"Meltdown"
Rin was getting tired of banging her head against her desk. Not only that, but the harsh movements were crumpling the paper beyond repair. "Write a new song," they said, "It will be easy," they said. Rin wanted to throw the now ball of crumpled paper in their faces. She leaned back in her chair with a heavy sigh and tossed the paper behind her. What could she write about? What hadn't they already done? Love songs were always in season, but Rin wasn't so sure she had the right experiences to write about. She'd never really been in love, per say. She'd had crushes, for sure, but never heart-pounding passionate love. Writing something without feeling behind it felt like cheating.
Rin huffed out loud, grabbing her head in her hands briefly to clear the thought from her mind. Maybe a little break could help her out? Seeing procrastination as her current savior, Rin pushed herself out of her seat and left the bedroom she was forced to share with her brother. Speaking of... the house was quiet today. That was unusual. There was hardly ever a day she didn't hear Miku practicing a new song, Len playing violent video games, Meiko loudly cursing her past exes or so on. Rin poked her head through the doorway, glancing both directions before deciding the apocalypse hadn't hit. Even so, the bizarre change was worth a look into. She was about to call out for someone when she noticed a note laying on the counter.
Rin and Kaito,
Everyone has gone to get updated song cards. Will be back later tonight with brand new new songs and shiny new outfits! Don't worry, we'll bring yours back too!
Miku-chan! xoxo :^D
That explained it. But why hadn't anyone come to ask her if she wanted to go? Maybe Len had told them she would be too busy... But wait, this was addressed to both Rin and Kaito... but where was the other vocaloid? Why hadn't he gone too? Rin squinted and looked around for the ice cream loving dolt, coming up with nothing. There was no blue anywhere. Putting on her thinking ribbon, Rin decided to play Sherlock and figure out where he was. Kaito surprisingly had good luck with writing his own songs. Maybe he could offer some advice for her writer's block. Finding new inspiration, she trekked around the empty house both searching and listening for any sign that the blue vocaloid was even home. Surely he wouldn't have left her alone here? Not that she wasn't old enough... but it would have been nice to have a little warning. Growing impatient, Rin decided to check the most obvious place. Where would she find Kaito if not his own room?
Stopping just outside the pale white door, Rin raised a fist to loudly bang on the door in hopes that he was just asleep in there. The theory was likely correct, for silence was her only greeting. Growing impatient, Rin decided to open the door and see for herself. Normally she wouldn't dare enter Kaito's room. However, boredom and procrastination could drive a girl to even the most intense extremes. She expected to find several empty containers of ice cream at her feet, but surprisingly the room itself was clean. The blue rug was a little too on the nose, but the white desk and bed complimented it very well.
"Kaito-nii? You're in here, right?" She called out as she began to shut the door behind herself.
"Hwahh—wait don't shut that!" A sudden voice from under the bed called out at the exact time the door clicked to a close. Rin shrieked as Kaito himself rolled out from beneath the bed, dropping several mics and headphones beneath it, cords splayed out all over.
"What the heck were you doing?" Rin asked in dismay, eyes wide at the blue-haired vocaloid. Kaito untangled himself from the mess of wires and gadgets and rubbed the back of his head where he'd clearly bonked it on the bed frame in his hurry.
"My door still locks from the outside. I've been locked in here all day... so I was looking for a way to break the lock."
"What? Locked in?" Rin turned around in a panic, turning the door knob in both directions fruitlessly. It was shut and locked tight. "Oh no! Oh no, no, no, no!" Rin panicked. Now she and Kaito were locked in together, and the others would not be back until later that evening!? Not to mention... she was locked in a boy's room. Her face flushed a slight pink.
"I tried to warn you!" Kaito almost laughed, as if missing the way Rin's eyes had widened and teeth tightly gritted.
"You didn't try very hard! I've been here all day, why didn't you call out or something!?"
"I did... I figured no one was here, since no one came." Realization passed over Rin's face... She had been wearing her sound proof headphones for the majority of her song writing marathon... Now that she thought about it, Kaito's voice was a little too hoarse and subdued for the normal chipper Vocaloid... Had this been her fault all along? Rin took in a gulp of air. However, Kaito saved the moment of silence by continuing, "Rin-chan, do you know where everyone else is?"
"Th-they went to the Master's office to be updated... They won't be back until tonight."
"Oh... I guess we're both stuck here until then. Sorry about that Rin-chan... Uh... you can make yourself comfortable, I'm just going to keep looking for something to break the lock, if I can. Then we can get out of here!" With this said, Kaito sat on the ground to rifle through a box of what looked like older music supplies, mumbling something abut hoping to find a tuning fork. Rin circled around nervously, taking in the room Kaito had apparently been trapped in for ages. It was likely the smallest room in the house, which was why Kaito was allowed to have it to himself. There was a small bathroom off to the side, as there was in the rest of their rooms, and a small set of drawers and a cabinet built into the wall. The bed and the desk took up at least seventy percent of the floor space, but it looked like Kaito was fairly good about keeping his space tidy. That was a bit surprising. Rin couldn't decide what to do with herself, opting to sit on the desk chair cross-legged to watch the older boy at work.
"Ne, Kaito-nii, why does your door lock on the outside rather than inside?" Rin asked the obvious, leaning her cheek on the palm of her hand. Kaito laughed dryly, continuing digging into his box.
"Meiko-san flipped it around after I went and bought a years supply of ice cream—oh yeah, and the freezer to keep it in, hehe... She thought that it would be better if I were more supervised for a little while. Buuuut she forgot to change it back just yet. I've been trying to keep it open—but I wanted to work on a song today without disturbing you! So I thought it would be okay to close it for just a little while, since someone could help me out eventually." Kaito finished with smile, though his brows were turned up in a tensed knit.
Rin gasped quietly. So it was because of me that he...
"Kaito-nii, you're a dummy!" she declared in effort to stop the pink blush from creeping up her neck, "Why do you have to be so nice like that?"
"Um..." Kaito's confusion showed clearly on his face, "I'm sorry?"
Rin hummed at the apology, not feeling any less guilty- and pretending not to feel that to the best of her ability. And had Kaito not been one of the most oblivious avatars she knew, she might have been failing on both accounts... How was she going to survive more than a few minutes in here, let alone a few hours?
Feeling that a distraction was better than awkward silence, Rin spun around in the desk chair and stretched her hands up towards the ceiling. Kaito had gone back to rummaging through his box, seeming more hopeless with each object taken out to free up searching space. Rin groaned as loud and as long as her powerful lungs could, and even the ever patient Kaito made a cringing expression.
"Neee Kaito-niii I'm bored! I won't last all day. Do you have anything to do in here?" The blue-haired boy turned to face her at the complaint.
"Um, sorry, but I'm not in here all that much. So I don't have anything very interesting... I do have paper though, if you want to continue with your writing."
"Boo... I came looking for you because I was unable to write!" She drawled with a pout.
"You were having trouble writing a song? Maybe I can help! What was it about?" Kaito turned himself around to face her, swinging the box around in front of himself as well. He looked up at her with the brightest eyes she'd ever seen. Rin flushed. Normally only Len could pull off that innocent face so well.
"It wasn't about anything. I didn't get anywhere with it..."
"Oh, well don't worry Rin-chan! Your songs are always so unique, I'm sure something will come to you." Kaito grinned up at her. Rin could feel her heart skip a beat at the sweet expression.
"W-well of course. I'm great at it. But even I have trouble sometimes... Kaito-nii... what do... what do you write about, when you get stuck?"
"Actually, I draw sometimes. Seeing pictures can help you to come up with something—or at least it works for me a lot of the time." He laughed a bit sheepishly, turning to pull out a sketch book from beneath the mattress. He handed it over to her before returning to his own mundane task. He'd finally found the small bit of metal he'd been searching for, and hopped up to try wedging it in the door.
Rin turned the pages of the sketch book, not expecting much from the blue vocaloid. There was no way someone like him could have much talent in this area, after all. However, as she turned the pages, she found herself proven very wrong. Some of the sketches were of nature scenes. They weren't terribly elaborate, but there was purpose in every line. There was a field of flowers, a Japanese dojo, and cherry blossoms beneath a large moon that particularly caught her eye. She recognized a bridge as a set piece in one of Kaito and Meiko's biggest songs. Feeling more eager now, Rin flipped carefully through each one, recognizing one piece after another. Finally she reached a set of drawings towards the end that made her take her time. These were far more detailed, sketches of their fellow vocaloids. There was Meiko, Miku, Len, Luka... the last one surprised her. This was the only picture in the whole book that was colored. It was one of Rin herself, holding a dark orange flower and grinning cutely. Rin's breath hitched. The artistic ability wasn't incredible or even that impressive by any means, but the colors were so careful and vibrant. She thought for a moment that the drawing could almost be as beautiful as she herself was... almost. Kaito noticed her staring at the unmoving portrait and his face burned a very slight shade of red.
"Oh, sorry about that."
"Why would you apologize? You're a lot more talented than I expected, Kaito-nii, and I didn't expect much," Rin smirked up at him, trying to seem less impressed than she really was, "But why did you color only this one?"
"I don't really have a reason... I just thought that one would be more fun in color. Nice bright colors really suit you best, Rin-chan!" His answer didn't really satisfy Rin's growing curiosity, but Kaito was already turned around and fiddling with the door again before she could comment.
Colors huh... maybe there were hidden song lyrics there. There were warm and cool colors... Rin's eye slid unconsciously to the boy near the door, watching his side profile as he struggled with the door. Blue was supposed to be a cool color. In most cases, this was true. But for the blue-haired vocaloid, it didn't seem to match. Everything Kaito did was warm and full of compassion. Was it possible to combine a cool blue color with a passionate heat?
Rin hummed at the question, and set the book on the desk before moving her legs to swing off of the chair. Pacing around the small available space was the best for brainstorming. A soft humming coming from Kaito made the air feel serene, and made it easy to fall into a quiet thinking session. Blue flame was supposed to be hotter than orange flame, right? Maybe he was similar to that kind of phenomenon—
Rin's train of thought was abruptly broken as her body jerked forward. He foot was left behind, caught in the mess of wires on the floor, and the rest of her was knocked forward off balance. She didn't realize she was falling until the sense of vertigo rocked her stomach. A puff of shock took her breath and alerted the bluenette on the other side of the room that something was wrong. She heard Kaito call her name and a flash of blue appeared in her line of vision. She then felt the air knocked out of her lungs in one second and in another, a soft sensation smashing into her face.
When the momentary trauma had ended, the yellow vocloid lifted her head with a silent wince. She'd fallen onto the bed, at least, rather than into anything potentially painful. Flipping herself onto her back, Rin squeezed her eyes open to be met with Kaito's face mere inches from her own. The bluenette himself was currently leaning over her as if inspecting her for injuries. Rin felt her cheeks burning. For once in her short life, she found that she couldn't get so much as a word to form in her throat. Kaito was so close that she could feel the coolness of refreshing mint in his breath that must have been a side effect from his ice cream addiction. Kaito searched Rin's sky blue stare as worry swam in his own gaze.
"Rin-chan, are you okay?" He asked, concern lacing his every word. Rin swallowed in a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding in. She felt like she was melting. Her stomach was scorching with a new sensation. Kaito's eyes... they were such a brilliant blue, and yet they shone with much brighter and colorful hues up close. The night sky... shining with twinkling city lights and star beams... those were Kaito's eyes.
"Rin-chan?" He repeated. Rin blinked a few times, remembering where she was... with whom she was with. She had finally found her voice amidst the impossibility to speak.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine! Geez, Kaito-nii, worrying about me over something as tiny as that is annoying!" She bit.
"O-oh, sorry!" Kaito leapt back quickly, as if afraid of causing her any kind of discomfort. And Rin would be lying if she said she liked the dejected look on his face. That wasn't a look for Kaito. Such a sad expression could never suit him.
Taking a moment to catch her breath, Rin closed her eyes and focused on the new words coming to her mind. Stringing them together in pretty ways would make for a good enough song...
Laying there in Kaito's bed, Rin had fallen asleep by accident. Surrounded by the sweet aroma of ice cream, it would have been impossible not to dream...
"Kaito..." Rin heard herself say, a quiet yet desperate plea for attention. She was still in Kaito's room, she recalled very vaguely, though it looked a little different now. There was a light breeze drifting through the curtains on the window. It had to be past midnight, yet the two of them were alone as if everyone else had disappeared. From everywhere and nowhere at the same time they seemed to be encased in a soft blue light that made her think even more sweetly of him.
"Rin... I can't... you are like a little sister to me. Maye you're just confused?" his sad voice said. The pain in his words started to ring in her ears. It kept ringing and ringing, but wouldn't go away. Despite that, Rin didn't move from where she laid atop him. Their bodies pressed together made her so warm. She briefly entertained the idea of being inside a reactor. She leaned down closer to whisper into his throat.
"Don't think like that... It isn't really true. Not by blood, and not in any way that would be a problem. Tell me you love me..." Rin ran her hands through his soon to be mused blue hair, gently kissing at his throat in effort to get a reaction.
"Rin..." His hands were at her back, and she wondered if he might begin to unlace the strings holding her dress together. She wanted hm to do just that... needed him to. She tried to look into his eyes again, to see if they were clouded with emotion. Really they were softly closed, obscuring the night sky from her. So instead she focused on the unmoving line of his mouth. Seized by the desire to claim all of his attention, Rin leaned over to gently connect her lips to his in a soft kiss.
"I can't help it..." She defended herself afterwards, catching the way his brows knit in some mental struggle.
"But why? You could be with anyone!" His fingers traced along her cheek, twirling a lock of her golden hair. Finally his eyes opened. She couldn't help but smile, now that he was being more talkative. While she didn't mind the silence terribly, she much preferred the deep musical tone of his voice when he spoke with her. That melodious tone existed only for Rin. The burning feeling had returned the moment his eyes met hers. She thought this kind of melting was most welcome, as long as someone like Kaito was the one making her feel it.
"That's sweet of you, Kaito... but there's only one person that I want."
"Who?" Kaito suddenly looked concerned. His brows knitted together in the middle, as if he were picturing Rin with someone else. Somehow the reaction made her happy. It was so Kaito. She giggled and leaned her forehead against his.
"He's super handsome, but not so confident in himself... Maybe not the brightest, but way too sweet for his own good. And he's even made blue my favorite color," She said purposefully slowly, hands still threading through his oceanic locks. Kaito half-lidded his eyes, but his brows maintained question. Rin narrowed her eyes slightly, quickly adding, "Kaito, if you ask who I just described, I swear I may need to slug you."
"Hey! I'm not brainless. I just don't get why it would be me..." Kaito's grin turned sheepish-almost guilty. Rin sighed heavily. She never was patient. But somehow, with Kaito, it seemed too cute to find annoying.
"I want you to be my prince. You always play the prince in Master's songs, and it fits you perfectly. You're the only one who can do it."
"Hahaha-thanks, Rin-but it is a little embarrassing... So if I'm the prince, doesn't that make you the princess?"
"Of course! How else will I get everyone to do what I say?"
"Well—you know... I think you're cute enough to get away with it with or without that title," Kaito smirked as he said this. It hit Rin in all the right places. She found it impossible not to give in to the urge to kiss him a second time. His was an addictive taste. Rin was still discovering that. He always tasted like sweets, but then that was to be expected. But soon her vision was beginning to darken. Not before Kaito could whisper in her ear.
"I love you, Rin."
As if the words themselves were the way to awaken sleeping beauty, she started to return to reality. Rin began to feel cold as the visions of Kaito holding her in his arms began to fade and her vivid dreams came to an end. She was once again met with the pristine white comforter of his bed. Rin looked around for Kaito, a bit groggily. She half expected to find him laying there beside her. It was only when she spotted the other vocaloid slumped in the desk chair across the room that she sat up and rubbed her eyes to free them from sleep. She glanced up at the clock on the wall, cringing when she noted the time of six-thirty-seven. The others would be back any moment then, if Miku's note was to be believed. It may as well have been two in the morning with the way that dream had left Rin feeling. She was shaking, not from the cold, but from a brand new fire burning into life inside her body. She focused again on the boy sleeping uncomfortably at the desk. Rin wondered just how long he had been asleep while he was waiting for her. And here she was taking up his own bed, while Kaito would definitely feel some aches later from that position.
Rin threw the sleep off as well as she was able and swung her legs over the side of the mattress. Her face was still feeling too warm from her vivid dream. She couldn't remember all of what the two of them had said to each other, but one line rang clear as day:
I love you, Rin
Rin smacked her palms against her red cheeks as if that could make Kaito's dream voice leave her mind. After being trapped in here with him all day, it must have been a side effect. It had nothing to do with the fact that Kaito looked like a prince. Or that he was stupidly kind to everyone. Or that blue was a really really good color. Or that he seemed to be the best inspiration for sappy love song lyrics... Rin's face flushed again.
It made sense, now that she thought of it. Rin was ready to admit it to herself. Okay... so maybe... just maybe... she was developing a crush on Kaito. But... was that really be such a bad thing? Maybe it wouldn't lead to anything anyway. It might only be for a few months or even weeks before these strange feelings had all but faded... But for a while, it sure would be nice to keep that pleasant heat pooling in he core whenever Kaito looked at her. Getting to know the bluenette better seemed like a challenge she was more than ready to accept. Somehow admitting this to herself made her feel a little less heavy. Rin smiled over at the blue-haired vocaloid with this new thought in mind. Now she felt a little sorry for her behavior towards him... Kaito had been nothing but nice to everyone, herself included. But all of them had at one point or another made fun of him. He never argued or fought back to any of it. He had every right to, but somehow Kaito instantly forgave everyone as quickly as it happened. That didn't mean it was right. It made it worse really. Rin stared down at her shoes and pinched her eyelids shut.
"Kaito, I'm so sorry!" Rin shouted without realizing it. The cry was enough for the other vocaloid to spring straight up with a jolt.
"Hh—huh? Wha—Rin-chan?" Was the tired response. It almost seemed like Kaito didn't remember their situation right away. Maybe he had been having some strange dreams too? Rin felt her heart hammering in her chest at the thought.
"S-sorry, Kaito-nii... But you shouldn't have slept there. You're probably really sore now, huh?" She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder at the very least... as expected, he radiated warmth as though he could create it within himself. Kaito blinked bleary eyes for several full seconds before he seemed ready to respond.
"Its uh-its okay... I don't think I was out very long..." Kaito snapped his vision towards the door as if just remembering some crucial detail, "Oh yeah! Rin-chan, check it out! I finally got the door open." Rin directed her gaze to the now propped open door that had probably been forced open sometime while she was asleep.
"Oh-that's... good," she said hesitantly, swallowing a fresh gulp of air that didn't cool her off in any way.
"Yeah!" Kaito beamed, "Luckily we're not trapped anymore."
"Didn't it bother you that I was in here?"
"Huh? Not at all! It was pretty nice to have some company while I was stuck here actually. So I've got to thank you Rin-chan!" Kaito stretched his arms out, waving them in wide circles as if they were incredibly stiff. Watching him, the girl lowered her gaze slightly.
"You know, you could have just taken a nap over there with me..." Rin spoke shyly, hoping Kaito's oblivious nature would skip over the implications. Apparently she could count on him for that much.
"Oh, no! Thank you, but I'm okay. You seemed pretty comfortable too, so I didn't want to disturb you..." he paused for a moment, gleam in his eye as he continued with a laugh, "Do you always smile so much in your sleep, Rin-chan?"
"N-No! Don't get the wrong idea!"
"Haha... its okay, really! It's cute! I hope you had a good dream." Rin would have protested that no- she'd had a terrible dream. But Kaito put a hand on her head so gently... she lost the words in her throat.
"Kaito..." she swallowed seriously, "I think I need to tell you something..."
"What is it?" Rin subconsciously moved closer to him. With Kaito still sitting down, their heights were close for a change. All she had to do was close that distance. A hug or a touch of a hand would be enough even... but that might be too strange. Clenching and unfurling her hands nervously, she tipped her face only a centimeter closer...
It was that moment that they heard footsteps on the stairs, paired with Miku's loud greeting to what was a silent house otherwise. Rin fought herself to decide what to do. Should she just go for it anyway? Or wait a little longer?
"Sounds like they're back," His excited voice brought her back, "I guess we should go see how the updates went, huh?"
"Y-yeah..." Kaito stood up, and the warmth left by his hand made Rin flush again. It was silly. It was ridiculous. She was sure this was just a crush that would fade eventually... but for right now, her feelings were drifting on overdrive. Every tiny thing was huge.
It didn't take long for the rest of the vocaloids to figure out where the other two were. Eventually Miku appeared in the doorway with confusion etched into her face the moment she found the two of them.
"What the... Rin-chan what are you doing in here!? What did you do to her, Kaito-nii!?" Miku grabbed Kaito by his blue scarf, intending to squeeze it if she didn't like his answer. Kaito's hands went up in defense, eyes wide at the sudden attack.
"Onee-chan—its not like that!" Rin quickly said, hands on her hips as if she had every right in the world to be in the room of a boy who was nearly six years her senior. Miku let Kaito go to eye the smaller girl curiously. Now that he could breathe, Kaito chimed in.
"It's okay, Miku-chan, I promise! My door locks from the outside-and since everyone was gone, we were stuck in there. I only just got it open."
"But that doesn't explain how Rin-chan got here!"
"Never mind that!" Rin said defensively, crossing her arms.
Not at all satisfied by it, Miku pouted. But thankfully, the bouncy girl seemed to have better things to do than interrogate the young vocaloid. With a final warning to Kaito, and a suspicious look to Rin, she was practically skipping out of the room to bring them their new songs. As soon as Miku disappeared into her own room, Kaito propped his door open all the way and turned down to look at the small girl standing beside him.
"That's right... didn't you want to tell me something before, Rin-chan?" Rin's gaze snapped up to his, suddenly feeling far too exposed. She would have answered something quick and rude on any other day, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Instead, she motioned for Kaito to lean over so that they could be eye level. As he did so, her face reddened.
"K-Kaito-nii... Um... I wanted to thank you."
"Huh? For what?"
"I didn't know what to write a song about but... now I've got tons of ideas! And it was you who helped me... so thank you."
"Oh! Of course, Rin-chan. I'm happy to help whenever you need me!" His smile. That's what made her do it. Rin quickly stood on her toes, pressing a kiss to Kaito's cheek before she could tell herself not to. As she pulled back, she took the oblivious grin on his face to mean mission accomplished. Then, before he could say anything more, Rin turned and ran down the hall to her own room.
As soon as she was safe in her own room, she shut the door and leaned against it to get her heart to settle down. That night, she wrote furiously. Its been a while since she had this much inspiration. And it was all thanks to the blue-haired vocaloid that had caused her inner meltdown.
Author's Note:
Hopefully you didn't hate that! Honestly I don't even ship these two, but I had this idea randomly at three in the morning and it kind of wrote itself. You'll have to forgive me if I got some things wrong, this is my first time writing for these characters. Although I've been a fan for a long time, and I love both the songs and the avatars a lot, especially Kaito.
Feel free to tell me what you thought, what was good, what I could work on, etc. What ship do you think I should write about next? I wouldn't mind doing more short pieces like this one, since it was a lot of fun. So I might just take up your kind suggestions, if you have any.
Thank you for reading, I so appreciate you! \(^u^)/