Hey guys! It's HikariTheNormaller, back with another chapter!
I'm sorry, but in this story I don't feel like I can make Rinto a playboy, I always just imagined him as a sweet and sassy guy.
And I thought, well, a sweet and sassy guy needs a sweet and sassy girl, so...
Apologies?
I don't own anything except the fictional setting and Ophelia.
Oh, Lia-chan...
Rinto sighed as he hung up the phone.
He should be glad that she was making friends.
He should know that she's not always going to be the little girl that he used to take care of in the dark days of his childhood.
The days where he and Ophelia lived in the abandoned apartment just outside of a small town. The days where he had been forced to steal.
His parents had died from heart problems. And Ophelia was getting sicker and sicker, her health diminishing slowly... Rinto practically saw the life fading from her eyes.
The days of suffering. The days when he was beaten for stealing...
And one day, he was beaten so badly...
And that day, he swore that he had seen an angel.
And the next day, he swore that he would find her again.
And the next years, he almost gave up.
He thought he did.
He didn't.
More important things, he told himself. Keep your eye out for more important things. Your sister... She's dying.
He worked hard to earn them a spot at Crypton Future Media. And they fixed her... They couldn't save all of her, but they fixed her...
The girl he saw that day... With the bright blonde hair... She was like hope itself. She drove him to go on...
Yes, it was rather strange, seeing that he never knew her, but... He knew. He knew that she understood.
But what was he thinking? She would have never thought twice about him.
It's not like he would ever see her again anyways...
It was selfish of him to keep thinking about her, when his sister was on the verge of life and death. And it was weird to be adored by her; he didn't see himself as admirable.
But he loved his sister, and his sister loved him.
That was the only love that he knew.
All girls wanted was his looks, or his newly acquired money... anything but him in of himself. He never wanted to fall in love. It was just too overrated, too much heartbreak...
Or so he thought.
And when she walked into the room...
Oh, not Ophelia, Ophelia was next to her, but Rinto hardly noticed her.
She looked angelic, Ophelia's new friend.
Rinto shook his head. It couldn't be... She's just Ophelia's dorm mate...
Just another annoying girl...
Rinto was so wrapped up in his muddled thoughts, he almost was tackled to the ground by his little sister.
"Onii-san! I haven't seen you since July!" Ophelia said, giving him what she would call a 'big big BIG hug'.
"Lia-chan... You're going to give me a heart attack; I swear I almost died," Rinto replied, although he was glad to see his little sister so happy. He hugged back her bubbly, annoying little sister.
Because you know, back in the day, when no one was happy...
Ophelia looked confused. "You saw me walk through the door...?" She laughed. "Honestly, you're going insane. Or worse: falling in love." She paused.
"Len-kun!" she said cheerily, giving him a hug (a smaller one. If she tackled him as hard as she did Rinto, I think the lightweight Len would have fell upon impact).
"Hey, 'Phelia," Len said, choking.
"This my new best best BEST friend, Lenka-chan~!" Ophelia sang, her powerful vocals soared through the restaurant, no doubt making the other customers twitch.
"H-hi! I'm Kagamine Lenka!" Lenka stammered, holding out her hand to her genderbend. Len ignored the outstretched hand and gave her a hug.
"You're almost as hot as me!" He said, striking a model pose.
Ophelia and Lenka laughed at Len's ridiculousness as he started to strut.
Rinto rolled his eyes and gave a chuckle. He smacked Len's arm, which caused him to twist his leg mid-strut and fall.
"Hi, I'm Rinto Kagamine, Ophelia's older brother," He said with a bright smile, not unlike Ophelia's. Then, his face got dark. "You'd better take care of my sister now," he half-joked.
"Onii-saannnn," Ophelia whined, "I can take care of myself."
"Do you want the kid's menu?" Rinto asked.
Ophelia's eyes lit up. "Yes!"
Lenka stared at Ophelia with an amused expression.
"Shut up," Ophelia joked. "They come with free crayons."
Lenka laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously.
"Oh, we should probably get seated," Len said.
"We're blocking the flow," Rinto said, smiling and gesturing at the people who had to walk around them to get to where they wanted to go.
"How are we supposed to get seated when there is an hour wait?" Lenka wondered out loud, tilting her head to the side.
"Watch," Rinto said, bumping Lenka's shoulder and pointing to Len, who was walking up to the counter.
"Hey," Len said, giving his hair a flip. "Do you-uh- think you could get us a seat?" he asked, giving a charming, shy smile that would have normally made the person manning the seating blush and oblige.
Unfortunately, the woman was new and middle-aged. She was not amused and pointed to the back of the line.
Dejected, Len walked with his head down.
Rinto sighed. "Looks like his boyish charms have failed him," he commented. "But surely, you don't mind waiting with us?" Rinto said, making his eyebrows dance in a comical way that made Lenka and Ophelia laugh.
Ophelia looked at Lenka, then told Rinto, "I think her heart is telling her to stay."
"More like my stomach, but hey," Lenka joked.
Rinto gave a small laugh, a beautiful sound, really. He sent Len and his boyish charms to ask a younger waitress if Ophelia could get the crayons and kid's menu earlier so she could keep her busy.
Ophelia seemed content, using the chair as a table as she colored in a picture, her face scrunched up in concentration. She chirped a song, and Len was on his phone, chirping along.
"Sometimes I worry if she'll be alright," Rinto sighed, just out of Ophelia's hearing range. "Not everyone is as nice as she thinks they are. Although..." Rinto paused. "You don't seem half bad."
"Thanks, I guess," Lenka replied. "Although, Sylvester was the one to tell her that I was okay."
"Ahh, so you've met Sylvester? He doesn't like me," Rinto said.
"So I've heard."
It was bothering Rinto a whole lot... He HAD to ask.
"Hey, have we ever met?" Rinto asked.
Lenka studied his face. He seemed somewhat familiar, but his face seemed to be a memory she couldn't grasp.
"If we did, it couldn't have been less then six years ago," she decided to say.
Rinto nodded.
"Onii-san!" Ophelia said excitedly. "I finished!"
Lenka had to admit, the coloring was pretty good, considering she had only received a couple of colors. Ophelia used each crayon and applied more or less pressure to show light and darkness.
"That's great! But first..." Rinto said, taking a crayon and adding some more details that left Ophelia in awe.
It struck Lenka how attractive it was that he cared so much for his sister. Someone who knew love like that...
But what was she saying? She was only Ophelia's little friend. He wouldn't be thinking of such things, so neither should she.
Still, the interaction between Ophelia and her brother made Lenka smile.
During dinner, Rinto's sarcastic remarks, Len's interesting actions, and Ophelia's laughter kept her entertained and smiling. She had never been so happy in her entire life.
Dessert was fun, but only for Lenka. The rest of them didn't realize they had frosting all over their mouths like rabid beasts, which made Lenka laugh the entire time.
Lenka was so full; she was not looking forward to the walk home.
"Ne~ Ophelia..." Lenka managed to say.
"Hmm?" Ophelia murmured with her mouth full of cake.
"Isn't it a little dark to be walking outside?"
Ophelia looked out the window. "I suppose it is."
Rinto raised his eyebrows. "You walked here?"
"Yes..."
"That was a little risky, Ophelia," Rinto said.
"I know but... My health has been getting better! Honest!" Ophelia said.
Rinto eyes studied Ophelia.
"You're lying," Rinto whispered.
"N-no I'm not!" Ophelia protested.
"Stop it," Rinto scolded. "Your eyes flash and water when you're lying."
Lenka wondered what was going on. Ophelia seemed to be perfectly fine.
Ophelia opened her mouth in protest but ended up coughing instead. She stared at the ground dejectedly.
"I can drive you back with us. You should be more careful, Lia-chan," Rinto paused. "I love you, Ophelia. I can't let that happen to you again."
Lenka thought that was the sweetest thing she had ever heard, but she was still confused. She wasn't going to ask about it, though. It seemed like a touchy subject. Maybe one day Ophelia would tell her.
"Wait by the car, Lia-chan. I'll be there in a few minutes," Rinto said, waiting for the bill.
Len was in the bathroom, so Ophelia and Lenka were outside by themselves.
Suddenly, a smell of alcohol wafted over them, stenching the air around the car. Lenka heard three men's voices, slurred and barely understandable.
The voices stopped talking, and before Lenka knew it, they were being surrounded.
Ophelia's eyes were wide with fright and she was almost in tears.
"Onii-san!" she screamed, her powerful vocal cords carrying the cry through the air.
She was then grabbed and muffled.
Lenka was then grabbed by the hand. Now, what was it that she learned in self defense?
Lenka brought her opposite elbow and slammed it onto the man's arm, and the man's reflex released Lenka's arm. She punched him in the face as hard as she could, and kicked him... somewhere before she was grabbed by another man. She then turned to the other man and kicked him in the stomach. He was so intoxicated that he simply fell down, curled into a ball, and slept. The third man was dragging Ophelia away when Lenka ran up and punched him. He dropped Ophelia and started coming after her. She saw a flash of blond come and knock out the remaining drunken man.
Ophelia was crying and Rinto hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Lia... It's okay..."
Eventually, when Len emerged from the bathroom after nature's call had dismissed him, they drove home. Lenka sat in the back with Ophelia sleeping on her shoulder. Len was blasting music in his headphones, so it was pretty quiet.
"Thank you for saving my sister," Rinto said after a minute of silence. "I have to admit, that was pretty badass of you."
"Thanks," Lenka said, smiling.
"Are you okay?" Rinto asked.
"I think so," Lenka paused. "Thanks to you."
Rinto laughed. "I'm sure you could have handled it yourself. Those men were cowards. They ran away as soon as I called the cops after our little...incident."
It was a short ride home.
Rinto came to the back seat and carried Ophelia.
"Your sister has very powerful vocal cords... I wonder how she does it, she has a generally petite frame..."
(A/N: I was wondering how to phrase that... Ophelia is pretty small but she DOES have curves so I was struggling. I eventually settled for "generally petite frame" xD )
Rinto laughed, looking at the girl curled against him.
"I never really noticed."
They walked to the elevator, Len trailing behind, his music and phone making him oblivious to anything that was happening.
"Erm, do you mind if I walk in with you? I'd hate to wake up Ophelia."
"Uh, sure thing!" Lenka said, scanning her card.
Rinto jogged into the parlor room, then almost dropped Ophelia.
"Forgot about the damn cat," he muttered.
Lenka bent down and let Sylvester jump into her arms.
Rinto rolled his eyes. "Show off."
"Watch your attitude, you're in MY territory," she joked.
Rinto opened Ophelia's room, turned on a lamp, and gently laid her on the bed.
He looking a little misty eyed for a moment when he whispered, "You're finally in the castle you deserve."
Lenka stood in the doorway. "Should we, er, change her or something? She might feel uncomfortable."
Rinto shook his head. "It seems rather wrong."
Lenka rolled her eyes and walked over to the bed.
"At least take off her shoes," she said, bending over and pulling off the boots and socks.
It struck Lenka funny as she thought of her and Rinto acting as if they were Ophelia's parents.
"I'll see you in a while," Rinto said, kissing Ophelia's forehead.
Lenka gave a smile.
And before Lenka knew it, Rinto had kissed HER on the forehead, saying, "Don't act like you don't get one too," he said with a charming smile.
Sneaky, sneaky...
Lenka knew he couldn't have meant anything by this, but... why was she blushing so hard...?
"W-wha? T-that's n-not f-f-fair!" Lenka protested as Rinto flounced out of Ophelia's room.
And quietly, Lenka barely heard it him whisper
"All's fair in love and war. Don't act like you don't feel your heart singing the same song..."
Sorry that it's such a short chapter! And it's a filler, beginning one too!
I feel like all of my a/n's are apologies, kukuku~
Risatan - Gomen! I didn't mean to make you wait so long, haha... It's just... school. LOL. Well, here's another chapter, idk it's just another stupid beginning chapter. I have evil plans in store...
iDontCare - Personally, I don't ship Miku and Len (I'm sorry!) and will probably be too busy shipping Rinto and Lenka, HOWEVER Len MIGHT be Miku's boyfriend eventually hint hint. Wouldn't it be so mean of me to make Ophelia's Onii-san someone else? LOL.