Ch. 10 A secret Rendezvous

"Hey Ariku-chan, I'm gonna head by the store, try and rest up a bit while I'm gone. Oh, and um, did you need anything?" Mitsumori began as he grabbed his keys from the holder they rested on.

"Mitsumori-san, maybe you should stay home and rest, you like a ghost just haunted you. Perhaps you should take a nap?" Ariku suggested, noting the boy's red eyes and pale face.

"Huh? Oh, no I'm fine Ariku! Plus, your system may not be done adjusting, I wouldn't want you to get hurt or strain yourself." He reassured with a smile."I'll be back later; just don't do anything to stress yourself out please." Ariku smiled. "You have my word Mitsumori." She replied honestly. They waved and out the door he went.

Ariku turned around and looked at the living room. One couch, a small table, a decent TV, and an armchair.

"The Kagamine's make my apartment seems so much tinier now…" She said to herself with a sigh, plopping down in the chair. She looked over at the clock.

12:05 p.m.

"It's barely afternoon. And I don't see why Mitsumori worried so much; there's not much to do here." She said, again noting how small their apartment was.

"Rin and Len have it made…" As she kept comparing her living space to theirs, she found herself dozing off to sleep…

And she did not wake up for several hours…

A knock on the door woke Ariku up. "That must be Mitsumori." She thought as she slowly got up and walked to the door to unlock it. To her surprise, it was Len.

"L-Len-san? I didn't know you knew where I lived." She said in shock to see him at the doorstep.

"Haha, well, I hope you don't think it's too weird. Rin told me." He explained with a nervous laugh.

"Oh…well that explains it. Um.. does she-"

"Actually, I'm not quite sure what she knows, but she didn't seem too ticked off that I was meeting you, and I don't think she realizes just yet what happened at the house earlier." He answered before she could finish asking her question.

"Ah… yes well, would you like me to just explain it here? Or did you still want to go to the café? Mitsumori won't be back for awhile. He's been gone most of the afternoon and usually likes to go walk around by the park to think when he gets time to himself, most times resulting in him leaving me here all day, but that's okay." Ariku explained softly, yet with no stutters since she was still waking up. Len smiled.

"Okay then, I don't see why you can't explain it while we have time now." He began as she let him inside.

"So... you just stay here by yourself?" Ariku locked the front door and nodded.

"Uh-huh…. Well, technically no, but on days when Mitsumori is out running errands or working, yes. But its not all that bad, I get to relax at home when I'm not working at the café a-and I get to sing and dance without being embarrassed by what others might say if they saw me and I can sit and draw.. or read… or watch TV…" It appeared as thought Ariku was trying to assure Len she was fine by herself.

"Ari-chan, calm down, I'm not truly surprised you can handle yourself. Besides, this apartment is a nice size. You and Mitsumori seem like you live…comfortably." Len stated as he looked around the decent sized room.

"Sure I may have a big house Ariku, but sometimes it becomes overwhelming between me and my sister." She walked towards the hallway.

"Um...Would you like me to give you like a tour or uh something…?" She suggested.

He is in my tiny apartment, with me. Just me. What am I supposed to do?

"Oh, um, sure if it's alright with you." He responded, following her down the hallway.

"Well, the room on the left is Mitsu's and this one-"Ari paused as she opened her

door. "-Is mine. It's kinda small, but-"

"I like it, I think it fits you." Len said with a smile as he walked inside before her. "R-really? I know it's smaller than yours…" She responded softly, walking in after him, shutting the door behind her. Len was looking around her room.

Purple walls with posters and pictures, a twin sized bed with moons and a dark purple sky, a small vanity, a closet and a desk. Ariku's room wasn't as small as she made it seem, maybe her stuff is smaller…Hey, what's this?

Len had picked up a small photograph from her end table.

"A-ah! Don't touch that please, Len-san." She said quickly, taking the frame from him. "I'm sorry…it's just um… special to me." She concluded, hoping he wasn't upset with her as she placed it back down on the table.

"No, no its fine Ari-chan, I should've asked before grabbing. I was just curious as to who that girl is in the photo with you." He replied, sitting on her bed. She smiled.

"That's a good friend of mine. Her name is Alex."

"Oh? That's the girl who created you?"

Len took her by surprise. "H-how did you know that?! Did Mitsumori-sama tell you?", the shocked girl asked, clearly not expecting his question. Len chuckled.

"Yes Ariku, he told us, you don't have to worry about it anymore." He answered calmly, causing the girl to act very shyly and look away.

"O-oh…okay then… well yes, she made me and um… I haven't seen her since we moved here and I miss her a lot…" She said softly, causing Len to frown.

"I didn't mean to upset you Ari…I'm sorry." He stated, giving her a sympathetic look.

"It's okay Len-san…I mean, you didn't know, and it doesn't bother me too much; after all I have you and the others to keep me company." She said reassuringly as she gave him a hug. Len was surprised at her action but smiled as they pulled away. He grabbed one of her hands and she blushed slightly.

"Hey Ariku, I um… is it alright if I…kiss you?" He asked shyly, looking up at her. Her blush darkened and she stayed silent for a moment, making him uneasiness and wonder if he should retract his statement, but once thinking it over, Ariku looked at him and nodded.

"Y-yes Len, it's okay." She replied meekly. Len smiled and took her other hand before leaning in giving her a sweet little kiss on her lips. Ariku pulled away hesitantly, causing the boy to frown.

"Is there something wrong?" He questioned. Ari shook her head no, then yes, then no again before burying her face in her hands.

I shouldn't be doing this… I need an explanation first…

"L-Len-san…. You said earlier Kaito-sama is cheating on me. Why do you think so?" She mumbled, causing Len's eyes to widen at first then soften.

"Because Ariku-chan… he told me and Mitsumori he left the city for the weekend to go meet someone named Takadoshi. Apparently they are working on something together, but he seemed to be a little too happy to leave Friday…." He explained, placing a hand on her back.

This plan is far out of Rin's reach now- it might be stretch to get her to believe me though...

Ariku's voice was laced with an underlying sadness mixed with confusion.

"B-but…that doesn't mean he's cheating on me…does it? I-I don't know how to judge these things Len, wh-what do I do? Am I supposed to be mad with him? Should I be sad? What if you are wrong? What if we break up and he really wasn't cheating on m-"Len pulled out his phone.

Hmm? Oh this is perfect! She'll have to believe my story after i show her this!

"Ariku, I'm pretty sure he's cheating on you. Look." He said firmly, placing his phone in front of her face.

"Hi Len-kun!"

Ariku repeated the words on the screen before scrolling down to see Kaito all up on some Latina girl with white short hair and sunglasses in gray cut off shorts and an off the shoulder shirt. The stunned UTAU seemed to take a moment to process this and she just stared at the picture.

Her silence is scaring me...

"…Ariku-chan? …um, I-I'm sorry…but, I didn't want you to be hurt by him…. I couldn't bear to see you-"

It seemed Arikusandoria's first reaction was one of anger and without warning she grabbed Len's phone and threw it across her room, the device crashing into her closet door. Len's jaw dropped as he just watched his phone smash against the wall but luckily, it did not break into pieces. Upon realizing what she just did, Ariku gasped. "L-Len! I-I-I'm sorry! I…I-I just…." The girl's voice choked at the end and then came her tears.

"Ari…."

Len comforted the crying girl who latched onto him as she buried her face against chest, sobbing. "Wh-why Len-san…? W-w-wasn't I nice? ….I-I tried being a nice girlfriend….E-even if it started out to just m-make you like me…..I-I did like Kaito-nii, I did!" She muffled.

Caught up in comforting her, Len didn't at first understand what Ariku had just said until it sunk in.

"Wait…you did what?"

Ariku wiped away her tears and let go. "Th-that's what I was going t-to confess to you…. I-I started dating Kaito under Rin's supervision so that way you would like me…. I-I've liked ever since I met you, Len-san…"

I knew Rin was up to something all along. She is teaching Ariku all of her tricks.

Len couldn't help but chuckle, confusing the upset girl more.

Thats so adorable, she may overreact a bit but gosh, i'm proud of her little play.

"A-aren't you mad at me?" She stuttered with a sniffle.

"Haha, Arikusandoria, you are so adorable! You really got me huh?" The boy just continued to laugh, obviously making Ariku wonder what was the proper reaction to what she did.

"…So…you're not mad? I thought you were supposed to be mad when someone does that…So that means..." The innocent girl got lost in thought for a moment, using hand motions as if to help her figure out some sort of equation in the air. Len smiled.

"No silly, I'm not mad. I'm proud of you. Rin is teaching you more about this kind of stuff and she isn't actually screwing you up." He stated, hugging her tightly. Ariku still wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she returned the hug.

"…I'm so clueless to this kind of thing…"

"Well then… All the more reason for me to teach you. If you want of course." Len said with a wink, back to his normal character. Ariku stayed silent for a moment.

"…W-well… no one has to know right? I mean, things like this are supposed to last better and longer if everyone stays out of our business right?" Ariku said softly to which he nodded.

"I won't tell if you won't. Wait at least 3 weeks before telling Rin, but make sure on Monday you let Kaito know it's over, okay? If not, you'll run into a sticky situation and I may not be able to help get your reputation back Ari-chan." Len instructed and she nodded.

A 'knock' on the door was heard shortly after.

"Oh, that must be Mitsumori-sama…." There was slight disappointment in her voice as she said this before standing up.

"Oh, well then I guess I should be going. Oh and here, you should take better care of these or invest in some contacts, Ariku-chan" He said, handing her the pair of glasses she left at his house.

"Thank you so much for returning them Len-san!" She said gladly as she placed them on her face before opening her room door and walking down the hall with Len.

"No problem, see you later girl." He said with a playful smile before letting himself out of the apartment, leaving in his midst a surprised Mitsumori.

Ariku smiled at her friend and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. "Welcome back Mitsumori-sama!" She said cheerfully.

"Hey Ariku-chan. Um, why was Len over here?" He questioned, looking around the room as if something was different.

I usually tell Mitsumori everything…. But i feel as though this is one thing I should keep secret. I'll just make an excuse I suppose, Mitsumori doesn't need to know. Right?

Ariku made up her mind and responded, "Oh, Len-san was just returning my glasses. I had left them at their house."

"Oh, okay then. you seem in a better mood, I'm glad." He replied with a smile as he put away his items.

Oh….you don't even know the half of it Mitsu-sama.