[FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL]

"But it's practically a DATE!" squealed Rin. "You guys are going to meet up outside of school and it's not for a school project!"

"Shut up," I said, blushing. "We're just friends!"

"Not for longgg…" she sang.

"I'm leaving now!" I said, walking away quickly.

"Hey," Kaito said, grabbing my elbow. "I'm glad I caught you. We still on for tomorrow?" he asked, in his deep manly voice.

His hand was warm.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Nine, right? In front of the grocery store?"

He had a big hand.

"Yup. See you then." He winked and walked away, leaving my heart in a puddle of goop.

He had a nice hand.

I had lied to Rin. Were we friends? Were we a couple? I had no idea who or what Kaito and I were. When a girl confesses, doesn't she usually say, "I like you!" or "I love you!"?

[WEDNESDAY AFTER SCHOOL]

I waited in the empty classroom, wishing I knew where the light switch was. At least it was late afternoon, so the sunlight came in through the window blinds. My heart was beating and beating, and I thought it would come out.

I took a seat in a desk. The sunlight felt warm against my head and I sighed, resting my chin on the desk. When would he be here?

"Miku? Miku?" A hand was shaking my elbow. "Wake up! What did you call me here for, anyway?"

I jolted up and stared. "Kaito! You're here!"

He looked kind of annoyed. "Well, yeah, you're the one who told me to come."

"Oh…right. Sorry, I fell asleep."

"Yeah, well, what did you want to tell me?"

I stood up. "Um…"

How did a girl go about confessing?

"Um, I like you!"

Like that'd work.

"Er…I don't hate you!"

My heart thumped, my palms were sweaty, my head was pounding, and…what?

One look at Kaito's face, and I realized it was true. Did those words really just leave my mouth?

"Oh…I…don't hate you…too…"

"No, no! I mean like, not hate, but…l—l...li…"

A knowing smirk descended on his manly face as it dawned on him what I was trying to say. "Li…?"

I scowled. "You know what I mean!"

"Well, I 'li' you too. So there." He stared at me defiantly, his cheeks a tiny bit pink.

His cheeks are pink? Wait, is he BLUSHING?

"Oh…that's…good."

Good? That's great! Amazing! Fantastically wonderful and fantabulous!

"Yeah…it's great" I said lamely.

Hatsune Miku had just confessed.

And now this? A date, I thought excitedly as I prepared for bed. Was that what this was? I thought of Kaito, and my heart fluttered a little. It felt like little sparks were flickering around it.

[SATURDAY MORNING]

I woke up with a start as the alarm clock rang, and immediately I remembered. Kaito. Confession. Date.

Oh god. It's not healthy to think of manly things right after waking up. My heart began sparking again, and immediately, I leaped out of bed. Anything to get my mind off The Date.

I passed the mirror on my way to my closet and stopped. I examined my newly cut bangs closely, making sure nothing looked weird.

[FRIDAY NIGHT]

"You cut your bangs?" Luka exclaimed. "Why? I mean, sure they were long, but not that long!"

"I just wanted a change," I said nonchalantly. Of course there was no other reason. None at all.

"Wait…" she said suspiciously. Even without seeing her face, I knew by her voice that her nose and eyebrows were screwed together, mashed in a big puddle of wrinkliness as she thought hard. "Isn't your date with Kaito tomorrow?"

"Yes…" Oh no. What if she caught on?

"And…you cut your bangs…"

Oops. Time to go. "Sorry Luka-pyon, gotta go. I need my beauty sleep!" I said in my cheeriest voice and clicked off the phone before she could protest.

So I'd cut my bangs just for Kaito. So what? Pleased, I turned away and began preparing. It had finally hit me. I WAS GOING ON A DATE WITH KAITO!

A pink skirt, a cute flower pin for my hair, my usual two pigtails, tied with fuzzy scrunchies, and a smile on top, I thought to myself as I looked in the mirror one last time. I checked the weather report (sunny), double-checked my bag, and triple-checked my outfit. I threw open the door, and a beautiful sunny day greeted me.

The sky was gorgeous, with just a few puffy clouds on the horizon. The breeze was light and fresh, and as I skipped down the street, I sang to myself, "I'm looking pretty cute today!"

As I remembered what was waiting for me at the grocery store (or rather, who), my heat began sparking again. Ohmygod. Kaito. Me. On The Date.

Date.

Date.

Date.

The sparks turned to currents of electricity. I turned the corner and saw Kaito, in all of his gorgeousness, leaning against a wall. The currents turned to lightning bolts, as Kaito turned and saw me.

That dark blue hair, those matching eyes, the way that collared jacket, so carelessly left open, fit him so well! It was all mine for the day!

He lifted a hand and waved, and said, as I came closer, "So, where do you want to go?"

Where were we going anyway?

I opened my mouth to answer his question, but what I really wanted to say was what had first popped into my mind when I saw him.

Which was, "I love-!"

This couldn't be happening. No way.

"—everything, so you can choose!" You. I love you.

"Sure," he laughed, and I laughed, and we both laughed together.

It was kind of like heaven.

It never rains in heaven.

Heaven doesn't have lying weather reports either.

I sulked as we huddled together underneath the awning of a grocery store in a city far away from home. Soon, the white puffy clouds had grown bigger and bigger and darker and darker until a drop of rain had landed on my nose.

"Uh oh," Kaito had laughed at my scowl. "Time to take cover before it gets worse."

We'd started running for the nearest shelter, and by the time we had reached the striped awning, it was raining heavily, big fat drops plummeting down on our heads.

My heart seemed dead. I wondered what I'd been going on about before, with all those sparks and lightning bolts. They all seemed silly now.

We seemed to be the only people without an umbrella. I guessed these people knew enough to carry umbrellas wherever they went, even if the weather forecast screamed sunny.

Then again, I said to myself, I was one of those people. I reached down as surreptitiously as possible into my cute brown bag, and almost pulled out the umbrella I brought "just in case".

Then I decided that it just wouldn't do, that it was too awkward of me to ask if we could share an umbrella, and I pushed it back inside, sighing.

Even though my heart began sparking again at the mere thought of sharing a standard size umbrella with Kaito.

Zzt. Zzt. Zzt.

The sparks began static shocking me until all of a sudden, they started buzzing and buzzing and buzzing until I truly began to believe that I would have a heart attack.

And all because Kaito leaned over me, his damp blue hair sticking to his forehead, the rain making him smell even better than usual, and started speaking.

At first, I didn't realize what he was saying, and then I finally told myself to tune in.

"…guess I have no choice but to let you in then." He said, laughing.

I didn't know what he was talking about until he reached into my bag, pulled out the umbrella, and opened it, tugging on my arm to get me inside.

And my heart was really truly alive again, beating and beating. Some part of my mind, not occupied with the feeling of Kaito's arm under my hand, wondered if my heart was trying to hack a hole through my chest, because that was certainly the way things were going at this rate.

I wondered if he noticed my hand was trembling. I certainly did. I stared at his hand holding the umbrella, wondering what would happen if I lifted my hand from his arm, and brought it up. It would be perfectly level to his hand, if he just moved it to the left a little. I wondered…

Before I knew it, we had walked down a whole block, then two, then three, and then…I couldn't count anymore. I couldn't do anything but talk and laugh at what he said, the stories he told, everything. He smiled at me a lot, and every time, my heart sang.

And then, we passed a clock, and it suddenly read that it was three ten. And just as I wished we had a little more time to spare, I was blinded by a bright glare.

"Look!" Kaito exclaimed, as the clouds parted and the sun shone. I looked where his finger pointed, and I saw a rainbow.

"Yeah," I said, sighing happily. "It's beautiful." And in that moment, I realized I was incredibly, giddily, happy.

I thought back to the days when we were toddlers, when we first met, and then to when we were in primary school, where we made memories, and to now, where we would make more. I remembered all those happy moments Kaito and I had shared, and I looked down, and didn't feel surprised at all when I saw my hand on his. It wasn't even trembling.

We reached the station, and I felt a bit sad that we had to separate so soon. Then I cheered up a teeny bit. Maybe he would hug me...or something.

He started to say goodbye with a smile on his face, when a bell trilled.

"Excuse me!" called a voice.

And suddenly, I found myself in Kaito's arms as the bicyclist whirled by us. But then, everything was a blur. The only thing I could really see was Kaito's face, his eyes cast downward and his cheeks pink. I was surprised, for a moment, as I realized that my wish had actually come true.

My heart couldn't take it anymore, and I melted in his arms.

SONG: Melt (ryo)

ORIGINAL ARTIST: Hatsune Miku