A/N: Don't ask why it took so long. Simply put, being a perfectionist is the suckiest quality for a person to have. I rewrote this chapter three times because it didn't live up to my expectations (this chapter doesn't either). OH WELL. Let's just make do with this :D
Anyway, nothing of importance really happens most of this chapter, but this is where we are introduced to the majority of the characters. And like I said before, the personalities they display in this chapter is of my opinion. So, sorry if the Meiko in your world is a nice, motherly sort of figure, 'cuz she's not like that here (Not. At. All.) Or if your depiction of Miku is that of a stuck-up bitch, or you believe that Kaito should be more masculine and bishie-like. I have no problem with you if that's how you picture them, but in this particular story, we'll keep them my way.
So...enjoy...I guess? :D
"KAAAAAAAAIIITOOO!"
A loud bellow shook the eighth floor. With a pillow wrapped securely around his head, Len tried to muffle out the stream of curses escaping the furious Meiko's lips.
"Geez, this happens everday!" Rin whined from the top bunk.
It was a big downer having to be located on the same floor as the red-clad woman and the ice cream-obsessed freak. This event of Meiko chasing Kaito down the hallway for whatever reason happened so often that the twins opted to use them as their means of waking up in the morning rather than using a normal alarm clock like normal children would do (then again, they wouldn't exactly be considered normal would they?). But, since it was a Saturday, the twins weren't very happy to have their sleep interrupted so early in the day.
"Mm," was the blond boy's reply as he sunk deeper into the comforts of his bed. But, there was no way for him to completely drown out the noise of Meiko stomping her boots through the hallway.
"Ne. I'm getting up now." Rin yawned. Slowly descending from the ladder, Rin plopped onto the floor. "You getting up too Lenny?"
Nodding, Len got up as well, following his somewhat younger sister (you would think it was the other way around, considering the power Rin had over her brother) out the door.
As they opened the door, they were met with the sight of a panting blue-haired man, leaning against the wall opposite of the twins' room.
"P-please...don't tell her where I am." Kaito huffed out. He continued running down the hallway and mashed the button of the elevator to go downwards.
As soon as he disappeared, Meiko came stampeding into view.
Without any sort of greeting, Meiko looked towards the twins. "WHERE." It was by no means a question.
"Ummm..." Len tried to think up an excuse, but as always...
"He used the elevator~!" Rin pointed down the direction Kaito had just recently took.
Meiko sprinted and punched the button pointing "down" and continued her pursuit.
Len turned to face his sister.
"Rin-chan, you enjoy seeing poor Kaito-nii beat up every morning at breakfast, don't you?" Len shook his head at his twin's obvious sadism.
"Just as much as you like it when Miku-nee pats your little blond head." Rin winked. Blushing, Len looked away.
"Sh-shut up..."
They proceeded down the stairs, avoiding the elevator since they knew chaos was bound to happen if they were caught up in Meiko's usual release of energy. How Kaito managed to stay alive after enduring so many of Meiko's beatings was a mystery.
The smell of pancakes and eggs wafted through the air as the twins made it to the bottom floor.
"Hey Kaga-chans, we're having strawberry pancakes and scrambled eggs today. No objections?" Luka was at her usual spot in the morning, preparing the breakfast since she was the only one with a decent ability in the culinary arts. She swung her head to face the twins, her pink hair flying behind her.
"Oooooh! Make sure you don't forget the whipped cream!" Rin beamed.
Len was too busy staring at a certain teal-haired girl in the corner of his eye (in what he hoped was an inconspicuous act) to answer.
"Len? Anything else you want to eat?" Luka's voice cut through the boy's train of thought.
"E-eh? Ah, no it's fine! I'm excited to taste those strawberry pancakes."
"M'kay. Kaga-chans, I'm almost done." The pink-haired girl tilted her head towards the table, which was gesture for them to take their seat.
Before Len took his seat however, he whispered to the woman, "And don't let Rin have any of that whipped cream. You know how she is after eating sugar."
Luka responded with a wink. "No problem." she whispered back.
As usual, the twins took their seats next to each other. To Rin's right was Kaai Yuki, who was humming to herself as she waited for the meal to be prepared. On Len's left was Miku, who as usual was chatting to her best friend Gumi, who sat on her left.
"Yeah, Kiyo-sensei is a really generous boss when you think about it. I think he's soft because of his previous job as a second-grade teacher you know." Miku chattered to the green-haired girl.
"Oh, hey, it's the twins! What's up guys?" Gumi greeted.
Miku turned to face them. "Oh, haha, sorry. I didn't notice you there for a minute. Hi Rin, hi Len!" She grinned. "So, has Kiyo-sensei given you any new projects?"
Psh. Len wasn't blushing. Miku had a really cute smile and really pretty eyes, but Len wasn't blushing. Not. At. All.
But of course, little sister Rin just has to go and embarass her brother in front of his crush.
"Me and Len are doing a remake of that one song you and Kaito did! You know, Cendrillion? Except, it's like a story about incest or something like that, 'cause Kiyo-sensei said it'll appeal to our audience." Rin snickered.
"R-Rin...it's not necessarily about incest..." Len stumbled, turning to look at his sister. For such a cute and peppy girl, you'd never think that she was so sadistic and crude.
"But it IS!" Rin argued.
A small smile formed on Miku's face as she put a hand on Len's head. "You two are so cute!"
A red tint was visible on Len's face. He dared not to look back at Miku, for fear that she might catch the blush that had formed on his pale skin.
"Tsk tsk tsk...oh Lenny-kun. So cute and blushy around his true love." Rin casually picked off Miku's hand from Len's head, and replaced it with her own.
"Hm?" Miku asked, completely oblivious...as usual.
You see, so far, today was just a typical morning for Len. 7:33, be awaken by the vicious red-clad woman hunting down the ice cream man. 7:41, be asked what kind of breakfast he wanted by Luka. 7:43, take seat. 7:45, make conversation with Miku and Gumi. 7:46, blush when Miku pats head. 7:47...Miku still has no idea of how long Len's been crushing on her.
Now 7:49, a panting Meiko dragging Kaito out of the elevator could be seen as she made her way to her seat opposite of Rin. Kaito took his seat in front of Yuki.
"What's Luka making today?" Meiko propped her elbow onto the table while looking at her nails.
"Strawberry pancakes and eggs." Gumi replies. Nodding, Meiko looks to Rin.
"Hey, thanks for telling me where this idiot went off. You would not BELIEVE what he did."
A grin stretched on Rin's face. "Haha, girl power!" She flashed the older woman a thumbs up.
"Women are horrible..." Kaito whimpered.
"Say it louder so that I can have a reason to punch you." Meiko seethed, glaring at the man. Kaito tried averting his focus onto the tablecloth. Laughing, everyone at the table began to converse and talk about other things.
"Ohhhh Luka-channn!" An extremely deep voice rang through the dining room as a full-grown man bounded down the stairs with purple tresses flying after him.
PANG!
The sound of a frying pan colliding with Gakupo's face was heard. The rest of the Vocaloids chose to ignore this.
"Ow, ow, ow...Luka-chan, no need to be so feisty this early in the morning." Gakupo smirked.
Silence was the only response he got from the woman.
"Ummm...so what's for breakfast, dearest?" he asked, attempting to make some sort of conversation with her.
"For you, I prepared a knuckle sandwich and a kick to the ribs. If you don't want that, then please walk to your seat quietly, and don't bother me for the rest of the day. Or, just don't bother me ever." Luka said, brandishing a cutting knife all the while. A menacing glare was aimed at the poor man.
"Well, anything made by you is certain to be quite delectable." A goofy grin written all over the "samurai's" face. ...He didn't get the message did he?
Another pan-to-the-face sound was heard.
"Same old, same old. Don't they ever get tired of arguing? Honestly, if I were ever in a situation like that, I would've married the poor guy by now." Meiko proclaimed. "I mean, is it really okay to abuse a guy so much?"
Silence.
"Ummm...Meiko-nee, are you really in the position to say that?" Len pretty much projected what everyone else was thinking.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"Nothing. Just forget about it." Len decided that there was just no point in trying to argue with her. She'd win anyway with those fists of hers.
"YAHOOO~" A pink blur could be seen sprinting down the stairs. In the blink of an eye, she was already in her seat, located right in front of Gumi.
"Uguu~ Iro-chan bumped her arm onto the chair..." Iroha pursed her lips and adjusted her hat. It was strange, but Iroha used third-person point of view to express herself. Many people thought of this as a cute factor, so there were no complaints from anyone...well, maybe except one person.
"Hi Iroha-chan!" Yuki waved from the other side of the table.
"Hi hi, Yuki-chan~!" The small girl replied cutely. This Vocaloid who had just joined the group recently oozed with pure cuteness and innocence.
It made Rin sick to the stomach.
"Iroha. Can you PLEASE tone down that squeaky voice of yours?" Rin's usually cheerful and hyper persona vanished in an instant.
"What's it to ya? Hm?" The same happened to Iroha as her voice changed drastically from a cute fourteen year-old to that of an older woman.
An unbreakable glare formed between the two girls.
"Ahahahaha...Rin, you should probably stop now..." Len cringed.
"Hey hey, Iroha-chan, let's play another game, okay? Teehee..." Yuki tried averting the pinkette's attention elsewhere.
A few more seconds of this lasted with complete silence throughout the whole room.
"HMPH." Both Rin and Iroha faced opposite directions: a dangerous aura emnating from them. Around this time, it was best to just leave them alone.
"Hey, guys!" Lily made her normal entrance as usual. No chasing or being chased, no sprinting, no jumping: nothing out of the ordinary. Just a plain refreshment from all the other odd ways the Vocaloids would approach the dining room.
"Lily!" Gumi greeted excitedly. The blonde took her usual seat next to Gumi, where the three sixteen-year olds (Miku, Gumi, and Lily) engaged in the type of chatter that only teenage girls would ever be able to understand. Although Rin herself couldn't even decipher their speech. Probably because Rin had no drop of cuteness or girliness in her...
Ah, Rin and Iroha were still in the same position: backs still towards the table as they glared into space.
Len began to drum his fingers along the edge of the wooden table. This was all routine. It was as if this morning was a scene in a movie that had been replayed over and over again. Nothing was new, and Len knew that this was the life he chose to have anyway.
He was surrounded by friends, no, family, and his loyal fans, so why complain?
Because nothing changed.
This lifestyle was never boring and had its perks, but it was a still-life. A painting full of different colors and textures that stayed that way for the rest of eternity.
Woah. That was deep. (Well, in Len's mind it was)
"Breakfast! Stay in your seats everyone, okay?" Luka's voice rang through the dining room. She carried two plates of pancakes and eggs in each hand, and began setting them up in the center of the table for the others to grab for themselves.
"Luka-chan, let me help~" Gakupo grinned as he attempted to take hold one of the many plates Luka was carrying.
"Here." She shoved all of the plates into his arms. Gakupo beamed as he put the rest of the plates on the table. Once he was done, he took his seat at one end of the table. His mind was overrun by hearts and rainbows: Luka acknowledged him~
Luka sighed and took her seat next to Meiko, awaiting for the chaos to unfold.
"FOOD!" Rin chirped excitedly as she grabbed for a pancake with her bare hands. Any sign of the seriousness she had earlier expressed was now completely erased as she began to munch on the fluffy pancake contentedly.
"HEY! DON'T JUST GRAB FOR IT WITH YOUR HANDS DUMBASS!" Meiko yelled.
Another hand grabbed for a pancake.
"IDIOT! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?" Before Kaito could grasp the breakfast food, Meiko caught his hand and twisted it.
"OW! COME ON! I'M HUNGRY!" he yelped.
"What? MIKU, HOW MANY OF THOSE DO YOU NEED? GIMME SOME!" Gumi, equipped with her fork, picked off some of the eggs from Miku's plate.
"G-GUMI! Give them back!" Miku tried taking the eggs back from Gumi, but to no avail.
"Jesus, Gumi, you're such a pig." While the green-haired girl was preoccupied with protecting her food from Miku, Lily took at least four spoonfuls of the scrambled eggs with ease.
"Eh? GIVE 'EM BACK!" Gumi whined with Lily simply shrugging.
"Uguuu~ don't fight you guys. Iro-chan's getting sad!" Iroha pouted, pinpricks of tears appearing in the corner of her round eyes. "Now, Iro-chan's hungry!" At that, the girl expertly took the three plates away from the teenage girls.
"IROHA!" Miku, Gumi, and Lily exclaimed in unison. They watched in horror as the girl shoved all of the scrambled eggs into her mouth. She smiled, her appetite now satisfied.
"THAT WAS MINEEE!" Miku pouted.
"Psh, YOU HAD MORE THAN YOUR FAIR SHARE YOU KNOW!" Gumi yelled at the pig-tailed girl.
"Both of you had more than you could eat!" Lily shook her head, a deep scowl engraved onto her usually carefree face.
"Iro-chan thinks you're all being baaaaaabies~!" She stuck her tongue out.
"Psh, little Ino-chan* will have to go on a diet pretty soon." Rin stated bluntly, a smirk set on her face. Iroha turned to face the blonde.
"Oh, you must think you're SO witty, huh? Well, Iro-chan can eat as much as she wants, because no matter what, she knows that she'll never get as chunky as little blondie~"
"WELL...hey, where's my pancake?" Rin looked to her right to see Yuki finishing off the pancake that Rin had been eating earlier.
"GIVE THAT BACK YOU BRAT!" Rin made a grab for the pancake that hung loosely in the second-grader's mouth.
"Mm-mm!" Yuki shook her head, turning so that Rin wouldn't be able to reach for the pancake.
While Gakupo was in lala-land, Miku, Lily, and Gumi arguing over the already eaten scrambled eggs, Meiko beating Kaito senselessly in his seat, and Iroha laughing at Rin's pancake having been stolen by Yuki, Len merely shook his head.
Luka, the only other sane person in the room shrugged.
"Ah, Len. There's more than just one pancake and a few spoonfuls of eggs...they never do get that, do they?" The pink-haired woman pursed her lips.
Nodding Len took his fork and gingerly placed two untouched pancakes and a few spoonfuls of egg onto his plate with little trouble.
"Well, they'll come to their senses eventually I suppose," Len began taking slow bites from his first pancake. "Luka-san, these are delicious." he smiled.
"Ha, glad you like 'em." Luka also placed a few pancakes and scrambled eggs onto her plate.
Just a normal morning...but wait...
"Hm. Kiyo's not here yet. That's strange, he usually arrives right after Mr. Eggplant." Luka noted. The "Mr. Eggplant" she was referring to was a man known as Gakupo...the one she had recently hit with a frying pan.
"Yeah, I was just thinking that..." then a thought suddenly popped into Len's head.
"I wonder..." Luka trailed off.
"I see. It must be because of that." Len felt a dark pit forming in his stomach...because of that...
"What are you talking about? You know why Kiyo's not here?" Luka took a bite out of her pancake, "Wow, these are good."
"...Yeah. It's..." Len sighed.
A mashing of buttons interrupted their conversation, as well as the chaotic scene.
"Damn it. Does he ever reply to his damned texts?" A vicious-sounding voice was heard. The sound of boots clacking down the stairs was heard as Neru came into view.
"What's up?"
"Late as usual, I see."
"Slept in again? Kids are so cute these days, haha!"
"HIEE~!"
"Hahaha, why are you always texting, doesn't it get boring? Geez, get another hobby, silly girl!~"
"Hi Neru!" Miku chirped brightly.
A dark glare was aimed directly at Miku. "SHUT UP. I don't wanna hear your obnoxious voice so early in the morning." Neru replied venomly.
"It's nice to see you too!" the teal-haired girl beamed. Another blush formed on Len's face when he saw the girl's beautiful smile.
Grudgingly, Neru took her seat in front of her self-proclaimed rival, a frown on her face. But once she caught sight of Len, her whole demeanor changed.
"L-Len! G-good morning! It's a n-n-n-nice day, huh?" Neru covered her completely red face with her hands. "Oh no good, no good. He must think I'm so pathetic..." Although it was a whisper, Len could hear exactly what she said.
"Now, this is really weird. If Kiyo isn't even at the table before Neru, I wonder what's keeping him?" Luka's blue eyes widened in thought.
The Vocaloids resumed eating, this time in an orderly fashion (except Gakupo, who was still in his own little world of happiness and eggplants). It was as if the whole mad fight over food had never happened, and Len and Luka were the only ones aware of it.
"Well, everything's normal again." Len said, a spoonful of eggs in his mouth.
"Huh? Why, did something happen?" Meiko asked curiously.
"Not really," was Len's blunt answer.
"OHAYOO~!" A loud shout came from within the elevator. The metal doors slid open, revealing a spectacled man in a business suit. This, was the creator of the VOCALOIDs: Kiyoteru Hiyama.
"Good morning!" Everyone greeted in unison. This man was not strict in any way, and never demanded any sort of superiority over the others, but for that, everyone couldn't help but respect him.
A bright smile on his face, Kiyoteru stepped out of the elevator. Once he was out, another person was in view.
"Hm? Who could that be?" Miku tilted her head.
"Hey, he looks really young. Is he a new employee at the records store?" Gumi wondered.
"Now, now. Just listen, this here is Utatane Piko, who'll be-"
"OH! OH! I KNOW! I KNOW!" Rin said as she interrupted Kiyoteru and stood up on her chair, towering over everyone.
"THAT, is the new Vocaloid! He's joining us, right? Right? Of course I'm right!~" she grinned.
"...Yes. You were eavedropping again, weren't you?" Kiyoteru stuck out his tongue, "Ah, well. That doesn't matter. But you are, in fact, right Rin-chan. Piko will be joining us starting today." Kiyoteru brought the boy a little closer to the table. Len was now able to observe this boy a bit more thoroughly.
The boy was perhaps shorter than him by a few centimeters. His skin was ghostly white, glistening from underneath the bright lights of the dining room. Cropped silver hair gleamed as he turned his head to look at his new co-workers. Round, ocean blue eyes stood out against the pale hues of his skin and hair, but these same eyes appeared souless and bored of his surroundings.
"Now, Piko-san, introduce yourself." Kiyoteru prodded the boy.
A sigh. "My name is Piko Utatane." His voice was void of any sort of emotion.
The others stared at him. That couldn't have been all, right? He must have something else to say. Something as short as that couldn't have been counted as a introduction at all.
Iroha's introduction must've been the longest of anyone else's by far. She bounced off the walls, rambling excitedly about her obsession with Hello Kitty. Every two seconds she would trip and fall, the phrase "Uguuu~" escaping her lips each time, but still she would get right back up and start talking again. After ten minutes of this, Rin had actually gotten up from her seat to calm the girl down. This was probably the start of their rivalry, as Iroha was simply not pleased to be interrupted from whatever the hell she was doing.
Ha, Len couldn't help but feel a litte...OLD from having been there for so long. He and his sister had lived there when there was only Meiko, Kaito, and Miku other than themselves.
"...You're CUTE~!" Rin jumped out of her seat and glomped the newcomer.
Yes. She glomped an almost complete stranger.
"..." Was Piko's witty remark. Meiko pulled Rin off of the boy, gving him a small smile which clearly said, "Sorry for the weirdo over here. We're not all like that".
What Rin had said though, was unfortunately true.
He was cute.
From his silken locks to his oval blue eyes to his thin figure. Was he a boy or a girl? THAT question had only been directed to Len. Until now. Aren't fangirls these days into shota boys? Could it be, that this boy is even more so than Len? A pure shota? Therefore making him appeal to his fanbase more so than Len?
No no no. There's no need to make any assumptions. This boy CLEARLY wouldn't be any competition for the blond. Honestly. To even think that is absurd.
Len could just feel the sweat trickling down his neck. Well, he wasn't actually sweating, since that's be way too dramatic even for him-
"Hey Len-kun, you look all sweaty. Are you okay? It's not even eight yet..." Luka stared at the boy curiously.
...Well then.
"Haha, glad to see that you have a new friend." Kiyoteru patted Rin's head. The girl's arms were still wrapped around the boy's torso.
"Hmph." Piko grunted, unamused.
A long silence.
"Ah, Piko-kun! Can you sing a little song for us?" Miku beamed.
Another long silence.
"...Okay."
Piko closed his blue eyes and parted his lips.
"I wake up to a call at 4 a.m.,
being asked "Where were you yesterday and who were you with?"
Using both evasive languages and excuses,
I'm actually having a lot of fun with this conversation."
Wait a minute...
"Things like "You're my only one",
I say it so often that I can laugh about it all day long.
I simply enjoy "doing it" with someone, you know?"
This sounds familiar...
"My bitter and hot spice,
I'll give it to you right now.
My unforgettably wonderful taste,
can you feel it throughout your body?"
"HOLD IT!"
Everyone turned to face the blond haired boy now standing up.
"What?" Piko asked, his face blank.
"SPICE!" Len cried.
"Yes. That's what I'm singing. Do you want a reward?"
"What? NO! I'm just wondering why of all songs you could've chosen, you decide to sing one of mine." Len glared at the other boy.
"I felt like it."
"PSH. PSSSSH. AS IF. So you just coincidentally decided to sing one of my songs."
"...I guess."
"...Len...-kun?" Kiyoteru smiled sheepishly, "Haha, Meiko, Kaito. I've told you not to wake the poor kids up so early in the morning, they get cranky." the man tried covering up for Len.
Embarassed, the blond sat back down on his seat, his face burning.
"Ha, well I thought it was pretty quiet this morning. I mean, I didn't even kick that dumbass' nuts today." Meiko sighed. Katio shivered.
Len stared at his plate, in a deep trance. That behaviour he just displayed: that was pretty horrible. If he wanted to keep all of his fans, he needed to loosen up. Piko wasn't there to steal his fanbase. Nah, he was there to sharpen his talents and gain recognition. So he shouldn't have made such a direct assumption...
But he still sang my song. MY SONG. And it's one of my best ones too, what idiot would attempt to sing MY SONG?
"...Len?" The said blond looked up to see dozens of eyes on him.
He didn't actually say that out loud...did he?
"Well~ I'm fuuuulll! Let's go practice!" Rin grabbed her twin by the collar and pulled him out of his seat, dragging him to the elevator.
"H-hey, wait! My pancakes!"
"Eat them later! I wanna practice before the weekend ends~"
"B-but-"
He received no answer as they entered the elevator, leaving the other Vocaloids at the dining table.
And just as the doors of the elevator began to close, Len watched in horror as Piko took Len's usual seat at the table: next to Miku.
(skip if you don't like long, pointless, author's notes)
To Len fans: I like to torture Len. So, enjoy that aspect as we continue on with this :D
Anyway, I bet you're wondering where Haku is, huh? (or not, but let's just assume) As much as I like her character, I'm afraid we won't be seeing much of her. Maybe a cameo or two, but that's it. I can't have two drunkards (Meiko) in this story otherwise it'll be too chaotic ;( Same goes for Teto. You see, I try to put differentiation for each of the character's dialogues, and Rin and Iroha sounded nearly the same to me, thus, I made Iroha talk in third-person. But if I were to add Teto to the mix, she'd be too similar to Rin and Iroha (her hyperactiveness is on par with them, in my opinion). Anyone else I'm missing? Ummm, English Vocaloids won't be in this. Ever. Sorry if you like them, but I rarely ever listen to them, so coming up with a personality for them would be difficult. It's not that I dislike them, I just feel like I wouldn't be able to do them justice in this, so I'll leave them alone.
BTW, If anyone can figure out who I based Iroha's character on, you get a cookie :D (hint: Uguuuu~)
THAT'S A WRAP. HOPEFULLY YOU DIDN'T DIE OF BOREDOM FROM READING THIS. IF YOU DID, THAT SUCKS. IF YOU DIDN'T, KEEP READING THIS UNTIL YOU DO ;D BYEEEE~