It was December the 24th, and Japan was having a white Christmas. For once, instead of the dingy gray snow or steady drizzle that normally afflicted Tokyo in December, there were fluffy white banks of snow lining the sidewalks and streets, making all of the shop-fronts and even the houses look like gingerbread models. Until yesterday, it had been doubtful that they'd get any snow at all in the city, but when the first commuters woke up before dawn on the 24th, they woke up to a literal winter wonderland.
The snow hadn't been around long enough to be touched by the smog and dust of Tokyo's cars, so it still lay around like a white coverlet, undisturbed wherever the snow-piles hadn't been jumped in by some excited school-kid. In keeping with the orderly nature of Japan, the sidewalks and streets had been duly and dutifully shoveled as soon as it was possible, and even now some streets and walkways were still being cleared, but for the most part people were able to enjoy the unusual weather just as though they were characters in something on TV.
For one young man, however, this season's holidays were far from jolly. Kagamine Len much preferred warmth to cold, and right now he'd been out and about in the city for the past five hours, racing frantically from shop to shop in search of the perfect Christmas cake and finding each and every bake shelf bare. Well, he'd been racing in the beginning, and towards the middle, but with each store whose owners grinned apologetically, Len was finding it harder and harder to muster up the energy.
Not that the desperation was diminishing, mind. If anything, it was increasing by the minute. But it was still snowing, dammit, and he was cold, and no place had that stupid cake in stock!
Pausing for a moment in his trudge over the slick sidewalk, Len leaned against the closest wall, yet another bakery that was closed for the day. Behind him, the icy wall ate through the back of his coat, but he tried to ignore it as he glared moodily up at the dark-gray sky.
'Maybe,' he thought, 'Rin won't mind not having it? I mean, geez, waiting 'til this late...' But almost as soon as he thought it, Len knew that wasn't an option. After all, he was the one who'd screwed up and not thought to plan ahead; Rin had actually asked for one back in the summertime.
Well, not ASKED per se, but she'd said she wanted one. And...
The summer sun was still beating down hot on the two young bodies lying by the stream, spread-eagled on the warm grass and blue eyes closed against the sun's glare. But despite the balmy, slightly-sticky weather surrounding them, Kagamine Rin suddenly opened her eyes, smiled, and said "You know what? I hope I get a Christmas cake this year."
"Uh... What?" 'Nice one,' Len berated himself, as he opened his own eyes and propped himself up on one elbow to look at Rin in bewilderment. "It's the middle of August, Rin... What's this about Christmas cakes now?"
"Well, I just thought... it'd be nice." Rin glanced up at Len with a cheeky grin, then mirrored his action to prop herself up on her elbow, so that they were eye to eye. "I mean, I'll be fifteen, and that's about the time a girl ought to get a Christmas cake, right?" Rin giggled, her free hand plucking a long-stemmed flowering weed and rolled the pale-green stem between her fingertips. "You know."
"Aah." That noncommittal noise out of the way, Len's eyes dropped to the grass as well, and he began idly tugging blades of grass from the turf beneath them, sure that the faint redness spreading over his cheeks was just the result of the sun.
"So, uh, is there..." Not a choke, nope, not at all. "... anyone you... You know."
Rin blinked, then managed to decipher Len's stammering and nodded with a bright smile, the tips of her bow bobbing with her movement. "Yeah. But, I... Okay, I'll tell you, but you gotta promise not to tell, okay?"
"Um... Yeah." And Len gave a brief nodded in acknowledgment, then immediately suffered an increased case of sunburn as Rin leaned in, her lips just an inch or so away from Len's ear.
"I really, really want a Christmas cake from Kaito-niisan."
Well, thought Len, half-triumphantly, she wasn't going to be getting that cake from Kaito... but the half-grin on Len's face immediately faded as he recalled just how devastated Rin looked, when she knocked on his door a week ago and quietly confided to him that Miku had told her that Meiko had let it slip that... Well, in short, Kaito was planning a Very Special Christmas for Miku and himself, and Rin did her best not to cry as Len pulled her into a hug and mentally turned the air as blue as Kaito's hair.
So, while Rin wasn't getting her Christmas cake from Kaito, Len wasn't about to let her Christmas be ruined altogether. (Especially considering the fact that since that day, she hadn't even been able to watch those ads on TV touting Christmas as 'the season for romance'... and there were a LOT of ads.)
Pushing himself away from the wall, Len adjusted his scarf with a determined expression, although it was half-obscured by his cap. He'd either get her one of those damn cakes or freeze to death trying... and Len could only hope that Rin wouldn't mind it if the cake came from her brother instead of her crush.
'What makes that guy so cool, anyway?' he thought, as he hastened down the steps to the subway; he'd heard there were still some bakeries in Shibuya that might, MIGHT, still be trying to get rid of their Christmas cake stock. 'I mean, geez... Kaito-niisan isn't THAT great...'
And, for the entirety of the train-ride, which was on an almost entirely empty train, that formed the essential basis of Len's thoughts. By the time it was pulling into the station, Len had decided that it was entirely okay to blame Kaito for it all, because if Kaito hadn't gone and done whatever he'd done to get Rin liking him, Rin wouldn't have been crushed when Kaito went for Miku and Len wouldn't be running around Tokyo like a character out of a shojo manga.
Len did his utmost not to wonder what exactly made Kaito likable to Rin, because then it inevitably led to him wondering if it was at all possible to replicate that in himself. Len also tried not to think too much about the manga comparison, because in those girly things the guy was always running himself ragged to make a girl happy although she didn't know how much the guy really liked her, and Len didn't think the comparison really worked. He was just trying to cheer Rin up because she was his sister, after all... He just didn't want her to spend the holidays feeling like someone didn't love her.
That was it, really. That was all.
A few minutes later, Len was staring at another 'closed' sign with something like disbelief on his face, before yanking his hat off his head and doing his best to rip it in half. "Can't a guy just do something NICE for the person he loves anymore?!?" he demanded of the air, before suddenly clapping a gloved hand over his mouth, now surmounted by wide eyes. Loved like a sister, is what he meant! For a person that he loved like his sister, and not like, uh... Someone you would normally give Christmas cake to... ?
"You know," said a voice behind him, "there's still that bakery at Sensoji, if you're determined." That was a familiar voice, and Len forced himself to calm down within a span of three seconds before turning abruptly to face Kaito, having to look up and hating it sincerely. "I'm sure whoever you want that cake for would be happy with one from Asakusa."
"..." Len looked at Kaito wordlessly, taking in the number of designer-labeled bags piled high in the other Vocaloid's arms; apparently, he was on his way to Miku, wherever they'd agreed to meet. Len crossed his arms over his chest, not quite able to question how Kaito just happened to be RIGHT THERE to witness his outburst, and Kaito only smiled above his long white muffler.
"Tell Rin-chan Merry Christmas for me and Miku, okay?"
Len stared, completely floored, as Kaito nodded in departure and took his leave. Len didn't stare for long, though; he had a train to catch!
Twenty minutes later, Len was pelting up the wide lane, lined on both sides by mostly-closed shops and souvenir-stands. Under most circumstances it would be filled, both with merchants and with tourists who were coming to visit the shrine, but despite the picturesque snow and sparkling landscape, all Len was focused on was scanning the stalls for an available bakery... and, Kami-sama willing, at least one with an available Christmas cake.
Finally, near the end of the line, he saw a classy-looking storefront with an overhanging that read "Plaire," and although it looked like it was in the process of closing up, there was a single Christmas cake still left in the glass window. While Len could take sweet snacks and he could leave them, he didn't expect the wave of relief that washed over him at the sight of the white, fruit-topped cake.
"I WOULD LIKE TO BUY THAT CAKE, PLEASE." Len was aware that he must have sounded slightly desperate, and he probably looked the worse for wear given his mad dash in Tokyo, around Tokyo, and to the temple; also, jabbing a finger towards the cake and waving a wad of cash was probably enough to get you condemned at any other time of the year. Thankfully, the elderly man behind the counter seemed to be in the Christmas spirit, as he only smiled and nodded.
"That will be 3,671 yen, young man." And Len, determined not to lose the prize now that he'd finally found it, half-threw the money down on the counter. "Would you like it boxed, sir?" asked the shop-man, who was also probably the baker, and Len nodded.
"Yes please, er... sir."
It seemed like hours before the cake was ready, but it was probably actually worth it; the package the old man presented was beautifully wrapped in red foil paper and gold ribbon, spangled with stars, and Len accepted the box as the man slid it over the counter-top with a bow. "Please enjoy it, young sir," said the man, with a wise and knowing smile. "And I hope your young miss enjoys it as well."
Another blush colored Len's face, as he told himself it was just windburn or something from the cold, as he picked up the box with both hands and was careful not to let it tilt. His young miss? He didn't... Rin wasn't...
... Well, then again. Maybe she was?
Len smiled, half-beaming at the elderly man across from him, and nodded back over the cash-register. "I'm sure she will, sir. Merry Christmas!
Len had forgotten one thing, as he'd set out from home that afternoon; the Christmas season, at least in Japan, came during that special time of year where large groups of people went out and drank large amounts of alcohol. Company parties, friends, family and extended family, if you were old enough to drink then it was likely that you were out doing so, and it seemed like almost all of those groups were purposely trying to get in Len's way. Assorted people, in varying states of inebriation, were now streaming out into the trains and the streets, and Len's heart nearly stopped on more than a dozen occasions as one or or more good-natured drunks collided with him in his path. Len wound up shepherding his precious charge through the streets like the Ark of the Covenant, and towards the end of his trek he was snarling at several overly-exuberant passers-by who abruptly decided that they would find someone else with whom to spread their Christmas cheer.
Somehow, perhaps through another Christmas miracle, Len made it back to their place without any further incidents, and managed to juggle the cake-box on one hand as he unlocked the front door and let himself in. The first thing Len noticed, as he closed the door behind him, was the pleasant not-freezing temperature within the house; setting the box on a low table near the front door,
Len unwound the scarf from around his neck with a stifled sigh, draping the dripping length of wool over the hat-rack and following it up with his hat and winter coat. The second thing that Len noticed, as he picked up the box again and proceeded cautiously into the living-room, was that it was unusually, forebodingly quiet. And dark. He took this, correctly, as a bad sign.
Curled up on the couch, he could make out the form of his sister in the dim light, cast only by the TV, which was on the final episode of some Christmas-themed miniseries that had gotten heavy promotion during November. Rin was sniffling into the blanket spread over her legs, which were tucked up under her as she blinked at the screen and watched Hiroyuki confess his feelings to Ayako in the middle of a snowflake-filled street. Len's heart sank as he looked on the scene, putting the box down on a tall, narrow table next to the vase the table held, moving over to one of the candles on the end-table and lighting it with a flick of his lighter. At the orange candle-glow, Rin jumped in her seat, automatically hitting 'Mute' on the remote and turning in the direction of the light. Seeing Len, Rin hastily brushed away the tears still lingering on her eyelids and smiled brightly.
"Hey, you. I've been wondering where you got to!"
Len managed a smile, although it was softer than his usual grins; he couldn't quite bring himself to his usual energy, wondering how long Rin had been sitting there in the dark, putting herself through the misery of watching a fairy-tale romance that was so different from her own situation. Instead, he just lit three more candles on the end-table, part of a centerpiece that had been sitting there for longer than they could remember; Len was fairly sure that they'd been there since the Vocaloids had moved in, as he moved across the room to light the cluster of candles on the other end-table.
"Just, uh... out. You know, to see the city at Christmas." Len paused, glancing up at Rin as she pulled the blanket up to her chest, blinking. "How long have you... I mean, you've been here all this time?"
Rin nodded, looking a little embarrassed all the same. "Everyone else had plans..." she said simply, and the little hitch in her voice made Len's heart ache in response. "So... I figured I'd just stay in."
"Yeah, okay." 'Yeah, that's sympathetic,' thought Len, wincing at his own inability to word anything correctly. What was wrong with him? How hard was it, really, to just say 'I hate that you're sad on Christmas, here I got you this!'
Five minutes later, after hastily snatching up the box from the table, Len was presenting it to Rin with both hands, his eyes busily observing the play of light and shadow on the ceiling, thankful that the candle's glow should obscure the flush on his cheeks.
"Rin, I hate that you're sad on Christmas! Kaito is a smiley jerk and Miku isn't as cute as you, and here, I got you this!"
... Okay, so that was a little more than he was planning on saying, and Len was pretty sure that he was bright red, but he felt Rin's fingertips brush his as she accepted the box from him, and Rin's voice was not incredulous, not irate, but only quietly confused and ever-so-slightly wondering.
"... Thank you, but..." Len ventured a glance back down, and saw Rin looking up at him with wide eyes and an unreadable expression. "I don't have your gift right now."
"This isn't really your present," mumbled Rin, as the box settled into Rin's lap; to give his hands something to do, Rin interlaced them behind his back and tried not to fidget as though he were on trial. "It's just, kinda..." A cough. "Just open it, okay?!"
"Well, you don't have to get huffy!" retorted Rin, their typical arguing banter back as she pulled the ribbon open and began to tear through the paper, revealing a plain white box. "I mean," she continued, popping open the top along the seams, "it's not like..." Looking back down at the contents of the box, Rin's eyes widened and her words trailed off into silence.
Nestled in the box was the Christmas cake that Len had gone through so much to get, coated in pristine white frosting smoothly iced over, the sides studded with mandarin orange slices and jelly limes. Atop the cake, large red strawberries looked suitably juicy and luscious around the cake's edges, woven into an intricate pattern along with candied pineapple and more slices of mandarin orange. Bedecking it all was a plastic stand-up, "Merry Christmas!" written in gold and white English script, and Rin looked up with a blush that almost matched the one Len was currently sporting.
"Len... ?"
"Um... Merry Christmas, Rin." Len was trying very, very hard to resist the urge to flee; he wasn't sure, now that he thought about it, if it was even possible to give someone something like this without meaning what it meant, and if he was going to be honest with himself, he was actually hoping that Rin would understand what he was trying to say. Even if Rin couldn't return his feelings, if Rin at least didn't hate him after tonight, then...
But it was beyond his expectations, when he felt Rin's soft hands wrapping around one of his, giving him a light tug towards her and the sofa. Rin was looking up at him, teardrops glistening in her eyes once more, but these were tears of happiness, and Len was mortified to realized that the warm, wet feeling he was experiencing were identical tears slipping down his cheeks.
"Well, come on," smiled Rin, giving Len's hand a soft squeeze. "You wanna share?"
"Yeah," smiled Len, relieved that he didn't have to say much else as he took a seat next to his sister. Taking a chance and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Len experienced a heart-stopping, almost sublime thrill pass through him as Rin leaned into his embrace. "But we don't have forks or anything..."
"That's no problem," assured Rin, plucking a strawberry from the snowy icing and half-turning towards Len, holding the fruit up to Len's lips. "We'll just feed each other. Okay?"
"O-Okay," agreed Len, and his stammered response in no way managed to convey just how much he appreciated that suggestion. As he let Rin feed him the juicy berry, feeling the sweet fruit burst in his mouth and run down his throat, Len wished very, very hard that the others wouldn't come home until tomorrow. Or, maybe, after the holidays altogether... ?
In the TV screen, muted though it was, Ayako and Hiroyuki embraced amidst a flurry of flakes; no doubt, if the sound wasn't off, the background music would be soaring. But as the scene faded to black, Len didn't notice at all, intent on returning the favor and watching a slice of mandarin orange disappear between Rin's soft, smiling lips. If he had been aware of the TV however, he wouldn't have traded that overproduced Christmas for the one he was having right now.
Author's Notes: Yeah, not based on a vid or anything; just a little Christmas ficlet, cute and fluffy, that's sort-of based on canon Vocaloids? I've suddenly realized the amount of semi-incest it's got... ^^; Also, this was a little rushed, but I hope you like it, and I promise I'll get back to the angsty drama soon! XD