Chapter Seven

Please Stay by My Side

It had all happened so quickly that Rin barely had time to react. She had been in a complete state of shock when Gumi had come out of nowhere, but it had made her so happy to see her again. And then Len had come. Rin had hoped Len would never meet Gumi, but that hadn't happened. And now she didn't know what to do. She couldn't do anything without feeling like she was picking one over the other, and she couldn't pick one of them!

The tension between the two was so thick that Rin though it might suffocate her. They hadn't said anything other than the formalities since Rin had introduced them to each other. Rin frowned, at a complete loss. What could she do? Len and Gumi seemed lost in their own world as they glared at each other. She wasn't sure there was anything she could do now without making the situation worse.

"Hey, Rin!"

Rin, Gumi, and Len all turned their heads toward the voice. Miku dashed over the them, holding a paper bag of groceries as she ran across the street. Miku smiled, completely oblivious to the tension around her. She placed the groceries on the bench beside Rin, taking the place where Len should have sat. Rin flinched a bit, afraid of how Len would react. Miku drew Rin up into a startling hug.

"It's been so long!" exclaimed Miku. She picked up Rin's paper bag. "Ooh, what's this?" She peeked inside. "Ooh, taiyaki! Great idea! I want some too! Here, share these with Gumi, I'll go get some more." She jumped up from the bench and latched onto Len, whose face showed but the slightest trace of irritation. "Why hello. What's your name?"

"Len," he replied, instinctively revealing one of his radiant smiles.

"Well, you're pretty cute, Len. You've caused quite a stir at school. Let's go get some more taiyaki, 'kay?"

Miku was obviously just a stubborn as Len, and he'd evidently noticed that there was no way out when she had you in her grip, so he went along for the ride, letting her drag him along. The taiyaki stand was only a few shops away, but it gave Gumi and Rin a little privacy, at least. Rin thanked Miku silently.

"So, you and that Len guy," started Gumi.

Rin could see where this was going, and she didn't want to lose Gumi again, not so soon after she'd gotten her back. "Please don't," she requested.

Gumi stopped immediately and they fell into silence, listening to Miku chatter animatedly at Len. Rin knew she shouldn't be wasting this time, so she forced herself to speak again.

"Gumi, can we be friends again?" Rin asked, staring at her hands that had curled into balls on her lap.

"Well, it's not that we're not friends," Gumi began.

"Gumi," interrupted Rin. She looked the other girl in the eyes, letting all her emotions pour out. The heartbreak when she realized that Miku had become Gumi's closest friend, the pain of watching them from afar as she drifted further and further away, the regret whenever she'd see Gumi in the hallway, the anger from all the times Gumi had picked Miku over her, the loneliness of those months between the time they'd fallen apart and when Miki had found her, the confusion she felt every time she saw Gumi and knew she wasn't supposed to talk to her anymore. All of her emotions poured out with that one word as she gazed pleadingly at Gumi.

And then Gumi gave up trying to pretend. "You're right. I'm sorry. I want to be friends again, if you'll still put up with me." She gave a small smile, looking incredibly vulnerable in this moment as she braced herself for rejection.

Rin smiled, tears filling her eyes. She didn't trust her voice, so she nodded, squeezing her eyes shut before the tears could overflow. She felt Gumi's arms wrap around her as Rin let herself cry. She returned her friend's embrace, so happy to able to be with her again. Just being this close to Gumi seemed like it would be all she'd ever need. All thoughts of Len vanished from her mind, Miku's inane babbling pushed out of her ears. The only thing in her world right now was her and Gumi, locked in an embrace after over a year without a single word spoken between the two.

. . .

When Rin had gotten home that night, Len hadn't spoken a single word to her, and, though his lack of acknowledgement still bothered her, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been before. Now, she had Gumi. She had Gumi again. She didn't even care when Len left that night, though she realized after that he'd been waiting for her to ask for him to sleep with her in that time he'd been lingering in her room. Oh well. It's was too late now.

The silent treatment seemed to be over that morning. Len had greeted her in his normal upbeat, self-assured attitude. Rin had been glad to see this, though Len seemed to get a little stiff when she put on her white bow.

Len had fallen into silence again when he peered out the window after a pebble smacked the glass. Rin smiled, knowing what the pebble meant, and threw her window open. She beamed down at Gumi, who waved up at her.

"Do you know there's a boy in your room?" Gumi called up.

"He's a guest," Rin said quickly, though she didn't let Gumi seeing Len in her room get her too down. Today was her first day of being friends with Gumi again. She wasn't going to let anything screw it up.

"Well, as long as you know," laughed Gumi, her cheerful attitude mirroring Rin's. "Hurry up, I don't wont to be late."

Rin laughed at that. "What do you care about being late?"

"If I'm late, you're late, and we can't let that happen," replied Gumi. "Now shoo! Go get ready!"

Rin smiled and closed the window. Len was leaning against the doorframe, looking annoyed and dejected. Rin rolled her eyes with a smile as she passed by him. "Stop sulking. You're still important to me."

"How important?" questioned Len, not following her. Rin froze and looked back at him. He had an incredibly serious look on his face, which was odd for him. "How do you feel about me, Rin?"

Rin blinked at him, her heart speeding up and her face flushing. His mournful eyes were so hypnotizing. Still, she shook her head and pulled her eyes away. "Len, I don't have time for this right now. Come on." She continued walking, but she didn't hear his footsteps following, so she turned back around with a sigh. Len looked absolutely stricken, devastated. Rin felt guilt well up in her. She went back to him and took his hands in hers. "I'm sorry, that was mean. But you can't do this to me first thing in the morning, Len."

Len frowned. "Why not? It should be easy."

Now it was Rin's turn to frown. "Len, expressing your feelings for someone isn't easy, not ever. It's . . . complicated." She shook her head. "Can we please talk about his later? We have to go to school."

Len nodded reluctantly, and this time he followed her when she left. Gumi was waiting for them right outside the door. She smiled brightly at Rin, but the smile faltered a little when she looked at Len. Len grinned at her, though there was a hint of mockery in the smile. Gumi scowled at him and took Rin's hand, tugging her along through the meadow. Len took Rin's other hand, glaring at Gumi. Rin was certain that this would be a long day.

. . .

At lunch, Miku and Gumi joined Rin, Len, Miki, Piko, and Iroha in their classroom. Len and Gumi immediately started another glaring war, even before Gumi had taken a seat. Luckily, Miku thought to break the ice.

"Hiya, I'm Miku and this is Gumi," chirped the girl. "We were in Rin's class last year and the year before."

"I'm Piko," introduced one of the only boys in this group, "and these are Miki and Iroha. Iroha's the one making a fool of herself."

Iroha, who had been openly staring at Len, entranced by his entire existence as Miki and Piko had watched her in annoyance, whipped her head toward him. "Am not! Shut up!"

"Nice to meet you," said Miku. "So, I'm gonna sit with Len because he's really hot, and the rest of you do whatever you want."

It took the others a moment to realize that she was serious. She sat in the seat next to Len and smiled seductively at him. He returned the look, which admittedly had Rin a little jealous. He caught her eye and winked. Rin's face reddened, and she looked away.

"No way, I wanna sit with him too!" cried Iroha.

Miki and Piko fumed as she ran over to take the other free spot next to him. Rin could have sworn her saw steam coming out of their ears. Miki, a volcano that was teetering dangerously close to erupting, took a seat next to Iroha, and Piko sat on Miki's other side. Rin then sat next to Piko, and Gumi sat between Rin and Miku, completing the circle.

From there, the lunch consisted of Len, Iroha, and Miku flirting, Piko and Miki glaring at Iroha, Gumi and Len glaring at each other whenever possible, and a lot of catching up between Gumi and Rin, though it was mainly trivial things, small talk to keep busy.

But to Rin, it was better than anything. She had Gumi back, and than was all that mattered to her. Everything else could wait until a later date.

Author's Note: Miku saves the day! In her own special way. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Please review, once again~!