Chapter Text
The bright light of morning gaped through the tall windows of Meiko’s office. Meiko sat quietly behind a computer, taking a moment to relax with a cup of black coffee. The agency was quiet that day, save for a few keyboards clicking from the other offices. Slowly and steadily Meiko leaned her cup towards her lips, careful not to spill the steaming drink anywhere, and…
“MEIKO!!!” A familiar cry was heard, before Meiko’s office door was slammed open.
Meiko continued to sip on her coffee, placing a finger in the air and closing her eyes. No stranger to dealing with Meiko’s apathy, the teal haired girl who had slammed the door open waited, tapping her foot expectantly. The woman leaned back to take a loud slurp to emphasize, and after a long pause placed her mug down, exhaling and inhaling in mental preparation.
“What can I help you with today, Miku?” Meiko asked teasingly, leaning her chin on her hand.
“Uh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that the girl you partnered me with is totally incompetent!” Miku stated, aware of but completely disregarding any attention she may have been drawing to herself.
Meiko sighed. She had been thinking this matchup could finally be the one, but of course, she was proven wrong.
A girl with faded red colored hair shaped into two drill-like pigtails ran into the office to follow the commotion, panting and leaning against the doorframe. The girl was wearing a dark grey sleeveless shirt with buttons trimmed in red, paired with a similar skirt and sleeves.
“Wait!! Please don’t fire me, I can get better, I swear!” The girl pleaded, bowing towards Meiko.
Meiko looked towards the girl with a reassuring smile. Standing from her desk, she moved to place a hand on the redhead’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry Teto, I know. This kind of thing happens, why don’t you go home and get some rest for today, and we’ll find you someone else. In fact, some people are arriving from the international program tomorrow, there’s always gonna be more people to work with.”
Teto looked back at her and quickly bowed once again, muttering a quick thanks before scurrying off. Meiko quickly turned her gaze to the teal-haired girl, who was busy looking unamused at the older woman’s kindness.
Meiko’s eyes turned a bit more stern, albeit still holding the kind of fondness only a mentor’s could have.
“Miku, you know I care about you, I really do.” Meiko placed a hand on the teal haired girl’s shoulder. “But your outbursts are really causing a problem with getting you a new partner.”
Miku shook the hand off, frustration growing on her face. Taking on a defensive stance, she attempted to argue.
“Why do I need a partner so much, huh? I’m almost an adult, I can handle doing solo work.” Miku glared up at the woman in front of her, attempting to intimidate the other despite her short stature. “I have for this long, anyway.” She spoke again, a bit quieter.
Meiko sighed, placing her hands on her hips.
“Answer a question for me. Are you happy being alone?”
Miku raced through her mind for a suitable response, knowing full well what she wished the answer was. She bit her lip, before responding with a tone of feigned confidence.
“I’m an icon, Meiko, I don’t have problems getting work.” Miku circled around Meiko to stand in the center of her office.
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Miku folded her arms against her chest, face scrunching up a bit in frustration.
“Well that’s my answer. Now could you answer a question for me?” The teal haired girl responded dismissively.
“Sure, if you answer another of mine afterwards.” Meiko grinned teasingly, ruffling the shorter girl’s hair.
Miku smacked her hand away, gritting her teeth.
“Fine. Why do you want me to have a partner so bad?”
“I know you said you answered my question about you being happy, but I also know that I’ve seen how frustrated you’ve been with work lately.” The brunette crossed her arms. “It isn’t right. Kids your age are usually at school right now, talking to their friends, making memories with them-“
“Don’t talk about friends around me. I don’t need to mooch off other people.” Miku looked away, eyebrows furrowing.
Meiko’s face grew darkened in concern. She moved to place a hand on the teal-haired girl’s shoulder again before retreating slowly. Instead, Meiko decided to sit on the rectangular, ever so slightly uncomfortable couch placed in the side of her office, patting the cushion next to her. Miku followed hesitantly, seating herself a few feet away.
“I know you think that now, I did too at your age. But you know it took a while for me to get partnered with Kaito, and look where that got me.” Meiko smiled warmly, holding a hand up to show the diamond ring on her fourth finger.
Miku groaned, leaning back in feigned annoyance. Though the annoyance was overshadowed by her underlying fondness for the story.
“Yeah I know. You guys have your fairy tale get together story, but not everyone can be that lucky.” Miku prodded, glancing at her own pinky finger with a kind of hate-filled nostalgic feeling.
Meiko recognized the gesture, and knew well that she was treading into emotional territory that was absolutely not her business to ask more about.
“But anyway.. for my question. Well, it’s more of a deal.” Meiko stood and walked over to her desk, shuffling through a few disorganized drawers of paper before giving an “Aha!” and sitting back down on the couch.
Miku looked up, cocking her head to the side with a face that Meiko read as “I don’t want to seem interested because I’m a teenager and I don’t care about anything, but I’m really interested and I kinda care, so please continue.”
“So, you know about the international program, right? Where we have idols coming from all over to work here?”
Miku nodded.
“Well.. I know you’ve been hating the partner work, but I think I’ve found a good match for you.”
Miku squinted at her disapprovingly, before giving a curt, “Not a chance. I’m done working with people who can’t keep up with me.”
“I know you think that now, but hear me out.” Miku groaned once again. Meiko ignored this and continued, “I really think this could be a good thing for you, and I think you’ll end up agreeing with me, so here’s the deal. If you work with this girl that’s getting transferred here for just a month, then I’ll stop nagging you about partner work and you can do whatever you want.”
Miku raised an eyebrow curiously, placing a fist on her chin. Then the girl leaned back, a devilish grin on her face.
“Alright, but on one condition.” She paused, trying to figure out how she could manipulate the conversation. “If I end up working solo again, you have to write a paper on why I was right and you were wrong.”
“..deal.” Meiko responded, gritting her teeth.
“Hey, I wasn’t finished!” Meiko groaned. “With a minimum of 1500 words.” Miku stated smugly, raising a finger to emphasize her point.
“500.”
“1000.”
“500. Don’t push it.”
“Fine. Now who’s the screwup I’m dealing with this time?” Miku glanced down at the paper still in Meiko’s hands, leaning in with curiosity.
Meiko responded by holding it out in front of the both of them and giving Miku an eye roll. The sheet displayed some general information on this girl, not that Miku cared, and a picture of her clipped on the top left corner. The teal haired girl snatched the paper to get a closer look and..
Miku hated to admit it, but this girl was really pretty. Smooth golden hair flowed down to her shoulders, accompanied by wide sea blue eyes that admittedly made looking away difficult. A shy smile painted her face with a soft blush in the picture, and Miku wondered if it would look sweeter in real life than on paper.
In other words, she maybe might have thought that objectively this girl could be a bit aesthetically pleasing, sure, but there was no way she could stack up to Miku in terms of skill, right?
The girl shook her head, collecting her thoughts.
“..Did you even read the experience page?” Meiko teased, raising a knowing eyebrow.
Miku glared at the woman next to her, before begrudgingly skimming over the actual words on the page.
Name: Rin Kagamine
DOB: 12/27/05
Height: 5’5
Selected Area: United States; Florida
Previous experience: 4 years program training, 5 years alternate voice + dance lessons
Scribbled under all the print were a few notes hastily taken in dark blue ink. Miku couldn’t be bothered to read any more.
“..well?” Meiko nudged the girl with her shoulder suggestively, raising her eyebrows.
“It’s not like she’s any different from the others. I mean, she’s our first American I guess, big whoop. I’ll put up with her when she gets here.” Miku crossed her arms and leaned back, puffing up her cheeks with a twinge of embarrassment.
“Actually, there’s another coming with her. From the US, I mean. It’s part of the reason why I picked her. If you need a break to focus on anything by yourself, she has another partner to practice with.”
This only frustrated the tealette further.
“Oh, so I’m just a second choice to her?” Miku furrowed her eyebrows. “Fine. We’ll see how far that gets her.”
“C’mon, don’t take it out on the poor girl. She’s coming with her twin sis.. er, brother. Originally they were going to just be the Kagamine duo, but the agency decided to split them up some of the time into different partnerships to see how they blend with the other performers, and I figured you would be a good pick!” Meiko held her hands out in front of her defensively.
Miku squinted, still a bit irritated with the idea. Meiko decided to diffuse the argument before it trailed off too far into the “what-if”s.
“Well, she’ll be here tomorrow, anyway. Go home and get some rest, it’s already almost the end of my shift.” Meiko stated, standing to stretch her legs.
“Alright, but you might want to start your first draft of that essay before you go.” Miku snarked, laughing a bit to herself before exiting.
As soon as she was safely outside of Meiko’s sight, the facts of what had happened started to spill through Miku’s head. Now walking a bit faster to reach her car, the girl breathed a bit unsteadily, the sounds of her stepping outside onto the concrete parking lot being drowned out by the frightening ability to hear her heartbeat getting quicker.
Throwing her car door open, Miku flopped down into the drivers seat and slammed the door after her. She moved her hand to the glove compartment, hesitating before pulling it open. This time she took both hands to pick up two matching pictures, one of herself, and one of a green haired girl.
Both girls were just a few years younger, though the one with green hair had heavy makeup on. They were shown standing in front of a brightly illuminated ferris wheel, Miku holding up a puffy pink cotton candy with a bite taken out. Wide smiles painted their faces, and their arms were wrapped around each other in a slightly awkward but loving way due to the green haired girl’s incredibly short stature.
The teal haired girl felt a soft smile reach her face, before her eyes began to well up.
“Not here.” She thought, “please not now. Stop thinking about her, she isn’t important right now. Just me, I beat her at her little game and that’s what matters.”
Miku paused for a bit, leaning her head back to seal her tears away. She held the picture in one hand now, inhaling and exhaling before crumpling it, inadvertently pressing her nails roughly into her palm.
“God fucking-!!” She dropped the paper, which was left to unfurl itself on the floor below her. As if to taunt her, it showed the grinning face of her former friend. A best friend, even.
This only made her angrier, the miserable feeling from before making her release a strained sob. The tears made it down her face this time, dripping to the floor of the car faster than she could think to push them far away. She sobbed again, her face morphing into a defeated look.
The green haired girl beamed, taunting her.
“Don’t look at me like that..”
Though Miku knew well that the smiles in a photo would never fade, it pained her to remember the fact. All she wanted was to see the other girl upset, angry, jealous…
“I said..” her expression distorted into fury, “STOP THAT!!”
She stomped on the picture, throwing her head against the steering wheel. As if rejecting the very idea of its memory, she twisted her foot to crush it further.
After a heavy exhale, she took a few moments to collect herself. She dried her tears on the sleeves of her pale blue sweatshirt, and adjusted the rearview mirror to take a look at herself.
Her eyes were stained red around the edges, along with her nose’s tip. Her cheeks displayed the black streaks of what used to be mascara.
She let out a pained chuckle.
“Wow… I look gross. Guess you were right about one thing, Gumi…” She glanced back down at the photo on the floor.
Finally turning her key in the ignition, Miku drove off to the only place she knew to go at a tough time like this.
A familiar restaurant owned by a certain retired idol.