aren't I awesome xD I just updated AGAIN HAH! IN UR FACES FOR THOSE OF U WHO THOUGHT I'D TAKE FOREVER TO UPDATE! :) But yeah … listening to Skeleton Life by Rin *sigh* I love this song haven't heard it in AGES :D and I just now remembered y I loved it so much *grins*anyways~ it's SUMMERRR WOOOOO! *Dances* sucks for Rin and Len tho HAH! It's only winter for them 8)

Chapter Ten-

Lack of Concentration

(Len's POV)

I heaved out a sigh and turned towards Miku, who yet again, managed to kill another Yoshi … this time a yellow one. "Miku, is there any other game you want to play?"

Miku frowned once again at the sight of the poor Yoshi who was sent off to Bowser's Castle, "I guess… What other games do you have?"

I went through my head thinking of maybe a multiplayer game we could play, "Well, we could play on the Xbox instead. I have Rock Band, so we could both play?"

Miku squealed in delight as she ran over to the Wii console and shut it off instantly, just as I began to get off of the couch to go find the disk for Rock Band.

"Y'know, Len, don't stress yourself to put the difficulty on Expert next time, when clearly you can't play expert," Miku suggested as she sent a smirk my way, as I failed for the umpteenth time in the past several songs that we had played.

I rolled my eyes to this. Usually, I would be acing and blowing through the guitar solos with ease, but today I couldn't concentrate at all….

'It's okay, Len, don't worry. It's not like they'll do anything major. They may kiss once or twice, but nothing serious.'

I grumbled as I pushed the thought that kept intruding into my mind further back. It kept replaying in my head like a broken record.

'… They may kiss once or twice…'

'…once….'

'or twice….'

I groaned in frustration, as I gripped the plastic guitar in my hand harder, and strummed down with more force than necessary. It was none of my business what she does with Mikuo… at all. So why would it keep nagging at me?

"Awww! Len! Look what you did!"

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my attention towards the screen, revealing we had failed at 99%...

How was that even possible?

(Rin's POV)

Nervously, I snuck a glance at Mikuo, who in turn looked down at me and smiled. I looked towards the ground and blushed.

I couldn't believe it; I was on my very first date… ever. I wonder if he thinks of it as a date too … my face must have turned a bright crimson, because it instantly grew a lot hotter than it was before.

"Are you cold, Rin?"

I shook my head and continued looking at the ground, in fear of blushing if I were to look at him in the face again.

The walk was quiet for the most part, but it was a calming silence, not the creepy awkward silence that we had back on my first day of school.

Mikuo held the door open for me as we walked into a small café, adorned with old knickknacks and the aroma of milky hot chocolate filling our senses. He seated me down at a small table for two by the window, to enjoy the snowflakes creating a light, white blanket of snow on the earth.

Mikuo returned soon, after I was seated, carrying two mugs filled with hot chocolate. He sat down and handed me one of the mugs.

"So," Mikuo began, pausing to take a sip of the sweet beverage, "I'd like to get to know you better, Rin. What made you transfer to our school in the first place?"

"Ughh.. don't get me started," Mikuo chuckled a bit, amused by my response. Causing me to blush at how quick I had responded, "Well… Len's probably told you a bit of the details, so I guess I can fill you in on the rest. What has he told you so far?"

He leaned back in his chair, reclaiming all of the details Len had presented to him before speaking, "He's told me that currently you are residing with him, due to some circumstances, which he failed to mention. That's pretty much it though."

I took a long sip of my drink and placed my chin in both of my palms, "Yeah… that's basically it, I guess," I said, trying to avoid the direction the conversation was heading. I still wasn't too comfortable mentioning what had happened back there, better to keep it safe hidden in the dark, right?

"So what do you think of our school so far?"

"It's pretty nice," I stated simply, smiling, "It's always fun to meet new people, even though I could always go without the whole homework thing, you know?" Mikuo and I shared a quick laugh.

"You know, Rin, you're pretty cute when you smile like that," My cheeks burned red and Mikuo just smiled at me, "Len always had talked about you, but he definitely understated how cute you were."

By now my entire face was burning as I struggled for words, "I-is that so? I never knew he talked about me."

"Yeah, all the time. Especially growing up, all I ever heard was 'Rin this', 'Rin that'. He really adored you when we were younger."

My face continued to burn, but I don't know if it was from Mikuo's compliments or rather from the fact that Len always talked about me. It was still pretty hard to soak in though, considering how apparently we knew each other growing up; it was a difficult thing to keep in mind, when I didn't remember a thing about him.

I struggled for words, not really know how to respond to that. I mean what would I say? Luckily, Mikuo changed the conversation, "You ready to go?"

I looked down in the mug and realized all of its contents were gone. I nodded my head and stood up from the cozy seat.

Mikuo held my hand as we exited the café. Somehow, I didn't blush or anything, it just felt normal. But at the same time it didn't feel right…

I pushed the thought back further into my head, coming to the conclusion that it was just because his hand was much colder than mine.

For the remaining two hours, time practically flew by. Our date was just hanging out, which is what I had wanted. So we walked around town a bit, whispering comments to each other every now and then, as we passed by a store that was worth mentioning.

Mikuo flashed a grinned at me as he let go of my hand when we stopped in front of my house. He walked me up onto the porch and kissed my forehead, "See you Monday, Rin. I had a great time with you."

It had barely registered to me that he was already gone by the time I reached for the doorknob and welcomed the warmth emitting from inside.

(Len's POV)

So … here I am. Watching Miku play Yoshi's Story again. She ended up giving up on me in Rock Band so I decided to just let her play whatever she wanted to. So I'm stuck … with this. It's been nearly three hours since Rin left and she still hasn't returned, I'm starting to get a little worried about her.

"Len, don't worry. Her and Mikuo may just be having a good time and are taking a bit longer." Miku said, practically answering my thoughts. I didn't even want to think of what Miku meant by a 'good time'. Ever since Rin's left she's been saying the littlest things just to get on my nerves.

"I wasn't worrying." I lied, trying to cover up.

"Liar." Miku stated, reading my thoughts again.

"Whatever."

"Len, chill. I bet Rin will waltz right through your front door in a couple of moments."

The moment she said that, Rin did in fact unlock the front door, with the key I had given her, and walked inside …

I am completely convinced, either:

Miku is psychic

Or just psycho

I think I'm just going to go with the latter.

"Rin~!" Miku squealed with delight, abandoning her game and rushing over to the blonde, literally bombarding her with questions.

Rin glanced over at me and sent a pleading look, obviously telling me to save her from Miku. I grinned and walked over to where she was, "Hey Miku, I think it's best if you should go home now. It's getting late, plus your brother is already home."

Miku frowned for a moment, "Aw, well, tell me on Monday! Kay Rin?"

Rin nodded her head, "Okay, I will."

Miku smiled at me before leaving, "Well, bye guys. Have fun! … but not too much fun." She winked at me and giggled before exiting the house.

Rin face twisted into confusion, "What's she mean by that?"

"N-nothing! She's just … being Miku…" I answered, practically mumbling the last bit.

Rin nodded, although obviously not believing me. But she let it slide, and that's all that mattered.

Rin sighed from exhaustion and plopped on the couch, gladly accepting Yorokobi as she jumped onto her lap.

I turned off the Wii, set the TV to regular television and took a spot next to Rin.

"So …" Rin started.

"So…" I echoed, feeling kind of stupid not having anything to say.

"How was your day?" Rin's face scrunched up, she probably felt as stupid as I did for sucking at small talk.

"Good. Yours?"

"It was … good …" I looked over at Rin and noticed her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. I just hoped it wasn't from what Miku had mentioned.

I picked up the remote and started scrolling through the channels, hoping to find something that would spark some interest.

"W-wait! Stop!" Rin told me.

"What's wrong?"

"C-can we watch that?"

"Watch what?" I questioned looking at the screen. Then my mouth curved into a grin, as some memories flooded back, "Animal Planet?" Rin nodded her head.

Even though Rin had changed a lot from when I had last seen her when we were kids, I guess she really hasn't changed her interests. As kids, Rin had always had an undying passion for animals, no matter what animal it was. Even if it was a spider. She was always fascinated by them. The only things she would never go by were roaches and wasps, but Yorokobi always took care of those, so she never had to worry.

"Please, Len?" I laughed under my breath and pressed 'okay' on the remote, as It's Me or the Dog came on, "What's so funny?"

I smiled at Rin and answered, "It's just that you really haven't changed at all. You'd always make us watch this channel every time we hung out at my house."

"O-oh." Rin frowned, unable to reclaim the memory.

I frowned at the sight and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry, Rin, you'll remember someday."

Rin only looked straight forward and nodded, not bothering to fix her hair.

(Flashback)

"Len! Len!" a young Rin with her bow a skewed, ran over to her best friend shielding an unknown object in her arms from any harm.

"Rin, what's wrong?" Len asked her as she came to a stop in front of him.

Rin had come over that day to play with Len, a usual every day routine, and they were in the park not too far away from his house. They were supposed to be playing hide and seek, but Rin gave up her hiding spot when she came running full speed towards an unsuspecting Len.

"Look!" Rin unclasped her hands and laying there was a dead sparrow, "He needs to go to the vet now, Len!"

Len frowned at the sight, "Rin…" he started, not sure how he should tell her, "it's too late."

"What do you mean? He's sick, Len! We need to take care of him!" Rin nearly shouted out, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes.

"It's… it's dead … It's too late." Len regretted saying that, because the second he did, tears spilled over the ten year-old, Rin's, eyes.

"It can't be too late! We've got to help him!" She begged, tears now staining her face.

Once Len had finally managed to convince her to put the bird down and go wash her hands, they went back to Len's house, tears still falling out of the young girl's cerulean eyes.

(End Flashback)

I looked over at Rin, who was starting to doze off after watching at least three back-to-back episodes. I yawned; causing Rin to yawn as well as she rubbed her eyes sleepily.

I glanced over at the clock on top of the VCR reading 12:46 am

(Rin's POV)

I woke up feeling more rested than usual. That is… until I came face-to-face with a sleeping Len. I felt my face heat up a bit, as I noticed he was leaning on my shoulder. Well … 'a bit' would be an understatement. I wasn't really sure what to do, get up or just fall back asleep. I was still super tired, but I doubt I would be able to sleep knowing that Len's right by me. And if I got up, then he'd wake up and it'd be awkward if that happened, yeah, 'Oh, hey, Len. You sleep good last night?' ah-hah … No. Let's not. So I decided to not get up and just try to fall back asleep.

When I woke up for the second time, I noticed Len was missing. So I decided to go see what he was up to.

I looked everywhere, even upstairs, and I still couldn't find him. When I got downstairs though, I heard some muffled noises followed by, "AGH! Kanashimi! Stop it!" I glanced outside the window in the kitchen and spotted Len, with his Akita running away from him, as if he was going to be attacked or something.

When I went outside I glared at Len, "What are you doing to the poor dog?"

Len, who was soaking wet, only in shorts, and shivering like heck looked over at me, "Good morning to you too. I'm trying to give the dog a bath!"

"Are you insane! It's freaking winter," I stated, shivering myself as my bare feet started to turn numb in the snow, "that poor dog is going to freeze to death!"

Len looked at me as if I was crazy, "Thanks for worrying about me. And where do you expect me to bath him? He's too big to fit in the tub and he hates water!"

I looked at Len skeptically, "What kind of dog hates water?"

"An Akita!"

"Seriously?"

"Yes, their breed is known for it."

I grinned widely, forgetting my shivering body, excited about the information I had received.

Len was shivering uncontrollably now, I don't blame him. It's freaking cold out here and he's sopping wet, "Len, you should get inside."

Without hesitating, he nodded his head and grabbed a towel off of the ground and gladly wrapped himself in it, "What about Kanashimi?"

"I'll finish washing him." I said, not believing what had actually just come out of my mouth.

"You sure?"

"…Yeah. You just go inside and get dressed. It's too cold. You'll probably get hypothermia or somethin' if you stay out too long."

Len smiled a bit before he went inside.

I grabbed the protesting dog and rolled up my long sleeves, before I began to hose the shaking dog down free of all soapsuds.

Well, Len was right. This dog hates water. He managed to get free from me multiple times, whining and shaking. The frigid temperature didn't help at all. After many failed attempts, I finally managed to grab a hold of him and finish hosing him down.

When I was done towel-drying him off I headed inside, with Kanashimi right on my heels. Len looked up from his plate off eggs and grinned, I gave him a small weary smile of my own.

"Thanks, Rin."

I nodded, not too sure what to make of the situation.

"You want some?"

"Food?"

Len laughed a bit before responding, "What else would I be talking about?"

"Of course I want some!"

Len grinned widely before getting up and retrieving an extra plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, then handed it to me, "Here."

"Thanks."

Len nodded before he finished the remaining scraps of food off of his plate, "So … uh, how was your date last night?"

"Good." I said, hoping he would drop the conversation. I really didn't want to talk about it in front of Len. It was kind of … embarrassing.

Len looked down before continue, his cheeks a bit flushed, "Did … Did you guys … kiss?"

I looked at Len with shock, how did he expect me to answer? Then again … if Mikuo hadn't kissed me on my forehead and given me all those compliments and crud, then I'd have no problem answering no.

Len looked at me, waiting for my response.

"No … we er … didn't." I managed to choke out.

Len seemed relieved for some reason, but I ignored it.

The rest of breakfast was … awkward. All because of Len's nosiness, if he hadn't asked that, it'd be way easier to talk to him now.

Len cleared his throat as he stood up from the table, "I'm going to go upstairs … see you later Rin."

I nodded my head as I watched him leave. Now that I think about Len has been acting weird ever since yesterday …

I stood up to go put my dish in the sink and then slumped on the couch from exhaustion and glared at Kanashimi, "You're a butt load of hassle."

I then switched the Wii on and began to play Pokémon Snap! as Yorokobi hopped on my lap and fell asleep.

(Len's POV)

I had no idea why I was acting the way I was acting towards Rin. It was really beginning to annoy me. It ticked me off even more how Mikuo had the guts to ask her out.

I walked over to my bedroom (now Rin's bedroom) and stared at some of the stuff in there.

I was really glad to have Rin back. I really began to think that I'd never talk to her again, since it'd been so long.

All of the sudden I hear Rin's scream from downstairs.

Without hesitating, I run downstairs to see what had happened, fearing the worst, "RIN WHAT'S WRONG?"

Mal: Bwhaha I've updated :D so yeah! RxR! Plzzz :)

Len: Um … I didn't like this chap

Mal: of course u didn't :P cuz some1 is JEALOUS ^o^

Len: AM NOT!

Mal: ARE TOO!

Len: Just … review …

Mal: ooo~ So quick to change the subject aren't we? :)

Len: … s-shut up