Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: ANOTHER LEN X KURONEKO FANFICTION.
Why? Because I ship 'em too much. And I've been talking about this one for a while now. I think after this chapter it is also kind of easy to tell why I choose this name for my story. ^^
I don't own Vocaloid and Utaite.
Also, does any of you guys know if there is already a 'Utaite' thing on fanfic?
Enjoy!
Reviews make me happy. Even if you want to talk about what you just ate, I love reviews! xD it means you took your time to try communicating with me
And a big thank to my lovely beta reader Ozbert fangirl :D
The building where he worked was usually filled with laughter and joy, everyone got along well with each other and the atmosphere was usually very bright. Even if you didn't belong here, even if you didn't know the people around you, you'd still feel an enormous feeling of happiness taking you over the moment you set one step inside this large building that reached the sky. It was a dream come true working for the Vocaloid Company, Len knew that and not once had he, nor his sister regretted accepting their request to join them.
Until today.
Utaite. That was the name of the company that would soon join them, and it wasn't them joining them that bothered him, it was the way people acted because of that news. This was the first time he'd ever regretted accepting the offer, the Vocaloids had been so kind and warm when he and Rin just joined them, they had treated them like family and helped them. Yet the moment they heard a whole group of people were gonna join them, they'd suddenly became quiet… It was obvious they looked down on the Utaites the moment they started here. He tried to keep away from them as well, not because he didn't like them… in fact, they were actually very interesting, but because whenever he walked alone thought he corridors, he saw the other Vocaloids look with disgust at the Utaites which made him scared, because yes. Len honestly had the courage to admit that he was a big coward in fact, probably an ever bigger coward than Kaito. All Len cared about was protecting himself and his family, but mostly… himself. He wasn't afraid to admit that, he had wasted way too much time in trying to protect others, he cared so much for others that when he finally reached the edge of whatever he could hold, he no longer could care. He knew his mother and stepfather had insulted him for 'Egoistical' and while it had made him angry at that time, he now actually took it as a compliment.
This was perhaps a very ignorant way of thinking, but it was true. His past had made him who he is now, and he tried his best to not give a rat's ass.
He sighed when seeing Rin and Miku walking out of the building, they were gossiping about the Utaites again, it made him roll his eyes but he didn't say anything about it. He kept quiet, "They want us to sing together!" Miku whispered, Len remembered having the hugest crush on her when he just started working here years ago when he was only fourteen years old, but now, four years later he knew her well enough and only saw her as a friend, she had way too many things that bothered him.
"Hey Len, did you bring the lyrics for Servant of Evil?" Rin then asked over her shoulder,
"I thought you said you'd be taking care of them," he answered, not really interested in it anyway, he was tired, all he wanted was to go home, take a bath and go to bed. He wasn't even hungry.
"No, I said you had to bring them so that we could practice,"
"We've already practiced," he shrugged, "Rin, they're upstairs, I'm not going to get them,"
"Just take the elevator,"
He narrowed his eyes when she said that, she glared back at him and then looked angrily away, "I'm heading home, figure something out." She held up her nose high in the air, it was obvious she was simply stressed out… it was the end of the week, she was tired. He couldn't blame his sweet younger sister, but still… she wasn't the only one that was tired, he wanted to sleep just as much as Rin wanted to. He gritted his teeth, "Go get them yourself," he snapped,
Miku awkwardly looked away, she had since long gotten used to their behavior, they could be so close that a lot of people thought they were in a secret relationship but they could hate each as much as Vocaloids hated Utaites.
Rin turned around so fast that anyone would have been surprised, but not Len. He grew up with her, he knew every little detail off her, they were twins for goodness sake. "Len." She said in an ice-cold voice,
"I said no," he wanted to walk past her, already happy that they were probably the last people that would leave the building so that they didn't have to bother about anyone seeing their stupid fight,
"Go get 'em," Rin almost hissed,
"Rin," he almost sang, "I am your brother, remember? Not your house elf."
"Len." Miku finally had enough of their fight, "Just go get these stupid papers," she sounded tired, it had been a long week after all,
"What-" he was ready to throw a bucket full of insults at her but then saw the brown haired boy stepping out of the elevator and giving them a curious look, Len quickly looked away, having recognized the Utaite named Vip-Tenchou,
"Go home, I am so not practicing with you." He finally finished their fight and walked to the stairs, he despised elevators, he was dead frightened of them after being stuck in one for almost half a day. He headed upstairs while muttering some bad things about he two girls, "Stupid Vocaloids… family, as if. Only if it's good for them, they don't give a rat's ass about others if it doesn't benefit them-'
"Sounds like they're as kind hearted as all the fans say then," a voice suddenly interrupted his muttering, he looked up with big eyes and met the blood red eyes of a short girl, he knew she was an Utaite but only remembered her stage name, which was Neko96.
"Mind your own business," he said though he didn't know why, but he actually felt happy someone heard him, somewhere in the back of his head he hoped that the girl wouldn't feel too insulted and ask what was troubling him so that he could complain. How big was the chance that they'd ever talk again after this?
Luckily, she wasn't insulted. She grinned, a cat like grin and seemed to think about a good answer so that the young Kagamine had a chance to look at the uniform she wore, the only colors she wore were; black, grey and red. He saw her pierced ears, Kuroneko. He suddenly remembered her full name, oh well. He was probably one of the few Vocaloids that actually took the time to look them up, honestly Len had been hoping to make some new friends, but thanks to his colleagues he didn't have the nerve to talk with them. Now was different, they were one of the few still inside this building. Who would find out? Besides, Kuroneko started talking to him, not the other way. "So what's troubling you then," Kuro asked with that cat like smile of her, if the blond boy remembered well she was two years older then him. Twenty years old. Yet she was so short, he had already been very insecure about his height but this girl… "Nothing, just a stupid fight with my sister," he sighed,
"Care to talk about it?" she asked, putting both hands in the pockets of her black jeans.
He thought about that, but then shrugged, "Rin is just being selfish, again." When she didn't say anything he took another breath and continued, "What's even the point of practicing? Like we get enough time here! God and like, she should walk up all of these stairs! Bet she wouldn't do it twice either,"
"Then use the elevator," Kuroneko suggested,
"I don't like elevators."
"You don't?"
"No! they're send by Satan to eliminate our race," it was an inside joke he only shared with Piko and Oliver, yet here he had spit it out without thinking about it twice… to this strange girl.
Kuroneko burst out in laughter when hearing that, "Hah, well I guess you're right. I don't like them either," she said honestly, "Always scared that they… you know get stuck," she said casually,
"That happened to me once," Len admitted while finally reaching the door he was looking for, slightly out of breath thanks to these awful stairs, "I've been stuck in that for almost half a day! I was only ten."
"Woah that sucks," Kuroneko said, raising both eyebrows. "Glad you survived,"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Means that from all Vocaloids I like you the most, so I'm glad you got out."
He stopped, hand resting on the doorknob. He gave the girl a suspicious look, "Why?"
"Because, smarty-pants, you're the first Vocaloid that doesn't ignore me." She looked over her shoulder, "Though that might also be because no one else is around to complain at,"
He breathed out an chuckle and shook his while entering the small room, quickly walking to the desk close to the window and looking through the papers until he found the lyrics for 'Servant of Evil', the song he and Rin would soon be recording again for a limited edition song, his voice had changed now that he was older and they wanted to make them sing it again with Len's more mature voice.
"I actually wanted to talk to you guys," he sighed, handing Kuroneko the papers when she held out her hand curiously, he didn't really think much about it, "But you know… this whole arch rivals suddenly having to become friends," he shrugged once again, and knew that Kuroneko must have noticed he did that a lot because her piercing red eyes rested on his shoulder for a bit before looking at the lyrics again, "Sorry?" he then said, not sure if that was a proper thing to say.
"Apologies accepted," she muttered with a smirk on her face, handing him the papers back, "Well just see it likes this, how would you feel if you stood in our shoes?"
Angry, hurt, frustrated. Len could imagine it, but he once again simply shrugged which made her only huff in amusement, he knew it mustn't be fun for them, but he couldn't change anything about it. He was selfish after all.
"Look at you," she suddenly chuckled, "Trying not to care," she hummed, something shining in her eyes , he remembered his old friends from before he joined Vocaloid, when he still went to a public school, god did he remember trying to be the best friend ever and how they always played with each other even though they were a group of three, they slowly were drifting apart, the two faceless friends becoming more closer and leaving Len in the dark, that's how he got his fear of rejection as well, thinking about it Len had many fears… they all turned him in the person he was now, and he didn't know if was proud or angry, angry that the world made him like this.
"Len Kagamine, was it, right?" Kuroneko interrupted his train of thoughts,
He slowly nodded,
"Hmm, I'll remember that." She winked at him as they walked back downstairs to the exit of the building; there he saw Vip-Tenchou and a young woman named Valshe waiting for them. He halted, and so did Kuroneko.
"You guys can go home alone, Len-kun forgot his umbrella so we're sharing,"
"Kuro-chan, it's not even raining." Vip whined, but Valshe nodded, said farewell and grabbed her friend by his arm, almost having to drag him out of the building while he was whining about something.
"What was that all about?" he raised an eyebrow and gave her a curious look,
"I've decided," she said,
"What did you decide?"
"That I like you."
He narrowed his eyes in confusion and turned his head a bit to the left, bringing his ear just a bit closer to her mouth as if he hadn't heard that well, even though he did. He just didn't understand in what context she meant that.
"You're interesting, I'd like to talk some more with you."
"What if I don't want to talk with you?" he asked then,
"What if I told you, you had no choice," she said back,
"Are you threatening me?"
"Depends the way you take it," she answered casually, "Starbucks coffee, my treat."
"Buy me a sandwich and we'll have a deal," he answered, and he couldn't help but smile when seeing the grin on her face, happy that he didn't refuse her offer. He handed her the papers he had been holding and let her put them away in the small bag she carried around her waist, they both walked out of the large building, it was cold outside and the sky was dark and clouded. Soon it would be completely dark. He should probably warn his parents that they didn't need to wait for him, but on the other hand… Rin told them he would be later, also he was old enough to take care of himself?... yep he was fighting with himself, at the end he quickly send a message to Rin explaining to her he would get some coffee with a friend.
"Mommy is worried?" Kuroneko snickered when they walked next to each other to the nearby Starbucks,
"She just likes to know where we are," he explained. Thinking about what he should answer to Rin's text message, which had followed very quickly as reply, 'With whom?'
"The Easter Kangaroo," Kuroneko said, having read the message, strangely enough Len didn't mind it at all, he smirked and thought about actually answering like that, "She's probably kill me if she hears I'm having coffee with an Utaite," he sighed, "No offence," the Vocaloid quickly added while rubbing his temple,
"None taken," the Utaite hummed, they had finally reached the small Starbucks, hidden between two large shops that sold clothes that neither Len nor Kuroneko thought were even close to 'normal', not that they had much to complain about since he was still wearing his Vocaloid uniform and Kuroneko was dressed in her usual outfit as Neko96, luckily she wasn't wearing the cat ears anymore.
Still, a lot of people recognized the two and not a minute later they were surrounded by a small group of fans while waiting for their turn, Len smiled kindly at them even though he wasn't in the mood to act like a celebrity. He let people take pictures and signed the most strangest things, seriously why do people always think it's cool to make people sign their cell phones? Well, he shrugged, it was kind of funny. He glanced at Kuroneko whom happily chatted with some of her fans, smiling softly… Honestly, Utaites weren't that bad.
"Hey, hey can I take a picture with both of you?" a girl then suddenly asked,
"Oh… well…" the blond glanced at the girl standing next to him,
"Of course!" the cat like girl happily said and grinned at the canon camera the girl was holding up, Len chuckled and smiled as well. He had to blink a few times when the flash went off,
"Well now," Kuroneko smiled, "If you lovely folks don't mind, my colleague and I like to order some coffee," the Utaite pointed behind her where the person was waiting so that he could take their order, the fans nodded, some happily walked away while others just kept close to them, not sure what to do. Since neither Len nor Kuroneko really send them away they just stayed there,
"Yes I would like a Mocha Frappuccino blended beverage, did I pronounce that right? God, they're a bitch to say out loud yet are so yummy," she glanced at Len, "Right?"
He nodded while he shook his head in amusement, "Yes, they are."
"Oh and a blueberry muffin!" she quickly added, the young guy nodded and then glanced at Len, "And you sir? Or would you rather order apart?"
"Oh we'll-"
"Nah, it's cool. Len-kun, what would you like?"
"Uhm, Cappuccino,"
"And a passion carrot cake," Kuroneko quickly added, the young man nodded and started preparing their orders,
"I don't like pie,"
"I know," and before Len could ask her 'how' she continued, "But I do,"
He rolled his eyes, "You just ordered that for yourself?"
"Yeah, the more the better, right?"
"Guess you're right, next time we'll order two sandwhiches with spicy chicken,"
"But I don't like spicy food,"
"I know, but I do."
"Shocker, you don't seem like the type. I thought you only ate bananas." She raised both eyebrows and paid for the their orders, Len rolled his eyes when she did that but still followed her to an empty table far away from the window, "Just because the media says 'Len is in love with Bananas' doesn't mean I actually am,"
"You don't like 'em?"
"I do," he shrugged while taking a sip from his coffee, feeling the warmth taking over his whole body, he shuttered in delight while watching Kuroneko gazing at him with her big curious red eyes while she ate from the blueberry muffin, "Just not as much as the media claims I do, too be honest I like vegetables more then fruit." He then added,
"The more you know," she hummed, "So you're not a fan of sweet things?"
"Nope, I like spicy food more." He answered truthfully,
"Wow," she seemed rather surprised by that, "Well then, this is probably the moment where I admit I actually hate cats and am more a dog lover,"
"You are?"
"God no, all they do is drool." She shook her head while laughing, "Nah, I just really like cats, that's why my stage name is also Neko96, not just because my parents thought it was fun to name their daughter 'Black Cat' in Japanese," her grin grew even bigger when Len burst out in laughter,
"So soon we'll be signing together, looking forward to it?"
"Who says I'll be singing with you?"
"Who says I won't?"
"Good point," he nodded,
"Full of them," she said before finishing her blueberry muffin by pushing everything in her mouth so that she looked more like a hamster then a cat,
"That's gross,"
"Twhewn wloowk wthwe owthwewr wwawy," she said and the blond watched how a part of the muffin tried to escape, he made a disgusted face, "that's even more disgusting," he said, grimacing. The girl quickly covered her mouth with one hand while trying to hold her laughter, so that Len could see her long black painted nails with a red-checkered pattern. They were well done, which made him wonder if she had done them herself which would mean she must be a freaking artist.
He looked up to gaze at this strange girl sitting across of him, she was eating from the piece of Carrot cake now, was it cake? He hadn't paid much attention when she ordered it. Luckily she wasn't taking huge bites anymore, he saw how Kuroneko waved at some fans whom had been gazing at them for a while now, he heard them giggle nervously when she did that.
This was nice, Len then concluded while letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, this made the shorter girl give him a curious look, he simply offered her a small smile. She wasn't as bad as the other Vocaloids had said she was, yet he wasn't sure if he could be friends with her without getting himself in trouble. Too be honest, he started to worry a little. The moment those fans put those pictures on internet it would only be a matter of time before it reached their company that he'd hang out with an Utaite. While his boss would be more then delighted to hear this, it would mean good publicity; he wasn't so sure how his supposed to be family would respond to this.
"Me neither,"
He looked up, surprised that Kuroneko said that, it wasn't like she could read thoughts, and when looking at the girl he noticed this indeed wasn't like that, she had shouted something at the fan that had asked her something. "I think we'll be starting next week," Kuro then glanced at Len, "When do you think?"
"What?" he asked her a bit confused,
"When we'll be working together,"
"Haven't we already?"
She rolled her eyes, "As far as I know, no. We haven't," the girl chuckled while she shook her head, "I've heard our job is mostly making parodies and covers though, sometimes with a Vocaloid sometimes just us Utaites,"
"Hmm," he shrugged and glanced at the two fans, "Don't know, sorry."
She nodded a bit disappointed,
"Come on, finish your coffee. We're going."
"Oh, tired of me already?"
"Yes, very." The older girl laughed while she got up from her chair, Len quickly finished his coffee and got up as well, both put on their jackets again and headed for the door.
"It stopped raining,"
He looked up at the sky, seeing the dark clouds. Night had already fallen, and had indeed looked like it had been raining. Surprising him, usually he would have noticed such a thing. He glanced at the girl holding up one hand, as if waiting until rain would fall again. He sighed, "Well then…" he started, he always hated to say goodbye. They were usually very awkward, and it seemed that the girl standing next to him shared the same thoughts. "See ya Monday, huh?" she smiled,
"Yeah," he nodded, and watched how Kuroneko stood on her tips and gave him a peck on the cheek, "W-wait? What?"
"It's my way of saying goodbye to cute guys," she joked and then happily walked away,
"I'm not cute!"
"Tell that to your fans!" she shouted without looking behind her, she made a loose gesture with her hand while she kept walking, he could hear her hum softly to herself and shook his head. Honestly.
"What a strange girl," he muttered, and put both hands in the pockets of his pants, then noticed the few girls whispering a few meters farther away from him, 'oh'.
"Hello,"
"Where the hell have you been?" Rin asked curiously when he finally entered his home, he hated this place the most too be honest. The moment he and Rin had made enough money they bought a new one, this house. It was too big and even now it was still not familiar to him. He paid not much attention to his twin, he was wet thanks to it starting to rain after talking four hours with even more fans, whom did not respect his wish to be alone. "Out," Len then answered while heading to the kitchen, throwing the papers with the song lyrics toward Rin, so that they accidently landed right on her face.
"Hey!" she said angrily, and sat up straight from the sofa she had been lying on. The shorter girl quickly got up and followed her twin into the kitchen, "With whom? Everyone had already left,"
"No, not everyone." He answered without looking at her while preparing hot coffee for himself, he did not see his sister rolling her eyes and then leaning against the wall. All the Vocaloids had left. Not all the Utaites.
"Then who was it?"
"You don't know her,"
"Her?" the girl lifted up an eyebrow in amusement, "Oh, believe me brother, I know every vocaloid, especially the girls."
"Yes, but you don't know any Utaites." He turned around and gave her a calm smile, he saw how the girl blinked a few times when he said this, she was more surprised about the look on his face then that he actually hang out with an Utaite. His smile was calm, but it was obvious, 'Say one bad word about it, and you're death'.
"You went out with an Utaite?" she then slowly asked, "Len, do you have any idea-"
"She was nice," he then continued, Rin was probably the only person whom he didn't care bout what he said to her, he'd knew she always forgive him. Sure, today was a bad day for both of them, thanks to a lot of stress, but take it an hour or two and they'd probably start playing 'Tekken 6' against each other, "Paid my coffee,"
"Oh yeah, that makes everything better. She paid for you Cappuccino," she snorted,
He breathed out an chuckle, walking towards his sister and gently ruffling her hair, "Kuroneko is her name," he then said when seeing the flustered glare on her face, "And don't worry about it, though it'll be on the whole internet tomorrow,"
"This could mean your death!" Rin raised her voice while letting him walk past her, back into the large living room which could probably also be used as a fucking ball room. He didn't stay here, instead he headed to the stairs, "God dammit Len! You're the biggest idiot I've ever met!"
"I'm also the first person you ever met!"
"Pretty sure that was mother!"
"How rude," he turned around and gave her a mocking grin, "I am that one ovum whom said 'hello' to you when the other ovums" –and he made some loose gestures when talking, "ignored you!"
"Len Kagamine! As far as I know, an ovum can not talk!" Rin tried to keep serious but it was obvious she was on the edge of burst out in laughter,
"That's what the government wants you to believe," he casually answered while running upstrairs,
Rin just stood there, waiting for perhaps something he would add. Before glancing behind her into the kitchen, "Hey you twat! Your coffee!"