The race is on... yay
"Alright... Paddle." Piko muttered, unsure of what else to say. "Watch out for Lily's team."
"Um, Utatane-san, you need to be louder." The sailor boy said, not much louder than Piko or than his usual voice. Over the other teams, they might as well just not speak if they were just going to whisper.
"How about not whispering?" Len suggests loudly, paddling. They went forward relatively quickly when he timed his strokes with Oliver.
Piko didn't say anything, pushing aside a floating log with his USB cord. The way he sat had his legs in the boat, so he wouldn't fall, and his torso turned to the water so he could see and let his prehensile tail move freely. Well, then he spoke. "Watch out for Lily's team. In the distance."
"Not to be rude or anything, but I haven't heard you speak more than five words per sentence. Why's that?" Len asked, unable to put up with it any longer. The white haired teen turned away, keeping one green eye on the blue ones that looked at him with such insistency. Piko felt compelled to speak. He almost rushed all his words, but he took a deep breath and calmed himself.
"I don't like my regular speaking voice compared to my singing voice." He said with greater volume, since there were no boats around theirs. "I also don't have many friends, since many speak in such a roundabout, so I don't like talking... It's as if you two, as well as the other Vocaloids, are too human for me, since I was designed to be so... robotic."
Piko's words were slow, almost hesitant. "Please don't make me talk so much," he finally added, almost pleadingly, his eyes downcast. "As I said, I don't like the sound of my speaking voice."
That was the most emotion he had shown that Len and Oliver had seen. "Oh, blimey. I'm sorry to hear that, Utatane-san." His amber eyes were hesitant to meet the one green eye concentrated on him and the other blonde teen. "Umm, sorry."
"Me too. Sorry, Piko-kun." Len busied himself with paddling, struggling to keep up with Oliver's smooth strokes. How could a younger boy handle the heavy oar so easily?
"..." Piko's face hardened into an unreadable mask, before he turned to face the water entirely. The only words he spoke were the occasional 'row,' 'watch out for the branches' and 'turn left or right.' Other than that, any conversation came from Len and Oliver.
"So, Kagamine-san-"
"Len or Len-kun is fine." Len corrected, not liking the stuffy adult-ish honorific. Everyone he knew called him either term. He rarely bothered with honorifics.
"Oh, sorry, Len-kun." The little British boy flushed, pink dusting his cheeks. Len couldn't help but aww a little on the inside. The way Len-kun rolled off his tongue was too cute, not to mention the blushing. The fangirls would be having a field day if they saw this.
"Um, so... Is Rin-san your girlfriend?" He asked timidly. Len smiled.
"Ahaha, nope," he replied casually, with a hint of pride, "she's just my sister and I'm just her brother. Also, you can just call her Rin-chan. She won't mind."
Oliver nodded in assent, making a mental note. "Do you have anyone in mind? Um, that you like?"
Len looked at him, confusion etching his features. Since there were so many music videos that involved him kissing his twin (Alice of Human Sacrifice, Daughter/Servant of Evil), crossdressing and whatnot, he learned that love had many forms. Ugh, that was cheesier than macaroni, but all the Vocaloids didn't have a problem with being gay or lesbian or anything of the sort.
But why was Oliver so eager to know Len's love interests? Len never sat down and questioned is own sexuality, but seeing how he found Oliver to be endearing, he thought he was either gay or bi. "Did Rin or Miku send you to interrogate me?" He questioned, making the other boy squeak and shake his head vigorously.
"No! It's just that you seemed really close to Rin-s... Rin-chan and a bunch of other people, so..."
"Okay." Len decided to change the subject and not to press him any further, since Oliver was getting more and more flustered by the second. "Also, we've been going at a leisurely pace. Shouldn't we go faster?"
"I've noticed you were struggling to keep up, Len-kun, so I was slowing down for you... Maybe that's why there aren't any others around us." The sailor boy said, speeding up his paddling.
The raft silently cut through the water with ease, thanks to Oliver's natural sailing ability. Piko didn't need to instruct the two blondes as a result, using his tail to pluck driftwood and other assorted obstacles from their path. Other than that, he held onto the raft and kept facing away.
Len could only think of him with a few words: kuudere, ice princess (prince?), antisocial... But Piko seemed to have issues on the inside. It couldn't be self-esteem or self-confidence, since he carried himself with pride and was always sure of himself, but he was almost seemed fractured on the inside.
Why was that?
