A/N: Fastest, longest chapter? Probably. I think I did good for once :) Enjoy!
"Are you still sure this is a good idea?"
Rin nodded. Just walking away wasn't a good idea if they planned to stand up to Neru. They wanted to show her that she couldn't control Len, or at least Rin did. It was the first time in her life she had felt this fearless. And it was more or less because of Len...
Never mind that right now. What mattered was getting Neru out of their lives. Len had told Rin that Neru, when she was all around him for those days, was a controlling force to him. Being the way that he was, he couldn't muster up the courage to tell her to stop.
So now here Rin and Len stood in the school courtyard, where, according to Len, many of his and Neru's encounters had happened. The only thing bothering Rin at this point was the fact Len wouldn't tell her what they had actually done when they met, but Rin knew she couldn't force the answer out of him. She would have to wait for them.
The courtyard door opened. Neru stood in the doorway, a gleeful look on her face. But that changed the instant she saw Rin. In a flash, she was an inch away from Rin's face, glaring furiously in her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Neru growled maliciously. Her hatred was apparent in her eyes: both of them were alight with a red-hot fire.
"What does it look it?" Rin answered back coolly. She smirked, never having felt this confident in her life. "We were enjoying the sun. Just the two of us," she added so only Neru could hear, enjoying the reaction she got from the other blonde. Her face started to turn red from obvious anger.
"Well, you better leave." Neru backed away from Rin, seeming to have gained a tiny bit of composure. "I can't have you here. You will leave soon," she commanded, attitude lacing her every word. "Or else I'll throw you out myself."
"Yeah, right." Rin snorted. "Like you can make me."
Neru growled again. Suddenly, they were both on the ground, Neru strangling Rin. She sat atop Rin's stomach, glaring directly down at her.
"Say that again," Neru dared. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Say that again and I will have you out of here before you can blink."
"You can't make me," Rin repeated defiantly. Nerus fist flew towards her face. Rin's eyes involuntarily squeezed shut, bracing herself for the impact, but it never came.
Instead, she found herself opening her eyes and seeing Len holding Neru's arm by the wrist.
"That's enough." Len said it with enough force to rival a teachers, yet Rin could hear a bit of nervousness flow through. Behind the new, commanding fire in his eyes laid fear.
"B-But..." Neru stuttered. She obviously didn't expect this to happen, but neither did Rin. But Neru's surprise evolved to rage. "After all I did for you, you still choose her!?" She spat, eyebrows furrowed, staring directly at Len.
"You didn't do anything for me," Len replied coldly, unfazed by her outburst.
"I sure as hell did! What do you call all those times I met you and found you when she wouldn't!? A waste of time!?"
"Actually, you forced me to come with you whenever you wanted. You controlled me, Neru."
"I'm no longer Neru to you, Len."
"And I'm no one in your life anymore. Leave."
Len gave Neru a steely glare, as if asking her to challenge him. Neru gazed angrily back, as of daring him to continue glaring. Neither of them broke the lock of their intense stares: they were playing a game with their eyes, both trying to force the other to back down.
"Love isn't a game, Neru," Rin interrupted, having escaped from Neru's tackle. Neru whipped her head around to growl at her.
"Like you know that," she spat.
"You don't seem to, either."
Neru scowled. She flipped her hair to the side, standing up and storming towards the door. "I'm done talking to you two."
And with that, she was gone. The remaining blondes stared at the door in which Neru left in, them eventually their gazes locked on each other's. Surprise dominated their eyes before Len cracked a smile.
"We did it!" He exclaimed gleefully. Then his voice took on a sad tone. " I do feel bad for her..."
"It's okay," Rin reassured him. "She'll get over it. Sometimes —" she adverted her eyes to the ground — "you need to put your needs before other's. I know that. She wasn't a good person in your life, so you needed to get rid of her."
"I-I still-" He stuttered before being interrupted by Rin again.
"You're not evil." Len opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it as Rin put her hand on his. Rin's heart was racing as she did and said things she would've never imagined doing, not even in her dreams. She raised her other hand to point at the sky. "Look. There isn't a cloud in sight. That means it's a new beginning for you."
"W-Wha-"
"I heard it from someone. I forgot who." Rin let go of Len's hand, walking over to a tree not far from them and plopping down in the shade. She leaned against the trunk. Attempting to change the mood, she added, "I'm not a philosopher: I just... want to make you feel better."
Her words worked. Len smiled as he walked over and sat down right beside her. "Same to you."
She once again put her hand on his, but this time, they interlocked fingers. Her heart started pounding louder, delight pumping through her veins. A tingly feeling settled in her stomach, and with each breath she took it only heightened.
"We missed Choir club today, didn't we?" Len asked, turning his gaze to Rin.
"We did. But it was worth it." She stared happily into his eyes, cracking a smile. "Now, I get to spend as much time as I want with you," she added after a few seconds of debating whether she should say it or not. Len laughed and moved a tiny bit closer to Rin.
"Yes, you can." He beamed at her before putting one arm around her shoulder. Her eyes widened in surprise at the gesture, her stomach making even more butterflies, but she happily took it in as friendliness. She would never reject something like this, even if it was a little strange he was being so open to her. She shook her head, taking her mind off this. It didn't matter right now: what mattered was she could see him again.
She joyfully sighed. "Being away from you felt like it was killing me," she admitted. "I'm glad we're friends again."
Len smiled. "Me too."