CHAPTER ONE

"Phew," Miku wiped her brow as she stepped out of the sound booth after a serious day of recording. Looking from side to side, seeking a familiar face, Miku Hatsune started to make her way home. She had only started working for this recording company a week ago, and the amount of work she had left her exhausted nearly every day. More often than not, Miku had collapsed on whatever soft surface was readily available, waking up on a couch or bed, the latter depending on if Luka was home to take care of her or not. Walking down the hallway to the exit, she completely missed the twins soundlessly shouting at a microphone on the other side of the hall in a neighboring booth. She pushed open the door and started her trudging walk home. The neon lights pierced her vision as she tried to keep herself from looking out of the ordinary, despite being on every corner on the city, illuminated thirty-foot high televisions. Being a pop-star was a lot of work, she decided, perhaps too much sometimes. In truth, however, she was really quite proud of herself when she turned on the radio and the DJ gushed heartfelt praise about her singing prowess. Cars and people went past, unnoticed by Miku as she walked in her singular world, not paying attention to anything else.

In a parallel situation, a tall, slouching man walked along another sidewalk, weary of the life he currently led, unsuccessful, unhappy and alone. Completely caught up in his troubles, he strode home on longer legs than those around him and thus outpacing them, stride for stride. Recently, he had realized how much he liked being tall. No one wanted to bother him, and even if they did, he could just escape them by walking away. He kept his gaze leveled at his feet, and by doing this, he thought to avoid any attention directed at him. However, by doing this, he never saw the world changing around him. Newer fads were lost on him, celebrities cropped up and he was only alerted to their presence by the voices he heard on the radio at his part-time job at the warehouse. Kaito Shion supposed he was grateful for the job he had, it allowed him to eat, as well as to let him be alone. In his solitude at work, he sometimes sang along to the hit songs playing over the radio; it allowed him to really feel alive. His boss would never approve however, so he kept his singing soft, and only where he could never be bothered. Thinking to himself about his apartment and the soft bed that awaited him, Kaito walked on, still staring at his feet, confident that people would avoid him due to his height.

Still in this mode, Miku Hatsune smashed right into a figure also not watching where they were going. The smaller figure of Miku went straight to the ground, while Kaito's larger frame kept him on his feet, but spun him around nevertheless. Suddenly yanked out their respective worlds; both people once again took stock of the surroundings they never felt they had to deal with in ordinary life. This rude awakening left them both too stunned to do anything as people parted to the sides and washed around them much like the sea. It could well have been the sea to them before, but now it was a collection of individuals each with their own lives and problems, all trying to get somewhere. The silence they usually lived in inside their minds turned to a roar of the sound that penetrated all nooks and crannies of the life everyone lived, and in that roar, a voice, meek against the sounds of life, broke through all Kaito had tried to do in order to deflect attention.

"Oh no" Miku gasped and started to grab many things on the ground, unnoticed before due to the shock of the incident. "My demos!"

Finally coming out from that shock that had paralyzed him, Kaito knelt down and started to pick up the discs and other trinkets that had fallen to the ground and were in danger of being crushed under the feet of the crowd that swept past them. Quickly gathering up everything that had been spilled from the bag, Kaito straightened and said with a deep bow, "I'm very sorry miss, I wasn't looking where I was going at all. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Miku said as she got to her feet, dusting her skirt off, "I wasn't looking where I was going either, it's my fault too."

Kaito shook his head, "Nah, I should have seen you coming. Anyway, I should be going. I'm sorry."

Starting to move past her and get to his apartment as fast as he could, Kaito tripped on a protruding part of the sidewalk and fell flat on his face, landing with an "Oomph" loud enough to be heard above the din of the street.

Miku flinched as she watched him fall; it looked like it hurt. A lot. Running over to him, she extended her hand, "That was quite a fall, come on, let me help you up."

Taking the hand extended to him, Kaito pulled himself to his feet with her help. A voice came from the girl who had helped him up, "What's your name? After all, I have to thank you for helping me pick up all of my things."

Kaito looked the girl in the face for the first time. No recognition dawned on him, as it would have for any normal person. Any normal person would have recognized the pop-star Miku Hatsune from fifty feet away through a dense crowd. "Kaito Shion, and thank you for helping me up."

Miku was glad the man, now she knew was called Kaito, hadn't apparently recognized her; it was a real hassle sometimes to be famous. People acted different around her when they knew who she was. "I'm Miku Hatsune, nice to meet you." She responded with a bright smile.

Starting to extend her hand to shake Kaito's, Miku faltered. Kaito hadn't noticed her hand and had started to walk away. She thought to herself, "He looks like he's suffering from something. Maybe he just needs a friend."

Kaito recognized that the girl was extending his hand, but he was already starting to walk away. He was too busy thinking to be bothered by that fact in any case. Much that had just happened seemed important to him, but he didn't know why. Becoming one with the crowd once more, Kaito made his solitary way back to his apartment. Confident that the next day would be much like the last, he mentally prepared himself for all that it would throw at him. Little did he know how important this incident would be and how it would change his life forever.

She watched him go in the direction she came from until he vanished from his sight, intent on his back, taller than the rest of the crowd. She would have watched for longer than that, but someone yelled from behind her, "Hey everyone! It's Miku!! Can we get your autograph?!"

Not pausing even to look at them, Miku Hatsune quickly signed the papers that were thrust into her face, scrawling her signature onto notebooks, cell phones and a few hands before she could extract herself from the mass of people that had gathered. The walk home was hard, but less than it would have been, but for the chance meeting with him. The sight of him was still burned into her mind, and she didn't know exactly why.