Following Master back to the dining room, Neru tried to match the rhythm of her legs' motions to Miku's legs' motions so they were walking in tandem. The teal-haired girl smiled briefly at her as they walked silently together, and Neru's insides warmed a little.

The whole event with Master and Miku, figurative and literal, and the explanation had been stressful. Neru was glad that nobody seemed to be looking mad any more. She hoped that things would settle down, and she would discover the correct routine to follow.

Reaching the dining room, Neru stopped in the doorway. The other Vocaloids were seated haphazardly as they had rushed to get back to their seats before Master returned. Neru's eyes immediately zoomed in on the seat she had been assigned yesterday. Someone was sitting in it.

All the relieved feelings of a moment before fled as Neru struggled not to let her upset show on her face. That was her chair! She wasn't supposed to sit anywhere else, but even more importantly, someone was taking over what was hers. Master had even told her to sit there. So why was that pink-haired girl sitting in it?

Maybe the pink-haired girl didn't understand that that was Neru's chair. Maybe she had made a mistake. Sometimes people made mistakes. Neru tried to fight the feeling of tension in her stomach that something wasn't right, the stress of having a confrontation, and the feeling of unreasonable anger that someone was in her space. She walked woodenly over to her chair and stood next to it.

"That is my chair," the upset girl declared, eyes focused on the intricate decoration on the pink-haired girl's clothing. It was shiny and pretty. Neru liked it, and she thought she might like the girl she was talking to, once she got out of Neru's chair. But right now, she didn't like the girl, because she was in Neru's space.

"What?" Luka blinked in astonishment as a monotone was levelled at her. Even though the new Vocaloid wasn't looking at her face, she was standing right next to Luka and facing her; there was no doubt in Luka's mind that Neru was talking to her.

"You are in my chair," Neru explained again, frustrated now. She willed the pink-haired girl to get up so that she could sit in her chair and have breakfast, like she was supposed to do. The pink-haired girl was stopping Neru from doing the right thing, from being where she was supposed to be. Maybe the girl needed more specific instruction. Sometimes that happened to Neru, so she understood it. Neru tried again, "Get out of my chair."

'I need to sit there,' the displeased girl thought at her new sister Vocaloid with intense pressure, growing more riled up with each passing moment. Maybe the pink-haired girl was challenging Neru's right to the chair. Maybe she was saying that Neru didn't belong there. But she was wrong. Master had said so. This was Neru's chair, and she had a place here. She wasn't going to give up her place.

"Neru!" Len hissed from beside her. "That's rude! Luka is already sitting there."

Neru's eyes didn't move, but her peripheral vision picked up that it was Len speaking, and she felt stung. Len was nice to her yesterday, but now, he was scolding her. Even though it was her chair! Why was she being told she was rude when the pink-haired girl with the shiny ornament on her chest was the one who was sitting in /Neru's/ seat? Did he not like Neru anymore?

"It's okay, Len," Luka's shocked blue eyes blinked, and she stood up from Neru's chair quietly, moving her cereal bowl to a new, open seat at the table and making room for Neru to sit.

Sliding in quickly, the relieved blonde Vocaloid female sat rigidly, waiting for further communication, if there was any. Len was frowning at her, and her stomach felt clenched. Neru couldn't remember a time when she didn't feel this constant anxiety. Everything was immediate and right now.

"Sorry, Luka," Len mumbled to the pink-haired girl. For some reason, he felt like he was somehow responsible for his new sister Vocaloid's actions. Luka smiled a little, encouragingly, back at him, then turned her head back to Neru.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too, Neru. I didn't know this was your seat," Luka tried to make a peace offering with her words. It was becoming clear to her that Neru had a different style than any of the other Vocaloids she knew. But she didn't want to upset the girl; it was better to make friends.

Some of the tension left Neru's body as she heard the apology. The pink-haired girl was not trying to take over her space on purpose. She resented it a little that the pink-haired girl was stupid and didn't know that the chair was Neru's, but it didn't sting too badly, since it had been corrected. Neru was grateful for that, and felt encouraged by the soft smile the girl was directing at her. She seemed like a nice girl.

"Thank you for your apology," Neru replied in a blank tone, remembering the rule to acknowledge an apology when it was given. That was the polite thing to do. It was good manners. Glancing off to one side, Neru let her peripheral vision take in Len's face a little better. He was still frowning slightly, and that made Neru feel bad.

She hadn't done anything wrong, and the problem was solved. The pink-haired girl had apologized; Len knew now that she was the wrong one, not Neru. But he was still frowning. Neru returned her gaze to the dining table unhappily. She didn't know how to fix Len's angry face, and that made her feel upset and a little depressed.

A man with purple hair moved a box of cereal and a carton of milk in front of her and smiled in a friendly manner.

"Help yourself, Neru. You can have as much cereal as you want for breakfast," Gakupo offered. Neru absorbed the information, and, feeling encouraged, her hungry stomach prompted her to take a clean bowl from the middle of the table and pour cereal and milk into it.

Taking a bite, the good sensations of crunchy and liquid combined on her tongue as she chewed, and Neru relaxed a little bit more. Master was watching her, but his facial expression didn't indicate anything bad to her. She swallowed her first bite of cereal and raised her spoon to take another. 'Breakfast is cereal,' Neru thought to herself, a little more contentedly as her empty stomach was filled. 'I can have as much cereal as I want for breakfast. I can help myself.'

"Luka, Meiko, Len, it's your turn to wash dishes this time," Master reminded everybody as Neru finished her bowl of cereal and paused to decide if she wanted more, deciding against it. She felt full now. "Neru, we'll work on recording your first song once dishes are done. I have sheet music for you to study here; it's okay if it takes a little while to get it right. Do you know how to read sheet music yet?"

"Yes," Neru smiled inwardly to herself. She liked sheet music. Master was rewarding her with something she liked. She had sat in the right seat and eaten the right breakfast, and now good things were happening. She glanced over at Len without moving the position of her head or eyes, and noted that he was smiling again, too. Good things were happening now, all because she was following the rules correctly.

A feeling of encouragement and pleasure lifted Neru's spirits. Routines were comforting, because when you follow the rules, everything will be okay. It was only when the rules were broken or routines were changed, that bad things always happened. Neru felt a growing contentment as she thought to herself: 'I will learn all the rules, and then only good things will happen to me in Master's house from now on.'

Suppressing the urge to smile on her face, Neru allowed her dishes to be collected and rose from her seat, ready to follow Master and learn the sheet music he had prepared.