Alright, everyone. I'm back! I know I've been gone for far, far, far too long, but like I said, I swear I haven't forgotten about any of you! I know it might not be any consolation, but this story has still been in my head. I just had reeeeeeally bad writer's block for the longest time. So I had started writing, but the computer I was using to write everything down with, crashed and I had lost all the data on it. Anyway, I think I might have found a more permanent solution to finally being able to update everything, so here's to hoping. Here's the muuuch long awaited chapter 5 and I hope you guys love it as much as I loved writing it (over and over and over again lol)

Rin: WhisperingLady does not own any real-life brands, just the story. Please don't be mean and sue her. ^_^


Chapter 5: Len's Past

My eyes remained glued to the ticking clock, each minute felt like hours as my heart continued to pound in my chest. How long had it really been since they left? Where the heck did they even go?! When were they coming back? Each question just made my mind race even more.

I was so focused on the clock, I never noticed Piko walking up beside the bed until his hand was lightly touching my shoulder, causing me to jump slightly and look up at him. "You know, if you keep looking like that, your face is gonna stick. And no one wants that expression plastered on their face forever. Especially when they already have such an ugly one."

"Oh yeah, well at least I have a normal hair color, you old man."

"You may have a normal hair color, but at least my eyes don't match my hair. I have a little diversity to myself, you mono-colored butt." "At least my eyes could make up their mind on what they wanted to look like. Yours look like they just got confused on the way out."

At this point, we were both smirking at each other before we burst into laughter. We both sighed happily after a few minutes, wiping tears of joy from our eyes. I smiled up at him before sighing and looking back at the clock.

"Rinny bear, you have to stop worrying. Besides, it's only been ten minutes." He said before sitting on the edge of the bed beside me. My eyes widened slightly as I took a closer look at the clock and groaned, falling back against the pillow behind me.

"It's seriously only been ten minutes. It feels like hours!" I said, my lower lip trembling slightly. "What can they possibly be doing?" I asked, closing my eyes and not really expecting an answer from anyone.

"Well. You know. Luka and I do kind of know each other. We wanted to catch up slightly before I came back." Len's voice sounded from the open doorway.

My eyes shot open and looked over at him. He was smiling softly, holding an armful of food. I couldn't see everything that he was carrying, but it looked like a lot.

Piko chuckled before taking my hand in one of his and giving it a small squeeze. "See? Told you it wasn't the end of the world. But you never listen to me. Oh Rinny bear, whatever am I to do with you?" He said teasingly.

I looked over at him pleadingly. "Please don't use that name around you-know-who."

"Rinny bear huh? Cute. I might use it for you." Len said as he walked over to the other side of the bed, a playful smile on his lips.

I instantly felt my face grow hot as a blush coated my cheeks from the thought of him actually calling me that.

I looked up at him slightly, our eyes meeting for a moment before I felt my blush get even larger. "I-I mean if t-that's alright with y-you….." He said, stammering slightly.

Piko chuckled softly before leaning over and whispering in my ear. "He's blushing, you know." My eyes widened slightly before I stole a glance at Len out of the corner of my eyes.

My heart skipped a beat as I saw a faint red across his cheeks. Why was he blushing?! What reason could he have for blushing? I couldn't really come up with an answer.

"Luka said that everyone who isn't bed ridden should head down to the cafeteria." He said, placing the food on the sheets that covered my legs, somewhat sorting them into piles.

He moved the drinks that he had gotten, mainly bottles of water and a few sodas, off to the side. Piko and I looked at each other, with conflicted emotions. Worry showed in my eyes, slight confusion in his, one eyebrow raised slightly.

He shrugged his shoulders before looking at Luki who seemed just as confused as the rest of them. "Well you all know my sister. Once she sets her mind to it, not much we can do about it except follow along with it or get out of her way." Luki shrugged before standing up.

He stretched and walked over to Piko before grabbing his free hand and intertwining their fingers, causing Piko to adorn his own blush, along with a joyful smile. "We'll catch you later Rin." Luki said pulling Piko along with him.

Piko looked at me before leaning up and kissing his new found love's cheek lightly. "I guess I'll talk to you later, hun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He said, winking slightly at me before the both of them left.

Gumi and Yuki, who had remained oddly quiet up until this point exchanged glances, before smiling somewhat devilishly and giggling. "We'll see you later Rin. We really do hope you get better. But something tells me-" She paused slightly, only to look over at Len, her eyes moving up and down his body before looking at me and winking. "you're in good hands. Come one Yuki. We don't want to keep her highness waiting." Yuki smiled at Gumi and nodded her head before holding up one finger.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out something before walking over to me and placing it in my hand. She smiled and closed my fingers around the object and signed with her free hand. "BDAY". "Oh. This is your birthday gift to me?" I asked, slightly tilting my head and looking up at her. She nodded her head and smiled happily before patting my hand. She leaned down and hugged me before running off with Gumi and the rest of them.

I waited a few moments before opening my palm. It was a medium-sized silver heart locket, an intricate design engraved into the medal. I let the chain hang over the other side of my hand as I opened the pendent. Inside was a small cut-out picture of Myself, Yuki, and Gumi, smiling at the camera. Gumi's arm around my shoulder as Yuki slightly knelt in front of us, each of us with a smile on our face.

A large smile played at my lips as I thought back to the day this picture was taken.

I couldn't help but be thankful for adding those two goofballs to my small group of friends. They seemed to fit right in, which was hard to do with Luka, Piko and I. "You three look really happy there." Len's voice broke through my reverie as I looked over to him and nodded, the smile still stuck on my face.

"This was taken the day we all decided to be friends. Gumi and Yuki have known each other since they were kids. Basically sisters to each other. Gumi had stood up for me while I was being bullied by… well that doesn't matter. But she basically became an outcast because of it, which she said was fine with her. We went to the fair that weekend, my treat for her helping me. Yuki tagged along and it ended up being more fun than I could have thought. They have become really close to me."

"I can tell. You all seem to have some sort of bond that doesn't seem like it'll break."

I nodded and ran a finger over the picture before putting the locket away in my jeans pocket. "S-shouldn't you be going to get your lunch and hang out with your friends?" I asked, turning to look at him.

He stood at the side of the bed that Piko had been on and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Actually…I was planning on eating lunch up here with you….. I-I hope that's alright and not to forward on me assuming. Luka and I kind of already talked to the teachers about me staying in here to make sure you would be alright. Since the nurse is gone today and I'm caught up in all my classes, Luka sort of entrusted you to me." He said nervously.

I was in shock. Had I really just heard him correctly? The look of shock must have been evident on my face, his expression turning sad. "I-I'm really sorry we d-didn't talk to you about it beforehand. I-I can just go if you want me to…." He said, looking down, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

"O-oh…n-no that's not it…..I'm just r-really surprised is all….I mean, you must have a bunch of reallyimportantstufftodo,Imeanit'sgottabemuchmoreimportantthensittinginhereandmakingsureI'malright….right?" I said, looking up at him. "S-sorry! Sometimes when I'm nervous, my words tend to bunch together. I kind of…..start to babble. And now I'll just shut up."

"No, please. It's kind of cute. You're nostrils flare when you're like that." He said chuckling. "So you really don't mind me sitting in here with you?" He asked, hesitantly. I shook my head and smiled "Not at all. Did you want to sit down?" I asked, gesturing towards the empty space next to me on the bed.

"If it's alright with you." He said, smiling softly. I nodded and moved over, enough for him to comfortably sit down, leaving a small amount of space between us.

Having him sit down, the fabric of his shirt moved slightly, causing the smell of bananas to waft into my nostrils. I closed my eyes and inhaled. This certain smell seemed so familiar, but I couldn't place it. It seemed like something I should be able to recall right off the bat, but it was escaping me at the moment.

I opened my eyes to see him looking at me, a questioning look in his eyes. "O-oh, sorry. I just smelt something that seemed familiar, but I can't really put my finger on it." "Hmm. I hate when that happens. Like it's right there, but the harder you try and remember whatever it is, it seems to get further and further away,"

"Exactly. And that's how I feel right now. It's really bothersome." I said, sighing.

"Well while you try to figure that out, why don't we eat?" He said, smiling before picking up one of the closed containers of food. Just as I was about to decline, my stomach growled loudly. "I-I guess I can't say no after that, huh?" I said, heat suddenly encompassing my cheeks.

"Well you could, but I'd know the truth." He said, smiling and handing me the food. I smiled, embarrassed and took the food thankfully.

Opening the container, I looked down and smiled happily. It was a rather nicely portioned tangerine-Cobb salad, one of my favorite things served here.

Setting the lid aside, I looked around to see if I could find a fork before Len tapped me on the shoulder and handed one to me. "Thank you." Our fingers touched for the briefest moment before I took the fork, a bolt of electricity shooting through my arm from his touch. I shivered slightly before digging in, devouring it in about a minute and a half, only stopping to breath.

I hadn't realized just how hungry I was until I actually started eating. My throat felt extremely dry after finishing the salad. Looking around, I spotted the water over by Len. Putting my hand in front of my mouth so as not to spit food on him, I tried to continue chewing as I talked, the words coming out slightly mumbled.

"Can yoo pash me shom water?" I asked, pointing to one of the water bottles on the side-table near him.

He chuckled and nodded, handing me one of them before taking away the empty container and plastic fork. "You must have been really hungry." He said before placing another container in my lap to replace the empty one.

I nodded and gulped down about three-fourths of the liquid, gasping for breath afterwards.

After I let my heart settle down, I set the bottle down next to my side and opened up the second container. A bento box, which was our school's specialty. Mild lamb curry, sticky white rice and boiled veggies.

It smelled really good and made me want to dig in, but the salad had taken a good portion of my hunger, so I could afford to savor this one.

Before I had a chance to ask for them, Len handed me a pair of chopsticks, causing me to smile. "Thank you."

Lifting up the small bowl of curry, I slowly poured it over the rice and mixed it up slightly. Licking my lips, I ate a few bites and closed my eyes, letting the flavors coat my tongue. "Man, I love this school's food. It can just get really expensive, so usually, I pack….my own." I said, suddenly remembering my own bento box sitting in my bookbag.

I looked down at my food and suddenly felt a lump in my throat. I knew this much food had probably cost a lot, and I was not the type of person to ask for handouts, especially when I was perfectly happy with making it myself.

I turned to look at Len and realized he hadn't even attempted to eat anything yet. "Aren't you eating?" I asked, slightly afraid to eat anything else.

"Oh, well I kind of bought all this for you… Guess I wasn't really thinking about myself." He chuckled before rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Hmm. Well I can't just sit here and not have you eat. So if you aren't going to eat anything here, will you eat something if I give it to you?" I asked, hoping he said yes.

"Ummm sure, I guess." I smiled, an inward hooray to myself going on as I reached for my bag.

Pulling it up onto the bed with me, I carefully moved the school bento box off to the table next to my side and unzipped the front pocket, pulling out the black bento box and placing the bag back on the floor. "Here. I brought this from home. I was planning on eating this for lunch before….well before all this happened." I said, chuckling softly, handling him the meal.

"You made this?" He asked before sitting up slightly and opening the lid. His face lit up as he looked at the food. "Oh, you're not allergic to peppers, green onions, cheese or tomatoes, are you?" I asked, but before the last word left my mouth, Len was already devouring the meal.

The look on his face let me know he was really enjoying it and before I knew, the omelet was gone, his mouth quickly working on the rice balls.

After about the second one, he finally took a break and had one of the sodas. Letting liquid wash down the food, he sighed and gasped slightly for air. All I could do was watch him devour my home-made cooking like it was the greatest thing in the world. It made me feel giddy inside, like I wanted to see him this happy eating my cooking all the time.

He looked over at me, before realizing what he had done. His eyes widened slightly and he gulped, putting the bento box down on his lap and wiping his mouth. "S-sorry you saw that…" He said, obviously embarrassed.

"Why are you apologizing?" I asked, slightly confused. I didn't get what he had to be embarrassed about.

"F-for you seeing that side of me…..I just…..once I tasted it, I couldn't help myself. It was beyond good. You're a really good cook." He said, before picking up the third rice ball and eating it, slower this time.

"Y-you really think it's that good?" I asked, looking down and smiling, the blush returning to my cheeks.

"Mmhmm. I do. I wouldn't lie about something like this. Well at least not to you." He chuckled and continued eating.

"Well, I'm glad you like it that much. I try to make my lunch as often as I can. I don't really have the money to buy lunch here, so I get a lot of practice cooking what I like." I chucked slightly before taking the school bento box off the table and continued eating myself.

We sat like that, in relative silence for some time, the food on the bed slowly disappearing, both of us just sitting there.

It seemed like he was lost in thought about something, and would occasionally look over at me, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him, unsure of even what to say in this type of situation. This had never happened to me before.

Finally, I heard him sigh before he decided to break the silence between us.

"Rin, are you alright?" He asked, finally looking over at me, our eyes meeting. I gulped and swallowed the small amount of food I had in my mouth before answering, his gaze penetrating into my own.

"Why do you ask…? W-what do you mean? That's such a silly question to-" I felt his hand slowly graze my cheek, his thumb lightly tracing my skin. My eyes widened as I realized he was wiping a tear away from beneath my eye. I hadn't even realized I had been crying until then.

I gasped slightly before moving away, the feeling of his skin on mine seemed to be too much to bear right now, although I wasn't entirely sure why.

I knew how I felt about him, but if I stopped to think about it, why did I feel this way about him? We barely knew each other. His friends had always made fun of me, at least since I moved back to this town. We almost never talked and when we did, he was always pulled away by something before we really even spoke to each other.

I barely knew anything about him and yet…..I felt like I had such a strong connection to him. Why? Why did I feel this way about him? Why did I feel so trusting around him? So…..weak? So vulnerable.

I hadn't really given it much thought up until this point, but now that I sat here, him this close to me, I couldn't get those questions out of my mind.

"Rin…..Please…Tel m-"

"Why do you want to know?! Why do you even care about me? Someone you don't even really know. Someone who isn't even on the same level as you. Someone who should be invisible to you. Why the hell do you even care at all?!" I asked him, my hands balled into fist in my lap, tears now freely falling.

I hated feeling this weak around anyone. It scared me so much, the only thing I could think to do was just curl into a ball and hope they would leave me alone. "Why…..why do you care?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper this time.

My head hung low, tears falling onto my closed hands. Suddenly I felt this warm sensation as Len's body surrounded me, his arms hugging me tightly. My eyes widened as I realized he was hugging me, tears continuing to fall.

My body began to shake as he stayed there, the warmth of his body radiating into me. It felt safe….something I knew I was missing. The sensation of just being able to trust. Of knowing I was alright some where.

I had completely forgotten what it had felt like. My arms slowly wrapped themselves around his waist as my body shook slightly. I couldn't stop the tears anymore, but right now, I didn't care.

Somewhere, I knew I needed this. Someone who could make me feel safe, just to let all the pent up emotions out that that been building for, I don't even know how long. Even if my mind couldn't comprehend why, I knew this was okay to do in front of him.

We stayed like this for a while, his arms holding me tightly as I simply cried into his shirt, leaving a stain on the front.

After I had managed to stop myself from crying long enough, I slowly moved away from him, my arms dropping to my sides.

He hesitantly let go of me, but kept his body close, one of his hands moving so it rested on top of mine. "Why do you care how I feel? We barely even know each other. According to how high school cliches are supposed to work, you aren't even supposed to know I exist, let alone care about me in some way, shape, or form. So why is it different?" I asked, lifting my head up to look at him.

He sighed slightly before using his other hand to pull out a necklace that had been hiding under his shirt. It was one of those cheesy best friend pendants that were split in half, one saying "best" and the other saying friends. From what I could see as he played with it in his hands, his was the" friends" part.

"You know, this entire time, I thought you had just been ignoring me. That you didn't want to talk to me anymore. But I guess, you really did forget." He sighed before looking over at me and smiling somewhat sadly. "Let me tell you a story. Hopefully this will clear everything up for you."

"There used to be this little boy named Len Kagane who lived in this city. Him and his mother used to be all alone, living in an old apartment. Just the two of them. His father had died when he was a baby, so him and his mother were all each other had. Everyday, Len would walk down to the park that had been a few blocks away from his house and play until his mom would come get him after work. They would walk home together and Len would tell his mother all about the fun days he would have at that park. Well, Len's mother had to work at a diner that wasn't too far from their house just to pay the bills, so they weren't very rich at all. But everyday, Len would get a few dollars from his mom just so he could get his favorite ice cream from the truck that was usually right outside the park. His favorite was this ice cream sandwich called a Choco Taco. Don't ask me why that's his favorite, it just is. Now Len wasn't a very big child. He was actually considered scrawny by many his age. Anyway, one day Len was sitting in the sandbox, minding his own business, about ready to open his choco taco. But all of a sudden this larger kid came up to him and threatened him Len, if he didn't give him his ice cream. After Len refused, he was pushed and punched a few times before the other kid took and ate it right in front of him. Not having any more money to get another one, Len became very sad. Being the size that he was, there was no way for him to take anything back from the bully, so it seemed as if he wouldn't get to have his favorite treat that day. Then this adorable blonde haired, blue-eyed girl in small pigtails came up to him and offered him an unopened choco taco. Len was stunned that this adorable young girl would be so nice to him. He took it thankfully and happily ate it with the girl sitting next to him, eating one too. They proceeded to become best friends. They would learn everything there was to know about each other. She would learn that he was deathly afraid of heights and he would learn that one of her greatest loves was astronomy. Everyday that they could, they would meet at the park and just play like best friends would. About a year went by, and the two thought they would be inseparable. But then one day, something happened that would change the world for the two of them. The two friends had been to each others houses for plenty of play dates, and having them not be too far from each other, Len knew immediately where to go when his friend didn't show up at the park that day. Walking to the girl's house, he saw a moving truck and got really worried. Was his best friend moving away from him? When would he be able to see his friend again? He quickly ran up to the girl's parents who were loading the last of the boxes into the car they would be driving. Not wasting much time, Len sadly said goodbye to his friend when her mother said they were moving a few towns over. He had given the girl's parents his mom's information in order to keep in contact with his friend and watched as she left him, waving goodbye to the car until it was out of sight. They kept in contact and as the two got a little older, they started talking more and more once they could talk to each other through I.M. Some nights, they would stay up late and talk to each other over the phone when they didn't have school. They would talk about how school was going, how things were in the house and just what they wanted in general. They had even planned on meeting back up and hanging out with each other when they could, but one day Len went to get onto his I.M., and tried to contact his friend. But he never got anything back from her. He tried to call, but the phone had been shut off. Every way he could think of to get a hold of his friend, he tried. But nothing worked. Eventually, he gave up on ever seeing or hearing from her again. He started to put more work into his school and eventually hit a large growth spurt, making it perfect for him to go and try out for football. His popularity shot up too once everyone saw him play, even in middle school. His mom had ended up meeting a really nice guy who just so happened to be rich, so soon afterward, they got married and Len had to change his name. Everyone knew him as Len Kagamine, rising football star. The most popular girl in his middle school ended up becoming his girlfriend, he gained a few new friends. Life was looking good. But he still wondered what happened to his childhood best friend. Then one day, he saw her. She was older, of course. But he had never forgotten those amazing blue eyes or that hair that shone like gold when the sun would hit it. He learned that she had moved back to town when her mom had gotten remarried, oddly enough around the same time his mom had. However, whenever he would see her by herself, or even with her friends, there was always this sadness that was behind her eyes that he kept seeing. It made him upset every time he saw it. 'Why didn't anyone else see it?' He would ask himself. He tried to talk to the girl, but she didn't remember him. His heart sank. He wanted her to remember him, remember all the conversations they had had about what they wanted to do with their life. 'Maybe she's just pretending to not remember me.' He would think often. He found himself becoming more and more interested in the girl and less interested in his own friends, even his girlfriend. He started to fall behind, but it didn't last very long. He decided that he would watch over her from afar and see if he could help her when she needed it. Then they got into high school and things became even more complicated. But he still kept a small eye on her. Made sure that when she would forget her lunch, there was always enough to get her food in her purse somehow or when she would forget to do her homework on the few days she would be absent, an assignment with her name on it would magically find it's way into the teachers inbox. Small things that he continued to do, just to show that someone out there cared, even if she didn't know who it was." He stopped for a minute from his story to look down at me slightly and give my hand a light squeeze. The look in his eyes was a mixture of joy and utter sadness. It broke my heart to see him in such a delicate state. I didn't know why or when, but when he was telling the story, I had started to cry. "Len I-." My sentence was cut off by Len's free hand coming up and wiping a few tears off my cheek, his hand lingering on my face, he gently cupped my cheek as he leaned closer to me, the smell of his breath hitting my nostrils. I inhaled deeply before sighing softly and met his gaze, his eye staring straight at mine.

"Len…I-I'm so sorry….I-I had no idea t-that it was you…." I placed my free hand gently on the back of his and closed my eyes. "Please don't cry anymore Rin. I've always hated seeing you cry. And now I know why it hurts so much to see it…" His breath hitched as he leaned even closer to me, his lips now inches from my own. I felt them part ever so slightly as he spoke softly, the words barely above a whisper. "It's because I'm in love with you." My eyes widened at his words, but quickly closed again as his lips suddenly pushed themselves against my own. All I could feel was the sensation of his skin pressed against mine and the world spinning away from us.

He loves me….


Sooooooooo….IT FINALLY HAPPENED! XD Yeah, this is the thing that's been stuck in my head for how ever long it's been. I hope you guys all like it! I'll probably end up posting each new chapter within a month of each other, can't be sure though, not gonna lie lol. But like I've been saying, I won't be forgetting about you guys anytime soon. And once I get to a safe enough place in this, I'll be posting the other ones I have stuck in my head. Right now it's a jumble mess of just ideas going a thousand miles a minute. Anyway! I really hope you guys like it. ^_^

Luka: Oh! And feel free to start asking anyone of us any questions that you want to know. We'll be more then happy to answer them for you all!See ya'll later!