{~.~ Chapter 9 ~.~}

July

There were many memories in his childhood that Len could simply lock away to dissolve if he willed them to. They would still be there in the back of his mind, but they would always be a blur of pictures. He knew it was there, they would always be there, yet he would never be able to pinpoint clear details. And that was absolutely fine with Len, because it's not as if those memories were valuable to remember.

He used this same technique with his throbbing guilt. To be honest it had taken a while, but he succeeded in sweeping that damned guilt away with the rest of his insignificant memories. Now a shame-free man Len was determined to continue where he left off. There was the occasional jab of conscience threatening to overtake his sanity, but he was getting better at ignoring it. He wouldn't deny that it may never go away.

When it came to confront Miku after her return he greeted her with a familiar smirk that spoke of nothing but iniquity. She sneered at him knowing he didn't mean what he had written on that letter. It was far too good to be true and she had suspected it. Before she could escape the vicinity of his presence Len managed to snag onto her.

Miku released an exasperated grunt, but would not give him the pleasure of her reaction. She forced herself to be calm and turned her head away. Unlike before Len didn't leave in disappointment of Miku's lack of provocation, instead he seemed unaffected and remained fastened to her.

It was as if Len had never gone through an internal turmoil of emotions. This meant Miku was back to square one: ignoring all his advances. As the days hauled by the turquoise-haired woman began to notice a difference in Len's actions. At first she thought she was assuming things, but even Luka and Gumi pointed out the shift of his behavior as well.

It almost appeared as if Len was genuinely flirting with her, as if there was no ulterior motive, as if he fancied her, liked her. This had brought a sense of displeasure to Miku. As if his revenge-driven mind wasn't enough for her, this was more insane and worse. She almost preferred his old ways of instilling fear in her, because this was much for frightful.

What made her situation worse was Kaito. Suddenly he decided to join Len in his harassments, although his was more like friendly flirting. Either way Miku was on the verge of combusting. She actually had hope in Kaito that he would be a nice friend, but it turned out he was no better than Len.

Gradually it became a form of rivalry between Len and Kaito to see who could capture her attention first. Miku miserably felt as if she were living a love triangle manga. Everyday a little more irritation was added to the already insurmountable mountain of infuriation. Combusting sounded rather nice at the moment.

"Miku-chan!" both cried out as they spotted her in the crowd of people in the common area.

The woman in question flinched visibly. Luka and Gumi exchanged knowing looks before turning their attention to Miku. "We're going to head back to class, okay, see you later!"

"Wait—!" before she could argue, both women disappeared. She swore they were doing this on purpose. When she got her hands on them it would not be a pretty sight.

"Miku-chan!"

She gasped when two sets of arms tangled themselves around her. The force of their collision nearly sent them careening down. Within moments, Miku was as good as snared between both men who refused to loosen their restricting clutches neither giving in.

Len sent a genuine hostile glare at his companion. He had a suspecting idea that Kaito knew about his true intentions of his advancements and was attempting to keep Miku safe. As much as he cared for Kaito he would prove a problem to his plans. The blue-haired man mirrored the glower although his was more on the warning side. Did he actually like Miku? That thought displeased Len.

Miku wrenched free from their grasps and flashed them a fierce scowl. When they took a step forward she was quick to whip out her phone, fingers of the digital dial pad. "If you don't leave me alone I'll call my brother to change my college," she spat out the words as if she had just been gargling a foul cup of juiced bitter melon. With that last threat she spun around and ran off.

The warning seemed to have calmed them. They seemed to take in her words, carefully digesting them, and decided it was best not to push her any further past the invisible line. Miku was greatly relieved when she saw no more blonde and blue hair within her view. It had seemed like a long time since she last had peace.

"Soy sauce, mirin, radish…" Miku mumbled to herself, unaware of the habit she picked up ever since she began to live independently. When she was on a grocery trip she found it a hassle to create a grocery list and committed to remember what she needed. Over time she proved to better in remembering all she and Gumi needed to fill their refrigerator. The basket in her hands was beginning to weigh as Miku filled it with ingredients.

Just as she was about to reach for a box of green tea leaves, a pair of large hands obscured her vision startling her. The box slipped from her grasp and fell to the floor as a broad frame made movements behind her in the aisle.

"I missed you," his teasing voice made her flinch. His body pressed closer against hers, making the empty aisle seem narrower and claustrophobic. The warmth of him seeped and enveloped Miku entirely just proving how close he was. She even felt the vibration of his voice when he spoke.

Frowning, Miku attempted to shrug away his hands. "Let go," her hiss had no affect on him; it amused him instead.

"You've been so mean lately," Len's pout reminded her of a child when his face came in view. Sighing, the woman side-stepped him and continued her grocery trip. She hoped that ignoring him would make him give up, but she forgot how stubborn he could be. "Did I do something wrong?" he feigned ignorance which proved to irritate her further.

"Go away,"

"Why? You shouldn't push people away when all they're trying to do is help you," Len was fully aware the way Miku avoided looking at him. He kept a safe distance away from her but was still close enough. He heard her sigh of frustration and prepared for an outburst of some kind.

She whipped her head to face him, hair lashing at the air. "Leave me alone," Miku ground out with thick poison, eyes narrowed.

"But—"

"Stop!" not wanting to gain attention, Miku kept her voice at bay, bordering a loud whisper that was just enough as a yell. "Just stop it," she had had enough. If he didn't leave within the next two seconds she would pounce at him. Doing quick calming exercising that she was forced to do frequently around this bastard Miku turned and walked away.

Len had to bite his lip to stop laughing. He had to admit that this was rather fun, but this wasn't what he was supposed to do. Instead of making her swoon he was making her flee away. With the fact that she knew his intentions made this extra difficult. Now it would be harder to catch her, not that it wasn't from the beginning. He was a fool in thinking she was going to be easy.

He usually didn't like challenges, but there was something about her temper that elicited a form of pleasure and enjoyment. Quickly making way to her side, Len nudged their shoulders, noticing her stiffen greatly.

"Need help?"

"I thought you realized you were wrong to hurt me?"

Len froze, his eyes flickering wide. He didn't know what he was doing when he wrote that letter. He was confused at the time and merely acted on impulse. The blonde man regarded her with careful eyes. So she had actually believed him?

"That's rather gullible of you."

Miku's blood stilled. "What—"

"I never said I would stop," suddenly he had her cornered and that familiar fear slammed into her. He didn't do anything but just intensely stare at her. No, of course she was naïve, but just the thought of Miku believing him made her vulnerable. His expression was unreadable as he peered down at her.

She had forgotten how scared she could get, and it was beginning to swallow her, brimming to her skin until she shrunk back into the cold metal of the shelf behind her. Now she was the fool; how could Miku think that she could simply ignore him? If he wanted he could overpower her without trying and yet he didn't. He wanted to play with her first, and then he would take advantage of the opportunity of her vulnerability.

Miku was wrong, she was very wrong; she should have listened to her brother, she should have changed colleges, she…she was behaving exactly like how he wanted her to. Just because she was a girl, a woman, a female didn't prove anything. She could be just like any man, she could fight like any man, and she would if she had to. First thing was first, she needed to slap sense into him. Boldly, she raised her head and met his burning gaze; however he wasn't looking at her.

"You aren't wearing the necklace,"

Startled by the change of his demeanor Miku creased her eyebrows. "I refuse to wear it for you."

Len tilted his head slightly. "You don't have to wear it for me, but that would be sweet of you," a smile lit his face, which was moments ago just drawn in stern intensity.

Confused by Len in general Miku quickly escaped, not looking back. She knew he allowed her to leave. It wasn't the first time that they had a strange encounter, but it still didn't please her.

"Hm, she needs more time," Len mused aloud, which earned him a questioning look from a passer-by. He smiled at briefly before turning his own way. 'Definitely more time.'

{~.~ Chapter 9 ~.~}