The next chapter. Are you happy, my darlings? :DDDD

Chapter 20

The next days passed by in a blur to Len. There was, first and foremost, a lot of "sightseeing". Technically, it wasn't sightseeing because Len knew pretty much everything in the town, and where they went, but Yuuma insisted on keeping a few "awesome memories with an awesome person" together. That, of course, must have meant either Yuuma himself or Iroha. Either way, Gumi and Gakupo were somehow included in the entire thing. So were Big Al and Lily—Lily actually volunteered herself when she saw Yuuma pulling Len around her rose gardens. If Lily went, of course Big Al had to go to gawk at her beauty. Gumi and Gakupo simply came because they had nothing else to do—nothing else to do together. In reality, Gumi was quite busy.

So about two or three days before Len had to pull out, everyone was sampling mass amounts of perfume Lily's maids made. "The very finest," Lily declared, grandly setting another bottle of perfume under Len's nose.

At first, the smell was comforting. There were orange scents, which Rin would love, lavender scents, tea scents, honeydew scents, and of course rose scents. After a while, the perfume became boring. Gumi tried to keep awake and smile as one of Lily's maids droned on and on to her about the powers of perfume during baking. Gakupo actually attempted an escape. Meanwhile, Iroha and Len were pretty much pinned to the chairs.

Which left Yuuma to wander around.

Yuuma, somehow, always popped in at the worst moments. Like when Iroha nearly sneezed as a too-sharp scent of perfume reached her nose (Yuuma took a picture of that); when Len almost kissed Iroha again because they were smelling the same thing obliviously (another picture); and when Gakupo nearly grabbed Len's privates because Lily had yanked something away from him (which resulted in uncontrollable laughter from Gumi and Yuuma, Iroha trying to hide her giggles by facepalming, and a blushing Len and Gakupo).

"Do you have to live through this every day?" Iroha asked a maid who was handing her a perfume that had the scent of pine trees.

The maid smiled slightly out of amusement. "It's better than trying to help Miss Lily pick out her lingerie for the day."

"What's that?" Lily barked from across the room, shoving a scent under Len's nose. "For your information, Aoki Lapis, the perfumes are at their very finest and I plan to buy the Essence of Roses any day now. How can I tell whether they're any good if I don't employ people to smell them?"

"Well, that's Lily for you," Aoki said with a shrug as she headed off.

Len joined Iroha at her spot, which was faintest from all the thick stuff Lily was making him taste with his nose. "My nostrils hurt already, and it's not even been an hour. Are we seriously staying here for a day?"

"Where do you expect?" Iroha replied, rolling her eyes. "My dad…He's like the fiercest supporter of perfume…"

"So is my mom, and she doesn't like your dad."

"I guess people have different preferences. Hey, is there a glass of water anywhere? All this perfume makes me seriously thirsty…" Iroha stood up, making an earsplitting screech as she pushed her metal chairs on the tiles toward the table.

"CAREFUL THERE!" Lily bellowed, handing a gagging Gakupo perfume that had the scent of eggs (which were total enemies of eggplants, by the way).

"Where's the kitchen?" Iroha asked.

"What about the kitchen?" Lily snapped.

"I need water…"

"GO ASK AOKI! AOKIIIIIIII!"

Thus, the day passed in that manner.

Actually, it wasn't the first that was like this. The day right after, Lily insisted for them to visit her hut in the old-scale part of town. It was quite charming, but the way the residents came out of their houses and gawked at them made Len uncomfortable. However, he had to admit, the view of the sunset there was quite marvelous. The colors wove themselves into each other, making it like a huge silken mat to behold. A few puffy clouds floated in the sky, illuminated red by the sun, and cutting irregularly-shaped wedges out of the huge yellow sun.

"That reminds me of an egg," Gumi said.

"Don't talk about eggs," Gakupo groaned. "I've had enough of eggs at Lily's house."

"Maybe it can be a squashed banana peel," Iroha suggested, out of Len's sake since she knew already that he liked bananas. Len, however, simply gave her a horrified look, as if she was wishing bad luck on bananas. "What?"

"That does not look like a squashed banana peel. Just thinking about it makes me…Bleh."

"Anyway, you're moving out tomorrow, right?" inquired Albert Eberhardt, turning toward Len. He swept a gloved hand through his clipped-short brown hair.

"Yeah…"

There was a pause. Gumi looked like she wanted to make Len to stay—so did Yuuma—Iroha didn't betray any emotion; Big Al seemed like he didn't particularly care; Lily was absorbed in her own world telling a wincing Gakupo all about the wonders of the sky and her hut; and Gakupo was trying to avoid her and follow the conversation that the rest of them were taking on.

"Can't your mother just postpone it?" Yuuma groaned. That morning, he had seen the trucks line up in front of the house. Len had already gone to see his new apartment; it wasn't anything special, simply a few rooms thrown together with a poor paint job and wretched furniture. He didn't know—he really didn't know—why Miku would choose that grimy home in the midst of a crowded city over a beautiful two-story house in a town that had clear air. In any case, there wasn't any way to stop it. It was just so futile…

"I hate this," Iroha burst out.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. She was not one to lose her calm aura.

"You have a terrible mother who only cares about her boyfriends, you have to move into Tokyo and probably destroy your lungs, you have to uproot, and you have to move when we're just building up a rela—never mind." She blushed. Even though she had become true to her love to Len, Iroha was still not comfortable with everyone's acknowledge.

Ahhh. I see some true love in the work here, Yuuma thought to himself. If only Rin and Kaito could see this…!

"I–in any case, we have to go now," Iroha said quickly. "I mean, it's like seven forty-five and we should really go back and eat dinner…"

"Oh, I know a place near here that sells really good grilled fish with lemon juice over it and a side of carrot greens and sliced cucumbers," Lily jumped in. "It's called Oliver's Place, I think, and he's a really hot dude who I'm…"

"TMI," Len interrupted. "I really need to go, or else Tiger Mom will—" He blushed furiously, because Lily cut him short with a kiss.
Iroha frowned, and Big Al's mouth hung unhinged.

"Remember me forever, okay?" she asked coolly, then smiled and walked away, dragging Big Al with her.

"Well…I suppose we do have to say our goodbyes…" Gumi stood in front of Len, and took a deep breath. She leaned forward and whispered something incoherent to Iroha in his ears, but she knew it had to do with her because Gumi's eyes were on her the entire time. Then she gave him a hug, and elbowed Gakupo pointedly.

Gakupo blinked. "Huh?"

Gumi sighed, rolling her eyes. "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"Bye," Gakupo said. There was nothing more to say. Len and Gakupo didn't know each other that well.

"Thanks," is what Len could make of an answer. It felt really awkward to be talking to a stranger. Gumi facepalmed, but the warmth inside her eyes told that she loved Gakupo all the same. She patted Len and pulled him away, walking to her bakery together.

Yuuma sighed as he watched her go. "Nice lady, isn't she?"

"Dad, don't tell me…"

Yuuma flashed his daughter a grin. "No, no, Iroha. I shall pursue Luna to the ends of—"

"Right," Iroha cut in. She looked at Len, and he was surprised to see her lip quivering. "Well, uh…see you…"

"Tomorrow," Len said.

"That's the spirit!" Yuuma cheered, slapping him on the back.

Iroha gave them both a look. "You two are weird."

"Guy language," Len tried to explain. "Like, hitting me means that I did a good job, cuddling me means that they feel sorry for me and that I'm cute, and so on…" It was a pitiful excuse, but he had to cover up for Yuuma somehow. That guy didn't really mean to be so obvious, Len could tell, but surprises were surprises.

"Yeah, I understand."

Silence.

"So, see you tomorrow…?" Len waited for an answer.

Iroha only nodded.

"I have to go now," Len stammered. He quickly said goodbye to Yuuma, and turned around and walked toward his own house. As Iroha and Yuuma watched, Len first took hesitant steps, then they became a jog, and lastly the jog's pace quickened into a run. Iroha kept her eyes on Len's flapping jacket as he broke into a full sprint, until she couldn't see him anymore.

"Time to go now," she sighed, turning back to her father.

Yuuma wore a grin the size of…of his thick skull. "True love, eh?"

"…Shut up."

Yeah Len, you had better write, or else I'll force you. Some way.

Yup, that sounded like a good plan.

Scratching at a mosquito bite on my am... -.- And we near the end~! I still need to decide. Should I make the epilogue of Len and Iroha parting (which would ruin the entire mood of the chapter before the epilogue but whatever), or should I make them reunite? Or give a hopeful epilogue, like Len's in the same town again and he hopes he'll see her again or whatever? Come on, tell me.

Nonetheless, I might finish this the next chapter. *pats Lemon and Strawberry Cake on the back* This old thing began at the beginning of summer break, took me like the entire summer to write. XD Well, I enjoyed it a lot.

Damn, I'm making myself sentimental.

Review!

~Unyielding Wish