lovely // a vocaloid fanfiction

chapter 6 // concerning information

Flower was in the middle of a dreamless, undisturbed sleep when she heard the loud banging of metal coming from the hallway. She nearly fell off the bed when it started, forcing her awake with a start. Letting out a small groan, she gradually pushed the covers off of her, greeted once again by the chilling, frosty air of her bedroom. She paused. The voice that accompanied the banging of metal sounded familiar.

"Get up, sweeties! It's time for a new day~!"

Avanna.

Flower would have laughed when she recognized who it was if the clanging metal didn't irritate her so much. She supposed Avanna's voice was too hushed on its own, so the other HRs made her use what sounded to be pots and pans as well.

Getting out of bed and swiftly slipping on a pair of clean clothes, she sighed. Time for another long day, she told herself with a bittersweet smile.

After stretching for a minute or two, getting herself ready for the lengthy day ahead, she walked outside into the hallway. When she did such, Flower was surprised to find she was one of the first people out and up. I should head to the courtyard about now, right? Flower paused before nodding, setting out on her way. As she strode down the hall, she heard the unlocking and opening of a door behind her. Turning around, she was delighted to see a familiar face, who flashed Flower an enthusiastic grin before catching up to her. Una smiled as she reached the taller girl, steadying her pace to match Flower's.

"Hey, Flower! How was your first day?" the girl asked eagerly, gazing up at her.

Flower looked down at Una, returning her smile. "It was alright. Definitely long." She paused. "Hey, can I ask you for a favor?"

When Una nodded, she continued. "I don't exactly know anyone who shares the same shift as me, and I have a feeling that I'll need some sort of friend if I'm going to get through those long hours. Do you know anyone who patrols Quadrant 3...?"

Una's eyes lit up for a second before she lowered her head, furrowing her eyebrows. "Well... no, not exactly... Ooh! Actually, Nana patrols that Quadrant!" the girl exclaimed, looking relatively hopeful. She paused. "Oh... but she doesn't fare well with newcomers... Uhh! How about... no, he's got a different time..."

The duo eventually emerged in the courtyard, where the sun was rising from behind The Sanctuary, causing the building to produce elongated shadows into the field. Una sighed. "I'm really not sure, to be honest..."

Flower looked around. There weren't that many people in the courtyard. Not that many people, except...

Flower turned to Una. "Uhh, how about her?" She pointed indiscreetly to the only other person in the field that patrolled her Quadrant.

Una blinked, surprised. "Oh, her? She patrols Quadrant 3? I thought I heard she was assigned to Quadrant 4..." Her voice had trailed off before she picked up again. "Well, I've never actually talked to her, but she seems pretty cool. She's got this friend, though... I don't know about him. He seems pretty off."

Flower looked down. So, essentially, what she had already concluded about the unusual girl with fox traits. She nodded. "Alright. Thank you!"

Una nodded. After a few seconds of silence, she blinked a couple of times before turning around and running over to her pink-haired friend, who had just walked through the front doors to the courtyard.

Flower looked after them longingly. If only she could find a friend like that. After watching them chat for a few minutes, she derived the rational conclusion that if she had a friend like that, she could see past the rigid rules of The Sanctuary and absolutely live here. After all, that appeared to be what Una had done. Why couldn't she do it too?