Vocaloid: SHADOWS IN THE SPOTLIGHT [Miku X Luka]

Bitter Sweet Memories - #4

A/N: The following contains sensitive topics such as depression, self-harm and suicide, and also this fic ships female X female and contains strong language, suicide and abuse, so if you have a problem with that then you may want to click off this story. You have been warned.

Miku's PoV

For the rest of the day I'm left with the same question eating away at me - why am I doing this? I ask myself during lessons, I ask myself at lunch, I ask myself at the end of the day when I reluctantly follow Rin and the others over to where Luka's sitting on a bench, earphones in and listening to music.

Rin storms over to her and grabs the iPod that is sitting next to her. Luka sighs as Rin disconnects the earphones and turns on the iPod.

"Look at this!" She smirks, looking back over to us slyly. She shows us the screen. "Look at this crap she's listening to!"

Miki steps forward and presses the play button. The music starts playing, and it seems... familiar. As Rin and the others start laughing, I hum along quietly to the tune, recognising the song instantly. Luckily, nobody notices.

"Pathetic. Is this really what you call music?!" Dell sniggers, and I sigh as they continue to laugh.

Luka gets up and tries to take the iPod from Rin, who simply steps to the side in one swift movement. Luka looks up, her expression crossed with hurt and embarrassment.

Rin smirks and turns to the rest of us. "Our work here is done. Let's go." She decides, before forcefully dropping the iPod onto the ground and turning on her heel as an 'ooohh!' rises from the spectating crowd. Rin begins to walk away, followed by Meiko, Miki, Dell, and the rest of them.

All except me.

Once I'm sure they're not looking, I bend over and pick up the device before guiltily looking at the damage. The glass screen is completely shattered, and there are small glass shards cascading across the concrete that glint in the weak sunlight.

"I'm so sorry about them." I sigh, handing the device back to her. She stares at it, and then at me, before turning away.

"That thing was so expensive. My mum bought it for me before she passed." Luka sighs. "Those bastards..." She sits back on the bench again, burying her head in her hands. "They'll be the death of me."

"Hey, hey..." I start, sitting beside her. Luka glances at me briefly.

"Why are you even still here?!" She spits. "Go with your friends. Go to town and buy a shit ton of makeup and try on those revealing clothes. Go and mess someone else's life up. It's what you fucking do best."

Taken aback by Lukas furious comments, I shake my head slowly. "I'm not like them." I tell her softly, once again offering her the smashed-up iPod. She refuses it once again.

"I wish I could believe that, Hatsune." Luka responds, this time in a monotone voice. "But I know all too well that you'll go and ruin my reputation even more because of this."

I look down at the ground. "I won't. In all honesty, the music you were listening to... I really like that genre." I admit. Luka's blue orbs widen in surprise as I look back up at her.

"You do?" She asks, to which I nod in response. Luka hesitates. "How can I believe you? You could just be saying that to get information to pass onto your friends."

"I just told you, I'm not like them, Luka." I repeat, sighing. Luka raises an eyebrow.

"If you're not like them, why the hell do you hang around them?" Luka asks. "You're not very convincing."

Just as I open my mouth to respond, the blue sky clouds over and stray raindrops begin to fall from the clouds. Luka stands up from the bench and begins to walk away.

"H-Hey!" I call after her, scrambling up from the bench. "You've forgot the iPod!"

Luka turns around to face me, all the while keeping a poker face. I begin to walk over to her, but she shakes her head.

"What's the point? It's no good if it's broken." Luka tells me, about to turn away.

"You can't just leave it." I tell her, my voice breaking the bitter silence. Luka glances over her shoulder, surprised. "Your mother gave that to you before she died. It holds memories that you can't afford to loose."

Luka freezes. I wait in silence for her to turn around or speak. Eventually, she looks back at me, and I see that her tears have mixed in with the raindrops on her cheeks.

"I'd rather forget." She whispers, before turning around and running into the darkness.

I stand there in silence for a moment, before looking down at the device in my shaking hands. The screen is cracked, but it looks easily replaceable. I press the power button, and sure enough the screen lights up, despite the scratches and cracks.

I smile a faint smile to myself before stuffing the device into my pocket. By now it's raining pretty heavily. My hair is now soaked, knotty and in rats tails, and the cold atmosphere is making me shiver uncontrollably.

I break into a run, putting no effort into avoiding puddles like I usually do. I run out of the school gates and across the main road. I stop to catch my breath, doubling up as I gasp for air.

I guess this is why I'm crap at P.E... I think to myself with a smile. Once I've regained my breath, I stand up to see Rin walking over to me, unamused.

My heart skips a beat as she opens her mouth to speak. "Where did you go? We were waiting ages for you!" She snaps. I'm about to respond, but she carries on talking. "I swear to God if you were talking to Luka the freak-"

"What you did was unacceptable, Rin." I tell her. "You mistreated her property. That's really unfair on her. I get you don't like her, but that isn't necessary."

Rin smirks and steps closer to me. "Don't think I don't know what's going on. You feel bad for her, don't you? Well, if you step out of line one more time, I will not hesitate to ruin your school life as well as hers." Rin hisses in a low tone of voice, before walking away, like nothing ever happened.

Part four! I'm happy that you guys are enjoying this fanfic so far! Thanks for all of your positive feedback so far. See you guys in the next chapter!