Sugar-Coated Accident
Chapter Eight

"An Intensive Study Of Turkey Sandwiches"


Compared to the head-splitting pain Kaito had felt before, sleep was a welcome distraction – dreams, even more so. The blue-haired Vocaloid was worlds apart from the one his body inhabited; a white-on-white laboratory that smelt strongly of disinfectant and various chemicals.

In super-happy-Kaito-world, he was floating idly on a cloud with a giant tub of cookie dough ice-cream, whilst numerous flowers sang strange ditties and Miku manically waved a leek around, causing Meiko to scream.

Which, strangely enough, actually happened – it could only have been a few weeks ago.

Miku, for some bizarre reason, had decided to try her hand out at baton twirling. Minus the batons.

Needless to say, Meiko hadn't been too overjoyed to find Miku in the kitchen, innocently twirling around ingredients for their dinner.

It had been kind of funny, right up until the point an irate Meiko decided Gakupo should cook instead – a decision that would haunt them all for years to come…

-Ow!

Sudden pain.

Breathe, keep breathing…

Thinking hurt, especially about hazy, unclear memories where one had to strain to recall certain details. Like how Len was so sweet, suffering from food poisoning and being all ill and sick and stuff…

But, no, he meant Miku, right?

Miku.

She was a very pretty girl, with her… Hair and, and clothes. Because it was common courtesy to wear clothes. Apart from when in – shower and… And stuff. Because wearing clothes in the shower would just be silly.

Ow…

Len did have a nice smile, though.

Drifting, drifting.

Being awake hurt.

Sleep was painless.

Sleep was easy.

So Kaito slept.


Len had learnt several things whilst sat in that white corridor, somewhere within his Master's building – between his office and the laboratory, probably.

One, the people who designed the building had no imagination whatsoever (seriously. The entire hallway followed a strict pattern of plant-door-plant-door-plant-door, with a water cooler and broken vending machine thrown in for good measure).

Two, it was really, really uncomfortable sitting for long periods of time without a chair. Still, it was better than being in Master's office, under his watchful gaze.

And three, the clock was broken. The minute hand was stuck between the 20 and 21 and, despite how hard Len willed it to move using force of mind and telekinesis, the stubborn thing did not want to budge.

In fact, Len had been staring so hard at the stupid clock he had a headache.

Or maybe that was from worrying about Kaito so much.

What if Kaito's really badly damaged – worse than Master thought?

What if they can't fix him?

What if they can fix him, but don't want to, because he's 'old'?

Imperfect.

But nobody's perfect.

Rin wasn't. She always stole the strawberry from the top of Len's cake even after she'd eaten her own, and could be so loud dancing to her J-Pop CDs at one in the morning, and her hair always looked really stupid before she'd brushed it in the morning.

Meiko wasn't. She had a short-temper, drunk far too much and could be a little bossy and controlling from time to time. Plus, she really sucked at using technology, having little patience and not enough time.

Not even Miku was perfect, because sometimes one of her pigtails was higher than the other, or her shirt was inside out, or she'd get her shoes on the wrong feet and fall over twelve times before realising.

They had flaws – but those were the small, defining characteristics that made them unique, right?

It was normal, wasn't it?

Or maybe Len was just thinking about this too much.

He was hungry, too.

I guess that's what happens when you're sick. But I haven't had much to eat all day, anyway, because of our recording thing in the morning, and then the ice-cream… And Kaito.

Poor Kaito-nii…

I hope-

"Taa daa! A turkey sandwich!"

-and Len nearly jumped a foot into the air.

"U-Um," he stuttered, pressing his back further against the wall, at the same time looking up at the (incredibly loud) person who dared to intrude on his solitude. "I think maybe you've got the wrong guy, Miss…?"

Miss Green-hair, orange-dress?

Who the hell is she, anyway?

"Nope," the girl replied, a mile-wide smile still plastered across her face. "You're the only one here, apart from me – and I wouldn't be talking to myself, would I?" A small pause. "Or maybe I would, if I got really, really bored."

Well, that was reassuring. So Len's unexpected 'visitor' was insane, now?

Under such circumstances, it was probably best to back away slowly. However, escape did not seem to be a viable option – the green-haired girl had him backed up against the wall, all escape routes barred.

Sigh.

"ANYWAY~" the girl continued, waving the turkey sandwich at Len in a mildly threatening manner. The blond Vocaloid watched silently, as small pieces of meat fell to the floor in clumps. "You look dead on your feet, like you could use a little nourishment!"

"No thank you," Len declined, voice icily polite. Len was not often given to rudeness, but this person was too loud, too strange and much, much too cheerful.

Len didn't feel like being cheerful.

Not when Kaito-nii was in such a terrible state.

In some strange, twisted way, it was almost as if this… this intruder's happiness was undermining Kaito's suffering, as if it wasn't important – but it was. It was. It was so important Len felt sick, despite the fact he'd emptied the contents of his stomach an hour earlier. The turkey sandwich/salad smell wasn't helping matters, either.

"Please? I don't like seeing people so unhappy. It really bums me out, you know," the girl explained, gesticulating wildly (again, more sandwich filling went straight to the floor, giving Len a peculiar feeling of vertigo despite his feet being planted safely on the ground).

"You could go and stand somewhere else," suggested Len.

"But that's so boring."

"And it's interesting to watch unhappy people because…?"

"You can try to cheer them up! Or, if you're feeling really sadistic, you can make them feel even worse about themselves."

"Gee, thanks."

"But I'm not going to do that! No way, nuh uh!" the girl said proudly, in manner of a Sailor Senshi who fought to protect love and peace and kittens. "FL-Chan is dedicated to providing hope and joy in the forms of semi-edible snacklets!"

"Semi-edible?" asked Len, raising an eyebrow. Had this 'FL-Chan' received cooking lessons from Gakupo or something? Certainly, she had all his charm and wit.

"Well," FL-Chan shrugged, holding the sandwich aloft. "It's gone a bit squishy."

"Uh huh."

"And green."

Len's left eye twitched, feeling an anger that the green-haired girl's actions did not warrant. She wasn't really doing anything wrong; just being happy, smiling, and attempting to cheer him up. But it wasn't working – wouldn't work, until Len was sure, 100 percent certain, that Kaito-nii was going to be alright.

God… Since when did Kaito-nii ever mean this much to me?

It's worrying.

"Ahh," sighed FL-Chan, staring at Len with some sadness in her face. "I see you're determined to be unhappy, right?"

Silence.

"You know," she continued, "this turkey sandwich looks pretty unremarkable, huh? I mean, it's not perfect, and if you could choose any sandwich for a snack it wouldn't be this one. I mean, who in their right minds would want something that's broken, huh?"

Len blinked in surprise, these words reminding him strongly of what his Master said – "who would something that's flawed?".

Perfection.

Something that didn't exist.

"But even if it's not perfect, it still has worth, right? This turkey sandwich could still mean something to someone. For instance, I spent a while making this last night. It was made with love and care. So what if it got a little sticky and messy in my lunchbox? I still value it, even if it's not perfect. So I'm not going to abandon my turkey sandwich. I'd never abandon something that took me so long to make."

And, against his own will, Len lifted his head off his knees, green eyes staring intently at FL-chan's own. She was smiling, holding her turkey sandwich close to her orange-clad chest.

"Is this…" Len frowned, gathered his thoughts, and tried again. "Is this some weird, over-extended metaphor?"

Are you trying to say something about Kaito here?

Are you seriously saying he's like a turkey sandwich?

And didn't you just try and give it to me? So much for never abandoning it.

"All I'm saying," FL-Chan explained, "is that I took enough time to make this, so I shouldn't just abandon it for one of those fancy sandwiches they sell in stores and stuff. I think that your Master's the same. He won't throw away Kaito, because he was made like my sandwich. With love and care, and a dream. A dream of making something great. Maybe a singing, dancing, breathing robot is a bit more of an accomplishment than a snack treat, but still… I guess it's the same basic principle. We never throw away what's truly precious to us. So you really don't have to worry. If Kaito breaks again, your Master will fix him again. And again. And however many times it takes. Because your Master really is… A very kind man. Just like me." Blink, blink. "But I'm not a man."

"W-Wait," Len frowned, now thoroughly confused. "How do you know Kaito-nii? And Master?" Len paused, a new suspicion forming in his mind. "And who exactly are you, anyway?"

"Silly. I'm FL-Chan. Miku-chan's friend," said the green-haired girl, poking Len on the tip of his nose.

"You know M-"

"It doesn't really matter who I am~" interrupted FL-Chan, voice adapting a sing-songy quality. "You don't need to remember me. You just remember the turkey sandwich. And try not to feel too down, okay, Len-kun? Everything will work out okay in the end."


Sekai de ichi-ban OHIME-SAMA~

"Hey! I think that's my cell phone!" exclaimed Miku, producing the aforementioned item from her pocket. With a deft flip (though it lacked the grace Neru had when she handled her cell), Miku had the device open and pressed against her ear. "Who is i-?"

"Hey, Miku. Do you know someone called FL-Chan? A bit weird, green hair, orange clothes, likes turkey sandwiches?"

"Um, yeah. She's the mascot for FL Studios. We've been in a few videos together. Never knew she liked turkey sandwiches, though. She came over to our house once and me, her'n Rin caught you and dressed you up in a skirt. Don't you remember?"

"… I think I tried to repress it. Thanks anyway, Miku."

Beeeeeeep.


a.n: FL-Chan is the mascot for FL Studios, & does appear in a few Vocaloid videos. I was kinda unsure about including a character maybe not everyone would know, but I'm sure some of you do already xD So, basically, this is a 'Len can't keep being sad' chapter, or… something? I think it's kind of a filler, actually. the next chapter will be filler-ish too as well, though D: but after that one good stuff happens xD
um, anyway. i hope you liked it xP thank you to all my reviewers! reviews make me happy ^o^