Author's Note: So, it looks like my approaching exams are making me counterproductive :P Besides, writing fanfiction is so much more fun than studying~ Since I'm putting my future on the line, I hope you all enjoy it, at least =) A huge thank you to everyone who reads & reviews ^^
The peaceful days of Golden Week passed in rapid succession. It felt as if it had only just begun, but they were already in the middle of it as Thursday came along, the break's end looming right around the corner.
"Jan, ken, pon!" Miku, Rin and Len chanted, shaking their fists to each word. The outcome: two scissors and one paper, clearly meaning a loss for one out of the three friends.
The trio was hanging out at one of the few playgrounds in Otoshima, the early afternoon sun indirectly blazing down on them through the emerald leaves of the tree they were sitting in. The twins sat on one branch and Miku on another one.
"Bah, that is so not fair! Using that sneaky twin-telepathy of yours against me," the tealette noisily complained about her defeat, her lips curving into a displeased pout.
"It is what it is, Miku-chan. The deities of jan-ken-pon gave the victory to us today," Rin commented with a triumphant smirk on her face, crossing her arms.
"And literally every single other time we've settled things with it as well," Miku bitterly added, furrowing her brows.
"Oh, you're just exaggerating," she brushed her claim aside without a second thought. "Now, go to the convenience store already and buy some snacks. Pleeeaaaase?"
"Fine, fine, I'll go," Miku agreed to do the shopping. Sheesh, the hardships of being a big sister figure, she remarked to herself as she rolled her eyes.
When there was something to be taken care of, it more often than not turned into a bout of bickering between them. As such, they decided quite early on to solve the problem with the diplomatic method of playing a round of jan-ken-pon. Unfortunately for Miku, luck was never on her side. She merely dreamed of the day when one of the Kagamines would have to shoulder the burden of carrying out the task at hand.
The tealette dug into the pocket of her knee-length jeans in search of some change. A few moments later, she pulled out her hand and laid her palm open. Two 50-yen and a 10-yen coin were all she had.
"Alright, donations please," she announced. "The more I get, the more I bring."
Rin and Len complied, adding the contents of their pockets to the coins in Miku's hand. All combined, they almost had a thousand yen. The girl sunk the handful of change back into her pocket.
"Wait right here, I'll be back soon," she said as she carefully leaped down from the branch, managing to land on her feet. She dusted herself off a bit before setting out towards the general direction of the convenience store.
Miku stepped out of the shop, a plastic bag filled with goodies in hand. She took out her cell phone and flipped it open to check the time. As she slipped it back into her pocket and began to walk back to the playground, a thought occurred to her.
I'm forgetting something. Definitely forgetting something very important, she mused. Perhaps I wrote a reminder for it?
She pulled out her cell phone again, hoping she was smart enough to have saved it there. After a few minutes of browsing, she found what she was indeed looking for. She let out a loud groan in realization.
"My promise to Luka-chan!" she exclaimed. "Gosh, how could it have slipped my mind?"
She took a proper look at the address. Well, I think this street is somewhere around here, so I'll just quickly check in on her brother and then go back, she decided.
After a short while of wandering around, Miku arrived at her destination. Upon first glance, it was a cozy little house, fitting in with the scenery of the street. It was a relatively cube-shaped, cream-coloured complex, split into two levels. A thick, grey concrete fence blocked the view of the lawn from the sidewalk. Attached to it was a bronze plaque, with the characters for 'Megurine' graved into it.
No doubt about it, this is the place, she ascertained the fact. And it's certainly a good sign that the building is still standing. She stepped on the cobblestone path that led through the opening in the concrete wall to the main entrance of the house. She came to a halt after a few strides.
Okay, so I remembered I had to check up on Luka-chan's brother and found my way here. But what next? I can't just ring the doorbell and say 'Hey, I'm your sister's friend and I'm only here to make sure you're all right,' because that would be awkward much, she began to worry about the situation.
Gah, I should've at least brought something with me... Oh hey, I actually did! Although it doesn't give a very responsible impression of me to provide him with snacks as food... But if I don't give him anything when I have a full bag of seemingly groceries with me, he'll think I'm stingy. There's no way I can win today, she realized.
I guess I'll go for irresponsible, she made her mind up. She peeked inside the plastic bag in an attempt to pick out something suitable. In the end, she settled on a packet of onigiri.
She took a deep breath in order to mentally prepare herself. She pressed the doorbell's button for a few seconds. After a minute of waiting, no one came to open the door, nor did she hear any sound signalling the approach of someone. As such, she pressed the button again, for a much longer period of time. She began to fidget as another minute passed while the door remained closed. She was about to push the button once more when she finally heard the noise of footsteps slowly and sluggishly proceeding down the stairs.
The door gradually creaked open. Miku's jaw dropped in bafflement upon setting her eyes on the person who opened it. No. Freaking. Way. Those three words were the most coherent a thought her brain could come up with, constantly ringing through her mind like a siren. She could've easily passed for a fire truck as her complexion turned an intense scarlet from embarrassment.
Standing before her was none other than Shion Kaito. The additional awkwardness, which elicited such an extreme blush from the girl, was due to his attire. More precisely, his lack thereof. His sweatpants hung dangerously low on his waist while his upper body was completely naked. And what a fine upper body it was, in her eyes. Not a well-defined six-pack, but no excessive chubbiness either. It was just right for someone his age; exactly what she would've imagined seeing, supposing she daydreamt about it in the first place. Which she didn't, because that would've made her a pervert. And she had often stressed to herself that she wasn't one. If this was an anime, I'd be nose bleeding the very life out of me, she remarked.
They stood in uncomfortable silence as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes with one hand and scratched his stomach with the other. Miku was at a complete loss for words. She couldn't find it in her to avert her gaze. Her knees began to wobble, threatening to give way beneath her. It felt like her heart would burst through her ribcage at any second. All her other encounters with him in the past faded in comparison.
"Chibikko-senpai?" he wondered, recognizing her at last. He peered down at her, one eye closed and the other one adorably half-open. His voice snapped Miku out of her trance.
"Sorry, wrong house!" she blurted out in her moderately high-pitched, squeaky tone without really giving the words any thought.
She swiftly turned around, her teal twin tails twirling behind her. She took a step forward, but stopped right afterward as the plastic bag bumped against her leg, reminding the girl of its existence. She plunged her hand in it and pulled out an onigiri packet, then turned back to Kaito. She extended her arm, offering it to him, all the while looking at the ground beneath her feet. Not entirely conscious yet and guided by the instinct of his empty belly, he took it from her without remarks or complaints.
Mission 'accomplished' to the best of her capability, she figured it was best to leave before he gained the ability of speech. Her feet valiantly led her away at a quickened pace. She broke into a dash once she was well-hidden by the concrete fence.
A couple of street corners later, she stopped to catch her breath, taking a seat on the edge of the sidewalk. As her breathing steadied, the gears of her mind were set into motion, logically putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Before long, she reached a reasonable conclusion.
Oh damn, Se Takai-kun, I mean, Shion-kun is Luka-chan's brother's gay lover! Why didn't it occur to me any sooner? Of course the cute ones are always gay. Well, perhaps not always, but most of the time. And the exceptions strengthen the rule, she rambled on and on.
The piercing clarity of realization stabbed through her mind. It makes so much sense. It puts everything into a different light. I should've noticed that something was fishy about him never getting flustered when we bumped into each other. Not to mention that he seemed so nice and forgiving about it. Any other teenage guy would've just unashamedly taken advantage of the situation by now. It also explains why Len-kun described him as a persistent guy the other day. I wonder if I should tell him about this... Probably shouldn't. If he's with Luka-chan's brother now, he won't be bugging him anymore. And I bet neither of them would appreciate their secret getting out.
The newfound knowledge that she had acquired consequently caused the creation of a certain feeling of emptiness in her heart. Why... why does this make me feel so... broken inside? The shock, I understand. Because honestly, I so wasn't expecting this in the least. But it makes no difference to me, right? Why should it? Since we're not even friends or anything of the sort. Heck, we haven't even had a proper conversation! It was merely a stroke of luck that I found out his name, even. And now I also know he sleeps in late and isn't a morning person. And that he's handsome underneath the clothes, too; but that's totally beside the point. I'm just clumsy enough to crash into him all the time, that's all. That's all; nothing more, nothing less.
She let out a sigh deeper than the Grand Canyon and began twirling the end of one her ponytails around her finger, blankly staring at the paving. Well, there's nothing for me to do about it. And actually, why am I even making a big deal about it? I shouldn't, because it has no relation to me whatsoever. No effect on me in the least. Nope, none at all. No impact on my life. Actually wait, scratch that. There is no way I can face Se Takai-kun ever again. It's impossible; inconceivable, even! I guess I can admit that I didn't really try avoiding bumping into him since that first time. But from now on, I'll have to pay extra attention as to where I'm going and the speed I'm going at. It would be just too awkward after today's event. I think it used up my awkward quota for the next century, perhaps millennium.
She raised her gaze towards the sky, observing the clouds serenely drifting by. Speaking of awkward, I have to report to Luka-chan about how her brother's doing. I can imagine how that text would sound. 'Hi Luka-chan, I didn't actually speak with your brother but I'm sure he's doing mighty fine because a half-clad guy opened the door for me.' Yeah, not very reassuring. Actually, that sounds very alarming. It was too premature of me to think that they're lovers. What if Shion-kun's holding her brother hostage and forcing things on him? What if he's a serial killer and is about to mercilessly murder him?
That idea popped out of her head as soon as it had popped into it. Miku resorted to facepalming herself. Oi, even for me, that's too crazy of a theory. And it would've been too careless of him to simply open the door like that. Nope, they must be lovers. No other explanation would make sense. Uh, where was I? Ah, right, texting Luka. I can't help but wonder if she knows about her brother's tendencies or not. Because if she doesn't, then I shouldn't write something that would put him into a delicate situation once she gets home. So I have to keep it vague. Something along the lines of 'The house is still standing and your brother's all right. Don't worry, just enjoy the rest of your vacation with Gakkun!' should suffice.
The tealette took out her cell phone and quickly sent the message to Luka. As she was about to put it away, it began to vibrate. It was an incoming call, from Rin.
"Hey Rin-chan, what's wrong?" she asked as she picked up.
"What's wrong? I should be the one asking you that! What's taking you so long? Did you get abducted or something?" the girl on the other side of the line questioned her.
Ooops, right, Rin-chan and Len-kun are waiting for me in the playground. Well, Rin-chan's probably waiting for her snacks more, she pondered to herself before answering.
"Ah, no, I'm all right. There was a long line at the convenience store." The lie slipped out of her mouth involuntarily. "I'll be right there."
"Oh, okay. Hurry up Miku-chan, we're starving here," Rin rebuked her before ending the call.
She lightly chuckled as she put her cell phone away. Might as well get going. Sitting here and thinking my brains out won't be of any use, she realized. She got to her feet and started walking in the direction of the playground.
Besides, there's nothing for me to think about anymore. What more is there for me to think about Se Takai-kun being gay?