[ chapter two ]
Miku wakes up to her aunt's dog licking at her face and the sensation of the cold wooden floors on her bare arms. She must have fallen off the bed. After plucking the excited dog off her body with great difficulty, she stands up groggily and pulls open the curtains, enjoying the warm morning sunshine-
Ah. Wait. Why am I happy?
That's right. She shouldn't be, because she's … back to this hell hole. This … this horrible place that she has nightmares about everyday. She clutches the sides of her head in pain. LIKE HELL SHE WANTS TO BE HERE. STUPID AUNT. WHY DID HER AUNT'S HOUSE HAVE TO BE HERE, OUT OF ALL PLACES?
She kicks at the wall angrily, and ends up hurting her foot instead.
.
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The wind treads its fingers through her hair soothingly and bites at her cheeks as she stands in front of the train station.
Why is she here again?
Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she takes it out, answering it without checking the caller. "Hello?"
"Miku! Have you reached yet?" Her mother says.
"Mum! You never said that aunt's house was in this place!" Miku says accusingly.
"Course I did. You bought the train ticket by yourself!" Her mother replies, sounding offended.
"Mum, this is the place where I got really lost last time!" Miku says desperately, wringing her hands.
"Ah. Is it the place with that boy in the café?"
"Yeah! That's why I'm not coming back here!"
"Well, too bad. You wanted to stay there, you said so yourself. So stay."
And with that, her (irresponsible) mother hangs up on her, leaving her with the cold wind and the dial tone ringing in her ears.
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"Ah, Miku," her aunt smiles in greeting as she enters the living room. "Feel free to explore our town! It's boring to stay cooped up in my house, anyway."
I already did, Miku glumly thinks to herself.
"Do you want me to show you around? Or do you have somewhere in particular that you want to visit?" Her aunt continues, not noticing Miku's sullen expression.
At the woman's words, the café and Len enters her mind, along with horrible memories of that day. She shudders.
"Well, there is one," she admits. She doesn't want to go to the café to see Len, or anything. She just wants a coffee. The waitress - Cul - mentioned a special discount. That's right. She's going to the café for the discount. Not for Len.
"You better get going then," her aunt advises, flapping her hand at her. "Shoo, shoo. Move along."
"You just want to get me out of your house, don't you?" Miku asks teasingly, but heads for the door anyways. Her aunt doesn't say anything, but she laughs heartily and returns to her newspaper.
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Miku's feet brings her to the café. She doesn't know how she found her way there; it's like her body knows the way to the café on its own. She shudders at the thought. Creepy.
She looks up at the café, with its black exterior and a blackboard featuring the café's special discounts and signature dishes. She peers in and sees the cozy interior buzzing with customers, and her eyes automatically moves to the window seats, looking for a certain blond.
"What are you doing?"
...Who happened to be standing behind her. Miku gulps in fear as she hears Len walk closer. She closes her eyes and thinks, God, if you love me, please make Len trip and fall down so that I can run away. But Len's footsteps grow louder, and eventually he reaches her side. Miku sighs.
He taps her on the shoulder. "Hello! You're back home!"
Miku whips around and brings out her signature glare. "What home? I don't live here!"
Len smiles endearingly and looks at her adoringly. To Miku he looks disgusting. "Aw, darling, don't you get it?" He sighs lovingly and places a hand over his heart. "You live here. In my heart." He patted the spot twice to emphasise his point. Miku makes a face.
"Ew."
Len straightens himself and merely grins, unfazed. "You came back, that's what matters."
"It's not a big deal," she mutters. "My aunt lives here, that's why I came."
"But you're here," Len gestures at their surroundings, "at this café. See, you deny it, but you came to see us." He grins. Miku sniffs disapprovingly and looks away.
"Shut up. Cul said the - there was a discount." She fiddles her thumbs. "Stupid," she adds, as an afterthought.
"What are you, an elementary schooler?"
Miku ignores him.
"Well, come on in," he says, opening the door. The smell of coffee wafts out enticingly and Miku can't help but turn to Len. As expected, he's smiling in that irritating way. When his eyes meet Miku's, he tilts his head towards the inside of the café, and she gives in to her hunger and walks in.
Len heads for his window seat, which is surprisingly left empty. He probably peed on it to claim it as his own, or something. Just as Miku's about to take a seat, a figure runs past them and she looks up in alarm. Len sighs and shakes his head exasperatedly.
"Ignore her," he murmurs. Just a moment later, the door flies open.
"Sup, suckers!" Cul yells, bursting into the café. Miku gapes at her. The other customers, however, seem quite accustomed to this, and a few of them wave happily at the red-haired waitress before returning to their own business.
After greeting the customers and her coworkers, she heads over to Len's table cheerily. "Hey, Len- it's you!" she exclaims with glee, and leans over to encase a confused Miku into a hug.
"Hello," chokes Miku. Len snickers, and she glares at him angrily.
Cul eventually lets go of Miku, leaving her breathless and coughing for air. Len grins.
"You came back for us!" She cries happily.
Why does everyone think the same way? "I came back to visit my aunt, but whatever floats your boat."
"That reminds me," Cul says suddenly, clapping her hands, "you never told us your name."
Miku stares at her in horror. "Why do you want it? What're you going to do with it?"
"Relax," says Len from his seat, "we just want to know. Besides, you know our names, don't you? It's a fair trade."
"I didn't ask for it, though," Miku protests.
"Come on, it's just a name! Cough it up!" Cul urges, patting Miku's shoulders. "It isn't something embarrassing, is it?"
"No! It's Miku!" Miku blurts out. She stops abruptly upon realising what she said. Cul and Len have matching grins on their faces.
"Nice name," Len compliments, but it doesn't sound like a compliment at all. "Not embarrassing in the least."
"Pretty," Cul adopts a lower voice, imitating Len, "like you, milady."
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Miku murmurs mournfully, burying her face in her hands.
"You're new to this place, aren't you?" Cul says, raising her eyebrows. She turns to Len. "Len, show her around."
"Why can't you do it?" Len asks, but it's clear from the smile on his face that he has no problem with it at all.
"You've forgotten that I have work to do, Len," Cul replies calmly. "I'm not free."
"I don't get a say in this?" Miku interrupts, looking at the both of them.
"No," they say in unison.
"Alright," Miku mumbles.
.
Cul won the argument in the end, and Len cheerily leads her outside by the hand. She slaps it away from her, earning a pout from Len.
"Do you want to head over to the park?" Len asks her, breaking the silence.
"Dunno," she mutters sulkily.
"They have ice cream," he continues in a bribing tone. Miku looks up hopefully. She tries to muster a glare but her love for ice cream eventually wins out and she nods.
Awkward silence hangs in the air once more, but Len tucks his hands into his pockets, humming happily with a bounce in his step. Miku scoffs and looks away from him.
As they settle down with ice cream in their hands, Miku makes sure to sit at the end of the bench, away from Len. You never know what he can do. He doesn't seem to notice her scooting away from him.
"You know, this feels like a date," Len speaks up, watching two children chase each other around.
"It's not," Miku says curtly, spooning her ice cream.
Len fakes a wounded look and places his hand above his heart. "Aw, Miku, don't deny the truth!" When Miku ignores him, he smiles before saying, "I still believe that you came back for me."
Miku wrinkles her nose in distaste. "That's disgusting, Len. Why would I do that?"
Len smiles and does a very strange thing. He starts to lean in slowly, his hand reaching out to cup Miku's face (she slaps it away before he can) and the irritating smile still on his lips.
This is probably the part where Miku blushes and readies herself for a kiss. Except she doesn't. She starts freaking out instead. What is he doing? Why is he leaning in? I'm very sure that he's not about to kiss me. Is he? WHAT THE HELL IS HE PLANNING TO DO?
Her heart speeds up (not because she's nervous, or anything) and she places her hand over it in an attempt to slow down her heartbeat. She doesn't like this. No, not at all. But somehow, she couldn't bring herself to pull away from him.
Len's smile widens at her flustered reaction. He bumps her forehead with his and says, "Because you love me, don't you?"
Miku freezes. All good thoughts she's had about Len disappears in a flash. Her heartbeat grows quicker, fueled by her boiling anger. She grits her teeth, and-
She punches Len square in the face.
.
"I'm never going back to that café ever again!" Miku huffs angrily, slamming the door shut. Her aunt continues to wash the dishes, unfazed.
"Why not?" She asks, as Miku kicks off her shoes and throws her bag onto a chair.
"That stupid Len," the younger girl mutters, "what was he thinking, pulling a stunt like that?"
"What did he do?" Her aunt looks up curiously, wondering what would make her niece so riled up. But then again, this is Len we're talking about …
"We were eating ice cream," Miku starts, crossing her arms, "peacefully, may I add. And he decides to … lean in! He just leans in closer and closer and -"
"Just cut to the juicy part, Miku. Did he kiss you?"
At her comment, Miku flares up like a peacock immediately. "No! If he did, he'll be dead! And I would be, too. Eurgh. No. He pretended that he was going to, and he just … wiped ice cream off my nose!"
"Maybe he was just being thoughtful," her aunt says. But he obviously isn't. Thoughtful and Len don't match.
Miku knows this too, from the way she snorts. "Ha! Thoughtful? I don't think so."
"But, Miku," her aunt says as she wipes her hands on a towel, "if you didn't care about him, you wouldn't be this angry."
Miku's eyes widen and she might even be blushing. "I - no - he - wh- I don't!" She exclaims, before stomping upstairs to her room.
After Miku disappears up the stairs, a wide smile sets on her aunt's face. Len's a good boy, really, and she would definitely like to see him paired up with her niece.
.
.
"Here you go," Cul says, holding out an ice pack. Her face is taut with her efforts to hold back her laughter, and her hand trembles uncontrollably.
"Thanks," Len mutters, taking it. He presses it to his bruised cheek and winces as the cold ice pack comes in contact with his skin. A few sputters escapes Cul's mouth and she hurriedly presses her hands on her mouth. "You can laugh if you want," he sighs.
Immediately, Cul bursts into laughter. Tears form in her eyes and she collapses to the floor, her hand holding her waist and the other grasping the table. Len frowns unhappily and looks away.
"You got -" she snorts, "punched! By a girl! Younger than you!"
"Shut up, Cul!" Len yells over the girl's laughter, looking away sourly. The waitress takes no notice of his words, and nearly topples over from laughing. A hot flush begins to form on Len's ears and neck.
"Oh, god," Cul says, finally regaining her composure. She stands up and exhales deeply. "That's the best thing I've ever seen in my life." She stares at the passing cars from the window in silence, still breathing heavily.
"Stop it," Len grumbles, his blush growing.
"Goodbye, Len's ego," whispers Cul. She clasps her hands together in prayer. "You will be dearly missed."
She stays silent for a few moments, before bursting into laughter again. Len proceeds to kill her in a thousand different ways in his head.
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[ tbc ]
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[ author's note ] i actually had nO IDEA how to write this chapter that i wanted to ditch it completely. (i still do) but at the very last minute i started to regain my inspiration and i started rushing to finish this so it's really unedited and crappy and actual SHIT i'll come back to fix it afterwards rip in pepperonis
i'm making miku a tsundere, pls help. she's becoming a tsundere, pls help
[ dedications ] to zhane17! supersis i love you and thomas brodie-sangster equally (which is a lot of love appreciate pls) i'm sorry that i dedicated this shit chapter to you ;w; you're super cool and you do the draw which is really cool and thanks for being supersis chan ily! let's hon hon baguette our hearts out supersis
(page 250) (pls tommy pls) (papa sangster) (thomas o'brien) (newtmas newtmas newtmas newtmas) (pLS TOMMY PLS)