DISCLAIMER:
The following content is the intellectual property of the
Yamaha Corporation and its respective subsidiaries
as well as any participating organizations that own
various designs and concepts that will be featured. The
Author in no way claims to be a part owner of any of
the characters that will be portrayed, and writes with
the full authorization of the ffnet website.

WARNING:
The following content is rated M for Mature, and may
contain graphical descriptions of mature scenarios
that viewers may not find suitable. This is a work of
fiction: Any and all similarities to real life situations is
purely coincidental.

~Act 4: The Fourth Day~
~Scene: III~

"It's weird how the cicadas are chirping when it's not even summer. Hey, I'm thirsty, pass me some water."

Without getting up, Rin handed Riza and unopened bottle from her pack and closed her eyes. "Why am I even hanging out with you guys?" She could hear the water sloshing around, and listened to Riza's swallowing.

It wasn't as if she hated them for being with her brother. How could she? Of course it was Len's fault, but for reasons not quite dissimilar from theirs, she simply couldn't hold it against him. But there had to be someone she could blame, someone to whom she was justified to unload her frustrations on. What she had said to Miku on the bus had been very improper and cruel, and she regretted it. That was the nature of things. Miku wasn't wrong to have those feelings.

"Just now, you were feeling sorry for yourself, weren't you?"

Untintentionally, Rin's brow rose.

"I know. I've felt like that too. I think Miku's probably going through something like what you've experienced this week. But unlike you and me, Miku isn't the kind of girl to tell you how she's feeling if you don't ask her."

"People like that annoy me..."

"You mean to say, it's really troublesome to the other person, right?"

"..."

"And now you're thinking, 'Len's the bad guy here.'"

Tired of hearing Riza go on and on, Rin sat up. "If you know me so damn well, why don't you answer your own question?"

Riza tilted her head and shrugged. "Sure. Len finally lost control and in a moment of passion the two of you made love."

"..."

"You're pretty sad. I mean, you didn't even notice Len's feelings." Rin stayed quiet. "Yeah, I know, you already thought a lot about it and you realized that you knew all along. But see? That's what I'm saying: You didn't even notice how he felt."

What was the point of going over it again? She was tired of feeling so damn guilty about it. That's why she was here: to fix this! Looking back again was pointless. All it did was bring back negative feelings. Move forward!

"What you're doing right now is running away from the problem." Riza ran her fingers through Miku's beautiful long hair, sighing as she gently untangled some locks here and there. Fast asleep in Riza's lap, her puffy tear swollen eyes stood out from the rest of her elegant features. "Moving on doesn't mean letting go of the past. If you don't leave the past where it belongs, of course it's troublesome. Neither living over or under your shoulder will get you beyond where you're standing right now."

"So you're saying, 'Kagamine-chan should be more honest with herself,' is that it?" She mocked Riza's habit of speaking like an auntie.

"Mmm... So-so. That's the gist of it anyhow. I used to be like Miku, once..." She looked down on the sleeping maiden in her arms with great sorrow. "You know, when I was younger, there was a boy I used to like. But because I was so shy and introverted, my feelings went unnoticed, and before I knew it I had graduated and left him behind. That was when I met Len for the first time. The real Len, I mean, not the one I used to idolize in middle school."

"Oh? What was it about him in middle school?" Rin pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin, watching kids at a nearby preschool lounging in a playground.

"A lot of girls in my year were enamored by him. He was pretty handsome then, too."

"They're just shallow."

"He dated all of them."

"I know."

"And let them off easy, too. One by one. Every girl got a pity date. And those girls, even though he broke their hearts they were grateful to him for it. Because of that, I thought he was a really nice guy."

"That's stupid."

"You think so, too, huh?"

They laughed a little. It was so easy, so carefree, just to listen to somebody else talk about someone else's feelings without reminding her of her own.

"So yeah, I never thought I'd see him again. But my first year in high school I got an anonymous letter from your brother asking me to meet him in the place that I was still thinking about. I waited for him all day at the school gates, and I waited for so long that the other kids were starting to make fun of me. I found out later that he had meant my old classroom, but after that he asked me if I still wanted the date I had never asked him for.

"And I thought, right then, that it was so amazing that he had even noticed my feelings at all. I'd never told anybody about them and I always acted normal around him because at first I just didn't want my heart to get broken like those other girls. And you know what he said?"

"Humor me." Rin was smirking a little.

"Your brother, with the manliest expression I've ever seen in a boy's eyes, said to me: 'Even if your heart is smashed to pieces, you just can't help feeling those feelings for another person. No matter what that person does to grow or destroy your feelings, as long as they are your feelings you will feel them.'"

"That's actually kind of cool, for a boy who didn't have enough pubic hairs combined with his twin sibling to make a good luck charm..." Rin yawned and scooted next to Riza, resting her forehead on her seniors' shoulder and closing her eyes.

"You know, Len likes to bite my shoulders..."

Unconcerned, Rin scratched a bit of wax from her ears and snuggled closer. "Of course he does. He bites everyone's shoulders..." And she dozed off.

Riza yawned too. The sleepiness was contagious. For another person's sake she had divulged her secret feelings. Like an unmarried godmother past her golden years.

"But I guess it shouldn't matter too much what happens, now. I knew that I would never be with Len before I gave myself to him. So even if it still sucks, that's just what I signed up for. These two... I don't even envy them at all. A teenage girl's feelings are annoying."

She could smell Rin's shampoo from where she sat. "Banana..."