A/N: Hi! Thanks for clicking on this fanfic! :3

I only have a rough idea of the plot, so any criticism would be appreciated!

Rin and Len have just turned 16; Miku and Luka are 17; everyone else mentioned is also 16. Rin's birthday is pushed one day late(28 Dec).

Outfits mentioned are from Adolescence.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Vocaloid... but someday...

Rin ran her fingers through her short blonde hair, worried aquamarine eyes gazing back at her in the mirror. She just couldn't get the angle of her bow right. "Stop fussing!" her sister Miku'd said. Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one who would have her beloved over for her birthday party, which would be only one hour away…

It was really rather odd, if you thought about it. Len Kagamine, best friend and (unknown to him) Rin's very first love, was eerily similar to her. Same sun-streaked golden hair that fell just below the shoulder, same clear blue eyes that were a mere shade different; Len's, tinted dark violet; Rin's, just a little too green. Len was no less than an inch taller than Rin, though Len was really only a day older. People would often mistake them for siblings or even twins, and even Miku had once said that they looked like each other's mirror image, albeit genderbent.

But that was besides the point. Rin sighed, dragging the white ribbon out of her yellow tresses. She'd just have to go without it today, she decided. Her outfit would have looked better with the black, anyway, but she'd misplaced it sometime during the last few days, and couldn't borrow Miku's since she'd been planning to use them herself. At least that looks like that's one problem that's literally out of my hair, she mused with a sarcastic smile.

She ran her fingers through said hair in an attempt to straighten it and inserted her clips into her bangs to secure them in to place, then straightened her dress, smiling a little when she remembered that Len would be in a matching outfit. Whereas Rin was wearing a white dress with spaghetti straps that were tied around her neck and two rows of ruffles down the front, Len would be in a vest and yellow tie, bartender style. Rin had wanted a jazzy party, after all. She snickered when at the memory of Len's appalled face when they told him about the dress code, yet surprisingly he'd protested little. Although it was probably just a sign of true friendship, Rin liked to think it was because he wanted to impress her.

Rin straightened and smiled into the mirror again, this time nervously, trying to calm her irregular heatbeat. Slowly, her smile grew more determined. You may not look at me now, Len, she thought, but one day, you'll see!

Just you wait and see!

Rin slumped against her bedroom wall and let out yet another of her incessant sighs. Oh, she'd waited, alright.

Fat lot of good that did her.

It was hard to believe, much less remember, that she was so happy and still cared so much about what Len thought of her just a few days ago. After all, what was the point? All the same, Rin couldn't help but replay and replay the memory in her mind, at once envying and hating the girl those days ago both. She was so naive, so blissfully ignorant. Part of Rin wanted only to protect that happiness.

The other part wanted to slap her, because he'd never cared anyway. But that wasn't even the worst part, because Rin still cared.

Rin still cared, even if Len didn't. And she cared far more than she would've liked and far more than she should have.

The worst part was that she knew she would never stop caring.

Just what had happened, anyway?

Just what had happened to that girl a few days ago?

That girl, a few days ago, was restlessly fidgeting on the couch, too agitated to do the one thing that might have soothed her nerves and eat an orange. With eyes resolutely fixed on the clock, as if wanting time to go faster and let the doorbell ring, suddenly ring it did.

Rin leapt up and thrust the door open, despite the fact that the person at the other side of the door was not, in fact, Len.

"Oh hi, Luka," Rin chirped, pushing down her disappointment. She plastered a delighted smile on her face and steered Luka in. Where the hell was Len? She bit her lip; It was 3:56 PM. She shook her head quickly; If Len was wasn't here yet, that would be his problem.

Yet she couldn't help but worry about it as more and more time passed. It wasn't unlike Len to not be early, but it was even more unlike him to be late. Even IA had arrived, and she was late to pretty much everything. Then again, so was Neru due to her phone addiction, and she was the only person left now who hadn't arrived other than Len.

Finally- finally- the bell rang again, and Rin sprang toward it, not caring if it wasn't Len, not caring that it was 4:22 and he was precisely 22 minutes and 18 seconds late, because time was just a number-

When Rin looked back later, she would think of it was the precise moment the world fell away.

"Hi, Len, Neru! That's great, both of you arrived, now everyone's here," Rin sang, smiling at both of them. "Why so late, though?"

Then she saw their linked hands.

Rin's breath jammed violently in her throat.

"Oh, that..." Len said hesitantly, as he took off his coat.

Len, who was not in his bartender outfit.

Am I dreaming? I'm having a nightmare, wake me up, hurry.

"The thing is, Neru wanted to, uh, ask me something," he said. "And I'm not dressed up, cause Neru wanted to borrow the costume for a while. That's fine, right?"

No, of course it's not alright! They were supposed to be matching outfits! They weren't supposed to be worn by anyone else!

"Yeah, sure," Rin heard herself saying distantly. "Of course. Why don't you go get some bananas? I saved some for you."

"Sure," Len said somewhere.

Rin lead the way to somewhere vague, but in truth she was losing Len in the crowd.

Does it look like I want to get along with anyone? Just leave me alone!

She stumbled out into the backyard garden and somehow found the way to her nook before collapsing on the ground in tears.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I originally wrote this chapter much longer with the entire first verse rather than just the first line, but this is already like over 1,000 words, so I'll just keep it this short. Not that I've written any other chapters for now, but still.

Reviews are always appreciated!