Just a warning, this is going to get emotionally dark. Also, long paragraphs.

Luka tapped her fingers on the desk, trying to subvert the absolute boredom that was waiting for the bell to ring and signal the beginning of lunch. She looked at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time and saw it had only moved a couple centimetres. Still twenty minutes until this class was over. She sighed.

She loved her job, but every once in a while you got one of those classes that made you remember all the people warning you not to become a teacher. In her six years of experience she had only come across three of those and this second period English one was the worst of the trio.

"Ms. Megurine!" a young boy yelled, raising his hand and pointing to the worksheet on his desk.

"Yes, Issei?" Luka sighed. This class was particularly bad because it seemed to have a disproportionate number of the pervy boys only found within the bowels of a high school. There is always one or two in a class but this room had six or seven of the most notorious perverts in school. Her only saving grace was that she also had some of the cutest girls to split the attentions of the men.

"How do you say, 'I want to fondle your breasts' in Shakespeare English?" the boy asked, high fiving a friend next to him.

Luka nodded slowly. "Hmm, good question. You would say it with a detention, a trip to the principal's office, and possibly a few years in jail if I decide to press charges," She answered.

"Wait, what?"

"Get out!" Luka yelled, pointing at the door. The boy stood up obediently and made his way for the exit as the whole class burst into laughter.

"Way to go, bro!" one of the other boys in the back called.

"Yeah, man, fool proof plan to win the heart of our beautiful Luka!" another boy chided.

"Damn it, Hal! I told you to never call me by my first name!" Luka scolded. "You can join your buddy in detention later."

"Aww what the fuck!? Only detention? Could you at least hit me a few times? Please?" Hal argued.

Luka rolled her eyes and looked at the clock again. Eighteen minutes until lunch.

"Whoah, who's the babe!" a boy near the window called, pointing outside. Luka imagined a ship capsizing as all the males in the classroom ran for the windows and peered out. Every girl in the room collectively sighed.

"Oh my God she is fine."

"I didn't know they made legs that long!"

"Why is she getting out of your car, Ms. Megurine?"

Luka's eyes shot from the clock to the gathering of curious boys who were now splitting attention between the woman outside and their teacher. Oh no.

Luka walked over to the window and pushed some kids out of the way so she could see one of her nightmares (or dreams, depending on how full the classroom is) making her way to the front door. Miku was wearing a red miniskirt that barely went halfway down her thighs, a white tank top that thankfully was fairly covering, and a pair of matching red high-heeled shoes. Her teal eyes were hidden by a pair of large back sunglasses and her hair was tied in her usual twintails snapped in place with a pair of square plastic ties. The kids weren't wrong, she looked way too sexy to be entering a high school. The only thing holding back drool from Luka's mouth was the confusion of why she was here in the first place; a question answered by the bags of fast food in Miku's hands. Her girlfriend disappeared from sight as she entered the school.

"Do you know her, Ms. Megurine?" a girl asked. A few had gotten up to see the commotion when they noticed the unreadable expression on their teacher's face that festered when she looked outside.

"Yes," Luka answered simply.

"Can you introduce me to her?" Hal asked. Luka backhanded him with a loud crack. "YES! Do it again!"

Luka raised her hand, this time balling it into a fist, but the opening of the door stopped her from decking her student. Miku strut into the classroom nonchalantly as every sound silenced itself to listen to the click-clacking of high heels. The teacher's girlfriend closed the door behind herself, took off her sunglasses, and winked at the other woman in the room.

"What's up, Luka?"

Luka sighed and stepped forward to take her place next to the visitor. "Class, this is my...best friend, Hatsune Miku. You can call her Ms. Hatsune."

"Nice to meet you all!" Miku cheered, waving at the kids gathered by the window.

"Hello, Ms. Hatsune," the class answered. Some kids went back to their seats, some were still dumbstruck and couldn't move.

"So, what brings you here today, Miku?" Luka asked, beads of sweat forming on her forehead beneath her pink bangs.

"You forgot your lunch at home," Miku explained. She held up the bags of fast food. "I didn't want you to get hungry so I thought I would bring you lunch and we could eat together."

"How thoughtful of Ms. Hatsune!" a boy in the back yelled. Murmurs from the other kids agreed.

"Wait, Ms. Megurine?" a girl in the front of the class with pink pigtails asked shyly. Luka nodded at her with a smile. "H-how did she know you forgot your lunch? Uhm, and why was she driving your car?"

"Oh, we live together."

Silence.

Oh no.

"Two ridiculously hot chicks living together?"

"I didn't think these kind of things actually happened!"

"Calm down, kids!" Luka yelled.

"M-MY DICK!" somebody screamed.

Chaos. The boys were huddled in groups doing who knows what and laughing with their perverted smiles, all pulling out their phones and snapping 'discreet' photos. Girls were whispering to each other, the collective sound of so many people trying to keep their voices down was deafening. One poor child had gone into some sort of shock, rocking back and forth holding his legs while blood streamed down his nose. Miku just stood proud at the front of the class, a cocky smirk staining her face.

Luka didn't know what to do. The weight of her embarrassment was crushing her windpipe, preventing her from screaming her way out of this. She could feel her authority as a teacher crumbling away, each scandalous whispered rumour a chisel chipping away at her carefully constructed persona. Her skirt felt tighter, her bra itched, and either her contact lenses stopped working or tears were welling in her eyes. She was fifteen again and everyone was laughing at her. Her hand clenched reflexively and she was sure she felt that bottle of pills within her grasp, half its contents spilling onto the floor, the other half worming their way down her throat. Her head spun and she closed her eyes. It was so damn hot in here. An unsteady hand reached up and scratched at her cheeks, trying to stop the running eyeliner from looking too bad while the other hand clawed at her shirt, trying to loosen a button or two and let some air in.

A third hand aggressively grabbed her lower back. Luka looked over, still wiping away tears and found Miku's teal eyes filled with concern. Her eternal smile had morphed into a frown. Luka didn't want her to frown. The hand on her back started to move in slow, comforting circles and it pulled Luka back in. She wasn't fifteen anymore and she had no reason to feel so weak. She was twenty-seven goddamned years old and she would act like it. She would never go that far down again, nothing would ever be bad enough to justify that. This was just a rowdy classroom, something she dealt with every single day.

Luka straightened her skirt, wiped the last tears out of her eyes and stood tall. Taking in a deep breath she held her hand up.

"Calm do-"

RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING

Lunch time. Luka put her hand down, deflated.

The students filed out of the room as quick as possible, some mouthing giddy goodbyes to their teacher and her 'best friend' on the way out.

"Goodbye, Miku!" Hal greeted, holding his arms out for a hug. "It was nice to meet you."

"Awww how cute," Miku observed, accepting his offer. Luka rolled her eyes as the teen grabbed and held Miku firmly, pressing her breasts against his chest.

"Careful, he might ask for your number," Luka warned.

"Nah, he's okay," Miku argued. "Besides, he won't try to make a play when he learns that I'm a lesbian."

"What!?" Hal yelled, pulling out of the hug. He looked frantically from a smiling Miku to a terrified Luka.

"Just kidding!" Miku cheered, flashing a thumbs up. "Now, go on. Don't think you'll get anything more than a hug."

"And don't forget about your detention later," Luka added, waggling her finger at him.

"I won't," Hal mumbled, still looking suspiciously from Miku to Luka. He backed his way out of the room and into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

Luka counted to five and when the door stayed still afterwards she slumped her shoulders and glanced at Miku who was, of course, smiling brightly.

"What the fuck was that?" Luka demanded, her mouth open slightly, her eyebrows creased with worry, and her hands held out in a pleading gesture. She looked quite flustered.

"What's wrong with visiting my hard working girlfriend and bringing her a nice lunch to enjoy together?" Miku countered innocently.

"It's a problem when nobody here knows I have a girlfriend, for the purposes of job security."

"That's so stupid," Miku argued. "It's the twenty-first century, Luka. Nobody will care if you're gay."

"Don't change the subject," Luka warned. "We've been dating for five months, why do you want to visit me at work now all of a sudden?"

"Wellll," Miku drawled tapping a finger to her jaw. "I didn't have access to a car until recently, soooo..."

"So now that we're living together you're going to use my car to bother me at work?" Luka sighed.

"Hey, I'm not bothering you!" Miku argued. "I'm just showing my love for my one and only."

"Urrghh!" Luka slapped her hand on her desk and shook her head. "I love you too much to get mad at you. This is so frustrating."

"I think it's cute. Now how about we sit down and enjoy our lunch? But first..." Miku stood on her tiptoes to reach Luka's height and puckered her lips.

"...What are you doing?"

"I want a kiss as a reward for bringing you lunch."

"No," Luka denied. "Not at school."

"Okay then," Miku purred. "If you won't give me a kiss I'll just have to steal one!"

"Wait, wha-mmrrhhh!"

Click. The sound of the door handle being pulled.

"Hey, Luka," a man's voice greeted as he entered the classroom. His dark blue eyes dulled with confusion and he scratched his matching blue hair thoughtfully. Luka was sitting at her desk, both hands firmly on the top and very visible. Her eyes were wide open staring straight ahead and her face was flushed a deep red. Next to her was a very attractive young woman with long teal hair and eyes to match that were very interested in the ground. Her hands were linked together behind her back and she was clacking the floor with one of her high heels. Her face was also flushed, just not nearly as much as Luka's.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?"

"Actually, y-"

"Nope," Luka answered quickly, not moving to look at him and interrupting the other girl in the room. "We weren't doing anything, Kaito."

"Ah, okay," Kaito acknowledged awkwardly. "I don't think I know you, Miss...?"

"Hatsune," the younger girl answered with a smile. "Miku Hatsune, but you can call me Miku. Are you a friend of Luka's?"

"I guess you could say that," Kaito agreed, frowning. "I was wondering if Luka wanted to come and eat lunch with me, I was going out."

"Kaito, you know I like to eat lunch in the school," Luka said, finally turning to face the man. "I might actually accept your offer one of these days if you would just go get take out."

"I don't know, I was hoping that maybe we..." he trailed off when he noticed the bags of fast food already on Luka's desk. He looked from them to the new girl and back. Miku was smiling...arrogantly?

"Miku already brought me lunch," Luka explained with a small smile and understanding eyes. "Would you like to go get something then come eat with us?"

"No, it's alright," Kaito accepted dejectedly. "I'll come see you later then?"

"That would be okay."

"Alright, bye." he shut the door on his way out without looking back.

Miku stared at the door a few seconds, her cheeks puffed out. "That guy is in love with you, honey."

"I don't think it's that bad," Luka replied, cringing inwardly. "He just has a crush...that won't go away."

"I guess it's a good thing he didn't see us kissing," Miku shrugged. "Who knows what he would do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Miku smiled. "If I ever saw you with another woman I would probably go home and hang-"

"Don't finish that thought," Luka snapped. Her girlfriend recoiled. "It isn't funny." Luka was glaring daggers at her girlfriend and these daggers were long passed the point of just being sharp, Miku could feel them stabbing her heart already.

"Sorry," the offender offered weakly. She reached over and put her hand on top of Luka's, weaving their fingers together and squeezing lightly. After long hesitant moments Luka squeezed back and relaxed herself, sinking further into her chair and slackening her posture.

"I don't feel well, Miku," Luka sighed.

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Luka shook her head. "Let's just eat."

With another chair pulled up to the desk they did just that.

"Miss Megurine?"

Luka looked up from the papers on her desk to the student at the door. The pink haired student from earlier with the cute pig-tails. She couldn't help herself from looking up at the clock above the door as well. Five minutes until the busses left. Twenty minutes until she could go home.

"You're going to miss your bus, Madoka."

"I know," the girl answered shyly. She tapped the tips of her index fingers together. "I was hoping I could talk to you for a little while? Maybe help me with something?"

"Can it wait until class tomorrow?"

Madoka shook her head. "I would prefer to do this alone."

Luka opened one of her desk's drawers and put the papers inside. Grading would have to wait a while it seemed. She wheeled back from the desk a little and smiled warmly at her student."What's the problem?"

Madoka tentatively walked up to Luka's desk and reached into her book bag. After a bit of fiddling around in there she pulled out two small necklaces similar in size and shape. Both were tiny glass circles with a little dark spot inside. One necklace was purple, the other pink and they had something crudely carved on their surfaces.

"We made these in art class today and, well..." Madoka slowly brought the necklaces together and when they were within a few centimetres of each other they pushed away as if two different gusts of wind forced them apart and then held them in place. Luka watched the necklaces slowly stop wobbling and hold their position a good inch and a half way from each other.

"Magnets. Neat," the teacher offered. "I'm guessing that's not supposed to be what they do?"

Madoka shook her head roughly. "No. I, uhm, I think some boys switched one of my magnets on me when I wasn't looking."

"You want me to punish them? I'll gladly do it."

"No!" Madoka squeaked, shaking her hands. "It was just a prank, but...I was hoping to give this as a gift."

"Ah, so you want help fixing it?" Luka guessed. "Sure, I can go get the janitors to let me in the art room and we can get some supplies." Luka picked up the necklaces and tested them again, watching them split away from each other and never getting close enough to touch. "I love little science things like this. Two magnets of the same polarity can never be together. How fascinating."

"Two of the same can never be together?" Madoka said almost too quietly to hear.

"No, that's not what I said," Luka corrected, still playing around with the faulty necklaces. "I sai-" and then the light bulb went off. Luka's eyes widened and her heart subsequently stopped beating, sunk, and drowned. She looked up and saw Madoka staring at the ground, clawing the hem of her skirt, on the verge of tears. She looked at the necklaces, holding their place apart from each other. She looked closer at what was scratched into their faces. A tiny little H on the pink one, a tiny little M on the purple one. An image of a dark haired girl in one of her classes flashed through Luka's mind. The girl who was inseparable from the tiny girl standing in front of her.

"Oh God," Luka mouthed, her throat too dry to actually speak. She stared at the girl in front of her for a while, unsure of what to do. When she saw a silent tear streak down her young face a daring plan entered her head. A dangerous plan, but one she was sure she wouldn't regret.

Luka cleared her throat. "Madoka, can you hold on a moment? I just have to make a call."

Madoka wiped at her eyes and nodded confirmation. Luka pulled out her cell phone and shakily found the number she was looking for in her speed dial. She exhaled deeply and considered what she was doing. This girl in front of her was a stranger, who knew what would happen?

No.

Luka knew what would happen. This girl was just like her. She clicked the speed dial and held the phone up to her ear.

"..."

"Hey, Miku." Madoka looked up at her teacher, a little curious. "I'm going to be a bit late at school today. I'm helping a student with something."

"..."

"Yes, wait for me for dinner."

"..."

"Miku!

"..."

Luka sighed and held the bridge of her nose. "Just wait to pick me up until I call you."

"..."

"I love you too, Sweetheart. Bye."

That felt good. Like a load let off her shoulders that she had been bearing for a really long time. When Luka looked back up she wasn't surprised to see Madoka's jaw practically on the floor.

"Y-you and Miss Hatsune...you-"

"As Miku loves to say," Luka started, throwing up her hands excitedly. "We're dykes!"

Madoka blushed and looked away. "I never would have guessed. You're both so...pretty."

"So?" Luka countered, digging deep into her wells of confidence to find the energy not to curl up into an embarrassed ball and die. "You're pretty too."

Madoka squeaked and slouched inwards. "H-how did you-"

"Those necklaces are making it obvious, dear. Now, let's stop all this craziness. If we make a big deal out of it ourselves we're only justifying the people who make a big deal out of it in society. Miku told me that."

Madoka opened her mouth but then shut it and nodded her head.

"Let's get down to it, then," Luka said. "Does she know?"

Madoka tilted her head and her lips twisted. "I don't know for sure, but...I think so." Luka waved her hand as if to say 'go on'. Madoka sighed. "Well, we've known each other for a few years now, ever since she moved here. I've been helping her with her heart medicine ever since the first day she got here and we were fast friends. We've always felt really deeply for each other but the past few months it's...escalated. Now we blush when we look at each other sometimes and we hold hands a lot more. When we bathe together it-"

"Hold up," Luka interrupted. "Bathe together? Is this what young girls do nowadays?"

"Uhm, you know, public pools and stuff," Madoka tried to explain. She coughed then added quietly, "It makes Homura feel really comfortable."

"Sure, so when did you realize you liked her romantically," Luka wondered, changing the topic before she blushed.

Madoka smiled. "It just happened. I woke up one day and realized that I wanted to be more than just her best friend. I wanted more out of our relationship."

Luka stopped herself from asking if it was just a sexual thing, knowing how offended she herself would be if anyone asked her that.

"How about you and Miku?" Madoka asked bouncily. "You seem really close. How did you get together?"

"I only met Miku last year. It just kind of happened. She asked me out and here we are."

Madoka frowned. "That's it? That's not very romantic."

"Hey! It was plenty romantic!" She refrained from mentioning McDonald's. "Besides, when you're old you'll know when a person is right for you a lot easier than when you're a kid. You don't need any of that fancy stuff to be courted."

"You aren't old, Miss Megurine," Madoka comforted. "I mean how old are you anyways, thirty?"

Luka grimaced. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. So what are you going to do with the necklaces?"

Madoka looked down and grabbed her skirt again. "I was going to present them and then confess my feelings."

Luka smiled. "How cute. Wouldn't it be better for you to wear the purple one and her to wear the pink one though?"

"No, this way it's less suspicious."

Luka raised an eyebrow. "Being who you are is nothing to hide."

"The why doesn't anybody know you're a lesbian?"

"That's different," Luka defended weakly.

Madoka's face crinkled. "Miss Megurine...do you not like being how you are?"

The question hit her like a truck. It was something she used to ask herself a lot. Something she asked herself for over ten years.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Madoka," Luka began. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear and relaxed in her chair, taking a deep breath. "I hated how I was. I hated the way I was ever since I was fifteen when I knew for sure that it wasn't just a childish phase. I hated how I couldn't be like the other girls and lust after boys. I hated how I had to hide how I was in fear of being ridiculed and abandoned by my friends. I hated that I couldn't feel normal. What I didn't realize until recently, Madoka, is that the way we are is normal. There is nothing wrong with who we are unless we make something wrong out of it. I figured this out last year when I finally met someone who made me feel normal just being myself. Someone who made me feel like a woman instead of a lesbian. I had to wait twenty seven years until I found my Miku, Madoka. You're lucky you didn't have to wait nearly as long for someone who makes you feel loved."

"When I look at you, I see myself twelve years ago. Things didn't work out well for me in high school and I'm not proud of many of those years between then and now. I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did and feel sorry for yourself until someone puts you back together properly. I want you to have your love and enjoy it for as long as you can. I'm sure it's the same thing for Homura, the way she dotes on you. I'm going to help you fix that necklace, and then tomorrow I want to see the smile on your face of a girl who's experienced reciprocated love." The teacher smiled. "Trust me, I know what that looks like."

Madoka was stone, staring unmoving at her teacher. Luka exhaled very deeply, not feeling awkward at all. She didn't even flinch when a crying Madoka ragdolled into her outstretched arms. She hugged her and rubbed her back, feeling elatedly content.

"Thank you so much Miss Megurine," Madoka sobbed. "I promise I'll do my best."

The teacher smiled and apologized silently to the girl in her arms. Those words weren't really for Madoka, they were the exact words Luka needed to hear.

"Let's get your necklaces fixed."

Luka put her fork down.

"You're getting better at cooking."

"Oh, thanks," Miku drawled, rolling her eyes. "A girl loves to be told retroactively how bad her meals were."

"That isn't what I meant," Luka giggled. "I'm just saying that you're getting better."

"Glad that I can satisfy you, Mistress," Miku announced proudly. She bowed deeply, exaggeratedly, and stood up completely straight, holding an arm up as if there were a napkin draped on it. "Shall I do the dishes then run you a bath?"

"Hmm, I think I would like you to run me a bath first, then massage me while I'm in there."

"Wow, being your butler sounds like an awesome job."

"It's better than having no job."

Miku frowned.

"I'm just kidding," Luka teased. "I know you're trying to find one." She stopped herself from making a comment about how she should have kept her old one.

"It isn't like there is a huge market for political science graduates. I probably made a huge mistake in doing what I enjoyed," Miku conceded.

Luka shrugged. "Why don't you get your licence and come teach with me?"

Miku's eyes brightened. "I never thought of that. We could eat lunch together every day without turning heads, we could go on field trips with our classes, we could fool around in janitor's closets-"

"Forget that last one," Luka interrupted. "But seriously, Miku, think about it. You would be great with the kids."

"All those boys would have two sexy young teachers to fantasize about!" Miku cheered.

Luka rolled her eyes. "Two sexy young teachers who live together."

"Heh. Honestly, our life sounds like some sort of pornography."

Luka picked her napkin off the table and threw it at her girlfriend. She got up and walked out to the balcony, a teal-haired minx stalking the way behind her.

"I'm glad we went for the apartment with the balcony," Luka asserted, pulling the door open and stepping outside. The wind was nonexistent tonight, leaving only the stale warm air of an early fall day. "I always wished I had one in my old place."

"It really is a wonderful place," Miku agreed. "I could see us living here for a long while."

Luka nodded and smiled at the comforting aura she felt all around her. "We should have moved here months ago."

"Ha, as if!" Miku snorted. "Good Sister Luka still flinches when I cuddle her in bed, I'm surprised you were the one who suggested living in sin."

Luka blushed, despite her efforts to keep it down. "Shut up. Pretty girls like you are meant to be seen, not heard."

"Then what about beautiful girls like you?" Miku countered, smirking. "What are you meant for?"

Luka turned to her girlfriend and winked. "Enjoying the pretty girls."

Luka squeaked when Miku gave her a swat on the behind before stepping back into the apartment. "Take a seat, Lover, I'm getting us something to drink."

Luka did as she was told, pulling the two patio chairs right up close to each other and taking a seat in one. Miku came back shortly with two brown bottles in her hand. She handed Luka a beer and took a very long swig of her own. Luka watched her girlfriend's throat vibrate as the liquid was chugged very efficiently.

"That was pretty trashy," Luka observed with a twisted smile.

Miku shrugged. "You're the one who bought beer. If you didn't want me to drink you should have kept it out of the house."

"Fair enough." The girls clinked their bottles together in a silent toast and took a drink out of them.

"So, what held you up at school?" Miku asked, slouching in her chair. "Another guy confess to you?"

"Not this time," Luka answered, the sarcasm lost on her. "I was helping a female student with a relationship issue."

"Aww, how cute. Did you resolve it?"

"I hope so. I'll let you know tomorrow night." Luka sighed and looked out at the red light of the setting sun. She took a sip of beer, feeling completely relaxed. "I want to talk to you about something, Miku."

"If you're going to propose, the answer is no until I find a job," Miku pre-empted.

Luka raised an eyebrow. "You would say no if I proposed to you?"

"Yep, I want to help pay for the wedding," Miku explained.

"Huh, okay," Luka accepted. She took another, longer, sip of beer before continuing. "A long time ago you asked me a question I wouldn't answer."

"Why you didn't tell anyone you aren't heterosexual," Miku answered for her, voicing her question once again. Luka looked at her blankly. "What, you think I would forget? I still wonder that often."

"Oh," Luka replied, feeling a bit guilty. Miku reached over and took her hand, bringing it to the arm of the chair and holding it in her own.

"Don't worry about it," Miku cooed. "Are you ready to tell me?"

Luka nodded. "Just...stop me if you want me to explain anything more." Miku smiled and squeezed their hands together tighter. Luka inhaled.

"The first time I feel like I fell in love was when I was fifteen years old," she began. "It was my math teacher. She was a young woman, who I always called Miss Johns. I never once dared call her by her first name, Jennifer. I had trouble with math and she took extra time out of her day to tutor me. We would spend lunch together almost every day and sometimes we would stay after school too.

"I never had a romantic interest in boys when I was younger so it was no surprise when I realized I had a crush on Ms. Johns. I wasn't embarrassed or anything, at fifteen I understood homosexuality and that there were people like that out there. I never really considered myself one of them, but there I was." Luka stopped to take a sip of her drink, Miku followed suit. "I kept up the student-teacher relationship with Ms. Johns for a long time, becoming something of an assistant to her. The more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. She was kind, sweet, reserved, and very gorgeous. It was around the end of first semester that term, when I aced her math class and she hugged me excitedly, that I realized I had fallen in love with her. I never cared that she was a woman, or considered how socially acceptable my feelings were. She was around twenty-five and I was fifteen. It was a realistic possibility that we could get together after high school so I held on to hope. The only obstacle I saw in my way was that I was sure Ms. Johns was straight.

"Christmas break after that first semester changed my life. What are the odds of two closeted lesbians meeting each other and falling in love, Miku? Unbelievably low, right?" Miku opened her mouth as if to add something, but decided to stay quiet. "After that test Ms. Johns invited me over to her house to celebrate my good marks with a dinner. I was so excited, I was shaking every second from when she invited me to when I went over to her house. I had steeled myself. I was completely resolved to tell her my real feelings and confess my love. Even if she was straight she was sure to accept it when she saw just how strong my feelings were.

"I knock on the door and Ms. Johns opens up. She's dressed to the nines, Miku."

"'Dressed to the nines'?" Miku commented. "How old are you?"

Luka grimaced and tucked some hair over her ear. She looked out to the sunset dreamily. "It was the most beautiful I've ever seen her. All of a sudden my heart is beating its way into my digestive tract and my brain is firing off all sorts of theories about why. She hugs me and welcomes me inside, leading me to the dinner table. My face probably paled a bit because standing next to the table was another beautiful woman looking very shy and scared. She was also dressed up. I thought I was having a heart attack. Ms. Johns walked over to the woman, took her hand in her own and introduced her as her girlfriend." Miku spat out the sip of beer she was attempting to swallow. Luka smiled sadly. "I can't remember right after that but I guess I fainted. I woke up a few minutes later on Ms. Johns' couch, a wet rag on my forehead. She was crying and it took everything I had to apologize properly without crying myself. She said that she thought I fainted from disgust. I...I told her there was nothing wrong with who she liked and I would never judge her. The sobbing hug I received was the most bittersweet thing I've ever experienced. She trusted me with her greatest secret, said I was the person she trusted the most to know. I was loved by her, just not in the way I wanted to be.

"I found out the woman I loved was like me, there was a chance. I also found out that the chance was taken away from me before I even had an opportunity to act on it. It hurt. Bad. Not long after that my parents took me to the doctor and assigned me some anti-depressant medication. It worked for the most part, dulling the pain in my heart. I still held up my relationship with Ms. Johns; I didn't have it in me to let her go even if she would never actually be mine. I couldn't stop loving her, though I knew she was happily in love with somebody else. I didn't have it in me to hate her girlfriend for unknowingly crushing my dreams, she was a nice person." Luka frowned when she realized that she couldn't remember the other woman's name. She shook her head and continued. "I kept it all up, spending hurtful moments with my crush at school then calming my emotions with meds when I got home.

"It lasted for two months like that until Ms. Johns had a chat with the principle. She told him that she was homosexual and had a partner. She wanted to tell people really badly even though her girlfriend was afraid. She told me that she wanted her relationship to be a normal one. The school was fine with it, even though some teachers were prone to snickering and rumour-mongering. Ms. Johns didn't care, she was happy. She told me all about how great it felt to get it off her chest. I considering telling her my own feelings but that was unfair; why ruin her mood with my depressing melancholy?

Miku frowned, her eyes tearing up. "Luka-"

"Within a week the entire school knew that Ms. Johns was a lesbian. This was when the bullying began. Kids wouldn't listen to her, would speak out to her in class, would call her names. One kid even went so far as to vandalize her car, writing 'homo' in big pink spray painted letters on the door. Kids can be evil, Miku, and the high school hive-mind mentality bullshit only propagates this terrible behaviour. Kids who would feel guilty about doing bad things would participate anyways to try and fit in. When I became a teacher I vowed to try and stop that.

"Ms. Johns couldn't take it, so she moved. It was the final piece of my broken heart imploding. She gave me her number and told me to call her anytime, even offered an extra bedroom to stay in if I wanted to visit. I never called. I couldn't bring myself to do it, even as my depression worsened. I wonder if she hates me for it..."

"Luka," Miku whispered, squeezing her girlfriend's hand even tighter.

Luka frowned. "I'm not finished, Sweetheart."

She took another deep breath before starting anew. "Anyways, after she left some of the kids wouldn't stop laughing about it. One day I couldn't take it anymore and I stood up for Ms. Johns, reminding everyone of how much they enjoyed and appreciated her before they found out about her sexual preference. I could tell the guilty kids right then, but the evil kids, and there are evil children who exist, they just kept laughing and deflected everything onto me. 'Why would you defend a disgusting pervert like that, Luka? Are you gay too?' I couldn't tell them I was, so I took the hits and absorbed the pain. It was too much for me.

"That night, I went home and cried harder than I've ever cried before. My anti-depressants weren't working, all I could think about was how I lost the woman I loved and how I was going to endure years of bullying for sticking up for my favourite teacher. Actually being gay made it worse, knowing that any defense against the insults would just end up being lies. If I were to actually come out, my life, in the eyes of a teenager, would be over. My sorrow quickly turned to hate. Hatred at myself and who I am. Why couldn't I be the same as all the other girls? Why couldn't I get drunk at some weekend party, get fucked into the ground by some other drunk idiot, then come home and be happy with myself? Ms. Johns was my idol and my hero, but seeing the suffering she went through made me think she wasn't the hero I wanted to be. I could even become Superman but I would always have an asterisk after my name that leads to a little fun fact at the bottom; careful everyone, Superman is gay! Nobody wants their good, normal, heroes to be gay. Nobody wants their teachers to be gay. Nobody wants their neighbors to be gay. Nobody wants their children to be gay. Luka Megurine didn't want to be gay.

"I picked up my bottle of meds, flung off the cap, and up-ended the whole thing. I filled my body with as many pills as it could fit until I couldn't breathe. I swallowed everything and then fell back on my bed. I didn't have the sadness in me to cry, I was a despicable unnatural creature and I wanted to not exist anymore." Tears were slipping down Miku's cheeks and her breathing was hitched but Luka had to finish. "My parents didn't feel the same way and when my Mom found me in my room, foaming from the mouth, half-empty bottle of prescription medication spilled on the bed, she got me to the hospital as fast as she could. I woke up a few days later after getting my stomach pumped; my Mom and Dad were crying over me. I felt guilty. I realized immediately that they didn't deserve the pain of my death.

"To escape the hurt that waited for me back at school I decided to follow in my love's footsteps and just leave it all behind. I moved in with my aunt and uncle a few towns over; this town. Moving away and starting over was refreshing and was enough for me to suppress any of my romantic feelings or inclinations. They put me on stronger anti-depressants that worked way better but they wouldn't let me take them by myself anymore. My aunt and uncle kept them in a locked liquor cabinet and only pulled them out when it was time for them to give me some. I'm grateful for that, even if it wasn't necessary. The only thing I truly regret in my life was my attempt at taking it away and I would never do anything like that ever again.

"I couldn't just stop being homosexual, so I ignored it instead. I decided to just be alone forever and enjoy my own company. I've never told anyone of my sexual preference because it brought up the memories of those days. Even now I fear what could happen if I was more open. I think about what happened to Ms. Johns and..." Her cloudy-sky blue eyes had been condensating long enough, and the scared little girl still left inside of Luka found herself crying once again. "Miku, I love my job. I love this town. I love you. I love...I love my life and I don't want to even risk losing anything I have."

As Luka collapsed into a wailing mess of tears, Miku was there. She wrapped her lover tightly in her arms and held on for dear life. She wanted to cry more, she was unable to stop herself earlier, but Luka needed her to be strong right now. Miku stroked Luka's long pink hair and considered that she might be the only person to have ever seen Luka cry like this. It made her feel even more loved. Miku squeezed as close as the patio chairs would allow and nestled her face in the crook of Luka's neck, forcing her to look up a bit. She planted soft kisses trailing from the top of her collarbone up to the edge of her chin and stopped to look her in the eyes. Luka was still crying, the lids getting puffy and red. Miku slowly leaned forward and kissed each eye as it closed, tasting salt tears and feeling tender, irritated skin. She raised a hand and wiped a finger across flushed cheeks, rubbing tears away.

"Luka," Miku whispered. "As long as I'm here, with you, there is nothing to be afraid of. You aren't alone. I'm never more than a text message or phone call away, no matter the distance, and I'll always be right next to you." A hand nestled itself comfortably overtop Luka's left breast. "In there."

Luka sniffled and wiped at her face. She looked down at Miku's hand and giggled."That's kinda lame, Miku."

"No, it's cute," Miku argued, smiling at the return of her girlfriend's lighter tone.

"It is cute," Luka agreed. "Until you turn it into a chance at molesting me."

Miku chuckled a low throaty guffaw. "Not this time." A wolfish grin cracked her lips. "I'll take a rain check though."

Luka laughed and put her own hand over Miku's. "Thank you."

"Anytime. How about we go to bed now?"

Luka nodded slowly. She up-ended her beer bottle and swallowed the last half of her drink in one gulp. When she set it down Miku was giving her an uneasy smile. Luka gave her a reassuring one back.

"I love you, Miku."

Miku's features softened. "I love you too, Luka."

Epilogue

Beep.

"That's a good price for milk."

Beep.

"There were a lot of sales today."

Beep.

"Yeah, it was-hey wait! Don't scan that!"

Kouta stopped, the barcode inches away from the scanner. The pink-haired lady in front of him snatched the bottle of vodka out of his hands and jammed it in her teal-haired companion's face.

"What the fuck is this?" Pink demanded.

Teal smirked and crooked a hand on her hip. "I think it's a bottle of vodka? Grey Goose. Whoever picked that out has good, expensive tastes."

"Don't get smart with me now, Miku. We agreed not to keep any of this in the house."

Beep. Kouta nervously reached for the next item on the conveyor belt. If he was able to have their groceries ready to go by the end of the argument his manager wouldn't get mad at him for being slow. This happened every single Saturday anyways; one of them would grab something the other thought wasn't needed in their weekly grocery bill and they would make a huge scene about it in front of everyone. At least it wasn't Miku who was ticked off this time; she usually refused to relent until Luka kissed her. While not a bad sight at all, the discomfort that radiated off of Luka at being forced into a public display was more than enough to fertilize a permeating uneasiness throughout any nearby witnesses. Kouta was always chained to the front row during these escapades.

"Kouta," Luka started, dragging his attentions away from the scanner to the bottle of alcohol now being shoved in his face. "If Miku sexually assaulted you until she passed out every time she cracked one of these wouldn't you ban its purchase too?"

"Uh," Kouta stumbled. The image of a drunken Miku forcing herself on an unwilling Luka was now forever etched into his memory banks. Teal twintails bounced as the younger girl began cackling maniacally. A quick shift of his eyes confirmed that, yes, all members of the growing line of customers in his check-out aisle were waiting for an answer. Some of the more knowing ones tapped the handles of their carts, scowled, or chewed their gun violently in a theatrical performance of "Not This Shit Again, or How Those Lesbians Made Me Late for Lunch."

"You just asked a hot-blooded young man if he would mind getting sexually advanced upon by a hot piece of ass like me?" Miku laughed.

"Assaulted and advanced are very different words!" Luka argued, sticking her finger in the shorter girl's face.

"You're right," Miku agreed. She slid a hand up Luka's spine, virtually exposed by the low cut sundress she wore. "That's an advance." Then Miku leaned forward and took Luka's accusatory finger in her mouth. With the same hand she used on the spine she quickly reached up that sundress and squeezed her girlfriend's butt. Luka ripped her finger out of Miku's mouth just as her tongue began rolling it over inside. There was an audible pop.

"That's assault," Miku announced.

Luka blushed and pushed down on her dress as if exposed. "Miku!"

Said girl draped herself across the counter towards a stunned Kouta. "I better get a discount on the groceries for that show," she asserted.

"Miku!" Luka yelped again. Her blush deepened to a gala red and she stood there fumbling with the edge of her dress as if suddenly becoming aware that they were in a crowded grocery store and curious eyes molested her every action.

Kouta didn't know what to say. He casually reached for the next item on the conveyor belt. Beep. Miku smirked. "What's wrong, Kouta? You not into seeing pretty women like that getting groped? Cougars not your thing?"

"Excuse me?" Luka snarled. The change from mortified to furious was instant.

"You aren't a part of this conversation, cradle robber," Miku dismissed.

"Oh, you're just trying to piss me off!" Luka roared.

"What's going on here?" a voice behind Kouta inquired. His manager. Oh no.

Luka's eyes narrowed like a tiger's, her subject of ire switching. She gave the manager behind him a once over and snorted. Kouta couldn't help but think that was a bit more haughty than necessary of a school teacher.

"You still work here?" Luka asked incredulously. She puffed out her chest and stuck her nose up.

"Unfortunately, yes," the manager answered. "You never see me because Kouta can usually handle your shit by himself."

"That's because Kouta is a better employee than you'll ever be!" Luka insulted. Miku opened her mouth as if to add something but chose to stay quiet instead.

"Fine, that's okay," the manager shrugged. "You two have had more than enough chances. You're both banned."

Luka's façade dropped. "Wait, what?"

"Leave and never come back," the manager demanded with a smile.

"But-" Miku clasped Luka's shoulder and prodded her towards the door.

"Miku, wait-"

"It isn't worth it," Miku said.

"But our groceries!"

"Let's just take our business somewhere else," Miku suggested. She rubbed the shoulder she was still holding.

"Smart girl," the manager complimented. "I was getting ready to call the police."

Luka stiffened and frowned. She sighed and nodded to Kouta. He nodded back and considered that it might be the last time he ever sees the couple. It made him kind of sad. Sure, they made a scene every week, caused trouble, and got him chewed out by his manager countless times but he would miss them. Maybe it was the very fact that they were there every week, a constant presence in the nearly random cycle of his work shifts. They were nice people who, in hindsight, were a bright spot in a dull day of stacking bananas. He watched Miku lead Luka out the door in silence.

"Watch them go, Kouta," his manager narrated as the sliding doors slid and the first few steps were taken outside. "Tails between their legs and in their place. That's how you deal with customers like that cherry blossom slut."

Miku stopped abruptly. She turned in place, halfway out the door.

"What the fuck did you just say?"

Kouta instinctively stepped away from his register and put some space between him and his manager. Miku stomped back in to the store, Luka trailing closely behind her.

"That that back and I'll leave forever," Miku offered grimly. She put her hands on her hips and held a firm stance. Luka was decidedly less imposing behind her hunched over slightly and frowning uncomfortably.

"No, I won't take it back and you'll leave forever anyways," the manager countered. "You and your girlfriend come in here every week and whore the place up with all your kissing and groping and degenerate behaviour. You're both sluts who-"

CRACK

Time slowed as Kouta took in what just happened. His manager was falling over, her face in a state of shock from the powerful right hook that exploded out of the small girl in front of her. Miku's arm was finishing its arc in a perfect boxer's stance, her face pure determination. The most serious look Kouta had ever seen lived in those teal eyes at that moment. On the other hand, Luka looked terrified. She was watching the trajectory of the manager as she-

BANG

Hit her head right off of the edge of the counter.

"Oh shit!" one of the nearby customers, or maybe bystanders now, exclaimed.

Kouta didn't know what to do. He and Luka were left with similar states, looking frantically from Miku to the manager on the ground; however, while Luka was smiling and her cheeks were tinted with a flush, Kouta was ghostly pale and sick.

Miku raised an eyebrow to her victim and then looked up to the long line of customers who witnessed what just happened. She blushed and scratched the back of her head at the discretion of the wide eyed gazes. "She's not bleeding," Miku defended weakly.

"Bitch got knocked the fuck out!" a customer commented. Murmurs agreed with the statement in their own ways.

"Miku, I think we should leave," Luka whispered. Her cheeks were flushed and she was holding her arms together awkwardly. She tapped her foot and darted her head between the ranges of stares from the many customers who had witnessed what just happened.

"I don't know, I might have hurt her," Miku whispered back. Kouta watched her shake out her hand and rub her knuckles. They were a dark red.

"Where did you learn to punch like that?" Luka whispered with an odd flutter to her voice.

Miku shrugged and smiled. "I played a lot of hockey when I was younger."

"Uh, guys, I think you should go," Kouta spoke up finally. He knelt down and poked his manager. She was unresponsive. In panic he placed two fingers to her neck and felt a pulse. A sigh of relief. "She won't wake up for a while but when she does she'll be pissed."

"You okay with handling that?" Miku asked with the strangest glint in her eye.

"I think so," Kouta answered nervously. "I'll stick up for you guys if she tries to say anything. She provoked you."

Miku's face lit up immediately. She bent down to his level and smacked him on the back. "That's better than any discount! Thanks, Kouta." All he saw was a flash of teal when she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He felt very pleased with himself that he didn't explode into a blush.

"You ready to leave, Sweetie?" Miku asked of her companion, bouncing up from the ground and hopping over to give her a kiss on the cheek as well.

"I guess so," Luka answered. She gave one last look to the body on the floor and her lips twisted into something halfway between fear and the widest smile Kouta had ever seen on the woman. "I'm feeling pretty good."

"Great!" Miku cheered. She grabbed her girlfriend by the shoulder again and led her towards the door. "Now, how about you take those good vibes straight to the liquor store to reward me for my chivalry?"

"Damn it!" Luka cursed. She shrugged off her girlfriend's shoulder and stomped ahead of her. "How did I know you would go back to this?"

"C'mon, I deserve some fun!" Miku complained.

"You can have fun walking back to the apartment," Luka grumbled. Then, in a streak of cherry blossom pink, she broke off into a run straight out of the store into the parking lot. Miku was dazed for less than a second before she took off after her, screaming in her teal-tinted pursuit.

"Wait! Luka! I love you!" she called desperately as the automatic doors to the entrance closed.

Kouta watched the doors for a minute in silence along with the other witnesses. With a dejected sigh he realized his break was over and reached for the nearest item. Beep. He looked up at the work ahead of him to see the next customer in line waiting with a full cart and a confused shrug. The conveyor was filled with groceries and an empty cart sat next to it. He looked from the groceries, to the cart, to the door, to the groceries again.

He wondered if this was the last time those girls would make his day difficult.

The End.

A/N

Hey, hope you liked it. I'm not going to lie, I love it. It's something I would want to read.

Anyways, this is the planned ending to the story but I might add more eventually. It took me half the Summer plus a couple months to finish this thing in the little bursts of time that I did have so this has been a long time coming. I have a few ideas for quick little one-shot type deals that I might type up soon. I also have an idea for a sort-of companion piece to this that I'm really interested in getting out there one day. After all, we still don't know Miku's backstory…

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story. Leave me a comment, review, pm or whatever to tell me what you thought and how I could improve. Thanks!

AirbornAnomaly