AN: What's this? Chapter 4, only a day after Chapter 3's been posted?! Leilani, what's going on with you?! (what's the opposite of writer's block? because that's what I think's going on with me, a sort of creative surge i guess...)
Anyway, enjoy~
*Not beta read, Mistakes likely to be present.
Kyouya wasn't sure how much time has passed since he had begun to play his guitar, but to him it felt like it had only been about a second that had gone by. That's just how music was for Kyouya— whether it be playing or listening, whenever he had chosen to dedicate his free time to the ever-comforting euphonies that he so loved, time was almost like a fictional concept. Emphasis on almost, as Kyouya checked the alarm clock that was placed on his bedside table, and noticed that it had been almost a whole hour since he'd retreated to his dorm for some practice. He blinked in mild surprise, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Guess I got carried away," he murmured to himself. The familiar weight of the guitar in his hands and the smooth vibration of the strings under his fingers had lulled him into a state of contentment, making the little spat with Wil and the entire world outside his music seem distant and unimportant.
But now, with the realization of how much time had passed, Kyouya set his guitar aside and stretched. "Maybe I should get out and explore a bit more," he muttered to himself, considering the idea of checking out the rest of the campus. Just then, the chime of the doorbell sounded throughout his room, displacing the lingering echoes of his music that were still in the air. He went over to see who his visitor was, and just like before, Yuuki stood right outside with his usual wide smile.
"Hi, Kyouya-kun!"
He wasn't alone, though, as two other boys stood on either side of him, the one to the left of him having pink hair hidden under a beanie and the other with hair the colour of indigo. Just from looking at him, Kyouya could tell that the indigo-haired boy seemed to be just a bit shy as his eyes were directed at the floor beneath them more often than they were at any of the other boys, while the boy with pink hair seemed a lot calmer in contrast to him and especially Yuuki.
"Hey, Takahashi-kun," Kyouya greeted warmly, before regarding the two other males standing by him. "So I guess you're all done with your practice? Seems you've already met some more people here."
"Yup! I decided a while ago that I was all done with making stuff for the day, so I left my room and thought I'd see who else was around," Yuuki explained, his excitement bubbling over. He gestured to the boys beside him. "That's when I ran into these guys! This is Moke-kun," he motioned to the indigo-haired boy, who offered a shy smile but kept his gaze mostly downward, "and this is Yuuma-kun!" He pointed to the pink-haired boy with the beanie, who gave a small nod in greeting. "We're both named Yuu~, isn't that cool?!"
Yuuma gave a small smile down at Yuuki, who jumped up and down merrily, before turning his focus back onto Kyouya. "Nice to meet you," Yuuma said in a relaxed tone, his demeanor cool and composed. "Name's Ryuuguu Yuuma."
Zhiyu glanced up briefly, his voice soft. "Yeah, nice to meet you. I'm Zhiyu Moke."
Kyouya smiled at them. "Nice to meet you guys too." He could sense the contrasting personalities within the little trio— Yuuki's boundless energy, Yuuma's calm presence, and Moke's quiet reserve. "So, what have you guys been up to? Exploring the dorms?"
"Pretty much!" Yuuki confirmed with a nod. "I thought it'd be fun to meet some new people, and I figured you'd like to meet them too, Kyouya-kun!"
Yuuma smirked slightly. "We've been on the move with Takahashi-san here, he's been making sure we look at every corner this place has to offer."
Moke nodded, still somewhat shy but warming up a little. "It's been nice to meet new faces, even if just a few."
Kyouya chuckled. "Sounds like a good way to spend the day." He glanced back into his room for a moment, then looked at the group. "I was thinking of heading out to check out more of the campus. Wanna come along?"
Yuuki's face lit up. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds super fun! Let's go~!"
Yuuma gave a casual shrug, smiling. "Sure, why not?"
Moke hesitated for a second but then nodded. "Um, yeah, I'd like that."
With everyone in agreement, Kyouya grabbed his jacket and joined the group as they headed down to the first floor.
. . . . . .
Once they got downstairs, they were met with a bit of an odd sight. A girl, with medium-length golden yellow hair, was piggybacking a boy, who looked very similar to her and very much annoyed by her actions as he attempted to shake her off of him. Standing nearby the two was a girl with coral-coloured hair tied into a curved ponytail, who was seemed to be trying to help the boy remove the girl from his person, while another girl with long black hair was observing the scene with more amusement than confusion or worry like the quartet of boys had been.
"Rin! Stop, that's enough of that! Please get off me!" These were the pleas given out by the struggling boy that seemed to fall on deaf ears, as the girl continued to clutch tightly onto him.
"Len! Don't be like that! We haven't seen each other in so long, and this is how you wanna treat me when we're finally together again? Your own twin sister?!"
"I-I'm happy to see you, really I am, but please, gimme some space! You're squeezing... too tight...!"
The grip of the girl, Rin, on her brother Len, apparently got stronger as he said those last words, as he seemed to be gasping for air at that point.
"Rin-chan, settle down!" The coral haired girl begged, her hands pulling on Rin from behind the two as she tried to separate them. "You don't wanna kill the guy right after you two have reunited!"
The black-haired girl giggled at the three, a hand politely covering her lips. "Ah, the reunion of a long-separated pair of siblings. It's always something special to witness, even if it involves a bit of strangulation."
Len continued to squirm, his face reddening as his sister's embrace showed no signs of loosening. "Iroha-san, do something!" he gasped out, glancing over at the coral-haired girl.
Iroha, with a sigh and a determined look, got a firm hold of Rin's shoulders and, with a tug that must've taken all of her might, finally managed to pry her away from Len. "Alright now, Rinny, let him breathe. You'll have plenty of time to catch up without causing him physical harm."
Rin, slightly pouting but mostly sheepish now, stepped back. "Uh, sorry, Len. It's just... I've missed you so much."
Len took a few deep breaths, trying to regain his composure. He noticed at the guilty look on his sister's face and gave the best smile he could. "It's okay, Rin. Just... maybe a little less tight next time?"
The group of boys, who were silent until that point, quickly found involved themselves in the conversation thanks to Yuuma. "Sooo, this certainly wasn't what I was expecting to see when we decided to come down here."
The separate group consisting of Len and the three girls now faced the newcomers, clearly not having noticed the boys beforehand. As soon as her sea-green gaze landed upon the boys, it shone with delight. She hopped over towards them, and leaped straight for Yuuma. Luckily, Yuuma seemed to anticipate this and held his arms out for her to land into, catching her just in time.
"Roro-kun!" She cried out with glee.
Yuuma looked down at the girl in his arms and patted the top of her head with a smile, "Hey, Mio-chan. I'm glad to see you."
Everyone watched on as the girl snuggled into him, all with varying degrees of surprise, but no one said anything.
"Wow, Yuuma-kun, you know this girl? Who is she, who is she?!"
...Well, no one expect for Yuuki.
The girl in question briefly removed herself from Yuuma's arms and flashed a smile to Yuuki and the others. "My name is Sakurai Mizuki, pleasure to meet you all." She looked up to Yuuma and smiled even brighter, "and I'm Yuuma-kun's girlfriend~!"
Kyouya's brows raised at this. "His girlfriend?"
"Yeah, we started dating about a year ago," Yuuma explained, a faint blush present on his cheeks. "We've known each other since middle school, but it wasn't till more recently that things sorta just clicked into place, y'know?"
"Roro-kun's been a really important part of my life when we were younger, but now that he's my boyfriend..." Mizuki jumped back into Yuuma's embrace and grinned, "things just feel even more special!"
"I could never imagine life without her," Yuuma admitted with red cheeks as he rubbed Mizuki's back lovingly.
Yuuki's eyes, along with Rin's and Iroha's sparkled as they observed the couple. "Wow, that's so sweet, you two," Rin said. "Kyaah, I want a love like that some day..."
"Just make sure I approve of the guy first, alright?" Len said jokingly.
"Hush up, Len," Rin playfully punched him on the arm, "I'm the older twin, I don't need your 'approval' for something like that."
Kyouya smiled, both at the affectionate behaviour between Yuuma and Mizuki, and the little banter between Rin and Len. Then he remembered something.
"Sorry to interrupt, but we didn't introduce ourselves," he gestured to himself, Yuuki and Moke. "Hi, I'm Miyazaki Kyouya. Nice to meet you all."
"Hi~!" Yuuki jumped and waved. "My name is Takahashi Yuuki!"
"And I'm, Zhiyu Moke..." Moke did his best to keep his eyes focused on the others and not on the potted plants that decorated the room.
"I didn't properly introduce myself, either," said Yuuma. "I'm Ryuuguu Yuuma, pleasure meeting you all."
Rin gave a big smile, "Hi, everyone! My name is Shimoda Rin, and this is my brother Kagamine Len!"
'Hm,' Kyouya thought, 'They're siblings, but they have different surnames... and they said they haven't seen each other in a while... Well, that's probably some personal family stuff they wouldn't wanna share, most likely,' he surmised, and quickly dismissed the thought. 'They look like someone I know, though...'
She draped an arm over the boy's shoulder, and he groaned. "Rin, I can introduce myself, I don't need you to do it for me."
"Nonsense!" Rin exclaimed. "As your older sister, it's my duty to make sure you're properly introduced!" She gave him a playful squeeze, causing Len to roll his eyes, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"Older by a whole minute," Len muttered, clearly amused despite his mild protest.
Rin grinned, unfazed. "Exactly! That minute gives me all the authority I need."
"Hm?" Yuuki cocked his head to the side in confusion, "Hey, Rin-chan, Len-kun, you two are twins, but you've got different surnames..."
And of course, Yuuki would question it himself.
"Oh, well," Rin started with a frown, but quickly put back on a smile, albeit a less genuine-seeming one than before. "Well, I live with our mom, and Len's with our dad, and that's how it's been since our parents split. I took our mom's maiden name after that so, that's why our surnames are different."
"But," Len joined in, sensing his sister's slight discomfort, "Now that we both managed to get into Yamaha, we'll be together for the whole year— well, sort of. We'll be in different buildings, but we'll still be a lot closer than before."
Rin's smile grew, "Yep! It's been tough being apart, but we're really excited to finally be in the same place again, even if we're not always gonna be right by each other. We've been hoping for a chance like this for a long time."
Yuuki's expression softened, understanding the significance of their situation. "Ah, I get it. It must be really nice to finally be close to each other again."
Kyouya, picking up on the subtle shift in mood, offered a supportive smile. "It's great that you two have this chance to reconnect. I'm sure you'll make the most of it."
Mizuki, still nestled in Yuuma's arms, gave Rin an encouraging nod. "It sounds like you two have a really strong bond, even with spending so long apart. I have no doubt that this year will be really special for you two now that you're together again."
Len and Rin both seemed to relax a bit, their earlier discomfort fading away in the warmth of the group's understanding. "Yeah," Len said with a small smile, "we're just happy to have this time together."
Rin nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly! We're for sure gonna make the most of it, me, Len, and Iroha-chan, too!" She grabbed Iroha into a hug, startling the coralette.
"Kyah! Ah, Rin-chan, your energy never seems to go down, huh?"
Rin released Iroha, still beaming. "Of course not!" She pointed a finger at Iroha. "And now it's your turn to introduce yourself to everyone!"
"Alright, alright," Iroha snickered at the female twin's behaviour and turned to the rest of the group, "Well, ignoring this one right here— My name is Nekomura Iroha! I've known Rin and Len since childhood, so I've experienced a lot of suffering in my young life," she ignored the frowns from the twins from her statement and continued, "Nya-ice to meetchya!" She winked with a giggle, and Yuuki leaned towards her, examining her attire.
"Ehe, nya-ice to meet you, Iroha-chan! Sooo, you like cute cats, don't you?"
"Why, yes, I do!" She did a little spin in her Hello Kitty-adorned attire, "How'd ya guess?"
Yuuki closed his eyes and nodded with his arms folded and a smile on his face, as if keeping that little fact in mind for later. He swayed from side to side, "So, so! What brings a bunch of girls to the boys' dorm?"
"Len brought me here!" Rin proudly declared. "As soon as he told me he got here, I rushed over to meet him."
"She sent me a message that she was coming, and of course I was expecting a great big hug or something," Len started, "but I definitely was not expecting her to jump me the way she did," he sighed.
"Well, it's not my fault you weren't prepared for my super special sibling greeting," Rin said, a tad unsympathetically, but more amusedly than anything.
"And she dragged me along because she didn't wanna go alone," Iroha added.
Mizuki smiled, "Well, as for me, I wanted to come visit Roro-kun, so when I heard that Shimoda-san and Nekomura-san were going to the boys' dorm, I asked to come along!"
"When you said you were coming to visit one of the boys here, Sakurai-chan, I figured it was your brother or cousin or just a good friend," Rin said, looking over at her and Yuuma. "But I never thought it'd be a boyfriend you were coming to see!"
"I actually was planning to go visit the girls' dorm to see her a little later on since we hadn't seen each other in a while," Yuuma explained, a hint of a smile on his face. "But it looks like Mizuki-chan beat me to it."
Mizuki giggled, nodding in agreement. "I just didn't want to wait any longer to see you! Plus, I wanted to see if you wanted to look around the campus with me!"
"Actually, these guys and I were just headed on our way out to do just that," Yuuma thumbed towards the boys behind him.
"Ooh! We could all go exploring together as a group!" Yuuki suggested with great ardour. "Whaddya say, everyone?"
"Ah, that sounds fun! Yeah, let's do it!" Rin happily agreed.
Len shrugged, "Sure, why not? I've already unpacked, so I've got nothing better to do right now."
"And I have a feeling Rinny-chan here's gonna drag me along regardless, so I couldn't refuse even if I wanted to," Iroha smirked.
"Cool," Kyouya grinned, "The more the merrier." Then he recalled a certain person who hadn't spoken in a while. "Zhiyu-kun," he turned to the boy, "you alright with that?"
Moke, who seemed a bit surprised that he was being acknowledged, nodded, "Y-Yeah, it's alright with me."
"Great!" Yuuki jumped for joy, "Well then! Let's go~!"
The once group of 4, now grown into a group of 8, left the dorm building and went all around the school traversing its large, sci-fi-like campus.
. . . . . .
First, the group visited the dome labelled 'Visual and Performing Arts'. Kyouya could feel his footsteps quicken just a bit, as he ended up walking a bit ahead of the group aside from Yuuki, who was two hops and a leap ahead of him. He smiled up at the building, his eyes darting eagerly between the doors and the building's ornate facade.
'I wonder what kinds of things they've got in there... the performing arts area probably has all sorts of special equipment for music production, or maybe some unique stage setups for performances.'
Kyouya's thoughts raced with the potential treasure trove of artistic opportunities waiting for him to dive into.
Apparently, his enthusiasm was obvious, as he could hear Rin call out a fair distance behind him, "Hey, Miyazaki-kun and Takahashi-kun are so far ahead of us! They must really be looking forward to seeing inside the domes!"
At this, Kyouya turned his head back to the group and grinned, but never slowed his pace to match theirs and continued towards the dome.
"Well, I'd expect as much from Takahashi-san, but Miyazaki-san is a bit of a shocker," Yuuma lightly teased, also a ways behind. "Guess the little guy's energy is infectious." He didn't speak out as loudly as Rin did though, so Kyouya didn't quite hear it.
The brown-haired boy was now just a few feet from the entrance of the building, when he noticed Yuuki attempt to open the door only to find it locked.
"Huh? Hey, what gives?" The blond said, puzzled. "This door isn't open? Why not?"
Just before Yuuki could try again to pry the doors open, a woman, who seemed to be a campus official, soon appeared, explaining that all the facilities across the campus were currently closed for final preparations before the official start of the school year. "The domes will be open tomorrow for orientation," the official said with a friendly smile. "We're still getting the last few things set up and ready for the new students. But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to explore and get the full hands-on experience once classes begin."
This caused Yuuki's lips to pout, while Kyouya gave a wistful sort of smile. "I see, thank you."
The woman nodded, and Yuuki and Kyouya turned back to meet up with the rest of the group.
"Hm? Why did you two turn back?" Moke asked. "Is that dome not open to students?"
"No," Kyouya shook his head, "and neither is any other dome on campus. They're still getting things organized for orientation tomorrow, so they can't let us in quite yet."
The group understood the need for preparation, but that didn't stop any of them from feeling varying degrees of disappointment.
"Aw, man," Rin whined. "I wanted to see the super cool swimming pools that I've heard so much about right away!"
"Well, everything will be open tomorrow, so we won't have to wait long," Len said in an effort to console his sister.
"That's one reassurance," Mizuki said, "but, what are we going to do now?" She hummed in thought for a few seconds, before a lightbulb seemed to go off in her head. "Oh, right! There's supposed to be a lovely garden at the back of the school. I heard it's a great spot to relax and maybe get a bite to eat from the nearby café. How about we check that out while we wait for tomorrow?"
Rin's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That sounds perfect! I'd love to see the garden. Plus, it'll be a nice change of pace after our walk."
"Wait, a garden?" Kyouya's eyes widened at the suggestion.
"Yes," Mizuki's head cocked to the side, "Why? Is there something wrong, Miyazaki-san?"
Kyouya then realized everyone's eyes were on him, so he raised his hands and shook off the girl's concern. "No, no, nothing wrong with that. Walking through gardens can be a great way to relax and get inspired."
"Inspired, huh?" Len seemed to ponder this for a moment, before smiling, "Yeah, that makes sense. Nature is a great source of artistic material, after all."
Iroha nodded, "I'd like to try out the treats at this café as well, so I'm definitely on board!"
"Yay~! Okay then! Onward to the school gardens!" Yuuki agreed, his fervour returning. "Let's go~~!"
As the group made their way to the garden, Kyouya couldn't help but feel a sense of anxiety rising in his body. 'Is it... because of that dream?' He thought back to the strange series of events that occurred in his head as he slept on the way to Yamaha. 'Tch, that was just a dream, Kyouya, why worry about it...?' Kyouya shook his head to clear his mind and tried to focus on the easy conversation that was being had among the rest of the group.
Quite a bit of new faces this time around, huh? This chapter, we got the Kagamines (or rather, the Kagamine and the Shimoda), and VY1 (Mizki), VY2 (Yuuma), Iroha and even Moke! Hope you like how I've portrayed everyone, and also hope you don't mind the Mizki/Yuuma pairing! Honestly, I don't know why this pairing isn't more popular, the two voicebanks are practically made to go together, like a Meiko/Kaito kind of deal! I've seen Yuuma paired with Gumi, IA and even Yukari, but people barely pair the 2 VYs. It's probably because they aren't as popular generally, or because they don't have official avatars, but it's still sad, man :(
Anyway, outfit check!
...
Outfits in this Chapter:
(Main Outfit; Socks/Shoes; Accessories)
Yuuma - A moss-green shirt and dark grey jeans all underneath a white hoodie with green linings; pink and black high-tops; a black beanie. (essentially it's all a simplified ver of his outfit, based on Tsukasa Ryuuguu's VY2 Roro art)
Moke - A white shirt and baggy jeans all underneath a loose-fitting blue/white sweater with red hoodie drawstrings; white/blue sneakers with red laces; simple silver hairslides.
Rin - Melancholy Module, without the headphones, pochette and animal accessories. (Designed by Chiho, Project Diva)
Len - Starmine Module, minus headphones and bag. (Designed by Yu, Project Diva)
Iroha - A white, short-sleeved shirt with puffed sleeves and a Hello Kitty logo, denim blue short overalls w/Hello Kitty patch on the front, black 3/4 length leggings; red ballet flats; red bow tied around ponytail. (Fanart by Mera/Canopusia)
Mizuki - A long-sleeved pink dress that stops at the knees, with white cuffs and a black belt; beige heeled slippers with black straps; a pink flower hairclip. (Design for VY1 derived from MMD models by Pebbulz/KisaMaji, ChilkyArts and Arlvit) - these credits may not be completely accurate. sorry.
...
Sidenote: Can you believe that there's people who don't like Roro's design? I'm not talking about the people that think the design doesn't match the voice, but people who straight up do not like it at all. Like, it's so glorious I can't understand... I also wonder how these same people feel about the 'canon' designs that Yamaha gave VY2 and VY1 for the AI Voice update thing :/ (also, random, but I once saw someone back in like 2018, 2019 say the design was akin to a danganronpa character and honestly, they weren't wrong in my eyes lol)
Alsooo, speaking of Yukari, just a heads up that she's gonna appear again in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that! ;)
Anyway, I'll leave off here for now.
'Till next time (whenever that may be)~!
~*:･ﾟ✧