EPISODE 1.2
Another "Express" Elevator!?
(PREVIEW CHAPTER)

It was becoming a habit for Kaito Shion to hang out in the house of his best buddy, Gakupo Megurine—who also happened to be his downstairs neighbor—whenever he had to babysit his Kagamine cousins. Unlike his carefree friend, he didn't have much time to entertain the mischievous twins on top of his hectic college timetable, especially so on days when he had to prepare for pop quizzes and tests, or when he was rushing to finish his reports and essays. He was relieved to have Gakupo helping him out so that he could spend more time to catch up with his studies.

…Well, not so when he was often being ordered to do grocery shopping. The twins had quite an appetite and always managed to empty the fridge of anything edible; worse, there were occasions when Gakupo would be cheeky enough to join forces with the Kagamines to bully him—Kaito knew very well that idiotic purple-haired samurai otaku wouldn't have enough balls to get on his wrong side (he got a black belt in karate, mind you). The presence of the young twins was what kept him from punching Gakupo's silly face into a meat pulp.

A loud sigh escaped from between his lips as he forced his tired frame towards the luxurious apartment building; the bag of clanging metals felt like it weighed a ton beside him. He strode past the bald, middle-aged security guard, who seemed to be gaping stupidly at the elevator ahead. Kaito began to pick up his speed and shouted after the silhouette behind the closing doors, "Wait up!"

Luckily for him, the person in the elevator did hold the doors long enough for him to slip through the gap between before they were firmly shut behind him. He gasped out a word of gratitude and the elevator began its usual ascend. He tensed when he noticed who his 'savior' was.

Luka Megurine.

There was no mistake about the beautiful lady—no, goddess—who was standing beside him in the same squarish space: the long light pink hair that emitted a soft glow under the fuzzy amber lights, the tight white blouse that hugged her curves in all the right places… He finally peeled his gaze away from her cleavage and stared right into a pair of questioning, azure eyes. He hurriedly gave her a small smile, hoping that he wasn't being seen as a pervert. He shuddered inwardly at the thought of falling into the same league as the lazy eggplant who was waiting for food with the starving twins.

As the awkward silence stretched on, he decided to break the staring contest and spoke first, "…If I remember correctly, you must be Luka-san who lives right below me, right?"

"How do you know my name?"

He was somewhat taken aback at the sudden forcefulness in her throaty voice and laughed weakly. "I was in the same class with Gakupo back in middle school. That guy never fails to amuse anybody. He's really charming." Yeah, very charming with his NSFW jokes and his precious stash of H-magazines not for the eyes of little brats, he thought darkly.

Luka didn't blink; he could feel her hard look burning into his very being. "My apologies for not introducing myself. The name's Kaito." He then lowered his head, cursing quietly to himself at the lame introduction.

The pinkette acknowledged him with a quick nod, but her eyes remained glassy, giving no sign of recognition even after hearing his name. "You're probably the first person ever to compliment my stupid brother."

No! I wasn't trying to praise that stupid eggplant! Before he could voice out his thought, the elevator came to a halt so suddenly that threw the two of them off balance onto the polished floor. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring brightness when his fingers felt something soft and he froze.

He had just grabbed her breast.

Heat began to flare up somewhere inside him, and his was sure that his childhood crush would be able to hear the loud beating of his wild, racing heart. What a way to leave an impression on a girl…

The elevator lurched violently again, and this time the lights went out, plunging the pair into total darkness—which Kaito was secretly very glad about, for he didn't want Luka to see the wide grin on his face at her angry curses that could pretty much put anyone to shame.

Kaito was dimly aware of Luka detaching herself from him, and he couldn't help but feeling a little disappointed at the quick end of their short skinship. For damned sake just snap out of it already—

"Um, Kaito-san…" His ears picked up the slight tremble in her thick voice, which thankfully helped to turn his attention away from his inner torment.

"H-Hmm?"

"The buttons on my blouse…"

"W-What?" he blurted, panicking. Did my naughty hand do something bad to her? "I'm really, really sorry!"

"Not that! I mean, the buttons on my shirt have… burst!"

- TO BE CONTINUED -