Chapter 10 - Forget, Forget!
He couldn't move.
All he could do was stare at the space they had been occupying, shock and fear flowing through his being. How could this have happened? There was just no way…
His knees threatened to cave in, but he refused to hunch down and cry about it. There was no need for tears. He wasn't allowed to even be given the opportunity to do such a thing. For years he had known, damn known, that everything he had accomplished in life was nothing but an illusion; a dream created to make him feel pain. Even his biggest accomplishment, getting to marry the girl of his dreams, was doubtful. He could've never been so lucky. No way. And…
In a sense, it's better like this. She could be happier, loved. So why change anything?
And as he turns around to run to where his legs decide to take him, he concludes that, for a second time…
…he had lost.
As her cerulean eyes look towards the sunset painting the town's horizon, Lenka yawns and places a hand on her sleeping brother's head. She looks down at him happily, a somnolent expression on her heavy eyes. "Where are we gonna sleep, Rinto? I feel so tired…"
The blonde boy only shrugged and hummed in uncertainty, causing Lenka to frown. "I don't know. Maybe your mo- I mean- Rin will take us in?"
She hated the way he had said her mother's name, but she didn't put it past him. It was weird calling her by her name… "Maybe. I doubt aun- Neru will let her, though."
At that moment, Rinto got up and turned to face Lenka, causing her to raise a brow. "Well, what about your dad? He already pretty much knows who we are, in a sense, so why not go to him?"
"I don't know," was her response, uncertainty nibbling at her thoughts. "I mean, we don't even know where he lives- EEK!"
Lenka immediately gets up from her place on the bench, her brother's sleeping form kept tightly in her arms. "Rinto, are you alright?"
Said blonde only groans in response as he lifts a hand up towards the back of his head. "Ugh, I'm fine. I've been through worse…" As he says this, he gets up and reaches a hand down to help the girl that bumped into him. "I'm sorry, miss, are you alright?"
The girl stays silent, but she accepts Rinto's assistance and takes his hand. Afterwards, she wipes her red locks away from her face and looks into her 'victim's' eyes, causing Rinto to let out a small gasp. "I apologize for my inconvenience." And, with that, she walks off.
"W-Was that-?"
"It seems like it."
The two blondes look at each other and then at the girl walking off down the sidewalk. They stay silent for a bit before Rinto finally says, "…She looks so old… Machinery changed a lot over the years, huh?"
Lenka nods in agreement. "For real…"
"So, shall we follow her?"
"I don't see why not. Man, I'm so tired…"
"Rin," Miku began, her expression cross and worrisome at the same time, "we've been looking for hours, and plus, what if you have another attack again? Please don't risk your health over this..."
The blonde felt awful for making her best friend worry like that, but she couldn't just let Len wander out there all alone. What kind of wife would she be? And he could be incredibly hungry; it had been hours since they had last eaten in the little cafe. Oh, what to do-
Her eyes widened when she felt a large hand grasp hers while she was searching behind the bushes. She had thought it to be her husband, but upon blinking a couple times, she realized it was Kaito holding her hand, not Len. Disappointment filled her heart, and she could tell that Kaito noticed by the way he squeezed her hand in slight reassurance. "Rin-chan, please, we'll continue the search tomorrow. Not much we can do anymore, I'm afraid. Wherever it is he wandered off to, I'm sure he'll be fine. Trust me."
She still felt doubtful, incredibly so, but she somewhat saw truth in Kaito's words. Len was a scientist, for crying out loud! Something as trivial as getting lost who-knows-where shouldn't be a problem for him. But still...
A sharp gasp escaped her lips as she clutched onto the sides of her tightly. What was...?
I bring my hands over my mouth in mild surprise. Oh my gosh, I just can't believe...! What do I do? How do I answer?
"Y-Yes!" The word escapes my lips in a rush and I instantly ran over to him and trapped him in a huge hug. It was all too good to be true; how could I have been so lucky?
"J-Jeez, Rin, you're practically choking me!" Warmth spreads over me as his laugh, his happy, airy, wonderful laugh, rings in my ears. This is all so perfect...
I let him go from my tight embrace and run a hand through his blonde... No, wait...
His hair isn't blonde.
It never was.
... Was it?
"RIN!"
Kaito was the first to help her as he laid her head in his lap, one hand going through Rin's now messy hair in a soothing motion as he whispered small words to comfort her. Miku was next to follow as she took one of Rin's hands into her own. Her eyes and throat stung as she struggled hardly to not cry. She needed to be strong for her struggling friend...
"Sweetie, I need you to carry her. Maybe if she gets some rest..."
The blue-haired man nodded in agreement and stayed silent as he carried Rin in his arms, bridal-style. A laugh escaped his lips before he could even think, but the action contained absolutely no humor or amusement in it. "This sorta reminds me of that time... Miku..."
Said girl immediately snapped, "Now's not the time to be thinking of such things, idiot! I don't need such memories; I'm already struggling to keep myself from crying!"
The pair said nothing while they walked towards the hotel, the sun now nearly gone as purplish hues colored the sky.
"Master Len."
Said boy stared at his creation with tired eyes, a ring of red around them as an indication that he had pretty much been crying his heart out for the past hour or so. "I told you not to call me that..."
The robot paid no heed to his words and continued, "Some people are here to see you."
At this, Len snapped his head up and tried to look over Miki's shoulder. "People are here to see me? Please tell me it isn't the neighbors again... I already apologized for my last failure and I haven't done much since then..."
Miki's red hair swayed as she shook her head in negativity. "They go by the name of 'Lenka' and 'Rinto'. They followed me here, Master."
"R-Really?" Len was so excited at the thought of having company that he dismissed the pronoun Miki used to address him with. "Sent them in- n-no, w-wait..."
How could he have forgotten? He had guests, he couldn't greet them with the way he looked! The boy immediately asked Miki for a mirror and he rushed to make himself look presentable. He would've screamed at his current state; his eyes and nose were completely red, and his hair looked like it had just faced a tornado or something. The hair, of course, was an easy enough fix, but his eyes were another matter entirely...
"They're waiting, Master Len."
Oh, screw it all. Since when did it matter anyway? Without a word, Len nodded for Miki to let the two she had mentioned inside.
"W-Wow, it's kinda messy in here..."
Len stood up from the chair he was sitting on and looked towards the source of the voice. "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting... Wait..." He stared at his two guests (which were actually three, counting the kid in the girl's arms) as realization dawned on him. "You're those two people from the park, ne? What are you doing here?"
Rinto was the first to speak up. "Well... We were kinda hoping you would take us in for the night. You see..."
"Run-aways?"
"N-No, not exactly..." How could he explain this? Rinto wasn't exactly the world's best liar... "Um- We-"
"We're Rin's cousins!"
The room stayed silent after Lenka's outburst, and Rinto was just about ready to yell at her. C'mon, Rin's cousins? Not even someone with half a brain would believe-
"If you truly are who you say you are, then why aren't you in R-Rin's house, then?"
... I stand corrected, though there's some doubt in his voice... "W-Well-"
"We lost our way," Lenka responded for him, and he had to admit, the girl was a smooth liar. "As you can see, we're not from this town."
Len stared at them as he thought their request over. There really was no harm in letting them sleep over, and he had the spare bedroom, so why not? He could kinda use the company, anyway... He opened his mouth to speak, "The spare bedroom I have is kinda messy, and it only has one bed, though I think you three will be able to fit in it. I hope you don't mind..."
"Dude, are you kidding me? Anything sounds good to me at this point. Show the way!"
Len smiled slightly at the girl's cheerfulness and led them towards the bedroom so they could rest. Yes, he could use some of that optimism right now...
He could tell it wouldn't be a walk in the park to get over her.
What was he going to do?
Len had been walking around for hours on end, and he finally decided to just plop himself in front of the cafe he had used to love so much. It always smelled so wonderful and homely, and Rin...
No. He agreed long ago to forget. That way it wouldn't hurt as much.
...
The blonde let out a groan of frustration as he practically pulled at his own hair. Forget, forget, forget, forget! Why was it so hard?!
"I WISH WE HADN'T EVER MET!"
"SIR!"
Cerulean eyes widen as Len turns around to see a younger version of Rin's sister. Neru... "CAN YOU SHUT UP?! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE SO WE CAN RUN AN ESTABLISHMENT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! God, some people need jobs so desperately...!"
Neru's brow twitched as she saw the man had the nerve to smile in such a goofy, go-lucky fashion. "Hey, I'm sorry, calm down! I'm just a little...stressed out..."
The honey-blonde studied him over for a bit before she opened her mouth to speak. "Jeez, you look wretched! Like... Did someone run you over and then mug you or somethin'?"
Len would've laughed, for he had that exact state of mind to do so. "No, my ex doesn't love me anymore."
Ex... Ex was good. One step forward towards Forgetville...
"Ex?" Neru couldn't help but feel that the man may have had one too many shots. "Dude, you need help... RIN!"
"NO! DON'T BRING HER OVER HERE! I WON'T-"
"DUDE, CALM DOWN! UGH, YOU KNOW WHAT-" Neru raised her hand over her head in an effort to slap the man senseless until he passed out, but her sister stopped her from doing so. One more disappointment tonight...
"Neru, please, calm down!" The honey-blonde nodded but made no promises as her sister turned towards the mysterious man. "Are you alright?"
Oh, how Len regretted coming to this place right now... "I'm fine."
Rin sighed sadly and placed her arm under the stranger's own in an effort to pick him up. "Neru, help me with him. Maybe he needs some sleep..."
She watched as her sister immediately began to protest. "Nuh-uh, no way! Haven't you heard of 'stranger danger'? What if he tries to ra-"
"NERU!"
"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! Jeez, the things I do for some people..."
And with that, Neru helped to support Len's weight as they awkwardly made their way inside and upstairs, all the while listening to the man's not-so-silent curses.
A.N./ I apologize if the last bit seems rushed... I'm kinda getting a headache, and I seriously need a snack... And, to a lesser extent, go to the bathroom... xD
Well! I hope you somewhat liked this chapter... Or not... It was kinda depressing... Nnh... Oh well. :/ The plot thickens as Rin seems to be losing her memories and Len foolishly tries to forget about the whole ordeal instead of handling it like a man! Ugh, the shota frustrates me!
Kagamine Hikari: We all feel for Len... He'll find love someday...! *^*)/ xD
Kireina Yume: YEEEEEEEEEEEE- Naw, I'm just kidding! xD
update (Guest): I've never been good when it comes to updating frequently... I'm sorry... ;^;
Review~