A/N: Hey, everyone and welcome to my newest fic, THE YAMAHA HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL TEAM! I am very excited about this story! It's gonna be pretty long (my longest yet). Long chapters (O.O I never write long chapters!) and, well, A LOT of chapters (I've been writing up my chapter outlines for this story and I'm already at chapter 42). So, yeah.
My main pairing for this story is gonna be KaitoxLen, because they are just so cute together! *fangirl spasm*
Disclaimer:
Heartache-chan does not own Vocaloid. TT_TT
ENJOY!
Chapter One: A Little Guidance
For Kagamine Len, today was just an ordinary day. Or so he thought.
He was awoken by a smack to the head and a kiss on the cheek. His sister Rin grinned down at him as he rubbed the top of his head. "Good morning, Len-Len!" she exclaimed. Rin was already dressed in her school uniform – a short-sleeved white button down, a short navy blue skirt, and the plaid tie which she insisted on tying around her neck in a bow. A pair of knee-high orange socks completed the look. Her hair was already brushed and her floppy white bow was in place.
Len, in comparison, was still in his pajamas. With a groan, he rolled out of bed. "Good morning, Rin," he replied. "I see someone's excited about the first day of school."
Rin laughed and took a seat on Len's bed while waiting for him to finish getting dressed. "Of course I am. I'm captain of the softball team this year. We're going to be unstoppable this year, Lenny!"
Len rolled his eyes as he pulled his messy golden hair up into a ponytail. "I will be happily cheering you on from the stands then." He tugged on his favorite pair of socks, a little white pair with bananas on them. Finally dressed, Len grabbed his school bag and headed to the kitchen.
"You should really consider playing this year, Len," his twin continued as she trailed behind him. "Everyone who played last year was a senior, so there's going to be a completely new team. It'll be a good opportunity for you to meet new people. Who knows? Maybe you'll even get a girlfriend this year."
"Rin!" Len scolded his sister as he pushed some Poptarts into the toaster. A faint shine of pink colored his cheeks. Len sighed, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter since I don't know how to play softball."
"C'mon, Len! You used to play baseball! They're almost exactly the same!"
"Yeah, Rin, I did play, when I was six! And even then I wasn't good!" Len shoved a small bundle of napkin wrapped Poptarts at her, then grabbed his own. "Besides, I don't really want to play softball." The siblings kicked on their shoes and stepped out into the warm September air.
Rin pouted. "But it's sooooo much fun," she drawled, taking a bite of her breakfast. "I just know you'll love it."
Len sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll try it." I'm so weak, he thought. I just can't say no to her.
"Yay!" the stubborn girl shouted. "This is gonna be so much fun!"
Shion Kaito sighed as he glanced at the finalized copy of his schedule. He turned to his guidance counselor and looked at the woman with pleading eyes. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do about this?"
The older woman smiled sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Kaito-kun, but you have to take gym. It's a graduation requirement. Though, you may be able to play a sport instead. If you choose to play a sport after school, you might be able to convince your teacher to grade you on that rather than your gym class."
Kaito frowned, his sapphire eyes glistening with fake tears. "I don't think that's gonna work for me. I have a problem when it comes to physical activity. I don't like it. Exercise and I do not get along!" he rambled dramatically.
The counselor bit back her laughter. "Well, that is rather…ahem, unfortunate, Kaito-kun, but there are no other options for you. I hear that the softball team needs new people this year. Why don't you try that? I'm sure it'll be easier to practice one sport, rather than the multitude of sports you have to play in physical education."
The blunette nodded forlornly as he slinked out of the office. On his way to first block, Kaito stopped at his locker. In his depression-muddled haze, he did not notice the two twins standing at the locker next to him.
Rin guffawed as Len frantically reached for the notebook he stuffed on the top shelf of his locker. "Len, how did you even get it up there in the first place?" she inquired between chuckles.
"A janitor was coming by and I asked him to put it on the top shelf! I thought it was one of my spare notebooks, but it's the one I need for my first class," he whined.
"Hey, why don't you ask that guy to get it for you?" Rin suggested, pointing to Kaito with one hand and using the other to wipe away her tears of glee. Len heeded his sister's advice and tapped the taller man on the shoulder. Kaito turned, and his breath caught in his throat.
Bright aquamarine eyes shined up at him. Kaito found himself closely watching the boy. His hair was like sunlight, and a long thick tangle of eyelashes framed his captivating eyes. When he spoke, his voice was sweet and musical. "Could you please grab my notebook for me? It's on the top shelf, and I can't reach it."
Kaito nodded mutely and retrieved the item. Their fingers brushed lightly when Kaito relinquished the notebook. Rin watched them with curious eyes, carefully studying the blue-haired boy's reactions and facial expressions. A smirk appeared on her face. The female twin grabbed her brother's hand and began tugging him away. "C'mon, Len," she emphasized for Kaito's sake, "Let's hurry before we're late to class."
"Ah, okay, Rin." Len turned to his locker neighbor, smiling sincerely. "Thank you, onii-chan!" the blond chirped. He slammed his locker closed and allowed Rin to tug him away. Kaito just stood there, staring after the brother and sister. "Len," he murmured, enjoying the way the name felt on his tongue.
Hatsune Miku stormed through the hallway, moving quicker than light. Her close friend, Neru, held on for dear life, allowing the determined girl to just pull her along.
Miku was Yamaha High's requisite over-achiever. She was president of the student council and was very active in the community. She volunteered at the animal shelter, acted as president of more than seven different clubs, and still maintained the second highest GPA in their grade. She was determined to get in a prestigious school in America, marry rich, and take over the world someday.
Well, at least that's what everyone thought.
Neru, on the other hand, was not quite as ambitious as her teal counterpart. The blonde just wanted to shop, socialize, and have fun. While Miku spent her time participating, Neru was texting and shopping. She was content with getting a small, well-paying job and just relaxing for the rest of her life. While Miku's go-go-go attitude was admirable, it was not for Neru.
Though the two girls were complete opposites in this sense, they got along very well and could only be described as best friends. They did everything together. It is because of this that Neru found herself being pushed in front of a sign-up sheet outside of the gym doors. Even from the outside, the two girls could make out the sounds of squeaking shoes and bouncing balls. The piece of paper in front of them was nearly blank with the exception of one name written in bright orange highlighter with a smiley face next to it.
Miku grabbed the purple pen placed next to the sign-up sheet and scrawled out her name neatly with a heart on the end. Before Neru even had the opportunity to protest, the diva wrote down her name as well. The blonde sighed, and then Miku pulled her down the hall once more.
Honne Dell stood in the doorway of his guidance counselor's office with a bored look on his face. As usual, he sported a completely bastardized version of his school uniform – shirt un-tucked, blazer open, and no tie. The blond woman, rather than doing work, was reading manga. Dell caught sight of two scantily clad boys on the cover. The white-haired delinquent cleared his throat and watched on in internal amusement as the woman frantically rushed to shove her yaoi manga under her desk. Her face was bright red.
"You wanted to see me, Lola-san?" Dell inquired disinterestedly. The counselor nodded, still a little embarrassed.
"Yes, come in, Dell-kun." Lola took a moment for the teen to make himself comfortable before immediately jumping into what she wanted to say. "Dell-kun, as you know, last year administration had some problems with your behavior." She paused, as though passively daring Dell to disagree. Dell merely rolled his eyes in response. The counselor continued.
"The principal and I talked about what to do about you." Lola fought to keep her voice from sounding exasperated, but it was difficult. She had seen Dell in her office so many times last year. He wasn't necessarily a bad kid, he just didn't do anything. He was always trying to smoke on campus and he didn't do much work in any of his classes. Most of his peers were afraid of him because of his blunt attitude and low tolerance for bullshit.
"We both agree that joining some kind of club would be good for you, Dell-kun. You'd have an opportunity to make friends. And who knows? Maybe a sport or something will give you the incentive you need to…" Lola trailed off. To do what? To do his schoolwork? To not smoke? The blonde moved on, "The point is you have to join some kind of extracurricular activity. You know, spend your time wholesomely."
Dell sneered, torn between laughing in the woman's face and cussing her out. He opened his mouth to protest, but Lola cut him off. "The softball team is in need of players. I think you'd do well in that, Dell."
The white-haired teenager snorted as he stood up and pushed his backpack onto his shoulder. "Whatever," he muttered. Lola smiled brightly at him and quickly wrote him a pass back to class. The counselor was quite pleased with herself; Dell hadn't immediately shot down her suggestion, so there was a possibility that he may actually do something this year!
"Rin!" Len called out to his sister, waving her over to the table where he was currently seated. Rin and Gumi swiftly maneuvered their way through elaborate maze of tables and chairs in the cafeteria. When they finally arrived, the blond dropped her belongings onto the table with a dramatic huff. Len raised an eyebrow but did not comment. His curious blue eyes turned to Gumi.
The green-haired girl grinned, eager to explain. "She just found out that Hatsune Miku is joining the softball team."
Len's face wrinkled in confusion. "So what's the problem?" He turned to his twin, but once again she offered no information. Gumi was left to reply once more.
"She's afraid that Miku's gonna go after the spot of team captain. I've been trying to explain to her that it wouldn't matter because Rin's already our captain, but she's been in too much of a funk to hear me out. Maybe you can talk some sense into her, Lenny."
The golden-haired boy sighed. "Rin, Miku's not going to take your position. You're the best softball player in our school. Even if she was trying to become captain it wouldn't matter because you have the most experience in the sport." Len soothingly rubbed the blonde girl on the shoulder. Her pout lessened.
Gumi chimed in, "Yeah, besides, if that goody-two-shoes tries to take your place, we'll beat her up!" She slammed her fist against the open palm of her other hand, the violent gesture contrasting against the glowing smile on her face.
"Yeah!" Rin was already back to her usual exuberant self. "W-wait!" Len tried to intervene. "Rin, Gumi, you can't just beat people up! That's not right!" The two girls ignored him, continuing on with their ridiculous conversation about softball bats and fights. Rin's sea-colored eyes turned thoughtful.
"Ne, Gumi-chan, can we buy new outfits for beating someone up?"
The moss-haired girl nodded frantically. "Definitely! We can dress up like a biker gang!"
"And buy some of those candy cigarettes, so we look even more bad ass!" The friends carried on with their rash ideas. Len stood up with a sigh and mumbled something about getting food. The practical blond trudged his way to the lunch line, which was jam-packed with teenagers vying for a spot in line. It was crowded, as everyone was trying to skip each other. People came in behind Len, shoving him forward. He stumbled and crashed into someone. A warm hand on his arm kept him from falling face-first into the ground.
"Watch it." Len glanced up to see the scariest boy in school holding on to him, Honne Dell. Len forced himself not to be intimidated and flashed the older boy his nicest smile. "Thanks!"
Dell blinked at the blond for a few moments, leaving Len wondering if he'd done something wrong. However, the white-haired teenager muttered a quick, "Whatever," before edging into line behind Len. He glanced over his shoulder, daring the people behind to try and skip. They gulped collectively and backed off.
Len watched with wide eyes as Dell intimidated the hell out of the student body. However, he did not get an opportunity to comment before the line began moving forward, and he was ushered forward. Len picked his food – a chicken sandwich, a bunch of fries to share with Gumi, three oranges for Rin, and a banana for himself. He bent down to grab a strawberry milk and grabbed a chocolate milk for Dell as well. When he proffered it to older boy, Dell merely stared at him in surprise.
"Err, I thought you might like chocolate milk," Len stammered. Thankfully, though, Dell accepted the beverage without question. Len edged forward to pay for his food, then Dell did the same. The two acquaintances trailed out of the lunch line.
A sudden thought darted into Len's head, and he spoke before he had the opportunity to second guess himself. "Do you want to sit at the lunch table with us? It's just me, my sister, and her friend."
"Sure," Dell agreed and followed the blond to the table.
Len could feel the stares on his back, as the other students watch him walk with Honne Dell. Just as quickly, the eyes flickered away. He could only assume that Dell was staring back at them.
Gumi and Rin looked up when they heard Len approaching. Their peppy smiles immediately turned to shock as they caught sight of who was accompanying him. Len slid into his spot across from his sister, and Dell took the seat next to him. Neither Gumi nor Rin spoke, so Len took the introductions upon himself.
"This is Gumi and my sister, Rin. Oh, and I'm Len," the nervous fourteen year old added when he realized that he had not yet introduced himself.
"Dell," the white haired boy provided shortly. By now, both Gumi and Rin had regained their composure. They spoke quickly and excitedly to their new table mate. Len watched amusedly as they grilled Dell for every detail of his life. The elder seemed a little caught off guard but managed to endure Rin and Gumi's interrogation.
"So, Dell, do you have a girlfriend?" Rin asked, not so discreetly winking at Len. What the hell?
"No," he answered, shoveling French fries into his mouth.
Gumi piped up, clearly catching on to her friend's plan, "Well, there are a lot of cute girls on the softball team. You should consider trying out. We're always looking for new players. You look like you have a lot of power," she squeezed his left bicep, "I'm sure you'd make a great pitcher." Gumi waggled her eyebrows, leaving Len wondering if there was some kind of double-meaning in that statement.
Dell raised an eyebrow but did not comment, assuming that any innuendo was purely imagined on his part.
Of course, it was Rin who had to take the conversation to another level. She had never been a shy girl, always brash and unwavering. "Of course, there are cute guys on our team too, if you swing the other way." Rin winked at Dell. "My brother Len, for example."
"Rin, what the hell?" Len exclaimed. "What are you doing? Are you trying to set me up or something?"
"Well, you don't have a girlfriend, and I never see you flirting with any girls. Then there was that guy from this morning, and it sorta seemed like he liked you, and you were flirting back a little. I mean, I don't know if my little Lenny's gay, but…" Rin yammered on until Len finally cut her off.
"You mean the guy that helped me with my notebook? Rin, I was not flirting with him!" The outraged boy shouted.
"But you were, Len!" she protested indignantly. "You were being all super sweet, and you called him onii-chan!"
"That's called being nice, not flirting!" A fiery red blush crept onto Len's cheeks. He could feel the other students in the cafeteria staring at their screaming match, and unfortunately, this time Dell was too engrossed in the twins' argument to intimidate them into looking away.
Rin opened her mouth to argue, but a deep throaty chuckle silenced anything she was going to say. Dell laughed, Rin just stared at him bewilderedly, and Len pouted at him angrily. This is not funny!
"Ha! You guys are a riot!" He patted Len on the back. Dell's uncharacteristic laughter was surprisingly contagious, and despite his anger, Len found himself joining in. Gumi, amused by the two friends, giggled, and soon Rin chorused in with her light, tinkling chuckles.
Sakine Meiko narrowed her ruby eyes at her guidance counselor. Next to her, Kamui Gakupo sneered at the man as well. "What do you mean we're not competitive college candidates?" The brunette demanded furiously. Leon, normally a very relaxed man, had to fight the urge to shrink back against his leather rolling chair.
"Well, both of you have good albeit a bit average grades. Neither of you participate in any extracurriculars," Leon stated bluntly. "Both of you are the same run-of-the-mill students that colleges see every year. Nothing makes you stand out."
"I was a member of the drama troupe for the past three years!" Gakupo argued.
"Yes, but you also got kicked out of the drama club last year," the counselor pointed out.
Meiko snorted, "Yeah, I heard about that. Something about you throwing a hissy fit when Megurine Luka stole your leading role or something?"
"I'm always the leading man in all of our school plays, but that bubblegum bitch came along and ruined everything!"
"Language," Leon sang, but his warning went ignored.
Meiko's face twisted in confusion. "Wasn't last year's play The Wizard of Oz? I don't see the great Gackpoid hiding his face in a scarecrow costume." She smirked.
"Exactly!" Gakupo shouted, completely forgetting the reason they were really there. "Originally, our play was supposed to be Hamlet, but apparently Little Miss Bubblegum was tired of doing Shakespearean tragedies and wanted to do something happy and fun!" The violet-haired teen's voice became peppy and sarcastic. "When I voiced my displeasure, they kicked me out."
"You cussed out Megurine-san!" Leon clarified. "That was not an appropriate way to 'voice your displeasure', Gakupo-kun!"
Gakupo sank down into his seat petulantly, sulking rather childishly. Meiko rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So what do we need to do to become more 'competitive'?"
"Join a club or a sport. I think the softball team…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the brunette interrupted, standing and grabbing her bag. "I've been seeing the posters about it all day. C'mon, Kamui," she gestured for the violet to rise, "Let's go sign up."
Gakupo pouted and cut his eyes accusingly at his blond guidance counselor, as though it was his fault he was kicked out of the drama troupe and now forced to play a yucky sport. With a huff, Gakupo stomped behind Meiko, slamming the door shut on his way. Leon sighed and tiredly rested his head on the desk. "Sometimes, I really hate my job."
Kaito panted as he completed his five billionth lap around the outdoor track. His gym teacher shouted at the blunette and his classmates, urging them to continue running. He had tried to explain that forcing a person whose diet consisted primarily of ice cream to run was just plain mean, but his gym teacher didn't want to hear it. They had only been outside for twenty minutes, and already Kaito was wishing he'd stayed inside and played basketball. He knew most of them would just be messing around and pretending to play anyway.
Kaito had been thinking about Len all day. The ice cream lover knew without a doubt that he had never seen anyone as beautiful as Len. He wanted to know more about the blond. What is his favorite food? What kind of music does he like? Does he have a girlfriend? More importantly, does he like ice cream?
The teenager sighed to himself. How silly of him, to be so obsessed with a boy he barely knew.
The evil gym teacher (Demon-sensei, as Kaito referred to him is his head) blew the whistle for the students to head inside for some water. Kaito made to head indoors – ah, the sweet promise of air conditioning! – but a grating voice stopped him. "Shion!"
Kaito turned around to see Demon-sensei patiently waiting for him. Kaito took his sweet time getting over there. "Yes, sensei?"
"You need to get your act together, or you're never going to pass this class," Demon-sensei barked. "I've had injured students run faster than you."
"Aren't you supposed to grade on effort, not ability?" Kaito questioned.
"You didn't make any effort, Shion! You just skipped along the track with some goofy smile on your face! What, were you thinking about your girlfriend or something?"
The blue haired teen blushed. He should've known that thinking about Len was a bad idea. "Err, yeah. Something like that."
Demon-sensei shook his head. This kid is hopeless. "Head inside with the others, Shion." Kaito speedily walked to the school's side entrance nearest the gym. He stopped at the water fountain – if only it poured out ice cream instead. As he slowly ambled back to the gym (he needed to waste as much time as possible), he caught sight of a sheet of paper posted outside of the gym door.
There were a total of ten names on the paper, all written in various colored inks and with random embellishments next to them – hearts, smiley faces, even a fish (tuna, perhaps?). All the way at the bottom, in sparkly yellow ink with a star next to it was the name Kagamine Len.
Kaito felt his heart jump excitedly in his chest. Was it possible that this was his Len, his sweet locker neighbor with the gentle eyes? Kaito frantically reached for the purple pen tied next to sign-up sheet and wrote his name carefully underneath Len's. It was a win-win situation, the way he saw it. This way he no longer had to do anything in gym and he got to spend time with a cute blond after school.
Rin bounded into the empty science classroom with Gumi skipping behind her. The softball captain hopped up onto the teacher's desk, and her friend followed suit.
"Ah, Gumi-chan, I'm so excited! I have a good feeling about this year!" the blonde sang. "I'm going to lead our team to the nationals; Len's going to find true love! Everything's going to work out perfectly!"
The green-haired girl laughed, tapping the heels of her sandals against the swirly wood of the desk. "I'm happy for Lenny. He's such a sweet guy; he deserves some lovin'." Rin nodded in agreement.
Their conversation was interrupted by two girls. "C'mon, Neru! Stop texting for a second, we're almost in the classroom!" Miku was desperately trying to push the girl into the room. Neru moved slowly, clearly distracted by the bright pink cellphone in her hands. Finally, the teal diva managed to get the blonde into the room and into a seat. The student council president smiled at Rin and Gumi. "Hi, I'm Miku." She extended her hand.
Gumi, being the impulsive person that she is, jumped off the desk and pulled Miku into a friendly hug. "Nice to meet ya, Miku-chan! I'm Gumi, and that's Rin-chan." She gestured to Rin. "She's our team captain," Gumi emphasized. Rin smiled at Miku and waved pleasantly.
"It's nice to meet you, Rin-chan. That's Neru," she pointed to her best friend who was still texting.
"Are we late?" A chipper voice asked, clearly out of breath. Len burst into the room, hair disheveled as usual, his small fist holding on tightly to the Dell's blazer as he dragged his new friend into the room. Rin's smile widened upon seeing her brother and Dell. "Nope, you're right on time, Len-Len."
"Good." Len waved to Miku and Neru (who still wasn't quite exactly paying attention). "Hi, I'm Len, and this is Dell." Miku greeted the two boys, surprised to see Dell.
"Um, is this where the softball meeting is being held?" In the doorframe stood a girl with long pale pink hair and a boy with deep ocean colored hair. "Yup!" Rin chirped, waving the newcomers in.
"Hey, it's onii-chan!" Len exclaimed, pleased to see his locker neighbor. Kaito grinned and went over to officially introduce himself.
"Ne, Gackpoid, I think this is where we need to be." Meiko stormed into the room with Gakupo. The violet-haired man narrowed his when he caught sight of Luka. "What is Miss Bubblegum doing here?"
Luka glanced at Gakupo, confused. "Bubble…gum?"
Rin gave everyone a few more minutes to become acquainted before calling the meeting to order. She stared down at the sign-up sheet she ripped off the wall before the meeting. "Hmm, I'm counting eleven names, but I'm only seeing ten faces. I think we're missing a Hatsune Mikuo?" She turned to Miku for confirmation.
The student council president nodded. "Yeah, that's my brother. He's probably just running a few minutes late. He should be here soon, though."
"Alright, then, I guess we'll go ahead and get started." Rin grinned delightedly. "Welcome, every one! My name is…"
"Wait, WAIT! I'm here, don't start yet!" A boy with short teal hair burst into the room, breathing heavily. He quickly darted into the empty seat in front of Dell. "Sorry, I'm late."
"You must be Mikuo. Don't sweat it; we just started. Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Kagamine Rin, and I'm gonna be your team captain this year! I hope you all are as excited as I am about the upcoming softball season. The season isn't officially until March, but there are a few small games this fall. It'll be a good opportunity for us to get in some practice. Now, how many of you have any softball or baseball experience?"
Gumi and Len were the only ones to raise their hands.
"Well, that's okay! We're gonna be spending every free moment from now until March practicing together and bonding. We need to all become friends. A softball team is a family; if we can't get along, we can't win." Rin paused, giving her words the opportunity to sink in. "We start practicing tomorrow after school, so we'll meet on the field dressed and ready to play!" After that, the group slowly broke apart. Miku and Neru were the first to leave, the over-achiever complaining about Neru's texting habits. Gakupo trailed after Luka, glaring daggers at the pink-haired girl's back. Mikuo skipped out of the room next, followed by Meiko. Only five remained.
Rin watched with a devious smile as Kaito and Len talked. The blonde nudged Gumi with her elbow, and both girls giggled. Dell strolled over to a window and forced it open; he lit a cigarette.
"Ne, ice cream?" Len asked incredulously. "So is that all you eat?" Len's eyes were wide as he stared at the blue-haired boy. Kaito chuckled.
"I eat other foods, Len-kun; I just mainly eat ice cream. It's so sweet and creamy." Kaito got a starry, far-away look in his eyes as he daydreamed about his beloved ice cream.
Len giggled cutely (A/N: Ohmygod, he's so freaking cute! ^_^) and poked Kaito's cheek. "Nii-chan must really love ice cream then." Kaito beamed, impulsively leaning over to ruffle Len's hair.
"I hate to break up this very touching moment," Rin teased, causing both boys to blush, "but, Len, it's about time we headed home. Besides, it's your night to cook, and we need to stop at the grocery store for some stuff."
"It's always my night to cook," Len mumble under his breath, but he nodded nonetheless. The five students slowly made their way out of the classroom. Kaito and Len walked side-by-side in the front; Gumi and Rin were behind them talking quickly in hushed whispers; Dell brought up the rear, still inhaling his precious nicotine.
Len couldn't help but feel sort of awkward. He just couldn't shake the feeling that Gumi and Rin were talking about him; more specifically him and Kaito. While he was used to his sister's plots and schemes, he couldn't say he particularly enjoyed them.
Once they reached the gate, the teammates parted ways – Rin, Len, and Dell heading in one direction, Gumi and Kaito in another.
"Hey, Dell, are you coming to the grocery store with us?" Len asked. The trio had been walking in the same direction for awhile now, leaving Len wondering if Dell lived nearby.
"Yeah, I need more cigarettes," Dell replied, holding up his empty carton. He blew smoke into air above the twins' heads and flicked ashes onto the pavement.
When they finally reached the store, Len couldn't help but sigh in relief, glad to finally be out of the heat. He flicked his sweaty bangs away from his face and removed his mandatory uniform blazer, draping it across the shopping cart. Dell followed suit, and then stalked off to procure a few items of his own.
"Ne, Rin, what do you want to eat tonight?" Len happily placed a bundle of bananas into the cart for himself and a bag of oranges for Rin. "Something that doesn't involve oranges," he hastily tacked on at the end.
Rin pouted and rolled her eyes, "Stir fry, I guess." She assisted her brother in getting the necessary vegetables for the meal – carrots, snap peas, bean sprouts, and mushrooms. The twins then headed to the sauce aisle, where they got into a five minute long argument about whether to get Thai peanut sauce or Mongolian orange sauce. In the end, Rin won, and the pair continued on to the meat area to pick up some chicken.
When they arrived at the checkout, Dell was already waiting for them. He held a small bag of candy and soda, and a fresh cigarette was propped between his lips. One of the cashiers, a young wisp of a girl, looked as though she wanted to say something but was too afraid to do so. The siblings purchased their food, and Dell swooped over to help them carry the bags. The cashier's eyes flickered between the twins and Dell disbelievingly.
And so the trio continued onward. Dell helped the blondes carry their bags, before biding his young friends goodbye and making his way home. The twins went inside. Len cooked whilst Rin teased him ceaselessly. Finally, the blondes prepared for bed.
"Today was a really good day," Rin said pleasantly. The two were sitting across from each other on Len's bed, watching the news. Both were dressed in pajamas – a white cotton camisole and orange shorts for Rin; an oversized white t-shirt and yellow shorts for Len. One of Len's feet rested in Rin's lap, as she painted his toenails.
"Today was a really random day," Len corrected, rolling his wide blue eyes. In the corner of the room, a black oscillating fan was powered up, blowing soft blond hair into Len's face every time it made a rotation.
Rin snorted. "Yeah, I guess it was, but those are the best kind of days to me." She twisted the cap onto the small bottle of nail polish, then leaned back to admire her handiwork. "Looking good," she boasted, eyes glittering at the sight of her brother's shimmering amber toenails. Rin reached for the remote and cut off the television. "Get some sleep, Lenny. Tomorrow, it's the beginning of our softball adventure!"
"Yay," Len parroted sarcastically as he gave Rin a quick kiss on the cheek. Rin skipped off to her room, turning out the light as she went. Len snuggled deep into the covers, mumbling to himself before finally slipping into dreams.
"Tomorrow is definitely going to be an interesting day."
A/N: Longest chapter I have ever written in my life! I apologize if that chapter felt a little disjointed (it felt so awkward to me!). The next chapter flows a little bit better and I already like it much more than I like this one, and it's not even finished! I'm almost done with chapter 2 so it should be up soon!
Thank you for reading and please review!
SEE YA NEXT TIME!