"Smile for the picture!"
"How about no?"
"Rin!"
"Jeez, what is it, Meiko?" An annoyed Rin grumbled as her best friend, Gumi, playfully tugged on her arm. In the midst of her excitement, Gumi couldn't keep her smile from flashing across her face, and the giddy expression on her face almost made Rin's lips form into a grin. "Come on, it's our graduation! We're going to experience adulthood!" The greenette grins. "Yeah, I don't think I'd like to experience that," Rin grumbled as she sighs. "Adulting is hard, you know?"
"But still, we should be happy!"
Happy, yeah... Rin thinks to herself.
It was a sunny day in Osaka, Japan. Rin preferred to stay inside her house, her air conditioner on, and her precious plushies hugging her during the extreme heat of the last few school days. Graduation day was drawing nearer than she had ever anticipated, and all that had happened over the past few years had been so blurry yet still engraved in her mind.
In the midst of her pregnancy, Luka gave birth to a baby girl and moved to a much more spacious apartment. Surprisingly, she was able to contact her ex-boyfriend and the two had even gotten married in the spring. They had been together for four years, and in those four years, they raised their beautiful child.
Rin's therapy sessions had gone surprisingly swell too, she had stopped taking them last year, which was a good thing, at least she thinks. (I'm not sure how therapy works, so I apologize if I did something wrong!) Miku had gotten mental support from the hospital and had also finished once Rin finished as well.
Mikuo and Miku had a very tear-shedding reunion. Rin exactly remembered how it went, yet it probably was just luck that it had happened. Rin had invited the boy over to help him with some homework, (and possibly tell him her true feelings) and Len had invited his girlfriend to hang out. Though, the twins noticed that there was some tension when they went to eat dinner.
Rin had eventually left, using her usual excuse; "Len and I have something to talk about. Twin stuff. Telepathy, y'know?"
They eventually heard Miku and Mikuo talk about their personal life, and fortunately, no violence or anything like that had happened. It was a small, yet tense talk about their past. Miku had lost faith in her brother when he had left with their mother and was upset at the fact that he never bothered to contact her at all. Mikuo explained that their mother forbids him from contacting anyone from their family, or anyone for that matter.
Mikuo wasn't exactly close with their mother, but he wasn't exactly fond of her either.
Miku on the other hand had experienced worse.
She had been beaten by her father who would come home late drunk and out of his goddamn mind. He later got into an accident that had caused his death, and she was forced to move in with one of her aunts. It was pretty okay at first, but a couple of nights later...The poor girl had seen something indecent going on with her aunt and a man.
That had given her trauma, and she was disgusted.
Miku was only nine years old.
A couple of years later, her aunt had kicked her out because of her not being able to pay her bills, blaming it on the tealette and calling her a burden. Miku had survived for only two days until a pinkette had found her roaming the streets and took her home to a loving and caring family.
She was better, better than she was before.
All that had happened felt like a fever dream.
Rin blinked abruptly as she broke away from her thoughts, chuckling to herself before going back to the conversation that she and Gumi had giddily started. "Yeah, well...tell that to your boyfriend and my brother."
"B-boyfriend?-"
Fukase was currently play-fighting with her brother Len, arms wrapped around his neck in a tight-looking manner as he ruffled the blonde's hair, resulting in a messy, messy updo. His hair looked like a bird's nest, and honestly, if a bird really did land on it, Rin wouldn't be surprised.
"Ugh, Len!" Meiko slightly raised her voice in a stern tone, her eyes flickering with a slight annoyance before she clicked her tongue. "You two, stop fighting!" The brunette had scolded, her lips forming into an angry scowl. "It's called play fighting, Auntie Mei-" Len's sentence was cut off once Fukase had abruptly, yet lightly jabbed him in the stomach. The male coughed uncontrollably, but it was quite dramatic if you ask me.
"I seriously don't get what she sees in you, Lenny," Meiko grumbled. "HEY!"
As Fukase let go of Len, he grinned stupidly and made his way toward Rin and Gumi. As Rin shot him a murderous yet playful glare, he threw an arm around his two female friends. "Sup, ladies!" He smirked smugly.
In response, Gumi blushed.
"Hey, Fukase. Ever heard of something called personal space?" Rin grumbled, slightly shoving away his arm from her shoulder as Fukase's mouth opened to the shape of an 'o'. "Yeah, I didn't think so." The blonde mumbled, her figure slumped. "Oh, shaddup." Len groans. "You just don't want a misunderstanding to happen with your boyfriend, right?" Len chirped in the conversation, nudging his sister's shoulder playfully as she flushed red in embarrassment.
"For the last friggin' time, he's not my-"
"Yeah, okay, nope. I'm done. You all have fun, I'm outta here. Here ya go." Meiko grumbled as she handed her camera to Kaito, who was eating some ice cream but was caught off guard once the brunette had placed the camera onto his palm. "Eh? W-wait! Mei-chan!" The blue-haired man began to chase after his girlfriend, completely forgetting about the young adults in the park.
"Well, he's out." Fukase commented. "I think they're going with our parents." The redhead had pointed towards a crowded table that had a couple of middle-aged men and women who were playing some drinking games, it wasn't surprising.
"That's fine, we gotta wait for Miku and the others anyway," Len replied, glancing around the somewhat crowded park as he scanned the greenery display, looking for his beloved girlfriend. "Uh...Is Luka bringing her kid? Dude, we gotta introduce her kid to Ryuto, I think they'd get along." Len commented as he glanced towards the greenette that was talking with Fukase.
"Oh, yeah!" Gumi grins, "I think they'd get along too."
An unexpected groan had escaped from Rin. "Fukase, what the hell, I thought you said it was gonna be nice outside!" Rin yells, swatting at her heated neck with her outstretched hand, "Ugh. It's so hot out here!" She sputters, staring at the section of plastic plates arranged neatly on the nearby vanilla-colored park table as she clumsily ran up to it and grabbed one before swatting at her neck and face.
"And these stupid plates make it even worse." She complained. "RinRin, who do you think I am, a news reporter?" Fukase grumbled, ruffling his red hair as he continued to mumble under his breath. "Apparently." Len snickers in response.
Gumi hovered a hand towards her forehead, and her jade-colored eyes lit up at the sight of Miku.
"Miku's here!" She exclaimed happily. "Oh, so is Luka! And Lily! Mikuo too!"
Rin glanced towards her best friend, then her gaze had caught a wisp of beautiful turquoise hair, and her heart had recklessly choked up in her throat. She had overheard the low whispers of her friends talking about the bag that was in her hand, wondering what could be inside it. Could it be gifts inside the bag? They had curiously wondered. Treats? Food? Yet she wasn't focused on that.
She was focused on the elegant smile that Miku had worn and the uncontrollable thumping of her heart.
"Heeeyyy!" Gumi yelled, waving towards the tealette, who was chatting with her older brother and her older sister, whose hand was tucked inside a small female's palm that had the tiniest pigtails ever. "We're over here!" The greenette continued to wave her hand, a bright grin on her face as the tealette gracefully strode towards the group.
After seeing her friends, their joyful smiles, and their fancy attire, Miku's eyes brightened.
"Sorry we're late," Luka elegantly spoke, "Someone here didn't want to get out of bed this morning." She sends her child a mischievous smile as she ruffles her hair. The small girl only giggled in response before hugging her mother's leg, pressing her cheek against her thigh.
"It was quite a struggle," Lily comments. "I brought some food by the way."
"Hell yeah!" Fukase yells.
"We're not eating it until after we're done taking pictures," Lily says. "So until then, try to behave you two." She squinted her eyes towards Len and Fukase, and in response, the two had laughed nervously as they spared glances at each other. "Give them a break, Lily." Luka chuckles as the two females began to walk towards the 'Parent Table', chatting before they began to laugh.
"Jeez, what took you so long?" Len cheesily grinned between soft chuckles as he ruffled his girlfriend's hair, which the tealette pouted in annoyance as she swatted his hand away as if it was a helpless little fly. "I was busy taking care of my niece, you dummy." Miku's cheeks turned pink as she saw the smug expression on Len's face, and out of embarrassment, she looked away. "Well, I'm sorrryyy, you could've told me so before. I missed ya, you know." He booped her nose.
"Len, I wasn't even gone that long!" Miku yelled.
"Okay, we get it. You two are crazyy in loveee, can we just take the dang pictures?" Fukase grumbled as Rin nudged his shoulder, "Gee, jealous much, Fukase?" Rin gave him a smug grin as he glanced toward the shy couple in front of them. "What? Pfft, ME jealous of THEM? Pfft. Whaaaatttt? Nah, of course not." The redhead grumbled as he shyly looked away from his friend before landing his eyes on a quiet Gumi. In response, Gumi slyly (and shyly) hugged his arm.
Rin raised her eyebrows at the greenette, almost as to say; Smooth move, Gumi.
"Oh yeah," Miku suddenly says, shuffling inside her bag as she handed a couple of goodie bags to her friends. "I got you guys some gifts on the way here, I hope you don't mind."
Gumi gaped, her green eyes lighting up. "Oh my gosh! Is this a friendship charm? It's so cute!" Her lips formed into a bright grin as she dangled a white puppy that had a bow engraved on it. It gave it an endearing appearance, at the same time it was also kinda adorable.
"It is cute." Len comments.
"Where'd you buy it?" Gumi asks, her eyes sparkling with glee. "I bought it at a store nearby," Miku politely smiles, the corners of her turquoise eyes forming into small crescents. "It isn't that far from here, we can go together sometime if you'd like."
"Really!? Ah, thanks Miku-chan! You're the best!"
Rin smiled at the grinning greenette and smiling tealette before her eyes landed on the turquoise-haired boy that was talking with Len and Fukase. She assumed they were probably talking about a new video game, or perhaps Fukase was bragging about how cool he looked when he played that guitar solo in the school talent show a few hours earlier.
Mikuo glanced over to the blonde, and she recklessly looked away once the two had made eye contact.
"Hey," Len spoke. "Go talk to my sis! Don't just stand there like it's nothing." He sneers, nudging the slightly taller boy's shoulder playfully as Fukase sends him a wink. "She was looking at you earlier. You guys haven't talked to each other in ages, right?" The redhead snickered as he spared a smug glance at the flustered blonde that was fidgeting with her fingers. "Well...um.."
"Nah, he has. But my sister was a scaredy-cat so she hardly ever made a move on him." Len laughs. "Come on! Go talk to her!"
"Are you sure you're okay with this Len?" Mikuo says nervously as Fukase shoves him towards Rin, who was now biting her nails anxiously. "I don't think I should—OOMPH!"
Mikuo was shoved abruptly against Rin's shoulder, and he had scrambled to give her personal space as he gave her a nervous smile between shy chuckles. "Eheh, sorry about that." He mumbled as Rin felt her cheeks turn pink. "It's okay." The blonde was able to peep and spared a shy smile towards him that tugged the strings of his throbbing heart.
"...So erm.." Mikuo cleared his throat violently as he shoved his sweating hands inside his pockets. "Are you excited to go to college?" He randomly says, trying to fight the stupid grin that was slowly forming on his lips. "Meh, not really. I don't know what I wanna be when I grow up. I mean I've always liked playing the guitar, so there is that." Rin muttered as she played with a strand of her blonde locks.
"Oh, that sounds cool. Miku actually wants to be a pianist when she's older, at least that's what she always said when she was younger." Mikuo smiles.
Rin could picture the tealette gracefully playing the piano in front of a large audience with those pretty slender fingers of hers. It amazed her how she could play so beautifully. "I think she has the potential to become one, I heard her play one time, and it was really nice. Don't tell her I said that though."
Mikuo laughs, "Why?"
"I'm embarrassed about it, okay? So shut up." Rin grumbled, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. "Jeez, well I'm sorry, princess." The teal-haired boy smirked smugly before his face reddened with embarrassment as he realized what he had said.
Rin blinked, and looked away in response. It was awkwardly quiet now, the only sound that could be heard was the delicate whooshes of the gentle wind and the soft chirping of the happy birds. Even after Mikuo had told her he loved her, the girl didn't know how to respond, even though she did come to terms with her feelings years ago.
She loves him, but she didn't know how to say it.
"So um..about that thing..you said," Rin grumbled, biting her bottom lip in embarrassment, as she forced herself to stare into his hypnotizing turquoise eyes. "I know I'm a coward for not telling you soon, and it's okay if you don't love me anymore but—" Rin breathed erratically, her heart throbbing uncontrollably in her eardrums. "...I-I um.."
"I'm also..i-in love with y-you."
After saying that, Rin covered her face with one of her palms as she felt her whole body redden with embarrassment. Mikuo only smiles, his own face growing a bit red as he got closer to the blushing female, then ruffled her hair playfully before taking her other hand into his. "Come on, let's go. The others are waiting for us." He says sweetly, his grip tightening a bit around her hand.
Rin only nodded and gave him a shy smile.
The others were already at the 'Parent Table', sitting down and eating their yummy food. She saw that Gumi and Miku were eating some fried rice and some teriyaki, and Fukase and Len were eating some juicy hamburgers. The aroma lingered in Rin's nose, and her mouth began to drool a bit as she could taste the delicious food.
"Ah! Rin!" Miku yelled out towards the blonde, in which Rin's lips formed into a bright smile. "Sit here!" The blonde didn't hesitate to let go of Mikuo's hand and run towards her friend, before stealing the seat beside her.
Gumi was sitting next to Fukase, who was sitting next to Len. Miku was sitting next to Len, and Rin was sitting beside her. Mikuo took the spot beside Rin, and began to eat his food.
"Hey." Rin smiles.
"Hi." Miku also smiles.
"What are you gonna eat?" The tealette stated as she scoops up a spoonful of rice, before shoving it into her mouth.
Rin was suddenly reminded of a memory, a very fuzzy, yet meaningful bittersweet memory.
"I'm not sure," Rin says, her voice a bit low yet warm. "I might get some teriyaki and rice, but I don't know." The blonde says with a sigh. Miku stared at her second scoop of rice, which was topped with some teriyaki, before hovering it near Rin's mouth.
"H-Huh?-"
"Here! You can try some!" Miku grins. "I don't mind."
Rin stared at the spoon, and her face flushed red.
W-Wouldn't that be an in-
"Aw, don't tell me you're embarrassed! Come on, here comes the airplane! Woosh~ Woosh~" Miku began to laugh, her teeth glimmering in the blazing sun.
Rin's lips formed into a smile. So she remembers too, huh.
"Fine." Rin playfully rolled her eyes before taking the spoon and shoving it in her mouth, before her eyes lit up. "Oh, wow. This is really good. Who made this?" The blonde asked, scooping another spoonful of rice. "Oh! I did. Luka helped me with the chicken, I'd say my cooking skills improved." Miku giggles. "Yeah. They really did."
"Hey, Miku. What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Oh, I haven't thought about that." Miku laughs nervously. "I bet my brother told you that I wanted to be a pianist, right? I'm not really sure about it now though." The tealette sighs, her eyes tracing the sky as she began to lose herself in her thoughts. "Why not become a chef?" Rin asks. "Nah, I don't think I'm capable of becoming a chef. Plus, Luka already has that job." Miku laughs. "I see."
"What about you?" Miku glanced toward the blonde. "What do you wanna be when you grow up?" The tealette's eyes glimmered in curiosity as she wondered what her friend would want to be when she grew up. "Me? Well...Maybe a guitarist. I don't know. I think it sounds dumb."
"Dumb? Nah. It doesn't sound dumb! I think it's pretty cool that you want to be a guitarist. Maybe we can make a song together!" The tealette giggled, the corners of her eyes forming into small crescents.
Rin stared at her as she laughed, and she felt the corner of her eyes water.
How did I...
Why did I even hate this girl?
I wonder if things would have been different if...Could we have been friends? Really, really, close friends?
"Oh! Rin? Are you okay?" Miku's affectionate voice washed away all of Rin's anxious worries as she placed a palm on her shoulder. "You're crying."
Rin blinked as she felt a tear roll down her eye, but then she instantly pressed a palm against her cheek and brushed it away before smiling brightly. "I'm okay. I'm just..." Rin sniffled and smiled again as another tear, rolled down her face.
"I'm just really happy."
End.
[NOTE]
Thank you for reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Again, thank you for reading, and have a great day/night!
