"Everyone. I have an introduction to make. This is Zeito. He's one of your newest brothers and will be living with us from now on"
The room went silent as everyone looked up from their various activities. It had been a long time since they had seen Kaito. This was the first he had appeared at the Shion estate in well over a week and he had come with a new family member?
Everyone blinked up at the new Shion. He was...not at all what ANYONE was expecting. What was strange was they had heard absolutely no word that the master had been working on a new sibling, given the new regulations she had to abide by with Kripton's laws. The arrival of this new Shion was absolutely unannounced and no one was quite sure how to react to it.
The Shion next to Kaito had a pristine new black and red coat very much like Kaito's. His scarf was such a deep shade of red that it almost seemed black. He had black hair that covered the side of his face and scary ghoulish makeup all over his eyes. His skin was nearly white. He was definitely...different.
"Ah man!" Akaito whined. "ANOTHER one?! I thought Master said she was going to stop making dumb copies of you?"
"A-Akaito!" Kaito cried out, shocked as his twin brother's horribly rude comment. Akaito just shrugged and turned back to his video games not at all interested in the new addition.
Kikaito leaned forward on the couch as he narrowed his eyes at the new Shion. Something seemed off about him and he really didn't like it.
"Kaito..." Kikaito said slowly, crossing his arms. "If this is going to be our new brother, then how come master isn't introducing him?"
The room went silent again as Kaito stiffened up and became almost as pale as the Shion next to him.
"U-uh..." Kaito stuttered looking at all the eyes on him now "M-m-master said she was...busy with things."
Kaito was a terrible liar. Everyone in the room knew he had made that up just then. The only question was... WHY was he was lying?
Kikaito didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. Something was terribly wrong and he wanted to know what. He glared at the new Shion as something suddenly dawned on him.
"Kaito..." he repeated again making Kaito begin to sweat.
"Master told us that there was a bug in your system last week..." Kikaito said slowly looking Kaito up and down practically reading him like a book.
"She said your elevated depression you were experiencing was a virus in your programming..."
Akaito dropped his game controller in shock as he suddenly realized what Kikaito was saying and whirled around.
"HOLY CRAP! DID MASTER TURN YOUR VIRUS INTO A SHION?!"
The whole room burst into chaos as everyone suddenly backed away fearful that the one known as Zeito was going to infect them.
"What?! No! No! He's not a virus! Guys! Calm down! Guys!"
Kaito yelled trying to get order in the room, but it was to no avail as the Shions all began yelling in confusion and fear.
Zeito looked down at his feet and left the room silently as Kaito flailed about trying to get his brothers to listen to him.
He knew this had been a bad idea...
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"Now SAY it!" Kaito demanded an hour later glaring at his twin brother. Akaito sighed and scratched the back of his head.
"Alright alright! I'm sorry about the whole saying you're just another dumb copy of Kaito thing" Akaito said crossing his arms and pouting.
Kaito seemed satisfied with this apology and flashed a smile at Zeito.
Since the outburst in the living room, Kaito figured it was probably a better idea to introduce Zeito to each brother individually. He started out with Akaito and had forced the red head to apologize to the new family member.
Akaito gave Zeito another glance over and shuddered. The guy was totally creepy looking. He didn't understand how anyone could be friends with him.
However Kaito had pounded it into Akaito's head that he shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. For all Akaito knew, this guy could be really cool while he just looked really creepy. The least this black Shion deserved was a chance. Akaito was willing to give him that.
Akaito gave another dramatic sigh seeing that Kaito was trying to get them to make friends.
"I guess proper introductions are in order." Akaito grumbled "My name is Akaito and you'll find that I'm one of the coolest Shions in the family. So guess it's nice to meet ya, Zeito..."
Kaito could not be more proud of his red brother. Akaito stepped forward and held his hand out to Zeito for a handshake and gave Zeito the polite greeting Kaito had been hoping for.
Kaito looked excitedly over at Zeito hoping Zeito was realizing this was a really rare moment for his usually boisterous hot head brother.
Zeito had not uncrossed his arms. He just looked at Akaito's outstretched hand as if he didn't know what to do with it.
Akaito frowned wondering if Zeito was purposely being rude.
"It's called a handshake" he said as if explaining to a small child who didn't know any better. "It's a type of greeting. Just grasp my hand with yours and that's it"
Zeito didn't move. He continued to stare at Akaito with a blank and expressionless face. Akaito ground his teeth together. He was sure the black Shion had heard him and fully knew what a handshake was. He WAS just being rude.
"Look jerk. I'm being polite. The least you can do is say 'hello'!" Akaito said angrily as he retracting his hand. Kaito's smile dropped as he saw the nice moment begin to go south.
"U-um!" He said interrupting them "Zeito doesn't seem to like to talk much..." Kaito said as cheerfully as possible. Akaito only turned to Kaito with a raised eyebrow.
"Does he even have the ability to talk?" Akaito asked noting he hadn't heard a peep from Zeito at all.
"Uh..." Kaito stuttered not at all knowing the answer to this question "I...think...so?"
"You THINK so?" Akaito asked incredulously. "What the hell good is a vocaloid who can't sing?"
"Akaito!" Kaito said angrily since Akaito had once again resorted to being rude right in front of Zeito.
"No, I'm serious!" Akaito said just as angrily back. "Vocaloids are made to sing to make our master's happy. A vocaloid who can't sing is just wasted space, don't you think?"
Kaito and Akaito began to yell and scream at each other. To many, this was a common sight. Yet Zeito wanted to be no part of what they were screaming about. He turned around and left the room.
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Kikaito bounced off the couch as Kaito and Zeito entered the room. He had felt bad about that morning and had wanted to apologize to Zeito the first chance he got. It wasn't fair for Kikaito to judge someone without even getting to know them first.
"Zeito!" He said brightly going over to meet them. Kaito smiled as he squeezed Zeito's shoulder.
"Zeito this is Kikaito" Kaito said nodding to the yellow Shion. "I don't think you're ever going to meet a nicer guy"
"Please! My brother is exaggerating" Kikaito interjected as he smiled."I wanted to apologize for making you uncomfortable this morning. That was wrong of me."
Zeito blankly stared at Kikaito and it was unclear to the yellow Shion is the raven haired man was deaf or not.
"As Kaito said, my name is Kikaito!" Kikaito said giving Zeito his best smile, trying to ignore the strange feeling he got as he looked at Zeito, "If you ever need any help with anything. Just come to me!"
Kikaito offered his hand to Zeito just as Akaito had. Kaito gulped and stepped forward not wanting a repeat of what had happened between Zeito and Akaito.
"U-uh! Actually Kikaito! It turns out Zeito really isn't much of a talker!" Kaito laughed "So instead of the u..."
However, Kikaito didn't hear a word Kaito started saying. Kaito was nothing but a murmur in the background as he looked at Zeito. Zeito's deep red eyes were staring into him. Violating his entire being. He hated the way the black Shion was looking at him. He began to lose himself in the expressionless stare that Zeito was giving him. Kikaito's whole system began to churn in fear. He felt horrible. It was like the Shion in front of him was walking dread itself. There was no doubt in Kikaito mind that this Shion HAD to be a virus. His robot features would not react as violently if he wasn't, would they? Why did Kikaito feel so cold looking at Zeito?
"Stop it..." he whispered, accidentally interrupting Kaito who was still in mid sentence. Kaito blinked as he looked to his older brother. Kikaito was shaking softly as he looked at Zeito. Kikaito next action shocked Kaito beyond words.
"I SAID STOP IT! STOP STARING AT ME. DON'T LOOK AT ME. GET AWAY FROM ME!" Kikaito screamed at Zeito backing away from him as if Zeito was advancing on him threateningly.
"Kikaito?" Kaito asked wondering what had gotten into the yellow Shion.
"What ARE you?!" Kikaito asked loudly as his back hit the wall on the far end of the room. Despite this, it still felt like Zeito was RIGHT in font of him and it terrified him.
Kaito blinked after his brother as Kikaito left the room slamming the door violently behind him. Never in his life had Kaito EVER seen Kikaito act so strangely. What had caused that?
Kaito blinked as he heard Zeito shift past him, about to make his way out of the room yet again.
"H-Hey wait!" Kaito said grabbing Zeito's wrist. Zeito just turned to Kaito with the same blank stare. Kaito wondered why the stare looked different to him. He knew that outburst from Kikaito must have affected Zeito.
"I-I'm sorry about Kikaito" Kaito said truthfully. "But you know what? I have a great idea!"
Kaito managed a smile at Zeito
"There's one brother who I have a feeling you would get along really well with! Come on let's go meet him!"
Kaito said with honesty and excitement that made Zeito blink.
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Taito had always been the reserved and silent type. When Master was home, that was a different story of course. But when on his own, Taito was independent and well composed. He very much reminded Kaito of Zeito. Kaito just had a feeling the two would become fast friends.
Kaito peaked into another room and saw Taito leaning up against a wall. This made Kaito smile. Taito's position looked almost exactly like Zeito when he saw Zeito leaning against a wall earlier that day. This had to be a perfect match. Kaito motioned for Zeito to enter the room with him.
Taito looked up as he saw his brother and the new Shion enter the room and head towards him. He pushed himself up off the wall and made his way toward them to meet them half way.
"Haha! Good afternoon Taito!" Kaito laughed "I wanted to introduce you to -"
Kaito's sentence was stopped dead cold as Taito walked right past Kaito and punched Zeito in the face as hard as he could. The unsuspecting Shion crashed to the floor.
Before Zeito could even register that he had been hit, he was picked up by the front of his scarf, whirled around, and violently slammed into the nearest wall.
The wind was knocked out him momentarily and Zeito could have sworn he saw stars, but his system was instantly forced back to 100% as the artificial adrenalin from feeling something cold and sharp placed on his neck, pumped through his system.
Taito got in Zeito's face, coming in to make them inches apart from each other. Purple eyes bore into Zeito's red ones.
"If you really ARE a virus" Taito whispered dangerously "Then Master must have had a reason to keep you alive"
The icepick was traced dangerously across Zeito's neck, hard enough to scratch, but not hard enough to draw blood. Taito leaned in even closer.
"Don't get any ideas about her. The Master is mine." Taito whispered into Zeito's ear "If I so much as see you look at her the wrong way, I will not hesitate to kill you"
Taito pushed himself away from Zeito before giving him a final glare.
"Do we understand each other?"
Zeito just gave a tentative nod, hoping Taito didn't slice his neck in the process. Taito's glare turned back into it's usual bored self as he pocketed his icepick as well as his hands.
"Good. Now get out of my sight before I decide to kill you anyway"
Taito didn't wait for Zeito to leave. He headed out the door himself looking horribly bored as if he didn't just threaten to murder someone.
Kaito was still in the middle of the room where Taito had left him, circles for eyes and too stunned to move.
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Later that day Zeito sighed as he leaned against the wall, rubbing his jaw where Taito had punched him.
Kaito had not been sure whether the introduction with Nigaito had been a success or not. Nigaito had politely introduced himself to Zeito unlike anyone else in the family, however he had mumbled the introduction into the small of Kaito's back as he stayed adamantly behind his big blue shield.
Kaito didn't understand it. Zeito seemed to affect his family to such a degree that they exhibited such strange behaviors. He had wondered if it was possible that Zeito really WAS a virus that was accidentally making his family behave this way. Kaito had looked uncertainly at Zeito as they had walked through the hall together.
Zeito's eyes had met Kaito's and Zeito had seen the doubt in Kaito's eyes. He could read every last one of Kaito's concerns and worries like Kaito were saying them out loud to him. Asking Zeito if he would soon infect Kaito and make him act strangely too.
At that point in time, Zeito couldn't stand being next to Kaito anymore. He had stopped on a dime before turning on his heel and heading in the opposite direction.
"A-ah! Zeito!" Kaito called out to him, but Zeito was already rounding the corner heading away from him.
Zeito had found the darkest corner to be in and just crossed his arms trying to make himself as small as possible. He knew coming to the Shion household ad been a terrible idea. Kaito had begged his master to let him come. Neither Zeito nor the Master were sure about it, but Kaito had been adamant. He desperately wanted Zeito to be a part of his family. So against his Master's wishes, Kaito had snuck Zeito over to the Shion household and now here they were...
It was clear to Zeito now, that this was just a silly dream of Kaito's. There was no way he would be accepted by this family.
Zeito looked up as the door opened.
Akaito and Kikaito came through the door laughing to themselves over some sort of joke Akaito had told. However, the laughter ceased as the two saw the dark Shion in the corner.
Kikaito's smiling features immediately set into a glare as he growled at Zeito. Akaito looked confused to Kikaito to Zeito before a smirk came to his lips.
"Yo! Goth freak!" Akaito said as he approached Zeito, making zero effort to be polite any more.
"Kikaito and I were wondering something" he said standing before Zeito. Kikaito followed him but made sure to stay a few paces behind Akaito to distance himself from Zeito as much as possible.
"Are you really goth? Or are you just emo?"
Zeito blinked at the question wondering what Akaito had meant by it. He didn't seem to understand what kind of answer Akaito was hoping for. Akaito just smirked
"Give me you wrists" Akaito demanded. It was not a request. He was not giving Zeito an option. He was telling Zeito exactly what he wanted him to do. Zeito looked at him uncertainly, a little nervous by Akaito's intentions. Akaito gave Zeito three seconds before he got impatient.
"I SAID. Give me your wrists!" Akaito stepped forward and forcefully grabbed Zeito's arm. Zeito blinked and tried to take his arm back, and the two struggled momentarily, but Akaito had a powerful grip on Zeito arm and he wasn't planning to let go.
Zeito could struggle all he wanted, Akaito had what he wanted. With his other hand he grabbed Zeito's coat sleeve and pushed it up Zeito's arm, turning Zeito's wrists over to look at them.
"Not a single cut!" Akaito laughed. "So You CAN'T be emo if you don't cut yourself! Haha! Like you even could given the laws of robotics! So why the heck does your dumb makeu-"
Zeito finally mustered up enough courage and slapped Akaito's hand off of his arm, interrupting the red Shion's insult. Akaito yelped in shock at the impact before he snarled at Zeito and returned the smack by punching Zeito in the exact same spot that Taito had hit him. Zeito hit the wall behind him before sliding down.
"Don't TOUCH me, Virus!" Akaito said grabbing his hand and looking it over to see if Zeito had done anything to him. It still wasn't clear to Akaito if Zeito was a virus or not. He was fearful that Zeito was. It was probably due to this fear that was exaggerating the pain in Akaito's hand from Zeito's hit.
"A-are you okay?!" Kikaito asked with worry, running to Akaito's side. "He didn't infect you did he?"
"I don't...know" Akaito said hesitantly. Kikaito rounded on Zeito as Zeito tried to push himself back up against the wall and off the ground.
"I swear, if you did ANYTHING to Akaito, a punch is the least you have to worry about from me!" he said flexing his cybernetic arm.
Akaito turned to Zeito with an unamused expression.
"Touch me again, virus freak, and I'm going to make sure you're in for a world of pain" Akaito tilted his head in curiosity as the smirk returned.
"Now open your mouth"
From where the red and yellow Shion were standing over Zeito, they could not see the door open quietly and Kaito step in. Zeito could see as he pressed his back to the wall. He looked at Kaito as Kaito stopped dead in his tracks seeing what was going on.
Kaito looked from Akaito to Kikaito as they advanced on Zeito . A panicked expression set onto Kaito's face. Zeito's eyes widened slightly as Akaito grabbed his already bruised jaw and tried to force open Zeito's mouth.
At this action, Kaito turned his back on Zeito and ran out of the room before even being noticed by anyone. Zeito wasn't sure why this action of Kaito's made his system turn so cold. The sight of seeing Kaito's back was anguishing to the black Shion.
He reached out to Kaito trying to yell out to him to please come back. However nothing escaped Zeito's lips. No words, no sounds other than a soft rasping sound. Why was the sight so painful?
Zeito couldn't take the thought of Kaito betraying him like this. He elbowed Akaito's arm off of his mouth and shoved him back violently.
Akaito yelled in shocked again as he crashed to the floor. He immediately checked his chest where Zeito had touched him to see if there were any marks. He didn't know much about how the vocaloid system worked, but he knew there were a great many vital parts in the chest, so if Zeito had infected anything in his chest...
Zeito made to run out of the room after Kaito, but as he ran past the two Shions a crushing grip on his wrist yanked him back and slammed him into a wall. Before Zeito realized it had been Kikaito, Zeito gasped in pain and doubled over as Kikaito punched him straight in the stomach with his cybernetic arm.
"Hold him down!" Akaito said jumping up after accessing his chest was fine. Forced into an arm lock by the yellow Shion, Akaito was non too gentle as he grabbed Zeito's swollen jaw and tiled Zeito's head backwards trying to get a good look in his mouth.
The three struggled with each other for many seconds before Akaito finally got his fingers in Zeito's mouth and pried open his jaw. Looking into the black Shion's mouth, he frowned in disappointment.
"No cuts and not a single piercing!" Akaito threw his arms into the air. "Isamine is more goth than you are and Taito is more emo! So tell me Zeito! If you're not emo and you're not goth. Then what are you?!"
Zeito looked up weakly from Kikaito's arm lock. His breathing still hadn't returned to normal from the punch to the stomach. Even if he had any intention of speaking, he doubted he would be able to.
"You can't even SING!" Akaito yelled at Zeito "You're nothing but wasted space. So why don't you-"
Akaito and Kikaito jumped as the door exploded behind them.
Both of them whirled around to be met with the furious expression of their Master standing in the door way.
"M-master!" The both stood at attention and Kikaito dropped Zeito.
"Is what Kaito telling me true?! You're bulling your newest brother?!" she screamed at them. Kaito peered out from behind his Master before seeing the state that Zeito was in. He gasped and ran past Akaito and Kikaito to Zeito's aid.
"I AM APPALLED AT YOU TWO!" The Master shrieked as Kaito helped Zeito to his feet and led him out of the room.
"B-but Master!"
"H-h-he's a virus!" the two tried to justified their scared actions but the Master would have none of it.
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Zeito pulled away sharply as Kaito dabbed the cotton swab onto Zeito's bloody lip. Kaito looked at Zeito with anguish in his eyes.
"I can't believe Akaito and Kikaito DID that!" Kaito said biting his own lip as he continued to tend to Zeito's.
"To their own brother too! Never before have they done something so terrible!"
Zeito was silent as Kaito aided his wounds. Despite the fact that Zeito was always silent, this new type of silence made Kaito worry for Zeito. Almost as if feeling Kaito's worry, Zeito looked up at Kaito and opened his mouth.
"I'm not...your brother..."
Zeito's voice was dry and high pitched. He was definitely not used to using his vocal cords. Kaito blinked at Zeito's words, this having been the first time he had ever heard him speak.
"What are you talking about Zeito? Of course you're my br-"
"Why did you lie...?" Zeito asked flatly, causing Kaito to pause his ministrations. Zeito didn't need to explain. Kaito knew exactly what Zeito was referencing. He could see it in his eyes.
Kaito had been telling everyone all day that Zeito wasn't born from the virus Master had extracted. Yet that is indeed where he had come from. So why had he been lying and telling everyone else other wise?
Zeito blinked in surprise as he looked to Kaito.
Tears were streaming down Kaito's cheeks.
Why would Kaito be crying? The master had extracted Zeito from Kaito's programming to remove all elements of depression. Kaito shouldn't have had a reason to cry anymore.
From the look of Kaito expression, Kaito didn't even notice the tears running down his face. Kaito blinked in turn with Zeito as he saw Zeito looking at him strangely. He brought a hand to his face and felt the warm liquid falling from his cheeks.
These weren't his tears...
Zeito gasped in a combination of, shock, fear and confusion as Kaito quickly pulled him in for a hug. This was the first time Zeito had been touched today without it being painful. What was Kaito doing to him?
"Because you're not a virus..." Kaito said into Zeito's shoulder "It's my fault Zeito. All my fault. Master thinks it was the code that made you that was making me depressed, but she has it backwards. It was my depression that I've been harboring and letting grow all this time that made you. Instead of just talking to someone or seeking help, I accumulated enough depression to make an entire Vocaloid!"
Kaito looked up with Zeito's tears falling from his eyes.
"But I'm done accumulating that kind of data from now on Zeito. You're my brother now...and I'm going to make things right by you"
Zeito didn't understand this feeling of warmth and compassion inside of him. It had been the first time he had experienced it. How could Kaito say such nice things as he cried? It didn't make any sense. Was it possible because he had spawned from Kaito's depression that the two's feelings were still somehow linked? Were those his own tears running down Kaito's face?
"It may be a while before my family accepts you" Kaito said pulling away from Zeito as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "But until then. I'll accept you Zeito. I'll be by your side until everyone else joins us"
Zeito bit his lip at the strange sensation. He wanted Kaito's arms around him again. Whatever that motion Kaito had done to him. He wanted it again.
Kaito blinked surprised as Zeito was the one to initiate the new hug and hold Kaito close. Silent tears began to fall from Zeito's eyes and smear his makeup down his face. Kaito just smiled and held Zeito close to him as well.
"Come on Zeito. Let's go get some ice cream together..."