AN: Okay, okay. Here I am with another potential multi-chapter Negitoro. Now, regarding my first one, Midday Meetings, I'm sad to say that most likely that I'm not going to continue it. I honestly have no idea what to do with the plot, and it feels like a jumbled mess. Although I won't be deleting it, just in case I do go back to it, the chances of that happening are very, very slim. So I decided to make it up by making another one that hopefully I won't be abandoning because I actually feel good about this one. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I really hope that this first chapter makes up for it. Ah, that's it for my really long rant about Midday Meetings.

As usual, support, critique, and others are always appreciated. Hope you enjoy.

Ciao. c:

Miku could only breathe a sigh of relief as she finally boarded the bus, the doors closing right behind her. Clutching her handbag tightly against her body, she maneuvered through the aisle, muttering quiet excuses and pardons as she tried to go to her usual seat. Much to her relief—and surprise, considering how tightly packed the bus was—the bus seat was empty, almost as if it was waiting for her to arrive. Had the previous occupier left when she got on? Miku could only wonder for so long before she pushed all thoughts aside and sat down, scooting over to take her place next to the window. She gazed outside, watching the scenery start to go on by, the bus lurching a bit as it began to resume its journey to the next stop.

It roughly took Miku thirty or so minutes to make it to her stop, and another ten to fifteen minutes to walk to her house. She never minded the time it took for her to get home—in fact, it was the contrary. She enjoyed the riding the bus because for some odd reason, it relaxed her. Or rather, it was because of a certain person in this particular bus that relaxed her.

As the bus lumbered down and jostled down the road, more and more occupants filed out. Eventually, the vehicle was almost empty, save for several more people, Miku including. The sun was now looming over the horizon, the sky now being painted with an indigo color. Now that the people in front of her were no longer blocking her way, Miku felt her eyes trail over to her left. There, just a row down, was a pink-haired woman, her attention being grasped by the paperback novel in her hand. Her light, cerulean eyes were absolutely captivating, and even the most basic gesture of turning the page or tucking hair behind her ear was just graceful as a dancer.

For a long while now, Miku Hatsune had been quietly observing the woman from a distance. The first time that Miku actually took notice of her was a month ago, when she spotted an unfitting color of light pink protruding from the daily and monotonous color of black and white of other citizens, usually businessmen and women. At first, it had just been mild curiosity, but eventually, for some odd reason, it had flourished into a 'small' crush.

But having a crush on someone that I don't know anything about is a bit farfetched. I suppose it's more of…curious interest.

Miku sighed heavily and averted her gaze from the woman to look outside the window. Many people usually identified themselves with a set orientation, but Miku did not. Or rather, she did not even know what to associate herself with. Yes, she looked at men, but she also looked at women as well—the pink-haired stranger was a fine example. For a while, Miku was convinced that she was bisexual, but then she just decided that what she was classified as should not bother her at all, and decided to stick with "I simply don't care about gender". Of course, neither her friends nor parents knew nothing about her preferences.

Suddenly, a very familiar, suburban setting was now blurring past her; it was only a matter of a few, short minutes until Miku would have to get off the bus. The buildings cleared for a split second, and the teen could see that the sky was now a dark blue.

It's got to be past seven by now, Miku sighed heftily through her nostrils, knowing Mom, she's probably pacing across the living room, to the dining room, to the kitchen, and back. If I don't make it by eight, she's going to most likely throw a panicked frenzy, and Dad will have to try his hardest to calm her.

The bus lurched to a slow, screeching stop, and Miku was the lone person who stood. With timid urgency, she walked down the aisle. Of course, the deity of balance decided to turn against her, and Miku found herself falling towards the floor, a result of tripping over her own foot. She hit the ground with a thud, the contents of her handbag spilling across the bus floor. Miku could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she quickly clambered to her knees to gather her belongings. She did not register the soft rustling beside her, or the pink hair that very clearly stuck out in her peripheral vision. Only when the stranger placed her hand on Miku's shoulder did the teenager look up. When she did, Miku recoiled violently and nearly slammed her head against a seat. She could feel her cheeks burning with incredible heat as she could only stare on at the beautiful woman with wide eyes.

The stranger only placed on a confused frown, but her blue eyes twinkled with concern. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Flustered, Miku could only shake her head 'no' before quickly gathering her things and racing out of the bus as soon as possible. She leapt over the small flight of stairs to the sidewalk, and ran a short distance away from the bus stop. Eventually she decided to slow to a stop to catch her breath.

Oh God, why did I have to run away like that? Now she probably thinks that I'm rude or something like that. Miku buried her face in her hands, unbelieving at herself. The warmth of her face contrasted very much to the wintry air around her. Sighing into her palms to warm them just a tad, the teenager lowered her hands to adjust her handbag, and then up again to fix her scarf.

The only problem was that her scarf disappeared from her neck.

"No, I swore I had it!" Miku desperately crouched to the ground, opened her bag (although she almost tore it because of how frantic she was), and rummaged around for her beloved scarf. Her mind thought back to when she left the house, to when she arrived at school, to when she boarded the bus. She had it on the entire time so that meant—

"Oh my God, I left it on the bus!" Miku once more covered her face with her hands, unbelieving at herself. "That scarf was also Mother's—"

"I'm assuming this is yours?" A vaguely familiar voice compelled Miku to turn around. When she did, she could only throw her arms around the beautiful pink-haired stranger offering her a red scarf in gratitude. Once the teenager pulled back, she found herself sinking deeper into the awkward atmosphere she created for the both of them. She coughed into her fist, not sure on what to say next; she had just hugged the woman on impulse.

The woman seemed to pick up that Miku had nothing to say to break the silence, so the stranger smiled softly and laughed. "Judging by your actions, I'm guessing this is yours."

Miku nodded, a smile splitting her face. "Yeah, it is. My mother gave it to me when I was younger. Well, my biological one." Her smile ran away for a moment, but it came back just as quickly. "A-anyways, thank you so much. You don't know how much this really means to me."

The other laughed again, her quiet, gentle laugh. Miku was positive she never heard anything so melodic in her entire life until that moment. "It's no problem, really. It was the right thing to do, after all. Plus, I wanted to know if you were okay. Taking a fall like that on the bus must've hurt, right?" The woman flashed a sympathetic smile at the younger woman, and the latter felt her heart melt at the sight of it.

Regardless, Miku still shook her head. "No, it didn't. I, uh, appreciate you bringing me the scarf and checking up on me but," Miku pursed her lips as a very minute amount of guilt tugged on her, "you probably got off at the wrong stop, huh?"

The woman laughed again, this time shaking her head no. "It's fine, I meant to get off at this area anyways. I'm supposed to meet up with several friends of mine somewhere." She proceeded to wrap the red scarf in her hand around Miku's neck, a gesture that completely took the latter off guard. The teen could only stand there with red cheeks as the woman finished her job. When she did, she affectionately patted the teen's head with a smile. "You should probably make your way home now. It's already," she paused to check her wristwatch, "past 7:30."

Miku's teal eyes widened with surprise. "It's already past 7:30?! Oh God, my parents are going to pop a blood vessel worrying about me!"

The stranger gave another one of her smiles before beginning to walk past Miku. "Well, since the sun's almost gone, I think I should escort you home. It might be dangerous for either of us if we walk alone anyways."

Miku nodded in quiet agreement and took her place next to the woman, walking to her house together.

This honestly can't be happening—me, walking with the woman that I just so happen to have an interest in? No way. There's no way this can be happening.

But even with her disbelief of her current situation, Miku found herself pleasantly chatting away with the woman. It turns out that her name was Luka Megurine, a sophomore in college, studying music. She lives in an apartment complex with a roommate (whom Luka described as "rash and completely irrational in everything she does"). Luka also holds a part-time job in a restaurant (or was it a café? Miku unfortunately zoned out during that time) to pay for rent and other necessities. Luka also began to talk about how she took a year leave after she graduated from high school, mainly because she just wanted some time to relax, not wanting to fill her schedule up again with schoolwork once more.

Eventually the conversation began to shift to Miku's side. The teen grew up as an only child, and her mother had passed away when she was roughly seven or eight-years-old (at this, Luka gave a sympathetic "sorry" before wrapping an arm around Miku's shoulders. The latter, of course, enjoyed the gesture very much). She began to go into detail on how the scarf was the last gift she ever received from her mother before her death, and how she had cherished it all this time (Miku also managed to slip in another thank you to Luka, but the latter dismissed it rather easily). After a small silence of sadness, Miku went on to change the subject about school, what school activities she partakes in, and why she came much later than she should have (it was all because of after-school duties, which Miku absolutely loathes with all her being).

During one of their conversations however, a small breeze drifted between them. Luka shivered and tugged Miku closer to her for warmth. The teal-haired teenager had no complaints whatsoever.

"Can't believe I forgot my scarf at my apartment today," Luka mumbled, her breath coming out in white puffs.

"You can borrow my scarf if you want." Miku instantly offered, reaching up to undo the garment from her neck.

Luka shook her head no. "It's fine, you don't have to do that. I'll live one night without a scarf, honest." She laughed and tucked in her chin as best as she could into the high collar of her coat.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive."

"You might catch a cold."

"Still better than you getting one." Luka gave a cheeky grin with her remark, which the other responded with a soft frown and burning cheeks. "You know, you're being a little too nice to me, considering how we just met today." Her grin turned into a playful smile. "Shouldn't you be a little more wary around strangers?"

"Are you sure you can say that, considering how you delivered my scarf and even tried to help me gather my things?" Miku's reply came out in an indignant tone.

"Touché, Hatsune-san. But the second part doesn't really count, since you ran off afterwards."

Miku pursed her lips and crossed her arms defiantly. "It most definitely does."

Luka gave another one of her charming laughs. "If you say so."

They walked next few meters to Miku's house in silence, with Luka's arm around the small teenager, providing the both of them some form of warmth together. It took time for Miku to recognize the pink-haired woman's perfume, but when she did, she relished being bathed in the familiar scent of flowers. Once they approached a particular house in Miku's neighborhood, the teenager separated from the older woman. She gave a soft smile at Luka and awkwardly covered her mouth with her scarf.

"Thank you for everything you have done for me today. I really appreciate it." Her voice was slightly muffled, and she tried to smile, but then realized that her scarf covered it. She felt stupid for even trying.

"Like I've told you many times, it's no problem at all. I just did what was right." Luka repeated for the umpteenth time that night.

The moon was now beginning to rise over the crooked horizon of rooftops, illuminating Luka's silhouette with a silvery aura of sorts. Miku just could not help but stare into the homely blue of the woman's eyes.

"Well, I think it's time we depart for the night, don't you think?" Luka gave another one of trademark smiles. Miku, on the other hand, was not feeling enthusiastic at all about leaving the other. Her eyes trailed down to stare at the sidewalk instead.

"Yeah, I think so too. Good evening to you, Megurine-san." Miku uncovered the lower half of her face to smile at the pink-haired woman. Luka returned it with an even bigger one and reached out with her arms, almost as if expecting an embrace. Tentatively, Miku took a tiny step forward, only to have her cheeks cupped by Luka's warm hands. Her body froze up instantly by the touch, and she could feel her cheeks and ears sizzle. The teenager could hear Luka sigh amusedly as she came closer, a very soft, and very playful smile on her lips. As she came even closer, Miku instinctively shut her eyes tightly, her body tensing up as she became very aware of how Luka was getting. Then, oh so gently, she felt a pair of soft, but slightly chapped lips tickle the very tip of her nose. Once Luka pulled back just enough Miku released the breath that she had been holding, her body relaxing just a bit as well. Shyly, the teen looked up to observe the smiling face of Megurine Luka.

"Good evening to you as well. I'm very glad that I was able to meet you tonight, Miku-chan."