~Teto's POV~
Beep. Beep. Beep.
There was a machine nearby, I could hear it. I could also hear someone crying. But why? Why were they crying?
My eyes fluttered open and someone squeezed my hand. I hadn't even noticed someone was holding my hand. "Teto?" It was Ted.
I heard several other people in the background murmuring and whispering to each other. I tried to sit up, but there was something firm keeping me in place. So then I tried to speak, but all that came out was a terrible, scratchy noise that set my throat on fire.
"Do you wanna sit up? If you wanna sit up, squeeze my hand." I attempted to, but I found I was very weak. But I guess he felt it, because then I felt myself rising - he was adjusting the bed.
My vision was a bit blurry, but I realized that I was in a hospital. Wait. Why was I in a hospital? Last I remembered, it was my birthday, we were gonna eat cake, and then-
"Miku strangled you," said my brother. Oh, yeah. That explained why I couldn't move my neck.
Turns out Haku was the one crying, Neru and Rin sitting on either side of her. "I'm sorry we believed her! S-she said not to let anyone through, and then we heard screaming, and then your friends found out, and Miku called us good-for-nothings..." she hiccuped. "But we deserve it for helping her!"
"I just can't believe it's true," Momo said, looking at the ground. "Miku really is the bad guy."
I looked around at everyone. They were all here because they cared about me. Nobody was mad that I was the reason her career was gonna go downhill, nobody blamed it on me except myself. I felt awful.
Then there was a knock on the door. Everyone looked over and Don peeked his head into the room. "Oh my goodness, Teto, I am so sorry, I really had no idea that-"
"Stop," Charlotte stood up and walked him back into the hall. Everyone inside was completely silent, and we could hear her yelling. Don tried to defend himself, but it didn't sound like he was doing a very good job. The last thing Charlotte said, which I'm sure everyone in the building heard, was "I'll see you in court!"
Turns out Charlotte was serious, because three weeks later we all headed down to the courthouse to try and file a lawsuit against Hatsune Miku. My neck had healed significantly, I had gone from a large cast to a thin bandage, and my voice was mostly back to normal. I got lucky, the doctors said that I could've had serious brain damage. I hadn't been harmed too badly, and so I wasn't really thrilled that we were going to court because of me.
On the other hand, it wasn't just about me, it was about everyone else who had suffered from her actions too. Len, Rin, Luka, Kaito, Meiko, Sakine, Neru, Haku, and plenty others, I'm sure. In a way, this was bound to happen sooner or later. Miku had been skating on thin ice.
There she was, sitting near the front with her signature smirk on her face. "Morning, Fakeloid. How's your neck?" I stared at the ground, not wanting to answer. "Well?"
"...It's fine."
"Oh man, listen to you! Your voice is even worse than before!" She cackled. "You're funny, you know that? Real entertainment. Well, hey, I know you think you can get away with fining me for this, but there's no way. It's my word against yours, and besides, you don't have any proof."
"We'll see about that!" Momo was marching down the stairs, and she stopped and gave Miku a furious glare. Then she continued to tromp down to the front, pulling Uta behind her.
"What's their deal?" Miku asked, putting her feet up.
"Oh, they're my attorneys," I responded.
She scoffed. "You can't have two of them!"
"Says who?" Uta called. "Teto, stop fraternizing with the enemy! Get over here!"
Just as I got ready to walk away, a little boy with green hair plodded down the steps. "Aw, he's so cute!"
He walked over to where Miku was sitting and whipped out some thin wire glasses. "Excuse you, I have thirty years of law school experience."
"W-What? But you're-"
"My lawyer," Miku grinned. "Mr. Poid."
"Get your feet off of there. That's very disrespectful." said Mr. Poid, who I swear was no older than seven.
Just then, the judge, Judy, hit her gavel. "Order in the court!" Everyone was there: Vocaloids, Fanloids and Utauloids, half of whom I didn't even know. "We are here to see the trial of Hatsune Miku or something, idk how court works actually so hahaha this is gonna be terrible."
"Your Honor," Uta said, standing up. "Permission to speak?"
"Permission granted."
"Great. I'd like to call up my first witness, if possible?"
"Hold on," Miku interjected. "We just started, you can't-"
"Silence!" The judge demanded. "Go ahead, Miss Utane."
"Can you tell me about your relationship with Hatsune Miku?" Uta asked the witnesses.
Luka was first. "We've never gotten along, when I arrived, everyone else listened to her because she would threaten their careers, and since I refused to do what she said I've been treated poorly."
Meiko said, "A few months ago she began to flirt with my husband, but whenever I asked her about it she would deny that she was. But then she told me to divorce him just so she could have him! Of course, he hadn't consented to any of this at all, so I refused. And when I did, she claimed that I tripped her, although I did nothing, and significant damage has been done to my career."
"I can vouch for that!" Kaito shouted from his seat.
Next up was Len. "Miku had told the media that we were dating, and I thought she really did like me, so I was strung along into doing whatever she wanted me to. Then when I saw her with Kaito, obviously I was surprised, and so I was all like 'hey, what about me?' and she just completely shut it down right then and there by telling me she was lying."
Then it was Rin's turn. "Much like Meiko, I didn't like having Miku controlling me, but I listened to her. Not for the sake of my career, but my brother. He was completely head over heels for her and I didn't want to leave them alone. And... I've never told anybody this, but..." she rolled up the right leg of her pants to reveal a scar. "I was also physically abused."
The crowd gasped. "Rin!" Len cried.
"Okay, it's my turn for witnesses now!" Miku yelled. "And you guys still don't have any real proof."
"Well, Miss Utane, if that is all of your witnesses, we will move on." Judge Judy said.
Uta sat down. "I'm finished, Your Honor."
Miku, stood up, but Mr. Poid said, "Sit back down, let me do the talking." He turned to the people. "Miss Akita?"
Neru stood up, and a lot of thoughts went through my mind. Neru was witnessing for Miku?
"Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Judge Judy said.
"Yes," Neru responded, staring straight ahead. It was as if she hadn't even noticed all of our shocked glances.
Mr. Poid said, "Are all these things they're saying about Hatsune Miku really true?"
"No."
Miku smirked and I heard some gasps. She was lying in court!
"In fact, she's much worse than they say."
Wait... what?
"That's right," Neru continued. "My best friend and I, Yowane Haku, had been hanging out with her before that because at that point she had nobody else to boss around, everyone had figured out by then that she was a bad person. We knew some of the stories had to be true, but we didn't want to believe them because we were so starstruck. And so when Teto's birthday rolled around, Miku led her outside alone and told us to guard the door and not let anyone outside. Then we heard screaming and realized we had made a mistake, so Haku went to get help."
Momo swooped in. "Everyone, see this bandage around Teto's neck?" She motioned for me to stand up, so I did. Then she began to unravel it. "Three weeks ago, on April 1st, she was strangled by Hatsune Miku."
The crowd gasped.
"And then on top of that," Neru added. "Miku thought after what she had done I would still want to go along with her schemes. She asked me to be a witness and lie in court, which is illegal!"
"You still don't have any proof!" Miku shrieked. "You all are just ganging up on me!"
"Don't play like that," Momo growled. "Teto, show the crowd what was in your pocket and read it out loud."
"After I was knocked out, Miku left me a little note," I said, holding it up. "It says, 'tell anyone what I did and you're dead'. Sounds an awful lot like a threat to me."
"That could've been anyone! That doesn't prove anything!" She wailed more.
"Oh, but it does!" Uta joined us in front of the audience. "Remember this?"
Miku squinted at the picture Uta was holding up. "That's just a poster of me."
Uta pointed to the corner of the poster, which had a word written on it. "One that you signed for me! And if you compare it to the note, it's obvious that you did, in fact, write it, therefore you strangled Teto!"
The crowd murmured excitedly. The judge hit her gavel. "Order! Well, given the large amount of evidence provided, it seems there is no other option than to charge Hatsune Miku guilty, and she must pay a fine of $100,000 to Teto and the Utau corporation."
Miku wasn't looking so confident anymore.
lol I had way too much fun with this chapter and it sucks
also sorry I broke the fourth wall