Chapter Text
" Alright, guys. We don't have enough time since we were pretty busy all week, but we have to do something special for Miku." Luka announced in the living room. She had a whiteboard and marker to write down ideas. Luka took this time to call the gang for a meeting since Miku was still at headquarters.
" Why are we doing this again?" Len raised his hand and asked. Everyone just gave him the face that meant really?
" Well, tomorrow it's August 31. And you what that means. It's Miku's birthday slash her thirteenth anniversary." Luka answered with a grin.
" Damn, it's her birthday already? Shit, I haven't gotten her anything." He replied while thinking about what his gift should be.
" That's what this meeting is about. Come guys brainstorm some great ideas!" Luka commanded as she made her hands into fists. Everyone looked all over the room to come up with a decent idea. Five minutes later Rin raised her hand so Luka pointed at her to answer.
" Oh oh...what if we get a big cake.
But it turns out to be a fake cake that looks like a real one, and we have someone jump out of it and yell ' Happy Birthday Miku!" Everyone started to shake their heads in agreement as Luka wrote it down.
" Mmm not bad, not bad. Okay anyone else?" Meiko lifted her arm as Luka turned to face her since Meiko was right next to her.
" How about we sing a song for her and have a party for just us six. You know something not too crazy." Meiko shared her opinion as she thought it was a pretty good idea, but Luka thought otherwise.
“ Hmm, but that’s what we do like every year. Come on we need something great!” Luka highly emphasized the last part while she talked with her hands.
“ No, we don’t. Last year we went to Universal Studios in Osaka.” Meiko clarified.
“ Fine, think of something we will be able to do in one day. That it is not just a simple party.” No one spoke for the next couple of minutes while they were brainstorming ideas to do for Miku’s birthday. Len slowly raised his hand so Luka could call on him.
“ How about we make leek soup and uh...I don’t know.” Luka placed her empty hand on her face and sighed. She turned around to face the whiteboard and wrote down Len’s idea. The room fell silent once again until Kaito spoke.
“ I thought maybe we could-” Just then they all heard the door open and footsteps coming down the stairs. Everyone quickly moved to sit on the couches and Luka rushed to put away the whiteboard. So she ran up the stairs and fell several times to hide it. Miku made it to the living room and threw herself on the sofa next to Kaito. She let herself sink in and groaned loudly.
“ So what are you guys doing?” Miku asked while she slowly sat up.
“ We’re watching tv,” Len answered straightforwardly. Miku shifted her eyes to the television and noticed that it was black and the only thing she could see was their reflection.
“ Umm. The tv isn’t on?”
“ I know.”
Miku didn’t decide to comment on anything and changed the subject.
“ Crypton decided to release a new voicebank,” Miku announced.
“ What is it now? A new language like Spanish, German, French. Or is like I don’t know, Miku spicy. Or Miku cotton candy, or anger?” Len sounded a bit annoyed when he asked which bothered Miku.
“ It’s Miku hot sauce!” She raised her arms in the air and started to dance while she was sitting. Meiko, Rin, and Len were confused at Miku’s answer while Kaito felt some sort of deja vu. After Miku finished her dance, Kaito added to the conversation. “ Didn’t you say that, back when you got your V3 update?” Miku’s face changed into a confused expression and began to think back, but nothing went into mind. Kaito seemed to notice this, so he tried to help her.
“ Umm. Luka was there. Gumi, Miki, Iroha, IA, Akikoloid, and the one Utau Tei. Then remember I went in there being all cool then Gumi kicked me.” Kaito summed up the situation. Suddenly a spark hit Miku’s brain to help jog her memory. Once Miku fully recovered the memory, she widened her turquoise eyes and snapped her fingers.
“ Oh! That’s right! I have said that before!” Miku exclaimed. “ Also how were you cool by saying ‘swiggity swag, what’s in the bag?’' Kaito’s checks slightly turned red. To make him feel worse Len decided to tease him more.
“ What the hell does that mean anyway?” Len released a chuckle.
“ I don’t know. What does the fox say?"
" What?"
" Exactly. "
Everyone turned to face the stairs behind them once they heard the bang of the steps. Luka reached the end panting with quick short breaths. She opened her mouth as soon as she caught her breath. " Glad you're back Miku! Anyway, get ready! Tomorrow you and Len are going to perform at the mall!" Luka gave her the best convincing smile to not let Miku think she was hiding something. Somehow everyone beside Miku and Len knew this was all a part of the plan. In unison, both Miku and Len raised an eyebrow.
" Crypton never told me that Len and I are supposed to sing at the mall." Len added to her confusion. " Yeah they didn't tell me either?" Luka groaned at Len's response since clearly, the teenage boy had not caught on. The pink girl tried her best not to be angry and continued with a smile.
" Because Crypton wanted it to be a surprise. They wanted me to tell you last minute so…well...you'll be surprised. So surprise! " She released a small chuckle.
***
As usual, the mall was crowded with people where there's barely enough space to walk. Luka told Miku and Len that their performance would be right smack in the center of the mall. After a couple of hours of being told repeatedly, Len's instructions were to sing as many songs as they could and keep Miku distracted until Luka contacted him. So the two teens stood in the middle pathway with two large speakers, a laptop, and two microphones. Nobody really seemed to notice them and just walked past them. Len was occupied with the laptop to figure out what song they should play while Miku started to check the Mic.
" Ok! Testing one two three. My favorite color is green, yes, yes." She then proceeded to check Len's microphone. Once Miku was done Len set the laptop down and told her that everything was ready. The girl nodded and exhaled in and out and began to talk. " Umm. Hello everyone! I'm glad you could join us today for a mini-concert!" A few shoppers froze and observed the two singers. Some of them got closer to them and stopped. " Don't worry if you have money because this is a free concert!" In a matter of minutes, a huge crowd gathered around them. Miku smiled with glee and signaled Len to start the song. The speakers sounded just right when the music started to kick in when Len's turn to sing first.
" Oh, life is short. I was always told. Who knew that would be the case, but you know. Suddenly time flies. I was once a child but in five minutes I'm twenty-five."
***
Luka's sweat ran down her chin as her heart raced. In three hours everything had to be done for Miku's birthday. Out of luck, everything she thought would be easy was suddenly the hardest thing to do. The gang went with Rin's idea about the whole cake thing. So Luka made Kaito build the cake shape with cardboard. It had to be big enough so Rin could be able to fit in it. Meiko helped Kaito with the measurements. The cake was done and what was left was to decorate realistically so it looked like a real cake. The problem was that none of them knew how to do that or had artistic ability. Meiko got the idea to hire someone to do it, but all said that they would be done in two weeks. Of course, they didn't have the time, so Luka decided to do it themselves. Which was a decision she will soon regret.
" This cake looks like crap! It looks nothing like a real cake!" The pink-haired girl threw her paintbrush across the room with so much force that it broke in half. " Rin why the hell did you come up with this idea?!" The blonde teen had her phone in hand watching an arts and crafts video to help Luka with the cake project. She did have to admit that the cake looked shitty and yes she imagined it to look amazing in her mind. As always the mind is so ahead of what the hands are actually capable of doing. Well everyone felt the stress moving around and no one knew how to get rid of it.
“ I don’t know. I thought it was cool because I saw that they did that in the Hannah Montana movie! I mean I’ve seen it in other things too like...didn’t Harley jump out of a cake? Did she? I don’t know!” Rin got up from her seat and calmly left the rest discussing. Luka chose to not yell at Rin for leaving and grunted instead. Meiko sensed that her friend was about to explode into several bits and pieces since everything had gone wrong. For once Meiko was going to help calm Luka down. It’s strange because usually, it’s Meiko who is stressed and tense and Luka is the one who always helps her to be at peace. Currently, the brunette sat on the dining table but got up to try to comfort Luka. The pink-haired started to breathe heavily out of anger and her thoughts began to race into the idea of destroying the cake. Before Luka could do so she felt a hand grab her shoulder and lightly yanked her back. Luka turned to see it was Meiko and she got confused about why she did that.
“ Calm down honey, I know, or we know that the cake looks like shit and ghetto. But do you honestly think Miku would give two fucks about it? No, because she’s one of those who are like, ‘ It’s the thought that counts’ ( Meiko pitched her voice high and talked annoyingly). So don’t stress yourself.” Meiko felt weird and strange about giving a pep talk to Luka, but she could see that it worked as her facial expression changed. Luka’s anger left for a bit and smiled.
“ You’re right. I guess I have been overworking myself and expecting too much. “ She released a soft sigh. Meiko didn’t think that it would actually work, but Luka’s no longer a demon no more. Dang do I always like this? Man Luka should get paid for all of the times she has to calm me down. Meiko thought to herself.
“ Of course I’m right. And if she doesn’t like it. Then she is no longer able to have birthdays.”
Luka released a long groan while glancing at the poorly made cardboard cake. “ Alright everyone, we don’t have much time but let’s get this done! When Miku comes she’ll be so darn happy that she’s going to burst into tears! Okay, let’s go!” She clapped her hands and directed the duo to their jobs.
***
“ How much longer is our performance Len?” About two hours had passed and Miku was starting to get hungry and tired. The mini-concert was supposed to end when Luka called Len to tell him that they were ready. Len also felt tired. He wasn’t in the mood to continue the concert, so he thought right now was the perfect time to end it. So Len turned around to unplug all the equipment and yelled out “ THANK YOU, EVERYONE, FOR COMING! AND HAVE A GOOD DAY!
The crowd clapped and cheered. Little by little people started to leave the area to resume their shopping. A girl with black hair turned to her group of friends as she stared at Miku. “ Hey guys, isn’t today Miku’s birthday?” The other three girls stopped to wonder and nodded in agreement. One girl with red hair responded “ So is she turning 17? But wait she was 16 back in 2007, so is she turning 29?” That left the group in confusion but decided to leave it since Vocaloid aging doesn’t make sense. Once Miku and Len finished wrapping everything up, they slowly slide down the floor.
“ So now what?” Miku faced Len who was messing with the microphone cable.
“ Beats me.” Luka still hadn’t called him yet so it meant that he had to think of something to distract her with. Just as soon as he thought that he saw people running in their direction with scared faces. Len stood up to see what the cause of the chaos was as he saw guys dressed in black holding guns. Good, he thought since it meant that they would be stuck for maybe another hour or so. Miku also started to stand up and got stuck with the feeling of fear. She began to panic and quickly grasped Len’s right arm. “ Len we should try to leave.” He could hear the shakiness in her voice but they couldn’t leave. Well, at least not yet.
“ No. We can’t be cowards like the rest. We must face our problems. And if we die today you must know that you are a talented girl and that... I loved you.” Len cringed at the last part.
“ Excuse me?! Since wh-” The leader of the group of criminals cut off Miku to give his speech.
“ People in this mall bow down to me.” Everyone followed his directions in fear. “ Good now, please give my henchmen your money as they come around.” The leader was dressed in a full-on green suit. With a white cream dress shirt and wore black dress shoes. “ Now if you refuse or don’t have any money. Like what’s the point of going to the mall if you have no money. That’s like going to a birthday party and not bringing a present. Who does that?! Anyway we will kill you.” He smiled.
Miku shakingly turned to Len. “ Do we have any money?” Len calmly reached into his pockets and felt nothing. “ No.” Miku was shocked at how Len showed no emotions. Miku’s heart began to beat rapidly as she saw one henchman came near them. The guy pointed his gun at them and said “ Put the money in the bag.” The guy’s voice sounded menacing but to Len, the guy sounded like he was trying but failing.
“ Look, sir, we don’t have any money. But I do know a way for you to get money.”
The guy seemed curious and interested that he stopped pointing the gun at them. “ How so?”
Len smirked and met the guy’s eyes.” Get...a...job.” The guy grunted and immediately raised the gun at them.
***
“ Okay...and we’re done.” Luka smiled as she finished hanging the happy birthday sign. She stepped down the ladder and walked back to observe the decorations. She tried her best to stay positive about it but failed to do so. “ See it looks nice...ah, who am I kidding it looks like shit.”
Kaito and Rin thought it was best to not say anything.
“ Yeah, it looks ghetto as shit.” Meiko did her best to be supportive of her friend, but she thought it looked bad. There were only ten green balloons blown up and hanged on the ceiling. The happy birthday sign had tears and it looked old. The cake ( even though they tried their best) looked like a five-year-old did it. Then the gang just gave Miku a bunch of leeks as her present since they didn’t have time.
Luka sighed,” Uh, don’t help me.” She moved toward a chair near her as she slowly grabbed her phone. “ I guess it’s time then.” Luka quickly tried to call Len, but the strange thing was that he wasn’t answering.
“ Why isn’t he answering?” Luka continued to try several times until she gave up. “ I guess his phone is dead or something. So okay Rin get ready to jump out of the cake.” Rin frowned and crossed her arms.
“ Why do I have to?” The teen whined. Luka’s irritation came back. “ Because this was your idea!”
“ Fine.” Rin sighed.
***
Len’s phone went off like crazy during the hostage situation. The henchman still had his gun pointed at the two but said nothing. The leader of the group got annoyed by Len’s Precure ringtone and stomped towards them.
“ Who the hell’s phone keeps on ringing?!” The leader asked his henchman.
“ It’s that blonde kid.” He pointed at Len with the gun. The leader faced Len and crouched down so he got closer only leaving an inch of space. He then placed his hand on Len’s cheek to make direct eye contact.
“ Look here, son. Can you silence your phone, please? Do it for daddy.” The leader stuck out his bottom lip.
“ Eww.” Len instantly felt disgusted and uncomfortable by the touch of the guy’s hand. The guy backed away and his brown eyes caught a glimpse of Miku. Miku quickly shifted her eyes to pretend that she was looking at something else. An awkward silence approach but quickly got dismissed by the well-dressed leader.
" You." He slowly raised his finger to be able to point at Miku. "You look like a good match for my daughter." He snapped his fingers in the air so his henchmen could get a tight hold of her. Miku's turquoise eyes widened as she squealed in surprise. The henchmen picked her up from the floor and both grabbed her hands in a tight hold so she couldn't resist. Len immediately rose from his feet and got closer to the cocky leader.
" Let her go! Or else." The leader laughed and took a couple of steps closer.
" Or what? Are you going to beat me with those chicken arms?" The menace in his voice lured trying to sound threatening. The blonde teen stood there being quiet for a while before he finally spoke.
“ You know, you’re right. Go ahead, take her. I don’t care.” The guy cocked an eyebrow while Len threw his arms up in surrender. This is weird, no one gives up this easily. Where’s the excitement in that. The leader thought to himself. Miku tried her hardest to get out of the handlock she was in, but every time she would move the two henchmen would hold on tighter. Her hands would definitely get bruises later.
“ Len what are you doing?!” Len didn’t say one word instead the leader continued his conversation with him.
“ You know what kid. I’ll make a deal with you.”
“ Deal?”
“ Yes. If you solve this riddle then you and the girl are free. If you fail then I’ll take the girl and I’ll let one of my henchmen take care of you. Okay...Okay,” Len didn’t feel threatened by the guy instead he thought that all of this was stupid.
“ A riddle? Who are you, a wannabe Riddler? I guess that explains why you’re wearing all green and all. But, come on! The Riddler is like one of the least scary villains out there. I still don’t even know what he even does!” The guy just grunted in annoyance and ignored him.
“ Anyway. When I go in, I can cause some pain. I’ll fill your holes when you ask me to. I also ask that you spit, and not swallow. What am I?” Len didn’t even think for a minute and blurred out his answer instantly.
“ A penis!” He smiled. The leader rolled his eyes. “ Err! Wrong! The answer is a dentist!” The guy snapped his fingers and narrowed his eyes. “ Well, you what that means!” The leader gave out a chuckle. He then turned around and started to leave. Len noticed that his two henchmen weren’t looking at him, that they were observing their boss leave. So Len took the chance and quickly and quietly ran around and behind the two henchmen. Both guys immediately grabbed their guns to shoot at Len but got confused when they saw that he wasn’t there anymore. They shifted their eyes back and forth until one of them got kicked on the back of the knee. The guy let out a groan and let go of Miku’s hand and dropped the gun. Right before the other guy could react, he felt a kick at his neck and a punch in the face. The guy also let go of Miku’s hand and fell onto the ground. Miku then kicked the guy on his side and was about to do it again, but then felt someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away. Len and Miku left all of the equipment they brought and ran towards the exit. The leader failed to notice their escape and moved on with the other hostages.
“ Boss!” One of his other henchmen called out. The guy called for him three times before the leader replied.
“ What now?!”
The henchman pointed towards the defeated henchmen on the floor. “ The blonde kid and the blue girl escaped.” The leader furrowed his eyebrows and stomped the ground. “ Goddamn it!”
“ Don’t just stand there! Go after the-” Before he could finish his sentence, the cops had already entered the building and walked towards them.
“ EVERYBODY FREEZE! DON’T MOVE!” The henchmen immediately threw their arms up and some even dropped their guns.
“ Shit.” The leader whispered only his ears could hear.
***
Len and Miku made it to the house as they were still trying to calm down. Before they went inside, they sat down in front of the door for a few minutes. Both of them didn’t speak right away as they processed everything that had just happened.
“ Thank you Len for saving me.” Miku sighed and gave him a soft smile. Len did the same and moved his eyes towards the floor.
“ No problem. I couldn’t let them take you. If I did everyone would kill me especially Kaito. Plus I bet I couldn’t sleep at night without thinking about how I couldn’t save you. How I wasn’t able to protect you because you mean a lot to me.” Len slightly blushed. Miku smiled shyly as she wasn’t able to think of a good response. Luckily the door opened and prevented the situation from becoming awkward. They both got up and faced the door to see a frustrated Luka.
“ Len! I called you like 100 times and didn’t answer! Why?! You better have a good excuse.”
“ I’ll tell you later.” He rolled his blue eyes. Luka quickly grasped both of their wrists and pushed them inside. She then guided them towards the dark dining room.
“ Why is it so dark?” Miku questioned just as Luka let them go. The lights flickered on as Rin jumped out of the cake, and they all yelled “ HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKU!” All of them cheered as Miku took a few seconds to observe all of her surroundings. She grinned as she thought the decorations were cute even though it looked like everything was about to fall apart.
“ Aww! Thank you, guys!”
“ I know it isn’t that great. Well, we only had a few hours to get everything put together. It was nerve-racking but we did it.” Luka released a small chuckle and grabbed the bunch of leeks.
“ Well here’s our present to you.” Miku laughed and received the leeks.
“ Thank you guys for everything.” Luka nodded as she saw the red marks on her hands.
“ Woah. What happened here?” As soon as she said that the others got closer to examine Miku’s hands.
“ Oh. We were held, hostage.” Miku simply stated.
“ WHAT?!” Everyone yelled except for Miku and Len.
***
After the six of them were done celebrating Miku and Kaito were sitting on her bed.
“ I’m sorry you felt scared during your birthday.” Kaito gently touched her shoulder.
“ Yeah, well there wasn’t anything for me to prevent it.” Miku slowly moved her hand onto his knee. She felt his hand move from her shoulder and saw him reach into his pocket. She lifted one turquoise eyebrow in confusion. Kaito took out a black case and gave it to her.
“ Here’s my birthday present to you.” Miku took it out of his hands and opened it slowly. She gasped when she saw that it was a bracelet. He gave her the bracelet she had wanted ever since she saw it on tv. Kaito knew Miku had wanted to get the jeweled bracelet since she had always talked about how pretty it was. He grunted in surprise as Miku unexpectedly hugged him.
“ Thank you so much.” She whispered. Kaito giggled as he felt her happiness. He gave in to her embrace.
“ You’re so very welcome.”