Hey readers, this is just the prologue to the main story, so those of you who are interested in continuing, do leave a thoughtful review on your thoughts as writers, and especially I in this case, seriously appreciate such things. The story here is sort of depressing, but it does get lighter later on, and if you like my style of writing, go check out my other stories, you won't be disappointed.
Now on to the story...
Strolling, irritated, around the small strip of land that was a sorry excuse of a park, Len pushed himself back onto the bench that he had used to rest for the past half an hour. Forcing himself to sit back down and endure the relentless heat that baked the ground mercilessly. Sweeping his gaze across the small grassy area, Len sighed in frustration as he found a familiar tuft of blue hair bounding over to him, with his signature scarf trailing behind him, despite it being in the middle of summer.
"Sorry, did you wait long?" Kaito gasped as he bent over, supporting himself on one hand, while holding a sloppy ice cream cone in the other.
Grumbling in frustration, Len felt his hand twitch in anticipation, as he wanted to vent his pent up anger on the already sorry Kaito, but instead chose to leave the matter alone. Grunting in acknowledgement of his apology, Len motioned for Kaito to take a seat beside him. Gently fanning himself with his shirt, Len watched disgustedly as Kaito hurriedly slurped his half-melted ice cream, splashing drops of strawberry flavoured goo onto Len.
Wiping the remaining splotches of ice cream that had landed on his outfit with his scarf, Kaito turned around gestured for Len to start his plan for the day.
Just as Len was about to begin, Kaito immediately interrupted, an embarrassed blush spreading across his face, "Um… What are we supposed to be doing here today?"
Sighing in frustration for the umpteenth time that day, Len cleared his throat and began, "You agreed that you'd help me with my problems-,"
"You mean you want me to accompany you to stalk Rin on her date with another guy, because you've been childhood friends for the longest of times, but hadn't had the courage to ask her out when you realized her feelings a long time ago. So, because you feel that you have to make a move soon, otherwise she really will be gone forever?" Kaito huffed out in one breath, before gasping.
"Uh… Yes. I guess you really do have your smart moments," Len muttered, unsure of how to react to the sudden outburst.
Smiling unknowingly, Kaito got up from his position and stretched lightly, before asking Len what the plan was for the entire day.
"Well, I had Rin tell me that her date was going to be around fifteen minutes from now, and they're meeting outside the mall nearby here," Len casually replied as he checked his watched frequently, "I guess, the main plan for now is to just keep a look out for things that could help me in future, I guess?"
"Ehh?" I expected you to say that we'd burst in guns blazing and shut down their date, then we'd explain ourselves to Rin, and then it would be a happy ever after. After all, you'd make a much better item," Kaito wined, but lowered his voice towards the end.
Smiling gratefully as he caught the sentence, Len waved off the comment and weaved through a back alley and emerged into a bare parking lot behind the mall. Stalking across the parking lot, the pair of them entered the mall, being greeted by the welcoming relief of cool air, before making their way to the ice cream stall where Rin was supposed to meet with her newest date.
Len sighed as he ran a hand through his blonde locks impatiently, his patience with the sequence of events throughout the day already wearing his patience. Taking a seat at the corner of the ice cream shop, where Kaito had graciously ordered a banana split, Len propped his head on his hand and thought back to the earlier years where it had just been Rin and him.
Len and Rin had a long running history of being together, although it was not surprising since their mothers were already friends before they were born. So immediately after they were, they were usually left in the care of either one of their parent's while the other gallivanted off to other errands they had to attend. Thus began the first interactions between the both of them. Len faintly recalled that when they first met, Rin had seemed more of an alien entity intruding on his sanctuary, so he had left her alone, often yelling at her to keep to her own corner of the play pit in the living room, while she remained perfectly silent and unknowing to the situation and followed Len's instructions.
Before he knew it, Rin had ingrained herself as a key person in his life. With her coming over almost everyday, or him going to her house, the fact that her meekness and shyness had allowed him to fully vent his energy with a quiet and attentive blonde 2 year old as his audience. It had been awkward trying to poke around with her, but as nursery rolled around, they had landed in the same class and their main form of interaction had been by comforting each other whenever they had nightmares during naptime.
Years later, they had enrolled in the same grade school, and although Len had broken off easily into his own social group of friends, he often found Rin clinging on to him as though he were her lifeline, and he would have been lying if Len said he did not get a perverse feeling of satisfaction from someone depend so heavily on him. However, his feelings evolved later on as many days spent walking home together as they were neighbours, and lonely lunches on the rooftop or at the school garden, it had been no surprise to see that they finally managed to get close to each other. It had also been the first time in the many years that he had known her, that they had actually managed to hold a full conversation about fruits, songs and even the most random of things.
It had been strange to finally hold a conversation with someone for the first time, especially after knowing them for almost your whole life, but hearing Rin mutter each word, every cute giggle she let out when Len did something stupid had set his heart aflutter, and Len could not help but feel himself drawn more and more into the person he had come to know as Rin Kagamine.
Alas, fate had been so nice as Rin's father's job had required him to move further down south the country, making it a few hours by train to reach her new town. Len had violently protested against the notion, but Rin had no choice to move with her parents. At first, they had tried to send each other letters and emails, but they quickly fell out of touch as soon as the school term started. Their letters and messages came less frequently, even taking a few months just to write down a simple 'hi', and eventually she had stopped responding, despite Len sending frequent emails and letters once a week before in Len's last letter, he had asked for Rin to promise that they would never forget each other, and they'd be bound together by more than just friendship, such that the distance that separated them would not be able to outlast their friendship.
Of course, he never got a reply.
It had hurt Len, no doubt, and he was only left to wonder whether it was karma coming to bite him for not trying to get to know her sooner. However, on the first day of high school, he had seen during opening ceremony, a cute white ribbon poke through the mops of hair that washed over the hall. After the welcoming ceremony, he had rushed forward to see whether Rin had actually returned. True enough, she had, to Len's gratitude, however, her old shy and meek demeanor had been cast away and had been replaced by a boisterous and bubbly personality that walled itself with crowds of people rushing up to her just to get a chance to talk to her. He had tried calling through the noise of the murmur in the hall and the chatter that surrounded her, but he had only managed to catch her eyes once, but he only saw indifference reflecting back at him.
Did she forget him? He had introduced himself at a later time, and the only response he got was a half-hearted 'I think I knew someone like that'. Scratching the back of his head to get his mind out of the gutter, Len watched as the familiar white bow bounced jubilantly over the mass of people in the mall and sat herself down across another blond guy who towered over Rin by a head.
Grunting in annoyance as they started chatting, Kaito cursed under his breath and Len could not help but feel his heart warm at the fact that someone was rooting for him. Feeling his heart ache as he watched the pair of them burst into laughter mid-conversation, Len leaned back into his chair and scooped some of Kaito's ice cream, hoping that it would soothe the ache in his heart.
Seeing the pair of them get up from their table after sharing a cup of ice cream, Kaito and Len waited for them to exit the shop before moving after them. Weaving around the throng of people who flooded the mall to escape the sweltering heat, Len and Kaito broke through the mass of people and found themselves at the movie theater on the upper floor of the mall.
"Rinto, captain of the archery club, and student council president. He was seen only two days after Rin came into our high school, confessing to Rin behind the school, however it had only been less than a week since his latest breakup with another girl," Kaito announced to Len, who simply nodded in acknowledgement.
Stealthily darting around the crowd and having ended up buying two tickets to a sappy romance comedy that gave Len second thoughts about their plan, the two entered the cinema and sat themselves a few rows behind Rin. Watching the pair intently as the theater lighting dimmed and the screen lit up, Len sighed as the movie started, muting the annoying sounds that radiated from the speakers around them and focused his attention on the cut little bow that poked out from the top of the seat, and Len found himself mysteriously blushing whenever the bow moved suddenly.
Shifting his gaze as the screen lit up to show a couple making out, only minutes into the movie, Len stuck his tongue out disgustedly, but saw that Kaito had already immersed himself into the movie, taking in every inch of it. Frowning as he watched the bow lean and rest on Rinto's shoulder, Len felt his gut roil and he ground his teeth, his chest exploding in a maelstrom of alien emotions. The hour and a half had passed rather uneventfully, except for the pangs of anger that flooded his conscience, and it took every fiber in Len to stop himself from marching over and breaking the two apart whenever they got too close for his comfort.
Grinding his teeth, as he watched the pair of blondes ahead share a laugh, Kaito lightly pat his head, and Len let loose a low growl and turned around to only to see Kaito flash a comforting that said 'Keep calm. It's not over yet'. Nodding his head stiffly, they followed the couple around the mall and to the nearby for the rest of the day, with not many events passing in between them to Len's satisfaction with the exception of the occasional moments where they would snuggle close to each other. Dodging behind a tree as Rin looked back them to Rinto, Len and Kaito found themselves at the very place where they had met in the morning making the chuckle in amusement together, alleviating the heavy feeling that burdened Len's chest throughout the day.
Poking their heads out from the edge of the tree, the two friends watched as Rinto muttered a few words to Rin and dashed off to the nearby toilet a few meters away, leaving Rin to sit down on the bench that Len had been waiting at in the morning. Feeling his heart pound as his begged him to move forward, to talk to Rin after so long, to give his stagnant love life the huge nudge that it needed. Glancing at Kaito who signaled to him to move forward while he would try and stall Rinto as much as possible, Len half-bowed thankfully, and jumped up while Kaito skipped over to the toilets.
Gulping down his saliva that he never knew had pooled, Len lightly slapped his cheeks, the weight of the situation and how it would affect him finally dawning on him. Even though she was dating Rinto, even though she probably would not remember him, even though he had a sinking feeling he stood no chance, he had to go.
Clenching the edge of his shirt tightly, Len moved from his position from behind the tree, and stalked over to Rin, his confidence earlier already wavering.
Well, no turning back now.
Stopping in front of Rin and clearing his throat to catch her attention, Len froze as Rin turned her gaze and stared harshly at him. Feeling his insides freeze at the indifferent glare that he had already received, Len felt his knees weaken and he tried stepping back but landed on his rear, making Rin snort obnoxiously. Sensing his confidence crumbling rapidly, Len shot up again and spotted Kaito busily talking to an annoyed Rinto outside of the toilet while trying to desperately push him back.
Nervously twiddling his thumbs behind his back, Len cleared his throat again and began, "Hi. Rin, nice to meet you again. It's been a while hasn't it? When did you get back in town? Do you still remember me, I'm-,"
"Cut the crap," Rin interrupted, her voice carrying an irritated edge, "I don't know who you are, or what you're doing, but can you please buzz off? I'm on a date, and I don't want my boyfriend to get any wrong ideas."
Curling his toes tightly in his shoes, Len bit his lower lip, already expecting a similar reaction, especially since they have not been in contact for the longest time.
"Ah… Okay… Are you sure you don't remember me? I'm Len Kagamine, the guy who lived next to you a long time ago. I sent you a letter remember, I said that I promised we'd be friends no matter where we were right?" Len tried pushing for a response, but instead had Rin glare coldly at him.
"Look, I don't know who you are. You may have my last name, but I don't remember us being relatives or anything. If so, please enlighten me. If not then I already told you to buzz off, I'm on a date. Besides, who would keep such a corny promise with a nerd like you? I must have been an idiot to befriend you if what you're saying is true," Rin haughtily replied, crushing all of Len's resolve and self-esteem.
"Oi, Rinny, who's this guy? First there was an idiot with blue hair annoying me about the wonders of ice cream, now someone's hitting on you? Jeez, what an unlucky day," Rinto snorted as he stalked over.
Looking past him, Len saw Kaito limping over, a trail of blood trickling from his nose and a small gash oozing from above his eyebrow while he pinched his bleeding nose and limped after Rinto, hollering that he was not done talking yet. Stuttering to find an answer, Rinto snorted and pushed Len away from him and Rin, a smug smile donning his face.
No. It was not supposed to turn out this way. Feeling a lump well in his throat, and burning sensation gnaw at his gut, Len recalled the last letter he sent to Rin, the only last thing that connected him and her.
Dear Rin,
You haven't been replying to any of my emails and letters recently. Are you alright? It's probably because of the huge amount of homework you're getting right? It's the same here all the time cuz finals are coming.
You know how we haven't seen each other in about two years, and since vacations are coming up soon after finals, why not we meet up? I've seen some of your recent pictures because your mom shares them with mine, and you've grown quite a bit right? I know it might be awkward to meet after not seeing each other in so long, but I really do want to meet you, after all, we're best friends right? I promise you right here and now, that we'll always remain friends! Through thick and thin, through rain or shine, no matter how far apart we may be, we'll always remain best friends, got that?
I really want to meet up with you, because I have some things I want to tell you too. I'm sorry if this is kind of sudden, and I'm interrupting your finals preparation, but please reply.
Cheers,
Len Kagamine
Tearing his concentration away as Rinto waved a hand in front of Len, Len stuttered to try and find an excuse to remove himself from the scene, but Rin stepped forward and glared menacingly at him, freezing Len to his spot.
"Look here, Len, I don't know who you are, and I honestly find socializing with you absolutely horrible-,"
But I really do want to meet you, after all, we're best friends right?
"I think I've seen you in school, so just do yourself a favour and stay away from me, I have no intention of ever meeting you, no, seeing you or even sensing your presence again,"
I promise you right here and now, that we'll always remain friends!
"So, could you take yourself and your blue-haired thing and leave us," Rin finished.
Through thick and thin, through rain or shine, no matter how far apart we may be, we'll always remain best friends, got that?
"Woah, Rin, isn't that a bit harsh to the little guy?" Rinto chuckled amusedly.
"No. He did ruin our date, after all,-,"
No. It hurt.
Spinning on his heels, Len took off, shutting everything around him, dulling out the monstrous pain that ripped through his body, numbing his thoughts and his inside. He had expected for her to forget him for the most part, but he was unprepared for the torrential wave of feelings and hurt to crash down on him.
Vaguely hearing Kaito scream out after him, Len let his feet carry him down the familiar path to his house, bumping into strangers and objects, stumbling and falling. But it didn't matter. Nothing did.
We'll always remain friends.
Feeling the sentence chew his insides out, Len pumped whatever strength he could muster into powering his legs and burst into his house, surprising his mother who was relaxing in the living room and charged straight into his bedroom, locking it behind him before jumping onto his bed, tightly pulling his covers over him, blocking out all he could, trying to find something other than Rin to focus on.
Hearing Kaito bang his bedroom door, Len curled into a ball, and tried to think of something else, his head pounding with the amount of pain that swelled in his heart.
It hurt.
So that's that for the prologue, and like I mentioned, leave a review on your thoughts, and what you felt was great or not. Also, if you like my stories, go check out my other ones, I promise they are fantastic, so what are you waiting for?
1) Leave a review
2) Check out my other stories
3) Have fun~
Thanks to all of you who have bothered to try and read this story, I will be updating once every one to two weeks or so, so do look forward to more chapters~
-TheFluffMaster