Chapter 1: Comfort from an Unexpected Source
Chapter Text
Teto placed her car into park, she was finally home after having to sleep at her office overnight to meet a tight deadline. She removed the key from the ignition and the noise of the engine quickly faded into silence. She grabbed her laptop bag from beside her, looping its strap over her shoulder before exiting the car. Teto stumbled to her apartment’s stairwell, then steadied herself on the handrail as she exerted what little energy she had left to climb the concrete steps. She shuffled through a gray door with a large number two on the wall to the right of it, and made her way through the complex’s connective hallway until she found her apartment. She fiddled with her keys for a short moment until she found the key to the door.
Stepping inside Teto was greeted with the familiar scent of fresh coffee as it permeated the quaint living room of the apartment she shared with her best friend, Neru. She tiredly marched to the couch in the living room and fell into its pillowy embrace. The stress that had kept her shoulders tensed washed away as she let the comfort that the familiar environment provided fill her. She let her head fall backwards to rest on the back of the couch, she closed her eyes and let out a tired sigh, a sigh earned from an exhausting amount of unpaid overtime that was not legal in the slightest, but nonetheless expected by her employer.
Teto reopened her eyes to see Neru standing in front of her. The girl’s eyes were underlined by eyebags that denote stress and fatigue. Her yellow hair was messy, she had clearly not been awake long. She looked at Teto with clear concern, she hated when Teto overworked herself like this.
“Need coffee?” Neru signed to Teto in Japanese sign language, her hands moved with fluidity which indicated years of practice.
“Yes please,” Teto responded wearily.
Neru gave a simple nod in response before striding towards the kitchen. Teto smiled warmly, silently appreciating Neru’s presence in her life. The two only had each other for company, they were always the odd ones out in every situation, that’s what brought them together initially. Neru was unable to speak stemming from a physical abnormality with her vocal cords, and Teto was autistic which made talking to others an intimidating task. The shared social isolation brought on by their respective struggles, created a sense of kinship that lit the initial spark for their friendship back during their school years.
Neru returned from the kitchen, placing a mug full of steaming coffee on the table in front of Teto. She signed to Teto, “Why do you let them push you around like this?”
“They pay me, I don’t really have a choice Neru,” Teto responded somberly, taking a sip of her bitter coffee.
“Of course you do, you need to stand up for yourself or you’re gonna keep getting walked over like this.”
“Y’know I can’t do that,” Teto sighed, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “No one else would hire me if they decide I’m not worth the trouble.”
“Can’t you unionize or something?”
“The executives where I work are notorious for their union busting, and I can’t afford union membership.”
“You have to do something, you look like you could drop dead any second right now.”
“What could I do? There isn’t any point in me trying to talk to my bosses, they wouldn’t ever listen. Besides, I can survive being a bit tired.”
“A bit tired? You look like a damn zombie, you’re just being a coward! You never care about yourself! I hate seeing you like this!” Neru signed scornfully before she stormed away, tears welling in her eyes.
Teto’s heart shattered as her friend lambasted her, Neru could get angry, but this time hurt a lot. She placed her coffee back on the coffee table with shaky hands. Teto’s breath quickened as tears built in her eyes, her cheeks were quickly stained with her eyeshadow as she began to sob. At first her mind flashed with rage towards Neru, but ultimately it was replaced with a deep self-loathing, she knew Neru was right deep down, Neru only confirmed what Teto was already thinking. She held her head in her hands and felt the world around her spiraling, she tried to breathe, to cling to any way of steadying herself, but to no avail.
Teto stood up from the couch, she couldn’t stay there, she had to clear her head, to be anywhere that wasn’t that place right then. She grabbed her purse and keys and stepped out of the apartment. She quickly thought of going to the nearby lake and set off. Ambling out of the complex she made her way down the street. Teto was lucky that there weren’t any people out that early in the morning that would see her crying, most were sleeping in on a Saturday. Block after block she made her way towards the lake, it felt like hours passed despite it having taken only six minutes.
Soon the dull grey of concrete beneath her feet was replaced with the vibrant green of grass tipped with morning dew as she arrived at the quiet lake. She found a bench and where she could sit, looking defeatedly out over the lake, her mind was too preoccupied for her to enjoy the pristine view in front of her. She wiped the mascara and snot that had built up on her face off with a wipe from her purse before depositing it in a nearby trash can. Teto had stopped crying, but she remained morose, her mind despondent, fixating on feelings of inadequacy and self-hatred.
“Hey, are you okay?” A light-honeyed voice rang out beside her.
“Hatsune Miku…,” Teto uttered as her mind immediately recognized the voice, she had to do a double take as she turned to see her.
“Yep, the very same,” Miku, Teto’s idol, replied with a half smile before her face changed back to reflect her concern. “You looked upset, is something wrong?”
“Yeah, it’s nothing.”
“You sure? You can talk to me if you like.”
“I’ll be fine,” Teto replied, wondering why someone as important as Miku would care about how someone like her was doing. “You don’t need to worry about me.”
“Well then can I sit with you?”
“...Sure,” Teto replied, utterly confused by the entire situation.
Miku sat next to Teto and the two looked out at the lake for a minute until Miku broke the silence, “Why are you up at this time of the day?”
“Uh… I don’t- well why are you up at five in the morning?”
“Not a lot of people are out at this time, I can’t really go for a walk any other time without being stopped every few minutes,” Miku replied, letting out a small giggle over Teto’s nervousness.
“I slept at my office last night to meet a deadline, I woke up early because one of the security guards found me asleep in my cubicle and told me to go home.”
“Oh, I understand, early into my career I used to do the same kind of thing. Management eventually got security to kick me out at the end of work everyday just so I would stop.”
“Damn, I wish my boss was that nice.”
“Nah, they did it because my singing got worse whenever I didn’t get enough sleep and it was costing them profit.”
The two laughed a bit over the shared experience.
“I never got your name, you have one?” Miku said with a grin.
“Oh, sorry, I’m Teto,” Teto responded with an embarrassed smile.
“Alright then, do you mind telling me what’s wrong now Teto?”
“Well… my friend got angry that I stayed at the office overnight again. She-well she called me a coward for not standing up for myself. I don’t blame her… she does care, and… she’s right,” Teto admitted sadly.
“Well I think you telling me this is very brave, most people are too scared to talk about how they feel.”
“Thanks, that… means a lot.”
“Sure thing-,” Miku said before she’s interrupted by an alert from her phone. “Oh, can I get your phone number? I have to go, but I would love to keep talking to you!”
“Oh, okay!” Teto replied.
The two quickly exchanged numbers before Miku hurried off. Teto was left in stunned silence, she had met Hatsune Miku and she was interested in being her friend. For once in a very long time, Teto wasn’t tired, she was energetic as could be.
Chapter 2: Phone Call
Summary:
Teto and Miku talk over the phone and set up a hang out session.
Notes:
Kagamine Rin & Len will be in the story eventually, just trying to figure out how to introduce them to the story.
This chapter is pretty dialogue heavy, sorry if that's not your cup of tea.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Teto placed her car into park, she’d gotten off work earlier than normal that day, which is to say she hadn’t been made to work overtime like was usual at her studio. She began to make her way through the winding halls of the apartment complex with a bounce in her gait which was a rarity those days. Teto thought back to her messages with Miku, she had said she was available to hang out after six o’clock on most days, so she would be free later that day. The two hadn’t had the chance to actually talk since the previous Saturday when they first met, so Teto made up her mind to call her that evening.
“I’m home Neru!” Teto called out upon entering the apartment.
Neru rounded the corner to greet her in sign language, “You’re home early for once. Do you want me to order delivery, get take out, or do you want to eat here?”
“I’ll make dinner, it’s been so long since I last got to bake.”
“Please don’t make just baguettes for dinner again.”
“That was one time Neru! Besides, I already have a recipe I’ve been wanting to try for weeks.”
“Sure, it was one time,” Neru signed, using air quotes to indicate her sarcasm.
“The baguettes I make when I’m drunk don’t count!” Teto replied defensively, heading into the kitchen. A half-hour later Teto came back out of the kitchen, holding a loaf of bread covered in cheese, bacon, and basil. The two discussed their respective days as they enjoyed the lovingly-crafted meal, Neru repeatedly complimenting the dish as was common for her to do. When they finished, Neru did the dishes since Teto had done the cooking, for which Teto thanked her and went to grab her phone. She went to her room before selecting Miku’s contact from her list and messaging her.
“Hi, are you able to hang out?” Teto asked, she deliberated on how to phrase the question for a long while, she usually never had to ask anyone this type of question since she only ever hung out with Neru.
After a short wait Teto got a call from Miku.
“Oh my god hi Teto!” Miku exclaimed excitedly, she was just as energetic as she was during one of her performances.
“Hi, how have you been?” Teto questioned thoughtfully.
“I’ve had a great week, I just finished writing out the lyrics to a new song! Now I just gotta find a composer to make the backing track, but that may take a while since all of my usual ones are booked right now.”
Teto pondered for a moment before replying, “Can I help?”
“You’re a composer?” Miku asked with great interest.
“Yeah, I work for UTAU studios, I composed Mimic Girl.”
“Oh, my god, I loved that song! You did an amazing job giving that song its own identity and it was so catchy too!”
“Thanks, I’m glad you liked it,” Teto forced herself to respond without giving away how excited she was, she was overjoyed at the revelation that her idol enjoyed one of her songs.
“I would love to have you on the song.”
“Do you have any requests for a tone or time signature? I want to know what you’re going for with this song.”
“Normally I would, but this song is way different compared to what I’m used to. I wanted to try some more mature lyrics this time.”
“Mature? That is pretty different, is Crypton really not trying to maintain the whole cutesy vibe anymore?”
“They are, they said they wouldn’t publish the song, but I just decided to publish it myself to get around them.”
“Your contract with Crypton must be pretty loose if you can self-publish without violating any terms.”
“Technically, I am violating the terms of my contract, but if Crypton were to sue me they would lose the only one keeping them afloat financially,” Miku laughed.
“I’m glad you’re still passionate about music, that’s rare among musicians nowadays.”
“Wait… do you not enjoy composing anymore?” Miku asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
“I don’t know… I haven’t composed anything by myself for a long while, but before I got my current job I loved writing and playing songs with Neru. So I think I’ll enjoy this, either way it will be refreshing to be composing for fun.”
“Good you should be able to enjoy making music. Is Neru one of your friends?”
“Yeah, She’s my only friend… or well, she was my only friend until I met you,” Teto quickly corrected herself upon her slip up. She thought silently for a moment on how strange she must seem to Miku who must have so many friends with how popular she is.
“I’m glad I met you then, you’re too cool to only have one friend. Your friend Neru sounds cool too, is she also in the music industry?”
“No, she went into advertising. She never did tell me why though.”
“That’s sad, people who’re passionate about something should be able to pursue it.”
“You and I are in agreement about that,” Teto replied, she thought carefully for a moment. “You two would get along well I think, you both are pretty determined people and she’s as big a fan of your stuff as I am.”
“Then I hope I can meet her one day.”
“I could probably introduce you to her, we live together so if I made a group chat between us three you could talk over the speaker to us both and she could reply in the group chat.”
“Wouldn’t it be simpler for her to just talk into the speaker too?”
“She can’t, she’s mute.”
“Oh, my bad. I’d be down for that though.”
“Ain't your fault, that’s on me for forgetting to mention that sooner, but yeah, I could set up a hangout over the weekend.”
“If it’s over the weekend could I come in person? Meeting someone over the phone doesn’t feel as cool as meeting them in person.”
“Sure, does one o’clock Saturday work for you?”
“Yeah, that works.”
“Cool, I’ll ask Neru, if she doesn’t wanna hang we could just hang with the two of us.”
“Alright then, sounds like a plan,” Miku responded cheerfully. The two girls continued to talk about random topics for another hour before they had to reluctantly head to bed. Teto thought long about the conversation that night, basking in the joy of newfound friendship.
Notes:
"Mimic Girl" is a parody of "Gimmick Girl" by MonochroMenace.
Can y'all tell me how you characterize Rin & Len in your head cannon? I don't know enough about them to characterize them myself other than saying they're siblings.
Chapter 3: Face to Face Once Again
Summary:
After a problem pops up, Teto and Neru change the plans so that they would go to Miku's house. They are then coincidentally introduced to Kagamine Len.
Notes:
Since I did age up some of the characters for this story, I made them feel more mature like they had grown to match their age.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Neru quickly agreed to hang out when offered, she was interested in seeing what Teto’s new friend was like. If she was anything like how Teto described her she must be pretty cool. Teto was more anxious about the hang out, she didn’t really know how to host a guest, even if that guest was a friend simply coming over to hang out. She looked up a guide online and found it somewhat helpful, but also it made her feel even more intimidated with how formal it seemed. Teto couldn’t ever understand formality, there were so many rules that seemed so illogical to her, but made sense to everyone else.
As Saturday came around, Teto set out all the snacks and drinks she could think to prepare. She cleaned the floors and dusted so much the apartment looked like it hadn’t ever been lived in. Even after everything was set out and prepared as well as possible, Teto couldn’t help but be nervous, her stomach was twisting itself into knots at the thought of disappointing her new friend. Neru had to stop her from having a mental breakdown multiple times before it was even near time for Miku to come over. Then, on the brink of another panic attack, a notification on her phone distracted her, it was a voice mail from Miku. Teto had to struggle to fight her nerves off long enough to listen to the message.
“Hi Teto! Sorry, but I can’t make it to your place today, security won’t let me go after I told them I wanted to visit you and Neru, they said that going to your place alone was ‘too risky’. Would you be okay with coming over to my place?” Miku inquired apologetically in the recording. Hearing that she wouldn’t have to be hosting, Teto let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, or more accurately a hacking cough for air.
“Sure, just send me the address,” Teto messaged her back, playing it cool as if she wasn’t liable to be declared legally insane mere moments beforehand.
“Hey, Neru! Change of plans, Miku can’t make it here so we’re heading over to her place,” Teto called out to her friend in the neighboring room.
“Thank god, I thought I was going to have to explain why you were out cold on the floor when she got here,” Neru remarked in her usual sign language as she came round the corner.
“Was it really that bad?”
“No, it was probably worse actually.”
“Shit…”
“It’s fine, you can’t help it.”
“Yeah, but I wish I could,” Teto responded with a tinge of somberness, before quickly returning to her usual bubbly self. After lunch the two were ready to go, hopping into Teto’s car before following the robotic voice of the GPS as it guided them to their destination. The two noticed the houses they were passing by looked more pricey the more they drove. They had always struggled for money so seeing these houses was somewhat strange, it wasn’t like they were mansions, but they were definitely a bit bigger than what the two of them were used to. The two of them parked at the curb in front of Miku’s house, they stepped out of the car and walked down the long driveway until they got to the front door. The two cautiously climbed the brick steps up onto the front porch before Teto nervously knocked on the front door.
“Hey, nice to see you Teto,” Miku greeted her friend before turning to Teto’s yellow-haired companion. “And you must be Neru, it’s nice to meet you. Come on in you two.”
“You didn’t tell me your new friend was Hatsune Miku!” A pale-faced Neru signed to Teto. “I know you’re autistic, but this is a whole new level of denseness on your part.”
“Aw shit, sorry Neru,” Teto apologized aloud to her friend, Miku turned to see what was going on.
“What happened?”
“I forgot to tell her your full name, she just thought you were a different person named Miku, rather than Hatsune Miku, the idol.”
“I see, don’t stress too hard about it, you’re a friend, you don’t need to impress me,” Miku said struggling to hold back a laugh as she took in the situation. Neru gave Miku an appreciative nod before, her shoulders untensing before she turned to stare daggers at Teto a brief moment longer. Miku turned, gesturing for them to follow as she glided elegantly through the house’s small foyer to a cozy living room that would be strangely fitting to see in the average suburban house. Teto and Neru took a seat together on a soft couch while Miku sat in a chair which looked like it had seen a lot of love over the years across from them.
“How have you two been?” Miku asks her two guests.
“I’ve been well, I’ve gotten so much work done this week,” Teto replies before turning to translate Neru’s signs for Miku. “She says she’s been good too.”
“That’s good to-” Miku is quickly cut off by the sound of a loud thump coming from upstairs. “What the hell happened now? Sorry, give me a second. I need to go check on that and make sure one of the twins didn’t do something stupid.”
“It’s okay we understand,” Teto responded empathetically.
Neru and Teto watched as Miku briskly made her way up the stairs, the movements looked instinctual, like she had done this many times before. They heard the muffled sounds of Miku confusedly questioning someone and a distinctive male voice speaking in an apologetic tone before the man asked a question in return. Miku climbed back down the stairs this time with a blonde man in tow, Teto quickly identified him to be Kagamine Len, one of the two Kagamine twins. When he reached the bottom of the stairs Len came over and offered the two friends a hand.
“Yo, you guys must be Teto and Neru right? Name’s Len. It's nice to meet you," He said casually.
“Nice to meet you too, I’m Teto and she’s Neru,” Teto responded, shaking his hand.
Neru shook Len’s hand as well before turning to Teto and signing, “Can you tell him I said it’s nice to meet him for me.”
“There’s no need to ask her for that, I can understand you just fine,” Len remarked as if it wasn’t a pretty unexpected thing to learn about him.
“You know sign language?” Neru questioned him.
“Yeah, me and Rin used it to talk to each other as kids. It was our secret way of talking without Meiko or Kaito figuring out what we were saying. Well, until they learned it too, we got into a lot of trouble that day,” Len laughed, thinking about the memory.
Miku was completely lost as to what was being said, she had to piece together what was happening through just Len’s verbal replies, a task that was easier said than done.
“Do you want to hang out with us, Len?” Miku asked.
“If it’s cool with you I’d be down,” Len replied casually.
Teto and Neru nodded in agreement, so Len joined them, sitting in a chair next to Miku’s. Miku brought out a box of board games that she had for them to play. Neru quickly picked out a box of “Dos” cards, a game she was particularly good at and started to deal out cards. The group chatted casually as they began to play, from an outside perspective it would’ve looked like they had been friends for years.
Notes:
Rin next chapter?
Chapter 4: Update
Summary:
As it is, I am not looking to continue this work. This doesn't mean I will stop writing about this ship. New story will be coming with a better plot.
Chapter Text
In its current state, I am dissatisfied with this fic. The plot is unsatisfactory in its current form, it doesn't go anywhere and has no major conflict. This is due to a lack of planning that I will correct for in my next story. I will also take time to improve the writing quality of the next story I write, as I know I can do better. The next fic will still be about this ship, but the characters should be a bit more interesting and nuanced.
I'll release a new story sometime soon, but as of now I have no concrete date.
Thank you to all of you who read and enjoyed this story, I hope you will like my future works.
Special shoutout to Cloudyydayss! Your comments are always a joy to see, thanks.