So here's that second story I said I'd eventually write. One of the characters is called Daniel again because I couldn't think of anything else. Please don't expect it to be any good.

DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE. SERIOUSLY.

Based on the song 'Rainbow Girl'

Miku Hatsune (c) Crypton Future Media

Rainbow Girl

Cardboard boxes lay strewn around an apartment, tell-tale signs of a new resident having moved in. Daniel placed down a box labelled 'games' next to his computer, one of the first things he had unpacked and set up. Taking a look around at the progress he'd made, he decided a break was in order and sat down on a chair at his desk. The young man had moved into the apartment in preparation for starting at a new college within a few days, so moving in slightly earlier than most students would give him extra time to get settled in to what would be his home for the next few years.

Taking a drink from the water bottle on his desk, he booted up the computer and began checking his emails. Nothing much showed up – a message confirming his enrolment and reminding him of the starting date and time for his course, and a few spam emails. A small sigh escaped his lips as his eyes scanned over the text on the screen. Not wanting to do much after just moving in meant that checking his email would be the highlight of his day. Besides unpacking a few more boxes, he knew the rest of the day would only be uneventful.

Deciding on trying to entertain himself for the next few hours, Daniel started rummaging through the video games he had brought with him. One in particular caught his eye. Picking it up, he recognised it as a PC game. It was something referred to as a 'dating sim', with a rather cute girl with teal, twin-tailed hair adorning the front of the case. Daniel looked at the game for a moment. He was sure he'd never played it before, he couldn't even remember buying it. Nonetheless it seemed interesting enough for him to place the disk in his computer and start installing it.

The disk drive in the computer whirred as it read the data on the disk, transferring files and installing the software. Daniel occupied himself with unpacking a few more boxes while he waited. A few minutes later, a message box popped up informing him that the game was finished installing. Sitting back down on the chair, the young man started it up, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes for a moment before replacing them on his face. Quickly scrolling through the settings for the game, he pressed a button labelled 'start'.

A character had appeared on the screen. Daniel recognised her as the girl from the game case – her cutesy appearance was unmissable. The game presented an interface typical of a dating simulation. There were options available to talk with and interact with the girl in various ways, each having an effect on how much she liked the player. Normally this wasn't the kind of game Daniel would play often, but he found himself enjoying it. Something about the girl had captured his interest, as well as a little of his heart. Her cheerful responses put a smile on his face as minutes soon turned into hours. He never would have guessed that behind the wall of the computer screen, she was watching him in return.

Miku stood facing the window-like surface, watching the student intently as he clicked on a few options dotted around the screen. When the game had started up, she had been ready for the routine that entailed. Say the lines, go through the animations, play the part. What she hadn't counted on was the rush of warmth that spread throughout her as her digital gaze caught his. Something in her clicked, and she knew she had taken a liking to the young man instantly.

'Is this right? Can I really handle these feelings? I'm just a computer simulation, there's no way I could have an actual crush on him.', Miku thought with worry. 'But he's being so nice to me, and that smile...he really does care for me.'

Her mind made up, she continued going along with the game, joyfully taking every opportunity to smile back at him and declare her affection for the student. "I like you. I'm really glad we met each other!", Miku spoke the line in response to the dialogue choices Daniel picked. At least this way she could show him how happy she was, even if he wasn't able to know how she herself felt. They could still enjoy the time spent in the company of one another.

By the afternoon of his second day at the apartment, Daniel had finished unpacking everything and had taken care of the remainder of the paperwork for his college enrolment. The rather cloudy weather suggested it was going to rain, a risk he wasn't willing to take just to go for a walk around the new town. That could wait until tomorrow. His mind already made up about an what to do for the day, he sat down at his computer and loaded the dating sim.

"Hello again Miku.", he smiled as her form appeared on the screen once again, cheerfully waving to him as the game started and presented him with a variety of activities and pre-made dialogue that earned calculated pre-made responses in return. Daniel didn't seem to tire of the game at all, seeing it as a form of companionship in a town where everyone was a stranger to him. Another few hours would be spent with the digital girl, their smiles and occasional giggles never fading.

This routine continued for a few more days. He took care of anything important for the day before confining himself to his computer to spend hours on their virtual dates. Each time, she would be filled with joy at her crush's warm smiles and the endearing way he interacted with her, almost as if he was afraid of making a wrong choice. They were both happy with the arrangement, but the limitations of being computer software was starting to get to Miku.

Sad thoughts became mixed with the enjoyment of spending time with Daniel as she remembered that she was just a simulation. A two-dimensional girl in love with someone from the three-dimensional world. A love that was never meant to be. She was left to ponder this each night after he shut down the computer, and found it was starting to depress her. She would never be able to talk to him outside of predefined lines, never be able to tell him her true feelings, never be able to reach out through the screen and embrace him.

The college semester had begun, meaning Daniel and Miku couldn't be together as often as they used to. He still played the dating sim at the end of each day however, trying to make up for lost time. Two weeks later, a new game was being installed on the computer. Daniel had heard some of his classmates talking about it and decided to give it a try. Soon enough he found himself enjoying it greatly, intending to play it as much as he could. The dating sim started to see less and less use, to the point that several days had passed without him loading it up.

Each day, Miku would wait for him, eagerly hoping he'd return to her. She could still see him outside the computer screen and he seemed to be having fun. Hours turned into days, yet still he continued to play that other game. She was glad her crush was happy, but that didn't stop tears from beginning to form around her eyes. In her heart, she knew the truth.

'I guess all games come to an end eventually.', she thought as she walked to the front of the screen, placing her hand on it, watching the boy one last time.

'Thank you for loving me.', she spoke quietly, knowing he could neither see nor hear her. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she smiled at him, before she fell to her knees and began crying softly.

A month had passed. Daniel continued his studies for his college course and was slowly starting to become more social with his classmates. The dating sim sat unused on his computer. Having the time to herself meant that Miku was able to experiment with restructuring and modifying computer code. Deciding on a way to test herself, she created a text file and placed it on the desktop.

Daniel entered his apartment and locked the door. He was getting used to living by himself in a new town. Taking his jacket off and placing his bag on the couch, he once again sat down at his computer. Upon booting it up, he noticed a text file that wasn't there yesterday. The file name simply read 'daniel'. Eyeing it suspiciously, he scanned it with anti-virus software to make sure it wasn't dangerous. The scan determined it to be safe, so he clicked it to find out what it was.

I wasn't able to say this in the simulation so I had to change my programming. The day we first met, the way your eyes sparkled behind your glasses as you smiled at me and the way you treated me so kindly all made me realise how much I loved you. We spent so much time together, but you moved on to another game and forgot about me. If you don't want to come back, I understand and wish you the best. If you do, I want you to know I still love you, just as I always have.

-Miku

After reading the message, Daniel did nothing else for a moment, trying to take in what he had just read. Was this a trick? Some sort of gimmick to get him to play the dating sim again? He opened a web browser and searched online for anyone encountering the same thing. Much to his amazement, nothing at all came up from his search. Nobody at all even seemed to be aware of the game's very existence. Closing the browser, he looked at the icon for the dating sim. Part of him was extremely wary of loading it, but guilt had started to settle in. The message was right. He'd abandoned her in favour of spending all his time on a different game.

With a short sigh, Daniel started up the dating sim. He was disappointed in himself for nearly forgetting how much fun he'd had with Miku. When she appeared on the screen however, his eyes widened slightly in surprise. Instead of the normal greeting animation that played whenever the program started, the girl in question was sitting by the side of the screen. Noticing that the game had loaded, she looked outside of the screen for a moment. He had returned to her after all. She got to her feet and walked to the front of the screen, her gaze meeting his, and placed her hand on the barrier between them.

The teal-haired girl nearly jumped with amazement when he slowly followed her motion, moving his hand to the screen and putting it opposite of hers. They stayed like this for a full minute, staring into each other's eyes and trying to reach out to one another through the physical barrier that separated them. Daniel's heart was racing, as was Miku's. She was finally able to admit her feelings for him, but wanted to know if he felt the same way about her.

"Do you love me too?", she asked, nearly whispering. He looked away for a moment, as if trying to come up with the right answer. After a moment, he looked back at her.

"I...yes, I do.", he replied, a faint smile making it's way onto his features, which she gladly returned with a smile of her own. The two spent the next few hours talking to each other, this time being able to chat freely without using predefined lines built into the game. Nightfall soon approached as Daniel remembered he had college the next day. They each placed one of their hands on the screen again as they bid each other goodnight.

"I only wish we could truly be together.", they both whispered just as Miku began to fade away, the computer shutting down. Daniel let his hand linger on the screen for a moment before walking to his bed and laying down on it, drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up slowly, his eyes adjusting to the light. Remembering the events of the previous day, he quickly booted his computer up, and was met with the sight of a missing game on his desktop. The dating sim had disappeared, as had the note Miku had written. Blinking a few times, he searched through the game cases on his desk. The disk itself was gone too.

Ruling out the possibility of someone having broken into the apartment, he sighed and gathered his jacket and bag sadly, shutting down the computer before leaving the apartment to go to college.

College passed by as Daniel did his best to keep his mind focused on the tasks in each class. At the end of the day, just as he was leaving someone told him he needed to report to the finance & accommodations office. Hoping it would keep his mind busy, he wandered through the corridors to the office. Talking with the staff member, he was informed that a new student would be moving in to the apartment they'd given him and would be his room-mate, and the staff member asked if he would be okay with this. He told them it was fine, and was allowed to leave for the day.

The course didn't have any classes the next day, which gave Daniel time to get the apartment ready for the new student moving in. A knock at the door drew him away from his thoughts.

"Who is it?", he asked.

"I'm the new college student, I was told I'm going to be your room-mate.", a vaguely familiar voice replied. Daniel picked up some of his books and placed them neatly on one side of the table.

"The door's unlocked, come in.", he said. Hearing the door open, he turned around to properly greet the new student. When he saw who it was, he froze with shock. Standing in front of him was a girl wearing a light grey shirt and skirt, with long, twin-tailed teal coloured hair.

Daniel rubbed his eyes and quickly put his glasses back on. It was Miku.

So many questions ran through his head. How was she in the real world? What had happened to her the other day? Rather than trying to work it all out, he did the one thing they had both longed to do together. Walking towards each other, they embraced in a warm, loving hug before looking into each other's shining eyes and sharing their first kiss. There were no barriers between them any more.

They could finally be together, as a true couple.

Yeah yeah, the ending wasn't great. However if you've read the lyrics for Rainbow Girl you'd know that it's an absolutely heartbreaking song, and I wanted to end it on a happier note because I like Miku. Seriously, if they played this song at the Vocaloid concert I went to in November my eyes would probably have had a little water around them.

Anyway, I managed to finish this before the new year, so at least that's an average of 1 story every 13 months. But seeing as this is the only other story idea I've had, I most likely won't be doing any more writing.