Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Loosely based off Len's Spice. So hints of Rin x Len... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story!
...
Part 1
The Tributes
...
1. Reaping
"Rin Kagamine!"
A sigh of disappointment runs through the square. Rin is a popular girl – bubbly, cheerful and friendly – and nobody wants her to be chosen for the reaping. The fourteen-year-old is a little pale but she manages a terse smile before stepping towards the podium. As she goes, she is given pats on the back, handshakes, goodbyes and apologies from almost everyone around her. A few metres away a teal haired girl, Miku, is crying.
"No!"
The scream from the other side of the square is full of bitter anguish.
Rin turns at the familiar voice and is met with her twin brother's horrified expression, staring out at her from the crowd of boys. He is trying to reach her but is being held back by a few of his classmates and Len has never been known for his physical strength. Ahead of him, outside the pens, Rin sees Kaito's face is shadowed with heavy despair.
Gritting her teeth, Rin walks as calmly as she can towards the stage. The mayor's face reflects the same pain as everyone else. Miku, Rin's best friend, is his daughter and he knows her well.
"My, my, my! What a wonderful young girl," Darrian Parrat says with a bright voice as Rin walks up the steps. The man on the stage with bright green hair is as oblivious to the solemn air of the crowd below him, as usual.
"Hello," Rin says. Quiet and shy.
"Well, come up then!" Darrian says. When Rin is on stage, he puts an arm around her and drags her to the microphone. "How old are you, Rin?"
"Fourteen," Rin answers with a small smile.
Her face is shown in the screens set around the square and broadcast across the entire country; a young, slim girl who seems far too delicate for fourteen, with shining blue eyes and bright yellow hair that seems oddly out of place in the drab district. Wearing a white dress and a yellow sash that floats around her in the lightest breeze, she looks almost angelic.
Darrian let's her go and steps back up to the microphone, overly cheerful as always.
"Any volunteers?"
Suddenly everyone seems to avert their gaze from Rin. She carefully avoids meeting Miku's stare, who, at sixteen, is older than her, because she knows that eye contact would tear her friend apart. Rin doesn't blame anyone for not taking her place – such silence is customary in District 3.
"Now for the boys!" Darrian announces.
Darrian strides to the large bowl of named slips and digs his hand in. After a while he takes out a single piece of paper.
"Thomas Giffet!"
Rin recognises the name: a scrawny fifteen year old who is a genius with electrics but couldn't hold a spear or throw a knife to save his life (in the literal sense). His complexion is ashen and he seems unable to move, even as the boys around him step aside to give him a clear path forward. The whole crowd seems to be unified in thought; there will be no victors from District 3 this year.
"Thomas Giffet!" Darrian calls again, a little impatiently.
Suddenly, Rin catches Len's stare.
The horror is gone, replaced by impassive determination and Rin suddenly knows what he is about to do. She shakes her head, subtly… desperately, but he meets her gaze evenly.
Rin is stuck helplessly on stage as Len's mouth moves.
"I volunteer!"
A ripple of shock radiates outwards.
Len pushes his frozen friends aside and walks into the open. The relief on Thomas' face is clear and he steps back into the safety of the crowd, eager to let Len take his place. Len doesn't even look at him.
Darrian looks a little flustered at the sudden turn of events but immediately recovers his usual confident demeanour. He smiles at Len, evidently happier with the blond haired boy as tribute, with his sleek white shirt and black trousers, rather than the insignificant and somewhat dirty boy who had first been called forward. Objectively speaking, Rin supposes Len is quite attractive.
"What a surprise! We have a volunteer!" Darrian says, excitedly. There is no compassion in his voice. The Capitol-bred idiot who struts around on his ridiculous boots never stops to consider the people he is sending to their death. "Ah now, if you want to come up…"
The mayor stares at Len solemnly.
The hum of conversation stirs again. Rin can see the people she knows dotted around the square. Luka… Kaito… Meiko… Miku… There are so many, she realises, now that she stands up and looks down at them. Perhaps that's why reapings have always been painful for her, because she cannot let go of any of them.
Len steps up to the stage. He stands on the other side of Darrian to Rin and looks emotionlessly ahead at the clouds in the distance.
"What's your name?" Darrian asks.
"Len Kagamine."
"Well! Let me guess… you're Rin's brother!" Darrian says with a small clap of his hands.
That is obvious for everyone to see. Len has the same hair as Rin, practically the same stature and build and their eyes are a perfect copy of each other's. If Len took his pony tail out then they could look identical.
"We're twins," Len says.
The cameras are trained on his stony face.
It is only when the screens show Rin's face that she realises how distraught she actually looks. Her face stained with shining tears which had fallen without her realising.
There is only one victor to the Hunter Games. That is the rule. Even if against all odds, one of them could make it home, it would only be one person. Just one will come back to their friends and family in the district and the other will be dead.
"A hand for the tributes of District 3!"
Both twins know this.
One has accepted it, the other has not.
The light scatter of applause is oddly distant in Rin's ears.
After the mayor makes his speech, the anthem sounds, loud and blaring across the square. It is supposed to give the reaping a festive mood but it only manages to make the atmosphere gloomier, if that was even possible.
Then the two are taken away into the Justice Building and left to wait for their families to say goodbye. At first Len spends his time wondering who their parents will go to first but pushes away the thought because he wants his last memory of them to be good. Of course they won't come to him.
He spends the next few minutes staring vacantly at the room around him. It is covered in a lush red carpet that reminds him of strawberry jam and the strips of wallpaper are a sort of cream colour. There are two leather couches facing each other in the centre of the room and Len selects one before sitting down. From here he can see the white wooden door clearly.
Surprisingly, it's Miku who enters the room first. Len's eyes widen as he spots her distinctive turquoise hair; it has been a few days since she last spoke to him, since Len had just broken up with her. She has wiped away her tears. With small elegant steps, she walks quietly towards Len and stops just in front of him.
"Why?" is the first thing she says.
"Why what?" Len asks, looking up at her lazily. Her dress is the same as Rin's but with a turquoise sash and bow instead of a yellow one; they brought it together last year for the reaping, a special present for good luck. Unfortunately that luck seemed to only have lasted once.
"Why did you volunteer?" Miku clarifies.
Len takes a moment to think. He doesn't really know the answer himself; it had been more of a spur on the moment decision.
"You know Rin can't win on her own," Len says.
"How would you know that?" Miku cries. She seems close to tears again. Sometimes Len is called cold or unfeeling by his peers but, to be honest, Miku holds enough emotiveness for all three of them. She cries easily, laughs readily and is pretty much loved by the whole population of District 3. Rin is similar; so effortlessly moved, like a single leaf in a winter storm or a tiny slither of ice that had yet to melt in spring.
Both of them couldn't survive a day in the arena on their own.
"Miku… tell her to not be stupid," Len says.
"Why don't you tell Rin yourself?" Miku replies.
"Because you know she won't listen to me."
She will pretend to listen, as she always does – put on her mask of politeness and consideration that has so readily fooled everyone else – but Len knows she still resents everything that comes out of his mouth. Ever since his falling out with Kaito.
Miku looks down at her toes. There seems to be something she wants to say but it doesn't come out of her mouth.
"Miku?" Len asks. They have so little time for their goodbyes and Len doesn't want to leave Miku like this. Despite everything, he genuinely cares about his sister's best friend.
Suddenly Miku dives forward and envelops Len in a tight hug. Then she is sobbing, all over Len's otherwise pristine shirt, hanging onto it with her painted nails for dear life. Len sighs quietly and strokes her long hair in reassurance.
"I'm sorry," Miku says in between hiccups. Len is confused at what she is apologising for but doesn't pry.
"It's not your fault," he says softly. There wasn't anyone they could blame, other than fate or bad luck. Len had dealt with enough problems to know that blaming it wouldn't sort anything and would just leave him feeling frustrated.
There is a click as the door opens and a Peacekeeper walks in on their conversation. Len silently contemplates how he must look, with the mayor's daughter sprawled over him. He knows the rumours that surround him, although he can hardly be asked to care.
He pushes Miku off gently. With a little hesitation, Miku lets go.
"It's time," the gruff voice informs him.
Miku wipes her tears with her arm before walking towards the door. Just as she leaves, she turns and gives Len a final, weak smile.
"Bye," she says.
"Goodbye," Len replies. The door closes.
The seconds tick by slowly, counting down his life. Len thinks about how many weeks he will last. A cynical part of his brain informs him he is unlikely to make it past the initial bloodbath but he refuses to hold onto that thought for long – negative thinking will not keep Rin alive.
The next person who enters is also a surprise. It's Meiko, in her usual conspicuous red outfit, who immediately storms in, walks up to Len and slaps him around the face.
"What the fuck Meiko!" he shouts in retaliation, holding a hand up to his stinging face. Meiko throws him a furious glare. She has been drinking again; her eyes are red in the corners and the smell of liquor is strong on her breath. As she lowers her hand, she wobbles slightly and catches onto Len's shoulder for support.
"What… were you thinking?" Meiko says. She is definitely drunk. Her voice is slurred and barely comprehendible.
"What?" Len yells. Is everyone here just to shout at him?
"You want your parents to lose both of their children?" Meiko.
Len swallows thickly.
"We won't both die," he says but the confidence has gone from his voice. He can't tell whether he is saying a statement or asking a question. Perhaps it is both.
"Then you want your parents to watch their children kill each other?" Maiko asks. The statement hit's Len with the force of a hammer, knocking the wind out of him and stinging far more painfully than Meiko's slap.
"That won't happen either," Len says quietly.
"Wishful thinking won't get you anywhere," Meiko says, jabbing a finger into his chest. Meiko drunk is painful to contend with because despite the fact she is incapacitated out of her wits, she is always right.
"I did it for Rin," Len says. Snorting and muttering under her breath, Meiko averts eye contact. Her hand is still gripping, claw-like to Len's shoulder and he can swear there is a bruise forming there.
"Ow Meiko!" Len says. Melodramatically, because nothing else will get her attention.
Meiko seems unperturbed. She tightens her grip and spins around so she is sitting on Len's lap. He tries to shove her off but she refuses to budge, instead wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Don't you dare leave Rin on her own!" she shouts. Her mouth is too close to his ear and it leaves his head ringing.
With a little difficulty, Meiko manages to stand up. She walks a few steps, facing deliberately away from Len. Her shoulders are raised and suddenly Len realises Meiko is crying. He freezes, unable to react. In all the years Len has known her, he can't remember a single time he has seen the fierce woman be brought down to tears.
When the guard comes in and tells her it is time to leave, Meiko angrily wipes away her tears and charges out in the same way she came in.
It seems like an age until Len's parents arrive.
He is still reeling from Miku's sudden appearance and the astonishment of Meiko's emotional outburst that he can barely think. Even when the door does finally open, Len barely registered the two figures entering the room.
"Hi mum, hi dad," he says. He feels like he is dancing on crackled glass, trying hard not to worsen the damage already done.
Mr and Mrs Kagamine sit down on the couch facing Len. Under their stares, he finds himself slouching a little less, sitting tersely on the edge of his seat.
His mother has been crying. Her blue eyes are puffy and red and her lips are drawn into a thin, pale line. Even Len's father, who is usual as emotional as a twig looks solemn. The two sit staring at their son for a few long minutes, apparently unable to start a conversation.
Evidently they have been talking to Rin. Len wonders vaguely how the conversation went. He imagines his elder twin told them to not cry, or be strong, before breaking down herself. Perhaps Rin told them to look after Miku, to keep in touch with her friends, to make sure everyone was happy.
Just maybe, they talked about Len.
After a long while of awkward silence, Len's father opens his mouth.
"Look after Rin," he says, quietly.
Len's eyes widen. He can't tear his eyes off of his father's calm blue eyes with obvious disbelief. His father has never told him to 'look after Rin' before, ever since…
He remembers his father, younger, with less sunken lines in his pale skin. The look of confusion and deep disgust had seared into Len so deeply and left scars that had never really recovered. Although the whole family have supposedly put the incident behind them, it still drags down every conversation as an oppressive and suffocating air.
"It's just a phase."
"In the meantime, I think it's better if you stay away from Rin."
Len's mother looks down at her shiny shoes and keeps her mouth closed tightly.
"Use your training well," Len's father continues. "Make sure you make a good impression with the crowd."
Is he giving him advice to win? Winning means killing dear Rin and Len had always had a feeling neither parent would give him that sort of guidance.
"Have you said that to Rin?" he asks.
Len's father sighs heavily.
"You know her," he says.
Rin, stubborn as she is, will listen to no one if she decides not to. Miku is the only one who could get through her barrier of wilfulness; once, Len shared that privilege with her. He doesn't now, obviously.
Len's mother has finally decided to look up and make eye contact with her son. Staring at her coolly, Len wonders if she will say anything.
"We love you Len," she says.
Something clogs up in Len's throat, making it difficult for him to breathe or speak. His mind has flashed back again to scenes from years ago, that he had worked so hard to forget; that he is still working to forget.
"Remember, we love you no matter what."
"Liar."
"You love Rin," he mutters quietly under his breath because he doesn't know what else to say. Then suddenly his mother's arms are around him, hugging him tightly. Len's eyes are glued to the floor, unable to either look up and meet his father's gaze or push his mother off. He had forgotten the warmth of his mother's hugs.
"Len… we love you too," his mother says.
And Len wants to believe it. He really does.
However Len has spent a long time convincing himself that his parents hate him because he is so disgusting and unnatural in comparison to the perfection that is Rin.
"I don't… We don't hold your feelings against you Len, remember that," his father says.
This is wrong. These aren't the parents that dismissed his feelings, sought to stamp them out… the parents who shouted and cried for his beliefs, who resorted to sending him to a physiatrist when their method of 'changing' Len failed. These aren't the parents Len had become accustomed too.
Len pushes his mother off with a forceful shove.
"Are you guilty, because you want me to die?"
Both pairs of eyes in front of him widen in obvious shock. Len doesn't care that he sees the hurt in them; he is confused and angry and needs to vent out.
"Of course you want Rin to live. Why would you want me? I'm revolting. Remember?" He doesn't even try to stop the nasty edge of sarcasm creeping into his voice.
"Len… no!" his mother says.
"You don't need to convince me to save Rin because I plan to do that anyway!"
He needs to have a go at them because tears are threatening to spill; it has been years since Len cried and he wants to continue that record. His mother's teeth are gritted tightly.
Turning around in his chair, Len faces the tall leather back and stays there, unmoving, even as his parents beg, gentle persuade and eventually shout at him to listen. He ignores them until they leave, continuing his stony mask of indifference. Evan as the door clicks shut behind them, Len does not turn around.
He doesn't want to see anyone right now and he hopes his obvious attitude of uncaring will convince anyone who comes into go away.
"Stropping again?"
Len twitches at the calm voice. Luka walks in and sits down gracefully on the seat, her pink hair settling around her in a colourful halo.
"I am not stropping," Len says but winces at the moody tone which the words came out with. Behind him, there is a knowing smile on Luka's lips.
Turning around, Len looks at her straight in the eye, waiting for some sort of accusation or apology. Nothing comes.
"Your visits haven't been good so far, have they?" Luka says.
"I don't care," Len retorts.
"I think you do," is Luka's reply.
In reality, Len does care. He had been intent on making up with his parents, at making sure their last memories of each other were decent after the rollercoaster the last few years had been, but his stupid stubbornness had got in the way as usual.
"There's a crowd waiting to see you," Luka says.
Len groans. Does he have to see all of them?
"I told them you would want some time for yourself. They left messages though," Luka explains. "Haku wants to apologise, I'm not sure why... Neru's told you to twist the knife when you stab another tribute… I think Gumi was crying..." Luka counted off the names with her fingers. Len recognised all of them but they hardly leave an impression in his mind.
"Thanks, Luka," Len says, when she finished. He couldn't have dealt with all of them in his current state. Len prides himself with his mask of indifference but even he had limits.
"Oh, there's one person who I think you would want to see personally," Luka says. Len tilts his head in confusion. He can't think of any girl Luka would single out like that, other than Miku and Miku has already visited.
"Ok," Len says hesitantly.
"They're outside the door. I'll call them in now," Luka says lightly. Walking to the door, she disappears for a second.
Len can't supress a sharp intake of breath in surprise as she renters with another person, who stands nervously at her elbow. Luka steps aside to let the person through and Len unconsciously tenses, gripping the hand rest of his seat tightly. Questions whirl through his head, so fast he can't catch up with them.
What is he doing here?
"Hi Len," Kaito says, a little uneasily.