Chapter 4: Wishing Bracelet?

Len watched the tealette rummaging through her room. She was not alone, of course, because there were two kids helping her to make her room a pretty landfill. Mikuo and Rin were also pulling things out of here and there, chorusing "not here!" and throwing these things wherever they wanted to. After they searched through her study desk, the kids moved to the other corner and started to dig Miku's drawers, emptying the one-topped box by spilling its content on the floor.

Miku's room was such an eyesore. She, who hated disorganization, was currently busy making her own room chaotic. Len cringed as Rin and Mikuo hopped on Miku's bed - the last thing left tidy in that room - and flipped the sheets and kicked her pillows away. "Not here!" the two yelled in unison. Len leaned his back against the door frame, huffing. These kids were way too gifted in littering people's place, really. Whatever they were looking for, it was holding up the two. Matsuda must be pissed off by now.

Today marked the second anniversary of Matsuda's stay in their city. Yes, he wasn't originally from this place, but Matsuda mentioned that he lived in here once - when he was a kid. As the listless blond stood on the corner, face kept neutral, a frabjous idea popped up in his gorgeous brain. Nevertheless, Len's inference was bloody accurate: at this rate, Matsuda would be stood up.

"-en!"

"Len!"

The blond felt a tug on his wrist and the next thing he knew, he was pulled down. "Len!" Miku yelled, dragging him to crawl with her. "Quit standing there and help us! I'm so sorry for Matsuda, but I can't leave the house without my phone," the tealette pushed the blond towards her bed. "Look underneath, please." And just like that, Len sent Matsuda a message, advising him to enjoy himself.

Matsuda squinted as he tried reading the message he received from Len. He was already outdoors, making his way to the Dorado Square. It was too sunny and he couldn't see much from his phone. If it wasn't because of his message tone, he wouldn't know that someone texted him. That loud 'shit!' was an effective ringtone, he concluded. Maybe he would ask Len to piss off Rei more often so he could record that guy's curses. He muttered a cuss for adjusting the brightness to its lowest setting - he wasn't sure if he was really in the message app now.

Matsuda spotted a tree several meters from where he was, and he jogged to share the shade. That was the only moment when he finally saw whatever his phone was up to, and he quickly adjusted the brightness. He proceeded to read Len's message, his big smile faded in a blink of an eye. 'Shit!' - another message bubble appeared, it was from Len - again? "I'm really sorry! My phone's missing! I can't leave the house yet. Len and I will meet you at the Dioch's Place asap." This one was Miku, Matsuda thought to himself.

He was left alone and these two were together? That was really unfair. "Len planned this well," Matsuda muttered to himself, a smirk brightened up his face. "Why am I stood up on this shit they arranged!" The guy began typing a reply, his message was as irritating as the fact that he was alone now. "Don't...make...babies...while...your siblings are...around. Have...a...safe...sex...guys. There! Sent!"

"Perv," Matsuda was hearing voices.

Matsuda chuckled softly as he slid his phone in his pants pocket, eyes flitting around. It was a bright day so he might as well enjoy his alone time. It could be the perfect hour to look around for someone he met in his past. The stalls and shops were opened now, sheltering themselves under the striped shades. He lifted his right hand and stared at the thin blue wishing bracelet around his wrist, eyeing the initial 'M' very carefully.

"Perv. Mr. Perv," Matsuda tore his eyes from his wrist. Okay, so the voice earlier wasn't his imagination. There was a girl glaring at him. Her long black hair reminded Matsuda of Rei's dark locks, but such hair color was common anyway. This girl couldn't be Rei's relative or something.

"Ah, sorry? You're not talking to me, are you?" Matsuda bent down a little to peer at the girl's face, but to his surprise the girl made a gross expression.

"Disgusting filth, stop talking to me like a kid." The girl stepped backwards, her expression annoyed Matsuda. The last time he looked in the mirror, he was handsome as fuck. He hadn't met a girl who would look at him with such intense dislike. "Are you aware that you are talking loudly to yourself? What you said a while ago is such a disgrace."

Matsuda straightened his back, closing his eyes to recall what he said earlier. What did he say? "Don't make babies while your siblings are around? Have a safe sex, guys? Is that what are you talking about?" When Matsuda opened his eyes, the girl was already scowling at him. "Hey, middle schooler. That's a common thing to say for an...adult like me," he tried smiling at her to no avail. She kept on making that gross expression. This girl was looking at him as though he was a big cow poop!

"My name isn't middle schooler. Watch your language, mister. I will call a police and report that I run to a pervert downtown," the girl stepped away from him. "Disgusting seniors."

Before Matsuda could ask the girl to stop making stories - such as he, being a pervert - the girl had run away from him. "Kids," he said, kneading his temples. "You haven't witnessed the vices of the world yet. And yeah, your name isn't middle schooler. I saw your nameplate. Seriously, who would wear one on Saturdays, euls?"

Matsuda had to go downtown just to find a perfect café where he would meet Rei. Yes, there would always be a Plan B for anything, albeit this backup plan was unwanted. This supposed-to-be date with Len and Miku to celebrate Matsuda's stay in the city wasn't his idea in the first place. At least Rei volunteered to give him company. The raven-haired flirt even volunteered to give Matsuda a chick.

The guy picked up the menu, whistling a TV commercial jingle as he read across the list of drinks. His red irises dilated when he saw a pepperoni pizza on the menu. It was really weird for a café to serve pizzas, but oh well, Matsuda liked pizzas. Why would he question such delicious food on the menu? And just in time, a waitress approached his table.

"May I take your order, Mr. Pervert," that sarcastic voice...

Matsuda lifted his head from the menu and met the glaring eyes of the same girl from earlier. She was glowering down at him, and he knew that such facial expression would drive customers away. It was kind of funny though, to meet this girl again. Maybe this middle schooler got a crush on him or something? Well, if that was the case, it was no surprise. He was used to being worshipped by girls of any age. Matsuda carefully put down the menu and smiled at her.

His eyes glanced at her nameplate and smiled. "Good day, Euls? Uhm, I want a pepperoni pizza and an iced tea. Thanks," he beamed at her, straight white pearls of teeth showed. Sadly, his charm never moved the middle schooler.

"Idiot, that isn't a menu. That is a flier for the new restaurant at the far end of downtown. Can't you see, this is a freaking coffee shop," she rolled her eyes. "Are all grownups as dumb as you?"

Dumb? Okay, that's enough. "Hey! Watch your language, little girl! And what are you doing in a café, anyway? I'll talk to your manager, huh. They shouldn't employ a sarcastic brat here."

"Watch your language, mister. Go and rise from your seat, then tell that to my parents on the counter."

Matsuda held her glare. Fists clenching, he stood from his seat - about to scold the young girl...but Rei came in the picture.

"Hey, bro!" Rei put an arm on the guy's shoulder. "Oh, man. Never thought you're a pedophile. I seriously thought you like girls such as Miku. You know, blue or teal hair, sweet, passive...come on, chill. Suzune Ring will be here after a good couple of minutes." The raven-haired flirt pushed Matsuda down on his seat, and Rei ran to sit on the opposite chair. Winking at the young waitress, he ordered for two black coffees - unsweetened. The girl left the two in silence, muttering something to herself as she turned her back.

When Matsuda calmed down, Rei relaxed on his seat. He slouched and crossed his legs, tilting his chin up to look around the place. It was sunny and the breeze was cool. They had a fine weather so far. "Say, why are you looking for a girl with blue or green hair around our age? I have heard from Len that you were hitting on girls of that looks. What's up with them?" Rei prompted a question, breaking the serene silence between them.

The chirping birds answered Rei instead; they are possibly singing about today's good weather. Matsuda remained silent for a few more seconds, and when the wrinkle on his forehead was gone, he spoke. "My family and I lived here for some months before moving out again. We didn't return until two years ago. During my brief stay here when I was a child, I befriended a girl with pale blue or green hair - I'm not so sure. We were like...sweethearts, you know? And she's really pretty. Before we moved out, she gave me the other half of a wishing bracelet with both our initials carved on the blank plate. I forgot her name and her face. But when I saw this bracelet again while unpacking two years ago...I realized that I ought to find her."

Rei blinked his golden eyes at his friend, face devoid of any emotions. This made Matsuda gulped down, unsure if he would continue his talk. But after a bird or two chirped, the raven-haired Casanova broke into a laughter. "Man, are you serious? You watched Nisekoi too much! Don't tell me you and this girl had an unwritten-marriage-bullshit?" Rei wiped his invisible tears, couldn't believe that someone as sly as Matsuda was going through this kind of cliché.

"That's not it," Matsuda sighed, wincing. "I think it is normal if I see her again? I mean, dude, she's like my first girlfriend."

"You wish," came the middle schooler as she put down a tray on the table between Matsuda and Rei. "Girls forget easily, mister. I bet she doesn't remember such silly bracelet anymore."

"What makes you say, little girl?" Rei asked, leaning towards the table and took his cup of coffee. Such name gained a glare from the disgusted middle schooler.

"Of course, that girl should have made new friends during your absence. It's easy to forget when you socialize a lot, you know. Girls enjoy girls' company. They make good best friends. Other words, you're forgotten. Enjoy your drink. Here's the bill," the young girl left them after being called to get the other drinks.

"Eh, young brat. That's how she see things. I believe this girl hadn't forgotten me yet," Matsuda held his cup and stared at the dark liquid in it. "All I have to do is find the right girl who had the other bracelet,"

"Oh? You said your initials were written on the bracelet. What was written there?" asked Rei.

"It got 'M'? Maybe she gave me the wrong bracelet? M is for Matsudappoiyo, right?"

"Aw," Rei sipped on his cup. "Let's hope Ring had the other bracelet so your search and rescue will be over."

-4:00 PM-

Len felt like he was going to faint. The sun was not glaring at all; the air wasn't humid, but running around the Dorado Square was tiring enough. Miku had been dragging him around the downtown for some hours already, going from place to place. She was insisting that Matsuda was still around, even though the blond tried convincing her that the jerk had gone home by now. Nevertheless, Miku was persistent. "Matsuda is still somewhere," she told Len. "We can't leave him today!"

"But isn't it your fault why we ended up ditching him?" Len asked, rolling his eyes as he tried to yank his arm away from Miku's grip. "If you didn't put your damn phone at the medicine cabinet in the loo, we wouldn't spend the entire day flipping your room upside down and building it up again." When he pulled away from her, the girl gasped.

The blond's spiritless stare met hers, and it was one of the biggest mistake he could commit right now. Miku's cheeks were red - no, her face was already red as a scowl creased her lips. And if Len sounded like a total asshole (for Miku, he was a jerk) by pointing out what really happened (such as spending more time in fixing her room), he looked like a flustered tamed bird right now. He felt his ears burn as he watched the girl before him heave. Her tears would fall at any moment.

"H-hey, don't do that drama here," Len waved his hand at her. "We know it's your fault, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. What I am trying to tell is that...maybe we can find the jerk sleeping in his house. You know him, he loves sleeping."

"And you think I'm acting? These are real tears! Why are you so mean today?!" she slapped his hand away from her and continued to sniff. "I just want to find my phone because I recorded a message for Matsuda. Today's like...like our friendship-anniversary or something! It's so special, but you seem so oblivious about it! Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

Len looked around this time, kind of embarrassed because they were yelling at each other in public. "W-why are you blurting out such sappiness! F-friendship w-what? If that's it, fine. I'm... I'm sorry, okay? But do you really have to cry like that in public? You're making a scene," he grabbed her arm and went back walking. People were turning their heads as the two passed by, because Miku was still sobbing like a kid. Yes, her attitude was stubborn and irrational, and Miku was not usually like this. "Are you on your period or what!? Stop weeping!"

And that's the cue. The tealette wailed like a lost baby while Len patted her back. Childish Miku was no fun.

It would only take three press of that vexing doorbell to wake up Matsuda. He never liked the buzzer sound of their doorbell, and he was convinced that the sound was like being electrocuted. Half-awake, he walked downstairs like a zombie. Someone was still messing up with the doorbell.

"Matsuda!" Miku instantly trapped Matsuda's hand in between her smaller palms. "I'm really sorry if we asked you out...then stood you up. Have you just gotten up?" Len walked inside, leaving the two and their drama on the doorstep. The blond had endured Miku's childish outburst in public, so he would recharge himself by making himself at home.

"Hey, Len! Don't put your feet on the coffee table! Damn," Matsuda warned him late. "Hey, Miku! Hahaha! It's okay. Rei and Ring gave me company. And yes, I just woke up. But if you want me to go back to bed, maybe you can sleep with me?"

Len's ears perked up when he heard Matsuda, and the blond immediately ran to the tealette to cover her ears. "She's on her period! Piss off," the blond glared at his friend. Matsuda, on one hand, just rounded his mouth and nodded an okay. Miku was too sensitive with whatever was told to her. So, Len thought that Matsuda's green joke was...offensive?

Miku shrugged Len's hands off. "Len! Let me go. If that's what you want, I will text my friends to come over in your house. This calls for a slumber party."

"Why the hell are you not annoyed with what he said? That was..."

"Len, shut up." Miku glared at him.

Matsuda stuck his tongue out to Len, mumbling something like Miku hated the blond now. The guy left the two in the living room to get some snacks. Len and Miku continued to argue about Miku's selective irritation, yelling at each other in the most immodest way. The two only stopped when the blond noticed a wishing bracelet placed above the coffee table.

"Hey. I saw a similar bracelet in your secret box. It also got an 'M' carved on it," Len said, picking up the bracelet.

"Yes," Miku nodded. "Maybe 'twas a fad many years ago? Like dream catchers and stuff?"

a/n: I know, I know. I shouldn't be dedicating a trash to a sweet girl, but I did my best to finish this. (This chapter is my sweat and tears. Gosh, I can't remember how to write.)

For euls? This girl is such a sweetie pie, she talks to me a lot in Facebook. Lol. If you're reading this, please forgive me. Hahahaha.

allechant: I will try my best? I didn't put so much thought for Matsuda yeah-ahaha. I might ruin him, too. *cries

harukaze-spring: hello! yaay, thanks for your kind reviews. I don't think my Len is like hikusa's Len? hahaha. My roseate Len is . . . a premature tsundere? no, a failed tsundere Len. But I'll do my best! *fighto

zhane17: I loooove your art! Thanks for doing my request, omg. If ever you see that avatar from a new user in ff . net, well, that's my new account. *winks