Yay! Update! I was tempted to quickly update Romeo and Cinderella after an 'incident' instead. (Aha, I'm still laughing now! Mizune, that review didn't make my day, it made my week! XD) But I decided this really needed to be updated so, here ya go! :D
Not much happens in this chapter (I mean, there's not a lot of action) but after the last VERY-dramatic-for-a-story-like-this chapter, I thought we could do with a breather ;)
I do not own Vocaloid!
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There's A First Time For Everything
Chapter 8: First Feelings
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I found myself waking up. I kept my eyes firmly shut, not wanting to let any light in. I wanted to go back to sleep. I couldn't remember what I'd dreamt, it was just a blur. But I knew whatever it was, it was nice. I wanted to try and continue it. I shifted slightly and groaned.
'It's hot in here. I'm hot. I'm too hot. I don't like it. My head hurts. My chest hurts. I feel sore. But I'm comfortable. I'm on something soft. I'm pretty sure it's my bed. Yeah, I must be on my bed because I can smell my room. My room always has that lingering banana scent. But there's definitely something else. Meh... I'll ignore it. And there's something on my head. What is it? And... eh? Somethings' rubbing my hair!'
I slowly opened my eyes. Thankfully, it wasn't too bright in my room. The curtains were shut. But there was definitely some light coming from somewhere in the room. I guessed it was my bedside lamp and glanced to the side. I quickly looked away and shut my eyes tight. I couldn't believe what I'd seen. Rin... I'd seen Rin! Was I dreaming? Did I imagine it? I cautiously looked to the side again and the person sat next to me was definitely Rin.
Rin was sat upright on the bed next to me. The only reason she hadn't noticed me looking at her yet was because she had her nose in a book of some sort. I couldn't tell what it was because my vision was still a little blurry. She was wearing casual clothes, yet when I looked down I noticed she seemed to have made herself cosy by removing her socks. Her bare feet fidgeted and rocked up and down.
Then I realised that the thing rubbing my head was Rin herself. Her dainty fingers moved through my hair in long strokes, occasionally caressing my head. I squeezed my eyes shut again and swallowed. I felt myself get hotter than I was before and started to sweat a lot. Rin's actions were getting me really flustered.
'But, why?'
I accidentally let out another groan, slightly louder than the last one, as I felt my body become even more sweaty than it was before. It was HORRIBLE. I heard Rin's cold (well, cold to me) palm rest on my forehead. She gasped and I could feel her getting off the bed and then running out of the room. Some sort of pressure had left my forehead and I realised a wet cloth had been there. Then I understood. My temperature had risen so Rin had gone to get me a fresh cloth. Right.
She was back within thirty seconds and placed the ice-cold cloth gently on my head. I sighed at the cold relief and I could feel Rin climbing back onto the bed. She made little grunts as she resumed her position and I heard the sound of a page turning. It was back like before.
I just lay there, still pretending to sleep. I knew perfectly well it wasn't a dream, the aching muscles in my body told me so. Therefore, I knew that if I 'woke up', things would be awkward. It wasn't like I'd forgotten the fight. I remembered everything that occurred clearly, up until I was clinging on to Lily, drenched from falling in the lake. Looking back, I felt rather stupid. I was so tired and confused I'd actually... I guess you could say hallucinated Rin. I really did think she was there but it turns out I was only getting closer and closer to falling in the lake.
Knowing Rin was engrossed in that book, I opened my eyes and looked up to the ceiling. How was I supposed to speak to her? What could I say? For one, I knew I should definitely apologize. I was out of order with my words. Would she forgive me? She couldn't be too mad. After all, she was sat next to me stroking my freakin' hair. What was it meant to mean? How could I-
"Len?"
The stroking of my hair had stopped.
'Oh, crap.'
I snapped my eyes shut. I mentally cursed to myself. She must have seen my eyes open. Why did I risk opening them?!
I heard an amused, 'Hm' and Rin's sweet voice say, "Don't play 'I'm asleep' with me. I saw your eyes WIIIIDE open."
I sighed and opened my eyes only to jump out of my skin. Rin had leaned over me, her upside down face hovering right above mine. Her deep, blue eyes were staring directly into mine and her hair was tickling my nose. I gulped and shuffled to the side to get away. Something about Rin being so close like that got my heart racing.
"How long have you been awake, then?" Rin sighed and I heard the little 'thud' of her tossing the book onto the floor.
"Only a few minutes," I lied, not wanting to get her mad. If she knew I'd been awake for nearly quarter of an hour, I'd probably be hearing a thing or two.
"Mm," Rin replied and let out another small sigh. "How do you feel?"
"Fine."
"Don't lie." Her tone was surprisingly quite dark and it scared me a little. I'd never heard Rin sound like that before.
"I'm too hot, my muscles ache and my head kills," I groaned and lifted my hand up to hold my head.
Everything went silent for a moment. It was awkward and awfully uncomfortable. What could I say? I had lots to say to Rin but I didn't really know how to put it into words. Well, I had to apologize. That was settled before. Right, I was going to apologize for the way I acted.
"I'm sorry," I said, only to find Rin had said it at exactly the same time. Our heads snapped into each other's direction and we both said, "What?"
Rin looked down at her hands which were fidgeting on her lap. "I said, I'm sorry," she murmured and clasped her hands together.
"Why are you apologizing?" I asked and furrowed my eyebrows. I was the one out of place. I couldn't believe I'd told Rin I'd wished for her sadness. That was just plain mean. I never wanted Rin to be sad. Never.
Rin looked up at me and sank slightly, like a dog getting told off. "I clearly upset you."
"Well, yeah," I said, starting to sit up. "But I said some pretty mean stuff. So, sorry." Rin suddenly smiled and leaned closer to me. "What?"
"Nothing, really," she said, absolutely beaming. "I just like how we're apologizing at the same time."
I stared at her oddly for a few seconds. No matter how close I've become with Rin, I don't think I'll ever quite understand the ways she thinks. Scratch that, I don't think I'll ever understand how all girls think. Miku and her bubbliness, the Akumas and their sudden change of character on Valentine's Day and Lily... Geez, I don't even want to know the way she thinks. Her mind seems a very scary place. 'Wait, Lily!'
"Rin, where's Lily?" I asked eagerly. After she pulled me out of the lake, I was quite sure she was shaken up.
Rin tilted her head to the side and said, "She's downstairs. So is your mum. You father is out."
"Wait...so you mean to say you've met my parents?" I asked, sweat dropping. Of course, I was eventually going to introduce Rin to my family but they're so crazy that I was determined to be there and fully alert at the time. So naturally, I was now panicking.
"Yup!" Rin nodded. "I really like them. They're really fun, unlike my parents." Her voice sounded slightly sad when she said that.
"Right," I said. I managed to push myself up, ignoring my aching muscles' protests, whipped of the blanket covering me and swung my legs off of the bed. In one quick movement, I hoisted myself up. I was stood up for about two seconds before, to my despair, I went tumbling down and landed flat on my face. "Ow..."
"Len!" Rin yelped and I heard her running around the bed. I was still face down, moaning in discomfort. Rin grabbed my shoulders and heaved me over onto my back with me letting out groans in the process. "Len, you've been asleep for nearly twenty hours. You do know it's 6pm, right? Your legs are numb!"
My eyes widened. Asleep for twenty-odd hours? I don't think I'd ever slept that much in my life! And no wonder my knees gave way the second I stood up. "Ugh, how was I supposed to know I'd been asleep that long?!"
"Yeah, I shoulda said something," Rin chuckled sheepishly. She then looked at me with a concerned expression and asked, "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Nah," I confirmed. "Just a bit bumped." Rin chuckled again and proceeded to wrap her arms around me, causing me flap my arms about and me to cry out, "Eh?! W-What are you d-doing?"
"You can't stay down here forever," she giggled and pulled me up. Feeling really embarrassed, I pushed on the ground with my legs and Rin managed to drag me back up onto the bed. Instead of laying me back down, she stood up a pillow against the headboard and pulled me to sit up against it. "There we go," she said and draped the blanket previously covering me on top of my legs.
I looked away, my face starting to heat up. I could still feel Rin's touch burning on my body. I actually quite liked it, but I felt so awkward and I couldn't let Rin see my face. It probably looked weird.
"I'll go get Lily if you're THAT desperate to see her," Rin said and before I knew it, she'd hopped out of the room and I could hear her footsteps trotting down the stairs.
I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding,looked back up at the ceiling and started fidgeting with my fingers. Rin had recently been making me feel so odd. Not a bad odd. Just... odd. I couldn't think what it was. How to describe it? Strange, unusual, flustered and awkward. Yet, warm and tickly.
'Wait...do I like Rin?'
Before I could answer my sudden question, I heard talking get louder and louder as two blonde girls entered my bedroom. I'd barely had a chance to say anything before all I could see was yellow and I was very aware of the fact all life was being squeezed out of my body.
"Lenny!" squealed Lily as she hung onto me even tighter. "You had me so worried! Do you have any idea what we went through trying to find you? Mum was about to phone the police!"
"Li...ly..."
"What?! Why can't you speak right?! Are you dying?!"
"Ca...n't...brea...the..."
"Oh, hell! No! MUM! GET IN HERE! LEN CAN'T BREATHE! LEN IS DYING! MUUUUM!"
"Hug...too...tight!"
"Oh...aha...ha," Lily laughed sheepishly and slowly withdrew from me, ending the life threatening hug. The relief was better than catching your phone after nearly dropping it down the toilet. Yes, I did that once. And yes, I had a 'like a boss' moment.
"DID SOMEONE SAY MAH BABY IS DYING?!"
'Well, crap."
"LEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"
"Double crap."
The next thing I knew was that my mother had literally launched herself on the bed and had landed right on top of poor, old me. For a woman who doesn't look like she weighs much, she weighs a lot.
"Mu-um!" I whined as she started to rub her cheek against mine. "Get off! You're heavy!"
Mum chuckled and rolled off of me, her laughter echoing through my bedroom. "Aww, am I embarrassing little Lenny in front of his lady friend?
"Mum!"
"You know, Rin, I've got the cutest photo album of Len as a baby downstairs. There's pictures of him pouting, dressed up as superheroes and there's this adorable one of him in the bath and-"
"MUM!"
Mum laughed out loudly, leant over to me and gave me a noogie. Mum and Lily do that a lot. She drew back and said, "Just teasing. I'll leave you two be. And, Len?"
"Hm?" I responded in a goran, trying to get my hair out of my eyes after mum's attack.
Mum smiled warmly and sighed happily, "I'm glad you're ok. Just don't scare us like that again. Your father and I nearly had a heart attack."
"Don't forget me!" Lily said, waving her hand above her head. Mum just rolled her eyes, hopped off my bed and left my room. "Mum, wait!" called Lily and she ran after her.
Now my crazy family had left the room, everything was quiet again. I let out a sigh of relief. Peace... But it was soon replaced with another sound. I looked over to Rin. She'd collapsed on the chair by my desk I sat at to do homework. Her hand was clapped over her mouth and she was sniggering. Soon enough, she was in full on hysterical laughter mode. I huffed and turned away from her, my arms firmly crossed.
"D-don't be like that, ha! Len..." Rin spluttered. She got up and staggered over to the bed, only to collapse on it face first and clutching her ribs. "It's just...your family, ha! They're so, ha! Hilarious! HA HA HA!"
I continued to ignore her. I was pretty much humiliated by my mother. It's not so bad when it's just my family home but in front of Rin... 'Somebody kill me.'
After what seemed like endless hours of laughter, Rin finally caught a hold of herself and sat up. She prodded me lightly and said, "C'mon, Len. It's not that bad." I still didn't look at her. "Leeen." Didn't look. "Nyaaa!" Rin breathed out and draped her arms around my shoulders.
"Ngh! Rin, get off!" I said in protest. She was nuzzling my back with her forehead, causing my senses to spiral out of control. For some reason, I had to do everything I could not to face her and hold her back. For some reason, I wanted to hold her close. For someone reason, I wanted to reach down and maybe...m-maybe even k-kiss her.
I thought back to the question I'd asked myself before Lily so rudely squeezed the living daylight out of me. Realisation hit me pretty hard in the face.
'Oh, crap. I really do like her, don't I?'
"Leeen," Rin purred in my ear. "Stop being moody with me."
"Alright! Ok!" I said, barely able to cope with her touches anymore. "I'll talk to you. Just get the hell off me!"
Rin giggled and removed her hands from my shoulders. I turned around to look at her and was met with pink cheeks and a cute smile. "Good boy!" she praised and rubbed my head as if she was petting a dog.
I pouted, my arms still crossed. "Everyone seems determined to mess up my hair today."
"It was a raging jungle anyway. You move around a lot in your sleep," Rin chuckled with her hand near her lips.
"Wait..." I said, taking in what Rin had just said. Feeling my heart beat increase, I asked, "Rin, how long have you been here exactly?"
"Just a few hours."
"The truth," I said with a certain tone that caused Rin to sink slightly.
"7am," Rin said sheepishly and bit her lip. "I was... I was worried. Actually, I wanted to see you last night when they found you, but dad wouldn't let me out that late. I managed to persuade him to let me leave early instead."
"So, you've been here the whole day?"
"Yup!" Rin said happily. "I haven't left you alone once! Well, other than to change your cloth or go get a snack or use the toilet or something. I've been reading your Ryuu manga, I hope you don't mind. I took the blankets off you sometimes cause you seemed to be getting hot and..."
Rin's blabbing was slowly starting to get blocked out. 7am? She must have been up early to get to the house by that time! And if the day before was a Wednesday, that meant it was a Thursday. Thursday is a school day! You mean to say she'd missed a day of school to be with me? Not to mention all the things she'd done for me while I was asleep. She... she was awfully worried about me.
"Oh, and did I say I LOVE your room? It's like an art gallery! Hey, are you ever gonna get a career in art? Because I'm quite sure that... Len?"
As my thoughts had been processing, I hadn't noticed I was starting to get closer and closer to Rin. I slowly reached out and gently wrapped my arms around her. That's why she stopped talking. One of my hands pressed into the top of her back and the other pushed on the back of her golden head. I started to pull her closer to me and held her tightly. "Thank you," I said softly into her ear.
I felt Rin hesitate for a moment before she wrapped her arms around me in return and replied, "You're welcome." She sighed and fell quiet for a moment before she added, "And I'm sorry sorry."
"You've already apologized," I breathed out, still holding Rin tightly against me. I didn't want to let her go. When Rin hugged me before like when we played her song together and on Valentines, I didn't really like it. I guess it was just because I wasn't used to hugging anyone else other than my family. Now I was a little more familiar with the feeling, I really liked hugging Rin. In fact, I loved it.
"Len, I'm apologizing again cause if you ran as far as the park I think you were pretty darn upset," Rin said and she wriggled away from my a bit so she could look me in the eye. "Why did everything upset you so much?"
"I...well..."
"The truth," Rin said, mimicking the tone I'd used on her earlier.
I sighed and lowered my head. "This sounds pretty childish but, well," I stopped to awkwardly cough, "I guess you could say I was a little shocked. I've kinda grown used to spending my time with someone and not having you there yesterday felt weirdly...wrong, I guess you could say."
"What do you mean by only now you've gotten used to being with someone?" Rin asked worriedly.
"Well..."
"Len... have you been...lonely?"
I didn't reply.
Rin quickly pulled me back into the hug, holding on to me firmly. Her fingers reached up to the back of my head and she started stroking them through my messy hair. I reached my arms back up around her shoulders. I didn't know what to say, but thankfully she broke the silence by asking, "I'm a seriously the only person you've rubbed elbows with?"
"Wha...?!"
"It's a saying for being sociable with someone," Rin giggled, breaking the serious atmosphere for a moment. "If I am, no wonder you've been so awkward with me. And here I was, thinking I was doing something wrong!"
"You didn't do anything wrong," I said, suddenly feeling rather happy. "You're just a little too enthusiastic for me at times. It's hard to keep up."
Rin pulled back. We only had to stare at each other for a few moments until we were both laughing our hearts out. I didn't know what was funny, I honestly didn't. I guess we were both just happy we'd gotten all the bad things over and done with. Apologies had been accepted and thoughts were now clear.
Well...except the new thoughts of my sudden crush on Rin. But was it sudden? Actually, when I thought even harder, I realised I must have had something lingering for a while. It explained the blushing and my stomach thinking it was an acrobat. Even though the new feeling was a little embarrassing, I was glad I now had a decent reason for feeling so flustered around Rin.
I suddenly yawned in the middle of my laughter. Rin's giggles slowly grew to a stop and she smiled sweetly. "I bet you're tired after that."
"Hmm," I hummed and covered my mouth as I yawned again. "But I slept a lot, so I don't understand why I'm tired."
Rin reached out and patted my shoulder. "Well, you've been through a lot. I think you should sleep. Anyway I better be getting home now."
My hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it quickly reached out and grabbed Rin's. "Don't go," I said quickly, instantly flushing after. What on earth had caused me to act like that?! It was almost like an automatic response! It wasn't me at all!
Rin's eyes clouded over with confusion and her cheeks went a light pink colour. "O-Okay...I'll stay. But lie down, you're starting to look really sleepy."
I don't actually think I looked that sleepy, other than the yawning. I bet she thought I was getting sick from my weird actions. Nonetheless, I removed my hands from Rin's and did as I was told. I lay back down on the bed, bringing my pillow flat down with me and pulled the blankets back over my body. Rin wriggled over to my side, only she sat up. She resumed the stroking of my hair. This time, I didn't mind as much. I was actually quite soothing.
"Any requests?" she asked. "Want a fresh cloth? Food? Drink?"
I thought for a moment. Did I want anything? A smile crossed my face as I thought of something I really wanted. "Sing."
"Sing?!" Rin said in shock. Her hand stopped moving for a moment. "Why sing?!"
"Because," I said, almost teasingly, "I haven't been able to get Meltdown out of my head. You've got such a lovely voice." I must have been getting quite sleepy after all. My words were trailing out on their own.
"I...um...ok," Rin sighed, giving in. "But not meltdown. Not for going to sleep. How about a lullaby?"
I would've usually protested something like a lullaby. After all, I'm not a baby. But I found myself sleepily humming, "Mm," in agreement. I didn't want to push my luck. I was lucky enough Rin was singing to me.
"Teach me the words as always
And I will change them into a song
What will you obtain from your imagination of delusion?
There's one and only one song of truth."
The melody of Rin's lullaby was so beautiful that I found myself lost in it instantly. My eyelids slowly sealed away my sight. I could only hear Rin's sweet voice and the feel her delicate fingers passing through my hair.
"Lu li la~ Lu li la~
This singing voice
I wonder, to whom will it reach?
Using the key I obtained known as 'words'
I opened the gates of the unknown..."
Even though it was hard to concentrate on the words as the melody and Rin's angelic voice was taking up most of my attention, I realised the lullaby wasn't as simple as it seemed. I knew there was some whole other meaning behind it, but I didn't want to ask. Why would I ever want to interrupt such a beautiful song? I carried on to listen and took everything in. After what I guessed was the ending of the second chorus, Rin started humming all sorts of different notes. I guessed they were the instrumental's tune. I bet it was one of Rin's masterpieces.
"Lu li la~ Lu li la~
This singing voice
Is the clockwork lullaby
If you fail to wind me
Then I'll stop
Memories like the blossoming flowers
And traumas like muddy waters
Continue spinning and melting
Everything within me."
Rin continued to hum the remainder of the song. I was stunned. It was amazing and I felt full of joy, yet the song seemed so sad. I wondered again why Rin would be writing sad songs. But that thought was quickly pushed from my mind. I thought about how I loved Rin's voice, which quickly lead me onto thinking about how I loved her smile. I loved her laughter, I loved her eyes, I loved the way she teased me, I loved the way she hugged me...
"I love you, Rin," I thought.
Well, at least I thought I thought it.
All the strong emotions towards Rin quickly turned to ones of panic. I'd said it out loud. I'D. SAID. IT. OUT. LOUD. How could I be so stupid?! Well, there was a chance she didn't hear me. I decided to keep my eyes shut, so Rin thought I was sleeping. Perhaps if she had heard me, then she'd think I was talking nonsense in my sleep. I've been known to talk about potatoes going roller skating while in my dream world. Lily recorded me to prove it.
I heard the rustling sound as Rin got up. Some small clattering could be heard and I guessed she was collecting her things. Then it went quiet. I was about to open my eyes, thinking she was gone when I felt something warm on my face. The warm thing smelled citrusy. I quickly realised it was Rin's breathe. I froze. She leant down and planted a small kiss on my forehead.
"I love you too, Lenny," she whispered. A soft breeze washed over me as Rin stood up. The sounds of her footsteps beating against the floor and the door shutting and clicking filled the room before it went quiet. I opened my eyes and stared at the closed door, my face burning.
Well, I honestly couldn't tell if I'd imagined that or not. Had I? My mind was a blur. All I did know was that my forehead was on fire.
I was starting to wish I'd requested a fresh cloth after all.
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And we shall leave it there for now!
Sorry, I would've updated sooner but I kept getting bored and starting numerous one shots when I should seriously be finishing one I've had half written for two weeks now. I hope you didn't get bored when reading this ^^; And the song was 'Clockwork Lullaby' for anyone who doesn't know. It's part of the Evillious Chronicles but I'm not going to get lost in all of that. I just thought it'd be a pretty song(lullaby) for Rin to sing. I actually sang it to my sister once to get her to sleep ^.^
OMG GUYS GUESS WHAT. WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY HALF WAY THROUGH THE STORY! My plan had a prologue, sixteen chapters and an epilogue so...yup. HALF WAY THROUGH! AND THAT JUST SHOWS HOW MUCH I SUCK AT UPDATING SINCE THIS WAS PUBLISHED LAST DECEMBER! ...OTL
Review? :3
