Bound

Chapter 10

Miku sighed miserably. Even though they had 5 people looking for Len, and had spent almost the whole day, they had yet to catch the blonde. Everyone was tired and desperate, but still not giving up. They had decided to camp in the cafeteria in case Len went there for dinner.

'I've not heard from Luka as well. I wonder if she's doing okay.' Miku checked her phone, disapppointed that it contained no new messages.

"It's no use trying to contact Len, Miku. He won't reply me at all. When we find him, I'm going to whack him until I'm happy." Rin huffed, irritated with her brother but concerned for him all the same.

"He must be feeling terrible. He probably blames himself for everything. Well, not that he isn't to be blamed, but he can't just keep everything to himself, that idiot!" Kaito fumed, and the group sighed.

'He blames himself for everything, huh? I know how that feels.' Miku's nightmare flashed in her mind and she flinched.

"You okay?" Miki asked, a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm fine. I think I'm just tired." Miku tried to smile and cleared her mind of any unwelcome thoughts.

"Luka." Lily knocked on Luka's door, and waited for a response. It had been such a long time since she spoke to the girl privately. To be honest, she was a little nervous and was about to turn away when the door opened, showing a surprised Luka.

"Lily? What's up?" Luka invited the girl in and sat down.

"Well, you still remember what day yesterday was, don't you?"

"Of course. No way could I forget it. And after what happened yesterday, no way would I." Luka looked away, still angry with yesterday's incident. She had wanted to go out and take her mind of things, but that unexpected incident had screwed everything up.

"So you didn't visit your parents' graves?"

Luka froze at that word. Graves. It was a harsh reminder that her parents were no longer around. They would never be there for her. They would never be there for her orientations, her graduations, her birthdays. They were gone. She hated it. She was robbed of them when she was so young, left to fend for herself in the cruel world. She made her way back to Lily after she was deemed too old to stay at the orphanage, and the Masuda's took her in readily. She owed them a great deal. But she owed her parents even more, and she had promised not to return to them in shame.

"Nope. Not yet." 'I'll return when I have avenged them. I'll take revenge on the people who killed them.'

"Are you okay? You seem agitated."

"I'm fine. It's nothing, really. I think I'm restless because of this storm." Luka shrugged nonchalantly, and turned to face Lily. "Do you have anything to do now?"

"Nope, what about you?"

Luka shook her head. "I'm hungry, do you want to grab a bite?"

"W-with you?" Lily asked, surprised at the sudden invitation. It had been a long time since Luka ate with her.

"Well, who else?" Luka raised an eyebrow and extended a hand. "C'mon."

The group of 5 had given up and called it a day; Rin returning to her room as she was not hungry (she had been eating oranges to keep her emotions in check), Kaito had went off to check the dorms for Len, which left Miku and Miki alone. Neru had disappeared halfway, much to Rin's disappointment. Throughout their long wait, Len did not show up at all.

Miku had decided to get something to eat, but Miki had no appetite to eat at all, so she just stayed there, observing her surroundings alertly.

"Isn't that?" She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Sure enough, it was Masuda Lily and Megurine Luka. "Wow, I thought Luka had abandoned her friends."

"What about Luka?" Miku sat down beside Miki, her plate full of food with leeks in them.

"Oh, I just saw Luka with Masuda Lily. I guess she's lonely. After all you did ask her not to join our search."

"Luka with Lily?" Miku was reminded of Ruko's words as she saw the two tall girls walk to a table away from them. Both of them had not seen her, and she didn't want them to notice her at all.

'How exactly are Luka and Lily related? I remember Ruko saying something about them.' Miku frowned and stuffed a leek croquet in her mouth to distract herself. 'Oh well why do I care so much?'

"You aren't jealous are you, Miku?" Miki grinned slyly and Miku almost spat out her delicious leeks.

"Why would I be jealous? There's nothing to be jealous about!"

"Well that's what you get when you have a girlfriend. Whether she's with guys or girls, you worry the same."

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Miki. If you go by that logic, Luka would be jealous too."

"What if she is?"

"Ehhhh…." Miku ignored Miki's question and popped a piece of leek into her mouth.

"Eh? Is Luka back with Lily now?" Ruko wondered aloud, but not loud enough to reach Luka or Lily.

"You!" Miku choked on her leek and sputtered. "What are you doing here?"

"Having my dinner." Ruko waved a hand towards her plate of food, and smiled at the two girls coldly. "What if Luka is two-timing you?"

"No way, Luka isn't that kind of person!" Miku argued, and Ruko smirked.

"That might be true, but what if she's running to Lily now and abandoning you because she's been implicated in some unfortunate event?"

"An unfortunate event that YOU planned." Miki retorted.

"Still, what if she is doing that now? What if she has seen you but she doesn't want to acknowledge your presence?"

'Don't move, Miku, if you move and walk over to Luka, you will fall into Ruko's trap. But what if she's right? No, no way.'

Miku looked up at Miku defiantly, "She promised that she would stay by my side throughout our search for Len. You can't trick me, Ruko."

"Oh, but you can trick yourself, can you not?" Ruko beamed even more and walked away coolly.

"Urgh, I can't stand that Ruko!" Miku fumed. "She's so annoying. First she causes Len to do stupid things, then she's trying to make me do stupid things! I think I just lost my appetite speaking to her!"

"Well, you know she's lying to you." Miki tried to calm her friend down. "She's that kind of person."

Miku sighed, still irritated by Ruko, and as they travelled back to their dorms, Miku couldn't help but let her thoughts take over her.

'What if Ruko is right? After all, Luka stopped texting me. And she was so happy with Lily. Did she really just run off and leave me to clear this mess? No, she wouldn't. She promised. She can't leave me alone. I don't want to be abandoned again. Papa already…'

"We're here already, Miku." Miku snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Miki, who was looking at her curiously. "Are you okay? You keep blanking out."

"Ah? Yeah, I think I'm just too exhausted by everything." Miku tried to smile, and as she stepped into her room, her smile faltered. Her eyes had settled on the calendar, and she realized what the next day would be. "Mikuo nii-san… has it really been so long? If I can, I'll visit you tomorrow."

"Luka, why aren't you eating with cri- Hatsune?" Lily asked, and Luka frowned slightly.

"Well, I think she's looking for her friend. They had a great fight yesterday. And it was all Ruko's fault."

"Ruko's fault?"

"Yeah, she told Len something and well, to make things simple, it caused Len to do something foolish and that led to the whole clique falling apart."

"Why would Ruko do that?" Lily feigned ignorance.

"Well…" 'She said it was because of you.' "I have no idea. But she doesn't seem sorry about it."

"Well, thanks to that, you're here with me." Lily said without thinking.

"What?" Luka furrowed her eyebrows, and Lily realized what she had said.

"I-I didn't mean it that way! I just, I'm just happy that you finally spent some time with me!"

Luka considered walking out on Lily. What she had said was so selfish. 'She did not even think about how much trouble that whole fiasco was, she just cared about herself! But she's right, it has been some time since I actually ate with them. I'm always with Miku now. I should tell her, after all she's a really good friend of mine.'

"I know, and I'm sorry." Lily felt relieved at Luka's answer, but Luka continued. "I should have told you this earlier… I'm actually together with Hatsune Miku." Luka stopped and tried to figure out Lily's expression. She really wanted her friend to be happy for her.

"I-I…" Lily wanted to run away, yet her legs won't move. Her head was reeling and her stomach was churning. It hurt. It hurt because Luka had told her. If Luka didn't tell her, she could have pretended that there was nothing going on between Miku and Luka. But now she couldn't run from the truth. Yes, Luka, the girl she had a crush on for so many years, was together with the girl she hated the most – Hatsune Miku. 'They don't even suit each other! This is ridiculous!'

"Congrats." Lily managed to choke out, and bit her lip to stop herself from crying in front of Luka.

"I knew you would be fine with it!" Luka grinned and held Lily's hand in hers. "Thank you, Lily! You have no idea how much this means to me! We've been so close and if you were to deny me of this happiness, I would be devastated!"

Lily just nodded, unable to say anything more. She was sure she would go back and cry her eyes out later.

Gumi knocked on the heavy oak door three times, holding her breath before stepping in the room.

"Come in." A deep, heavily accented voice answered and she opened the door, stepping into the huge room.

"That's all, Ruko, you may go." Ruko nodded and left the room, not even looking at Gumi for a second.

'Eh? What business does Ruko have in the principal's office?' Gumi stopped in front of the principal.

A man sat at the table, his blonde hair streaked with grey and white, and his pale blue eyes gazed calmly at the young teacher in front of him.

"Gumi sensei. I have a request."

Gumi nodded, awaiting the order.

"I want you to continue keeping an eye on my granddaughter. You have done a good job so far. Are you sure you don't need any … incentives?" Masuda Leon offered, and Gumi shook her head.

"Well then, you may ask for anything you want. Surely I can do something for you."

Gumi thought for a while. "Ah, I do have something to ask."

"Go on."

"If I may be so bold… I want to know why a student was in here just now. A particular student… Ruko."

Leon laughed, surprised with Gumi's idea of a reward.

"Very well, I suppose I can tell you. But you must keep it to yourself. Ruko is actually older than everyone in her year. That's why she seems more mature and taller than her peers. She's actually around the same age as you. She's at least 20."

'At least? She's at least 20? She really knows how to preserve herself.'

"And also …"

"What?" Gumi exclaimes, shock at what she had just heard. "Oh, sorry."

"It's okay. Do keep this a secret." He smiled, but Gumi was well aware of the threats that lay behind the smile.

Sunday came, and unlike the previous day, the weather was merciful and there were no signs of any rain. Most people rejoiced but a small group was worried.

"This weather means that that banana can run away." Neru muttered while fiddling with her phone.

"Then what are we going to do? Stand guard at the gates?" Kaito asked.

"Nope, but you can do that." Rin replied, "Hey where's Miku?"

"She said she couldn't join us today. She had somewhere to go…" Miki trailed off, as she spotted a familiar blonde walking in their direction.

Meiko was in a bad mood. And this time she had no need to put on a façade to scare others. She was cursing quietly but fiercely, and students in front of her quickly cleared a clean path for her to storm through.

Of course, her bad mood had nothing to do with the fact that a young girl had pleaded with her and that she had no choice but to crush that young girl's spirit. She had definitely not been thinking about how to apologize to that young girl.

"Why the hell did I even help her from the start?"

Meiko brushed past a few students and continued to walk aimlessly. She would have approached Ruko but the girl would have laughed at her. This was something she had to deal with herself.

"Why does she insist I'm a good person?" Meiko continued mumbling, and crashed into a girl in a wheelchair.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Miku stuttered, remembering Meiko as the girl who pushed her over on the first day of school. Well, that didn't really scare her, but Meiko seemed more dangerous than usual today.

"You!" Meiko fumed. "You caused this mess!" Meiko held herself back from hitting Miku and tried to calm herself down.

"What mess?" You-you-you ruined these flowers! I was going to give them to him too…"

Meiko notice the crushed sunflowers and felt guilty. "To who?" 'A guy? Did I hear that right?'

"To my brother! What are you going to do now?" Miku demanded, and Meiko scowled.

"You have a brother?"

"I had a brother…"

'Great. Now I really am a jerk. Meiko you genius. Of course. Her brother's dead and she's going to visit his grave. And you just ruined her flowers for him. Good job.'

Meiko bent down and lifted Miku onto her wheelchair, much to the tealette's surprise.

"Wha?"

"Shut up. I'm sorry, okay? We're going to help you get those flowers." Meiko muttered. "Where did you get them from anyways?"

"I woke up early to buy them." Miku replied softly, still unused to this non-violent side of Meiko. Perhaps Rin was right after all. "There's a florist near the school."

"Huh. I never knew that." Meiko pushed Miku along, the both of them maintaining an awkward silence. Both of them had no idea how to talk to each other. After all, their first meeting was terrible. Meiko tried to ease out of the awkwardness.

"So, why sunflowers?"

"My brother's favourite." Miku paused, the memories coming back to her as she tried to explain to Meiko. "He would receive a bunch of sunflowers every birthday."

"Is it his birthday?"

"No. It's two days after his birthday." Miku finished and the both of them kept quiet the entire journey, Miku keeping her thoughts and Meiko biting her tongue.

"Oi oi oi, where's that girl going?" Ruko asked as she peered out of her window. It had a magnificent view of the school's main gate, and was also a good place to spy on people. She had nothing to do today so she had retreated to her room. Lily was having a meeting with her grandfather, and then Gumi after that (which was rather suspicious to Ruko), and she had no intention to run into Luka by chance.

"When was she chums with Hatsune?"

Three solid knocks on her door brought Ruko away from her watching and she shuffled towards the door.

"Oh. Well hello." Ruko did well to hide her surprise as the green haired doctor popped her head in her room.

"Well hi there, I had no idea you were so old. You're twenty what?"

"Oh crap. Get in." Ruko grumbled and she made sure no one was lurking around before closing the door.

"That old man doesn't know how to keep secrets." Ruko complained as she eyed Gumi suspiciously.

"But seriously, how old are you?"

"Did you just intrude to ask me about my age?"

"I asked you a question, it's rude not to answer your teacher." Gumi grinned, happily abusing her status, and Ruko decided that Gumi would be one of her most hated people in the world.

"I'm almost your age. I think I'm one year younger."

"Wow. I'm 23. So you're 22. How do you manage to look so young?"

"Cut that out."

"Oh fine, you're not fun. Then again, you're not like the other students. You're looking out for Lily, right?"

"Yes I am."

"As a guardian?"

"You know about that too?" Ruko face palmed. "Shit."

"Yes I do. We're like rivals, aren't we?"

"Rivals?"

"Yes, I'm looking out for Lily, you're looking out for Lily, and we're going to get in each other's ways sooner or later."

"Oh. Then I suppose so."

"You don't happen to have a crush on Lily, do you?"

Ruko snapped her head to look at Gumi, her face expressionless. "What? No."

"Really? That's boring. On the bright side, I can take her now." Gumi declared, rocking back and forth in her seat.

"What? You like her? No, you can't."

"Why not?" Gumi continued smiling, "It's not like you have feelings for her."

Ruko stood up, unable to look at that obnoxious, smug face any longer. "Get out." Gumi refused to budge, and Ruko knew that she had lost. "Oh darn, just go!" Ruko dragged Gumi up and pushed her towards the door.

"Bye."

The door closed before Gumi could put in another remark.

"A crush on Lily? A crush on my charge? What a joke! That intolerable irritant!" Ruko let out a frustrated yell and from outside, Gumi giggled.

"She's funny."

"You'll be fine by yourself?" Meiko asked, not meeting Miku's curious gaze.

"I think so."

"What do you mean 'think'?"

"This is the first time I've been to my brother's grave alone. My mother died last year."

'That's harsh. That's really… And to think I was so mean to her. I should stop following instructions.' Meiko let out a frustrated sigh, "I'll accompany you."

"Huh? What?" 'This is so weird! She's usually so mean and terrible but now she's actually offering to accompany me?' "Are you sick or something?"

"No I'm not, damnit!"

"I know, you were sent to get rid of me! Push me down a slope or throw me somewhere to rot and die, right?"

Meiko was taken back by the accusations, "I'm not some mercenary you know! Can I come along or not?"

"I-I suppose." Miku replied, still stunned by Meiko's offer.

" Len?" Miki's voice cracked, but she was not the least bit embarrassed. What mattered was that they had found Len.

"Len!" Kaito exclaimed and ran towards the sheepish blonde.

"Hi guys-OOOOF!" Len was knocked back to the ground as air was expelled from his lungs. He sat up, coughing and he meekly turned to face his sister, who had delivered a swift and painful kick.

" 'Hi guys'? 'HI GUYS'?! After causing all that trouble and running off, that's all you have to say? Len, you – you- you idiot!" Rin suddenly hugged her twin, and the both of them fell to the ground again.

"This really isn't the place for a reconciliation." Neru said, and the others realized that they had attracted quite a lot of attention.

"We should go somewhere and talk." Miki suggested, and they all walked off to their favourite haunt.

"I'm sorry, guys." Len said the moment they sat down.

"You better be." Neru muttered. "We all spent so much time looking for you."

"Can we get something to eat?" Kaito whined.

"Really. A café in the morning. You're going to have ice cream right? That's even worse. Ice cream in the morning." Neru rolled her eyes.

"They do serve western breakfast here, don't worry." Miki pointed out. They quickly placed their orders and looked at Len, silently demanding an explanation.

"Uh."

"Don't 'uh' me, you annoying twerp." Neru growled.

"Why did you do that?" Rin asked, and Kaito looked away from Len, still afraid of whatever answer might come.

"I was jealous." Len admitted, fidgeting as almost everyone had fixed a steady gaze on him. He sunk lower in his seat.

"Of?"

"Luka." Len mumbled and Kaito looked at him squarely.

"Because she's with Miku?"

"No, you baka! I was jealous because she was so popular. I used to be noticed."

"What? You did that because you felt left out?"

Len cowered as his sister ranted on, only interrupted when the food came, served by a nervous waiter. The food distracted Rin, so the others continued from where Rin stopped.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Miki asked, hurt by Len's answer.

"Because you would think it was a stupid thing."

"Yeah, and like doing that wasn't." Neru scoffed.

"Well I didn't really think things true and Ruko told me that Luka isn't really as nice as she seems too. Something about leaving all her friends and people who care about her behind."

"Hah, Luka is better than Ruko at any rate!" Rin managed to say despite how much food she was shoveling in her mouth. Kaito was also eating his ice cream agitatedly. The two people who were the most upset with Len were taking out their anger on their stomachs, and Len knew that. It just made him guiltier than ever.

"She really knows how to mess up minds though." Miki remarked and the rest nodded.

"I don't know, she seemed pretty serious and sincere when she said that."

"She's an actress. She deserves an award for such fantastic acting."

Len frowned and sank even lower in his seat. Only the top half of his head was visible now.

"So you don't hate Luka." Kaito asked to clarify.

"Not really."

"What about Kaito? Do you still like him?" Neru pointed her fork at Len's forehead.

"I still do! I never- I never meant to do all those things you know!" Len protested and sat up straight, meeting Kaito's scared eyes.

"I'm sorry." Len whispered, and this apology was more than a simple plea for forgiveness. It contained regret, sorrow, hurt, fear, and love. And Kaito could feel it.

Kaito placed his hand on top of Len's, and that was enough for the both of them.

Author: Eeesh I'm tired and that was all my brain could fart out. I'm actually confused by my own fic oh no I hope it's still fine and dandy. Ending Bound chapter 10 on a happier note! Len and Kaito's ordeal is over now!

Reviews would be accepted and appreciated!