A/N: I had writer's block for this chapter, but thanks to an awesome Kagamine Len song, I got inspiration. The song is called "Hot Cocoa (A Restless Night's Song)". There are a bunch of songs mentioned. I don't own the songs or take credit for writing them. I only take credit for being inspired and mentioning them. They belong to their rightful owners. I'm also trying to make my chapters longer. I went from 566 (Ch. 1) to 634 (Ch.2) then to 962 (Ch. 3) to 2,587 words not including author's notes & title. Yay! XD
Chapter 4: Reika Meets the Writers
I started writing down the song that was in my head when Mr. Crypton was explaining the rules at around seven p.m. I was listening to songs by each Vocaloid. A knock on door broke my focus. "Dang it!" I opened the door to see Len standing there in banana pajamas. "How may I help you?" I asked sarcastically.
"It's three in the morning…"
"What? It's that late?"
"Yeah"
"That song is going to be long,"
"You were writing a song?"
"Yeah."
I looked at my paper. The song really wasn't that long, and it was actually about normal length for a song. I looked at my computer. I was listening to a song by each Vocaloid. I wanted to find a key they were comfortable with. I felt a presence over my shoulder. Len was getting closer to my face, and I could feel my face getting redder and redder.
"I thought you said it was going to be a long song."
"I thought it was. I guess getting a key that's comfortable for each person by listening to their songs took up a lot of time."
"Am I in the song?"
"Of course you are."
"Cool."
Len went over to the couch and sat down. "So, Reika, since we have to work together, tell me 'bout yourself." I sat across from him in the loveseat. "What do you want to know about?"
"I don't know."
"How about a summarized life story?"
"That works."
I went into my life story in a short summary, then he did the same. I ultimately ended up falling asleep during his story though. My phone rang.
"Wake up call."
"Okay, thank you."
I went back to my room, and showered and got dressed in a long green and white striped sweater with short sleeves, a cream shirt with elbow length sleeves, light blue distressed jeans, and white shoes with a red racing stripe. I straightened my medium length brown hair, then put on my eyeliner, and then my glasses.
When I got back into my living room, Len was gone. I went over to the manor, no one was awake. I went toward the kitchen. I started hearing a little bit of chatter. I walk in, and there, in a big group, is what I was guessing were the songwriters for the other Vocaloids.
A girl with a blue streak in her hair stood up. She was wearing a blue shirt with a white jacket, dark jeans, black glasses and blue Converse sneakers. A girl in a sea green dress with gray flats and reddish-brown hair stood up beside her.
"Are you Reika Fujihara?" the blue girl asked.
"Yeah."
"Nice to meet cha. I'm Megan. I'm Kaito's songwriter. Maybe you've heard some of my work, 'Japanese Banquet Song' or 'Rabbit of Inaba'?"
"Both, actually."
The girl in green stepped up. "Hi. I'm Ginny. I'm Miku's songwriter. I wrote 'Black Rock Shooter' and 'Po Pi Po'." Ginny then came over and gave me a hug. I was starting to see a pattern: each songwriter wore colors that matched the Vocaloid they write for. Another person stood up. He was a black haired young man wearing a white shirt with a purple tie, light blue jeans, and purple and white Vans shoes. It was Gakupo's songwriter, Preston. He wrote "Dancing Samurai" and "Madness of Duke Venomania". He began to speak in a deep but not too deep voice, "I hope you like it here." I smiled at Preston.
Megan and Ginny started eyeing my outfit. Megan looked at me quizzically, "Where is your yellow?"
"What?"
"Your supposed to wear at least one yellow thing to match your Vocaloid."
"Oh, okay." I didn't like the idea of having to wear yellow everyday. I liked being colorful, and I can't yellow is my favorite color.
Mr. Crypton walked in. He threw a yellow Aeropostale jacket at my face. He murmured "Rookie mistake" as he walked by. I took off my sweater and put on the yellow jacket. "Hello my songwriters, we have a new quota and a new songwriter. Everyone, meet Reika. Anyway back to the quota." A new melody was making its entrance.
"Reika, here is your quota: four songs. One must be for Len, another for Rin, another for both of them, and one for a group of Vocaloids. Can you handle that?"
"I already have one of them."
"Really? Which one?"
"The one for a group."
I handed him the song. He played it in his head.
"'Honey' sounds like a hit!"
I smiled. Ginny, Megan, and Preston smiled at me. I felt proud and accomplished. I actually didn't mess something up. I was glad.
I sat back down, and Mr. Crypton went on with quota talk. I didn't listen. I wanted to finish the song in my head. It had a disco feel. It was good, and the words followed the music: "Yureru furoa no ue de, Biito o kizamu kimi wa"
I liked it. I didn't know where the idea came from, but that's how it works for me in a nutshell.
The meeting dragged on, and no one was listening. That is until two words came from Mr. Crypton's mouth: Mr. Yamaha.
"Who is Mr. Yamaha?" I asked.
" He is my boss, Reika."
A phone started ringing. It was upstairs. Our singers were getting their wake up calls. Mr. Crypton looked at all of his songwriters. "August, Ginny, Megan, Preston, and Reika, can you guys stay here for a second? The rest of you are dismissed." I didn't know who August was. So I knew she would be the one who hadn't introduced herself yet. Ginny, Megan, Preston, August, and I stayed seated.
"Guys, Reika is new here so I want you guys to help her. Okay?" It wouldn't have matter if they wanted to help or not because Mr. Crypton left before they could answer.
A girl with short brown hair that had pink highlights stood up. She was wearing a pink T-shirt with brown pants and pink Converses. By the color scheme, I knew she was Luka's songwriter.
"'Sup. I'm August. I write Luka's songs. I wrote 'Tailor Shop of Enbizaka' and 'Just Be Friends'."
"I love 'Just Be Friends'. My name is Reika."
"So you're the poor soul stuck with the Kagamines."
"Yeah. Why did you say it like it's a bad thing?"
"Well with Rin, it's not so bad. With Len, it's another story."
I was confused. "Why is it bad?"
"Len liked Emily her first day here. She was a really pretty girl. Well, he developed a crush on her, and I guess it grew into something more. She got fired. You replaced her."
"Oh." That was all I could say.
"He might try to get you fired to get back at Mr. Crypton."
I looked at the other songwriters. Ginny and Megan weren't very happy. Preston looked shocked and mad. He had a look that said we can't let her leave. Ginny spoke up.
"How do you know this?"
"Len is very open towards Rin, Rin is open towards Luka, and Luka tells me everything."
There was a lot of tension in the room. I wanted to change the subject. Just then, Ginny's stomach growled. Everyone in the room laughed. Megan walked up Ginny and put her arm on her shoulder. "You getting hungry?" she picked.
"Yeah I am. Let's go eat."
August explained how the dining room is organized while we walked down to get breakfast. "There is a table for each Vocaloid and their songwriter. Each table has a table cloth with the color of the Vocaloid who sits there so everyone knows which table to go to.
We got inside the dining room. I suddenly thought about the night before. I wondered if Len would be nice to me. I felt someone grab my hand and pull me back. It was Preston.
"Good luck, Reika."
"Thanks." I was confused about why I would need luck, but I was being polite.
"By the way, do you mind if I call you 'Rei'."
"No, not at all." We shared a smile then went to our tables. I went to the table that had a yellow tablecloth with orange trim.
I pulled out my notebook with sheet music and kept working on the song I would call "Discotheque Love". I was almost finished when I saw someone sit down to my right. If it was who I thought it was, I was going to be nervous.
It was the opposite though. Rin smiled at me. She started trying to take a peek at the song. I handed her the notebook. She smiled as she examined it.
"It's really good."
"Thanks."
"I can't wait to hear it."
"It's definitely going to be one of my greater ones."
"What made you think of it?"
"Nothing really. It just came to me."
Miku and Kaito walked in, smiled, and waved. Luka followed. She looked a little worried. Gakupo came in. He pointed to the empty chair to my left and had a face that said trouble was coming. It came in the door a few minutes later.
Len walked in, and boy was he mad. Rin gave me a look that said keep quiet. He sat down, and I looked away. That was a mistake.
"What you don't want to look at me or something?"
I looked toward him, annoyed.
"What're you looking at?"
"I thought you wanted me to look at you?"
I noticed what he was wearing at that moment. He was wearing a full black outfit composed of a shirt that was a little more than half way buttoned up, black jeans, and black shoes. He also wore a scowl on his face, and I did too, toward him. Suddenly, something got our attention away from each other, Rin.
"Now that I have your attention, Reika, what is your quota?"
"I have to write a group song, a song for you, a song for grumpy over there, and a song for you both."
"I can't wait to hear what you've written for us."
Len looked away. "I don't want to listen to anything you write." I was officially mad.
"What's wrong, Len? You didn't want to say that to my face?"
He looked at me.
I smiled. "You want to say that again, shota?"
He looked furious. "Sure. I don't want anything to do with you!" He got up and walked away. I wasn't done though.
"Diva"
He stopped and turned around to face me. "What did you say?" I stood up.
"You're a diva!"
He reared his hand back to slap me. I just stood there, with a smirk. His hand came closer, and I blocked it. I forgot to mention, I take karate. Len just stared at me as my smirk grew.
I suddenly felt arms wrap around me. They were pulling me back. It was Luka. A flash of blue ran up and grabbed the boy who tried to slap me. A flash of purple ran up between us. Someone grabbed my hands. Miku held my left hand, and Preston had my right. I looked in front of me. Kaito had Len, Meiko and Rin had his hand, Gakupo was between us, and Len was madder than a hornet. His scowl was actually a little horrifying. I can imagine I looked bewildered.
Gakupo spoke up. "Len, you don't have to take it out on Reika. Forget about Emily. What she did to you doesn't matter anymore. It's the past."
Len looked could Emily have done that made Len so mad? I wanted to know. I felt out of the loop. Gakupo looked at us again.
"I want you two to sit down. If I hear any hateful words or see any hateful stares, I use my katana on your heads."
We both sat down. Rin looked at Len. He face was decorated in disappointment and sympathy. I felt like I messed up. Ginny came over to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me up from the table.
"Tell them Mr. Yamaha is coming in one week."
"Okay."
I looked at the twins. I couldn't believe I called Len a "diva". I should've stayed quiet.
"I have news you two: Mr. Yamaha will be coming in one week." They looked up all of a sudden. They had worried faces.
"Who's getting fired?" Rin asked.
"What?" I was perplexed.
"Mr. Yamaha only comes when he wants someone fired."
Len got up. "He's the one who fired Emily." He walked out. Gakupo stood up and came over to Rin and me. Rin looked at the samurai.
"Your brother finally found out, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I told him not to trust her. Everyone did."
"I know."
"I hope he'll be alright."
"I hope so too."
They looked at me. I was so puzzled. I wanted to know. I was curious. Luckily, Gakupo filled me in.
"Emily was going out with someone while she was playing with Len's feelings. She called Len last night and admitted to it."
I was speechless. I couldn't think of anything to say. That was terrible. No wonder Len was so mad.
I got up to make sure Len was okay. I started running, out the door and to where
Len would be. I didn't know where that would be though. I bolted upstairs. I stood in
front of Len's door and knocked. No answer. I ran back down the stairs, almost falling. I
dashed out the front door. I had an idea of where he would be.
I saw it ahead. I saw dozens of colorful roses. I ran down the garden path and
came to the foot of the gazebo. He was there. Tears were running down his face.
"Len, are you okay?" He looked at me. He wiped the tears off his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He sniffled.
"You don't look it. Let me ask again. Len, are you okay?"
"No, I feel like I'm broken." I sat down beside him.
"I know the feeling. I was with a guy who got another girl knocked up while he was with
me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, so I realized I didn't need him, and that there are people who are worth my time. I
was okay." He looked up at me. He wasn't crying anymore. He was smiling. He had that
weird puppy dog look that was oddly sweet again.
"You're right! Thanks, Reika. There are people worth my time, people like you."
"What?" I didn't plan on hearing that! My brain was screaming, "Watch out,
Fujihara."
I stood up and started walking away when Len grabbed my arm and pulled closer
to him. He wrapped his arms around me. Our faces were only inches apart, but after a few
seconds those inches were non-existent. His lips met mine. My struggling only lasted a
few seconds before I gave up. I just went along with it. I just went along with Len's
gentle kiss.
We pulled away. We were just looking at each other. Screaming broke our stares.
Rin was frantic.
"Mr. Yamaha is here. He came early." She stopped for a second. "Did you two just lock
lips?" I was going to say "no", but I was still in Len's arms. Len just smiled
"Yeah, I kind of got carried away."
"Looks like it." Rin walked away.
After a peck on the cheek, Len left. I followed. Mr. Yamaha was inside, right
where I was headed.
So how is it? Any better? Anyways reviews, ideas, and improvements would be amazing?