Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid.

A/N: My {first} fic, I hope you enjoy. (Revised as of January 11, 2016)

Please take time to read this, my dear readers (Also posted as the latest chapter of the original Promises and Heart Break).

Regarding this fanfiction: Words cannot express how sorry I am for leaving this hanging, for the past three years, no less. My muse had died somewhere along the way, and school has been nothing but a living hell these past years.

That being said, my muse may have died, but I am very much attached to this fanfiction, as it is the very first one I wrote for this website. My heart wouldn't allow me to just leave it there forever, so I decided to revise the story after these three years.

I will not be abandoning this story, but there will be changes.

There will be plot changes, yes. I realized when I was rereading my work that there were a lot of plot holes that would have made themselves known had I continued the work as it is. Also the work is very awkward. Like hella awkward conversations.

Will it be RinxLen? Yes, most definitely yes, because one can never move on from being a RinLen fan no matter the circumstances.

How different will it be? I cannot make any specifics as to how different the revisions will be, but they will be there. Please be patient with me as I work out the chinks in this story, and turn it into something worthy of being called a fanfiction bearing the RinxLen pairing.

To my readers: I have left you guys hanging for so long, and I cannot apologize enough for that. You guys have always been inspiring me and you have my gratitude for that. I hope that this revision of Promises and Heart Break turns into something that you guys will still enjoy.

Thank you very much for your patience and support. I hope that you enjoy this version of the original story

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Promises and Heart Break

Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories

Prologue

.

Their meeting was something that fate had a hand in, she decided. The monochromatic world she lived in burst into color the moment he clumsily stumbled into her life. Earnest and kind, she never regretted meeting him, never regretted loving him despite the subsequent pain and loneliness that accompanied it.

If pain and loneliness were part of the price she had to pay to be by his side, then she would gladly offer payment, over and over again. She owed him that much, and she was willing to give more, should the need arise.

He was her only reprieve from the weight and pressure of her family, the only one who unconditionally offered her care and support, who saw her for who she was. She loved him, dearly. He had effortlessly created a niche in her heart, unknowingly owning her heart.

But that didn't matter.

Because as much as she loved him, she understood well-enough that he would never be able to grow to love her, not in the same way that her feelings for him flourished.

The one constant in her life, Len Kagamine, she only wondered how long she had until she would have to surrender him to someone else and fade into the background, where she belongs.

.

(Turns out, she didn't have to wait so long)

.

His first words to her were: "Um, you play the violin!"

(Not for the first time in his life, Len Kagamine wishes he had said something a little bit more intelligent than the obvious).

The girl, having been in the middle of a piece, paused in her practice to turn to her unexpected spectator. He seemed to be around her age, if a bit on the short side (not that she had any right to judge, she was rather short herself, too), with blonde hair that shone brighter under the afternoon sun (if that was possible, and for a moment, she felt envious because his hair was a deeper shade of gold than hers) and soft, cerulean eyes that roamed around the scenery before stopping to look at her, creating eye contact.

Noticing her intense gaze (though the girl was unaware of how piercing her stare was), the boy broke away first and shifted from one leg to another, biting his lip. From the girl's point of view, he seemed to be regretting something, either his obvious statement, or the fact that he disturbed her practice.

And well, she supposed she could use the break. The girl continued to look at him. She was waiting for him to say something more, like why was he here? How was he here? But he only continued his prolonged silence and awkward shuffling.

Something clicked in her mind.

Ah, maybe it was because she hadn't replied to him yet? She hadn't meant to be rude (In her mind, she could hear her father's loop of lectures on etiquette); the boy honestly took her by surprise when he had spoken to her, in a nearly there stutter (in the back of her mind, she wondered if it was something he was trying to condition himself to stop doing, a bad habit to be broken).

How cute.

Seeing as the boy had no intention to follow up on his initial statement, and that she had pushed off practice enough, she eventually broke the silence between them with a simple "That I am," catching the boy's surprised face in passing, and resumed to practice, back turned to him. Her teacher would have a fit if she failed to learn this piece by sundown.

Sundown, always by sundown. It was surprising she hadn't broken her wrist yet.

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

The boy had taken a spot behind her, his back nesting comfortably against a tree trunk, she noticed, an hour later, when she had paused to apply resin to her bow. He had his eyes closed, almost like he was dozing off for an afternoon nap.

(It took her a little while more to realize that he was actually sleeping).

She honestly found it strange, that a boy around her age would be wandering in this part of the park, unsupervised, when it was secluded during this time of day.

Ah, well, it was usually secluded at all times because this was her family's private park, as silly as it sounded. Her family had a terrible habit of flaunting off their wealth at every chance that presented itself. Owning a park seemed to be something that had appealed to her mother, six months ago, at the most recent opening of a company branch. And her father was always quick to indulge her mother's whims, hence her eventually (immediately) buying this once public park, renovating and renaming it, turning it into their own.

H. Central Park.

(Of course, as soon as her mother had purchased the enchanting piece of land, she had forgotten about it in favor of building a new house in Florence).

(Her mother had always been quick to dismiss things, tuck them away and forget about them. Because things that do escape her fancy /donotliveuptoherexpectations/ are forgotten and cast aside like old playthings).

(Like her).

That being said, she could sympathize with this park. She was always here, everyday, after her lessons /whycouldn'tshebemorelikeherbrother/, dropped off by one of the family's chauffeurs at around eleven in the morning, to be picked up at precisely five in the afternoon, and the same process repeats itself.

She found that she liked routine, really. It was familiar. It was safe.

It was comforting.

But, as she studied the boy against the tree trunk (her sleeping companion murmured something in his sleep and moved slightly. She wondered if she should wake him up because he would definitely feel sore if he slept longer in that position), she could say that he was definitely a breach in her routine.

She didn't know how to feel about that, honestly.

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

His name is Len Kagamine and he is eight, like her.

At least, that's what she gathered from his spluttering introductions (when she had woke him up and he had looked mortified and ended up stuttering a few times before he actually picked up the words to communicate properly).

He was sorry that he disturbed her but he was scared when he couldn't see his mother anymore because he was busy chasing a little blue bird. The moment he heard her play, his feet took off on their own, and he found himself running towards the sound her violin made. And oh no, sorry were you practicing? I am so sorry, really I just. I don't know how to talk to people properly. Ahh, I'm talking too much again. He was lost, too. His mother was probably worried sick about him already.

He spoke faster than she could blink. Amazing.

"…Are you lost by any chance, too?"

The question he asked her made her want to laugh but she restrained herself just in time. Her lips quirked up to the side and she looked at the wide expanse of the land.

He was lost, in the maze that was this park, all by accident.

She was here because she /herparentsdon'twanttoseeher/ wanted to be forgotten.

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

She led him out of the park not too long after his hasty introductions.

She hadn't bothered replying to him, already considering the fact that she would never see him again.

It was nearing five in the afternoon already, and she guessed she should alleviate this boy's mother's worries.

(A worrying mother is a mother that loves, she had read in a book once when she was younger. When she had read that line, she thought of her own mother, who worried and worried and worried about how to beat Kasane-san's mother in terms of the jewelry they owned, and the number of lands they had, and the number of awards that their children gained).

(She eventually realized what wasn't written in the story, "A worrying mother /frettingoverherchildren/ is a mother that loves"-

No wonder she found the line irreconcilable with her own mother).

The boy was lucky, she thought, as he ran towards a slim figure in the distance, that he had a mother who worried over him. A mother, who upon seeing the crown of her little boy's head, rushed to him and embraced him tightly, who showered him with kisses and brushed his hair back.

(She thought back again to her own mother, who had slapped her hand away after she had requested to be carried. She had never asked again since).

(Was this jealousy?)

She turned away from the scene, retreating into the confines of the park, swallowed by the tall firs and the looming trees.

(She didn't want to find out).

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

"Len, please don't ever run away like that again!" His mother scolded lightly, hugging her precious boy.

"'M sorry, Mama!" he said, twisting away slightly. "The girl playing the violin helped me out of that park." As if that were a reminder, the boy, having almost forgotten that he had a companion with him, turned to her excitedly only to find no one standing there.

His mother looked at the entrance of the park curiously, and the set of guards that were there.

H. Central Park.

"Len, this place is private property! It's a good thing that that nice girl brought you out."

Private property?

Len didn't really understand his Mama's words, but he knew he had to thank the girl for showing him out, even if she didn't really talk to him.

"But I have to thank her Mama! She showed me the way out. I thought that maybe she was lost like me, Mama, but she knew the maze like she had always been there, I want to become her friend, Mama…"

As Len rambled on, his mother gazed contemplatively at the park once more, murmuring a soft thank you to whoever it was who brought her son out of the maze of a park.

Unbeknownst to them, a white car drove past them unhurriedly, heading towards the mansion not too far from the park.

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

Considering that he slipped through her family's set of guards, she'd have to say they were rather incompetent.

Or that Kagamine-san was quite clever.

(But then again the park was ridiculously large).

She would have not minded, really, that Kagamine-san had continuously visited her here (He had dropped by continuously after their initial encounter and she found him integrating himself in her routine). But she was rather worried of the fact that he had managed to visit her here without the guards noticing because well, they were guards and if they couldn't keep this boy from entering their private garden, how would they fare against other people?

She sighed, imperceptibly and brought out her violin again. Kagamine-san chattered amiably, telling her about his neighbor's pet dog, and his father's newest coffee machine, and his mother's cookies-

(All his stories were so terribly domestic that she had to think back to her own family. When was the last time they had sat down to eat together? She couldn't quite remember).

"-And it's amazing because I didn't know that-"

She gave him a glance before gazing at her music sheet.

(This was certainly something new).

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

Two hours into practice, Len had his eyes closed again.

Interestingly enough, his mouth had snapped shut the moment he had seen her apply resin to her bow. While she hadn't really minded his chatter (she was rather talented in tuning things out), his silence was something she appreciated too.

As she allowed herself to fall into familiar territory, she realized that she didn't mind Kagamine-san's presence.

"I want to become friends with you," Kagamine-san announced, out of the blue. He shrunk back into himself, almost suddenly right after. "I-I mean, if that's okay with you?"

She turned to look at him with questioning eyes.

Friends?

In the back of her mind, she could remember the other children in her neighborhood.

("I want to be friends /becauseyou'rerich/ with you!")

("You have to be my friend /becauseI'msureI'dgettobrag/.)

They spoke to her as if she owed them that kind of friendship (partnership? How do you call something like that, really?)

Safe enough to say that she didn't end up befriending a lot of people, most of them were her parents' business associates' children and more often than not were spoiled beyond comprehension. Others became distant acquaintances, but nothing more than that.

(Aren't friends just people who use you? People you use in return?)

(Aren't friends just people who will eventually betray you? People you will betray in return?)

"I-is that okay with you?" Kagamine-san asked again, now looking unsure of himself, and effectively breaking her train of thought. She gave him a long gaze before closing her eyes.

(He was the first person who asked her quite earnestly to become his friend, and actually wanted to hear her opinion on the matter).

(Aren't friends just people who use you? People you use in return?)

(Aren't friends just people who will eventually betray you? People you will betray in return?)

Maybe that was why she hadn't bothered interacting with people.

(But maybe she could take a chance. If she crashed and burned, ah, well, she had no one but herself to blame).

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

"I mean, if you don't want to-I-"

"I don't mind."

The boy was obviously surprised, his expression akin to a deer in headlights kind of expression and she found it rather endearing.

She was surprised, too.

"My name is Erin." She finally replied, inclining her head in a short greeting.

Kagamine-san blinked once, twice, not expecting her to actually respond to his queries. Because she had ignored him for the past hour (and Len had been feeling a little like a neglected house pet), he was about to give up.

But she had responded and he felt really happy.

"Oh! Uhh, nice to meet you! Thank you very much for helping me out that day!" Cheeks flushed and smile very bright, he looked at his new friend.

She quirked her lips. "Nice to meet you too, Kagamine-san."

(Because he couldn't bear the lonely look that Erin had in her eyes the first time they had met).

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

And their friendship blossomed from there, as peaceful and gradual as the blossoming cherry blossoms and the first points of spring.

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

That was the third piece she was starting on today.

He rested his back against the tree bark, eyes closed, listening to the pleasant sound that the violin emitted. The violin would stop at random intervals, repeat the others, and at some point, start the entire piece all over again.

"Hey, is your teacher really that strict that you have to learn three new pieces by sunset?" He asked her, eyes still closed. He heard the violinist pause, at the same time that papers shuffled.

"Stricter than you would expect, because I have two more to learn after these three." She replied, after a little while. Because his eyes were still closed, he imagined that her lips were quirked to the side-that was the kind of expression she made whenever she couldn't decide whether or not she should be amused or annoyed by something.

"Wow, that's some Spartan training that he's making you go through." He commented in slight awe and worry (Why isn't the teacher thinking of the fact that she could damage her wrists and neck at the kind of practice he is making her go through?). He opened his eyes and found her flipping through the music score with mild interest in front of him.

"I don't mind, really." She assured him, fingers tracing the notes on the score.

"What if you hurt your wrist?" He countered lightly, moving away from the tree bark and sitting close to her. She hummed noncommittally.

"Sensei would berate me for the trouble caused by the injury, and would make me practice twice as hard once it heals fully." She declared, and finding what she was looking for in the score, stood up again and proceeded to add resin to her bow. "It's all right, Len. I'm used to this kind of method that Sensei implements."

Sometime, in the course of their friendship, she had stopped referring to him as "Kagamine-san" and instead simply called him Len. Len was pleased at the development because it was really awkward whenever she called him that. He was glad that she dropped the honorifics, really.

He had eventually picked up the habit of calling her "Rin", something he initially thought she would berate him for. She had only blinked, but responded with a quaint "Yes?" to his nickname to her. He considered that a good sign.

(He wouldn't know how much that nickname meant to the girl).

In a matter of minutes, she was back again to practicing, this time the transition between notes much smoother. Len let out a small sigh, before returning to his position by the tree bark, once again closing his eyes for the private concert that his friend unwittingly provided.

He never mentioned it to her, but whenever she would play her violin, he would feel a great distance rifting them apart. As if this was one side of her, and the one performing was another. But, strangely, at the same time, he could feel that she was more honest whenever she played the instrument.

(There were things that Rin would probably never tell him, he knew. But that was okay. He liked Rin. If she was happier that way, he would never force her to tell him).

-Arc I: Irreplaceable Memories-

As she finished the piece, Rin simultaneously prayed that these peaceful days would last.