Far on the other side of town, Len wiped off the sweat accumulating on his forehead. He looked around him. Somehow, the beach was still in view, and yet he felt like he'd searched the entire town for the ice cream parlor. Sure, he'd found one, but Gakupo and Kiyoteru had been nowhere in sight. It couldn't have been the one they worked at. At least he didn't think so.
With a sigh of defeat, he plopped down onto the bench stationed right outside of a small store. He stared up gloomily into the sky. Why did it have to be so hot? At least he was back in shorts and a T-shirt, but the weather wasn't helping. He felt like he was going to faint.
"Excuse me, are you feeling okay?"
Len leaned his head back against the bench even more to see a girl standing there, a worried look on her face. He suddenly realized hanging his head upside down off the bench must not have been the most polite thing to do and quickly got up off the seat. He mumbled, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a bit hot, don't you think?"
"Yeah," the girl agreed, brushing a strand of teal hair out of her face. "Do you need some water?"
Staring into her bright blue eyes, Len couldn't help but nod. Suddenly, his throat felt dry, as if he had just realized how thirsty he was. The girl motioned for Len to follow her into the small shop.
It was a neat and tidy shop. A small counter stood in one corner, a cashier on top. The walls were lined with shelves filled with goods, another column of items dividing the store in two. The girl went into the back near a big curtain and brought Len a bottle of water. He reached into his pocket for some money and realized he'd left his wallet in his locker back in the café. Sheepishly, he stared at his feet and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have money to pay for it."
"Don't worry about it. It's on the house," the girl said, holding out the bottle of water, her face expressionless. Len nervously took the bottle and took a drink. Water had never tasted so good.
"So what were you doing out here?" the girl asked. "Not many people come out here."
"Oh, I was…looking for something," Len replied. He studied the girl. Teal pigtails tied right above her shoulders, a nice white summer dress fit with white sandals. Her skin was milky white, like she'd never been under the sun. He was suddenly reminded of his conversation with Rin.
"Um, are you Rin's friend Luka?" Len asked tentatively.
The girl tilted her head slightly to the left, her eyebrows raised. For some reason, Len felt like he sensed a disappointed expression on her face. She said, "I think you have the wrong person then. My name is Miku. Hatsune Miku."
"Oh," Len mumbled, staring back at his feet. He wasn't good with talking to girls. He felt flustered. To think he could be so stupid and ask such a dumb question. After a moment of awkward silence, Len suddenly remembered that the girl had introduced herself. He hastily said, "Uh, my name's Kagamine Len. Thanks for the water."
"No problem," Miku replied. "Do you need help finding the place you were looking for?"
"No, it's fine," Len muttered. "You've already helped me enough."
"But it wouldn't be good, would it? If you got lost again," Miku replied, a smile on her face. Len had never seen her smile before since he'd met her. She really had a beautiful smile. She really did.
Before Len could reply, someone called out from the back of the store, "Hey, Miku! Who ya talking to?"
"A customer. You can go back to sleep, Lily," Miku replied.
"Why should I?" the woman grumbled, appearing from the curtain in the back. Her long blonde hair trailed over her shoulders as she rubbed an eye sleepily, the other one glancing around the store, blue and drowsy. She was in a loose tank top and a miniskirt as she padded over to Miku barefoot.
"Lily, you're going to scare our customer away," Miku said in a joking tone, her eyes twinkling as she looked over at Len. For some reason, it made him feel very flustered.
Lily gave Miku a glare before shifting her eyes on Len. She growled, "Do I scare you?"
"No, not really," Len replied, glancing away. He was uncomfortable under Lily's stare, though most of it was still from the unexpected look he'd gotten from Miku.
"Hmph," Lily snorted. She turned around and headed back behind the curtain, calling out, "Fine then. I'll change and help you out in the store."
Once she'd disappeared, Miku gave Len an apologetic look. She said, "Sorry about that. Lily's a bit grumpy when she's half-asleep."
"I heard that!" Lily called out from behind the curtain, the sound of a door shutting quickly following.
Len and Miku just stood there in the shop in silence for a few moments, staring at the curtain where Lily had gone. Without warning, the two of them suddenly burst into laughter. Len didn't even know what was funny about what had just happened, but it just made him want to laugh.
Miku wiped a tear from her eye and said, "Yeah, she's grumpy. Sorry if she surprised you."
"No, not at all," Len replied, trying to get himself back under control and failing. He asked, "Does she work here too?"
"Yeah, but part time," Miku answered. "She's trying to be a singer, you see. She doesn't get a lot of sleep, so I like to give her an afternoon shift. You can usually find her in the park at night."
"Does she perform there?" Len asked, his eyes widening a little in surprise. He would never have thought that Lily, the woman he'd just met, could be a singer.
Miku nodded with a smile. She said, "Yeah, she's pretty good too. She usually just goes there and sings to the crowd. Are you staying in this town for long?"
Len nodded. He was working here the whole summer after all. Miku just smiled and said, "Then it'd be cool if you could go see her some day. She'd appreciate it, though she might not thank you directly."
Len fell silent, a thought suddenly striking him. He replied, "I'd be happy to go, but won't that be a bit strange?"
"How is it strange?"
"Well, I mean, we just met today, right? Isn't it strange to, you know, talk so casually with a stranger about personal stuff?" Len muttered, staring down at his feet. He didn't dare to look up, afraid that Miku might be fixing him with a strange look.
Miku just cheerfully punched Len on the shoulder. It didn't hurt, but he looked up in surprise. She said, "What are you worrying about? It's not like I asked you to go out with her or anything, did I? Not that you're Lily's type, no offense."
Len blinked a few times, staring at Miku in confusion. It didn't take long before a red tint appeared in her cheeks as she averted her eyes and said, "Uh, sorry if that was awkward. It's just, I feel really comfortable talking to you, so it just sorta came out."
Len scratched his head nervously, averting his eyes from Miku as well. A girl had never said that she'd been comfortable talking to him before. Then again, he'd never been comfortable talking to girls either. They were always making fun of him when he was back in school. They kept calling him cute and short, and a lot of them would just randomly grab onto him or pounce him. Rin once said it was because he was popular in school. Len didn't like it. He would've been much happier to be left alone to hang out with his own friends.
"So, um, would you still like to go see Lily sing?" Miku asked hesitantly, breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah, yeah, it sounds like fun," Len hastily replied, his heart beating like crazy due to his nervousness.
"Great! Lily's performing there tomorrow night, so you better be there!" Miku exclaimed with a brilliant grin on her face.
Len broke out of his daze at seeing Miku smile again. He stammered, "Wait, why does it sound like I have to go there now?"
"Water," Miku said, pointing at the half filled water bottle still in Len's hand. "You haven't paid me yet for the water."
"You said it was on the house!" Len complained, though he wasn't very annoyed.
"Well, now you can pay for it by being Lily's audience," Miku replied, her grin widening.
Len let out a sigh of defeat, though he was smiling inside. He said, "Fine, fine, I'll go. And I'll bring my friends too. Happy?"
He waved and started to head out the store. Miku's voice stopped him.
"Hey, you sure you don't need directions to wherever you're going?"
Len froze, blinked, then turned back sheepishly as he said, "Uh, yeah. Sorry for all the trouble."
"No problem," Miku replied, walking over to the counter and grabbing a piece of paper. "So where are you going?"
"Oceanside Ice Cream," Len replied, leaning over to watch Miku draw a small map of the town. She completed it in mere seconds, though the structure of the town really was simple. Len listened carefully as Miku explained how he should get there, her voice floating in his brain like a long forgotten tune. She even wrote down careful instructions for him to follow in case he forgot anything she'd just said. It was almost like Miku knew of his terrible sense of direction and horrible memory, like they hadn't met just today.
Len recalled how he'd mistaken Miku for Luka, whoever Luka was. He did remember seeing Rin talking to a teal haired girl, though that girl had had much longer hair. Much longer. And Rin had had a very serious expression on her face at the time, though Len hadn't been able to get close enough to eavesdrop.
"Um, we haven't met somewhere before, have we?" Len asked, cutting Miku off midway through a sentence.
Miku studied Len before replying, "No, I don't think so. What made you think that?"
"Nothing. Just thinking," Len mumbled, his face turning red. "Sorry, that was a stupid question wasn't it?"
"No, it's fine," Miku replied, turning back to explaining the directions. However, even Len couldn't help noticing the mellow atmosphere that was now hanging over them.
"So…I turn a left here," Len muttered to himself, glancing up and down the street before turning back to his directions. He was starting to recognize the place at least. He remembered passing these places during his search for the ice cream parlor.
Up ahead, Len saw a small magenta building at the corner of the intersection. People were coming and going from the building, holding ice cream cones with happy smiles on their faces. Len froze in his tracks, staring at the building. He knew that one. He'd even stuck his head in there once to see if Gakupo and Kiyoteru were there. They should've been working the counter if that was the ice cream parlor. Neither of them had been there, so that couldn't have been the place, right?
Tentatively, he entered the shop. A young pink haired lady was working the place, diligently handing people their orders. Len was confused why her eyes seemed to light up when she saw him.
"Len! So there you are!" the girl exclaimed, waving.
Len blinked before walking over and asking, "Um, sorry, but who are you?"
"Oh, I suppose I should've guessed you wouldn't remember me. I'm Megurine Luka, Rin's friend."
"Oh," Len muttered. What a coincidence. He was bumping into new people all over the place.
"You didn't happen to see anyone, did you?" Luka asked.
"What do you mean?" Len asked back, raising his eyebrows.
"Rin and your friends went looking for you awhile ago, since you didn't show up," Luka replied, her face expressionless.
It took a while for that thought to sink in. Slowly, Len asked, "So this is Oceanside Ice Cream?"
When Luka nodded, Len stared at her blankly, an unamused smile on his mouth. Before Luka could ask what was wrong, Len suddenly buried his head in his hands, muttering, "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
Back at the store, Miku was leaned over on the counter, her fingers drumming the countertop dreamily, her mind still wrapped up in the events of that afternoon.
"Hey, Miku, what should I do?" Lily asked, bursting her blissful bubble.
"Oh, uh, anything. We don't have customers now," Miku replied absentmindedly.
"Yeah, I can see that. You want me to go buy lunch?" Lily asked, staring at Miku with a half amused look.
"Sure, sure, do whatever you want," Miku casually replied, her mind still up in the clouds.
"Hey, Manager Missy, you're sorta out of it today. Something happen? You get enough sleep?" Lily asked, waving her hand up and down before Miku's face. If she was trying to annoy Miku, she was succeeding.
"You should be the one to talk," Miku sighed. "How much sleep did you get last night? Four hours? Haven't you heard that sleep is good for your skin?"
"Only for you," Lily joked, poking Miku's cheeks. "Besides, I don't get dreamy during the day. Come on, tell me. You've got your looks on that blonde boy that came here back then, don't you?"
Somehow, Miku managed not to blush. She mumbled, "No, I don't."
"Oh, so you do!" Lily laughed, her eyes dancing with delight. "Little Miku's gonna get a boyfriend!"
"No, I'm not!" Miku shouted after Lily as she skipped outside to buy some lunch. With a sigh, Miku collapsed back onto the counter. She didn't understand how a "no" in Lily's mind meant a "yes."
"Kagamine Len, huh," Miku muttered under her breath, staring up at the ceiling as she watched the fan spin round and round.
It was fate, she guessed, that they had met today. Maybe Lily was right, that she did like Len, if only a little, but other emotions outweighed those feeble, lingering feelings.
Miku sighed and sat down on a stool before plopping on the counter, burying her head into her arms. Her voice just a whisper in the wind, she mumbled, "So he really doesn't remember…"
A/N: I thought up some more tragic pasts… Typical me.
Anyone have any happy animes/movies to recommend? I need to learn to be happy and optimistic XP
The irony of writing a summer story in the middle of winter….
Well, happy holidays everyone! And review please! Thanks!