2. Complicated
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?!" Len yelled.
"Why do you have to be such an idiot?" Neru retaliated, glaring fiercely at Len. His expression mirrored hers, being equally annoyed with Neru as she was to him. Neru's face was all scrunched up and Len's face was a furious red, both a quirk they had whenever they got particularly annoyed. Right now the two were bordering on the lines of all-out rage.
Len was the first to break the angry silence, "You're so―"
"Infuriating!" Neru interrupted.
"Juvenile―!"
"Cold-hearted―!"
"Immature brat!"
"Enough!" Meiko shouted, stepping between the two of them, pushing their almost touching faces away. "Why won't you two quit fighting?"
"She started it!" Len said, pointing to Neru, "She's the one who is always insulting me!"
"I wouldn't insult you if you'd stop being so god-damn annoying!" Neru growled, pointing right back at him.
"Well, you're―"
"STOP!" Meiko cried, pushing both of them to separate corners of the room. She rubbed at her temples, a migraine forming as it always did during one of Neru and Len's spats. This seemed to be happening a lot more often than Meiko would've liked and it was getting on her nerves.
"Seriously, it's getting old, you two." Gakupo said from the couch. "Quit acting like kids."
"Tell that to him!" Neru huffed. Len stuck his tongue out at her.
"Look," Meiko said slowly, "If we Vocaloids are all going to be living under one roof we have GOT to learn how to live with each other."
"But she's not even an official Vocaloid!" Len complained and Neru visibly stiffened.
"Len! Neru is just as much a part of this family as you, we all know that."
"But it's true!" Len protested. Neru, unable to take it any longer, sprung forward to grab at him.
"Shut up! Shut your stupid mouth!" she yelled, shaking him. Gakupo leapt off the couch and restrained her. Meiko stayed near Len to make sure he wouldn't get any ideas of springing an attack either. The brunette looked hard at Neru before addressing her.
"We do NOT hurt other Vocaloids, Neru. They are our family and families don't hurt each other."
Neru looked away, pink-cheeked.
Meiko turned to Len, "Neru is a recognised member amongst the Vocaloid community and should be treated as such. I thought you would've known better, Len."
Len grunted, not looking at Meiko. She let herself take a breath in the brief moment of peace.
"This cannot go on," Meiko stated, "you need to stop this fighting and get your feelings out in the open right now or so help me I will unleash hell on you both. Got it?"
Neru and Len nodded and Gakupo released Neru.
"Good. Now, how about I ask what the problem with you two is exactly?"
"He always messes things up, and ruins everything." Neru said, crossing her arms.
"She's always pushing me around and picking on me!" Len added in his defence.
"I only do that because you need to learn to stop being a wimp and stand up for yourself every once in a while!"
"And you need to learn to not be so stuck up and actually try to make some friends!"
"Alright, alright!" Meiko had to separate them again and she did so while shaking her head sadly. "We get it. How about we try a different tactic, huh?"
Meiko had them sit down next to each other at the breakfast table with a piece of paper and two pens.
"And what will this do?" Neru asked dryly.
"Could you be any more cynical?" Len instantly reacted, earning him a quick punch on the arm before Meiko could step in.
"Drop it, you two. Since you obviously can't audibly talk with each other maybe you should write to each other about what you think of them. Sound good?"
"You'd make us do this stupid exercise even if I said no so hand me the damn paper already," Neru said bitterly and Meiko, rolling her eyes, gave it to her.
Once she got a hold of the paper, Neru immediately knew what to write. She scribbled quickly and wordlessly slid the paper across to Len.
Naïve. Simple minded. Pathetically dependant.
Len frowned at the paper, the words cutting into him just like everything else Neru said to him. He wrote back angrily, passing the paper back to her.
Violent, mean-spirited, selfish.
Neru resisted the urge to punch Len again as Meiko had her eye on them as she viciously scrawled on the paper.
Childish. Ignorant. Gullible.
The jabs kept on getting more vicious and Len had to take a breath before he exploded into a rage. He calmed down a bit, reading over the list of spiteful words they had both written. There was an unexplainable pause that Neru was confused about. Len didn't move for several moments and eventually wrote out his one-worded answer very slowly and carefully. His red face had calmed down, his eyes serious and un-wavering. Neru was almost hesitant in taking the paper.
Beautiful.
Neru looked over the single word, reading it over and over again. She ran her fingers over the lines, wondering if she was seeing it correctly. After a long wait, she wrote back, gently this time.
Honest.
Len cracked a small smile.
Passionate.
Neru felt her cheeks warming a little, but this time it had nothing to do with being angry.
…Caring.
Neru and Len caught eyes again, each with a softer, warmer expression. They held their gaze for a few long seconds then Neru got out of her seat and calmly retreated to her bedroom. Len soon followed her action and went to his room too without saying a word. Meiko knew that tomorrow they would be at each others' throats again but the sight of them calmly leaving the room was amazingly rare to see.
Gakupo was back to sitting on the couch, looking very confused.
"What just happened?" he asked. "Did they make up or what?"
Meiko went over to the table, picking up the piece of written paper. She took her time reading and by the end she was smiling.
"With those two, it'll always be complicated."
