BA-BUMM BA-BUMM BA-BUMM

It's this early in the morning and my heart is already racing. Okay, Len, calm down, breath slowly and calmly.

BA-BUMM BA-BUMM BA-BUMM

No use. My heart won't stop racing. Not while this situation remains the same. Not as long as Rin is in my bed.

Unable to resist my urge, I turned towards the beautiful, blonde angel sleeping next to me. Rin's eyes were still closed, her breathing sturdy. Her golden hair was disheveled, and she had the faint scent of citrus. She always has the scent of citrus.

Rin Kagamine is my step-sister. Her mother and my father married years ago. This is how we got to know each other. This is how we became siblings... well, step-siblings. The resemblence between us is so great that people often mistake us for twins. I don't blame them: we share the same blonde hair, white skin, body form and even the same birthday. The only main difference between us (well, except that I am a boy and Rin is a girl) is that Rin's eyes are ocean blue, while mines are cerulean.

In every possible term, Rin is the perfect step-sister. Not only she is beautiful, but she is also really nice, gentle and outgoing. She cooks lunch for me, she watches my favorite TV shows with me, she never says a bad word about me... As I said, she is the perfect step-sister. Then, why can't I be the perfect step-brother for her?

Suddenly, Rin started moaning. She reached out with her hands, and when she found my shirt, a sweet smile appeared on her peaceful sleeping face. She grabbed my pajama shirt, crawled closer to me and buried her blonde head in my chest. Even if my heart was about to explode, I couldn't help but smile as I cuddled her.

Rin had a hard past. After losing her father in an accident, she was left alone with her mother, until she married my father. Before the wedding Rin used to sleep in her mother's bed every night, but as she got married she and my father needed some "privacy". Rin however still couldn't sleep alone, so I let her sleep in my bed. Since then several years have passed, and Rin still comes to sleep in my room every night.

I have mixed feelings about sleeping with her every night. First, she is a girl and I am a boy. A teenager boy. Having these hormons and stuff raging in my veins makes literally every day in my life a living torture. My fur on my neck stands up from literally everything. This often results in many awkward situations, in which I think I shouldn't even speak up, or else I'll embarass myself.

Then, in the recent years Rin changed. Not in the terms of her personality, no. Thank God, she remained the same sweet, open girl she always was. It was her body which changed. She still didn't have curves, but that didn't make her figure less attracting. It's exactly the opposite: her perfect form now attracts the eyes of many boys.

And I like that change. I've always loved looking at Rin, and now I like it even more. And this is half of the problem.

You see, I'm in love with Rin.

Yes, that's right. Rin, my beautiful, angelic step-sister is also my love interest. Anyone who knows Rin or looks at her would understand me. There is nothing in Rin that I don't love... even her flaws are perfect and lovable. She is one perfect human being as a whole.

I would ask her out normally. I mean, I know that I'm handsome pretty well. One thing is that Rin told this to me. The other thing is that girls come to me quite frequently and ask me out. But I've never accepted any of these confessions. I cannot have my eyes on anyone else but Rin.

There are however two things which prevent me from confessing her. One is that Rin only thinks about me as her twin brother. Yes, I know that we're step-siblings, but she's glued to me wherever I go and treats me like the person she trusts the most. Even if she has a best friend (Miku), she still tells me every secret she has under the orange sheets of my bed every evening. I cannot betray this trust she placed in me.

The other reason I cannot confess her is her boyfriend, Piko.

Piko is my classmate and a former friend of mine. I used to trust him pretty much - until he started going after Rin. I told him to stop several times, but he didn't listen to me, and he eventually asked Rin out. I was secretely hoping that Rin would reject him, but to my biggest surprise she accepted Piko's confession. Since then they're going out - and it's getting harder and harder for me to see them together.

'Nnnngh' Rin moaned quietly.

I winced as she started moving. Rin slowly opened her sleepy, innocent ocean blue eyes and looked at me. When her gaze met mine, a warm smile spreaded over her face.

'Good morning, Len-kun!' she greeted me on a sleepy yet cheerful voice.

'Good morning, pRINcess' I smiled, putting the emphasis at the right place.

A light pink blush spreaded over her face when she heard what I said. Rin really loves these wordplays, so I try to make as much as possible for her. Rin suddenly wrapped her arms around my torso and pulled herself close to me. Thankfully, she didn't see my huge blush.

'Please don't move, Len-kun' Rin asked quietly. 'You're so warm and cozy-comfy.'

'It's warm here because it's summer' I said. 'We shouldn't have this many sheets on us.'

'What's wrong with that?' asked Rin innocently.

'Rin' I said on my most serious voice. 'I absolutely love sleeping with you, but if you always sleep with me, how will you get used to sleeping with your boyfriend?'

'Do you... want me to begone?' asked Rin. She sounded hurt.

Instead of answering, I simply kissed the top of her soft head.

'Of course not' I whispered. 'I want you to always sleep with me.'

'Thanks, Len-kun!' she said happily. 'Besides, I'm not planning on sleeping with Piko in the near future.'

Rin pulled away and looked at me, her arms still around me. I tickled the sensitive skin on her neck, making her giggle cutely. I dragged my finger lower, brushing the small hickey Piko gave her. I felt my teeth clench at the thought of him kissing Rin. I was ought to kiss Rin like this, not Piko!

'Is something wrong, Len-kun?' asked Rin on a worried voice.

I didn't answer. I know that I wouldn't lie to her, so instead of answering I just sat up and smiled at her.

'We should wake up' I said. 'If we stay too long you'll be late for the beach.'

'Oh, that's right!' Rin popped up. 'Meiko-san will come and pick me up and Piko will be waiting at the beach! I need to get ready!'

She got the orange sheets off her and stood up. She looked adorable in her overlarge yellow pajamas. Rin proceeded to walk out of the room, but stopped at the door and turned around.

'Len-kun?' she asked. 'Do you want to come with us? Meiko-san will take us there with her car and will bring us home too.'

I sat up as well. To be honest, the last thing I wanted was to see my former friend kissing my crush all day, but seeing the longing in Rin's eyes I found myself unable to refuse her.

'Fine' I gave in. 'I'll get dressed.'

'Yaay!' Rin exulted. She left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I looked at the orange sheets on my bed. I originally bought them because Rin liked them, and I kept them because since Rin sleeps in them every day, the sheets took on her scent. I deeply inhaled it, making my heart ache.

'Maybe it's time to get rid of them' I mumbled. 'Rin will take on the scent of Piko sooner or later anyways.'

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

I was standing on the beach, with a glass of banana crushed ice in my hand. I wasn't planning on swimming, so above my black swimming trousers I was wearing a yellow Hawaiian shirt and yellow slippers. Even if it was still early in the morning, the Sun was already bombing us with its deadly heat waves.

Just as Rin promised, Meiko took us to the beach with her car. Kaito tagged along as well (to flirt with Meiko), Miku came and of course Piko was waiting for us. I hardly resisted the urge to punch him when he attacked Rin's soft, pink lips the moment he saw her.

So before Piko could have started eating Rin, I quietly mumbled an excuse and left to get some crushed ice. I dressed quicker than the others and was the first to see the coast.

'Len-kun!' I heard Rin's cheerful voice.

I turned around and my jaw dropped to the ground. Rin was rushing through the sand towards me, in brand new clothes I've never ever seen her wearing. She was wearing a white gown which was transparent. I could see her orange, strapless two-piece bikini under it clearly. She was wearing a large straw hat. She looked gorgeous - in every single way.

My heart skipped a beat as she stood right in front of me. Rin looked at my probably beet red face curiously.

'Is something wrong, Len-kun?' asked Rin sweetly. 'Your face is red.'

'It's... really hot here' I tried to make up something which wasn't an utter lie.

'It sure is!' Rin giggled.

I weakly smiled back at her. Rin then curiously looked at my hand.

'Is this crushed ice?' she asked.

'Y-yeah' I said. 'Want some?'

I stretched out the plastic glass, and Rin accepted it with a happy smile. She planted her sweet, pink lips on the straw and drank some.

'Ahh, this was refreshing!' smiled Rin, as she handed back the crushed ice to me. 'Thank you, Len-kun!'

'You don't need to thank me every time' I said. 'This is my duty as your brother.'

'I like thanking you' said Rin. 'I want you to know when I'm thankful. Besides, it just feels good saying "Thank you!" to you!'

'Rin-chan!' Piko shouted, destroying our moment.

Rin turned around to see her boyfriend. Piko was waving her, and he didn't forget to give me some death glares. My fist tightened, but fortunately Rin didn't notice it.

'Piko is calling me' sighed Rin. 'I should go. See you later, Len-kun!'

Rin quickly and apologetically pecked my cheek, then turned around and ran back to Piko. I quickly turned away before Piko started kissing her. Some older guys were playing beach volleyball, so to take my mind elsewhere I joined them.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The evening quickly came. I spent most of my day trying to avoid seeing Piko and Rin together. It was especially hard, since when I wasn't with Rin, random girls from the beach invited me to play with them. I always accepted, but after a few minutes I always got bored and left.

I was standing on the stairs leading to the restaurant. The others were standing at the coast, lighting fireworks. I was actually with them for a while, but when Piko's firework burned down, he started holding hands with Rin, which was my signal to leave.

But even so, I couldn't keep my eyes off Rin. She was holding two firework sticks and was dancing in the sand. The sunset painted her in gold, making her look like an angel covered in flames. When she noticed that I was watching her, she sweetly smiled and continued dancing even more elegantly.

'She is beautiful, isn't she?' asked a voice next to me.

I turned towards the girl who has just appeared by my side. Her long, curly, light red hair was like crimson flames.

'Miki...' I whispered her name.

'It's hard to see them together' said Miki on a distant voice. 'I guess it's true for both of us.'

I just simply nodded. Miki might be the only person who knows that I'm in love with Rin. I know this, because I know that she is in love with Piko.

'What are you doing here?' I asked, as politely as possible.

'I came to see Piko-kun' she said on a sad voice. 'As much as I wanted to stay away, I simply couldn't. Now I wish I've stayed at home.'

We kept gazing at the couple for a while, with pain in our hearts. Piko suddenly dropped the last firework stick and wrapped his arms around Rin. He started kissing her. I was about turn away when I noticed that Rin's eyes weren't closed. Piko's mouth then wandered down to Rin's neck, making me clench my teeth.

This was when even Miki had enough. She turned away from them, towards me.

'I'm going home' she said. 'Want me to give you a ride home?'

I nodded. I gave one last glance to Rin and followed Miki to her car.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

With a glass of banana milk I walked in my room and turned the lights off. Mom and Dad are out tonight, and without Rin this huge house feels... hollow.

I pulled the orange sheets over my body. Even if I wanted to wash them, for some reason I still couldn't let them go. They reminded me of Rin too much. I'm just too lovestruck and lovesick. I deeply inhaled the citrus scent of the sheets and tried to fall asleep.

Some time later I felt something moving next to me. At first I thought that it was a burglar, but then I saw a flash of blonde in the dark and my body relaxed.

'Rin?' I asked.

I felt Rin's body trembling. She didn't answer, just got under the sheets and hugged me from behind. She then stopped moving, so I thought that she's fallen asleep. I knew that I was wrong when I heard her quiet cries.

I quickly turned on the lights and removed the sheets before she could pull them over her head. I looked at Rin's eyes, only to see wet and dried tear strains. I felt like my heart broke. I hate seeing Rin crying. It makes me want to cry too.

'What's wrong, Rin?' I asked, cuddling her.

'N-nothing' she sobbed, looking at me from under tear-strained lashes. 'L-let's sleep, okay?'

She tried to lay back, but I prevented her by tightening my arms around her waist. She was wearing my white shirt instead of her usual pajamas. It was a bit too big for her. I put both of my hands on her small shoulder, forcing her to look at me in the eyes.

'Rin' I said strictly. 'You know that I never lie to you. So please don't lie to me. What happened?'

'P-Piko b-broke up with me...' Rin stammered.

Hearing this, I got mixed feelings. First, I felt relieved. I never wanted to see them together, and now there's a good chance that I'll never see them together again. But Rin was crying. And this immediately decided how I should feel about everything.

I brought up one of my hands to her face and started softly caressing her cheeks. Her cheeks turned pink, but she still closed her eyes as she let me caress her. I cupped her face in my palms, making her look up at me.

'Tell me what happened' I said softly.

Rin nodded. She placed one of her soft hands on mine and started speaking.

'I-it started after you left' she said. 'Piko started biting my neck again, so I pulled away. When he asked why I did that, I asked him to stop biting my neck and stop giving me hickeys.'

'Why?' I asked.

'Because you always act weird when you see it on my neck' Rin said. 'Besides, it's still painful. So I asked him to stop that.'

'Is this why he broke up with you?' I asked.

'N-no' said Rin. 'It happened after. I don't know how, but he got to know that I sleep with you every day. He ordered me to stop that and sleep with him instead.'

I felt really bad. Piko doesn't know that Rin can't sleep alone. Of course I didn't tell him that she sleeps with me instead, but I didn't know that he'd hurt Rin because he didn't know. What's more, he dared to order Rin to do something! Who the hell he thinks he is?

Rin started sobbing again and turned to me with eyes full of tears. As hard as it was, I had to say it.

'Rin, do you want me to speak with Piko?' I asked, ignoring the lump in my throat.

'You don't need to' Rin said coldly. 'I don't want to see him again. Not after what he said.'

'What did he say?' I asked, getting more and more furious towards Piko.

'H-he wanted to take me to bed' stammered Rin. 'T-to do adult stuff...'

Now I was completely furious. Who the hell asks a 15-years old innocent girl such things? What kind of horny bastard is Piko?

'I wouldn't do this with him!' exclaimed Rin. 'I don't love him that way! I want to do it with you!'

My heart dropped literatelly ten floors, right onto my guts. In an instant, Rin went strawberry red and quickly covered her mouth with both of her hands. Did she just say what I thought she said? Does she want to do that with me?

Rin tried to turn around and run away, but I still had my hands on her shoulder. I took a deep breath. I'll never get a better chance than this, so I'll use it wisely.

'Rin' I looked into her ocean blue eyes, filled with embarrassment. 'I love you. And not as my step-sister. I love you as a girl.'

Rin's face was ten times redder than a few moments ago. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. She looked so cute with being embarrassed and things that I couldn't help but giggle.

'What do you think about me, Rin?' I asked. 'What am I to you? And don't lie, I can see through you!'

Rin was staring at me for a while. I could see that she was trying to answer, she just didn't find the proper words. I only hoped that she wouldn't reject me.

Finally, Rin opened her mouth.

'Why didn't you tell me earlier?' she asked.

I blinked.

'You said that I am your brother' I said. 'I was afraid that you'd reject me and wouldn't sleep with me again.'

When Rin still didn't say anything, I decided to turn the table.

'Why didn't you tell me how you feel earlier?' I asked.

'T-the same reason' stuttered Rin. 'You are the most important person to me. I didn't want you to hate me. I wanted to sleep with you forever.'

I smiled and kissed her forehead.

'If you love me, why did you start going out with Piko?' I asked the question which troubled me the most.

Rin's face turned strawberry red again.

'I-it was Miku-chan's idea' Rin explained. 'She told me that if you really love me, you wouldn't let it and would take me back.'

I had mixed feelings again. Miku is stupid. Only she could come up with such plan. I just wanted to punch her... but I also wanted to punch myself as well. She was right. Why didn't I do anything to separate them?

'I'm so stupid...' I mumbled.

For some reason, Rin started giggling.

'Looks like we have one more thing in common!' she said. 'I'm stupid, too!'

She was giggling like a child, with her eyes closed. I couldn't take it anymore, her perfect pink lips were too charming. I put my hand on her chin, pulled her close and kissed her on the lips fully.

Rin's ocean blue eyes widened in surprise, but she soon closed them and started kissing back. I felt like I was in heaven. I was kissing my angel, finally after this long time. I thought that Rin's lips would taste like Piko, but I'm glad that I was wrong. Rin tasted like sweet orange, and I wanted more.

I softly licked Rin's hot bottom lip, asking for entrance. She gasped, but slowly opened her mouth. I gently pushed my tongue in, exploring her like I've never had the chance to before. Rin started licking my tongue inside, moaning quietly and cutely.

When we both felt like we'd pass out without air we pulled away from the kiss. We were panthing heavily, and a silver line of saliva connected our red lips.

'I love you, Rin' I said.

'I love you too, Len-kun' said Rin and blushed.

Without warning, I flipped Rin over to the bed. She let out a shriek, but when I started caressing her cheek, she calmed down immediately. I leaned down and kissed her again, and she happily kissed back.

Rin opened her eyes when I left her mouth and started kissing her cheeks. I kissed away all the salty tear strains from both of her cheeks, then started kissing her down the jawline until I arrived to her neck.

I hesitated. This might sound extremely selfish, but I don't want Rin to wear Piko's hickey on her neck. I know a few ways to remove a hickey, but the fastest way I could think of was renewing it. On the other hand, I remembered Rin's open eyes when Piko kissed him, and that she finds getting a hickey painful.

As if she was reading my mind, Rin reached behind my neck and pulled out my ponytail. She undid it and ran her fingers through my loose hair.

'Don't worry, Len-kun' Rin said. 'Getting a hickey from you wouldn't hurt.'

In response, I blew at the sensitive skin of her neck, making her giggle. Then, I opened my mouth and sank my teeth in Rin's soft skin. Rin gasped for air. She tasted like whipped cream, and I found myself wanting more. I pulled back and licked down all the blood that came out. The hickey was small and red, but it was right on the top of the one left by Piko.

Rin curiously brought one of her hands to her neck and touched the place I've just bitten. She pressed her finger on it, then smiled at me.

'See?' she asked. 'It doesn't hurt if you do it!'

Rin sneaked her arms around my neck and pulled me into another kiss. I forgot how much experience she has in kissing. I put my arms around her hips - and suddenly her face went red again.

'What's wrong, Rin?' I asked.

'W-would you close your eyes for a bit, Len-kun?' she stammered with closed eyes.

I was confused, but I still closed my eyes, just as she wanted. I felt her moving around under me for a few moments, then she stopped.

'You can open your eyes now' said Rin.

I opened them and noticed that something was different. Rin pulled the orange sheets I tossed away earlier over her lower half. I curiously looked at her there, and her face turned beet red in an instant.

'D-don't look!' Rin exclaimed and tried to pull the sheets up even more.

Suddenly, it kicked in.

'R-Rin' I stammered. 'Are you not... wearing anything... down there?'

Rin nodded with her adorable red face. Many thoughts rushed through my mind - mostly, well... indecent ones. Rin was staring up at me, and for some reason I knew that even if I pulled away the sheets, she wouldn't stop me. But I quickly defeated those thoughts and made the correct decision.

Rin yelped a bit when I grabbed the top of the sheets, but she calmed down when I pulled it up until her neck. I laid next to her and got under the sheets as well.

'By the way' I remembered 'Why are you wearing my shirt and no... underwear?'

'Y-you know, Len-kun' Rin tried to get herself together 'After I got home, I was crying heavily. I just wanted to get in bed, but I forgot that I put my pajamas in the laundry this morning. So I put on the only thing I found.'

It actually sounded logical, but I remembered something else.

'But I put my shirt in the laundry, like you did with your pajamas' I said. 'Wouldn't have been easier to simply take out your pajamas from the laundry?'

I have no idea how can Rin's face turn this red without her fainting.

'Your shirt reminds me of home' Rin said quietly.

'What home?' I kept questioning her.

'This home' she said, pointing at the bed. 'Not the house. Not my room. Or yours. Ever since you've been letting me sleep with you, this soft bed, these orange sheets became my home. You became my home.'

The way Rin confessed her feelings was just too adorable for me to endure. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her warm body and pulled her close, until there wasn't a tiny bit of space left between us. She slipped one of her legs between mines, adding to the warmth of the bed.

I killed the lights and rested my hand on Rin's face.

'Sweet dreams, pRINcess' I said.

'Nighty night, Len-kun!' said Rin, sleepily yet cheerfully.

We exchanged a short yet sweet kiss before we made comfort on my soft bed. I deeply inhaled the citrus scent coming from both Rin and the sheets.

I don't think I'll ever get rid of these orange sheets in the future.