Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I am not lonely
Because you are on my side!”

Miku finishes her song recording and presses the “Stop” button on her microphone. This recording was her best one yet. The other recordings did not go well, as they were either emotionless or overly happy. However, this time she nailed it and got a perfect balance.

It’s not that Miku is a bad singer. In fact, her middle school teacher told her that she had an amazing voice a few years ago. She just could not relate to the song. In reality, she is a lonely girl. She spent her entire day trying to make songs or watch TWIN DRILLS, a famous YouTube influencer and singer.

Saying that Miku is a fan of TWIN DRILLS is a HUGE understatement. She is absolutely obsessed with Teto, who is the person behind the account. Everything about Teto seems perfect. Her makeup is always beautiful, her glittery eyeshadow luminous. Her basic red t-shirt that says “TETO” in big white letters looks so simple but amazing. A choker necklace with a small red heart charm adorns her neck. Teto never smiles so she can achieve a cute, pretty look.

When Miku stumbled across TWIN DRILLS on YouTube Shorts one day, she became obsessed. She found herself always watching Teto’s videos whenever she had free time. At first she thought it was normal. People love watching videos like this! Right…?

Nope. After a few weeks, Miku noticed her face got warm every time she watched Teto’s videos. Then she started getting very strange dreams, typically involving Teto. After receiving thoughts about making out with her, she knew it was obviously not just admiration.

Miku loved Teto.

She spent hours looking at her reflection in the mirror, sweat rolling down her face wondering how she allowed herself to fall in love with an idol. It was horrible. The worst part was that she knew Teto would never reciprocate her feelings. In fact, they might never know each other.

So Miku did what any normal human would do. She stared into the mirror and repeated a mantra: short, simple, destructive.

“She doesn’t love you.”

Every day she repeated this sentence. However, she could not fall out of love with Teto. It was simply impossible to stop loving a girl as beautiful and majestic as her.

Miku took a deep breath and uploaded the finished music video to YouTube. Hopefully this song wouldn’t flop like all the other videos she posted.

Chapter Text

Ding! Ding! Ding! Miku rubs her eyes and slowly sits up. What the heck are these annoying notifications for? This morning she heard about thirty nine million notifications. Tired, Miku picks up her phone only to see hundreds of notifications from YouTube. She unlocks her phone to see what the notifications were about.

Miku gasps. All the notifications were from her newest song, “I am not lonely.” She just posted it yesterday! How is this possible?

She scrolls through the sea of likes and new subscribers. Among all of those, she sees one particular person who liked the video.

TWIN DRILLS.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Miku squeals, her face redder than the YouTube logo. She belly flops into her bed and continues screaming through the pillow. Teto liked her video. TETO LIKED HER VIDEO. Is this a dream? Miku thinks. She slaps herself in the face. Nope. Not a dream. She takes her phone out to double check. The like was still there.

It reminded Miku of how she started posting music videos. When she discovered that Teto did collaborations with famous influencers, Miku knew she needed to be famous. Her dream was to be in a video with Teto, and it still is.

Maybe someday Miku will be famous enough to collaborate with Teto.

***

After a few minutes of maniacal shrieking in her pillow, Miku sits up and goes over to her desk. She collapses into her gaming chair and types with her mechanical keyboard “youtube.com” in the search bar. Time to binge watch TWIN DRILLS videos again.

Her entire feed was filled with TWIN DRILLS videos, as she barely watches anything else. She clicked on the first video that popped up, “Attempting to create a song without communicating! (featuring fallflower and TheYellowOne)”. Miku sighed. She wanted a collaboration with Teto too.

The video started playing through her speakers. “Hello everyone. Today I’m making a song without communicating with my two special guests, fallflower and TheYellowOne. They do not compose songs typically, so who knows how it will turn out. I will make the lyrics, and fallflower and TheYellowOne will attempt to make the song.”

Why on earth is Teto collaborating with these newbies? Miku thinks. She is obviously better at composition than these people. Still, she immediately likes the video and continues to stare at Teto throughout the video.

About twenty minutes later, their song is revealed. It sounds kinda bad, but Teto’s voice sounds so beautiful during it. It makes up for the awful music, the mysterious lyrics and charming vocals resonating with Miku.

My world is not my own
It belongs to someone else
But they have never known me
And I do not know them.

Miku could feel her cheeks flushing as she listened to the song. How is Teto so good at singing? She is so amazing…

The rest of the day went on. Miku watched videos, started composing a new song, and fell asleep listening to Teto’s harmonious music, giving her a sense of peace.

Chapter Text

Today Miku decides to leave her house and actually go outside for the first time in a year. She is craving leek soup, which she cannot order off of Uber Eats, unfortunately. So she opens her front door, puts on her sports jacket, and gets onto her bike.

After five minutes of biking, she arrives at the supermarket and looks for the vegetable section, pushing a metal shopping cart. Once she gets there, she grabs three leeks and exits.

Miku finds herself in the drink section and decides to buy a bottle of vegetable juice, which she hasn’t had in a while. After that she goes to the soup section and opens the pot for beef broth. She grabs a large metal spoon and carefully pours the soup into a plastic container.

Once that's done, Miku goes to the checkout area and purchases her food. She heads straight home right after. Going outside and interacting with people is very exhausting.

In her kitchen she chops a leek on the cutting board into small pieces, not bothering to boil the leeks to achieve a softer texture. She dumps the leek pieces into a bowl and pours the soup in. Bringing the soup into her room, she thinks about Teto’s song she listened to the other day. Something about the lyrics makes her think about her life, but she doesn't know why.

Miku turns on her computer while enjoying her soup and vegetable juice. Why are the pieces of leek so hard to chew, she thinks. On YouTube a new video catches her eye. However, it isn’t by Teto like all the other videos on her home feed.

It’s a video called “TWIN DRILL’S SECRET [EXPOSED!]” by TheYellowOne, an influencer with a yellow ponytail and absolutely no music composition skills (as she heard in Teto’s last video.) Of course Miku clicks it and watches it with interest. Hopefully Teto’s secret isn’t a negative one that would destroy her reputation. That would be horrible. Either way Miku would still love Teto.

“Hello everyone, welcome to my channel! You’re watching TheYellowOne. Make sure to like and subscribe for new videos!”

Of course, the basic YouTube intro.

“So today, I’m revealing the secret of TWIN DRILLS!”

Yeah duh, Miku thinks.

“In the last video me and Teto collaborated in, she told me her deepest, darkest secret! She said not to tell anyone, but here I am, sharing it with the world!”

“So, Teto said she likes someone. Like, romantically.”

Miku’s stomach drops. She knew that Teto would never know her, but Teto likes someone?! That eliminated all chances of ever pursuing a relationship with her.

“This is the weird part. Teto said that they never met this person in real life! Isn’t that weird?”

Miku froze.

“I’m not sure, but I think Teto said it was an influencer that pretends to be happy, but is really lonely.”

…WHAT?!?!?!?!?! TETO LIKED HER!?!?!?!?!?

Stop it, Miku, she thought. It’s probably some other lonely influencer. Even if it was you for some strange reason, you will never be able to meet her.

As if her email inbox was reading her mind, she received an email, giving her the most shocking news of her life.

Chapter Text

“J-POP INFLUENCERS EXPO?!?!?!?!?!?!”

Miku reads the rest of the email.

Hello Miku_01☆! You have been invited to attend the J-Pop Influencers Expo. Here are your requirements for attending:

- Specialized outfit (different from standard recording attire)
- Booth with decorations and merchandise (the table will be provided for you)

The date of the expo is XX/XX/XXXX and will start at 8:00 in the morning at the Japan Convention Center. Attached are two complimentary train tickets on the express train that go to and from the convention train station.

Thank you for your attention and spreading happiness on the internet!

-Expo Planner

No way. This can’t be real!

Alright, it’s time to create an outfit! Miku’s casual outfit with a striped red t-shirt, sports jacket, and red skirt should definitely get an update.

Miku goes into her closet to see if there were any nice things to wear. The only things in there were baggy hoodies, leggings, shorts, and t-shirts. There are also long rolls of fabric.

”Alrighty, time to make myself an outfit,” Miku says to herself, grabbing a clear roll of cloth. She cuts out a large piece of fabric and uses her sewing machine to sew the edges together, making a quick jacket. It is cute, but it needs something else. Maybe a cut on the edges would look good.

After a few hours of making the jacket, Miku goes onto Amazon to buy some accessories. TWIN DRILLS merch floods the webpage, including sweatshirts, phone cases, and even water bottles.

Oh, right. Teto’s most likely going to be at the J-Pop Influencers Expo. It wouldn’t make sense for her to not be there. At the thought of her, Miku’s heart rate starts picking up and her face starts feeling warm. Miku sighs. She really was down bad for her.

Miku searches for decorative glasses and finds a cute pair with white frames and yellow tinted lenses. It will probably look cute on her. Then she buys some hair clips to adorn her teal bangs.

Alright, now for merchandise. Miku is very inexperienced with making merch, so this might be a challenge. Thankfully, she finds a website where she can upload her profile picture and it will be pasted onto a t-shirt, hoodie, and tote bag. She also goes onto a website for creating acrylic stands, importing an image of her cutely posing in a cartoony style. Hopefully they turn out good.

***

After a few days Miku receives a bunch of packages at her front door. Sighing, she walks to the foyer, not wanting to go outside. She grabs the packages and brings them to her room, where she opens them with a box cutter and takes out the acrylic stands, clothing, bags, accessories, and glasses.

She can’t wait for the J-Pop influencers expo!

Chapter Text

Miku sits in her room and eats her instant ramen. It’s 7:47 right now and she is finishing her dinner. The ramen is a little bland and flavorless, but she needs to eat something quick and filling. The leek soup she ate about a week ago was completely eaten, and the vegetable juice was also gone.

Beep! Beep! Miku’s phone starts ringing and vibrating on her desk. Now it is 7:50 and her alarm is going off to leave the house. She has to go to her local train station to get to the convention train station, where she has a hotel booked and will stay there for the night. It is one day before the J-Pop Influencers Expo, and she cannot be more excited for it. Her leg starts bouncing as she throws out the ramen container and grabs her luggage, rolling it to the front door and going outside.

The train ride will be two hours, so she’s bringing wireless earbuds and a sketchbook in her small backpack. In her free time Miku actually enjoys drawing. She isn’t very good, but it’s nice to have a break from recording videos and composing songs all the time.

After a quick walk Miku arrives at the train station and sits down on a metal bench, gripping her ticket. She takes her earbuds out of her case and plugs them into her ears, pressing the “Play” button on her phone. TWIN DRILL’s song “INFINITE NIGHT” starts blasting into her eardrums. Miku smiles and feels her face flushing for the millionth time. Maybe Teto will be on the train, Miku thinks. It’s probably not possible, though.

From a distance Miku can hear the rumble of the train tracks and then sees the train pulling up to the station. “The Japan Express Train is now arriving at Shibuya Train Station. Board now,” an automated voice spoke from the speakers.

Miku waited for the doors to open and walked in, sitting in a seat and placing the luggage in front of her. With the loud music blasting in her ears, she somehow managed to fall asleep on the chair.

***

“Huh? What is all that noise?” Miku wakes up to the sound of loud chatter in the train car next to hers and “Machine Love” by TWIN DRILLS playing in her earbuds. She looks to her right to see a huge crowd of people surrounding something. She gets up out of her seat and walks towards the window in the back of the train car.

Then she sees something. In the middle of the crowd is a small speck of red. Miku squints her eyes trying to get a closer look.

One of the passengers in that train car moves, revealing the one person Miku would have never expected to see on the Japan Express Train.

Teto.

“OH MY GOODNESS.” Miku says in her mind. “HOW IN THE WORLD IS THIS POSSIBLE????” She blinks. Teto is still there, looking at the crowd in front of her, seemingly overwhelmed by the attention. Miku finds her face turning redder and redder as she can’t look away from her.

Then Teto turns her head and stares directly at Miku.

Miku blinks.

Then Miku’s face turns redder than it has ever been before and she quickly looks away. TETO LOOKED AT ME OH MY GOODNESS SHE CAUGHT ME STARING AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING I CAN’T EVEN THINK STRAIGHT, Miku thinks, trembling from shock. TETO PROBABLY THINKS I’M SO WEIRD FOR LOOKING AT HER WITH MY RED AS HECK FACE!

But Miku could’ve sworn that she saw a small amount of natural blush on Teto’s cheeks.

Chapter Text

The train finally slows to a stop after the two hour long ride. Miku stands up and her vision goes blurry because she sat in the chair for such a long time. She grabs her suitcase and takes out her earbuds, walking out of the train doors and into the station. Shops and vending machines surround her, as this particular train station is very popular and visited often by both locals and tourists.

The air has a nice breeze and the sky is dark, as it is 9:38 at night in the summer. Miku looks up at the sparkling stars in the black void above her. Maybe her trip here will be even better than this amazing view.

She walks out of the station after using a vending machine to get a bottle of vegetable juice. Sipping the drink she walks to the hotel and checks in. Rolling her luggage, she goes into the metal elevator and clicks the button for floor 3.

The elevator arrives at the floor, and Miku walks to her room. She sighs happily as she collapses onto the dirty uncleaned floor. After taking a quick shower and dressing into her pajamas she falls asleep in the hotel bed.

***

At 5:00 AM her alarm wakes her up. “Ugh, why do I have to wake up so early?” Miku complains, barely able to keep her eyes open. Since the J-Pop Influencers Expo starts at 8:00, she has to get ready, eat, and get to the venue at around 6:30 to set up her table. Groggily she pulls on her red and white striped t-shirt, clear jacket, and white socks. She walks into the bathroom and brushes her teeth. Looking in the mirror she is reminded of the words she says to herself every day. However, her mind drifts to the image of Teto staring at Miku, faint blush on her cheeks.

Miku sighs and puts on her hair clips. As she ties up her hair and applies makeup she thinks about Teto again. Maybe they would have stood next to each other. And then they would talk to each other. And then kiss. Miku has no idea why she is imagining these unrealistic scenarios in her head.

Once that’s over Miku takes the elevator down to the breakfast area. She grabs a plate and puts some stale pancakes on it. She pours some maple syrup on the pancakes and grabs a seat. They don’t taste very good, but she will probably get better food later at the J-Pop Influencers Expo. And maybe, just maybe, Teto will look at her again.

Chapter Text

“Hello influencers! Welcome to the J-Pop Influencers Expo!” the Expo Planner announces, standing on an outdoor stage. “Please take a look at the map. There are tables with your name on them for you to go to.”

Miku walks over to the board with the map. It doesn’t take long to find her name. She walks over to her assigned table holding a large stack of boxes. It blocks her view, and she trips over a small rock on the ground. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!” she screams, knowing that she will fall painfully onto the ground.

Suddenly she feels a firm hand on her back, the stack of boxes falling to the ground.. “Phew,” Miku breathes a sigh of relief. Thank goodness somebody caught her. I wonder who this person is, she thinks.

“Are you alright?”

Miku freezes. That voice sounds very familiar. It’s almost as if this person is…

She turns around and looks up at the person holding her up. The first thing she notices are deep red eyes. Then Miku sees glitter eyeshadow. And then she notices red curls on the sides of her hair…

“TWIN DRILLS!?!?!?!?!” Miku exclaims, way too loud.

Teto’s face flushes. “Yeah, that’s me,” she says quietly, letting go of the grip on Miku. “That’s a lot of boxes, do you want some help?”

Miku is practically screaming inside. TETO WANTS TO HELP ME TETO WANTS TO HELP ME TETO WANTS TO HELP ME TETO WANTS TO HELP ME TETO WANTS TO HELP ME AHHHHHHHHHHH! “U-uh, okay..” she stutters.

Teto nods her head and picks up three of the boxes. Miku picks up the other two, her heart racing like crazy. As they walked towards Miku’s table, Miku snuck little glances at Teto. Teto looks like she is blushing. Maybe it’s because of the heat, Miku thinks, until she realizes it's a cold morning.

“So…um…you’re Miku, right? On YouTube?” Teto slowly asks.

OH MY GOODNESS TETO KNOWS WHO I AM AHHHHHHHHHHH “Yeah, tha-that’s me.”

“I really liked your new song, ‘I am not lonely’.” Teto smiles at Miku.

OH MY GOODNESS TETO KNOWS MY SONG AHHH “Heheh, thanks,” Miku says, giggling awkwardly. “My favorite song is ‘INFINITE NIGHT’, you sounded so nice when you sang it.”

Teto’s face turns redder than her drills. “EH!?!” She regains her composure. “Oh, sorry about that. I was just very surprised.”

Miku smiles awkwardly. There’s nothing else to say.

***

“Alright, this is my stand,” Miku says to Teto. They both place the boxes on the ground.

“Oh, I just realized that my stand is right next to yours!” Teto exclaimed, placing her bag on the table to the left of Miku’s.

OH MY GOODNESS TETO’S STAND IS NEXT TO ME AHHHHHHHHHHH “Oh, that’s nice!” Miku starts finding it a little easier to talk to Teto. Of course she still forgets what words are whenever Teto speaks a word to her. But she feels the ice between them slowly starting to break away.

Chapter Text

The expo started at 8:00 on the dot, just as the email said. Miku enjoyed talking to her fans and selling some of her merchandise. Every few seconds when she didn’t have people at her stand she glanced over to her left. There was Teto, dealing with a huge line of fans, bombarding her for autographs and photos. If only I were that popular, Miku thought. Then she realized how amazing Teto is.

Miku stares at Teto for the hundredth time in an hour. So pretty, Miku thinks, admiring Teto’s seemingly glowing eyes. Then Teto notices her gaze, locking their eyes. Teto slightly smiles at her.

NO WAY NO WAY TETO SMILED AT ME AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Miku thinks, quickly turning away. She is becoming more flustered by the second. Hang on a second, I thought Teto never smiles.

To confirm her suspicions, she looks over at her again. There Teto is, talking to one of her admirers, not smiling. If Teto never smiles, why did she just smile at me? Miku thinks. Maybe she’s deeply in love with me! Haha, that’s never happening. She probably smiles at fellow influencers.

Then Miku thinks about Teto’s collaboration streams. In every single video, Teto never even curls the corners of her mouth up. Maybe she smiles when she is off camera. Yeah, that must be the explanation, Miku thinks.

“Hello everybody at the J-Pop Influencers Expo! In about five minutes, the lunch break for influencers and visitors will start. Influencers, please take this time to clean up your stands to prevent stealing from your stand. Visitors, go and visit the Convention Center Food Court, where we have all kinds of food! Thank you, and enjoy your time at the J-Pop Influencers Expo!” the announcer says over a loudspeaker.

Miku breathes a sigh of relief, tired from talking with her fans. It felt nice to be admired by them, but communication still felt very exhausting for her. She takes down the merchandise and puts it in a locked compartment in her table, along with her money earned from her sales.

She feels a tap on her shoulder. Miku turns around, surprised by the gesture. To her shock, it isn’t one of her fans asking for a picture. In fact, it’s Teto.

“AHHHH!” Miku screams, her face on fire. “Uh-um, sorry about that. I was just surprised.” How embarrassing.

“It’s alright. Uh…” Teto glances away, her face tinted with red.

“Oh, um, were you going to ask me something?” Miku asks.

“Err…um, do you want to eat lunch with me?” Teto stutters, shaking from fear.

Miku can’t believe her ears. Did Teto just ask her to EAT LUNCH WITH HER??? TETO WANTS TO EAT LUNCH WITH ME TETO WANTS TO EAT LUNCH WITH ME TETO WANTS TO EAT LUNCH WITH ME AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH “Yeah, sure!” Miku says, too excitedly.

“Alright, let’s go!” Teto runs off, turning around to gesture to Miku to follow her. Miku happily followed. Teto ran over to a large oak tree, her red drills bouncing up and down.

“We should sit here in the shade, since it’s a really hot day,” Teto says.

“Okay!” Miku says, not daring to say anything about it being 65 degrees Fahrenheit today. She takes a seat underneath the tree, Teto joining next to her.

I’M SITTING NEXT TO TETO I’M SITTING NEXT TO TETO I’M SITTING NEXT TO TETO I’M SITTING NEXT TO TETO I’M SITTING NEXT TO TETO AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Miku opens her lunch box, revealing a hot dog. Well, it’s not exactly a hot dog. Instead of a sausage in the middle of the hot dog, there is a leek. Miku lights up in embarrassment. I didn’t know that Teto was going to be eating with me, and now I have an embarrassing as heck lunch to eat in front of her.

“Ooh, that’s cool! Do you like leeks?” Teto asks, curious.

“Uh…yeah. Do you think it’s weird?” Miku asks hesitantly.

“Not really. I eat strange food sometimes too. Today I packed a baguette for myself.”

“Just a baguette…?”

“Yes. Baguettes are life.”

Miku giggled. Teto feels very passionate about food, she thinks.

Chapter Text

Miku squeezes some ketchup on her hot dog. Teto starts chewing on her baguette that she packed for herself. How can Teto be alright with that amount of food? Miku thinks, looking at the small baguette.

“Hey Teto, did you pack any other food other than that baguette?” Miku asks, trying to sound polite and collected while she is panicking on the inside.

“Hm? No, that’s it.” Teto responds, still chewing on the baguette. Maybe I should share some of my food with her, Miku thinks. Wait, that’s a stupid idea. Then Teto will know I like her.

“Hey Miku, is it alright if I try some of your leek sandwich hot dog thing? It looks pretty tasty.” Teto asks Miku.

Miku flushes bright red. Was Teto reading my mind, she thinks. “Of course! I’ll rip a part off the part I didn’t bite into-”

Teto interrupts her. “No, it’s alright. I could just bite it off-WAIT WHAT DID I JUST SAY?” Teto immediately flushes.

Miku laughs, tearring off a piece from the leek hot dog. “Here you go! This piece is from the end, of course.”

Teto accepts the piece, nodding her head and eating the entire thing in one bite. “Mm, it tastes surprisingly good! I thought it would taste bad, honestly.”

“Why would you ask for a piece if it would taste bad, though?” Miku teases.

Teto blushes again. “What-? Hey, you!” she says, lightly punching Miku’s arm.

Miku giggles. “Hey, you have some ketchup on your cheek.” Miku suddenly says, grabbing her napkin and brushing the sauce off of Teto’s face. Then Miku realizes what she did. “OH MY GOODNESS I’M SO SORRY I DIDN’T WANT TO BE WEIRD AHH-”

“It’s a-a-lright,” Teto stutters, very flustered. “Do you want a piece of the baguette I’m eating?”

“Yeah, sure!” Miku happily replied, taking a piece of the baguette from Teto’s hand. She puts it in her mouth chewing and smiling after. “Mm, it’s good! I should get baguettes more often!”

“Maybe you can make a baguette leek sandwich!” Teto says to Miku.

“That would taste so good!”

Miku and Teto continue chatting with each other underneath the large oak tree. This feels so nice, Miku thinks. It’s starting to get easier to talk to her. But I’m falling deeper in love.

“Attention all visitors and influencers! The influencer lunch break will conclude in a few minutes. Visitors, you can continue enjoying your food and consider buying from the Convention Ice Cream and Dessert center. Influencers, please finish your food and go to your stands to set up again soon. Thank you, and enjoy your stay at the J-Pop Influencers Expo!” the announcer says.

“Oh well, time to go back,” Teto says to Miku.

“That was fun! You’re a fun person to be around,” Miku says as she watches Teto blush again. “You get flustered so easily, Teto!”

“S-shut up!” Teto quickly remarks, trying to sound angry. However, the glint in her eyes gives it away. Then Teto grips Miku’s hand. “We should go to the stands now.”

TETO IS HOLDING MY HAND TETO IS HOLDING MY HAND TETO IS HOLDING MY HAND TETO IS HOLDING MY HAND AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The two girls ran back to the stands, Miku blushing and happily laughing.

Chapter Text

The rest of the day at the J-Pop Influencers Expo went well. Miku talked to her fans and so did Teto. Miku often caught herself staring at Teto, only for Teto to turn her head around, making Miku turn away quickly, embarrassed. Teto had a very long line of fans waiting for autographs and merchandise, just like in the first half of the expo.

Miku still couldn’t believe what happened at lunch. It was crazy that she was able to talk to Teto and even flirt a little bit. She didn’t know where the boost of courage came from. Maybe Teto used magical powers or something on her.

After sitting at her table for hours, her head on the tabletop trying to get some sleep, she finally hears the announcement. “Attention everybody at the J-Pop Influencers Expo! The expo has now concluded. Influencers, please pack up your things and leave the convention. Visitors, you may leave as well. There are many food courts around the vicinity of this area, so please treat yourself to some food for dinner. Thank you everyone for attending the 2025 J-Pop Influencers Expo!”

“Oh my goodness, finally!” Miku cries in relief. Sitting at the table for hours felt horrible. “Hey Teto, are you going on the train or staying here to eat dinner?”

“I’m going on the train,” Teto says. “What about you?”

“Oh wow, I’m also going on the train!” Miku wanted to try a ramen restaurant before Teto said she was going to the train station. The things she would do for Teto.

The two influencers packed their bags and took down the stand decorations. “I’m so glad that’s over. It was fun to start but got increasingly boring as the day went on,” Miku complained.

“That’s how expos go. I’ve been to a lot of them. This one was definitely the most fun one I’ve been to, though.” Teto replied to Miku.

“Why is that?”

“You were there, silly.”

Upon hearing this, Miku turned beet red. TETO HAD FUN AT THE EXPO BECAUSE OF ME TETO HAD FUN AT THE EXPO BECAUSE OF ME TETO HAD FUN AT THE EXPO BECAUSE OF ME AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH “U-uh, thanks! Do you want to, um, sit with me on the train?” Miku asked, nervous.

“Of course!” Teto replied enthusiastically. She still isn’t smiling, but the glint in her eyes gives away her happiness. But in those eyes Miku can see something else. Nervousness, maybe.

The two of them finish packing up their things after a few minutes. “Alright Teto, I finished cleaning up my table!” Miku says, taking off her fake glasses and hair clips and putting them into her bag.

“So am I,” Teto replies.

“Alright Teto, let’s go!” Miku exclaims, taking Teto’s hand. It’s so warm, Miku thinks.

***

The train station is pretty empty when Miku and Teto arrive. “The Japan Express Train is now arriving at the Convention Train Station. Board now.” an intercom says.

“Wow, we came here just in time for the train!” Miku exclaims happily.

“Yep,” Teto replies, walking through the doors with Miku. The doors closed behind them and they sat next to each other on the cushioned seats.

Do I make a move now? Miku thinks, furiously blushing. Should I do it? I can’t put this off forever.

“Hey Miku, are you okay?” Teto asks with a concerned look on her face.

“Hm? Yeah, why?” Miku nervously responds.

“No reason.”

The next few minutes went on in silence. Ugh, I need to tell her now, Miku thinks, her heart racing. If I don’t tell her I might never see her again and my life would be a waste. Somehow I need the courage to ask.

Miku takes a deep breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

“Hey, Teto, is it alright if I say something?” Miku asks, scared to tell Teto.

“Of course, what is it?” Teto asks, confused.

“Uh, I, um-I LOVE YOU!” Miku blurts out, her face on fire.

Teto freezes, her cheeks tinted a vibrant red.

“S-sorry.” Miku adds, her voice shaky.

“Miku, what on earth could you possibly be apologizing for?” Teto asks, her eyes starting to well up. “You loving me is the best thing that could ever happen to me!”

Now it’s Miku’s turn to freeze. “Wait, so this means…”

“I love you too, Miku.” Teto confesses, placing her hands on Miku’s shoulders.

Then, with tears streaming down her eyes, Teto smiles, her eyes closed, her teeth showing. It seems like Teto is glowing with millions of bright lights.

It’s the most beautiful thing Miku has ever seen in her life.

Chapter Text

Messages: TETO ❤❤❤❤❤
Hey Miku, do y…

“OH MY GOODNESS I GOT A MESSAGE FROM MY BEAUTIFUL GIRLFRIEND AHHHHHHH!!!” Miku screams. She excitedly taps on the screen and opens the Messages app on her phone.

Teto ❤❤❤❤❤: Hey Miku, do you want to go to Shibuya Sundaes tomorrow with me?
miku: omg yes!
Teto ❤❤❤❤❤: Okay, 10 am?
miku: okay yippeeeeeeeeeeee

“OH MY GOODNESS I’M GOING ON MY FIRST DATE WITH TETO AHHHHHHHHHH!” Miku is practically hyperventilating. This is crazy!

***

“Ugh, what in the world am I supposed to wear?” Miku asks herself, staring at her closet. “Should I wear my normal clothes, or a cute dress, or a suit, I HAVE NO IDEA!!”

After staring at her closet for half an hour, Miku chooses a teal sweatshirt and black shorts, paired with white knee-length socks with teal stripes. She puts on white sneakers and walks outside to the warm weather. It’s a perfect day for a date, Miku thinks. I’m so excited!

After a short walk Miku arrives at the ice cream shop. “Hey Miku!” a voice calls out. Miku looks in the direction that the sound came from and sees Teto, waving energetically with a small smile on her face. She’s wearing a white shirt with a red vest and a red tie. Her white pants do well to balance out the outfit.

“Hi Teto! Your outfit looks so pretty, and so do you!” Miku says, feeling her face warm as Teto blushes.

“Hehe, thanks! You too, the sweatshirt is so pretty!”

The two girls walk over to a small circular table with two chairs, sitting down in each one. “How’s life been going?” Miku asks Teto.

“Pretty good. I’m working on a new song.” Teto answers.

“Hey, do you know what I’ve been thinking about? We should make a YouTube channel where we do stuff together!” Miku suggests.

“That would be so cool! Maybe we can even make songs together!”

Miku’s heart flutters after hearing that. Making a song with Teto has been an unreachable dream in the past. Now she can make as many as she wants with her.

The waiter walks up to the table. “Hello, here is your menu,” she says, her yellow ponytail swaying in the wind.

“Oh my goodness! Is that TheYellowOne on YouTube?” Miku asks, surprised.

“Neru, what the heck are you doing here?” Teto asks, flustered.

“Don’t play dumb, Teto. You told me you were going on a date with the girl of your dreams, so I snuck into the staff room so I can third wheel you guys!” Neru responds. Teto’s face turns red.

“Haha, Teto! ‘The girl of your dreams?’ So cute!” Miku teases.

“S-shut up!” Teto stutters.

“Alright lovebirds, hurry up and order!” Neru interjects.

“Okay! I’ll get one large vanilla sundae with chocolate sauce and strawberries!” Miku says. “Make sure it comes with two spoons.”

“Also add a leek baguette sandwich,” Teto adds. “And give us ketchup with it.”

Neru grimaces. “Ketchup, leek, and baguette? That sounds absolutely disgusting!”

***

“Alright, here is your sundae and monstrosity meal thing!” Neru says, holding the large sundae with two spoons and the leek sandwich.

“Thank you!” Miku and Teto say simultaneously.

“No problem,” Neru says, walking back into the kitchen.

The two girls each grab a spoon and start eating the ice cream sundae. “It’s so good!” Miku exclaims, smiling.

As they both enjoy the ice cream, Miku notices a small dot of chocolate sauce in the corner of Teto’s lips. Don’t stare, Miku tells herself. Don’t be a weirdo.

Then, without thinking, Miku cups Teto’s cheeks and pulls her into a kiss. She can taste the sweetness of the ice cream and feel the light pressure of Teto’s lips on hers. She doesn’t have any thoughts. Just kissing.

When the two finally pull away. Miku is out of breath. I JUST KISSED TETO I JUST KISSED TETO I JUST KISSED TETO I JUST KISSED TETO I JUST KISSED TETO AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees a figure with yellow hair.

“U-uh, I forgot to give you guys ketchup.” Neru stutters, placing two packets of ketchup onto the table.

Miku and Teto turn red. “Neru, you did not just see that!” Teto says, panicked.

“I got a photo of you two,” Neru says, holding up her yellow flip phone. On the screen is a slightly pixelated photo of Miku and Teto kissing.

“NERU! DELETE THAT NOW!!!” Teto yells.