Long time no update! Sorry about that, busy with school and life! But I'm not going to leave this story hanging. Thanks to those who are still reading I really appreciate it! Alright, onwards to the story!
Due to the Contract 10
Rin's POV
Almost as soon as Miku left, Lily came in. I could feel her approaching. My stomach was in knots and a scowl was on my face. Her footsteps echoed closer and closer until she was standing in the doorway with a big grin on her face. She stood tall with her hand on her hip and a sporty duffle bag hanging off her shoulder. She set it down and straightened the skirt of her white dress and flipped her long blonde hair out of her face.
"Well, don't you look excited to see me!" She said, her smile not faltering as I glared at her. "It's almost decent to see you, Rin."
"Hey. How long are you staying?" I asked as I glanced at her bag. She just laughed and turned her attention to Len.
"Hey, Lily. Long time no see!" He stood and walked over to her.
"Len! It's been way too long. I've missed you so much!" The two embraced and kept hold of each other's arms when the separated.
"Are you hungry? We can go grab lunch. There's a new cafe that opened that I'd think you'd like." He asked.
"That would be great!" She dragged her hands down to his wrists. Seeing that sent a pain from somewhere straight to my heart. "Oh, first I have to put my things away.
"I can do that for you!" Kaito yelled from the couch opposite of me.
"Oh, Kaito! I didn't even see you there! I apologize for not greeting you earlier." She asked.
"It's fine. Nice to see you again. Don't worry I'll take your things in your room so you can relax!"
"Thanks, Kaito, you're a lifesaver! I haven't eaten since early this morning. I'll bring you back some ice cream!" The two left hand and hand while Kaito waved until the two were gone. I glared at his infuriating, goofy smile before I threw a couch pillow at him. Well, several at him.
"Ouch! Rin why are you- Ow, stop!"
"Don't encourage them! You idiot! I hope she drops your ice cream on the ground!"
"I'm sorry, Rin!" He cried. Suddenly an idea popped in my head.
"I know how you can make it up to me!"
Miku's POV
I felt so unsure if what was happening was real. There was so much I wanted to say, but I just stood there frozen. My brother showed a nervous smile and stood.
"How about a hug or something? You're not gonna welcome me back?" He asked walking towards me. I flinched and stepped back. I could tell he was a bit offended, but I did it out of reflex.
"I...I'm sorry. Welcome home." I said.
"How warm. The entertainment business hasn't made my little sister cold already, has it?"
"Where have you been?" I blurted out. It was when this came out of my mouth that I realized my voice was trembling. I suddenly felt a mixture of intense emotions- anger, sadness, and something else. "You just left. You haven't shown your face in four years! You didn't call, you didn't do anything! How do you expect me to react? I don't even know how I should. I've missed you so much!"
It became quiet except for my sobs filling the room. I tried to wipe my face as the tears fell. I felt like this wasn't the time to cry. I felt more angry than sad, but I just couldn't control myself.
"I'm sorry." He finally spoke. "I know that doesn't really make up for what I did, but it's the best thing I think I can do, for now. I really...It was hard for me to leave like that. Trust me, I missed you all so much. Life just doesn't go how you really expect it. At least I'm here now, yeah? I'll tell you now, I won't be here for long, but I'll do my best to try to make up for what I did."
Chibi-Mi skipped into the room holding a handful of flowers.
"Look, Mikuo! I got these for you! I've been taking care of them, so I didn't pick them all but I think you'll like them!"
"Oh, those are so pretty! Thank you, Chibi-Mi," he said sincerely and walked over to her. I hurried and wiped my tears and tried to compose myself. I didn't want her to see me crying or think anything was wrong.
"I didn't know you were here, sis!" She said and I turned to face her, trying to give an honest-looking smile.
"Yeah, Mom told me Mikuo was home so I came right over!" I said cheerily.
"Yay! Now you can come with us! Mikuo was going to take me to the toy store. We should go now!" She said excitedly.
"How about it?" Mikuo asked.
"Sure, uh, let's go!" I said and smiled again.
"Yay I'm so excited! I know exactly what I want, too!" Chibi-Mi said as she ran to the foyer to put on her shoes.
The three of us headed to the store and luckily Chibi-Mi spent most of her time talking about school and toys with Mikuo so it was easy to avoid talking to him. I feel like I'm at least starting to forgive him. I mean, it happened years ago, right? Family should stick together. Seeing the two interact sort of reminded me of how we used to play together as kids. Fortunately, toy shopping doesn't last forever. It was pretty warm today, so we decided to go get soda floats. I decided to talk to Mikuo, and now Chibi-Mi had a distraction. I spoke when we just finished walking through a crosswalk.
"So, Mikuo," I started, "what's your life been like?"
"It's actually been really...crazy, ha ha," he laughed.
"Crazy how?" I asked.
"I've been moving all over the place. It was rough at first, but I made some friends in Tokyo and found odd jobs so I could eat. Crashed on a lot of couches. I still have my guitar and I've been teaching a class. It's enough for me to have my own place, though it's not the fanciest place in the city."
"Teaching a guitar class sounds exactly like something you'd do! You taught me well enough. I've been working on a song myself."
"Really? You should let me hear it! Or is there some kind of contract you've got that makes it top secret?" He asked. I laughed at his teasing.
"Nah, it's just something I've been doing on my own. Though I would like to record it...Anyway it's about you," I shyly admitted. His eyes grew wide.
"About me? Seriously?" He asked.
"Y-yeah. It's such a coincidence that you're here now. I imagined releasing it and having the message reach you and maybe you'd come home. But I guess there isn't a reason anymore, huh?"
"No, you should definitely still write it, and I want to hear it. I could play the guitar part if you want or help you with playing! I want to help, if I can!" He sounded sort of desperate.
"I appreciate it, but I want it to all come from my heart and my skill. If you would just listen to it when I finish, I'll forgive you," I told him. He smiled and seemed to look relieved.
"Hey, that looks like Len and Rin!" Chibi-Mi said as we turned a corner. "Her hair isn't that long though, is it? Is it a disguise?" I looked over to see Len sitting with a girl with really long blonde hair in front of the cafe we were headed to.
"No, Chibi-Mi, that isn't Rin. I've never seen her before," I told her. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my ankle from the bush besides me.
"Don't scream!" A voice from the bushes said in a loud whisper. I bent down to see that it was Rin.
"What are you doing, Rin? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I said.
"Shh! Stay quiet! Come back here quick, all of you!" She released my ankle and us three hurried behind the bush. I saw that Kaito was behind there as well. His face lit up when he saw me and my heart fluttered a bit.
"Miku! I'm so glad you're here!" He said. My heart fluttered some more.
"Wow, Rin Kagamine! She's so cute! I can't believe she's right in front of me." Chibi-Mi squealed.
"Hi, Chibi-Mi! You're adorable as always!" Rin said in her idol voice.
"Kaito's here, too! What are you guys doing behind the bushes? Are you hiding from the 'parazi'?" Chibi-Mi asked.
"It's 'paparazzi,' Chibi-Mi," Mikuo corrected.
"You guys are talking too much!" Rin said.
"Rin, what are you guys doing?" I asked.
"Um, hiding from the 'parazi,'" she said, obviously lying.
"Len is with Lily over there and Rin is making me spy on them with her," Kaito explained.
"I just...don't trust her okay?"
"They seem to just be eating ice cream to me," Mikuo said.
"Who's that guy?" Kaito asked with a slight edge to his voice.
"I'm Miku's brother, Mikuo. I would ask who you are but that'd be pretty dumb."
"Yeah, I'd be more surprised if you didn't."
"Why are you so close to my sister, eh?" Mikuo asked.
"Um, maybe you haven't noticed but we're all crammed behind this bush," Kaito retorted.
"Would the both of you just shut up?" I asked.
"Hey, Rin, do you wanna see the toy I just bought?" Chibi-Mi asked.
"Maybe a little later okay?" Rin said, but not before she pushed a button on the toy and it started blaring a song. Rin frantically tried to subdue the noise by holding the toy against her chest, but the move just pushed us all out of the bush.
"What are you guys doing?" Len asked. He and Lily were both standing in front og the bush. Lily was red-hot. Grazing against her arm could probably give you a third-degree burn.
"Paparazzi, they're everywhere! Haha," Rin laughed.
"What is all this? Rin, did you follow us here?" She asked. We all got out of the bush.
"No, we were all out for a nice walk and hid from the paparazzi like I said!" Rin yelled back.
"Paparazzi? Really, where are they then?"
"We hid until we lost them!"
"You're always getting in the way!" Lily yelled. She looked over all of us and her eyes locked onto my brother. "Well, hello, who's this?"
"That's my brother Mikuo!" Chibi-Mi said proudly.
"And mine too," I added.
"Oh, Miku I had no idea you had a brother! This certainly is something. I'm Lily. My family owns the company the Vocaloids work for."
"What? No way, that's so cool! I'm actually a guitarist myself," Mikuo said and stepped closer to her.
"That's so interesting! You know there's a new group that recently signed with the company. They're looking for band members. Interested?"
"Um, yeah I'm interested!"
"We should talk! But I don't mean to impose if this is a bad time..." Lily looked at all of us. Mikuo looked at me.
"No, go ahead," I said.
"Great!" Lily smiled and interlocked her arm with Mikuo's and they walked off together.
"...What just happened?" Len asked. We all shrugged.
"Well, good thing is the demon is gone now! Woo hoo!" Rin jumped up and down and said, "Len, you're so relieved, right?"
"Y-yeah! I guess."
"We should go spend the rest of the day doing something fun while we can. We're gonna take off if that's okay with you two," she asked Kaito and I.
"Sure, I'll meet you later at the dorms then." And the two trotted away, leaving me alone with Kaito. Well, Chibi-Mi too.
Hm, Len didn't seem too excited about Lily leaving...but let's not get ahead of ourselves here, right? What did you guys think of Lily's debut? Leave a review and follow if you liked this chapter. Until next time!