Yay, third chapter! So, I got quite a few followers and favorites, so I decided to get to work on the next chapter right away. This one was harder to write than the others for some reason. If any of you have ideas for the next chapter (which will be in Rin's POV once again), just drop a review and I'll see what I can do. I'm looking forward to getting back to Rin and Gumi. They're fun to write~

Warnings: Very light yuri.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.

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Power: ON.

Welcome, Unit HATSUNE MIKU.

I awaken to the warm light of the afternoon sun, which had risen much earlier than me. I can hear the chittering of creatures known as "birds" outside, their calls sweet and melodic. Sometimes, I think to myself that even birds are able to sing better than me on my worst days. Luka always tells me otherwise, though. I'm very grateful for her support...

Memories of yesterday flash through my processor. The mall. The rain. Meiko. The cafe, and the incident. The incident that had occurred in the womans' bathroom. When I had admitted my feelings to Luka, and she in return confessed her's.

And... And the kiss.

I remember seeing human couples preform this action on Luka's television. She would always sigh in a listful, longing manner. I never understood why, until now. I remember feeling... "love" and "happiness". Emotions that I had never felt before. As a machine, feelings like those should be far beyond my reach. I am inferior to human beings, in a way.

"Miku, you should get up now. It's past 7 o'clock, and I need to go meet someone for a bit. It's very urgent," Luka says as she opens the door to my temporary bedroom quarters. She has her writing notebook in the one hand. I can safely assume that she's going out to meet someone who has a vast knowledge of writing.

"Yes, I should," I sigh. "Why are you in a hurry?" I unplug myself from my recharge cables and quizzically look to her for answers. Luka fidgets, her pale eyes flitting about.

"I've just finished the manuscript for one of my books, and I'm going to meet up with my editor for a few minutes. It's just a quick talk. If you want, we could go do whatever you'd like to do afterwards," she tells me.

"That would be nice," I murmur. Luka is such a hard worker, something that I really admire about her. "Maybe... Maybe we can go get some food... And perhaps walk around a bit."

Luka smiles. "Oh, yeah. You haven't been out much, have you?" I shake my head. "Well, maybe I can show you our resident high school... The one that Gumi goes to." She looks so depressed at that moment. "Well, breakfast's waiting downstairs. Go eat some, and then we'd better hurry."

. . . .

I'm still not accustomed to riding in Luka's car. The bumps in the road don't help much either, to my disappointment. Luka glances back at me. "Okay, I want you to stand quietly. Don't do anything reckless and wait." She parks and looks out the window. A young woman, her hair long and flaxen blonde, is waiting outside. Her legs are crossed, her arms resting against the hood of her car. Instantly I can sense an aura of authority surrounding this woman. Luka tenses as she approaches her, offering her hand, which the woman gladly shakes in return. Luka says something inaudible, opening her notebook and showing it to the woman. I zero in on their conversation, although I have not been given permission.

"So... How is it so far, Lily?" Luka asks.

Lily places one finger against her mouth, pondering. "Hmm. I think it's good so far, but you might want to check to make sure you don't use the same words repeatedly. Like here, in paragraph four..." Luka bends over to look. I stop listening for a while and sink back into my seat in the back of the car. I don't wish to cause trouble, so instead I decide to stay back here, out of the way.

I hear a loud tap against my window. "Pssh. Hey."

I turn. Startled by the sudden noise, I almost don't register the small, unkempt little teenager standing by my window. She's hidden from Luka's and Lily's eyes, and she seems to want to talk to me. Luka has taken her car keys with her, so I can't roll my window down. I strain to hear the girl's quiet voice. She's wearing a worn down hoodie, a few of its seams undone, with the hood covering her mop of yellow hair. Her eyes are blue, an unusual teal shade much like my own. Her small hand is pressed up against the cold face of my window.

"... Ey, you're... Iku, right?"

I stare in confusion. Her words are muffled by the protective barrier between us. Processing... Sentence most likely translates to: "Hey, you're Miku, right?" It is a rough translation, but it makes sense, so I take it that's what she was saying to me. I nod. The young girl grins.

"Hey, Miku. My name's Rin." Ah. Unit RIN. I access her file. Not much information was given by Luka, but from what I heard that day, Rin is Gumi's new girlfriend. They have been together for approximately six months and eight days. She doesn't seem like the kind of person who would date Gumi; messy, unkempt, a bit on the "tomboy" side... She does give off somewhat of a cheerful, carefree aura, though. She seems like everything Gumi isn't. I'm panicking, hoping Luka doesn't decide to cut her conversation with Lily short.

"Say, that's Luka, the girl you live with, right?" Rin asks. She's pointing at the Luka with obvious interest.

"Uh, yes..." I reply. What is she trying to do?

"Ah, I thought so. She's pretty; you must feel pretty lucky to have her," Rin whistles, flashing me a knowing smile. I can feel a blush staining my cheeks. "Eh, no need to get all embarrassed. Luka and my girlfriend Gumi used to date back in the day..." she continues, eyes saddening. "Gumi didn't treat her the way she wanted to be treated, and..." I look closely at Rin's neck. Curious. I can see a few shallow marks embedded on her pale skin; almost like... Like bite marks. Rin notices me staring and laughs nervously.

"Well, we're in our own relationship now," she says. "I know Luka and Gumi both miss each other occasionally, and I just happened to find you two down the street, so I thought I'd say hi..." She pauses, realizing that she's rambling. "Oh, yeah. Miku. I have to tell you something." She leans in, her breath fogging up the window. I lean in as well.

"Luka's fragile. It might take a while for her scars to heal, so..." Her eyes soften and she smiles. "If it's not that much, please take care of her. She needs someone. Someone other than Gumi, and I think she might open up to you if you give her patience."

I hear footsteps as Luka, notebook in hand, walks up to her car and presses a button on her car key pad. There's a click, telling her that her car has been unlocked. Rin's eyes widen, and she mouths a quick goodbye before running down the sidewalk, her hands in her pockets. Luka opens the door and settles down in the drivers' seat.

"How did it go?" I prompt her.

"Great," she answers. "Lily helped me fix up a few things."

The ride to Gumi's school is uneventful.

. . . .

We stop by the school's entrance. Its size is almost overwhelming, and instantly I feel the urge to ask Luka questions about what human teenagers do in "high school". I've heard that they learn here, and there are teachers. That's about all I know, though, so I'm eager to add more information to my banks. Luka leads me to the school's doors.

"This is where Rin and Gumi go to school," she tells me. "It's not very exciting here. Maybe we can go check out the movie theatre, or go get some ice cream, o-or..." She sighs. "I give. I don't have any more ideas..."

"Hey, Luka!" a new voice chimes. I turn to see... A boy. A young boy, around Rin's age, with a similar mop of blonde hair and teal eyes. They look so identical... Maybe they are twins. Luka never told me Rin had a brother. Perhaps she didn't know... After all, Gumi probably never told her.

"Oh, Len!" she exclaims, ruffling the shorter boy's hair. "How's Rin doing? Oh, how's school? Are you doing your homework? Have you started your essay yet?" Len swats Luka's hand away, although he doesn't look annoyed. He looks... A bit melancholy, a word I learned from Luka.

"Rin's doing okay..." he says quietly. "I haven't seen her in a really long time, except at school, but when she texts me, she always seems so happy..." He looks Luka in the eye. "I'm worried for her, Luka. I really am. Every time I meet her before class starts, she looks so tired... I hate when she keeps stuff away from me..."

Luka wraps her arms around him. "It's okay... I'm sure Rin's just fine..." Inside, though, I can tell she's hurting. She knows why Rin is so "down in the dumps". It's Gumi. It's all Gumi's fault, and she knows it. Telling Len about Gumi might not be the best choice, though, so she keeps silent.

"Hey, who's the new girl you got with you?" he asks after he pulls away from Luka's motherly embrace. I feel the need to hide myself from his watchful gaze. Luka nudges me closer to the blonde boy.

"This is Miku. Hatsune Miku. I'm sure you've heard of her; she's the new Vocaloid that was recently released by Crypton," she says. I wave shyly at Len. I don't yet feel comfortable around him, but if he's related to Rin, I'm sure I can learn to like him. Len smiles at me.

"Nice to meet you, Miku," he welcomes me. He looks at Luka. "So... You two live in the same house, right? And, I heard from Rin that the two of you are a bit friendlier than most friends usually are..." I know what he's implying. Luka knows too, and she blushes furiously.

"Ah, no, no, not exactly... Like that..." she protests weakly. "We're not in a relationship." She then leans closer to my ear and adds quietly, "At least, not yet." Len raises an eyebrow, but seems to take the hint and drops the subject.

"Alright, whatever you say," he says. "I'll tell Rin you said hi." He walks away, and Luka leads me back to her car.

. . . .

LEN KAGAMINE: hey. Rin, how's the essay going?

RIN KAGAMINE: Pretty well. Just gotta finish up the last paragraph and I'll be ready to go.

LEN KAGAMINE: that's good. Rin, i gotta ask you something.

RIN KAGAMINE: Yeah, what?

LEN KAGAMINE: this might sound a bit overprotective, but i haven't seen you a lot outside of school. i need to know what's going on. could you tell me?

RIN KAGAMINE: You don't need to know everything about my life outside of school. I like to keep to myself.

LEN KAGAMINE: i get that, i just want to know what you've been up to and i'll leave it at that

RIN KAGAMINE: I've been busy. Gotta go, bye.

LEN KAGAMINE: Rin, wait! could you meet me after school again?

Rin doesn't reply.