Chapter 6: School Begins, Happy Lovers

Rin awoke at 7am sharp that morning, more excited than usual for whatever reason. Rin took a brisk shower, and was dressed in two minutes if that. She quickly brushed out her short hair and teeth. Class for the girls was always held in Flower's room, for some reason. Flower didn't mind, but also didn't seem to particularly like it, let alone understand why their room. The boys always had their lessons in Oliver's room, since his room was the calmest, and apparently having class in Piko's room once had erupted into a fist fight – supposedly.

"So why is it always your room?" Ruby asked Flower as they all got seated on the floor.

"I don't know. I wonder why." Flower shrugged.

"It's not fair! It's your last year Ruby!" Gumi stuck her tongue out.

"Gumi, you only have a year left." Uni remined her, "Like me. Flower, Rin, and Xin Hua have 3, and Merli has 2. Why are you upset?"

"Because I am." Gumi responded. Uni sighed, not wanting to argue. So we still have grades? This is weird, but I guess I don't mind.

"I'm sorry for being late!" On that note, the tutor came in. She had long, rather dark green hair and orange eyes. She wore a kimono and seemed too young to be a tutor for them. Well, Rin thought that at least.

The tutor pushed a whiteboard into the room, and got to the front. She bowed a few times, apologizing for her tardiness before continuing on, "I'm your new tutor, Zunko Tohuko! It's a pleasure to meet all of you!" She seems nice. Zunko stopped bowing, "May I get introductions, please?"

"I'm Ruby," Ruby began, being the class elder.

"Gumi Megpoid!" Gumi was second.

"Uni, it's nice to meet you!" Uni greeted her third.

"Merli," Merli nodded.

"Xin Hua," Xin Hua smiled at Zunko.

"Flower," Flower nodded as well.

"Rin Kagamine," Rin was the last one.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Zunko smiled at the group, "I hope we can all do well together in this class! So, without further ado, let's start!"

In Oliver's room, the boys in tutoring sat in a circle at the table as they waited for their tutor to arrive. Oliver, Fukase, Len, Piko, and Lui were half-patiently waiting as they talked on and on about whatever.

"Why do we have classes in my room?" Oliver shook his head, "It's not fair."

"Remember when we had it in Piko's room?" Fukase remined him, "Len almost flipped."

"He had a poster of me with X's on it." Len defended himself.

"I would've hid it IF I knew we'd have class ahead of time." Piko swore.

"Plus it's just white and boring," Fukase muttered.

"Maybe you're all just impatient and like to fight." Oliver relented. Lui nodded in agreement.

"Len is," Fukase said. Len couldn't deny it.

"Not my fault Piko's room is as empty as his fanbase," Len guessed. Piko kicked him from under the table, "Fukase…He kicked me."

"Yeah? And?" Fukase didn't care. Piko stuck his tongue out at Len, who returned the favor.

"Hey," Lui spoke up nervously, "will Mr. Hiyama freak out because I can talk?" Lui had already freaked out Nana, who had dropped plates one day at dinner.

"Probably, but he shouldn't have plates." Len assured him.

"Just be yourself, alright," Fukase sighed, "He won't drop anything. Nana's just clumsy as is."

"Sorry for being late," Kiyoteru Hiyama apologized as he entered the room with his suitcase and papers, "I had some issues with my daughter, she's ill. Had to call the babysitter and what not…"

"What we learning teach?" Len tried to be cocky, but was given a look, "What we learning, sir?"

"Better, Len." Kiyoteru sighed. Len's progress on manners was somehow improving, hopefully. This Vocaloid gave him grey hairs, "Lui, how's signing going?"

"…I-I uh, don't need to anymore." Lui spoke up hesitantly. Kiyoteru did a double take, making sure it wasn't one of Len's pranks.

"Congratulations, Lui," Kiyoteru finally gave the boy a warm smile once he was certain Lui's voice was genuine, and then repeated it for a good hour whenever he addressed the boy.

Kaito stepped into the dining room as tutoring went on. Luka was already in the kitchen prepping lunch when Kaito stepped in.

"Kaito, what is it?" Luka asked him, eyes locked on the boiling pot before her.

"Can I…?" Kaito's voice trailed off as Luka glanced at him.

"Of course." Luka turned a few knobs and walked over to him, whispering, "Haiyi," before going back into the pantry with a small smile. Kaito smiled wide and ran up the staircase.

He was excited, as any living thing would be upon knowing they're a father usually. He slammed the door open to Meiko's room, beaming proudly. Instead of being greeted by Meiko, he was greeted by crying. To be specific, a baby Vocaloid crying. Kaito sheepishly closed the door behind him.

"Kaito…" Meiko hissed, "It took me 10 minutes to put her to sleep." Meiko picked up the screaming child and handed her to Kaito, "Calm your daughter down,"

It took another 10 minutes for Haiyi to calm down in Kaito's arms. Kaito gently set the sleepy Vocaloid into a crib on the other side of Meiko's bed.

"So, no one knows still?" Kaito asked Meiko in a quiet voice, "Seriously?"

"Just Luka still," Meiko said, "It's rare for me to have visitors to begin with. Well, other than you, Luka or Yuma at least."

"How long will it take for the girls to notice you think?" Kaito smiled. He knew they were sharp, but the less that others knew, the better.

"Hmm Lily is rather sharp. And Flower is oddly perceptive." Meiko said, "A month." She thought it over for another moment before adding, "Yes, a month."

"Well, I'm sure you'll outsmart them, Meiko," Kaito laughed, "For now, we can have a secret all to ourselves." He glanced back over to Haiyi affectionately.

"Yes, agreed," Meiko smiled, "She's our special secret, Kaito."

"NOW," Kiyoteru sighed at the boys. Today's biology lesson had been wild to say the least.

It had started when the mentioning of the human body occurred. It was for a simple lesson on cells, and Kiyoteru had thought nothing could go wrong. However, he had no clue that the mentioning of cells and the human body would erupt into chaos, such as Lui's potential love life blooming which was apparently tension for Piko. Len's snarkiness had not helped, and that led into a fight occurring between the three that Fukase watched and Oliver hid under the table for. Kiyoteru would've liked to say this was a rare event, but sadly, he could not.

"Who wants to go down to the counselor first?" Kiyoteru asked firmly.

"…" There was silence amongst the trouble makers, "Len?"

"Fuuuckkk…" Len cursed.

"Len!"

"Fine I'll go!"

Len was the first to leave the room and go down to the counselor's room on the first floor. The counselor was more or less there in the morning and afternoon to resolve disputes between guests, or that was how Luka explained it to Len. Len figured it was a way for Soprano and Frankenstein to not deal with petty drama themselves, or to overload the tutors. The counselor was Yan He, a probably brainwashed Vocaloid with short white hair and teal eyes. Len sat in the chair in front of her desk. She'd been expecting him.

"Took only 2 hours Len," Yan he check her watch as she spoke, "What did you do this time?"

"Lui and Merli's probably romantic relationship came up, Piko was salty, I insulted Piko's popularity – well lack thereof – and yeah." Len calmly recounted, "So, the usual." Yan he sighed.

"Well, that's not new, but," Yan he was used to Len insulting Piko's popularity and lack of it, though the mention of romance was new, "Are you at odds with your silly resolve finally?" Shit, she's a mind reader.

"…A tad." Len grumbled. If he has tried to lie, she would've known. Len didn't care for her for that simple reason.

"Why?" Yan he asked him, leaning back in her chair, "Why now?"

"There's, there's the new girl! She's messing with my head!" Len explained, sounding a tad annoyed yet flustered, "She-she hates me one moment, but then thinks I'm amazing the next! There's no consistency! It's probably a mind game, right?"

"Oh, her." Yan he asked, "What's she like?"

"She idolizes Miku, of course, "Len listed off his fingers, "Naïve, despise and or likes me, stubborn, is a Vocaloid, probably a runaway,"

"So you, minus the naïve part." Yan he teased. Len glared at her, "Face it, you two are alike."

"You haven't met her though," Len said. It was a bad excuse, and Yan he didn't want to argue with him further. There was no use in telling him to not tease Piko anyways.

"J-just go back to class,"

At 2pm, classes ended and the lives of the guests resumed once the tutors and Yan he left for the day. Not long after, Merli snuck down the steps to meet Lui under the boys' staircase. There was a hollowed out cupboard there, big enough for probably 3 people to squeeze into. It was rather private and easy to access, which is why they'd chosen it. Merli had decided to tell Lui something important, or that she felt was important, to him last night, but, Lui had fallen asleep before she could. Lui had mentioned off handedly that he too had something to say, but Merli had no clue what that was.

"You're here," Merli smiled at Lui as she stepped into the cupboard, "And here before me."

"Yeah, we got out a little early," Lui admitted, "So, what is it?" Merli felt her nerves kick in.

"Well-uh," Merli's face began to redden, "D-don't get an ego because of it, or anything, okay?" Merli put her left hand on her hip, unable to look Lui in the eyes.

"Um, okay." Lui nodded. Merli was surprised by how calm he was acting. It made her feel more at ease.

"G-good. " Merli took a deep breath, shifting her weight from side to side, "…I want to tell you something, so, listen, okay?"

"W-wait," Lui interrupted her. Merli seemed annoyed, "…I-I also have to tell you something." Merli's annoyance faded away, and she seemed a tad flustered.

"Oh, w-well, go ahead, then." Merli mumbled. She twirled a strand of her hair on her fingers.

"…Merli, I, um," Lui cleared his throat as he tried to get the words out, "I've known you for a while… I've been here for what feels like forever, and, well, I'm sure you feel the same way too, but… I've…I've liked you, for a while…" Lui gulped, "Um, I thought we would just be friends, and that was enough, but…um…it's, it's more than that… It's…I…I really, really like you! A lot!" Merli blushed. It was a rather childish confession, but she could feel his emotions in it.

"Y-you do?" Merli's blushed, "I-I do…I-I do too…I was about to say the same thing about you, actually…"

"R-really?" Lui smiled like a little dork. She loved that smile. Merli nodded back.

"I, well," Merli decided it'd be best to word it the same way he did for now, "I really, really like you a lot as well, Lui." Lui closed the space between them, and took Dark Fairy's first kiss.

"Um, Macne Nana?" Rin spoke to one of the maids. Rin sat at the staircase, watching Macne Nana clean the chandelier.

"Yes, Miss Rin?" Macne Nana glanced down at her from the ladder. I'm pretty sure we're almost the same age. She's probably way too young to be maid.

"I'm going to see Len, since we'll be doing a duet, apparently." Rin mumbled out. She still found it weird that to access the other half other house you needed permission, but the rules had to be followed.

"Alright," Macne Nana allowed it, returning to cleaning.

Rin walked down to the foyer, then up the boys' staircase. She hated Len, yet, she still felt happy about Len. Why? She wasn't exactly sure, but here she was, going to go see him for a duet. It was weird, and he had worded it weirdly too, but Rin couldn't back down now. Rin opened his door and stepped inside. He had already set up an electric piano and was getting out an orange guitar with flame decals stuck to it. Len was trying to find some music sheets while wearing glasses.

"You have glasses?" Rin walked over to him. Len glanced up at her, and slid the glasses below his nose.

"I'm farsighted, so I need them to read," Len gently pushed the glasses back up, "Do you have a preference, or…?" He was unsure of how to do this, but still had the equipment left in his room. Apparently, it had belonged to another Len unit that was here before him.

"Um, can I look through it?" Rin asked. Len shrugged and handed her a folder filled with stapled music sheets. This is a lot of music for anyone to have…

Rin sifted through each piece, occasionally asking questions about a song. A few had garnered a mildly blunt, flustered response from him, which Rin enjoyed, "PonPonPon?"

"Uhh, What about Butterfly on your Right Shoulder?" Len suggested. Rin gave him a look, "It's a duet."

"Yeah, a duet for people in love," Rin declined. Len rolled his eyes at her.

"Fine, we can do PonPonPon," Len agreed with a sigh. He went over to his laptop and began pulling up the mp3 files they would need, "Sit back for a second, okay?" He seemed a tad annoyed, but was trying to hide it.

Does he have something against this song or…? Maybe he's just a pervert. Why would he even suggest a lover's song anyways? I know they're popular, but, why would he want to do that over something cute? Maybe Meiko or Lily know something about guys that I don't.

Rin sat on Len's bed, eyeing him, "Are you done?"

"Can you play piano?" Len asked, turning around to face her. Rin gulped. She had only taken a few lessons. Len could sense her hesitation, "I'll play piano, you start the file." Len stepped away from the keyboard and went over to the piano. Rin got up and went over to his computer so they could begin.

"Kaito, what are you hiding?"

Kaito had walked into a trap, and he had little chance of escaping said trap. He had been in Meiko's room for hours, cooing for Haiyi and Meiko. Now, Kyo and Yuma were in his room, interrogating him. They were too sharp for their own good, and Kaito had slipped up by forgetting that. He wouldn't admit they were sharp out loud, but it was true.

"L-like what?" Kaito tried to play stupid.

"Don't play stupid!" But it failed, "You were in Meiko's room forever," Kyo pointed out, "I know you two are dating, but that's suspicious." Damn, they were sharp. Kaito had tried to hide it from Kyo.

"Kaito, please tell me you're not doing THAT at this time of the day," Yuma sighed. Kaito blushed at that thought.

"N-no! Nothing like that!" Kaito insisted, "Don't worry! Why are you tag teaming me like this?"

"We have a theory." Kyo stated, getting down to business. Kaito tilted his head. Had they figured it out?

"We think you and Meiko are hiding a secret," Yuma quietly said. He approached Kaito and whispered, " E." Well, he was close. Kaito had to give them that much.

"So?" Kyo raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, we are…." Kaito admitted, "But we do plan on including everyone of course!"

"How much longer?" Yuma asked him, "Can you let us in on it?"

"I can't let you in on that yet, because it's still up in the air, because of the other thing," Kaito replied, confirming that he and Meiko DID have a secret aside from escape.

"What kind of secret?" Kyo asked. Kaito gulped, remembering what Meiko had threatened him with months earlier.

"I-I can't tell you," Kaito whimpered, "M-Meiko threatened me and-"

"Say no more." Yuma understood, "Meiko's a tough one. The-the talk is over, so, we'll be on our way."

Gumi went through her dresser, finally finding a nice cover-up for her swimsuit. There was now a pool by the Sun Room, and it was free for everyone. Arsloid had invited her and some others to go swim, and Gumi was deadest on looking her best for him. She wore an ocean blue bikini with orange trim, ties on the bottoms adding to the cute factor. Her cover up was a simple jacket and some oversized shorts that were comfortable.

"Arsloid, be prepared!" Gumi confidently said to herself in the mirror before heading down to the pool.

Arsloid, Oliver, and Piko were already at the pool and ready to go. Oliver was sitting at the shallow end, his feet in the water while Piko swam about. Arsloid was resting in a chair with a towel nearby. Gumi came in skipping with a big smile plastered on her face.

"Arsloid, I'm here!" Gumi skipped over to the Vocaloid, who looked up at her, "I'm not late, right?"

"Nope, you're on time, and lookin' good." Arsloid smiled. Gumi giggled.

"Y-yeah! Y-you too!" Gumi quickly removed her jacket and shorts then joined in, "Time to swim!"

"…Huh, you're a good singer, Rin."

Len and Rin sat on Len's bed eating some snacks Len had in his room. They had only done two songs before they stopped the session. It was an awkward snack break since both were unsure of what to say to the other.

"Did you actually want to do this duet thing?" Rin asked him suddenly.

"…I sort of just said it in the moment," Len admitted, "But, it was fun."

"You're a good singer. Not a lot of people here sing," Rin said sadly.

"Well, most of us here have given up on that." Len confided, "I did, but, that's whatever."

"GUYS!" The door slammed open thanks to Xin Hua. Len nearly choked on his food.

"Y-yeah? Wh-what are you doing here?" Rin was startled by Xin Hua's sudden and mostly unplanned appearance.

"We're going to the pool! You have to join!" Xin Hua squealed before running off. Len and Rin exchanged confused glances.

"Pool?"

Would like to add that there was never news on Lui/Ring being released since the original Chapter 6 was typed. On another note, I did add some dialogue here and there. The flow of this chapter is kinda weird, but easy to follow I think. - KingdomMitsumi