents. "If anything, I bet getting involved was just for your own benefit, right? Right?"
"What?" The green haired girl stared at the intoxicated girl.
Meiko smirked. "Think about it. I bet you joined in in all of this 'cause of Miku-chan. If things ended up going bad between Miku-chan and Luka-chan, you'd be right there to pick Miku-chan up when she needed someone," she explained, with another snicker. "Wait until things go bad, and then take the girl. Right?"
Miki glanced up at Gumi, a worried look on her face. This conversation had taken a deadly turn. "G-Gumi-nee, let's just go.. Luka-nee's room is just down the hall—"
"What the fuck are you trying to say, Meiko?" Gumi hissed, as she stepped forward, away from Miki. "Are you seriously trying to pick a fight right now?"
"Nope, just tellin' it how I see it," Meiko replied. She took a few, uneasy, steps forward, and continued to give Gumi that condescending smirk. "But you really lucked out, huh? 'Cause if Miku-chan rejected you again, you'd already have Miki-chan waiting. 'Cause everyone knows how much she likes you, so it'd be easy for you to just turn around and take Miki-chan," she sang. "You thought it all out. If you can't get the head bitch, go for the bottom bitch, right—"
"FUCK YOU, YOU DRUNK BITCH!" Gumi roared before she hurled herself at Meiko, exuding an aura of fury and blood lust.
The pair fell to the ground, and the bottle fell from Meiko's hand and onto the carpet. Thankfully, the plush carpet softened the fall, allowing the bottle to fall in one piece.
"BRING IT, YOU LITTLE—" Meiko shouted back, as they began to roll on the ground, exchanging blows.
Miki let out a shriek and desperately tried to stop the pair. "NO! STOP! KENKA SHINAIDE! DON'T FIGHT!" Her words were lost on the pair, for they instantly shoved Miki away when she tried to place their hands on them.
Both Gumi and Meiko were throwing their fists at every open spot that they could find. As unfair as an advantage as it was, Gumi had come into the fight already knowing some sort of fighting style, kickboxing. As for Meiko… She was simply winging it and fighting by instinct. Albeit, those fighting instincts were not the most fair way of fighting.
Meiko bit down on Gumi's shoulder, and tugged at the longer strands of her green hair. The more Gumi squirmed, the harder Meiko bit. The brunette refused to release Gumi, and continued to pull on her hair with one hand, while repeatedly punching Gumi's ribcage with the other.
"Fuck—"Gumi shifted, and slammed her fist into the side of the brunette's head, forcing the girl off of her. She sat on Meiko's stomach, and launched a barrage of punches at Meiko's face and torso. "I." Punch. "Fucking." Punch. "Hate—oof!"
The drunken brunette had managed to knock aside Gumi's flying fists, and threw a sucker punch right at her jaw. The force knocked Gumi onto her back. A triumphant grin was on Meiko's face as she kept Gumi pinned down to the floor.
"STOP! SOMEONE HELP!" Miki continued to shriek. When she received no response, she frantically ran towards a certain bedroom.
Gumi was quick to knock Meiko off of her by ramming her knee into the brunette's stomach. For added measure, she punched Meiko in the face, successfully knocking the older girl down on her back. With a grunt, she snatched up the empty bottle of sake, and tackled Meiko. Her arm was raised as she prepared to smash the glass bottle onto Meiko's head. "Lights out—wha?" Before she could bring her arm down, someone had managed to grasp her wrist to stop her. "Let go-.. FUCK YOU!"
Lily had her hand tightly wrapped around Gumi's wrist. "That might've killed her, Gumi," she said, before she pulled the green haired girl off of the groaning Meiko.
"NO! FUCK YOU! LET GO OF ME!" Gumi hissed, as she pulled her arm away from Lily. She waved the glass bottle in front of her, keeping the blonde away from herself. Strong arms forced her own arms to her side as she was caught in a vice-like embrace. "WHO THE HELL—NII-SAN?" She glared up at her purple haired cousin, who frowned down at her. "LET ME GO, BAKA NII-SAN!"
Gakupo shook his head, and kept his younger cousin in his grasp. Lily reached over and pulled the empty bottle out of Gumi's grip. "Miki-chan told me there was a fight," Gakupo explained to Gumi calmly. He pulled his cousin back, making sure there was some space between his raging cousin and the drunken brunette. "She went to go get everyone else because she was scared to break up the fight—Speak of the devil."
Behind Lily came the remaining residents of the Vocaloid mansion who were led by Miki, save for the Kagamine twins, who were already fast asleep in their bedroom. Kaito, Luka, and Miku all stared at Lily, Meiko, and the struggling Gumi and Gakupo.
"What in the world happened…?" Luka gasped, when she realized that Gumi had a black eye, and Meiko's nose was bleeding profusely.
Miki sighed, and ran her fingers through her hair. "I—I told you, they got into a fight," she mumbled, as she quickly scurried over to Gumi's side. She reached up and gently placed her hand on the green haired girl's cheek as she looked over the quickly darkening bruise. Without speaking, she ran her thumb over the bruise, and grimaced when she realized just how large it was.
Gumi flinched. As soon as Miki came close, she ceased to struggle against her older cousin. It was as if the younger girl was a tranquilizer for the fuming green haired girl. "Geez—Miki, that kinda fucking hurts," she muttered, as she shut her bruised eye.
"S-Sorry…" Miki apologized, as she withdrew her hand. Her cheeks were flushed, but she looked away from Gumi and glanced over at the others.
"Geez, Mei-chan, you shouldn't go picking fights." The blue haired boy looked down at his groaning girlfriend, who was curled up in a ball on the carpeted floor. With a sigh, Kaito threw his girlfriend over his shoulder. He grunted as he shifted her slightly so it would be more comfortable for him to carry her. "Thanks for letting me know what was going on, Miki-chan," Kaito sighed, as he turned around to head back to his room.
The drunken girl on his back groaned, and clutched onto the back of his shirt as he headed into his room.
The remaining five Vocaloids stood in the hallway in silence. It was uncomfortable, for Gakupo, Luka, and Lily wanted to ask the still angry green haired girl what had happened. While Miki knew what had taken place, she felt like it was not her place to speak about the situation at hand.
With a sigh, Gakupo was the first to break the tense silence. "Gumi-chan, let's go."
"Eh? No! I'm fine, Nii-san, let go of me—"
"We're leaving," He snapped, as he dragged his younger cousin to his room. "I think we need to talk."
Gumi continued to protest, shouting out "No!" and "Let me go!" until the door slammed shut behind the pair of cousins.
Miki stared at the closed door, and then looked back at Lily, Luka, and Miku. "Ano… W-will Gumi-nee be okay?" she asked, looking more than a little worried. The two drastically different expressions she received only heightened her fear. "M-Maybe—Maybe I should go talk to her—"
Both the pink haired and teal haired girls had given her a weary smile. Luka shook her head. "I think she'll be alright, Miki-chan," she replied. "There's no need for you to worry."
Miku nodded in agreement with Luka's reply.
Lily, on the other hand, had frowned at Miki's question. She kept her mouth shut, jaw clenched tightly.
"Ah… O-okay," Miki said quietly. She slid into place beside Luka, and clutched onto the pink haired girl's shirt. "C-can we go to your room now and talk? Please…?"
"Of course, Miki-chan," Luka replied. The older girl was quick to lead the stressed red head towards her bedroom. Before the pair of more timid girls disappeared into the room, Luka turned to glance back at Lily and Miku. "Oyasumi nasai." She said, before she went into the room and closed the door behind Miki.
"Goodnight, Luka-senpai!"
"'Night, Lu-chan…"
When the door clicked shut, both Lily and Miku immediately stared at one another. The taller of the two folded her arms across her chest, a very angry expression on her face. The younger had a blank face, her teal eyes looking over the silently fuming blonde before her.
With a sigh, Miku decided to break the silence. "They wouldn't have had a fight if you didn't make that plan, you know," she said pointedly, her lips turning down into a frown. She mimicked Lily's pose and folded her own arms across her chest apprehensively.
"What!" Lily growled and narrowed her eyes. "This isn't my fault!"
"It might as well be!" Miku argued. "If you didn't make that plan, Gumi-chan wouldn't have had a reason to argue with Meiko-nee! What you did was wrong, Lily-nee. You shouldn't have used the twins to find our weaknesses… That's so low…"
Lily stiffened a bit, and turned her head away so she wouldn't have to stare at the upset tealette. "Tch… I had to do what I had to do," she stated matter-of-factly. "'Love is war', right?"
"Don't use my own song against me," the tealette was bitter. She continued to glare up at the older girl. "I can't believe you would hurt my friends to try and mess with me! If you wanted to mess with me, then do something to hurt me and only me!" She took a few steps closer, so her face was now in front of Lily's. Despite their height difference, Miku was still able to maintain her glower. "That's probably one of the most coward-like tactics to use!" Her hands dropped to her sides as her hands clenched into fists out of frustration. "I can't believe you of all people would try and pull something like that—"
"All's fair in love and war," Lily interjected. "'I'll make sure I'll grab your attention, I'll go and break it up'" The blonde continued to quote Miku's famous song. "Right? That's exactly what I did. Besides, you're the one that sang the song—"
"That has nothing to do with what we're talking about!" Miku was exasperated. "Stop quoting my song!"
Lily shrugged. "Stop being a brat and let me have Lu-chan."
"No."
"Yes."
"No!" Miku stared at Lily. "Do you really think you could build a relationship without any trust? Luka-senpai knows what you did, and she couldn't believe it—"
"You told her!" Luka snapped back, as she turned her head to meet those teal eyes. "You didn't have to tell her anything, and things would've worked out fine for me." Her tone was acidic, and she drew herself up to her full height. "Don't try and act like you wouldn't have done something crazy to have Lu-chan all to yourself."
Miku shook her head and took a step back in disbelief. "Oh my God—What would I have done, Lily-nee?" she asked, as she frowned up at her. "What could I have possibly done that would have been so underhanded that it would have started World War III in our own home?"
Lily opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. She stood there, and struggled to find something snarky to say. The truth of the matter was, she couldn't come up with a proper answer. Lily couldn't think of a single thing that Miku might have done to hurt her for the sole purpose of becoming closer to Luka. "I… I don't know…" she mumbled in defeat.
"Exactly…" Miku sighed, and looked away from Lily, her temper subsiding. "What you did was wrong… You shouldn't play with people's emotions like that…"
There it was again. That same damned line that Lily had heard from Iroha was now being repeated by her own rival.
"Whatever," Lily snapped. "Your friends shouldn't have gotten themselves involved in this, anyway. If they didn't get involved, there wouldn't have been a plan, and no one would've gotten hurt."
Miku was quiet for a moment, but she nodded in agreement. "I know they shouldn't have been involved, but they wanted to. I never asked them to," she replied. "They did it because that's what friends do. They keep your best interests at heart…" She paused and looked back at Lily, a sorrowful expression painted onto her face. "Speaking of friends… You're Luka-senpai's best friend. You should be trying to keep her best interests in mind, too… But after this, it seems like you've only hurt her." The tealette turned her back to Lily and began to walk down the hallway. "At least I tried to look out for my best friends…" Without another word, she strode down the hallway, heading towards the wing of the mansion that housed the younger Vocaloids.
Lily stood in the middle of the hallway, speechless. She clenched her teeth, and headed back towards her room. "Damn that Miku…" she hissed under her breathe.
First, she was lectured by a wanna-be Cheshire Cat. And now she was lectured by her rival. What next? Was Meiko the eternal drunk suddenly going to have a change of heart and start preaching about repenting for past sins?
Lily, lost in thought, bumped into a figure blocking her doorway. Her deep blue eyes snapped up and were met by golden orbs.
"Iroha…"
"Nyaa~" Nekomura Iroha yawned, and smiled at the frustrated blonde. She rubbed at her eyes with the back of one hand. "Lily-chaaaaan!"
The blonde wanted to groan, but she kept her complaints to herself. "Did you—"
"Yup. I saw everything. Maybe not everything, but the fight, yes." Sanrio's Vocaloid smiled at Lily, and leaned against the doorframe. "I think we might need to talk again, ne?"
"Yeah…"
The two cousins sat on the bed, albeit opposite sides of the bed. The younger of the two had her arms folded across her chest, glaring at her purple haired Nii-san. Said Nii-san was calm and composed, carefully watching over his younger cousin.
"Gumi-chan—" Gakupo began to speak.
"Damare!"
He sighed, and shook his head. "Why can't you just tell me what exactly happened between you and Meiko-san?" Gakupo asked, a slight frown on his face.
"Yokei na osewa da!" Gumi glared at him, emerald eyes narrowed. "Seriously, Nii-san! It's none of your business."
"It is my business if you were going to send her to the hospital!" He exclaimed. "I don't understand why you would try and smash a glass bottle on her head! There's no reason for trying to injure someone in such a way." His purple eyes were stern, and he couldn't fathom how his younger cousin could even consider causing such physical harm to a person.
Gumi snorted and turned her head away from him. "You don't get it," she said flatly. "I can't stand Baka Meiko."
"…Baka… Meiko?" Gakupo repeated, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
"Yeah. I refuse to call her 'Meiko-nee'," she replied, her tone icy. "She should've just minded her own damned business instead of getting involved. That drunken bitch should just die—"
"Gumi-chan!"
"What?" Gumi whipped her head around and went back to glaring at Gakupo. "She's the worst. A coward that uses dirty tactics to fight. She messed with Miki-chan and Miku-chan. That's unforgivable."
Gakupo rubbed at his eyes and sighed wearily. "I admire that you're loyal to your friends. But that loyalty is loyalty without reason… You need to think before you act."
The green haired girl rolled her eyes. "I don't care what you call it. I look out for my friends," Gumi stated. "You wanna know what happened right?"
"Yes. Yes, I do, actually."
"Okay, here's the jist of it. She's a sneaky, little bitch that said things that weren't any of her business. Baka Meiko was talking a lot of trash and it pissed me off," Gumi's explanation was quick and to the point.
"So you were going to smash an empty bottle of sake onto her head?"
"Yup."
The long haired man groaned. "Violence isn't always the best answer to everything."
"It is when Baka Meiko's involved…"
Gakupo stared at his younger cousin. "No… You need to realize that that sort of actions can get you into trouble in the future," he reprimanded Gumi. "That aside, how do you think Miki-chan felt when she saw you throw yourself into that fight? Don't you think she was extremely worried about you?"
Gumi opened her mouth to come back with a snarky reply, but instantly closed it when she realized that Gakupo was probably right. Of course Miki would panic. After all, Miki was the one who had run off to find help…
When his younger cousin failed to rebuttal his statement, Gakupo smiled. "See? You can't make Miki-chan worry like that," he said gently, glad to see that realization had taken a hold of Gumi.
"Er… Yeah…" Gumi mumbled. "She even checked on my black eye…" The girl raised a hand to her cheek and gingerly ran them along the black and blue bruise.
"Right, right," Gakupo nodded earnestly, relieved that his cousin was calm now. "You're obviously very important to her." The smile on his face widened as he leaned towards his cousin. "And clearly, she's important to you."
"Eh—Uh—What—" Gumi stumbled over her words, her cheeks suddenly flushing. She mentally slapped herself for stammering like a love struck middle schooler. "No—"
"It's okay, Gumi-chan," Gakupo laughed. "I think the two of you would be quite good together. You balance one another out perfectly, I think."
The green haired girl rolled her eyes and stood up. "Yeah, well…. Thanks…" Gumi crossed the room, and was quick to take her leave. Having her cousin of all people talk to her about who she should date was quite embarrassing.
Her purple haired cousin was chuckling to himself as he stretched out onto the bed. "Maybe Miki-chan's the only one that can fix up Gumi-chan," Gakupo said to himself, as he shut his eyes.
"Ne, ne, ne!" Iroha purred as she sank down into the armchair, a blanket wrapped comfortably around her shoulders. Her golden eyes watched the blonde sprawl out on the couch. "Lily-chaaan~ What are we going to talk about?" she asked, feigning ignorance.
Lily buried her face into one of the couch pillows. "Everything."
"Mm… Okay, but that's a pretty broad topic—"
"Don't play stupid."
"Ah, gomen ne!" Iroha chuckled. "But, ah, let's see… What exactly happened?" She brought her legs up to her chest, and hugged them. The knowing, almost mocking, smirk was back on her face as she stared at Lily intently.
The blonde let out a frustrated shout into the pillow. "I fucked up," was her muffled reply.
Iroha blinked a few times, and tilted her head slightly to one side. "Nya, really, really?" she asked, a brow raised.
"Yup. Lu-chan found out about the whole thing and she's pissed…" Lily answered. "I hate it… I think she doesn't trust me or something. What the heck am I supposed to do? 'Cause now everyone's mad at me and shit!"
The catlike girl remained respectfully silent, allowing the blonde to continue to vent.
"I'm just pissed that Miku-chan told Lu-chan about it… I didn't think she was gonna do that," the blonde continued. "And then that teal bit—"
"Language."
"… That teal… Teal… Whatever! Miku-chan just sucks! She even had the nerve to lecture me!" She groaned, as she lifted her head up from the pillow. "I wanted to stranle her on the spot."
"Why didn't you?" Iroha asked impishly.
"Wha—" Lily stared at Iroha. "Did you just—"
The ponytailed, pale pink haired girl raised a hand up, and smiled slightly. "I was kidding."
"… Okay… But—Geez! Now Lu-chan's all mad at me…" Lily repeated once more, as she put her head back down on the pillow. She was just so frustrated. The whole situation sucked. And it was something that she was not in the mood to deal with. It was just too much for her. All she wanted was to claim Luka for her own. Right?
Iroha shook her head and rested her chin on the caps of her knees. "I don't think that's what you want, Lily-chan," she mused, as if she were a psychic. "You know, when I first met you, I really admired you. You were light hearted, and you were protective of everyone, especially Luka-san. You weren't selfish, and you had everyone's best interests at heart. Even when you were teasing everyone, you were able to stop and show everyone the best of yourself." She paused, and closed her eyes. "But… It's different now. Your actions only benefit yourself, but they hurt others…"
Lily was silent.
"It's kind of sad…" Iroha added. "But, the more I think about it, the more I realize that you're just jealous, ne?"
"Jealous?" Lily repeated in disbelief. "No… I like her."
"Are you sure?" Iroha asked. "I think you're blind is all. It's like I said before. You always had Luka-san there. She's your best friend, and you've known her since you were kids, right?"
"Right…"
"So it would make sense for you to feel jealous that she can spend time with someone else and be happy," the cat like girl continued. She opened her eyes, and stood up. "Maybe I can see that because I'm not involved in this, er, love triangle. But sometimes it seems like you're just trying to keep Luka-san all to yourself, and not in a romantic way. More or less a possessive way." Iroha crossed the room and sat on the couch, beside Lily, on the little space left available. "Do you know what you want?"
"I want you to shut up."
At this, Iroha laughed, and began to pet Lily on the head. "Nya~ the little puppy doesn't know what she wants, ne?" she cooed. "Poor little puppy is as lost as ever, stuck between love or friendship. Maybe not even love."
Lily snorted. "You don't know what you're saying."
The cat shrugged and looked down at Lily, the smile remaining on her face. "I know a lot more than I let on, you know," she replied. "I'm not as dumb as everyone thinks, ne?"
"Whatever…"
"Ne, ne, puppy-chan!" Iroha giggled. "You're so cute."
Lily felt her cheeks flush, and she glared up at Iroha. "Look, you—Just stop messing with my head, oaky?" she frowned. "Things are already confusing enough, and I don't need you to add to the confusion. Just.. Just leave me alone."
Iroha raised a brow. "I wasn't going to tell anyone."
"I said leave me alone."
"Or what?"
"Or I'll—I'll… I'll throw you into the pound, you damned cat," Lily snapped, her tone icy.
At this, Iroha blinked a few times in confusion. "The pound?" she repeated. "But you can't do that unless I was your cat-… Oh…" she smiled. "I didn't know I was your cat~"
"What—That's not what I meant!"
"Nyaaa~ I can be your kitty if you really want me to~" Iroha purred, as she stretched out beside Lily on the couch. "Pu~py~cha~n~."
The blonde rolled her eyes, and laid on her side, her back to the smirking cat. "Shut up. Just let me sleep in peace."
"Shouldn't you sleep on the bed, then?"
"…Just shut up and go to sleep if you're spending the night."
"Ne, ne… All jokes aside, it seems like you have a lot of fixing to do, ne? With Luka-san, Miku-chan, Gumi-chan and Miki-chan," Iroha giggled, and got off of the couch. She made her way to the bed, and crawled under the blankets. "Oyasumi, watashi no koinu-chan~" she purred before throwing the blankets over her head.
Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm not her puppy," she thought to herself. She sighed, and buried her face into the pillow as she mused over the words of the catlike girl. It was hard for her to accept Iroha's words. Once more, she had heard the truth come from Nekomura Iroha's mouth. It was too much to comprehend at one time.
Was it true? Was she really only jealous that Luka could be happy with someone other than herself? But if it were true, what sort of jealousy was it, then? Romantic jealousy? Or just a "hey-that's-my-best-friend" sort of jealousy?
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. This was becoming ridiculous. How could she mistake the feelings of liking someone with raging jealousy?
Why was Iroha the one to point all of this out to her?
What the hell was up with that cat girl anyway?
And how the hell was she supposed to fix things with Luka, let alone Miku, Gumi and Miki?
Lily let out a frustrated sigh. She decided to let these thoughts subside, and allow exhaustion to lull her to sleep.
The two most rational residents of the Vocaloid mansion were in the bi-lingual pinkette's bedroom. The younger of the pair was setting out her futon. Her ahoge bounced as she spread the sheets out and proceeded to fluff her pillow.
"Luka-nee?" Furukawa Miki began timidly. "Was I being a coward by running away from the fight?" The thought had been nagging at her since they had returned to Luka's room.
Luka, who had thrown her hair up into a loose bun, sat up in her bed. She gripped the bed sheets and shook her head at the younger girl. "No, I don't think you were being a coward," she answered. "You wanted to only stop the fight, but you weren't able to get them to listen to you, right?"
Miki nodded.
"Then you did the right thing by finding people who could help you stop the fight," Luka pressed on. "Don't blame yourself for anything that happened—"
"No, that's—That's not true," Miki bit down on her bottom lip, and focused her ruby eyes on the pillow in her hands. "Gumi-nee only became extremely upset because Meiko-nee said something about me…" She sighed, and hugged the pillow tightly. "Gumi-nee was already angry because Meiko-nee had been talking badly about Gumi-nee and Miku-nee. So when Meiko-nee began to talk about me, I think Gumi-nee just…"
"Lost it?" Luka offered.
"Y-yeah," the redhead sighed, and plopped down onto her side. She closed her eyes and sniffled. "I'm just so weak… If I was stronger, or braver, I could have.. Maybe… I could have stopped the fight, and neither of them would have gotten hurt," Miki continued.
The older girl shook her head. "Miki-chan, that isn't true. None of that could have been avoided… You shouldn't think such things about yourself," she said. "It isn't healthy for you to take the blame for others actions. That aside, it would have been dangerous for you to throw yourself into the middle of the fight. I don't think Gumi-chan and Meiko-san would have been able to focus on anything other than their fight. Don't worry about anything, Miki-chan. It isn't your fault at all, and you certainly did the right thing by finding us."
Miki buried her face into the pillow . "Mm.. Y-yeah… You're right," she said, with a small smile on her face. The girl crawled under the blanket of the futon and tucked the pillow beneath her head. "Thank you, Luka-nee…"
Luka smiled, relieved that it had been so easy to make the younger girl feel better. She laid back down, and shut her eyes.
"Ano, Luka-nee?"
"Mm?"
"I'm sorry you had to find out about Lily-nee's plan that way," the younger girl sympathized. "We didn't know what exactly she was going to do, but, still… I'm sorry. I still think Lily-nee is a good person, deep down… But it just seems like she's… Lost."
Luka was quiet. She frowned a little bit, and sighed. "It seems that way, huh?"
Miki nodded even though she knew the older girl couldn't see her. "Yes… But, ah, what are you going to do now? About Lily-nee and Miku-nee?" she asked. "Do you know who you want to be with, or—or what?"
Once more, Luka was at a loss for words. "I don't know, Miki-chan, I don't know…" With that, she rolled onto her side and turned off the lamp on her nightstand.
Note: And that's the end of chapter 20. Yes, like I said last chapter, the end is drawing near! I hope that all of you will be able to continue to stay with me until the end of this emotional roller coaster that I call a fanfiction. XD;;
Replies to the Reviewers:
Meislovely: Ah, Kuro, I'm glad you're able to take care of Shiro. Please, continue to watch over her. (^^;;)b Anyway, I'd like to thank you two for reading the story and reviewing! :D I love you guys! And your friends! The lot of you are hilarious, and it's just nice to know that you both enjoy the story!
Lovecakes98: Hey there! Haven't seen you review in a while, but I'm glad to see that you've been reading SoL! (^^) It's nice to see you again! I grinned at the idea of this becoming a J-Drama. That would be one intense show, I think! Maybe you can find a song worthy of being the theme to it! Thanks for your support!
PaperCutVictim: If you're going to hurl a fridge at someone please aim it away from me. XD;; Gumi can be quite intense when she wants to be. And Iroha and Lily? To be honest, that might have been my favorite section to write in chapter 19. XD;; I'm not sure why that's so, but I had fun writing it! That all said… Did you hear any war drums with this chapter?
Blodh Skolir: Ah man. That quote sounds like a perfect fit for this chapter, huh? Thank you for reading an reviewing!
LukaFan: Whoa! I think I actually heard a demanding voice telling me to go and write this chapter! Haha! Yeah, SoL is going to end within a few chapters, I think. But ah… Another story? :P I'm actually working on the prequel for SoL, called "Matryoshka!". It focuses on Gumi and Miku's relationship prior to SoL. And after that I'm planning on writing a K-ON! Fanfiction, but I'm not sure if you like K-ON! ? It made me happy to "hear" you ask if I was going to write some more! ;w; Kyaaa! Thank you for your support!
Masaru2509: Thank you for your support! I hope this chapter was able to meet your expectations.
Mr Kat is hot: Like before, I'd like to tell you that no offense is taken! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so I completely understand if you don't like Miku. I'm glad to see that you're still reading the story. Thanks!
Major Mike Powell III: Oh man! That was one strongly felt review! I wonder how this chapter would make you feel, then… Thanks for your support, though!
Pleasure: Ah! A new reviewer! ;w; I love seeing reviews from people who haven't reviewed my story before! It always makes me smile! Thank you for the review, and for reading SoL!
Rocketman182: That's one of the nicest things I've ever read. Thank you so much! ;w; You're so nice!
Chaser Neos: Thank you! Glad to hear that you enjoy the story, even if it's become quite dramatic… Regardless, thank you for reading and reviewing!
Jak656: I don't mind if it took you a day or so to review! I'm just glad to see a review from you. It means a lot that you're consistent with these reviews… And that you've been supporting my story throughout the past two months! I can honestly say that your review made me giggle when I read "Ahahaha (evil laugh)" XP. Thank you for your support!
Neko-Kath-01: First and foremost, don't worry about your English! I know you've told me that you were a little worried about your English, and I want you to know that it's perfectly fine! There were a few errors here and there, but I was still able to understand you. (^^) That being said, I was quite surprised to see such a long review. I can honestly say that this is the longest review that anyone has ever left for my story. And I love how in depth it is. It was interesting and pleasant to read! I love having an insight on what my readers are feeling and thinking about the story! Honestly, Gumi is my favorite character in this story as well. (^^;;) I'm not sure why, but I think it's because I sort of gave her my own personality? But, ah. I don't try to be sadistic. LOL It just turns out that I write a lot of… sad parts. OTL Whoops. I didn't realize how dramatic the story had become until I re-read the entire story the other day. I really surprised myself with how big of a turn the story has taken; it's different from my original plan. But I'm glad to see that you and so many others enjoy it! ;w; Thank you for your support, and your incredible review!
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Thank you all for your support. It really means a lot to read all of your reviews. It really makes my day! :D The other day I had a bad day, but coming back to see all of the reviews saying how much you all were anticipating chapter 20 made me smile. It was nice to see that you were all anxiously awaiting this chapter. Really made my day!
I would like to let all of you know now that there will be a delay with this next chapter. x_x I have a huge Japanese exam coming up.. on writing/reading, speaking, and listening. OTL I really need to study for it, or rather, the vocabulary for it. As well as catch up on some reading for my Sociology and Psychology courses. I'm very sorry for the delay! But hopefully I can get it up within a week or two!
So, once more, I'd like to thank you all for the support. Please, continue to join me for the last set of chapters for SoL! (^^)b
Take care!