The Cat Arrives

It was a Thursday afternoon. A bus was driving along the streets of Sapporo, Japan. It stopped in front of a certain tall building with the words "Crypton Future Media" on it. A girl with short spiky hair and dark shades on dropped off the bus with two bags in each hand. She wore a red shirt with a black paw print on it, black pants and black boots. The girl also had piercings on her ears. One of the piercings was a chain that was also pierced on the corner of her mouth to make it look like it was dangling. She had just finished her tapioca and had proceeded throwing the cup away.

"So, this is the place?" she asked the driver.

"Yeah," the driver replied. "Home of the Vocaloids and President Hiroyuki Ito. If you want to go in there, your business better be important."

The girl simply smiled. "I think they'll make an exception for me."

"Fukyou waon!" a blonde-haired boy named Len finished singing. He and his twin sister, Rin, had just finished recording their song, 'Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder'. The remaining Vocaloids clapped for them and grinned proudly. Even if the twins were only fourteen, they still sang like one of the best. The twins exited the recording room, dusted off their uniforms and high-fived each other.

"Great job as usual, Rin and Len." Mr. Hiroyuki, their "Master" said, obviously pleased.

"Thanks, Boss!" Rin said cheerfully. Len just smiled his usual happy smile.

"Now, I would like to make an announcement," Mr. Hiroyuki continued. "For the next few weeks, I'm planning something I'd like to call 'Partner Week'. I would like you all to be partnered up and do covers of songs together. Crypton's selections, of course. The songs you will be doing will be aired and recorded."

The room started buzzing with Vocaloid excitement. The eight already started pairing up with each other.

"Not so fast!" Mr. Hiroyuki said quickly. "You will each be singing a song, once per day. And your partners need to be at random. So, for now I want Rin to be paired up with Gumi, Kaito with Miku, Luka with Meiko, and Gakupo?"

"Yes, sir?" the purple-haired man asked.

"You need to stay on solo. You will only be informed whether you'll be partnered up sooner or later."

"Fine with me!" Gakupo sighed with relief.

Then, that's when Len realized he wasn't called. "Sir? What about me?" the fourteen-year old asked.

"Ah, yes, Len. I have a special surprise for you. Fortunately, due to certain circumstances, you won't be a part of this."

"W-what?! Why not?"

"Because you will be doing a whole album with your partner. You get to pick five songs to sing and your goal is to sing it just as good as the originals. Maybe even better!"

Len understood but he was still confused. "Wait, then who's my partner?"

"Ah, about that. Thanks to NicoNicoDouga, your partner comes from a different company called Utaite."

"What?! So I have to be singing with a complete stranger?!"

"Well, if you put it that way, yes. But we have no choice, Len. Nico Nico singers don't go for original and sing covers of our songs. In completely different ways and lyrics. But apparently, people love them more."

"That's not fair!"

"I know, but I spoke to them about it and they agreed to let their best female singer do an album with our best male singer. She's actually on her way here now. So please, Len, bear with it and just think of the fate of our company the whole way."

After hesitating and sighing, Len said, "Alright. When's the girl arriving anyway?"

As if on cue, the same girl that had dropped off the bus entered the room, dropped her bags on the floor, and grinned behind her shades. The Vocaloids stared at her. Len scowled, something he doesn't usually do. Who was this person?

The girl took off her shades, revealing her blood red eyes. She continued grinning. "Is Mr. Hiroyuki here?" she asked.

The Crypton president cleared his throat and stepped forward. "You must be Miss Kuro," He held out his hand. "Welcome to Crypton."

Kuro shook it. "Pleasure to be working here~" she said happily.

"Vocaloids," Mr. Hiroyuki started. "I would like to introduce to you, 96Neko of Utaite. She will be working with us for the next few weeks."

96Neko waved her hand. "Please, call me Kuro! It's nice to be here." She smiled big.

Miku Hatsune stepped forward and smiled back politely. "Hello! I'm Miku, and we're glad to have you here! How old are you?"

"Fourteen," the cat-like teen replied. (A/N: Let's just say Kuro's fourteen here)

"Oh! Same age as us!" Rin said. "Hi! I'm Rin!" She pointed behind her. "That's my brother, Len!" Rin smiled at her twin. "Len, say hi!"

Len just scowled, pointed to Kuro and looked at Mr. Hiroyuki. "This is the girl I'm supposed to be singing with?" he exclaimed.

Mr. Hiroyuki narrowed his eyes. "Len, be nice! And yes, Miss Kuro will be singing with you."

In a much lower tone (and much harsher), he grumbled, "You can't be serious…"

Kuro stepped towards him. "So, you're my partner? Awesome! It's great to meet you, Len-kun!"

"Len-kun…?" Len muttered. First time he was called that.

Kuroneko suddenly glomped him. "It's nice to know my partner is kawaii~"

Len turned red, scowled and pushed her away. "Shut up!"

Rin and the other Vocaloids chuckled. Things were about to get interesting now that Kuro was around….

Later at 6, it was time to go home. The Kagamine twins were just about to go home to their apartment when Mr. Hiroyuki stopped them.

"I want you to take Kuro with you home." He said.

"What?!" Len exclaimed.

Rin ignored him completely and said in a happy tone, "Sure, Boss! Luckily, we have an extra bed back in the apartment!"

"Wait, why are you giving us the responsibility of taking care of her?" Len complained.

"Because, she's your partner and you need to get to know each other more."

"But-"

"No buts, Len." The president said firmly.

Len sighed in defeat. Rin snickered. Kuro just grinned.

"By the way, Rin, starting from today, you don't have to wear your uniform for 'Partner Week'."

"I don't? Yay!" she cheered.

"What about me?" Len asked.

"You and Kuro have to wear these," Mr. Hiroyuki handed them each a paper bag. Len's was yellow and Kuro's was black. Obviously. "Both of you wear this on Monday. Kuro, remember, testing is tomorrow."

"Yes, sir!" Kuro replied cheerfully.

"Hai…" Len muttered.

"Well, good night!" With that, he walked away.

The twins and Kuro started walking west of the Crypton building and down to their apartment.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you guys!" Kuro said.

"It's not like we have a choice…" Len mumbled.

"Don't worry about it!" Rin replied, ignoring Len again. "We're really glad to have you at Crypton, Kuro-chan! Hey, tell us about Utaite!"

Kuro's red eyes lit up like a cat's. "It's really fun! As a Nico Nico singer, I get to sing any song I want and sing any way I want it to!"

"I heard you guys mostly do covers of our songs. I think that's cool!"

"Really? Then maybe you should listen to one of our albums." Kuro said with a wink.

"Do you have friends there?"

"Of course I do! There's Tenchou, Kogeinu, Pokota, Shairu…"

"It must be awesome there!"

Kuro laughed. "You should visit sometime!"

As the two girls talked, Len payed no attention. It was very obvious he didn't want anything to do with Kuroneko. The girl had a voice just like a boy's and even dressed like one. Her piercings were intimidating enough and this along with her cat-like personality was just creepy. Len didn't mean to be rude, but the fact that he was put up with this girl was just…annoying.

When they reached the apartment, Rin showed Kuro to her room while Len changed into banana PJs. Rin came into his room later, with her orange PJs and a scowl on her face.

"Len, why are you being so mean to Kuro?!" she yelled.

"She's weird!" Len shouted back. "And it's not like I want to be mean!"

"Can't you at least be a little nice to her? She's new!"

"I know, but I don't like the fact that she acts very cheery yet looks intimidating."

Rin sighed. "I'll never get you, Len."

"It's a gift..."

Rin frowned. "Just...make her feel welcome, ok? She can be nice if you get to know her, bro."

Len shrugged. "Truth is, I don't think I want to."

Rin shook her head in exasperation. With that, she left the room.

Len plopped on his bed and thought, 'It's not my fault…right?'

Hey guys, sorry, short chapter. We hope this fanfic will seem good for you! It's 96Neko x Len, of course! My bro and I totally ship that! And Len x Gumi…anyway, look forward to better chapters! -Ridaa