Messages To and From Beyond the Grave

Attachment and Reattachment

AN: Originally posted 7/4/23. Reposted on 5/12/24 in this fic for the sake of organization.

"It's Lumina's voice, isn't it?" Kokoa guessed, sauntering over to Neo as casually as she could. Neo jerked in surprise, having not expected to be addressed, especially not by Kokoa. Worst of all, her observation was dead right.

"How did you know?" Neo's voice was cold and guarded and she did not turn around to look at Kokoa.

"I think you can guess." Kokoa's eyes flicked to the stage, a giant screen in the back broadcasting Lumina as Michiru DJed in front of her.

It was a little, unofficial thing they were doing for Lumina's V-Tuber fanbase, so it wasn't a Unichord project, per se. Hayate had of course insisted that she and Kokoa go to support Lumina and Michiru anyway, but she'd since excused herself to the bathroom, and possibly snacks on the way back. Kokoa chuckled and shook her head. She knew Hayate would be gone for far longer than planned. She was such a scatterbrained airhead! But Kokoa was in a good mood that night and allowed her girlfriend to wander away without an escort.

Kokoa's eyes wandered after that, and out of the corner of her eye, she happened to notice Neo's face, bathed in the light of the giant screen broadcasting Lumina. Kokoa's heart jumped into her throat, and before she knew what she was doing, she was creeping through the audience to reach Abyssmare's vocalist. As soon as Neo realized who she was speaking to, and what was being spoken about, all pretenses were off.

"Michiru had a minor freak-out that first time we realized Lumina had your mother's voice," said Kokoa. We all did.

To think that Unichord knew something so personal about Neo just because of Lumina made Neo's skin crawl. She wrapped her arms around herself, shaking her head and scoffing coldly. "She claims to feel as an older sister for me; however, just because she has my mother's voice—!"

"No, she means it," Kokoa cut Neo off firmly. "I know, it's weird, and believe me, all of us are still struggling to wrap our heads around it, but I promise that no matter what Lumina was programmed to do, her concern for you is real." Neo hadn't been there, but Kokoa had, and so had Hayate and Michiru. When some of Lumina's memory, her directive, came back to her, it was triggered by the sight of Neo suffering alone onstage.

"Wh-why...? Seeing her like this... Why do I feel like...? Why do I want to...?" Lumina would not understand it at first, but with the help of Unichord, they realized that she was feeling protectiveness for the other girl. "I didn't want to see her alone and hurting like that. She looked so lost and afraid. All I wanted to do was... comfort her. Protect her... Neo! Let me hold you! Shield you... You'll never be lonely again..."

Knowing Lumina's backstory, it seemed obvious. She was programmed to love Neo because Neo's father created her to save and absolve Neo. Lumina was even modeled after Neo's mother! But as Lumina had already proven with Unichord, just because a purpose was given to her at birth didn't mean she was totally powerless to ever make her own decisions.

"She found it within herself to love us for us!" Kokoa insisted fiercely. "I know she did the same for you! She wanted to look for you and look after you, and she wanted to take care of you because she genuinely cares about you!" Just as could be said for every unit, their meeting and subsequent relationships were not forced. Perhaps the encounter was fate, but they were the ones who decided how to move forward from there.

"In fact, at one point, Michiru asked if that would make her your stepmother in-law!" Kokoa scoffed and shook her head. While Lumina was breaking down about her relationship with Neo, and what it was supposed to be, Michiru started freaking out too. It wasn't just a façade! Although it was debatable in the long run, for half a second, Unichord's DJ was just as ready to look after Neo as Unichord's vocalist was.