. . .

-Scrap & Build-

ch. 1 - Lunch

I'm good at building things.

In the conventional sense, yes. Architecture interests me, I'm good with my hands, I'm constantly crafting. If you look at my room, you'll see everything from the pop-out Christmas cards I made when I was five to the working electric guitar I made just last year.

But I also mean that in a more abstract way. I can build not just physical things, but intangible things. Reputations. Relationships. People. If you know what I mean.

I guess it goes without saying that I'm also good at breaking things. Construction and destruction go hand in hand. If what I make has some defects, naturally I'll just scrap it.

But no one's perfect, right? There are things I'm bad at, too. Like fixing things.

It was lunchtime at Crypton Academy. Most of the students chose to stick around in their classrooms to eat, but three particular friends spent their break outside, in a nice spot under a tree.

"Do we always have to eat outside?" Kaito complained. He was squatting so as not to get his pants dirty. "It's so icky here, can't we just stay in the classroom?"

Gakupo didn't seem to mind the dirt. He was sitting cross-legged. "Quiet yourself, Kaito-kun. We cannot change tradition just because you are afraid of nature."

Len was sitting on his blazer to keep clean. "Tch, you guys argue about this every day. Doesn't it ever get old?"

Kaito turned his pouting face to Len. "Shut up, Len, it's called male bonding."

Gakupo looked a bit confused and mildly disgusted, but they all knew he agreed—that Kaito and Gakupo arguing about the lunch location was just another component of their heartwarming relationship. It was like play fighting.

Len laughed at their interaction, more because he felt they expected him to than he thought it was amusing.

He wasn't as close to Kaito and Gakupo as they were to each other. They were old friends that went back to elementary school, while he kind of just slid himself in between them when they'd all started high school a few months ago. The two were plenty welcoming, but Len wasn't "one of them". He was like a guest to their family's dinner.

Still, they were the closest friends he had. Far from his only friends. But out of all of his superficial relationships, that with Kaito and Gakupo was the least shallow.

"Okay, well," Kaito said, "if we can't decide, we'll let Len pick! Tomorrow, Len, should we eat outside or inside?"

Len took a moment to swallow before replying. "Oh, actually, I probably won't be eating with you guys tomorrow."

"What? Another one? Already? Again?" Kaito was half impressed and half exasperated.

Gakupo just nodded. "I see. Kaito-kun, please do not question Len-kun's life choices. Len-kun, we look forward to when you can eat with us again."

Len grinned. "I love how you already know why without me telling you."

"Well, why else would you be leaving us?" Gakupo asked airily. "Ever since we met you, you've only ever eaten lunch with two parties: either me and Kaito, or your girlfriend."

Still grinning, Len shook his head. "Gakupo, man, you stalking me?"

"Just an observation. I don't stalk anyone, but you're my friend, so I subconsciously ask myself where you are when you're not around."

"Eeehhh, do you have a crush on me or something?"

"Not funny, Len-kun."

Len didn't apologize. Instead, he just stood up, threw his dirty blazer over his back, and turned back to the school. "I'm done. See you, guys."

Kaito waved, and Gakupo nodded.

It was only after Len had disappeared from view that Gakupo's small frown surfaced.

"Kaito-kun, I do possess friendly feelings towards him, but he has certain irritable traits about him that irk me to no end."

Kaito nodded slowly.

"Do you not agree?" Gakupo continued. "The way he carries himself. He has a friendly aura, but it is still slightly condescending."

Kaito nodded again. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

Gakupo started. "Then why are you nodding?!"

Yeah, he was what you would call a serial dater.

In his lifetime, he had "gone out with" maybe thirty or forty different girls. About half of those lasted more than a month. Only a handful were even half-serious.

It's not like he enjoyed their company. They were pretty much just there because they were convenient. For ego-petting, amongst other things.

Getting them was easy. They were always the ones who approached him (sure, he flirted back, but he was only acting naturally) and unless she was exceptionally ugly, he never had any reason to refuse her if she confessed. So he'd take her up, and they'd go a few places together, text on occasion.

Then he'd start to get to know her. How she'd always get flustered when she saw him, how she was always glancing at him from the corners of her eyes. How she'd depend on him to do things for her, and treated their relationship like something divine. How she thought he liked her as much as she liked him.

Those things kind of disgusted him, so he always tried to break things off with the girl before he could notice them. It worked most of the time. Yes, there were annoying, clingy types, but they always backed off when he threw in a few swear words. Sometimes even that didn't work, so he'd be forced to pull some other strings in order to get her off. But it all worked out in the end.

The worst ones, though, were the subtle ones. The ones that came to him, trying to become "friends" when their goal was more than that. They would watch him when they thought he wasn't looking, like they were planning something, and it was horrible. He couldn't use his usual methods because nothing was initiated in the first place, and if he did try to say something, they'd been secretive enough to be able to deny it.

Sooo. Annoying.

It was best, then, to simply have a girlfriend at all times. When he had one, other girls weren't allowed to look at him. And when the current girl's eyes started to follow him too much, he'd just move on to the next one.

It was a system he'd developed for himself through trial and error since that first girl, who'd barged into his life and left just as abruptly, back when he was ten.

. . .

"Thank you so much, Rin-chan, you've helped me out so much today."

A young teacher and her student relieved themselves of the stacks and stacks of papers in their arms by heaving them onto a desk in the faculty office.

The teacher smiled at the student, a bright and sunny fifth-grader. She was such a hardworking little girl, and it really made the teacher happy that she was willing to help carry stuff on her lunch break.

She was about to let Rin get back to the classroom when there was a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, the teacher was greeted by a young blonde woman.

"Hello!" The woman smiled, waved, and bowed.

The teacher bowed back, albeit cautiously. This woman was rather... energetic. "Good afternoon."

The woman took a moment to look around the faculty office, studying it as if she had never seen a place like it before. Then, realizing what she was doing, she snapped back to the teacher and said, "I'm a parent of a student in this school. His name is Len Kagamine?"

Rin squirmed. Len was in her class, and she always felt uncomfortable when people said his full name, because they shared surnames.

The teacher nodded. "Ah, yes, he happens to be one of my students, actually."

The woman brightened. "Oh, that's great then! Cause you see, he forgot to bring his lunch today, so I..." She held out a plastic bag, which bulged with the shape of a bento box.

"Oh, thank you," the teacher took the bag. "I'll be sure to pass this to him."

"Thank you!" The woman bowed again, and again, and again, quite enthusiastically. "See you!" And she left.

The teacher stared after her for a moment before she handed the bag to Rin. "Could you bring this to Len-kun? Since you're heading back to the classroom, anyway."

Throughout the whole exchange between the two adults, Rin had been watching politely, not having been dismissed yet not wanting to interrupt.

"Sure!" Rin chirped, and took the bag.

Walking in the hallways, Rin realized that the box was rather heavy, and carrying it all the way to the classroom was a real workout for her arm muscles. Moreso than the stacks of paper had been.

But she was a strong girl, so she carried on. By the time she got back to the classroom, her arms were almost burning.

Looking around, Rin could see most of the class was in there, eating lunch. She searched the variety of heads for a flash of blonde, but...

He wasn't there.

Rin frowned. Why wouldn't he eat in the classroom?

Although Rin was a friendly girl, she wasn't necessarily friends with everyone. She was quite close with her own little group of girls, but she had barely even spoken to most of the boys in her class, let alone Len Kagamine, who was generally unfriendly to anyone who tried to talk to him. Speaking of which, it was decidedly strange that Len had such a vivacious mother, when he himself was a quiet, blunt, and conspicuously moody kid.

Naturally, Rin had never taken notice of where Len ate his lunch, so she would have to go out and search for him. She didn't particularly want to haul this heavy bag around with her as she hunted him down, so she felt slightly tempted to just leave the bag at Len's desk so she could sit down and finally eat her own lunch. But she knew she couldn't. She was too nice to let anyone down. So she hoisted the burden and approached a group of boys near the front. She wasn't sure if they were friends with Len at all, but they should have some idea where he might be...

"Hi guys, do you know where Len-kun is?"

They all thought for a moment. Some of them looked around the classroom. Eventually they all came to look at her and said no, they had no idea.

"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway."

Next Rin went to her good friend Miku, the class rep.

"Miku-chan!"

"Ah, Rin-chan! Have you finally finished helping Sensei?"

"No, not yet. I still have to deliver this," she held up the bag, "to Len-kun. But he's not here in the classroom. Do you know where he is?"

"Hmm..." Miku put her hand on her chin in thought. "I know that he never eats in the classroom, but I don't really know where he does eat."

"Oh. That's okay, Miku-chan. I'll go look for him then. I'll come back once I find him, okay?" Then they could have their lunch together like they usually did.

"Okay. I'd help you look, but you know I can't leave the classroom at lunch, since I'm class rep and all."

"Yeah, I know," Rin smiled at Miku to let her know there was no harm.

Miku smiled back. "Hope you find him, Rin-chan!"

They waved at each other as Rin went back into the hallway.

"Okay," she muttered to herself. "If I were him, where would I go..."

Her first destination was the roof. It took a lot of effort to heave the bag up the stairs. But she managed it. Too bad he wasn't up there.

Next she wandered around the second floor hallways. She checked the other classrooms, the closets. She even asked an upperclassman to check the boys' bathroom for her. But nope.

She did the same for the first floor. Again, no dice.

Getting frustrated, especially since her lunch break was nearly halfway over, Rin went outside.

They weren't allowed outside during lunchtime because it was much more difficult for staff to keep watch on the students that way. They didn't want any kidnappings on their hands, after all. But Rin was determined to complete her task, and breaking a school rule was a means to that end.

The yard was totally empty. Being best friends with the class rep, Rin was ever so slightly prudish, and had barely broken a rule in her life. So she felt slightly exhilarated at being outside when she was supposed to be inside. It was a surprisingly good feeling.

After combing the track oval and soccer field, she heaved a sigh of relief when she finally found who she'd been looking for. He was behind the equipment shed.

He sat alone on the wide block of cement that snaked around the perimeter of the shed. He wasn't doing anything—he didn't have his lunch, obviously, and he didn't have a book or a game system either. He was just staring into space. When Rin approached him, he looked at her, and she saw a fair amount of shock and discomfort in his eyes. He'd most likely never had anyone find him here before.

"Len-kun?"

When she said his name, he turned away with a grimace. Rin was taken aback, but she kept going.

"Um, your mom came to the office and said you forgot your lunch, so I brought it to you." She dropped the bag in front of him. He looked at it, nodded, but seemed to not want to look at Rin. She frowned.

Massaging her sore arms, she studied him. Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair complexion. He had good genes, Rin observed, and he probably had a bit of foreign blood in him. He still wouldn't look at her.

Her job was done. She could've turned away and gone back to the school. She could've left without another word and just had lunch with Miku, while telling her about how Len Kagamine was a completely and utterly rude and unpleasant person.

But she didn't. For some reason, she went and sat beside him.

A simple action that changed her whole life.

He suddenly turned to her. He was looking at her now, through narrowed eyes. He was a bit too close and his gaze was a bit too intense, so she inched away.

"I..." Rin didn't quite know what to say.

She eyed the bag in front of him. Was he going to eat at all? He should, especially after all the effort she went to get his food to him.

"You should eat."

"Go away." He turned away again.

Rin bit her lip. Without her consent, her arm reached out itself and grabbed the bag and set it on her lap. The bento box was pulled out. (It was made of remarkably thick, lacquered wood, which explained the weight). As she opened the box, Rin's eyebrows raised. Inside the box was an impressive arrangement of visibly delicious yet decidedly healthy food.

Rin's stomach growled.

Len glared at the girl beside him, who dared interrupt his break. Lunch break was supposed to be his, his alone. There was a reason why he went all the trouble to go outside every day. It was because no one would ever find him and invite him to sit with them.

When he'd first realized that he had left his lunch at home that day, he was not upset at all. It was just food. Even if he got hungry, he'd just fill up when he got home in the afternoon.

But if he'd known that forgetting his lunch would cause someone to find him in his secret spot, he'd have run back home to grab his forgotten food himself.

Rin's stomach growled again.

Len sighed. "You can have the food, just go away."

She looked at him, surprised. "But aren't you hungry? This is your lunch."

"I said you could have it, didn't I? You don't want it?"

Well, if he was offering... "I..."

Len wasn't glaring at her anymore. His expression was more tired, but there was, strangely, a glint of encouragement in his eyes.

"Just eat it."

Slowly, Rin picked up the chopsticks in the box and...

"Itadakimasu."

She started to eat right there beside him. Len pursed his lips.

"Didn't I tell you to go away?"

She didn't hear him. She was too distracted by the absolute impressiveness of the food.

They sat in silence for a while, as Rin ate. Len watched her uncomfortably. When she finished, she set the empty box at his feet.

"It was really good," she said quietly, turning to Len. "Your mom makes you these?"

"Yeah."

"Every day?"

"Yeah."

"It's amazing. You should tell her she's amazing." She smiled.

Len was unsure what to say. "Uh, o-okay..."

"I'm not joking!" Suddenly, Rin's voice was filled with energy. "This is ten times better than anything I've ever eaten before! Seriously!"

"Y-You're exaggerating." What kind of deprived world did this girl live in, if his regular, everyday lunch box was the best thing she'd ever had?

"I'm not! I wish your mom could make me lunch, too." She smiled bemusedly. She was joking, it wasn't a serious thought, but...

"I'll ask her, if it'll make you go away." Len was just humouring her. He wasn't seriously going to ask...

"Really?"

"Yeah." It just came out. He didn't really mean it. He was going to go back and say he was joking.

But then she smiled again, and his heart skipped and his throat dried and he became too flustered to say anything.

"Heheh, you're not a bad person," she said softly, eyeing him.

She got up and gave him one last glance before leaving. Len stared after her, heart still beating weirdly.

The next day, lunch time.

"I hope we can eat together today, Rin-chan," Miku pouted. "You left me all alone yesterday!"

"Sorry," Rin smiled, trying to comfort her friend. "It took me forever to find Len-kun."

"I can't believe he was eating outside! You should tell a teacher," Miku advised, showing the personality that earned her the position of class rep.

Rin shook her head. "I think he just likes to eat alone. I won't tell anyone, so you don't either, okay, Miku-chan?"

"You're such a nice person." Miku shook her head.

Rin giggled. Then, remembering something, she stood up and pointed her thumb to the door.

"Miku-chan, I have something to check, so start eating without me? I'll be back really soon, I promise."

"Okay, okay." Miku nodded. "As long as you're not gone for the whole break again."

"Yeah, of course!"

So Rin made her way downstairs and out to the yard and to the equipment shed, where Len sat exactly where he had been yesterday, in exactly the same position. The only thing that was different about the scene was the plastic bag that sat at Len's feet.

When he heard Rin's footsteps, Len sat up a little straighter.

"I didn't think you'd actually come."

Rin laughed. "Your food is too good for me to forget."

She plopped down beside him as if she were totally welcome to. "So, did you ask your mom?"

Wordlessly, Len pulled out two bento boxes from the bag. He handed one to her. Rin's eyes widened.

"Actually? Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!"

Rin was positively glowing, and Len couldn't help but smile a little, too. Just a little.

Excitedly, Rin opened the box to find an assortment of really good-looking food, including a section of...

"Fried chicken! And! Oranges!" She turned from the food to Len, and it was like someone turned on the light in his room when he was trying to sleep. He had to turn away.

"How did you know?" Rin punctuated her words with little hand gestures, which Len found amusing. "Those are my two absolute favourite foods!"

"I-I didn't know," Len stuttered. "That's just what mom decided to make today."

Rin sighed in contentment. "Well, I'm really happy! Thank you."

And then, Rin did something that surprised the both of them. She leaned over and hugged him. She pressed herself up against him, and Len just sat there stiffly, shell-shocked. It was the first time he'd ever felt something like this... His face felt really, really warm.

She pulled away, and Len immediately turned his head. He couldn't look at her.

"I-It's not even my cooking," he tried to reason. "If you're gonna hug anyone, hug my mom."

Rin giggled. "Silly, it's not like I can just come over to your house and hug your mom. I gotta settle for the next best thing."

He was about to tell her that she could come over if she wanted, but he caught himself just in time.

"Right, then." Rin got up, brushing her skirt with one hand and holding her bento in the other. "I'm really sorry, Len-kun, but I can't stay today. I promised Miku-chan I'd eat with her."

Len nodded.

"But, you know..." Rin peered at Len, thinking. "We wouldn't mind if you came to eat with us. I like you, so it'd be nice."

Len's eyes widened and his face turned fifty shades of red. His mind raced.

The whole reason he decided to eat outside was that he wanted to be left alone. He didn't like eating with groups of people, because they were loud and annoying and asked him things about himself that he didn't want to share. He'd rather just sit and think and share those things with himself, because Len Kagamine was the only person who truly wanted to know things about Len Kagamine.

So, if he were to accept this girl's invitation, it'd be totally counter-productive. All that time he spent eating outside, even when the weather was terrible, would go to waste. He would have to start talking to people during lunch, and possibly even outside of lunch break.

It was unimaginable. Could he really handle that?

But she said she likes him.

Oddly, for some mysterious reason, that was enough to convince him.

He stood up, his own lunch in hand, and nodded.

Rin grinned. "Yeahhh, Len-kun! Let's go."

Together, they walked towards the school.

But they'd barely taken a few steps when Rin turned around and scuttled back to the shed. Len followed her curiously.

"Oh, sorry. It's just," she held up the plastic bag that had held their bentos, "we shouldn't litter, right?"

And Len laughed. It was a small laugh, hardly a chuckle, really, but it was still a laugh. Rin was thrilled.

"You laughed! You laughed!" she exclaimed, pointing at him. "I thought you were a grumpy person, but even you laugh, huh?"

He glared at her. She smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

He shook his head, a smile creeping onto his lips once more.

"It's okay."

And they headed back to school together (this time with no interruptions), now something that you would call "friends".

Their friendship lasted until they were twelve.

A/N: Hello. Do any of you remember me? Probably not.

Aaaanyway, new story?! Yay~ (clap for me, guys!) Uh, yeah. I fully realize this plot smells funny and player!Len is really trashy but just let me be indulgent, yeah? ^^; Writing this is supposed to be therapeutic. An exercise while I work on greater things?

Title comes from the 40mP song, by the way! He's my favourite producer. :D

Cover art belongs to oriza-san, pixiv ID 1280508!

I hope you enjoy the story!