Disclaimer- Vocaloids are not mine :T.

Author's Note- Yay an update! I'm sitting here at like 5AM with a mug of tea cranking this thing out for you guys because I don't have any other time this week to work on it ToT. Please love me and review xD? Anyways, Meiko and Kaito finally make an appearance! And I was asked if this story would be about when Rin and Len are young, and the answer is yes and no hehe. It'll start out describing some of their interactions when they're 9 but then time skip to when they're 14 and so on to 16. Warning: this chapter does contain mild swearing, and I apologize if it offends anyone Dx. But other than that, hope you guys enjoy!

It had been a month since Len's awakening, and Rin was finally getting used to having him around. Mr. Kagamine had no problems assimilating Len into his life, and even took him out to the recreational area every Sunday to play some sports, although it didn't take Len long to get the hang of the game and best the older man. Rin would sit and cheer from the sidelines, faithful bunny plushy companion constantly in hand. After dinner, which Len often prepared excellently, the three would sit together and play games or watch movies until Rin fell asleep.

At first Rin had been a bit reluctant to share her father's attentions but soon found she could not be resentful towards Len; he was too good to her. He did all of her chores when she asked him to and never complained or told Mr. Kagamine, though Rin did feel guilty over time and lessened her requests. He also cooked breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the family nearly every day, and was the best tea party guest Rin had ever had. Whenever she made him play with her, Len never seemed to mind and always made quite the engaging partner, even better than Meiko and Kaito put together. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy their time together, too.

Rin rested a cheek upon her hand as she watched Len vacuum from her position on the couch. He was humming a soothing tune and had the slightest ghost of a smile upon his lips. His hair was in its signature high little ponytail, and he wore the same clothes that he came with… which he had been for a month already.

"Len, did you come with just one set of clothes?" Rin inquired, not taking her eyes off his mundane task.

The boy stopped vacuuming and looked at her with a quizzical face, "Yes, just the outfit I'm wearing now. Why do you ask? Does it offend you, Rin?"

"No, no," she shook her head, "But I think you'll be needing some more, especially if you're going to be seen out in public."

Len blinked and tilted his head, "Why can't I just wear this?"

"Because it's not right," Rin remarked expertly, "Nobody wears the same pair of clothes every day, because that's gross! It gets stinky over time, and even if you wash it the colors start to get dull and they shrink. And if everyone just wore the same outfit then things would be boring, which is why we change it up! Like me!" Rin jumped down and twirled her own ensemble, which consisted of a yellow camisole, frilled white skirt, and wrist watch with the face in the shape of an orange.

"Ah," Len nodded in understanding, "I'll ask Dad tonight if I can order mo-"

"No!" Rin interrupted him, "You can't just order clothes online like that! What if they don't fit? Then it's a hassle trying to return it and everything. Going to the shops in town is much more fun." An idea struck the girl, "Say… let's ask Daddy if we can head into town right now and buy you stuff!"

"I don't think that's a goo-" But before he could finish his sentence, the peppy young girl had already skipped to the video phone and dialed her father's number.

"Hello, Rin?" Mr. Kagamine's face appeared on the flat screen that accompanied the phone. His voice sounded just as clear as if he was in the room, "Is everything okay? Where's Len?"

"Hi Daddy!" Rin grinned back at her father, "Everything's fine, Len's here beside me. I was just wondering if it'd be okay for me to take Len into town and go shopping? Please, please, please?? Len doesn't have any clothes, and he can't wear the same outfit all the time! Besides, he's kind of stinky right now."

An indignant, "Hey!" could be heard in the background.

"You two? Alone? No, something could happen. Why don't you wait for me to take you on Sunday?"

Rin whined, "But Sunday is so far away! And Len's stinky now!" another indignant "HEY!" was heard, "And he's a Vocaloid, remember? He can protect me."

Mr. Kagamine paused and then sighed, "…Alright Rin, but on one condition: you must go with Kaito and Meiko. It's better in a larger group. I'll call now and see if you can meet them. If not, then you and Len will wait until Sunday. Understood?"

"Yes, Daddy!" Rin beamed. After a few words and goodbyes, Rin returned to her seat beside Len, "Len, guess what? Daddy said yes, but we have to go with Meiko and Kaito. They're my two best friends in the whole world, and I hope you like them too! They're older than us, both are 11, but they're nice. Well, mostly Kaito. He really, really, REALLY likes ice cream, and the color blue. Meiko is nice too, sometimes, when you don't get on her nerves. She likes the color red."

"I do not stink," Len huffed, "I shower every day, and I just washed these clothes last weekend!"

It took Rin a moment to remember what he was talking about, "Oh, you. Your clothes still get dirty even if you're not, and wearing dirty clothes after you shower defeats the purpose, loser! Now let's go put all this vacuuming stuff away before Meiko and Kaito get here."

"But I haven't finis-" Len never got to complete his sentence, which was pretty often, as Rin dragged him off by the wrist.

"RIIIINN!!!"

"Meiko! Kaito!" Rin squealed in glee and practically flew down the stairs, throwing her arms around their waists, or as much as her small arm span could reach. The two contrasting eleven year olds laughed and petted the younger girl on her head. Rin looked down and saw a plastic bag in Kaito's hand, "Ooh, is that a gift for us?"

Kaito blinked, "Eh? Oh! When your dad called he told me to bring over some old clothes that I didn't fit anymore, for your… brother?"

"Oh yeah," Meiko put a finger to her mouth, "Rin, you never told us you had a brother."

"I… didn't really know I had one either! Heh… heh…" Rin felt the little hairs on her neck prick. What was she supposed to tell them? She hadn't thought this far! "He… was sick! Yeah, when he was born his health wasn't so good, so Daddy sent him away to live with my, err, aunt, yeaah… But now he's come back, and we're a happy family again! Eh heh heh…"

Kaito and Meiko raised their brows but didn't press any further.

"Alright," Meiko poked her head around the corner, "So where is he?"

Rin wove her fingers together nervously and called tentatively down the hall, "Len, come on out and meet Kaito and Meiko."

At first, there was no response, but some light shuffling indicated his arrival. Len stepped ever so slowly into their line of sight and bowed respectfully to the two older children, "Pleased to meet you. I am Kagamine Len."

For a few moments, nobody said anything. Kaito and Meiko stared, mouths slightly agape, somewhat incredulous that Len really did exist. Rin's fidgeting intensified and she began wringing the edge of her skirt. Did they notice he was different? Was there like a barcode on him somewhere that she hadn't seen earlier? She glanced at Len, who seemed ordinary to her. His demeanor was polite and friendly.

"Wow," Kaito finally interrupted the awkward silence, much to Rin's relief, "He's… a lot smaller than I expected."

Rin felt the sudden urge to smack her palm against her forehead. That was what she had been waiting so anxiously to hear? She rolled her eyes.

"You're rather cute," Meiko smirked and flicked Len's little ponytail, which shocked the boy.

"Thank you?" Len glanced confusedly at Rin.

"You're very welcome," Meiko paused for a second, "…Kaito, why don't you take Len and try on some of those clothes? Then we can head to town."

"Why can't he wear what he's wearin-" Kaito suddenly stopped as the stale odor of unwashed clothing reached his nostrils. He winced and resisted the urge to plug his nose at Len, "Come on, kid, let's go get you changed."

"Alright, he's ready!"

"What the?" Meiko blinked, "That's all that would fit him?"

"Pretty much," Kaito frowned, "All my shirts seem to be a little too stretched out for him, heh."

Rin desperately struggled in vain to stifle a giggle at Len's appearance. The shirt was far too large for Len's slender body type and hung awkwardly like a sheet on a hangar. The collar, which was too wide, continuously slipped and exposed one of the boy's pale shoulders, much to Len's frustration. After ten minutes of constant tugging at the worn fabric, Len gave in and let it wear loosely about his bare shoulder. He looked inexplicably… what was the word? Shota? Yes, he looked very shota. Rin giggled again.

The other clothes Kaito bought fit rather well on Len, albeit a bit baggy. But it would do, for now. Meiko looked the boy up and down, with his oversized, yellow long-sleeve and black basketball shorts and nodded in approval.

"You're going to get people thrown in jail," she remarked. Kaito suddenly started coughing profusely.

Len cocked his head, "What does that mean?"

"Nothing!" Meiko grinned, "Now let's get going!" She tugged Kaito by his blue scarf, effectively choking the boy, and led him out the door. Rin smiled at Len and gently took his hand before following the two older children down the path and away from the Kagamine estate.

"Here we are!" Kaito and Meiko threw their arms up at the scene before them. Len felt his jaw drop a little. He knew what markets and towns were, it was part of his basic knowledge, but seeing them live in person was a whole other experience. Brightly colored boutiques and booths lined the streets, and there were people bustling about shouting prices, bargains, or other random conversation. It was a drastic change from the pleasant quietness at home.

"Where should we go first?" Rin still held onto Len's hand, which was unnecessary yet oddly comforting, "Are we just going to look outdoors first or head into a store?"

"That was a pretty long walk," Kaito tapped his chin, "I say we go refresh ourselves with ice cream fir-OOF!"

Meiko elbowed him in the stomach, "Let's go to a store, that way Len can try on the clothes."

"Sounds good!" Together they walked toward the nearest boutique, although Kaito was still clawing at the ice cream shop down the street, but was quickly silenced by a firm tug of the scarf courtesy of Meiko.

The store was a simple one but carried quite a variety of the season's latest styles. It generally catered to younger girls, but there was a section towards the back for males too. The shop owner smiled politely and nodded a greeting to the children.

"How about this?" Meiko held up a white screen tee. There was an abstract, urbane design on the front consisting of a city skyline and multicolored arrows.

"It looks ok," Len shrugged. Truth be told, the scientists never really programmed him to have a fashion sense. Everything seemed fine to him.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't stop by for five minutes to get ice cream," Kaito whimpered and plopped into one of the store's leather chairs.

"We'll get some after," Rin reassured him, "How about these pants, Len?" She held up a pair of dark gray jeans, almost black.

"They're alright."

Meiko sighed, "Well you just sit next to Kaito and we'll pick out some clothes for you." Len nodded and took the chair adjacent to Kaito's. Between them was a small table with car magazines and various testosterone themed reading material, probably for the bored guys who were dragged here by their mothers or girlfriends. Len glanced up at the girls but noticed they had already disappeared into a whirlwind of shopping frenzy, piling item after item onto their arms and sorting through the racks with frightening speed.

"So how long have you been living with the Kagamines?"

Len turned his attention to the blue haired boy, who was smiling at him curiously, "Oh, I've been with them for about a month already."

"I see, I see."

An awkward silence engulfed the two.

"How do you guys all know each other?" Len tried his hand at starting a conversation.

"Rin didn't tell you?" Kaito frowned, "Ah well, that's ok. Meiko and I are next door neighbors. Our parents are family friends with your guys' dad. I've known Meiko ever since we were babies, but we met Rin at a party when she was 5."

"Here Len!" the boy suddenly found two giant mountains of clothes thrust onto him, "Try these on!"

"What the," Kaito's dark blue eyes widened in disbelief, "You guys pretty much cleaned out the entire section!"

"Come on," Meiko and Rin pulled Len to his feet and shoved him in the direction of the fitting rooms, "We've only got a few hours and 5 more stores to cover! No time to waste!"

"Hey wait for me!" Kaito called and hurried after them.

At first Len had matched the shirts and pants awkwardly, much to Rin and Meiko's chagrin, but got the hang of it after analyzing the colors and their compatibilities with the computer part of his brain. Outfit after outfit they cooed at his appearance and piled the favorable articles onto Kaito, who struggled to balance the quickly growing tower of clothes.

"You really insist on buying all these?" he panted after they left the fitting rooms. Len walked beside him blushing since the girls had decided to shower him with "aww!"s and hugs. They also called him a shota. What did that mean?

"Why not?" Rin skipped towards the register and motioned Kaito to bring the clothes, "Len needs them. He's got nothing else to wear, and who knows when Daddy will let us go into town next?"

The clerk was a bit skeptical that four children, no older than 9 or 11, were going to buy all that clothing, but served them anyways. Rin didn't blink twice at the sum and handed the lady a credit card. Rin knew her father had quite a fortune, but she never really took this advantage for granted. She had been taught not to rely on money and not to spend for her own selfish gain, but only when necessary, and today, buying all those clothes for Len was absolutely necessary.

Well, kind of.

After completing the transaction, the girls dragged their respective boys into the next store, and then the next, and the one after that. It didn't take Len long to understand why the boys on TV always groaned when the girls mentioned shopping. They did stop for ice cream though, when Kaito's whining became unbearable.

"Mmm," Kaito closed his eyes and savored the blissful, creamy taste.

"Stop, you're embarrassing us," Meiko kicked his foot with hers.

"Ow!" the blue haired boy pouted, "You don't have to be so mean."

Meiko pretended to scoff but a small smile graced her lips. Rin giggled at the scene and finished the last of her orange sorbet. A sudden gust of wind caught her by surprise and blew her white sunhat away.

"I'll get it!" Len said and followed the hat, which was rolling away quite quickly. Every time he reached out towards it, another gust of wind would push it further and further away, until it found its way into a secluded alleyway where the wind could no longer reach it, "Gotcha!" Len picked up hat and frowned. It became dirty from rolling in the street, not to mention it kinda smelled weird for soaking in the grimy alley floor.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a deep, scratchy voice whispered hoarsely.

"He's a cutie, eh?" another voice sniggered.

Len jumped when he felt a rough finger trace his exposed shoulder from behind. Turquoise eyes narrowed. This did not look too good… he had to get out of here. As Len turned to run, he found himself face to face with a large, burly shadow. It stunk and smelled wretchedly of rotten garbage. The shadow smiled, revealing two rows of shiny, yellow teeth through a grizzly, black beard.

"Going somewhere?" It growled and grabbed him by the upper arms before throwing him roughly against a wall. Len groaned slightly from the impact. The shadow and several others, probably two or three equally as hulking individuals, whooped in pleasure, "He's got a nice voice," they licked their lips, "Let's see if we can make him make other sounds…"

"Len?" a soft voice echoed off the walls of the alley.

They all turned their attention to the alley's opening, where three young children stood. In the center was a familiar blonde haired, cerulean eyed girl. Behind her were two older kids, a boy with blue hair and a girl with reddish brown locks.

"Rin…" Len's eyes widened, "No, get out of here! All of you!"

"What do you-AHH!" Rin shrieked as one of the men had snuck behind her from the shadows and twisted one of her arms behind her back.

"HEY!" Meiko yelled and stepped forward to defend her friend, but was suddenly lifted into the air and thrown at a row of aluminum trash cans. She moaned in pain. Another man revealed himself.

"We don't really have much use for girls," he snarled, "You pains in the ass are too mess-OOF!" he grunted as Kaito rushed toward the perpetrator, using every force of his strength to punch him in the stomach.

"How dare you hurt Meiko!" Kaito hollered and continued to pummel the bear of a man, but his small, 11 year old muscles had almost no effect.

"Another cute boy," he leered and pulled Kaito closer, "We'll have much fun with you and your friend over there." He motioned towards Len, who was watching the whole thing play out with an unreadable expression on his face. Kaito paled and shivered when a clammy hand reached out to caress his cheek.

"Get rid of the girls," the one holding Len commanded. Kaito and Len's eyes widened.

The last man nodded and stepped forward to yank Meiko to her feet, twisting her arm around her back as well. She cried out in pain but he slapped her across the face. Rin struggled against her captor, but that earned her a slap as well. Then, the men went into their pockets and drew out two rusty switchblades and placed them at the girls' throats. Rin felt hot tears sting at her eyes.

"Say goodnight bitc-"

A bloodcurdling scream suddenly interrupted his speech. The thugs whipped their heads around to see the one who was holding Len double over the floor. Len stood above him, bangs shadowing his face.

"Don't you dare touch Rin," he snarled and dragged the man up to deliver a clean blow to the head, effectively knocking him unconscious. He slumped backwards with a bit of blood dripping from his mouth and right temple. Then, Len turned his attention to his next victim: the one holding Rin.

"S-Stay back," the man stuttered and pressed the knife closer to her pale throat, "O-Or I'll kill her! I swear!"

Len narrowed his eyes, "I told you not to touch her."

He rushed forward and leapt into the air before landing a kick to the man's face. The thug screamed in pain and let go of Rin to grip at the bloody lump that was his nose. Len, however, had no mercy, and picked up a trash can lid and threw it at the man's stomach, knocking him into the wall behind them. A spurt of blood escaped his lips. Rin watched Len deliver his vengeance upon the man, and subsequently to the ones holding Kaito and Meiko. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks. How could Len, the boy who was so gentle and so kind, be capable of such ferocious punishment? Both of the remaining men had dropped their victims a while ago and were sprinting in the opposite direction, but Len refused to spare them.

"K-Kaito," Meiko shivered and buried her face in the blue haired boy's chest, unable to bear the sight any longer.

He wrapped his arms comfortingly about her, "Shh, it's okay," Kaito whispered in her ear. Truth be told, tears were also forming in his azure orbs. They had never been in a situation like this, and it was too much for their young selves to handle.

Rin looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Len had just returned from finishing off the remaining two, but Rin could barely recognize him. His turquoise eyes were narrowed dangerously, almost threateningly, and his face held a solemn sort of contempt about it. Blood splatters stained his shirt and skin.

"L-Len," Rin breathed, feeling her lip quiver. He glanced at her arm, which now sported evidence of a nasty bruise forming.

"I'm sorry," his emotionless voice surprised her, "I'm sorry, Rin, Meiko, Kaito. I put you all in danger. It's all my fault… I couldn't save you from getting hurt."

"No… Len, don't say that," Rin cried and ran into his arms, allowing the sobs to rack her body. Len flinched, but gradually his face softened and he held her protectively against him. What were they going to do now?

A passerby heard the children's sobbing and was greeted by the sight of four men sprawled out in bloody heaps on the floor of the alley. Rin, Len, Kaito, and Meiko were all huddled against each other, unsure of what to do next. The police and paramedics promptly arrived on the scene and tended to the children. The notion that Len had single handedly taken down all four of the thugs was unbelievable to them, but finding no other explanation recorded it anyways. After the paramedics patched up their wounds and the men were taken into custody, the officers asked questions regarding where the kids came from, what exactly happened, who their relatives were, etc, before contacting each of their parents to come get them. Mr. Kagamine sounded like he was about to have a heart attack. Rin suspected they would not be allowed out of the house for quite some time. At least not without 10 bodyguards.

"Here," a lady held out four blankets, "You guys look cold."

"T-Thank you," they gratefully accepted the cloths. They sat in one of the ambulances watching the police officers shout orders to each other and conduct their investigation of the crime scene. Luckily for them the ice cream shop owner had noticed they left their things unattended and held it for them, and one of the police officers was nice enough to go get it for them. But Rin didn't care about the clothes right now. She just wanted to go home, take a very hot shower, and crawl into bed.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to meet face to face with Meiko.

"Rin," the older girl's tone was uncomfortably serious, "What was that weird thing on Len's back?"

She froze. Had Meiko seen the plug on Len's spine? No… how could she? Rin's mind flashed back to the part where Len jumped in the air and his shirt flew up in the back. That must have been when.

"I-It's, err…" but before Rin could make up an excuse, Meiko had reached over to the unsuspecting boy and lifted up the back of his shirt. Kaito gasped as he too saw the small, circular opening. It was surrounded by a ring of metal.

"Len isn't normal, is he," Meiko's eyes narrowed.

"H-He…"

"Don't lie to us Rin," Kaito gazed intently at her, "We're your friends…"

Rin started fidgeting again. Should she really…?

"Len…" Rin's voice was barely audible. "Isn't really my brother…"

"Rin!" Len's eyes widened, "Don-"

"He's a Vocaloid."

"A what?" Kaito and Meiko furrowed their brows.

"My Mom always wanted me to have a sibling," Rin began, smiling sadly, "so that I wouldn't grow up alone… but she died when I was three, and so to honor her last wish my Dad decided to create a brother for me. He brought some of my pictures into Mirror Corp.'s labs and asked the scientists to create Len, which they did by taking some D.N.A. from one of the scientist's late sons and changed it so that Len would look like me and stuff. They also altered his body with computers and technology so that he would be better than regular people and able to protect and take care of me. That explains how he could take down those thugs so easily. The thing you saw on Len's back is a plug that I can use to connect him to a computer."

"He's a robot?" Kaito whispered.

Rin shook her head, "No. His body is still human."

"I see…"

Len lowered his eyes. They probably thought he was a freak now. Rin's heart fell and rested a hand on his reassuringly.

"Why do you guys look so sad?" Kaito piped, "We said we wouldn't treat you any differently."

Both of the Kagamines looked up. Really? Did they mean it?

"Besides," Meiko smiled, "We owe you our lives, Len. If you hadn't been what you are we wouldn't be alive right now. And personally, I think that the fact that you're 'genetically altered' or whatever is super cool."

"Yup," Kaito nodded his head in agreement, "It's not every day you can say 'Oh yeah. I just took down 4 thugs by myself.'" He puffed out his chest in an attempt to look macho.

The children threw their heads back and laughed, a much needed comedic relief after the stress of recent events. Rin was grateful that they didn't react horribly to Len's being a Vocaloid, and she felt kind of guilty for underestimating her friends' devotion. Meiko and Kaito cared and would accept them no matter what. But Rin decided she would keep telling people Len was her brother no matter what, because who knows if the rest of the world would be as forgiving as they were…

Quite different from last chapter Dx. And excuse any mistakes, usually I go over these things like 5 times but I'm too tired to right now. Nyehe. Review, review! And I will love you long time :3.