Chapter One: All Grown Up
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My twin brother and I have always had a special bond. We've spent almost all our time by each other's side from the moment we were born. We always felt that connection during our childhood – it was a subconscious sort of feeling, where we just knew we were different. However, that connection never exactly clicked until our eighth birthday. That day has a special place in my heart; the day we found out we could not just predict each other's sentences, but we could also hear each other's thoughts. It was an unsettling find for sure, considering how young we were, but from then on, we knew we'd always be inseparable.
Growing up so close to an identical twin brother hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, of course. It's messed with my already raging hormones from this dear thing called 'adolescence'. My parents described it in the simplest way ever. In fact, I still remember the fuss my mother made when I told her I was mysteriously bleeding.
"M-Mom! Oh, my god, MOM!" I still remember screaming at the top of my lungs for my mother, from inside the bathroom. Seeing blood coming out of such a forbidden area at twelve-years-old is never pleasant, in my defence. We were practically raised in bubble wrap. I remember banging frantically on the bathroom door and stomping my feet against the bathroom floor, in hopes to catch her attention from downstairs.
And just like that, like my knightess in shining armour, my mother came bolting up the stairs within seconds. "Rinny, honey! I came as quick as I could – what's going on? Are you sick?!"
"Mommyyyy…!" I began whining immediately upon hearing her voice, the sheer terror only just kicking in. "I'm bleeedinnggg! I don't wanna dieeee!" Oh, yeah, I was a dramatic kid.
"Bleeding? Bleeding where, sweetie pie?" came my mother's surprisingly calm response. However, now that I think about it, I can almost guarantee she was as close to fainting as I was.
"My… my… myyy…!" I couldn't even say the word.
"OH! From there!" She sounded shocked. I don't think even she wanted me to say the word. "Honey, honey. Relax, don't cry. It's normal."
"NORMAL?!" I flipped out at that point, my crying growing way more intense. I was totally blind to common sense. I was terrified at that exact moment, refusing to believe that my mother had just called heavy bleeding 'normal'. "Mommyyyyy!"
"Rinny, it's okay! It's okay, I promise it's normal. It just means you're growing up!" Even my mother could barely keep her cool. I still can't decide to this day if she was angry at my whining, or if she was trying her best not to laugh.
My obnoxious, high-pitched whining ceased but only temporarily. "N-Normal…?" I hesitantly repeated. "But… but…" I was at a loss for words; my twelve-year-old brain went overboard trying to think of a rational explanation.
"Honey, please get yourself cleaned up and we can talk some more about this."
I remember glancing around the bathroom and seeing something akin to that of a murder scene. Okay, fine, not really. But there was a lot of blood, honestly. At that point, I decided for some reason to ask my twin brother the most ridiculous question to ever exist, through thought, as one does. Lenny…? Have you started bleeding too?
Those were good times. Fun times. I still can't help but burst out into a short laughing fit whenever I think of what I asked my brother on that day, along with his priceless reaction. However, as I grew older and discovered more about this so-called adolescence, I realised it was only going to get even more complicated. Bleeding down below was the very least of my problems. As time passed, I begun to experience a whole range of different emotions. I found myself getting rather short-tempered, especially with my brother and his constant teasing. Along with that, I found myself developing crushes on all sorts of different girls and boys, each only lasting a couple of weeks each.
It was only recently that I realised those feelings were slowly shifting towards someone much closer to me. I tried to land dates with a few of the people I had developed crushes on. The girls I dared to ask thought I was messing around or being too weird. I remember one of them even told me, 'girls aren't supposed to date other girls'. It made me feel confused for a long time – I dwelled on it during the long, sleepless nights, wondering if my feelings were wrong. However, through each rejection, even though I didn't feel much pain from it, there was one person always there by my side to help. Up until now, I never truly realised who I liked the most.
…
Today is a big moment for my brother and I. For the first time in our lives, our parents trust us enough to go on a short holiday and leave us home alone. There are only a couple of conditions, and it's nothing the sibling power duo can't handle. "We'll only be gone for two days. That's today, tonight, and then we'll be back tomorrow night," Mother explains.
Oh, please. We already understand perfectly well what 'two days' means. Our parents raised us in bubble wrap, but not that much bubble wrap. I just can't believe they didn't trust us sooner with this. Currently, they're both standing dramatically opposite my brother and I, arms folded and expressions stern. I run my glance over my brother, who appears to be listening intently. I suppose I grew up to be the troublemaker, because I'm not too interested in hearing the adults out.
"We're still allowing you to have your sleepover for your birthday," Father starts.
"But absolutely no more than four friends!" Mother finishes for him.
These two have always been so predictable. I saw those lines coming a mile off. Playing along, I give my parents a simple nod. "Can we order pizza though?"
'That is all you're interested in, you greedy child,' comes my brother's teasing thought.
Don't let it get to you, don't let it get to you, don't let it get to you…
"Ah… Just don't waste all your money on junk food, honey," Mother sighs, giving in to my pleading expression.
"Oh, don't worry! I'm sure Lenny would be happy to pay for me." I shoot him an innocent smile; however, I make sure to add just a hint of a payback smirk in there.
"I would?" my brother remarks, narrowing his eyes at me, almost menacingly.
I sneak a quick glance to my parents, who appear to be glaring daggers straight towards my brother for his totally not gentleman-like tone. I swear, this is comedy gold.
"I mean… uh, yeah, I would." He quickly corrects himself, which allows our parents' expressions to soften a little.
"Okay. We're gonna go grab the rest of our things. Behave, you two!" Mother instructs. With that, my parents head out of the main room and presumably make their way up to their bedroom.
As soon as they're gone, my brother and I turn to glare sharply at each other. There's always so much tension between us – it never used to be this way. But of course, adolescence changes us all in weird ways. I narrow my eyes at him. "Why do you keep trying to interfere in my love life, Len Kagamine?" I demand, taking this very seriously. I keep my tone low, so that my parents don't hear.
"Hah!" He lets out a mocking laugh. "Rin Kagamine has a love life?"
Oh, he did not just say that. That cuts deep! I grit my teeth together, trying not to yell at him some more. Today we turned fifteen years old, but here we are, bickering just like when we were kids. I'd say something along the lines of, oh the good old days, but no. God, Len seriously gets under my skin. Our special bond from when we were younger seems to have faded out almost completely as we turned into who we are today. "I mean… of course I do!"
Len lets out a low snicker, in that same cocky tone of his. "Who is it this time?"
I clench my palms into fists by my sides, growing more irritated with each second that passes. Does he honestly think he can just get away with all these remarks? Especially with that last remark of his. I thought he was understanding of all my dumb crushes from a couple of years ago. No… He was understanding. I'm sure he still is. "Rude," I huff, before childishly sticking my tongue out at him. "Don't act like you don't know! Pizza has played a big part in my life."
"Oh, god," Len groans, rolling his eyes right at me, in an overdramatic manner. "I'm interfering because it's taking all of my money."
"Pssh. You only spend that money on filthy manga anyway," I shoot back, almost as if our words were bouncing off each other. That's one thing we're good at these days: arguing. We both have a snappy sort of wit, allowing us to flawlessly present our insults and fire back when necessary.
"I do not!" Len hisses, in protest. I can tell he's trying not to lose it. This is my victory this time. That pervert has become completely obsessed with gross sexual manga.
"I've let you get away with stacking those disgusting things in our bedroom for far too long. If Mom and Dad were to find out…" A threatening smirk crosses my lips as I speak.
"Oh, god, you wouldn't!" Len is sent into panic mode. With that, he dramatically drops down to his knees in front of me, a pleading expression crossing his features. I wish I was joking. "Come on, Rinnyyy… I'm sorry for complaining about your pizza…!"
I fold my arms as I look down to him; his fate is practically in my hands. Of course, I could never be cruel enough to hand his secret over to our parents. I'm sure he'd spare me, too. After a couple of moments, I let out a sigh. "Get up, ya big dope."
Len's eyes widen slightly at this. Almost immediately, he pulls himself up from the floor, before letting out an awkward cough. Oh, yeah, smooth. "You forgive me?" He grins brightly at me.
"No. But you're buying the best pizza there is tonight," I simply say.
Even though I clearly said 'no' to forgiving him, his eyes light up as he hears this. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he happily exclaims, practically bouncing up and down on the floor.
"Yeah, yeah…" I mutter, shaking my head with a slight smirk.
After these short-lived arguments, Len and I go back to being normal. We're nice to each other for a little bit, then it goes right back to an argument, and the cycle repeats over and over. It's exhausting, to say the least. I guess over time, we've adopted it as part of our daily routine. Along with it being exhausting, it also kinda sucks. No one likes to argue with their sibling every single day, right? Well, I know I don't.
"Hey, Rinny, we should go get ready for when our friends come over," Len suddenly says, changing the topic.
"Oh, good idea," I reply, with a nod.
It took us weeks in advance to convince our parents about this. We wanted to spend some time with our small group of school friends for our fifteenth birthday. Naturally, I came up with the idea of a sleepover, because I'm talented like that. However, a sleepover suggestion is never going to be easy for bubble wrap obsessed parents to hear. The last few weeks have been rather chaotic around the house; Len and I have done almost every chore possible every day, working hard as hell to gain the trust of our parents. They wanted us to prove we were trustworthy adults.
For one night of fun, all that hard work is worth it. We've always been forced to stay in after school and on weekends; our parents didn't want us to get even a scratch. Our friends aren't even bad people; they're normal, just like us. Okay, except for the one time they… and the other time they… Yeah, never mind. Our parents are smart, but damn it, we should be allowed to do stupid things and live normally as kids.
Len and I start to make our way up the stairs, heading towards our bedroom. We've always shared a bedroom, from a young age. We grew up thinking it was normal – and I still do think it's normal. I mean, why would it be weird for siblings to share a room? We do what we can for 'privacy', but we're so comfortable around each other in the first place that it doesn't matter anyway.
Once we enter the room, I head over to our bed, trying to find some decent clothes to wear tonight. Our friends won't be here for a couple of hours at the least, but it's always best to be prepared. I kneel on the floor, beginning a full-scale clothes hunt. Mom and Dad could have at least done our laundry before they left, damn it.
Suddenly, I can hear a quiet snickering noise coming from behind me. I grit my teeth together upon hearing this, knowing for a fact Len is laughing at me for some reason. Here comes the part of the cycle where we argue again. Taking in a breath to try and calm myself down, I pull myself up from the floor and spin on my heels to face my brother. I narrow my eyes at him, staring. "What?"
He seems to break into a fit of giggles as I confront him. He's such a child. "Your…" His words trail off as he takes in a deep breath to contain his laughter. "Whew. Rin, your butt totally got bigger lately."
"What?!" I screech, caught off guard by his sudden remark. I don't even have time to stop myself from shouting so loudly. I heard his remark and immediately became filled with anger and embarrassment. I know it's never a good sign when I become this enraged. I breathe in heavily, attempting to cool down. However, it's no good. I can't stop myself anymore. "DAMN YOU TO THE FIERY PITS OF HELL, LEN KAGAMINE! IF YOU THINK YOU CAN MESS WITH A GIRL WHEN SHE'S GOING THROUGH PMS, THEN YOU CAN THINK AGAIN!"
Mom, Dad… Please forgive me.