Here's the twenty-fourth chapter. Last time, Piko's history was revealed. Rin was out from the manipulation she was in and went back to Len's side. Just as the two leave, Piko thought it was a nice idea to push Rin to the middle of the street when a car is rushing towards them. Luckily, Len was able to catch her however he had only seconds to think about whether to save Piko or not. We'll see what happens next. Enjoy. ^-^
Chapter 24
I sat in the waiting room with my elbows resting on my legs and my head resting on my hands. People passed by before me, but I paid no attention. My focus was all on the pale tile floor below me.
I had nothing to think. I couldn't think of anything. I felt empty with a hint of fear. I didn't know how to react to a situation like this. Most would be crying from worry or be pacing back and forth, but I felt like that wasn't what I should be doing. I should be doing something though, but I wasn't sure what. I was just waiting.
"Len!"
I looked up to see Rin's parents rush over to me. The woman was red in the face from all the sobbing she was doing and the man only held onto a worried-to-death face. I frowned. I felt so sorry for them.
"Has...has anyone said anything?" the woman asked.
I shook my head.
The woman hesitated. The man motioned for her to sit down next to me and he along with her. We all stayed silent, not knowing what to do or say. We were all just dumb-founded.
I looked back down to the floor as flashbacks drowned my mind.
The car was heading towards Piko who didn't moved an inch. Rin was on me, unconscious. I had to take her to the hospital before she gets even worse than she already was. I looked up at Piko. What a fucking idiot.
"Run, asshole!" I yelled as I stood up with Rin tightly in my arms and rushed towards Piko. I managed to tackle him towards the side-walk before the car hit all three of us. I ended up being a lucky dog to have been able to save both of them.
Piko looked up at me as he rested on the floor with scared eyes. "L-Len..."
I glared down at him and ran away towards the hospital.
I saved Piko, the guy who hurt me with all his bullshit and nearly taking away Rin from me. I still saved him. I might regret doing it, but my only main concern was Rin. I'll deal with that guy later.
Just then, the doctor who attended Rin walked into the waiting room. I looked up to him as I stood up. Rin's parents followed my lead. The doctor looked around for a while before finding and walked towards us. I examined his face. He didn't look too sad which had to be a good sign, right?
"Young man," the doctor began but paused once he noticed Rin's parents. "Are you the girl's parents?"
"Yes," the man answered.
The doctor nodded. "You don't need to worry. Your daughter will be fine. Her leukemia attacked her but it wasn't as strong as it normally should be. She's fine."
The parents sighed of relief, but I still held onto my breath.
"She's resting right now, however." The doctor turned to me. "I believe she wants to see you."
I pointed at myself. "Me?"
"Yes. She doesn't know her parents are here, but I will soon tell her unless the both of you want to go in with him."
"Let the two talk for a while," the woman said. "My daughter trusts him. Let him go in first."
I turned to look at the woman and the man. They both smiled to me so tenderly, so loving. A small knot formed in my throat for some reason.
The doctor nodded. "Very well. Please come with me."
I turned back to the doctor and followed him to the room Rin rested. He opened the door and guided me towards Rin who was fully covered in the bed provided for her. Her eyes were closed and her face a bit flushed. I was scared to wake her up.
The doctor bent down to whisper to Rin, loud enough for me to hear. "Rin, your friend is here." Then he walked out of the room.
I looked down to Rin as she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a couple of times before turning to me and smiled softly.
"Hello, Len," she said.
I pulled up a chair and sat besides her. "Hello, Rin."
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Why would she ask that? I'm the one to be saying that.
"No. I'm not. Are you hurt?" I said.
Rin shook her head. "I'm fine. Just a bit weary. Thank you for saving me back there, Len."
"No problem. I'm lucky enough to have caught you in time."
"And Piko?"
I frowned.
"Did he get hit?" Rin said.
"No," I said.
Rin sighed of relief. "I'm glad he's not hurt."
"I managed to save him too. That stupid idiot stood standing in the middle of the street like he was waiting for the car to run him over. What an idiot."
Rin giggled softly. "I'm sure you would've done the same thing."
"When I see a car rushing towards me thirty over the speed limit, I'm going to run the heck out of the way. I'm not going to just stand there and let the angels sing for me. Geez..."
Rin giggled some more causing me to chuckle along. It felt so good to be laughing together. Feels like it has been forever since we did that.
"I guess I'm the only one who got send to the hospital. What a loser I am," Rin said.
"You're not a loser. How is that being a loser?" I said.
Rin smiled. "Because I'm the only one who's laying in a bed in a hospital. It's not fun doing this, you know. I hate hospitals."
"But they help you recover."
"Well, yeah, but I've been to this same hospital a million times. It gets boring and frustrating having to be here."
"If you've been here a million times before, then how old are you exactly?"
"I can well be called your grandmother for all I care."
"Where was the Fountain of Youth, Granny?"
We both began laughing again. By God, I can never say when was the last time I enjoyed a good, unexplained laugh. We were laughing again about the most stupidest things. How childish yet wonderful for us to be doing.
"I hope this doesn't mean I have to miss school again," Rin said after she finished laughing. "I don't want to miss school anymore."
"If you have to, you have to. First is your health, then school," I said.
"Well, yeah, but it's my health that's making me miss school. My health is so detrimental. I hate it."
"I'm sure, as time goes by, it will go away. You just gotta stay strong."
Rin sighed. "I will. I just hope this sickness would just leave me alone. I don't want to transfer schools again."
I raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
"You see, the school I'm in is my third one. Because of this damn sickness, I've missed too many days from school and had to either repeat the grade in the same school or be able to move on to the next grade with a standardize test I had to do to get in another high school. I did that for two times before arriving at this high school. I don't want to do it again. I hate this sickness so much!"
I gently placed a hand on hers to calm her down. "I'm sure everything will turn out fine. You just have to stay positive. Stay hopeful and everything will turn out just fine. Like the saying goes, 'Being happy is the best medicine. "
"Laughter is the best medicine, you ditz."
"Well, whatever it is. I was close though."
Rin giggled. "I guess you're right. I'll just have to smile it off and stay positive. No sickness will bring me down."
I smiled. "That's the spirit. Keep at it till the end. I'll join you."
"Thanks. Means a lot to me."
"No problem."
Silence.
"Len," Rin said.
"Yes?" I said.
"Are we friends?"
I paused. 'Are we friends?' she asked. Well of course we are...aren't we?
"Well," I rubbed the back of my head. "I think we are."
"How gross," she said.
I blinked. "What is that suppose to mean?"
Rin smiled gently. "It's so unbelievable. I mean, I never thought I would friend someone who's the opposite of me. Especially not someone like you."
"Am I suppose to get offended?"
"No. I don't mean to offend you. I'm just shocked. You know, I've been thinking a lot about the relationship we have, Len, for some time now."
I felt my heart skip a beat.
"We started out as just project partners. Then we slowly migrated to being rivals, shooting each other insults." Rin giggled. "Remember that one day when our first war broke out?"
I chuckled. "The one I obviously won."
"In your dreams, Mr. Shota."
"Did...did you just call me...shota?"
Rin looked away. "Maybe..."
I smirked. "You're just lucky you're the one being in bed right now. I would've tackled you to the ground otherwise."
Rin turned back to me and stuck her tongue playfully. "But anyway, back to what I was saying. Uh...oh yeah. We became rivals. Then, suddenly, it appeared to me as we forgot all about being rivals and became real friends. It just happened suddenly, well, to me. We began to share stuff with each other as if we've known one another for a long time. I, for some reason, began to trust you more and more. I found it wrong for me, at first, because I was like 'How am I trusting this guy who I first hated so much?'" She paused to smile. "But I decided to give this guy a chance, and it was a good choice."
I looked at Rin who smiled brightly to me. I couldn't help but to fall in love once more over this beautiful girl in front of me.
"Len, you're not a bad guy. You actually have a tender side to you I never thought existed. I came with the conclusion that you act like an asshole just to hide your other side. Am I right?" she said.
I rubbed my nose.
"It's fine if it is. I was doing the same thing. You see, when I first met you and learned how you were, I was scared to get captured by you and be used as one of your toys. Because I was extremely shy, I knew I had to act tough to get you away from me. I didn't want you get the better of me, so that's why I was also an ass to you," she said. "I couldn't believe myself when I first stood up to you. I was becoming someone else yet as time passed on, I was beginning to soften again because...well...because you became soft on me."
I think that's when I began to realize that I liked her.
"And I guess with that," Rin continued, "it made me see the relationship we have. You were becoming someone I could trust and lean against when I have problems standing straight, and I tried to do the same for you, Len. I guess we are friends if all that is true. I mean, that's what friends are for, right?"
I nodded gently. "Yes. We are friends, Rin."
"Close friends?"
"Very close."
"Close enough to call us best friends?"
"I would say yes if you agree with me."
Rin smiled. "Yes. Let's be best friends."
I smiled back. A bubbly feeling dwelt inside of me. Even if Rin didn't say she loved me as much as I love her, being best friends with her is good enough for me. I just want her friendship out of everything else. If love between us may never be, then that's fine. We still have the love of our friendship, and that's all that matters. I just want to be there for her, be there with her.
"Len," Rin began to say.
"Yes?" I said.
Rin placed her hand over mine. "Would you mind being the butterfly on my right shoulder?"
I stopped for a while, absorbing what she just said. She wants me to be her butterfly? The one thing she treasures the most? Oh man...
A smile formed on my lips and I looked deeply into Rin's blue eyes. "I would love to be your butterfly, Rin. Forever and always, I'll rest on your right shoulder."
Rin smiled widely. I noticed she was very happy. Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them out. "Thank you, Len."
Just then, the door opened and in came the doctor and Rin's parents.
"Sorry to interrupt but-" the doctor began as I stood up.
"Sorry. I took long. I'll let you all talk with each other. I'll wait outside," I said and turned to Rin. "I'll be back. Talk with your parents for a while, okay?"
Rin nodded, giving me the signal to walk out the room and back to the waiting room. A huge smile spread across my face. If Kaito and Gakupo were here to see me, they'd think I was thinking of something perverted.
"As always," they would say.
And that was the chapter. More RinxLen moments for the fans out there. Yay! I felt all nice and warm writing this because good memories about when I first started this story came into mind. I've come such a far away.
In this chapter, Len is seen in the hospital because he brought Rin for recovery. Apparently, with the flashback, we are able to know that Len did actually save Piko from certain doom and just ran away with Rin, not caring about Piko anymore. Go Len!
So basically, this chapter is about Rin and Len talking to each other about...well...each other. Cute moments all around. Just be together already! Haha.
Tune in for more and please review. Thank you. ^-^
