~The Beast~

~Chapter 3~

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.

…..

The constant yelling and bothering was finally getting on Len's nerves. He didn't even know how he had survived this long, despite all the horrible commotion that seemed to be happening so often that he lost count. He groaned, as he slumped in his seat in his office. His head was in his hands, and he was extremely agitated. He was foolish to believe that Mikuof all people would not fulfill her end of the bargain. A week ago, Miku had stated that one day, she would make Len fall in love with her. Len had scoffed at that. It was impossible! He was cold-hearted, and he had not felt anything in the last three centuries. No, he did not have low self esteem. He was just stating the fact. Len didn't feel anything after his change. He vaguely remembered having a crush on the prettiest girl at school. Of course, that girl hardly even so much as looked his way. In fact, she was the one who caused him to change. She was the whole reason he went down that dark twisted path that led up to his life now. So, blame it on the pretty popular girl who ruined his life. He doubted his life would've resulted any differently. Someone else would've probably called him ugly, and he would go down the same path. He remembered how hard he fell for that girl. Then, that horrifying day came…

"Ew, why do you keep following me around?! You're so gross and sickening; it's a wonder how you are even allowed out of the house!" The girl screamed at Len.

Len had widened his cerulean eyes, except back then… they were hardly cerulean. They seemed to be a dirty dark blue color, almost like the color of soot, really dirty soot. His eyes were probably the only handsome feature about the old Len. Nothing else was quite appealing.

"Why…?" He had asked the angry girl.

"You're asking me why? I'll tell you why, disgusting boy. You're hideous. You're so hideous that my beauty burns out just by looking at you. Get out of my face." The girl replied, rolling her eyes. She had even tossed her hair over her shoulder.

Wow. She was vain enough to actually compare her "beauty" with Len's… um. Yeah, he preferred not to go back into past details. Those were rather horrible times. He didn't want to revisit them. They did strengthen him, but he didn't need them to constantly remind him of what he used to be like.

Ah, yes… that was the worst day of his three hundred and seventeen years of life. He had felt horrified about how cruel humanity was, and he immediately went to seek out the witch. The witch had cured him, and he remembered how he could not stop thanking her enough. She had even given him a new place to call home. She knew that Len would want to leave that village, seeing that he got those horns on his head. That night, he returned to his old home and collected his belongings. The next morning, he was gone. No one missed him. Len knew that for sure. However, he thought maybe that his mother would miss him. He couldn't be so sure. After all, she was sympathetic towards him.

The witch had been waiting for him in front of the door to his castle. She smiled at him. The smile was sickeningly sweet, yet, it held a dangerous edge to it. She had told him the basics of the castle, and then she introduced him to Rin. Rin smiled and introduced herself to Len. It was then that Len noticed how alike he looked to her. The witch smiled once more, and she told him about how he might need someone for the lonely years to come.

"What if someone tries to come up to this castle?" Len asked.

The witch had thrown back her head. Peals of laughter erupting from her throat, and her body shook. The laughter erupting from her throat was like a soothing lullaby. It wrapped around Len, and he immediately felt at home. "What if someone tries? Honey, no one can come up to this home of yours. It's protected by my magic."

"Care to elaborate, Ms. Witch?" Len asked once more.

"Well, from afar it looks like a regular old castle. However, once a curious human decides to check this place out… it'll look like a ruin once he or she gets enough." The witch smirked at her brilliance. "Any more questions, young man?"

"Actually, I do have a question. Why am I stuck with her?" Len asked, pointing to the smirking Rin.

"Didn't I tell you before, dear Len? She's…. How should I say this? Rin is like another version of you, a mirror image. She's created right from your very being. I just took you, but I flipped you. Instead of a boy, she's a girl. I noticed that you usually tie your hair up into a tight ponytail at the base of your neck. She lets her hair go free, and she secures it with a big fat bow at the top of her head." The witch said. As she described Rin, she walked around her, marveling at her creation.

"What exactly is Rin?" Len raised a brow.

"Let's just say, she's your sister." The witch replied. "Well, that's enough questions for now. I believe those were too many questions, but that's quite alright."

Now, that whole conversation led him to the question he had been pondering on and on about for the past few years. If a human came close enough, the castle would appear as a ruin. However, from afar it was impossible to see if it really was a ruin or not. Miku was left on his doorstep, or rather the ruins of his home. So, humans really were cruel enough to leave their own daughter alone in the middle of an abandoned forest. Even as a baby, Miku was beautiful. Who would leave a pretty little baby like Miku in a forest? Yep, humans were weird and crazy. That was Len's conclusion. He'd revisit it later.

"Len, want to go pick flowers with me?" Miku shouted into his office.

Len had locked the door. He always did ever since Miku could walk. He figured out- the bad way- that Miku had a habit of following him around and annoying him. He remembered that awful day. He was writing down his reports and so on. Then, suddenly the door banged open. Three year old Miku walked in, a bright cheeky smile on her face. She giggled and asked him that question:

"Len, want to go play with me?"

Ever since that day, the doors to his office had been locked any time he was in there. In fact, any room he was in was locked now. That question that Miku was always asking him… Yep, he grew to hate it with such a fiery passion… He could've killed someone with it.

Miku had been shouting offers into his office for the past few days. It was starting to get on his nerves. He could not have a moment of utter peace. Most of the time, it was Miku yapping about outside his door about picking flowers or whatever it is that she does.

"For the last time, I do not want to go and pick flowers with a brat like you!" Len screamed at his closed oak door.

"Fine, I'll go pick flowers with Rin!" Miku yelled back, obviously annoyed. "You jerk!"

"Go ahead! See if I care!" Len shouted back.

He heard the satisfying sounds of footsteps fading away from his door. Len sighed in contentment. Finally, the peace he had been waiting for. Hopefully, Miku wouldn't come back for anything else in five minutes. He needed some thinking time right now. On to his question about Miku being left on his doorstep... If Miku was le-

Knock, Knock.

Len let out a huge groan. God, why couldn't he have at least two minutes of silence?! That was barely even a minute.

"What do you want now, Miku?" He screamed through gritted teeth. His throat was actually getting sore. He thought he had gotten rid of her just a moment ago.

"It's not Miku, you idiot." A voice replied from outside the door.

"Whatever, Miku's been annoying me twenty four, seven. I don't know how much longer I can take this, Rin." Len complained.

The door opened to reveal his twin "sister" on the other side. She closed the door with a click and locked it with a spare key. Even if she spoiled Miku, she never let her take hold of the important key that she kept with her all the time. Rin had her limits too.

"What exactly are you thinking about, Len?" Rin asked, stepping forward.

"I'm thinking about how cruel humans are." Len replied, leaning back in his chair.

"Jeez, how many times have we been over this? You've been granted this handsome shell of yours. You don't need to have a grudge on the human race for three hundred years." Rin scolded Len like a little child.

Len rolled his cerulean eyes, and he glared at her. "What do you take me for, Rin? I'm not thinking about that. In fact, I'm over that. I'm thinking about how Miku was left on our door step. Didn't the witch say that when a human comes close enough, the castle is a ruin? Why would someone leave their child in an abandoned ruin in an abandoned forest?"

Rin thought about that for a second. "Hm, you're right. Then again, humans are weird and reckless. Not that any of that matters at the moment." Rin continued on as if the conversation about Miku never even happened. "On to other business…"

…

Miku sat on her swing. Her bottom lip jutted out into an adorable pout. She was obviously pissed off about Len ignoring her for the millionth time. Maybe Miku really was a sadist. She loved annoying the heck out of Len every single day she was there. However, she just really wanted him to notice her. She wanted him to pay attention to her at least once. All these years, Rin was the only one that really cared for her. Miku didn't like the other servants her. They were emotionless, and they were no fun! All they did was heed to her orders. So, she went and got things by herself. She may have been spoiled by Rin, but she was not a brat. She was stubborn. She had to admit that, but she was not at all spoiled. Now, she didn't beg for a stupid pony for every single day of the week for Rin. She didn't care about that. She had other things in life that she was happy about. Rin would be the first person on the list. Then Len, even if he was mean to her most of the time. Although, the first and top most item on the list would be her green house. Miku loved that place to bits and pieces. It was her safe heaven. She could be herself there.

"Miku." A voice cut through the stark silence.

Miku lifted her head up, staring at Len. "Yes, Len?"

"Fine, I'll pick flowers with you." Len replied.

Miku clapped her hands together, and a smile appeared on her face. She got off her swing and took his head. "Okay! Let's go to the green house. I lied about picking flowers. I just wanted to show you the green house."

"I've already seen the green house, Miku." Len replied emotionlessly.

"Not after what I've done to it, Len. Besides, you haven't been in there since I was brought here!" Miku said, hurrying up.

They reached the green house, and Miku pushed open the glass doors. Immediately, they were engulfed in the aroma of exotic flowers. Miku smiled at the pretty white daffodils sitting near where she stood. She leaned down and smelled the beautiful smell that it produced.

"Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Daffodils, I have brought someone along today! You know the person I've always been talking to you about? Yes, I've brought him along today. Len has finally gone to the Green House with me." Miku said.

…