Oh. My. God.
I've been working on this chapter all day.
It's pretty long, for one of my chapters.
Anyway, I've been neglecting this a bit. I have two other stories running at the moment, and writing them all is super consuming. I know I tend to update pretty often, but I probably won't. What was it before? Once a week? Twice a week? I don't know, but it will probably be less frequently now, since the other two stories have become so fun to write. They're a lot easier to write.
My writing is pretty lazy and sloppy in this chapter. I also didn't edit at all, so the grammar and spelling with both be horrible. Sorry about that.
Without further ado, here is the eleventh chapter!
/
Friday was introduced in a torrent of cold winds and heavy snow. School was cancelled that day, due to the impossibility of navigating the roads. Twenty-eight full inches of snow was piled outside, and a flurry was still being sent down when Miku awoke. Her open curtains sent spiraling shadows against her wall, pressing up in the glass as the fell. It wasn't a surprise; the end of January often delivered harsh storms. She couldn't see for than a few feet outside her window due to the weather conditions.
Miku resisted the urge to remain in bed and threw her blankets aside, quickly grabbing up her bath robe to keep herself warm. The heat wasn't up nearly enough. No doubt Mikuo turned it down before bed to be conservative.
Quietly, she left her dark room and turned into the hallway upstairs. She ignored the light on in Mikuo's room and travelled to her kitchen, where a kettle was already on. By the clock on the stove, it was 9:12. She had slept in, that was for sure.
The night before, Miku had left her cell in the kitchen when she fell asleep at the table, not long after walking back to her house with Len. Mikuo had carried her up to bed, but didn't notice her cell phone on the table. Miku picked it up as she slid into a chair, skimming through messages. Three from Piko, who claimed his house was "cold as hell" and was currently shivering under his blankets. Miku smirked at that mental image, and sent him a pitying text. Next, it seemed that Kaito was stuck at the recording studio with a power-outage. It took him seven texts to tell her this, mainly full of complaints. The last few were from a mixture of people, including an unknown number who claimed to be Rin and a contact labeled "Lenny-kun 3 3." Miku snorted at the boy's audacity, and proceeded to answer her messages.
Moments later, that very boy called her up.
She jumped a bit as her phone buzzed, dropping it on her foot. The call was answered as her toe hit a button, something she found out after swearing loudly, grumbling, and leaning down to pick up her phone, which had turned into a weapon intended to damage feet, apparently.
"Well," the very amused voice of Kagamine Len began on the other end of the call, "You sound awful cheery this morning."
"Oh, shut up. I dropped the phone on my foot," Miku retorted, settling at the kitchen table, with the phone to her ear.
"Smooth," Len snickered. Miku wished she could shoot him a glare through the phone.
"What the hell'd you call me for?" she demanded, steadily tapping her fingers on the table top. She waited quietly as he seemed to vanish for a moment.
"Oh, sorry, my mom was asking me who I'm talking to. What did you say?" he asked. He was acting fairly distracted, as if his attention was on something else.
"I wanted to know why you're calling me," Miku repeated, holding back an angry tone of voice. It was too early to be so annoyed.
"That's right. You have a snow day, right?"
Miku nodded before remembering he couldn't see her. "Yeah. You, too?"
"Yep. Rin's gone to work, though," he sighed heavily, making the phone crackle against her ear, "I'm just kind of bored. My mom's pretty sick, so I'm going to be here most of the day caring for her."
"Oh," Miku said. She couldn't really think of anything else to say.
"Yeah. Yukari and Aria can't even get out of their houses, so they can't come over and keep me company. Neru said she'd stop by later, but I don't really know when," he laughed heartily, "An hour in Neru-time is three days."
Miku couldn't help but snicker and agree.
"Can you come over sometime?" Len's voice was almost pleading. Miku could imagine his eyes growing wide and innocent, shining brightly with childish wanting.
"Why me?" she demanded, although she wouldn't really mind dropping by Len's house. But she wasn't going to admit it.
"It's not like anyone else can. Please, Mi-chan? You make everything so much more interesting," he begged. Miku was glad he couldn't see her blush.
"S-stop that," she hissed, stuttering a bit, "Alright, I'll come over. Quit trying to flatter me."
"Whoever said being interesting was flattering?" Len teased, "But seriously, thanks. I'm pretty sure the Internet isn't working and there's nothing to do. Unless you happen to like homework. Which I don't."
Miku smirked. "You're one of many, Kagamine. When do you want me over?"
"As soon as you can. I'll text you my address. I don't think it's too far, so you won't freeze to death. But I'll have hot chocolate ready when you get here," Len offered.
"Okay," Miku agreed, "I'll just eat something and get dressed. But walking over might take a while."
Len laughed. "By all means, take your time. Don't fall and break anything."
"I'm not that clumsy!" Miku exclaimed in mild anger.
"Sure, sure. I'll be seeing you soon, Mi-chan!" And with that, Len hung up, leaving Miku to grumble at his rudeness.
"He didn't even let me say any sort of good-bye," she complained in a whisper to herself, though she didn't know why she cared, exactly. Maybe just because it was just typical Len being rude and ignoring phone etiquette.
Standing, she went to the fridge. There wasn't much, but even Miku could fix herself eggs without blowing up the house. Quickly, she got out a pan and broke two eggs into it, turning up the heat of the burner and standing by to scramble the eggs and grate cheese into the simple breakfast. That was the only way she ate eggs. With cheese.
Before long, she had a plate of eggs with cheese melted over them and a cup of tea placed before her on the table. Without wasting a moment, she shoveled food into her mouth. She didn't even notice her change of pace. Perhaps it could be blamed on the fact that she was going to leave to see Len as soon as she was done getting ready. That was probably the case, but it didn't occur to Miku as she drank down her tea and placed her dishes in the sink.
Running up the stairs, she entered her room, closing the door and instantly walking to her closet, which was open with clothes spilling out. She wasn't the most organized, to say the least.
With an air of laziness, Miku decided on a pair of jeans and a tank top paired with a thin sweater over it. The overall color scheme was black on black on black, with a bit of color showing as she pulled on rainbow-striped socks. Honestly, she hated choosing clothes. Why couldn't she just go with a t-shirt and jeans every day? It wasn't like she wanted anyone looking at her, anyway. Well, no one except Piko. But even then. Why should a boy like her for her body? She didn't like her body, but she did like her mind. She was smart and she knew it. If only people cared more about intelligence than looks.
Sighing dramatically, Miku made her way back downstairs to the front door. Her boots had been crammed into the closet, along with her coat and scarf. She hated sitting on the floor to lace up her boots, so she dragged her things into the living room, sitting on the couch and yanking her thick winter boots on over her socks.
Normally, she hated the living room. It was empty and bland. There sat the large television. There sat the matching couch and two armchairs, placed around the glass coffee table. There were the dull green walls, lined with framed pictures. Her parents hadn't even bothered removing the happy family pictures yet. Miku, missing a front tooth and sitting pretty in her spring green dress for school pictures. Mikuo and Miku, standing side by side on a dock by a lake, eat with a small fish hanging from a line. Her parents, holding newborn Mikuo . Her mother, stealing a bite of Miku's mint chocolate chip ice cream, much to her five-year-old daughter's horror. Mikuo, riding a bike successfully for the first time, proudly grinning at the camera as he showed off the bloody scrapes on his knees and elbows he had gotten from failed attempts.
All those memories that room had made Miku's heart crack and sink into her stomach, surrounded by good intentions and false hopes and cold realization. The times her family had been happy. It was all her fault nothing was right anymore. If Miku didn't exist, maybe her mother and father and Mikuo could've been happy forever. If Miku hadn't screwed up so much, she wouldn't feel so guilty.
It was no use thinking of such things. She existed and she had screwed up a lot. Nothing left to do but repent.
Quickly, before anymore unpleasant thoughts could arise, Miku wrapped her scarf around her neck and stepped back into the front hall. She loudly called to Mikuo, telling him she was going out for a few hours. When she heard a shout back, she decided he got the message and proceeded to step outside.
Instantly, she knew it was a frozen hell. Cold wind blasted into her face, dragging her hair back. With the strong, freezing wind came icy snow, pelting her reddening cheeks and leaving them stinging. All around her, snow was piling up. Branches were missing from the trees around her yard, poking up from the snow. Her front walk was cover, no doubt icy beneath the fluffy, white snow. The sky was layer upon layer of soft greys and hard greys and gradient greys, all blending together to make a solid mass of dull clouds that spilled heavy snowflakes the size of a human fingernail. Miku could even imagine trying to drive in this weather.
"Wonderful," she grumbled as she took her first step into the sea of snow. It crumpled under her boot, but Miku saw that it was about three or so inches above the lining of her boots. Her feet would be soaked by the time she arrived at Len's house.
Quickly double-checking the address, she plowed her way through the vast white spread of snow before her. Already, she felt frozen, even with a hat, two sweaters, a coat, a scarf, two pairs of socks layer on top of each other, and her gloved hands stuffed in her pockets. Her pigtails were smashed against her head and spilled out of her hat, which was pulled low to shield her face from the snow and the cold. White flakes clung to her hair and clothes, her breath hitting the air in a thick cloud.
Luckily, Len was less than half a mile away. On any other day, she could've been at his door in ten minutes easily. But that day, it took her about twice that as she navigated ice patches and closed streets and piled of snow the plows had tossed on the sidewalk. When she did arrive, she was cold and winded, red in the face and soaked to the bone. Her feet felt frozen in their supposedly warming boots. Slowed by the cold, Miku raised a finger to prod the doorbell. She heard as it rung out inside the house and waited patiently for someone to let her in. She didn't have to wait long.
Len appeared before long, pulling open the heavy front door with a grin.
"Get in before you freeze," he instructed, "You can leave your shoes right there." He pointed to the towel placed next the door and Miku did as he said, stiffly slipping off her boots and placing them on the towel with shaking hands. Len took her coat and opened the front hall closet, which was huge. Actually, his house was just plain huge. Miku hadn't gotten a very good glimpse of the outside, but it seemed pretty large from outside, too.
"Thanks," she told him, shivering softly. His house was warm and comfortable, hitting her frozen cheeks and melting the snow that clung to her hair.
"Follow me. I'm just making my mom some soup," Len told her, yanking playfully on the end of her black scarf and receiving a glare for his efforts.
Len led her down a long, long hallway, with many doors breaking off and leading elsewhere. Once, Miku encountered a large, open doorway that opened up into a sitting room. Before she could look any closer, Len turned off into a different room. The kitchen, she guessed.
The Kagamine kitchen was huge and spacious. A long counter separated the dining room from the actual kitchen, cabinets lining the space above the empty counter space. The fridge was also large, with double doors on top and a freezer below. The counters were smooth light blue marble, clean and shiny. On the gas stove sat a pot, bubbling and gurgling with whatever contents. Probably soup, from what Len said earlier. Past the counter, a round counter stood, with eight chairs settled around it. Two were pulled out. A woman sat on one of them, using the other to prop her feet up.
Miku took her time to study the woman. She looked worn and tired, with dark circles tracing the skin below her eyes. Her eyes shown a brilliant shade of green, framed by wrinkles that were probably caused by smiling, just as she was at that moment. Her skin was pale, almost as fragile-looking as her thin layer of blond hair. She wore a thick bathrobe and pajama pants, both of which were a light shade of purple. On her feet, she wore slippers the color of a grape lollipop. She was small, delicate, with a thin face and body frame, even cover in her bathrobe. Her hands were folded in her lap, one on top of the other.
Miku suddenly became shy as Len pretty much dragged her over to the woman. But she managed to hold those green eyes with her own.
"Heya, Mom. This is my friend Hatsune Miku," Len told his mother. They looked very similar. He had gotten his smile from her.
"H-hello," Miku greeted, shyly and quietly. She could see as Len rolled his eyes at her.
"Hello, Hatsune-san. It's nice to meet you," the woman's voice was very soft and almost weak-sounding. It reflected the state of her body. "My name is Kagamine Misayo."
Miku nodded once as Len pulled out a chair for her, pushing her back into it a bit forcefully.
"Just get along while I finish the soup. It only has to simmer a bit longer, but there are a few more spices I want to add," Len told the pair, smiling knowingly at Miku. She glared back at him, despite having the boy's mother glancing between the two watchfully. Unknown to the teens, the blond woman smiled to herself as her son hopped over the counter and began stirring the soup on the stove.
"Are you his friend from school?" Misayo asked, lacing her fingers together as she turned her gentle smile on Miku.
"No. He just likes bugging me," Miku stated, loud enough for Len to hear. The boy snorted audibly, but otherwise ignored her.
"He's good at that," the woman agreed, smiling warmly.
"Mom!"
Miku giggled lightly at boy's protest as his mother winked playfully.
"Rin's still better though," she amended, "So, where do you go to school, Hatsune-san?"
"She's actually in Neru's class," Len told his mother. She raised an eyebrow.
"Good luck with that one," she stated, solemnly. Miku snorted and agreed.
"So you're the one everyone's been buzzing about in those horrid magazines?" Len's mother asked, and laughed at the look of horror on Miku's face, "Well, that's a yes if I've ever seen one."
"You saw those?" Miku groaned.
"Everyone has, Mi-chan," Len informed her, laughing at her expression.
"Oh, shut up. It's worse for you, Mr. Superstar," Miku declared, crossing her arms. Normally, she might refrain from yelling at someone in front of an adult, especially if that adult was that person's mother. But something about Kagamine Misayo was so easy and accepting. Miku felt comfortable around her. Well, comfortable enough to insult Len if need be.
"True, true. Your agent is pretty furious about the whole thing," Len's mother said in agreement.
"Hiyama need to relax. He's going to collapse from worry someday," Len stated irritably.
"I'm sure he's grateful you care about him," his mother said with a teasing smile.
"Ha, right. You're funny," Len told the woman, pulling his ladle out of the soup and turning a sarcastic expression on the two females at the table, "It's ready. I'm going to put some in a bowl and set it out to cool. Do you want some tea, Mom?"
The woman smiled, but before she could answer, she broke into a fit of coughs. When her breathing settled down enough for her to talk, she said "Yes, please. Thank you, Len."
The boy smiled in return and ladled a decent amount of soup into a bowl he had pulled from a cabinet. Pouring water into a teapot from the kettle that had been on the burner next to the soup, he put the bowl, a cup, and the teapot on a tray to carry to the table.
"I would suggest waiting. It's really freaking hot," Len advised, setting the tray on the table next to his mother.
"Alright, Len," Misayo agreed, smiling as always.
"I'm going to go with Miku to my room. Call if you need anything," he instructed, "Come on, Mi-chan."
Miku stood, gently pushing in her chair, and followed Len out of the kitchen and back down the front hall. He led her up the stairs that were by the front door and own a new hallway. Miku waited as he opened the door to his bedroom.
Miku hadn't been sure what to expect. She wasn't surprised, even if it wasn't what she might've pictured Len's room looking like.
The walls were white. The curtains drawn across the three huge windows were a soft yellow. The bed, which was pushed against one wall, was a mess of orange and yellow blankets, pillows, and sheets. His desk, which sat in front of one of the large windows, was cluttered and messy, papers spilling off the surface and onto the floor. The room was large, but not insanely so. Four speakers, one in each corner of the room, sat playing soft piano music. The stereo sat on a stand next to his large bed, the remote placed on top of it. A huge shelf was placed against the wall opposite his bed, one row filled completely with CDs. The rest of the shelves were devoted to books, both comic and otherwise. His closet doors were flung open to reveal a walk-in closet. Miku saw rows of girls and boys clothes.
"Well, here it is. Try and get comfortable," Len commanded, flopping onto his bed lazily. Miku sat grudgingly beside him, one knee bent in a sort of half crisscross position.
"I expected it to be a lot messier," Miku muttered.
"What, my room? Nah, I don't like things being messy. Makes it hard to find everything," Len replied, "But my desk sure as hell could use a bit of organization. Those drawers are filled with everything from buttons to dolls to knitting magazines."
"Knitting magazines?" Miku asked.
"Yeah. You can get song inspiration anywhere," Len told her, winking, "That's where most, if not all, of my songs are written."
"Hm," Miku ran her gaze over the mess of papers and notebooks, piled high and proud, "So that's the sort of artist you are."
Len laughed. "I guess."
Miku smirked. "So, do you ever actually write songs about your life?"
"God, no," Len exclaimed, sitting up with a serious expression on his face, "I have fangirls reading enough into my songs as it is. I don't need them being right!"
A snicker escaped Miku. "That's such a dumb reason."
"What, like you've ever tried writing a song," Len glared at her. He was a bit touchy when it came to his music.
Miku blushed at that, and Len instantly jumped to conclusions.
"You have?!" he gasped, "Are you actually any good at singing?"
"No. But that doesn't mean I can't write music," Miku shot at him.
"Good point. Rin can't sing worth crap. But she helps me write songs sometimes," Len said, "I've had her do some back-up vocals in songs before."
Now it was Miku's turn to gasp. "Rin's the girl in all those songs?! Are you serious?"
Len nodded. "Sad, really. With such a talented brother, you'd think she could at least carry a tune."
Miku elbowed him. "Shut it. She has a lovely voice."
"Oh, but we both know who's voice you like better," Len grinned almost cruelly as Miku turned red.
"That's-!" Miku choked out angrily. Len poked her in the forehead. With a glare at the boy, she rubbed the spot he had poked
"Ease up, Mi-chan. It's not good to be so angry all the time," Len told her, poking her again but this time in the shoulder.
"Don't tell me what to do," Miku snapped coldly. Len held his amused smile. Miku scooted away from him sharply and he gave her a hurt look. In return, she growled.
"Geeze, you couldn't act like a girl to save your life," Len commented.
"Like you'd know so much about being a girl," Miku accused and then realized it was a stupid thing to say, mainly because Len's smile had just grown significantly.
"Why, yes, I do happen to be more girly than you," Len stated.
"That's not a good thing!" Miku exclaimed, "And no, you're not!"
Len's smirk kept getting bigger and bigger as she spoke. "Wanna bet?"
Miku did not like the look in his eyes as he said this.
/
"I'm not coming out."
"Oh, come on, Mi-chan!"
"Screw you, Kagamine."
"Mi-chan!"
Len's voice was a whine, muffled by the closed door between them.
"Let me in! It's my room!"
Finally, Miku gave in and let the boy in, opening the door and stepping back. Her arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her face. Len stopped in an almost dead halt when he saw her.
"Well, I guess you're a girl, after all," he decided.
After telling Miku he'd pay her ten dollars to see her in a dress, she'd refused. After twenty, she almost gave in. At thirty, she decided to stop robbing him and give in. Now, Miku was wearing a dress for the first time in many years. The skirt went down to about the middle of her calves, with two layers of lacy skirt. A strap ran just under her bust, tying up in the back. Across the chest, the soft cloth was ruffled, a bow placed on the top layer. The inch-thick straps wound over her shoulders and attatched to the back of the dress, crossing over each other to connect to the green fabric. The whole ensemble was a light green, the lace trimming on the edge of the skirts being slightly darker. Miku found the dress extremely uncomfortable.
"Of course I'm a God damn girl, you idiot!" she exclaimed angrily, pulling at the strap of the dress.
"Well, I can still out-girl you," Len stated.
"Go ahead and try, Kagamine," Miku growled, feeling insulted. The boy grinned.
"Alright. I'll be right back," he zipped into his closet and disappeared. Miku regretted saying anything at all. Sighing, she settled on Len's bed, crossing her legs and leaning back against her arms. The house was warm, but she wasn't used to wearing a dress. Even with her school uniform, she wore long socks and shorts under her skirt. It just felt weird not to. How could Len, who didn't even enjoy cross-dressing, stand it? She almost felt sympathy for him until she remembered it was his fault she was wearing a dress. The fact that it was his dress made her gag a bit.
"Yo, Mi-chan!" the suddenly hyperactive blond exclaimed as he pushed open his closet door. His hair was pulled into pigtails, his eyelids ever-so-slightly dusted with eyeshadow. His lips shone with chapstick, which he had told Miku he much preferred to lip gloss. He wore a pair of dark skinny jeans over thin legs, a white spaghetti strap placed over the jeans. Over the spaghetti strap shirt, he had a lacy little jacket the color of the night sky. Miku didn't know the exact name for the thing, but it looked cute. Actually, Miku had to admit, Len looked really, really cute as a girl. Miku was kind of jealous and it pissed her off.
"So, whadd'ya think?" he asked, twirling a lock of his hair around is finger and winking. Miku didn't say anything. "Oh, you aren't any fun. I look damn good and I know it."
"Your ego doesn't need to get any bigger," Miku muttered.
"Shush, you. You're just jealous," he teased, smoothing out his jeans. Miku bristled at his comment.
"Jerk," she snapped, tossing a pillow at him. He dodged easily and slipped into his open doorway.
"You know you love me," he proclaimed, sticking his tongue out at her before dashing off out of the room.
Angrily, Miku stood and launched herself after him, her bare feet gripping the wooden floor below, She heard him laughing as he pounded down the stairs.
"Get back here!" she demanded in a yell.
"So you can kill me? I don't think so!" he replied with the same level of volume. Miku growled and increased her speed, rounding a corner as she leapt down the stairs. He was in the sitting room, using the couch as a shield.
Miku jumped the couch, reaching for him, but he managed to evade her, rolling back over the couch and under the coffee table. Quickly, he crawled out from under the rather high coffee table and dashed back out the door. Angrily, Miku followed him again, chasing him through uncountable rooms and doors. Once, she fought her way through a closet only to find a door leading back out of it at the other end.
Finally, she caught him back on the stairs, tackling the boy to the ground as carefully as she could. She sat on one stair and yanked him down to her level, keeping a tight grip on his arm.
"You got me," he panted, falling back against the stairs. Miku didn't have the energy to keep her grip on his arm for long and eventually gave up.
"Damn it, Len. Now I'm too tired to hurt you," she groaned, panting as well. Her legs ached, her heart was pounding, and her lungs seared. But somehow, she felt more alive than she had in a while. Maybe the last few minutes had been tiring and childish, and at first she had been mad, but as time progressed through their game of chase, Miku found herself enjoying the time she was spending with Len. It was like her childhood with Piko. Almost exactly like it, in fact. The silver-haired boy had teased her a lot when they were younger, usually resulting in him running to hide as she, feigning anger, darted after her friend. Miku missed times like those, when relationships were so simple and they could just be children. She was grateful to Len for giving that feeling of simplicity back to her, if only for a while.
"Not like you want to anyway," he grinned, still trying to catch his breath. She offered him a rarity in return; her genuine smile. He almost had a heart attack when he saw that purely happy expression on her face. In fact, he felt himself blush a bit as he thought She's actually really pretty when she smiles.
"Nah. Let me catch my breath and I'll give you a piece of my mind," Miku told him, going completely limp on the stairs. Her body screamed with exhaustion, and her eyes closed in an attempt to relax a bit. Len watched her as her breathing became a bit steadier. She seemed as if she was asleep, but he knew she wasn't. He chose to follow her example and sighed contently, letting his eyelids relax as his body did the same. For a few quiet minutes, he glad to be able to sit and soak in the silence.
Before long, they were interrupted by a very, very familiar voice.
"Miku? Len?"
Both opened their eyes to see a shocked Kaito.
And then they realized Len was still dressed like Lin.
/
Review if you have the time! I don't care if all you've got is "Cool story, bro," I'll appreciate the effort! Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited; you are the people that make me stop procrastinating and finish a chapter!