It was a sunny Saturday. Five-year-old Len was walking, one hand enclosed in his father's, the other in his mother's. They were going to visit their family friends today: the Hatsunes.

Len really liked going to play with Mikuo. He was a bit of a quiet boy, but he was really good at all sorts of games, especially gobstones. His sister was loud and obnoxious, but they let her join them while the adults talked and ate and did their boring adult things.

"Len Len Len Len Len Len Len Len!" Miku was the one who opened the door, and as soon as she saw Len she dragged him inside and up the stairs. His parents let him go, laughing to themselves.

"Miku Miku Miku Miku Miku," Len replied bemusedly.

"I'm so excited for today," Miku said as she rushed him along the wide, long halls—the Hatsunes had a big house, though not as big as Len's. "'Cause you're here, and Kaito's here, and we're all gonna play together!"

"Kaito?"

Miku let go of him, surprised. "Oh, have you never met Kaito? He lives next door! He comes here all the time."

"Oh. What's he look like?"

"He has blue hair, but it's not like my blue, it's like dark blue, and he's really tall even though he's younger than me…"

Just as Miku was describing him, they reached Mikuo's room, and Len met eyes with a tall boy with a mischievous grin on his face, tipping his chair back like it didn't belong to his neighbours. Mikuo was sitting on the bed, waved as Len walked in.

"Hi, Len."

"Is this Len?" Kaito asked, raising a brow. "He doesn't look as cool as you guys told me."

"What'd you say?" Len frowned slightly.

"Kaito!" Miku puffed up her cheeks and pushed his chair down. "Be nice to Len! He's a guest."

"I'm a guest too," Kaito said.

"But you're here so often you might as well live here," Mikuo pointed out. Kaito shot him a look.

"I do not!" Then he turned back to Len, curious about the new addition to the room. "Len, huh? ...I'm Kaito Shion."

"Nice to meet you…" Len said, put off by Kaito's attitude and what he'd said earlier.

"Len, don't mind Kaito," Miku said, sensing Len's apprehensiveness. "He's just jealous he's not as cool as you."

"I am cool," Kaito snapped. "I'm the coolest in the world."

Len glowered. "That's no fair. I-I'm the coolest."

"What makes you think you're so cool, huh? You don't look cool to me at all."

"I'm cool! Miku says I'm cool, right Miku?"

"Len's cool!" Miku agreed. "Kaito's cool too, but I think Len is cooler."

Kaito stomped his feet. "Fine, take his side! But Mikuo, you—"

"I don't think either of you are cool."

Len and Kaito joined in glaring at Mikuo.

"How about we just say that I'm the coolest?" Miku suggested, glossing everything over. "Now, now, can we start playing? Now that there's four people we can finally play a proper game of House—"

"Um, House?" Len asked, not knowing what House was.

"Yeah, it's when we pretend that we're a family and we do chores and pay bills and stuff!"

Mikuo groaned, already having played this game before, thus knowing how wonderfully droll it was.

"I'm the mommy! Since I'm the only girl," Miku announced. "Len is the daddy. Mikuo is the son. And Kaito is the dog!"

"Why am I the dog?!" Kaito protested.

"I don't know, you just look like a dog," Miku said, shrugging.

The mother was out taking the son to primary school. And so the father was home alone with the dog. Len didn't quite know what to say—how do you start a conversation with a dog?

"I still think I'm the coolest," Kaito said out of the blue.

"You're a dog. You're supposed to say woof," Len said flatly, getting a bit too into the game (Miku would be proud, though).

"I didn't want to be a bloody dog," Kaito said, glaring at the floor. "Why did Miku have to make me the dog…"

"Well what did you want to be, then?" Len asked. "The daughter?"

"What? No!" Kaito said, sticking his tongue out. "Ew!"

Len thought for a moment. "Maybe you could've been the second son."

Kaito nodded slowly. "Yeah…! Why didn't Miku just let me be another son?!"

"Maybe it's just how the game works?" Len suggested. "There can only be one son."

"It's a stupid game, then," Kaito spat. "I hate being a dog. All I do is sit around and beg for food."

"Well, excuse me," Len said with a slight edge. "I think that's a pretty good life. Would you rather come here and pay the bills?" Len gestured at the parchments in front of him—they were covered in numbers and strange words that Len could not make sense of. (Where did Miku even find these documents, anyway?)

Kaito came and took a look over Len's shoulder. "It looks hard, but it's better than being a dog."

"...Too bad for you, I guess."

"Can't we trade?" Kaito complained. "You be the dog. You're shorter than me, after all!"

"Hey!" Len was sensitive about his height, being the shortest out of all his friends. "I'm taller than you when you're on all fours."

Kaito was only just able to tell he'd just been cleverly insulted. "You like being the daddy, then?"

"...Not really. But it's better than being the dog. The dog is the least powerful member of the family."

"I bet you like it 'cause you want to be married to Miku," Kaito said sourly.

Len blinked. He only realized the implications of being the 'daddy' when Kaito pointed them out: he was the daddy, Miku was the mommy, and they had a son, which meant— "Aaagh!"

"Well, have fun," Kaito said.

"No, no wait!" Len said, holding up a hand. "Do you still want to be the daddy? We can trade. Let's trade."

Kaito remained blank for a moment, but then he slowly started to smile. "Psyche! No takebacks!"

"I don't want a takeback," Len said with a satisfied laugh. "Hehehe, now you're married to Miku."

"Better than being a dog," Kaito said with a grin.

And they both realized that they were happier this way, with Kaito being the daddy and Len being the doggy. Len was freed of the responsibility of the bills, and Kaito didn't have to crawl around on the floor anymore.

That's how their relationship was like, from then on—despite being the same age, Kaito was like the older brother Len never had.

chapter 6

architecture

Rin was in the library, doing some extra work to reinforce her understanding of the Transfiguration concepts they'd need for exams. It was easy work—the mindless easy kind. Although Rin prided herself on her exceptional ability to focus, today her mind was disinterested with such lack of interest, and so it began to wander, losing itself like a child in a mall.

The Yule Ball, huh...

Rin had never been to a ball, herself. She recalled family parties and weddings from when she was younger—that's how she knew how to ballroom dance—but this was much different. The place wouldn't be chock full of old people. They were kids her age.

Her only experience with this sort of event was from books and movies, not counting what her older brother had told her about his own school formal: "It's really nothing. Mostly hanging around watching your classmates act like complete tossers, and then they go and get themselves more drunk at the afterparties."

It was after an amount of deliberation that Rin decided attending such an event would not be useful to her in any way. She wasn't going. There were so many other ways she could spend her Christmas Eve—studying, for example. Or leisure reading. She also really wanted to write to her family. It had been so long since she'd spoken with them, she couldn't help but worry about how they were getting along without her.

She loved visiting the owls up in the owlery, as well—she couldn't do so often because there always seemed to be other students there, but she could certainly go while everyone was downstairs enjoying the ball. The Quidditch pitch, maybe, since she'd never been there at night. If she was feeling adventurous, maybe she would sneak up the Astronomy tower. There were so many places in the castle she loved exploring. The single best thing about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was the castle itself, so full of mystery and places to be.

Yes. When she thought about it, going to the ball would be such a waste of precious time. Her time at Hogwarts was almost halfway over, she realized with a pang, so she should really start thinking about how to wring it for all its worth.

But, Rin thought, catching sight once more of the books before her, before she could even think about enjoying herself, she had to do well academically. Rin felt like she was the only one who was actually bothering to study for the end-of-term exams that week—most of her classmates seemed so preoccupied with the ball, it was like they'd forgotten.

She wondered briefly whether Len had gotten caught up in all the ball stuff too, or if he was working hard as ever. He was probably balancing the two, she decided. He had a talent for balancing many different things.

And, as if the thought of him summoned his presence, he appeared from around the nearest row of bookshelves.

"Go to the ball with Amano."

That's what Kaito had whispered in his ear, that night. It was so disgusting, Len could still feel Kaito's breath evaporating the cold from his ears and Kaito was such a loser what the hell was he even thinking, and why did he have to lean so close they were both guys it was gross, but more importantly, he was NOT going anywhere with Amano.

Len honestly didn't know what motivated Kaito to push this on him. He knew why the ultimatum involved Amano specifically—Len hated her, so going with her and pretending to like her for a night would be tortuous punishment of the greatest degree.

But why was Kaito so eager to mess with him? Throughout their ten years of friendship, they'd always dicked around with each other, it was normal, but this was different. Malicious. It felt like something happened. Did Len do something to offend him? Whatever it was, it honestly wasn't intentional. Kaito was like his brother, and Len knew his boundaries, and would never purposefully hurt him. It was just so, so strange.

And, come on. They were guys. They shouldn't have had to deal with this kind of friendship drama rubbish. Only girls had the emotional capacity for that. (Joking, he was joking.)

Maybe it was hormones. Did… Did Kaito finally reach puberty?!

In any case, Len was pissed, and he just didn't want to think about Kaito anymore.

...But, unfortunately, he had to. Despite his tiredness and overall stress, he had to turn his brain on, he had to come up with a plan, because he couldn't let Kaito win. As loath as he was to compete, this was a challenge, a challenge he had to win—he would not stand for being pushed around like this. There was no way he would accept loss; he had to beat the system.

Spells. Potions. Len racked the encyclopedias of his mind. A spell to forbid someone from speaking about certain subjects? He could use that to zip Kaito's mouth. Maybe a simple memory charm… But that was illegal…

He was in the library now, searching for texts related to memory, speech and any other tangentially helpful subjects. He had just over a week to do research—plus he had to study for end-of-term exams, plus he had to find an actual date for the blooming ball. Damn it all, he'd probably end up going with Miku. Well, she was better than nothing, and certainly better than Rin—and now that he thought about it, better than that damn Ia. He wouldn't be in any of this mess if it weren't for her.

Then he thought, no, he just didn't want to go to the ball at all. Everyone in the damn school was so stupid, why would he want to spend the evening socializing with those cretins, why couldn't he just stay in his room and never come out.

He knew it was just a passing mood, but still. He was bloody annoyed.

He chose a bunch of random books and shoved them in his bag, feeling them crushing whatever other shit he kept in there, not caring. He began towards the exit of the library, but as he emerged from the forest of bookshelves, he noticed something that made him want to wring someone's neck.

Rin. She looked like she was studying for exams. Ugh, she'd gotten a head start over him—he'd yet to even read over his notes. And they started testing in four days.

Just looking at her, sitting quietly and working hard, made him want to go over there and grab her book, whack her over the head with it and run off with it so she couldn't study anymore and fail. That would be such a stress reliever. However, he thought, clearing his mind, he was a decent person, so he made to leave before he either succumbed to temptation or died of disgust.

But then she looked up, and their eyes met.

'Oh, it's you,' she seemed to say. That's about all he saw in her eyes. How empty she is, he thought.

He glared back, trying to communicate without words just how much of a tas de merde she was, but then she looked away, and the connection dropped. He didn't need to waste anymore time, so he marched onwards to leave. But. As he was passing by her table (he had to pass by in order to reach the exit, curse everything) she held up a verbal hand.

"Len?"

Why the fuck was she talking to him. Did she not see the proverbial banner above his head that blared DO NOT FUCKING TALK TO ME BECAUSE I'M IN A HORRIBLE MOOD?

"Piss off, tas de merde."

The look on her face betrayed the smallest amount of alarm—good. "You know French?"

"Just enough to insult you. Now leave me alone."

She gave him a searching look. "I... was just wondering something. I suppose if you want, you can leave. It's not really important."

'Good!' he was about to say. 'Great, then shut up and never talk to me again!' That's what his mind told him to say, what his whole fatigued body told him to say… except for a certain muscle between his lungs. That part of him recognized the curiosity of Amano's behaviour—she'd never had anything to say to him. So what could she possibly want now? Whatever it was, it was Amano asking it, so it was surely not a trivial thing—Amano didn't do trivial.

"I'm giving you one minute."

"One minute?"

"One minute of my precious time for you to waste, so you better be grateful. It's like forty-five seconds, now."

"Right. Then," she paused, glanced at him, looked away again, "how is your studying going?"

Puzzlement mixed in with Len's irritation. "Can you get to the point?"

"But that is my point."

"What are you talking about? Hurry up, you have less than thirty seconds."

"What I'm asking is how your studying is going."

He was incredulous—he'd truly thought that Amano didn't do trivial. 'How is your studying going'—what a trivial question! Unless she was asking in order to weigh her competition for the upcoming exams—competition that was nonexistent, considering how little he'd studied so far. So she was either trying to make small talk or suss out his weakness? Damn it to hell. "Why do you care?"

"I just wanted to know."

"Trying to weigh your competition?"

"No. Not at all. I just wanted to know how you were getting along." At his unfathomable glare, she fumbled on. "Since, since there's a lot going on right now. There are exams, and there's the ball as well, and I thought it might be difficult to balance it all."

Len suddenly felt intruded on—it was like she could tell he was stressed, she was zoning in on his exact problems. Was she reading him? No, of course not. Why would she care enough about him to read him? Amano only cared about herself, he was pretty sure. "I'm getting along just fine, thank you very much."

"That's good," not looking like she thought it was particularly good. She paused, as if wondering why she was still talking, or whether it was okay to keep talking, and in the end, to Len's grief, she'd decided on the affirmative. "I find a lot of our classmates are preoccupied with the ball. I think they should focus on studying. Exams come first."

"And you care because?"

"It was just an observation."

"No one wants you bloody observing them. Let them do what they want."

"I suppose. But exams are important."

He was getting annoyed—well, more annoyed than he already was. "Not everyone thinks the same as you, Amano. Some people think having a social life," (cough cough something you don't have), "is more important than passing exams."

She appeared to think long and hard, turning Len's words over in her mind as if they'd ignited a train of thought. But then she shook her head. "Some people value money very much, and find it more important than even love. But they're quite wrong. So in the same way, I think everyone should care more about exams."

Len couldn't help but be reminded of his whole genie spiel on the train. Was what Rin just said a covert insult, or something? An underhand reference to how he'd used money to bribe her? That was over three months ago, but Len still felt the dull scars of indignation and unacknowledged embarrassment. The irritation kept piling up. "I told you, everyone's different. So what if some people value money more than love, or whatever? It's their life. Keep your nose out of it."

"But they're not my values. They're universal values that comprise a good person."

"You're not very smart, and you're also wrong."

"I'm not wrong."

This steadfastness was classic Amano. It made him want to snap at her, or more accurately, snap her in half. "What, do you think you're always right, then?"

"Of course not. But I am right concerning this topic."

"'Kay, but you can't do anything about it. Do you like, want to go and curse everyone into thinking the same as you?"

"No. I don't want to change them. I just think they should change."

"That's bloody great for you. ...Hey, your minute was up five minutes ago! If you'll excuse me then—"

"How about you?"

"What?"

"Are you focusing more on exams right now? Or the ball?"

Why did she care, honestly! It was like she wanted him to pour his soul out to her or something. Was she his psychiatrist? Nooooo. "Do you think I want to talk to you? Your minute's up, I told you."

She bit her lip in an unexpected show of self-doubt. "...Sorry. I guess you are busy."

He trampled over anything delicate in the air, eyes narrowing. "Why are you talking to me, anyway? I'm not sure if you already knew this, but you know, Amano? I really don't like you."

If he'd said those words with the same amount of conviction to anyone else, they might have responded with shock and offense. But it was as if Rin didn't understand what he'd meant—she thought on his words too long, trying to make sense out of them, as if he'd been speaking in pig Latin.

"Don't tell me you didn't know that," he said.

Rin shook her head, frowning slightly. "I-I never put much thought to it, is all. Whether you liked me or not."

She really was a special one, huh? "Well now you know."

"I guess."

She was concentrating too much for a conversation about likes and dislikes and unimportant feelings. She looked like she was analyzing deep philosophy or doing mental math. What was there to possibly think about, though? It was just that he didn't like her, plain and simple. "You're not like, upset about it, are you?" he snorted.

"Well…" She placed a hand on her chin. "Maybe I'm a little disappointed. I think everyone wants to be liked."

Something about her answer and the pensive look about her lifted his mood, just a little. "Sure."

Silence crept in between them and made itself comfortable. Len could hear the notes of the Hogwarts Orchestra's rehearsal, distant and dimly echoing in the spaciousness of the castle—they were practicing Christmas songs.

"I know this song," Rin said quietly. "I've heard it before…"

"Hm?"

"It's, it's… You know, those tunes you always hear as a child but never grow up to learn the names of? You hear them on television, and things like that..."

Len raised a brow (what was a television?), but listened closer to the melody. After a moment, he murmured, "Canon in D, right? Pachelbel's Canon in D."

"Is that what it's called?"

"It's a Christmas classic," Len said, shrugging. "It's also used in weddings to a cliché. That's where I first heard it, I think."

"Weddings…" Rin repeated. "Christmas and weddings…"

"It's a simple piece of music, but a lot of people love it. It's a classic classical piece."

"Mhmm."

"Canon, it's actually a composition technique. It's when you have an initial melody, and then later, another voice comes in and plays an imitation of that melody. It's like building blocks, almost. And then the piece ends up having all these different layers that are kind of the same, but different in a harmonic way."

Rin looked at him, was that interestedly? "You seem to know a lot about it."

"Huh?" Len hadn't even realized he'd just been spouting words on music theory—he was talking without thinking. He knew a bit about it, and maybe a part of him subconsciously figured that Rin would appreciate the knowledge. "Ah, I-I dunno. I just, I've played this piece before. On, on violin."

"You play violin?"

"Just a little. It's like a side-hobby, I'm not really into it."

"Oh, I see." Rin looked like there was something else she wanted to say—Len intuitively guessed what it might have been…

"No, you're not going to hear me play."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you."

"Oh."

Len stared up towards the library's high ceiling. The tiny windows, so far up above, angled orange light down the pillars, past intricately carved arches and crevices of age, past where the stone walls intersected with the wooden ones, right up to where he was standing. The architecture really was artful, he observed, it really was.

His voice escaped his throat like a captive breaking free, "I'm tired," and he didn't even notice the loss until Rin responded with, "Is that so?"

"Ah, er, I'm just—" When he was particularly tired, it seemed his mouth filter also weakened. He cursed. "No, I think you're hearing things."

"Hm. No, I think I understand," Rin said. "This is a stressful time of year."

"I'm not stressed!"

"It's just that, me myself, I've chosen to only care about exams. It makes things a lot easier for me. But for someone like you, who likes to be involved with several different things at once, I thought you might be having trouble keeping up."

"Wh-What makes you assume that about me?" Creepy, it was creepy.

"I just thought."

"Thinking of me, were you?"

"I was, actually. Just now, before you appeared. It was a great coincidence you came just as I was thinking of you."

What was he supposed to say to that?! "That's weird."

"I was thinking maybe it was magic. Magic can make coincidences like this happen."

He sighed. "Well we are in a magic school, so maybe."

Her smile, for once, again. "Maybe."

"...Maybe."

He stood there, figuring it was about time he got moving—how her one minute became ten, he simply could not explain.

"Good luck, then," she said suddenly.

"What?"

"With whatever you're dealing with that's making you tired."

He just gaped.

"Since you're normally a very capable person, it must be something big that's weighing you down, no? I just, I think it might be more than exams or the ball. I'm not going to ask you about it, though."

"Why not?"

"It's not my business."

"You're right, it isn't."

Rin tapped her fingers on the table's surface. "Nevertheless, good luck."

It was Rin, so he knew it wasn't a pleasantry. She was so weird. But, but… He was put at a small, small amount of ease. "I don't need luck."

"Everyone needs luck."

Luck…

Luck.

That was it.

He found it.

The reason why she always won, why he could never beat her… It was luck. Just plain luck.

Lucky, Rin Amano. All you are is lucky.

Not knowing what he was doing—if he did, he'd have put an end to the nonsense before it could manifest itself—and a ghost of a smile lurking his face, he pulled out the chair in front of her, and cast a Muffliato charm around the table. So no one could hear. "You know what? Maybe you can help me."

"Help?"

"I'll tell you about this, uh, problem of mine."

"Huh? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

But he wanted to; if there was anyone who could help him find a way to beat Kaito, it was Rin. She probably knew more spells and potions than their whole year combined. "Well do you want to know or not?"

"I want to know."

"Okay, then I'll tell you. It's not a big deal, really." He saw no problem in—not confiding in, but discussing with Rin; Rin didn't talk to anyone, and Len was pretty darn certain that Rin did not participate in any sort of gossip. The shit Kaito put him through—it was something he wouldn't want to tell his friends—not Fukase or Mikuo or Miku—but Rin wasn't his friend, and he just had a feeling that even if what he said might've embarrassed him in front of another person, Rin was different from other people. She was too socially inept to understand the popular definition of 'embarrassing', so in that way, she was safe to talk to.

"If it's not a big deal, why did you cast a Muffliato charm?"

"Shut up. Okay, so what happened is this. Kaito is an arsehole, and erm, let's just say he caught me doing something, and he wants to tell all his friends and their grandmothers about it. And I don't want him to tell anyone."

"What did you do?"

"I'm not telling you." Rin frowned; Len rolled his eyes. He knew he was being extremely unclear, but. "It's not important. Anyway, Kaito the Butthead gave me this ultimatum: either he blabs about this thing I did, or I do something else that I'd really rather not do."

"Okay…"

"That's it. You see my dilemma?"

"...No."

"It's not difficult to understand. All I need is your help finding something that'll keep Kaito from blabbing about what I did."

"What would help you?"

"I dunno, that's what I'm asking. Is there like, a speech charm?"

Rin frowned. "We don't learn speech charms until sixth year. Also, using one on your friend would be extremely unethical."

"Ugh, you don't even know what he said, though! Trust me, if you knew how much of a prat he is, you'd agree to let me use them, okay?"

"I don't know what he said because you won't tell me what he said."

"You don't need to know what he said."

Rin exhaled quickly—was that irritation? "You can't expect me to help if you don't tell me anything."

Looking closely, Len could see, yep, that was definitely a knot between her brows. She was subtle about it, but she was annoyed. What audacity she had, to be annoyed by him. Still, it was strangely gratifying that he could get to her. He couldn't help the smirk. "Huh, what the hell—are you mad, Amano?"

"I would... not like to waste my time much longer."

He was about to say the same thing—what was he doing, wasting his time talking to her?—but then he realized something rather interesting. Annoying her was fun, when he was able to do it. Like a messed-up sort of game, almost. "You're mad, aren't you?"

"I'm not mad."

"You sound mad."

"But I'm not."

"You're not convincing me right now."

Rin gave him a flat look. "If you are going to pursue the topic of my mood, I'd rather you leave instead."

"But this is a public place, Amano, you can't kick me out."

"The librarian always evicts disturbances. You're being a disturbance, Len."

"Huh? No, I'm not. I'm not disturbing anyone."

"You're disturbing me."

"No I'm not. In fact, you like when you get to talk to me, don't you, Amano?" Why he was pushing her so much, he had no idea—but hey, it made him forget about everything he'd like to forget.

"I'm not sure about that."

"You probably dream about getting to talk to me more often."

"I don't."

"Hm, maybe you're in denial. Everyone likes talking to me, you know."

"That sounds like a bluff."

It was, truthfully. It was facetious, the way he said it, even if he liked to believe it. "No, not really."

Her attention was turned to her book once more. Len sucked on the inside of his cheek. Fun's over, huh? "Fine, fine. I'll tell you."

"Hurry up, then," she said, not looking up.

Len glared at her, but spoke. "So basically, it was like this. I made a horrible mistake. Amano, have you ever made a mistake that you regretted so much that if anyone were to find out about it, you'd stick yourself in the oven with your Thanksgiving dinner?"

"Um… Not to that caliber, but I have made mistakes, yes."

"Good. Good." Amano making mistakes… He wondered what they could've possibly been. "Right, so this mistake of mine. I still don't want to tell you what it is exactly, sorry, but you understand where I'm coming from, right? I don't have to get too specific."

"It's fine."

"Great. So yeah, since I have dignity, I'd rather not have people know about this mistake I made. But Kaito thinks it would be funny to tell everyone. Because, because he knows how much it would piss me off, you know? But he gave me a deal. He said he won't tell anyone as long as I..." He trailed off.

"You...?"

"Well you see, it's kind of awkward. I don't really want to tell you. But, but I guess it doesn't matter."

"You can tell me." Was she encouraging him? That's what it sounded like. He placed his chin in his palm, staring at the roof and all the nice architecture again.

"It's as long as I go to the ball with, well, you."

There was as much surprise in her expression as if he'd just told her that Christmas was in December. "Me?"

Really, she could've at least acted like she cared. Did she have to be so bleeding mild about everything? "Yes, you."

A couple of moments passed where Rin didn't say anything. She'd looked up from her book and was staring at him now, curious as if she'd observed something quietly strange.

"...Are you okay?"

"The hell are you talking about?" he snapped. Though, he did know what she was talking about. Dammit he was blushing, wasn't he? He really wasn't good with these kinds of things, especially things like having to declare to his hated rival that the thought of going to a Yule Ball with her had actually crossed his mind, no matter the reason why. He didn't want to even think of going to the ball with Rin, because it was so ridiculous and made him feel disgusting like he'd been bathed in steaming green bubotuber pus.

"Never mind," Rin said.

"Whatever."

"So. This ultimatum. What reason would Kaito have to propose these specific conditions?" Rin asked, getting back on topic.

She was, in layman's terms, asking 'why did Kaito want you to go with me?' and the true answer to that would be, 'because I don't like you, and Kaito wants to torture me, and I really don't like you, and I really don't know what's wrong with Kaito but it makes me so angry that he won't just tell me what his beef is instead of acting so cryptic about whatever's bugging him—not that I want to talk about his feelings and similar bullshit, but everyone knows that talking it out is always the best way to go'. But that was too long and complex, so Len settled for, "'Cause he's a git?"

"Is that so?" she said, accepting his answer even if inside, she felt there was a bit more to it.

He laughed. "It's freaking so."

"Oh. So, you either take me to the ball or Kaito lets your secret out."

"Basically."

"Though," Rin said, "I don't want to go to the ball."

There may have been a part of him that would've been okay with asking Amano to the ball as a last resort—a last resort!—if he couldn't come up with anything else and was trapped with a corner—he'd realized that just as he'd informed her of the whole deal—but that was out the window now. "I'm not asking you to the damn ball!" he snapped. "The whole reason I'm in this shit is because I don't want to go to the ball with you, okay? So please don't imagine yourself going with me, because that's gross."

"I imagined it," she said, as if to spite him, except he knew it wasn't to spite him because she was Rin, and Rin was too bloody honest.

"I fucking told you not to imagine it."

"I don't think I liked imagining it," Rin said, shrugging.

"That's bloody good for you."

"I would rather study on Christmas Eve. Or write to my parents."

Blimey. Studying on Christmas Eve? She was extreme. Extremely sorry. "Yeah, er, you shouldn't study on Christmas Eve. Just, yeah, write to your parents."

"Okay."

"Right." Where were they? "Aaaanyway, yeah, Kaito said that stupid thing. So now, since I don't want to go to the ball with you, and I need to maintain my self-respect, I want to find a way to get Kaito to keep quiet about that thing I did. Like, a spell or potion. That's where you come in."

"I see."

"I want you to help me out. You know a lot of magic. Surely you know something that could help?"

Rin frowned. "I don't think there's anything off the top of my head. What you're asking for is really complex."

"It can't be that hard. There's gotta be a solution somewhere in that brain of yours, Amano, come on, think."

"I really don't know. I would have to do some research."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. There really isn't anything I can think of."

Len ground his teeth. "Well, would you be willing? To do research for me."

Rin seemingly calculated her week's schedule in her head. Eventually she said, "I would like to help, but I prioritize studying for exams."

He tried not to roll his eyes. "I see."

"I'm sorry."

"N-No, it's fine," Len said, standing up. He felt a bit strange having shared so much with Rin (though thinking on it later, he realized that he'd hardly shared much at all), especially now that he knew it'd all been for nothing. "Keep studying then. I'll get going."

Rin nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome…"

He'd taken two steps when again, and for the last time that day, Rin stopped him.

"I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I find that in order to solve interpersonal problems, talking it out is always the best way to go."

He'd called her amazing, back then on the train, uselessly trying to flatter her or butter her up, or whatever. He didn't really believe it back then, but maybe, just maybe, now, he did.

He'd squashed the thought by the time he'd exited the library.

a/n: i made it i made it yess every thursday people every thursday! (for most of you, friday I guess)

this chapter was weird to write, it didn't come out nearly as easily/naturally as the others! I rewrote it like 3 times. XD

canon in d is one of my favourite pieces of music ever, so of course I had to put it in. also, boys who play violin amirite ;) Rin, I'll just tell you now lol, my canon for Rin is that she plays piano, so it's like a genderbent Your Lie in April lol. Side note, there's something really wonderful/romantic about a violin/piano duet? the piano player being the grounded, jaded type and the violin player being more of a dreamer... I'm just rambling about abstract things orz

do you think len's change of mood was unnatural? I struggle to find a balance between Len's disdain and sociability; like, he's pompous but at the same time I have to make him act in a way that makes it believable that people like him. At the beginning of the chapter, he was really freaking mad, but by the end his mood improved. Did that shift feel unnatural? Tell me your thoughts!

Life update from me: school is annoying and my grades are crap and I am so dreading having to show them to my parents :(

I just treat these a/ns like my personal ranting corners lol I really shouldn't

well anyway, please review! I love you all and btw, if you're reading this far in, thank you so much for sticking around with me for the past month and 25k words! Let's hope I can continue to hold your interest hehe