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It was an average day in Gekido City. The townsfolk were going about their daily business, but little did they know that things in their usually peaceful city would become hectic. Of course, that is realized later as we tend to some less important business in the matter, though it is indeed connected somehow. Whether majorly or vaguely has yet to be seen, of course, but nevertheless, everything all comes together.One of the common citizens, Meiko Sakine, loved to sing and record her own songs. Her best friend whom she confided in was Luka Megurine who was dating a man with long, purple hair by the name of Kamui Gakupo. Luka was always such an open, girly person, without hesitation gleeful in her love of cute things and never shy around her soon to be mate. In all honesty, Meiko was slightly envious of that fact about her. Typically, Meiko was seen as a strong young woman with a very tough exterior. Not many people liked to engage with her, because if you cross her in any way, you might find yourself beaten to a near bloody pulp or on a good day, you'll walk away with bruising.One such person who had appeared to cross that line several times over, never ceasing, would be a blue-haired guy around her age by the name of Kaito Shion. It was no secret that he liked Meiko very much, though sadly all his attempts to get close had failed him and he's been lucky not to have found himself in a hospital. As Meiko sat on a bench while she waited for her best friend to get drinks from the vending machine, Kaito would soon come into view in a jog. Headphones pumped music in his ears as he went, wearing casual clothes and red rimmed glasses, and Meiko could hear him faintly singing to himself."Hope you like cherry soda, because that's all they got left!" Luka chimed, handing the can to Meiko and breaking her out of her thoughts."Huh? Oh, that's fine." Meiko replied, promptly pulling the tab as it was handed to her.Luka took a seat beside her, noticing her gaze. "Hey, who're you looking at?""I'm not looking at anyone." Meiko told her, almost defensively."Hm?" Luka looked over her shoulder a bit and noticed the blue jogging figure coming into view. "Hey, that's Kaito Shion, right?""Mmhmm..." Meiko's voice sounded less than enthusiastic about that fact."Ooh, I think he's kinda cute and he sings really well, doesn't he?""Tch, I bet he listens to his own songs all day when he's out like this!"Unfortunately for Meiko, that fact would soon be proven wrong as his path crossed passed them. He was definitely singing along to whatever he was listening to, but it was not his own song. His voice would no longer sound distant, but crisp and clear, belting out these lyrics; mishi no basho ni tada hitori, shikatanai ne... (traveling alone on an unknown road, that's unavoidable)."Hmm, that doesn't sound like one of his songs...it sure sounds familiar though." Luka put a finger to her chin. "I can't put my finger on it."Meiko gasped, feeling a mix of fury, shock, and utter most horror. "Th-That's Change Me...""Change me....oh yeah! That's your song, isn't it?""And what the hell is he doing listening to---""Aww, but shouldn't you be flattered someone likes your song so much?""Shut up, it's....j-just wrong if it's him..." While her face contorted in disgust, her cheeks were turning a bright red. She didn't dare look at her friend in the eye, lest she notice. Luka always seemed to notice these things.The long pink-haired woman noticed Meiko's fist clenching at her side, which set off many alarms. "Meiko, don't do it! It's not worth it!""What do you mean? He's slaughtering one of my greatest hits, I must defend my honor!""Uhhh...what?"Meiko was in a state of fury, and was about to take off running to let Kaito have it, until Luka grabbed her wrist and forced her to halt. "Calm down, Meiko, please!" she pleaded. "Why in the world are you so irritated by him, anyway? He's never caused you any trouble, in fact he seems really nice and friendly toward you.""That's what partially pisses me off..." she seethed."It pisses you off that he's nice and friendly? Hmm...I would think that would be a good thing.""No, no, of course that's good, it's just that---""Meiko!!!" A familiar voice called her name, causing Meiko to flinch. It would seem her presence did not go unnoticed, as the blue haired young man was waving at her from the distance and making a run back toward her. His face beamed brightly with happiness, while Meiko's expressed confusion and stuttering. "H-Huh...?" Meiko took a step back as Kaito began closing the distance very fast with each step he took. Luka remained seated on the bench, smiling as she began to observe the scene."Hey, good afternoon!" he greeted, slightly catching his breath."Y-Yeah, good afternoon Kaito..." Meiko forcefully replied, her gaze going off to the side instead of toward him."Hi Kaito!" Luka happily waved in the background. "You're quite cheerful today. Enjoying your run?"Kaito nodded, then scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, but I almost tripped when I lost focus a moment ago...""Must have been when you noticed Meiko and I, right?""Tch..." Meiko's hand clenched at her side hearing that, muttering. "Not my fault he's clumsy....""Meiko...?" Kaito noticed something was up with her, so naturally he became a little concerned. "Is something wrong?"Her gaze sharply met his with this one word. "Idiot!""Ummm....?"Without hesitation, Meiko angerily swiped Kaito's MP3 player from his hand, causing Kaito's eyes to widen a bit in shock, staggering back a little. Meiko's thumb hastily went up and down the roller, scrolling through all the titles of songs in his main playlist. You'd think in this situation either Kaito would grab it back, telling her not to take his stuff like that, or that Luka would begin scolding her to stop, explaining how rude that was. However, both found themselves speechless by the act and said nothing as she did her thing.A strange feeling bubbled inside of Meiko's stomach as the titles scrolled by. "Th-These are all my..." Sure, there was quite the variety in here, but a good portion, if not most of his playlist was made up of her songs and even her covers. In fact, if it was a song she covered, the original version was nowhere to be found, indicating he probably liked her variation better. Her curious, pink haired best friend loomed over a bit and slightly smiled, thinking how that seemed so sweet. As for Meiko, she was torn between whether to be flattered or outraged; deep inside, it made her feel good since she was often underrated, but on the outside she was beginning to think he was a creep."U-Um, Meiko...?" Luka said nervously, in a slightly hushed tone of voice. "Maybe you should give that back to him now."Meiko rolled her eyes. "Alright fine, here's your stupid----nnn!"Her eyes widened and she paused as a look of sheer dread and sweat appeared on her face, accompanied by furious blushing. A certain duet cover was listed, to which she was so shocked and embarrassed, she literally just tossed the music device into oblivion, slightly shaking nervously after the deed was done. Both Luka and Kaito's eyes widened, their faces wearing the exact same expression."H-Hey!" It all happened so fast, this reaction seemed a bit delayed, though it was surprising Kaito didn't seem as angry as he could be right now.Meiko was breathing heavily, an unpleasant expression upon her features. Once she caught her breath and recovered from her own shock, her left arm extended the direction where she tossed it, pointing with her index finger. "Go fetch."Kaito looked a bit confused. "Excuse me...?""If you want it back, go fetch it yourself!"A sigh of frustration escaped his mouth, but he promptly ran the direction the device was tossed to go and retrieve it.Luka grabbed Meiko's wrist once the blue haired figure was out of sight. "That was mean! Why'd you do that?""None of your business.""What, did he have some picture of you in there or something?""N-No..." her face was beginning to turn red again. "I just didn't like one of the songs on there.""Huh?" Luka was baffled, and that seemed like a rather lame excuse to throw someone's music device into oblivion. Actually, Meiko shouldn't have taken it in the first place.Meanwhile, poor Kaito was out hunting in the fields of the park, praying nobody running around have come into contact with the stomping of their feet. The white music player was now visible in the blades of grass, and he picked it up, quickly making sure it was functioning. The song that was the reason for Meiko tossing it out here was still highlighted by the scroller, causing Kaito to sigh sadly as he plugged his headphones back into the jack, promptly playing it.Now back to Meiko and Luka....Meiko didn't even turn to look at her friend since the blush didn't seem to want to fade away. Luka was quite confused why her friend didn't want to look her in the eye. "Uh, Meiko, what's wrong?""Sh-Shut up, I said it's none of your business!""I still think you should apologize to Kaito for doing that.""W-Why should I? He had it coming....""For one, you shouldn't have scrolled through his player in the first place! You just yanked it away without even asking, that's practically stealing, you know.""So what? He was pissing me off."Luka sighed in defeat. "I don't get you sometimes. I mean, seriously, what song would upset you so much to do that?"The title once again crossed Meiko's mind. She got butterflies in her stomach just thinking about it. In truth, the song truly described what she always felt whenever he was near her, but this was something she would not admit to anyone...and would constantly deny to herself.In the distance once again, Kaito wasn't too far off. He wasn't jogging this time though; he just walked at a leisure pace, hands in his pockets and head slightly lowered with his eyes pretty much directed toward his shoes as his mind wandered about in thought. However, he would stop a moment and see that Luka and Meiko were still there, and while he still felt depressed about what just transpired, he began to smile warmly and started to pick up the pace a little as he continued walking in their direction.By some coincidence, Meiko broke out of her own thoughts and noticed the blue haired figure coming toward them again. She gasped in horror and slowly started backing away. "L-Luka, let's get out of here....""Pardon...?" Luka then noticed Kaito in the distance, leisurely approaching. "Meiko, it's just Kaito again, in fact this is a great opportunity for you to---" Luka was suddenly a bit taken aback by the sheer terror in Meiko's eyes. "Uhh, Meiko...? Why are you panicking?""Dammit, he's probably pissed at me and will attack me for throwing his music player all that way...shoot, I'm screwed if it's broken!" Meiko was slowly backing up as she said this, genuinely nervous and intimidated to Luka's confusion, to which her friend tilted her head. "Attack you...? Kaito...?" That sounded almost laughable, as Luka looked to see Kaito smiling and waving toward their direction. It wouldn't take long for the blue haired young man to notice Meiko taking off for no apparent reason, and in an attempt to persue her, Kaito began to pick up the pace more and the once leisurely walk had now turned into a full on run. "Hey, Meiko! Wait!"'Dammit, he saw me' Meiko quickly turned her head to glance behind her, only to find out that Kaito had nearly caught up to her. 'CRAP! He's faster than he looks,THIS SUCKS!'She tried to speed up her pace, but soon was stopped when a hand wrapped around her arm. "Hold on...!"Both came to an abrupt stop, Meiko's breathing intensified, and Kaito trying to catch his. He was pretty exhausted by now, but once he got a hold of himself, he stood up straight and looked at her. "Hey, why were you running away like that?""I-I..." Meiko was stuttering, she didn't know how to answer that. She hated feeling this way, and it pissed her off to no end.Kaito was genuinely concerned and wondered if he could do anything to help, so he put his hand on her shoulder, asking if there was a way to make her feel better. However, the sudden touch caused Meiko's reflexes to react, and she immediately grabbed his outstretched arm with both her hands and flipped him over. Luka had persued after the two, only to find the poor blue haired figure writhing in pain on the ground with Meiko as the culprit."Come on, let's go..." Meiko said, walking passed Luka."Uhh..." Luka quickly glanced back at Kaito, who still seemed to be in quite a bit of pain as he slowly pulled himself up before taking off to follow her friend. As the two girls walked off, Kaito could only stare at their backs, sighing in sadness and utter defeat."Ah, there he is!" A sudden boy's voice pointed out."Kaito!!" A voice similar, yet more feminine than the male's voice shouted after. The sound of scurrying footsteps could be heard as a blond 14-year-old girl pounced on the blue haired young man, her identical twin brother standing not far behind them. The two were none other than the Kagamine twins, Rin and Len, who he often hung out with. "Hey, you alright Kaito? Why are you on the ground?""Isn't it obvious? He got dumped again." Len told her, both his arms behind his head in a relaxed stance."Brother, that's mean!" Rin then immediately looked back to Kaito, staring sharply into his eyes. "Is that true, though?"Sighing, Kaito gently pushed Rin off of him, getting back on his feet and sweeping his pants of dirt with his hands.Len nodded at this as confirmation of his theory. "Yup. Clearly Meiko's work."Rin suddenly sprung to her feet. "Shh! What if she's still in earshot?""Oh...well, it's true!""Hush! I think I still see her in the distance!""You guys don't have to worry about her." Kaito assured the two. "I'd probably get the brunt of it anyway.""What does Meiko have against you anyway, if I may ask?" Rin asked curiously."He's Kaito, plain and simple." Len stated."Len!!""Maybe he's right..." Kaito muttered to himself. Perhaps just his mere existence caused Meiko's nerves to twist, at least that's what it seemed like. Yet he was still crazy and perserverent enough to keep persuing her, though at times it was tiring to get beat up all the time."I think it's dumb that she treats you that way, I mean you're always so nice to her!" Rin said. "I think you're really sweet and she's just too blind to see that.""Worrying about that woman's mind is tiring, let's go do something else." Len said, letting his arms fall back to his sides. He was obviously bored and didn't have much interest in the discussion of Kaito's complicated love life with the firey Meiko. He was either truly in love or an idiotic psychotic to keep persuing her, but eh, 'tis his funeral not theirs."Okay, what do you guys want to do?" Kaito asked."Oh, oh, let's do karaoke!" Rin said excitedly, raising her hand."We did that last week," Len groaned. "How about we play soccer or something?""But there's only three of us, the teams will be unbalanced.""So? More of a challenge for Kaito!""OR!" she gave an angry glance to her brother as the word sharply escaped her mouth, then returned to her warm, smiling self. "We could invite Miku or Kaiko to play too?" she suggested, but then with a sly expression, leaned into Len and added; "Or maybe you'd prefer Gumi.""Aheheh...M-Miku or Kaiko sounds fine...." Len said nervously, surpressing the red that would be coloring his cheeks right now at the sound of the green, short-haired girl's name. "M-Maybe Kaiko, we could do Kagamine vs. Shion, or brothers vs. sisters?""Oh, oh! That sounds fun! How about it, Kaito?""Sure, I'll call her up." Kaito promptly took out his cellphone to call up his younger sister for the game, the two Kagamines high-fiving each other in the background.It wouldn't be long before the Kagamine twins and the Shion siblings were out on the grass, kicking a soccer ball around. Meiko was still close by, chatting with her friend Luka who was going on and on about how excited she was about her date with Gakupo tonight and some pink squid creature she found and adopted as a pet."Gakupo thinks it's really weird, though," Luka continued. "I think its adorable! I named her Takoluka; it's weird 'cause her tentacles look just like my hair style, we match great!"Luka's voice was starting to grow faint as Meiko's focus shifted quickly from her friend's chattering to the blond and blue figures happily playing amongst the grass. She couldn't help but think that it looked like a lot of fun, and in truth, she secretly wanted to join them but all she could do was watch. Kaito's younger sister, Kaiko, was among them now. She pretty much looked like a female version of her older brother, and was equally as sweet yet appeared to act less foolish."Hehehe..." Rin deviously laughed as both her and her brother were closing in on Kaiko."We got you now!" Len shouted."U-Umm..." Kaiko had the ball and was confused how to get out of this. They had set a blue and yellow flag as the goal points, but sadly had no goalies to guard them but this was just for fun anyway and these teams of siblings typically played games by their own rules regardless."Kaiko!!" her older brother called. "Pass it to me, those two left their flag unguarded!""Eh?!" Simultaniously the twins turned to look at him, giving Kaiko the opportunity to escape and kick the ball to her brother. However, the force at which she kicked it was too great, and she sent the ball flying at Kaito's face. The blue haired young man fell backward with a loud thud noise, the three younger singers standing there with a pained look on their face since that probably hurt."Ahh, Kaito! I'm so sorry!" his little sister promptly ran for him, making sure he was still alive or something."That looked painful." Len commented.Rin nodded in agreement. "Good thing he took his glasses off.""Oniichan, are you alive? Speak to me!" Kaiko was shaking him, hoping to get a response, until finally a moan of pain escaped his mouth and he promptly sat up, rubbing his own forehead. In sheer relief, his sister wrapped her arms around him, almost crying, "I'm so glad I didn't kill you, I'm sorry!"He slightly laughed, patting Kaiko's head. "It's OK, I've been through worse, trust me...""Meiko, are you even listening to me?" Luka said, feeling a bit offended. Meiko seemed almost in a trance, staring widely at the scene before her. Luka waved her hand in front of Meiko in an attempt to get her out of it. "Uh, Meiko...?"Curious as to what would take her friend's attention, Luka saw the little spectacle of Kaiko making sure her brother didn't die from that soccer ball and everyone promptly returning to their game despite that. A small, warm smile was forming on Meiko's lips, and she put her hand to her mouth as if she tried covering up the subtle giggling that was emerging. Before the game between the Kagamine twins and the Shion siblings continued, Kaito's gaze would briefly meet Meiko's. Of course, Kaito smiled at her, happily waving, to which a soft blush appeared on Meiko's cheeks and she sharply turned away before anyone could notice.Luka was beginning to get rather curious. "Meiko, do you actually...?""Hmph! Don't even say out loud what kind of nonsense you're thinking, Luka."Her friend sighed, deciding to give up for now, but that didn't mean she'd put it to rest forever. "Fine then. Well, I better get ready for tonight. I wouldn't want to keep Gakupo waiting for me, since I think it is rude to make a man have to wait so long. I'll tell you how it goes tomorrow, OK?""Okay, have fun." Meiko waved as her friend began to walk off, then sighed. 'She's so lucky...'As she thought this, she turned her gaze back to the soccer game of the two sibling teams. Her eyes fell on Kaito more often than not, and once again she thought about that duet song she saw earlier on his music device, followed by an audible sigh as she finally decided to get off the bench and leave the park for now.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
It was late as Gakupo escorted the lovely Luka Megurine back to her apartment. She was still ecstatic about their date even after it was finished, though a bit disappointed for it to end."Thanks for walking me back home!" she told him, genuinely thankful."It only seems right to escort a lady when it's this late." he told her.Luka smiled at him. "Why of course!"She stuck her key in the lock, promptly opening the door and calling for her little pink squid pet. Immediately, scurrying could be heard, and her beloved Takoluka jumped on her back, crawling to the top of her head. Gakupo, a little startled, staggered back a couple of steps. "Whoa!""Something wrong, my love?" she asked, smiling identically like the creature clinging to her shoulder."Sorry," Gakupo then cleared his throat. "It's just that....thing...startled me a bit.""Oh, you mean her?" Luka gestured her head a bit, leaning toward the pink squid like creature. "Takoluka's really friendly, you know. Here, would you like to hold her?""Uh, no thank you!" Gakupo put both his hands up near his face, indicating to keep away, before quickly changing his stance."Aww, why not?" Luka questioned in a whiny tone of voice."Just...please, no thanks."She sighed, her eyes shifting to the little creature on her shoulder as she walked into her apartment. "Don't worry, Takoluka, he'll warm up to you eventually, I'm sure of it!" Before closing the door, Luka's head turned toward Gakupo one last time. "Hey, um, would you...like to have dinner here tomorrow evening? I've learned how to make eggplant parmesan and I would like you to try it out.""Sure, that's fine." his index finger then pointed at Takoluka. "And what about...?""Takoluka? Ahahaha! Don't worry, I have that taken care of. Rin Kagamine agreed to look after her, so we'll get to be alone~"A sigh of relief escaped Gakupo's mouth, though he tried to hide it. "Excellent...I-I mean, yeah! That sounds like a plan. I'll see you tomorrow night then, around...?""7 o'clock. Don't be late~""I won't." And with that, the door was shut. Gakupo fell back to the wall, leaning on it for support. "I swear, there's something about that Takoluka that rubs me the wrong way..." he said to himself. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box, looking at its contents before promptly stuffing it back as he proceeded to head home. "At least I'll get to be alone with Luka. Tomorrow's as good a time as any!" A tired Meiko found herself at the park again with her best friend, who thought it was alright to drag her here to talk about how excited she was about tonight. Meiko didn't even get the chance to comb her hair, really, so she looked like she literally just hopped out of bed."I'm so excited but so nervous at the same time!" Luka admitted. "Last night, there seemed to be something on his mind, like he was dying to tell me something important but never got the chance to."Meiko yawned, running her fingers through her hair, almost like an attempt to make it presentable. Lucky for her, she kept it short so it wasn't a tangled mess. "I don't know, perhaps he's going to propose to you or something..."Luka gasped when that suggestion was uttered from her friend's mouth. "Do you really think so, Meiko?"'Oh no, please don't squeal....' Meiko thought nervously. "Well perhaps, I mean, Gakupo seems to have never been able to take his eyes off you since day 1, so why wouldn't he?"Luckily for Meiko, Luka was able to express her new found excitement in a delighted sigh rather than a gleeful squee. Meiko could only imagine the butterflies that were fluttering in that's woman's stomach right now, and although her face was struck with happiness, she was slightly trembling as well. She must be really nervous now, especially since Luka did mention cooking for him tonight with his favorite vegetable."J-Just don't get too disappointed if I'm wrong, though!" Meiko quickly added. "I'm just guessing, my guesses could be wrong!""Ah, that's true. I better not get too overworked over something that might not happen." Luka agreed. "I should just focus on making him the best meal he'll ever eat, which I hope entices him to make the decision someday.""I think you've already enticed him, Luka...."A sly expression graced Luka's lips, very sensual and almost frightening. "Hmm, you think so? Well, I do admit I can be pretty alluring at times~""Heh, you don't even need to try! You not only have an adorable face, but a sexy figure and silky hair!" And it was one of the things Meiko really envied about her. She wasn't just a sexy body, but she had a nice face to look at, with a pleasant personality to boot. Though Meiko also had the assets and hour glass figure, she felt like her face couldn't compare to her other colleagues. On top of that, Meiko was often harsh which didn't help her image, both physically and socially."Hey, since we're on the topic of men, I was curious..." As soon as Luka said that, Meiko knew she wasn't going to like the question. "What kind of guys do you like?""H-Huh?" Meiko's tone was shaky, while her cheeks were turning a light pink. "This isn't an attempt to hook me up with someone, is it?"Luka laughed, waving her hand in a negative motion. "Not at all, I've just wanted to know what sort of things you find attractive. Pretty much Gakupo sums it up for me, but what about you?""Oh, well...." Meiko turned her head, eyes looking downward as she twiddled her fingers upon her lap. "No laughing, or I swear I'll show no mercy!""Don't worry, I won't! Promise~"Meiko sighed. She'd just continue to pry her in other ways somewhere down the line, so it was best to get it over with while she asked directly instead. "I like...r-really nice guys. You know, the kind that would be sweet and make me laugh and always find ways to keep me from being depressed. He'd be the kind never to give up no matter how hard it gets, he'd be a lot stronger than he looks despite his kind demeanor...he'd probably see things in me nobody else can, or even myself....""Aww, wow, so it's the sweet kinda guy you like~!" Luka put her hands together, leaning on them. "Wait...""See! I knew you'd---""No, no, actually I expected your type to be along the lines of Big Al or maybe even Hiyama-sensei, but...""But what?!"She put a finger to her cheek, eyes looking upward and slightly off to the side in analysis. "From what you just told me, didn't you just describe Kaito?"At that moment, Meiko felt as if she was turned into concrete and about to shatter into a million pieces. "I-I wasn't describing anyone specific!""Hm, are you sure? Because Kaito seems to fit that to a T.""Tch, and how would that blue haired idiot fit into all that?" Meiko was seething, but her face was clearly red. But she could always brush it off as sheer anger and annoyance.Luka smiled, putting her index finger up. "Well, for one, Kaito's very sweet and you know you can't deny it. He seems to always get even the faintest of smiles out of you even when you're pissed off, including toward him. I'm sure he's stronger than he looks...after all, I think he'd be dead by now otherwise. Doesn't he mentor Len Kagamine with some form of martial arts or something? Also he seems to compliment you more than anyone else, I don't think I've ever once heard a complaint about you from him. And I don't know whether looks matter to your or not, but he is pretty cute~"'Damn you, Luka...' Meiko seethed."Oh! And what you said about never giving up, he is quite the optimistic one. I heard about how his debut didn't go so well, with the 500 units thing? But now look, he's doing pretty well!"At hearing that, a slightly pained, sad expression appeared on Meiko's features. Her head turned off to the side a bit, speaking slightly low. "Yeah...he is..."Luka leaned a bit to try and look at her. "Is something wrong?"Meiko's eyes widened, and she quickly changed her mood. "I'm tired and hungry, that's all. Plus it sorta grinds my nerves to be dragged out of bed only to hear her best friend go on and on about her date tonight.""Aheheheh..." Luka scratched the back of her head, slightly embarrassed.