Chapter Twenty-Three
The next day, butterflies begin to circle around in my stomach as morning announcements are broadcasted throughout the school.
"For those of you who are taking part in the band competition for Songwriting this year," says Mrs. Tokara's voice, "The competition will be this Friday at three-thirty after school. This will give you some time to prepare, practice, and change into costumes, whatever you really need to do to get ready. Until Friday, you've got only three days to finish your songs, wardrobes, and practice."
Miku runs up to me and squeals excitedly, her turquoise ponytails flowing behind her. "I can't wait for Friday afternoon!" she says, smiling hugely. I return it, shutting my locker.
"Exactly!" I say. "I hope we win!"
"Yeah, me too," she agrees, "Plus, the entire school will be watching!"
"Wait, seriously?" I ask, not aware of this part.
"You didn't know? Don't tell me you didn't know about the costumes, either!"
"Uh…" I falter. "Nope. Are costumes part of the grade?"
"Costumes? No, only the actual song is a part of it. The dance, performance, and all that other stuff gets marked in in all of your other arts classes," Miku explains. My eyes widen in total shock.
"I didn't know any of this, Miku! Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"We all thought you knew," she says, her perfect eyebrows creasing up.
"We need to come up with a dance!" I groan.
"Well, last year, I didn't really dance too much. Rin and Luka did all that," says Miku. "We still got an A."
"You did?" I ask. "In all your other arts classes?"
"Yeah, the song in Songwriting, the movement in Dance, the facial expressions and emotion in Acting, the costumes in Conversion Art, and the vocal performance in Vocal Strengthening," she says. I sigh in relief.
"Okay, we can do all that. Especially the acting part," I say, "Did you know that Len is actually really good?" I ask, with a chuckle.
"Is that what you two were doing last night? Gumi and I made up a whole bunch of theories," Miku giggles. I blush at the thought.
"Theories? Like what?" I ask as the bell rings.
"You know, like… tickling, hugging randomly, playing guitar, listening to all of Gumi's music, that one wasn't mine, don't worry, and maybe kissing a little," Miku teases. My face glows red.
"We don't hug randomly!" I laugh.
"Maybe you should try telling Gumi that," Miku retorts. I shake my head and begin walking to Songwriting. I open the door to the room, and Rin is standing in front of Len, an angry countenance on her fuming face.
"Len, I thought I made it clear that I don't like her!"Rin growls. Len sighs, stress clearly showing in his empty eyes.
"Rin, you don't understand, there's more to her than you think!" Len weakly defends himself, his blonde hair falling over his eyes. Miku and I freeze, the door shutting behind us. A cold, hard silence bites at our emotions and brings us all to hold our breaths, waiting for the next words to be spoken. "I'm tired of you thinking you have control over who I date and who I'm friends with," Len says emotionlessly. Rin's eyes widen as her fists clench. Suddenly, she slaps him with what looks like all the force she has, and Len goes crashing into the piano, which tips over with an ear-splitting crack. Neru puts her phone down, only for Rin to kick it, sending it flying into the wall.
Miku screams, all the blood draining from her face. "Rin! What has gotten into you?!" I rush to Len's side.
"Oh my gosh, Len!" I scream. Mrs. Tokara rushes into the room, with Teto beside her. Upon seeing Len unconscious, lying face down on the piano, her face runs cold, matching Miku's now fainted expression.
"Who did this?" Mrs. Tokara demands. Rin blinks, her icy eyes quivering and her clammy fists unclenching.
"It was all Rin," Neru tattles loudly, her hands on her hips. "And she kicked my phone and it broke," she adds, pointing to the window.
"Rin. Office. Right. Now," Mrs. Tokara commands, her dark eyes full of disgust and disdain. Tears begin to stream down Rin's cheeks as she stomps out of the room without a word.
"Madoka, can you send Len down to the nurse?" asks Mrs. Tokara. I nod quickly, lifting his lifeless body off the piano. "Teto, go with her to help," she tells poor Teto, who is paralyzed with horror as the whole scene processes in her head. Teto quickly moves to help me pick up Len.
Together, with lots of strength and teamwork, Teto and I lug Len's unconscious body to the nurse's office, which is down the hall. "How did this happen?" Teto asks in a whisper. My miserable eyes keep shut as I lean over Len as he lies on a cold, hard, medical bed with dull, thin white sheets. The nurse, who has a name tag that reads Yowane Haku, gasps in shock at the alarming sight of Len.
"Do you know how this happened?" she asks, her long, silvery hair falling behind her back as she leans over Len as well.
"Somebody punched him into a piano," I answer grimly. Haku gasps, narrowing her eyes.
"Were both of you witnesses?" she asks.
"Well, only I was there when it happened. Teto just helped me carry him," I answer, motioning to both of us as we were mentioned.
"Kasane-kun, you can return to class," Haku says. With a dejected nod, Teto dashes around the corner and out of the room. "Alright, did the piano break?" Haku questions me. I wonder how this can help her in any way.
"It didn't break, but it crashed over," I tell her. She nods her head, writing the information down on a slip of paper.
"I'm guessing it was on purpose. A hit that hard could only be forced," Haku says. I nod. "Who was it?" she questions.
I sigh. "Rin Kagamine." If anybody finds out that I told Haku, Rin is going to kill me for sure. This is probably worse than the Scarecrow Scenario with my mom.
"Alright. That's all the information I'll need right now," Haku says, "Maybe you should go and watch to make sure Len is doing fine while I see what's wrong with her," she tells me, motioning to a thin girl with cropped sapphire-colored hair and an eye-catching jewel placed on a headband. I notice the girl's ghostly complexion, empty-looking eyes, and limp posture and instantly take pity.
Gloomily, I walk over to Len's inert body. He begins to stir. I place my hand lightly on his pale forehead. I turn my head around as the bluette lets out an ear-splitting cough. My eyebrows furrow in worry. The nurse's office is such a dispiriting place. I never want to be somewhere like this ever again.
Suddenly, I look down as Len's eyes begin to open. His eyelashes flutter as he does so. The color gradually begins to fade back into his face. "Len?" I whisper, leaning over him. A weak smile forms on his face.
"Where am I?" he asks, beginning to sit up.
"The nurse's office," I reply limply.
"What happened?" he asks, stretching his arms as he quickly regains the existence that makes me smile so often.
"Rin um… Rin punched you into the piano," I say, "Then you kind of fainted."
"Oh, that's right," he mutters, dropping his arms heavily.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, a concerned expression on my face.
"Quit worrying! I'll be fine," he says, reading my expression effortlessly.
"It's just… Why would she do something like that?" I sigh a little too loudly. Len hesitates. I watch as he slowly breaths in and out.
"Well," he near-whispers, "When Rin and I were little, she was diagnosed with a condition." He pauses, choosing the right words to say. Any trace of a smile that I could have had has now vanished completely. "Uh, she can't… she… she has a little bit of trouble with… you know, controlling her emotions," Len tries to explain. "I guess I'm the other way around…" he trails off. "I can't show them."
"Len, are you kidding?" I ask. "The way that you express your emotions is… beautiful," I say. "Through your music, I-I mean… it was perfect that night. I don't know what you're talking about," I stutter, but my words only come out as broken shards of glass, cutting into my throat and causing searing amounts of pain.
"I-It's just… see… other people can… you know," Len mumbles.
"Len, what are you saying?" I ask softly, yet my words still pierce the air like daggers.
"Madoka, from the first day I met you… I-I… I knew that you were the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I didn't care how cold you were to me that first day we met, because I knew that under that icy surface was a heart of gold," Len smiles, reaching up to lightly squeeze my cheek. "I know, I probably sound so corny right now," he grins.
"Yeah, you do," I admit, smiling, "but look, you just told me exactly how you felt right there, so why couldn't you do it then?" I ask. Len pauses before answering.
"I don't know, Madoka, you were just…" Len stammers.
"Madoka, Len, are you guys doing alright?" interrupts Haku's voice from behind. Len sits upright, his eyebrows raising as he does so, wrinkling his forehead, which gives a mature look to him that I like. I turn around, quickly pulling away from Len.
"Yeah, uh, but the back of my head really hurts," Len groans. Haku furrows her eyebrows in concern.
"You know, Kagamine, if you're not feeling that great, I could send you home," she offers. Len, after a sigh, shakes his head.
"I think I'll pass on that. Plus, nobody's really home right now," Len says, rubbing the back of his head. Haku looks down for a minute.
"Well, if you think you'll be okay, Madoka can walk you back to class. Here, have some ice in case it's swollen," she says. Another raspy cough pierces the air from the thin, pale blue-haired girl. Len and I take this as our cue to leave, after grabbing the ice from Haku.
"Thanks, Haku," I call as we exit. After a long pause of walking down the hall, Len groans in pain as he places the ice on the back of his head.
"Len, that sounds really bad," I say in concern, "Are you sure you're fine?"
"Yeah, um, it's just a little swollen, that's all," Len shrugs, pulling the ice away. I look down at my feet and shove my hands in my pocket as I walk.
"You know Len, you don't have to make stuff up," I sigh. "If you're in pain, tell me, and you can go home."
"But I'll be fine!" Len protests.
"I have such a cliché boyfriend," I sigh to myself.
"Well," Len smirks, "How many cliché boyfriends do you know that own a road roller?" he asks.
My head shoots up to the heavens. "Please, please, please do not remind me of that," I laugh at the lingering memory. Len laughs and throws his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer as we laugh together.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask one more time, just to be sure. Len rolls his eyes, the grin still lasting on his face.