Disclaimer: I own nothing, etc.

Additional note: I haven't written in… three years, I believe. Maybe four. I've also published this without anyone beta-reading it, so if anyone's interested, please step forward. ;_・
I decided to write because it has been a while since I loved a pairing that much. I managed to go through all the pictures about them I could find on danbooru/pixiv, all the songs I could find of them (as a pairing/duet) on niconico, all the fanfictions here and elsewhere… there's nothing left to feed my need of Miku/Luka. So here I am. Hope this does somewhat feed someone else's hunger for them OTL

-

The seventeen year old was at that age when you feel you don't grow up fast enough; she was quite tired of being still thought of as a child. That's why when the particular song "Romeo to Cinderella" was submitted to her, she immediately accepted. She had loved the melody and sure the lyrics were quite implicit, but she thought it would be a change from her usual cute songs. This song definitely would bring her into a new light to her fan's eyes, and maybe, just maybe, make her appear a bit more of a woman. She had recorded the song in but a few takes, loving the beat and lyrics had her master it in no time.

But now, now was when she hit a wall. At this particular moment, Miku regretted not thinking much further when she accepted the project. Her manager sat in front of her with the promotional shoot plan, and she weren't too happy about it. She was to pose not only in an almost naked, quite a disheveled state, but also in front of a royal blue background, on a bed clad in royal blue sheets, wearing royal blue lingerie, licking on some Popsicle at that.
She understood why. The fans had gone wild over her duet with Kaito, her agency's very popular pretty boy pop star, and this royal blue happened to be his trademark color. Obviously, her producers wanted take advantage as they could of how the fans loved the idea of him as her boyfriend to fuel the sales of this new single.
Miku had tolerated the hype and the fans shipping them together, she knew this was part of the deal when she had signed up for fame. She had accepted to play along and evade questions, let people think what they will, instead of denying a relationship. But she was absolutely not ready to make such an explicit, sexual statement concerning him, or any particular man for that matter.

"No. No I won't." She crossed her arms, her teal eyes staring quite hard at her manager. "No!" She threw her answer for the millionth time.

"Hatsune, you know what the song is about!" He countered. "You're the one who asked for something other than the cute songs, and you have to follow through." His answer was firm, and he held her stare without wavering. "Romeo to Cinderella requires that type of promotional photos, you know it."

"… Fine, fine, I'll do it." She sighed, finally giving in. "But only if this isn't themed in blue." She added her condition. There was no way this too was necessary, and she absolutely did not want to push it that far with Kaito.

"Fine, I understand." The small man scratched something off in his notebook. "How about in purple?" He feigned innocence, suggesting another popular male's trademark color.

Why did the bald man insist on suggesting another color than her trademark teal? This was ridiculous!
"How about in pink?" Miku growled her retort, in a very much sarcastic tone.

There was a moment of silence, in which Miku thought she had made her point. But…
"…Genious" He answered, readjusting his big, square glasses, oblivious to the cynicism. "I had no idea you had it in you to play that game." He added, his nostrils flaring rapidly with his slightly accelerated breath. "Fans will L.O.V.E your spicy idea."

Miku blushed a very, very deep crimson. She hadn't meant… "…I-I… wait, that was just… I mean.." She started blabbering, forming a coherent sentence as her vaguely cold irritation turned into burning hot embarrassment proved to be quite a feat. "I-I-I don't think Megurine-s-san would… err… you know… she'd be… embarrassed?"

"Don't worry about that!" He jovially countered, patting her shoulder with his hand. "I know for a fact Megurine has wanted to work with you for a while, this will set the stage for it!" He laughed a bit too enthusiastically.

"S-set the stage…?" Miku's blank expression didn't reflect how fast the wheels were turning in her head. If he meant to set the stage with something like this, his follow-through surely would be something very... "W-wait I-I… I don't think this is a good idea at all…" She tried to step back, but it was apparently too late, as the small man scribbled wildly in his notebook. In a flash, he had flipped on his cellphone, giving out new instructions.
Miku could see it coming from a mile away, like it was a thirty foot, red neon sign. She mentally apologized to her co-star Megurine Luka, for what their fanatical manager had now set his mind to plan for them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

As Miku walked home with groceries packed in recyclable bags she and her roommate carried with no real effort, said redhead roommate dropped her bags as a giant placard came into view. Yesterday at that same hour, it had been a car advertisement. It was presently replaced with Miku's next single's promotional poster. The suggestive, pink-themed ,"Romeo to Cinderella" add.

"Holy crap." Miki blurted, turning to her friend immediately.
Miku's expression reflected hers, with her mouth hanging open and her cheeks reddened quite a few shades. She even had dropped her bags as Miki had. Miku didn't expect the shoot to turn out that provocative, and she surely did not expect to have to look at a ten foot version of it on her way home every day.

"When you told me about this shoot, I honestly thought you were blowing things out of proportion, but wow. Wow, you were right." Miki whistled in amazement.

Miku stared at the ten foot billboard that showcased her exposing too much of her skin.

"I hope this doesn't stain your reputation, man." The redhead added, staring with the other girl.

Miku stared at the ten foot billboard that showcased her exposing too much of her skin.
How overwhelmingly very pink it was.
After a moment, Miki patted Miku's back with sympathy, picked her share of the groceries bags and went on her way to their apartment. She would leave Miku to stare as long as she wanted.
And staring she did, the ten foot billboard showcased her exposing way too much of her skin.
She had never seen herself with anything other than overwhelming teal.
It took another moment for her to pick up the remaining bags and trot home. She wouldn't hear the end of this at school. And with what her manager had said, this was just the start too.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Miku, what the HELL?" Rin dropped a magazine on the older girl's desk. The magazine was opened at a specific add page, that featured the person on who's desk it was dropped on.

"That's what I thought when I saw it too. I had no idea it would turn.. that bad." Miku closed the magazine, unable to stare at her own suggestive expression. "Don't make it worse on me Rin-chan, I already have it bad enough with everyone else. The girls in my class seem really uncomfortable… and the guys won't look at me, those who do, the look in their eyes makes me shiver." She looked up at her younger friend, then at the girl's twin. The younger boy wouldn't look at her straight in the eye, embarrassed as he was.

"Plus, there's a ten-foot version of it we have to look at on our way home." Miki added, balancing her chair on the two back legs. She stopped to turn around fully and pat Miku's head when said girl started banging her head on her desk. The redhead was not only Miku's roommate, but also a classmate. She also happened to be seated just in front of Miku.

"Don't worry, Miku-chan, people will get over it quickly. How are the sales doing?" Gumi came in right when Miku had started banging her head on her desk. It had grown into a habit for their three friends to join Miku and Miki during class break.

"Outstanding." The teal-haired young woman groaned, her head now resting on the magazine Miki had slipped between her and her desk so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"I've been meaning to ask though…" The short-haired girl continued in a questioning voice. "Why pink? Because you know… Pink makes everyone think of…"

"Please." Miku raised her head to look at Gumi, who's expression was as questioning as her voice had been. "Please, let this slip. Things got out of my control real fast." She decided not to mention how she had provoked this.
Before anything else could be said, the bell rang, signaling class starting. The twins took off to their class room, and Gumi being a year older, also left in a hurry.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Her latest single had been flying off the shelves for a little more than three weeks, people had finally quieted down about the suggestive Romeo to Cinderella; and so Miku knew it was time for her to start preparing her next song. This was why she wasn't surprised in the slightest when she had received a message from her dear manager, summoning her to his office. And there she was, standing in front of said office's door, hoping he would have forgotten what she knew he would absolutely not forget. Really hoping he had forgotten he had said something about 'setting the stage' and working with Megurine Luka. Oh, she would be delighted to work with her co-star in any other circumstances, but his ideas scared the crap out of her. She breathed a sigh and turned the doorknob to let herself in.
Indeed, he had not forgotten. Sitting in front of him, in one of the two chairs facing this little devil, was a woman with very distinctive pink hair. She didn't need to turn to face Miku for the young woman to know who this was, but still, she did turn. Her radiance was so much more overwhelming in person than in picture, it left Miku was dumbstruck. That is, until Megurine Luka finally moved again, rising up to salute her.
Miku backed a shivering step. "I'm sorry!" She threw her apology before any greetings were exchanged. "I knew it was a bad idea, I'm sorry I let happen, I should've fought for it to be teal, and I-"

"Wait, wait…" Luka cut in, laughing slightly. "I don't own the color pink, don't make such a fuss about it…"

"But with the Vocaloid industry the way it is now, fans think of you right away, and… used in that way… suggests…. " Miku trailed off, seeing the woman was still smiling at her. "You're not mad." She simply stated, cutting her explanations short.

"I'm not." Luka confirmed. "Of course I'm not." She motioned for Miku to come and sit in the chair next to her, in front of their at-the-moment-too-silent-manager.
The teal haired young woman did so.

"Fans understand this is nothing but a game the industry plays, Hatsune." Now-not-silent-anymore-evil-manager began. "But they still love every bit we feed them, it gives them something to rant about, dream about, be passionate about… they know this is not really your personal life. That's why they still love you after indecent songs like your last one." He said it in such a casual way, it made her ashamed.
"This is why you shouldn't be worried about our next project, it won't be taken seriously. It'll just make some dreamers… dream." His smile grew, and she knew what he was on about. She had known the moment he took her word seriously about being almost naked in a pink theme. Miku was also sure Megurine Luka had her doubts about it, and this was what puzzled her the most. Why was the other woman peacefully sitting next to her, with such a pleasant smile on her perfectly shaped lips?
Wait, what?
Miku's thought were brought to a halt when the small man finally said it.
"You'll sing your first duet together to be a desperate love song between the two of you." His nostrils were flaring again under the excitement.
Megurine Luka was calm as ever.

Miku wanted desperately to understand the absurdity.
"Megurine-san! You're… why are you going along with this?" She pleaded for a logic explanation.

The older woman crossed her legs and smiled warmly at her. "…Love songs are my favorite." She simply answered. But seeing Miku unsatisfied with her answer, she continued. "I have to admit… This is the chance I had longed for ever since I started here. I wanted to sing with you the most, Hatsune-san. I think our voices would sound extraordinary together." She truthfully elaborated. "I'm tired of people seeing us as rivals when we hadn't even met. I'm sure if we offer a love song, fans will at last stop setting us up against each other."
Luka leaned forwards slightly as she finished. "And to top everything, I see it as a good opportunity to rid myself of a certain purple-haired wolf who doesn't seem to understand that, as Watanabe-san just said, all our set up is just for show."

Miku understood all the reasons the other woman had given her, and as she could relate to every single one of them, she could only nod in response. Love songs were also of her favorites, she had also wanted very badly to get to sing with the other woman, she also thought their voices would sound fantastic, she also hated the rivalry the fans had created between them. And even if hers was a blue-haired puppy, she really did want him to understand she wasn't in for more than for show.
That she would agree with anything the other diva said in that beautiful voice of hers didn't weight on her agreeing, not this time around.

"So it's settled!" The too excited small man bounced up. "I'll commission the song right away!" He flipped his cellphone on, but was quickly halted by the pink-haired woman.

"Watanabe-san, if you don't mind, I usually write my own lyrics. Moreover, since I feel my first duet with Hatsune-san is something very special, it would mean a lot to me if you would let me personally work on it." She explained, her eyes pleading.

Man or woman, no one would have resisted the look she was giving, and their manager nodded. "Good idea! It'll make it even more appealing and unique to your fans! And Hatsune will get the opportunity to learn how to write lyrics. I entrust her to you, Megurine-san." He nodded again and again, whether to himself or to the woman was a mystery. "What about the melody?"

"I… can pull a basic melody at the piano, but nothing near a complete work…" Luka answered honestly.

Miku was still impressed with her senior, she personally had never done anything but pick among the songs producers submitted to her manager. She listened as the two of them wrapped things up and agreed on a producer to write the song arrangements around the lyrics and melody Miku and Luka would come up with.
This might turn out to be a really good experience, she thought.
To top it off, she would finally get to know this diva she had hoped to meet.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

It was twenty minutes later when they both exited their manager's office. Everything about the taller woman seemed to entrance Miku. She never thought she really would be so tall in person. She never thought her skin would look so perfect, or that her hair would look so soft, or that Megurine Luka's eyes were her exact favorite vibrant teal. She wondered how she had never noticed that.

"We should spend time to get to know one another, if we want to come up with something heartfelt." The taller woman suggested, unlocking her iphone. "Would you kindly give me your number or e-mail address, so we can arrange meetings?"

Meeting up with Megurine Luka, all alone, the two of them. "Dates?" Miku blurted as an answer.

"…We could say that." The woman laughed. "We might as well play the game, it might inspire us." She proposed, going along with it.

Miku wasn't so sure she would have 'played the game' had it been anyone else suggesting it. But her heart leapt at the suggestion coming from this particular woman and she found herself enthusiastically nodding at her. "I never wrote song lyrics, I'll really need all the inspiration I can get."
She said it before realizing how much of an innuendo the last part of her sentence entailed. Miku wanted nothing more than to disappear underground when she noticed Luka's cheeks redden ever so slightly. Miku also decided not to ask herself why she had noticed such an almost imperceptible change in the other woman.

"Oh my." Luka brought her hand to her own cheek. "I had no idea you were so… …willing." She stressed the last word, pretending indignation.

Miku was at loss. "N-no! I- … please d-don't think I..! Megurine-san, I'm not… I…" She didn't want Megurine Luka to be repulsed by her, especially when it wasn't even what she had meant to suggest! Tears welled up in Miku's eyes against her will and she hated it. She didn't want to appear weak, useless or childish, not when she had wanted to meet the other woman for so long. Not when she had the incredible opportunity to make friends with her!

Luka's indignant façade fell as soon as Miku started to panic. She took out tissues and offered her some, apologetic. "I'm sorry, Hatsune-san, I hadn't meant to scare you… or be mean to you." Miku didn't take a tissue, still staggered. "I know very well what you meant, and I only meant to play... " Luka tried again, as she decided to pull out one and dry the girl's eyes herself.
She wiped them gently and with the tip of her fingers, she then pushed aside a few strands of teal hair out of her eyes. Her fingers brushed against Miku's cheek.

The moment seemed to last much longer than it actually had. Miku had known before she had actually touched her, how gentle Megurine Luka's touch would be. Somewhere deep down, Miku had known much before she had actually touched her that if she ever did, something would forever change. Her heart beat so fast.

The moment seemed to last much longer than it actually had. Luka had known before she had actually met her that her life would change if she ever were to meet Hatsune Miku. Luka had known from the very first picture she had seen of her that if she were to meet her, she'd find something she had been missing forever. Her heart felt whole.

- continued in ch.2

That's all folks, I should tune in for more in... a short while.