Rin's POV

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"Will you hurry up?" I demanded impatiently to a closed door.

I heard shuffles, followed by mumbling, and then an answer, "I'm going as fast as I can…"

"Well, come on, I don't have all day," I said, leaning against the wall.

"Yeah yeah…" Len trailed off.

It's been about 6 months since that day, the day Len arrived to my house inside a cardboard box. I'll admit, I would have never thought that a robot boy, who looks just like me, would be going to school with me.

It's after school, and I'm outside the band room, waiting for Len to put up our equipment. Well, it's not the school's real band room, but actually an empty classroom. That's where our "band" is located.

Within the first two weeks of school, Len convinced the principle to let two freshmen have a room of their own for extracurricular club activities afterschool. I was honestly surprised when the principle let us have our way (which made me come to the conclusion that he either doesn't care, or Len was a smooth talker). Not only that, but I was in charge of it ("It's all yours Rin!" he says with a huge grin). Ugh. Even before we even started anything, Len and I (mostly Len) prepared the band's uniforms. He suggested that we should get it made like the clothes he came in. I didn't hesitate, because I thought the band wasn't going anywhere outside of school.

Our club was called, "The Vocaloids" (though it's unofficial and copyrighted), and it's a band. Yeah, I know how I said that I didn't want to be dealing with anything music related, but the thought of owning a club, or even being in a band really excited me.

Well, that is until I saw the list of people who signed up. My cheerfulness turned into hopelessness within a second. It consisted of a junior, and two seniors.

Miku, the junior, was somewhat popular. There isn't anyone who can't identify that aqua hair colored princess anywhere. I talked to her a couple of times in the past, but I never thought she'd be interested in joining… not only that, but I never thought she would be so harsh with the truth. She speaks her mind when she wants to, and when I say that, I really mean it.

Then there's Kaito, a really handsome senior who courts every girl he sees. I don't see him around school much so I don't know much about him except for that trademark blue scarf he wears. He's a class clown (I heard) and well, he's really cute with an angelic voice… I'll admit, I have a diminutive crush on him, but he's a senior, I'm a freshman, it'll never work out. I wish he would stop courting me…

And there's Meiko, the other senior, who physically abuses Kaito. She dresses… how she wants, I'll just say that. I heard she was a drinker and a little bossy, but when you catch her not drinking, she's a pretty decent person. Unfortunately, I have never seen her on those days. I always see her with Kaito though, always watching him like a hawk watching its prey.

Yes, that's my band.

The convenient thing is, we can all sing. All five of us, amazingly. But none of us can play an instrument, which is the most vital part of a "band". Well, Len is "programmed" to play the guitar, and he's incredible at it. I myself used to play the piano… used to is the keyword. I stopped in my rebellious stage to defy the parents who where never there in the first place. When I told Len this, he insisted I play on the electric keyboard, which makes sense. Kaito decided (or Meiko decided for him) that he'll play the drums, Meiko on bass guitar, and Miku for vocals. (Miku said that she could do more than sing, and pulled out an asparagus, swung it up and down in a repeated motion, making a face.) But Meiko complained that even though we can all sing, it's not fair that only Miku is the vocals. I decided that we can all be the vocals, but I don't know how that will work.

…I haven't sung in years. I used to love singing when I was younger. I used to sing all the time in public, not giving a care in the world because everyone said that my voice was beautiful. That is, until a popular kid in second grade told me that I "sounded like a chipmunk". And, since then, I felt self-conscious every time I even hummed a melody. Len keeps trying to push me into singing again, but I'll never give in.

I heard a loud crash from the other side of the door, interrupting my thoughts. That sound… it could only be the sound of a symbol colliding with the floor. "That wasn't the noise of some piece of brand new equipment hitting the floor, right?"

"N-No."

I can hear Len grumble to himself and I smirk.

Len and I have a brother-sister relationship going on between us. We bicker a lot, he makes fun of me, I make fun of him, but we love each other (in a family way). No one knows he's a Vocaloid, not even the band members. I just told everyone "Oh, he's my brother". I got some shocked faces because, well, I never mentioned having a twin brother. But it's easy to fool everyone since we look so much alike…

The door opens, and Len walks out the door, still wearing the band's uniform.

I snickered, "Took you long enough."

He glared at me, "You say that like moving a drum set without dissembling it is easy… You need to stop being so lazy, Rin. It's your band."

"Yes, but you made it, "I retorted, "It only makes since if you're the equipment guy. Besides, I told you I didn't want to do this, and what's the first thing you do within the first two weeks of school? Make a band."

He smiled deviously, "You know you like it."

…I did, but I'll never admit it to his face. I pouted instead. He smirked and said, "So, you do have fun?" Before I denied he continued, "Yeah yeah, say what you want, but I can see it in your eyes."

"W-Whatever, Len." I turned away and became pink in the face.


I woke up with a start. Ugh… I feel so groggy…

Where am I?

Oh, I remember… I walked back home with Len, I started doing homework… Oh, I guess I dozed off… Aw, there's drool all over the paper… I rubbed my eyes to better my focus. I was in my room. It was faintly lit from my lamp illuminating a dim glow. That's when I felt a warm sensation on my shoulder that hasn't left since I woke. I look up to see Len, smiling warmly at me. I felt a little embarrassed.

"You're that tired?" he asked.

Playfully, I shrug off his hand and stretched. Oooh that felt good. "I guess," I exhaled. Yeah, falling asleep without knowing you did is classified as pretty tired. I want to sleep, but I need to finish my homework…

Like he was reading my mind, he spoke, "Hey, I'll do your homework for you. It's incredibly simple."

"Oh whatever Len, you're a robot, everything is easy for you."

He tensed up a bit then giggled, "Haha, you're right."

I sighed. The thought of doing homework was making me sleepy. There was no way I could finish it right now. "…I need to wake up," I moaned.

"Hey, I know what will wake you up—"

"No."

I knew what was coming. He wanted me to sing. He's been trying to get me to sing since the day I woke him up. "I'm not singing."

"Aw, come on," he whined, "I bet you have a great voice."

"Maybe I do, but I hate singing."

"Rin, come on. It's only you and me and your Grandma here. I'm not going to say anything bad!"

I rolled my eyes, "Easy for you to say, you have a wonderful singing voice. My voice will probably… I don't know; break your robotic ear drums so something."

I didn't show it, but I was surprised that he frowned at my comment. I felt a small, tiny tinge of regret. Does he really want me to sing that badly…?

Sigh.

Well, no one else is here…

And Len is pretty cool I guess…

"Okay okay, fine! I'll… I'll sing. Happy?"

Len blinked at me for a second then grinned again. He immediately grabbed a chair and sat uncomfortably close to me. I shuffled a little, concluding that he doesn't know about personal space. But I have a broad region of personal space so…

…It was quiet and mildly dark… he was waiting for me to sing, but even though I said I would, I still didn't want to.

"Well?" Len asked, breaking the short lived silence.

I groaned. "I-I haven't sung in forever Len… What do you want me to sing?"

"Hmm, let's just start with… the 'Do-Re-Me song'!"

He was way too joyful. "Okay…" I cleared my throat…

Took a breath…

Then I…

…Didn't do anything.

"Rin!"

"Okay! Okay…" I sighed loudly then inhaled deeply. I started to remember singing and how much I enjoyed it… When people applauded me, gave me compliments… It all came back to me. I nodded and sang, "Do~ re~ mi~ fa~ so~ la~ ti~ do~~"

Len eyes were wide, staring right at me, and no words came from his half-open mouth.

"See! See I told you! You're probably deaf right now, aren't you!?" I looked away, my eyes watering up with tears. I can hear the girl in the back of my mind ("You sound like a chipmunk!") repeating over and over, and I'm just waiting for Len to rip me a new one…

"Rin," he paused, and smiled tenderly at me, "Your voice is gorgeous..."

Nice, okay.

Beautiful, okay.

Wonderful, also okay.

But gorgeous? Never, and I mean never, has anyone told me that my voice was gorgeous. That made me redden so much that I could feel it. It was also getting hotter in the room. I couldn't contain my grin, and it turned into a bashful smile. "R-Really? You're not just saying that, are you?"

He shook his head, leaned closer, "No no, I mean it. Your voice is so… stunning, remarkable, I don't know how to express it!" He frowned a little, "Why did you think it was bad? Why did you let that girl get to you?"

I glanced away, "Well, I was a little girl Len." I gave my attention to him. "But Len… no one has ever said that my voice was… stunning or gorgeous. That…" I was blushing and I knew I was, but I couldn't help it. I loved to sing, and I finally did. I feel so good right now.

"That makes me happy," I finished softly, smiling delicately.

Len's eyes widened and they darted back and forth between my eyes and mouth, and he finally returned his own boyish grin.

The homework can wait until later.

Tonight, for the next couple of minutes or so, I'll sing.