It was kind of strange, admitting it out loud.
Len was currently staring himself down in the bathroom mirror of his and Rin's appartment, some odd minutes past six, clad only in a bathrobe with his wet hair up in a very sad excuse for a bun. Outwardly, he was the same as always. He had kind of expected to find a different, unfamiliar look in his eyes; had expected his neutral expressions to suddenly look happier; had expected his skin to magically get clean. But nothing like that had happened.
Because, why would it? He had a crush; a mundane, casual crush, stemming from a mundane, casual friendship. It was honestly somewhat underwhelming, the reality of it.
Instead of a romance novel's burning passion- fiercer than a tempest, more destructive than an uncontainable inferno- all he got was a very real, tender heat- not a storm, but a gentle breeze, not an all-consuming fire, but the warm little flame flickering atop a candlestick.
It simmered under his skin and warmed him up, ever so slightly- it had been doing that for months, slowly growing more and more prominent.
And so, it had become the truth; and in time, he'd have to say it out loud.
"I like him," he told his reflection seriously, holding his own gaze. The Len in the mirror looked surprised for a brief second, before smiling the smile Len felt in his cheeks. He could do this. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but whenever the time came. "I really, really like him," he tried again, giddier than before. "I actually lo—"
He choked on that word. Maybe that was taking things too far. Mirror Len apparently thought so too, looking quite constipated. "Alright, but I do like him."
"Good for you."
(Len did not yell bloody murder.)
(Len totally did yell bloody murder.)
He whipped his head around towards the door, staring at it with wide eyes. "Can't you, like, knock? Let a man have his privacy?" he squeaked out, voice going shrill with embarrassment.
From beyond the door, he could hear his sister sigh. "I am standing in front of a locked door and you've been loudly talking to yourself in there. I'm pretty sure this doesn't even count as eavesdropping," she said, voice level and unimpressed.
With his ears burning in embarrassment, Len unlocked the door and pushed it open, the residual steam of his shower escaping into the hallway. Rin was leaning against the wall across from him, arms crossed in front of her chest. "You were talking about your flower boy, weren't you?" she asked, not sounding judgemental in the slightest. Slowly, Len nodded; might as well. Rin smiled a bit at that. "Took you long enough."
Bashfully, Len looked at the wooden flooring just past the threshold of the bathroom. "I probably knew since a whole while ago," he said, ever so softly. "I just couldn't put a name to it."
Rin hummed thoughtfully and pushed herself away from the wall. "I didn't know you also swung that way, though," she said, tone neutral. Len met her eye and merely shrugged. That earned him a grin from his sister. "With Miku and Luka around, we wouldn't think of gay couples as weird, after all," Rin laughed and side-stepped past Len to enter the bathroom.
Just before closing the door, she turned around again and looked at her brother through the small crack she'd left open. "Let's talk when you get back from checking up on your sweetheart. And invite him to our annual pizza dinner on the fourteenth, if you wanna," she said, then let the door fall shut behind her.