A/N: *slams head against keyboard and screams* NO NO NO NO NOOOO! I have messed up my freaking laptop AGAIN! What . The. Hell.

I'm updating this three days after I actually finished because I only just got the time to do so. Thankfully, I can spend a little time working on this story at school and in the afternoons at the library, but my updates will probably be a little inconsistent…not that they aren't already…*sweatdrop* Anyway, guys, here's the chapter.

ENJOY!

Chapter Two: The Results of Kagamine Rin's Pep Talk

Kaito stared at himself in the mirror as he adjusted his tie, blinking sleepily. He carelessly tossed his fingers through his cobalt hair, trying to achieve some semblance of neatness. The blunette shuffled down to the kitchen and took a large tub of coffee ice cream out of the freezer. He dished some up for himself, sitting at the table to eat. Suddenly, his cell phone beeped, alerting him of a text message.

Kagamine Rin

6:50 a.m.

Remember everyone, softball practice 2day after school. Meet on the field, dressed and ready to play! XD

Kaito sighed, slipping his neon blue cell phone into the pocket of his slacks. He quickly finished his ice cream and returned to his bedroom to pack up some practice clothes. He grabbed his school bag and blazer, then left.

The sun wasn't quite out yet, the world around him a strange blue-yellow color. Kaito slipped on his blazer as it was a little cold. He took a deep breath, allowing the crisp early summer air to fill his nostrils.

Up ahead, he could just make out the sight of two golden heads. Kaito sped up, instantly recognizing Len and Rin. The twins were arguing.

"Iced coffee, Rin?" Len complained, his normally delicate voice was irritated and much louder than normal. "You woke me up early to go get iced coffee? I could've still been sleeping right now!" Clearly this shota did not like being interrupted from his rest.

"Gahh! Lenny, don't be mad at meee!" his demanding female counterpart whined, poking her brother's cheek. Suddenly, she turned around and pointed at Kaito, startling Len. The blond boy whirled around, surprised to see his onii-chan. "Kaito, tell him not to be mad at me!"

Kaito smiled awkwardly, wanting to avoid being stuck between the argument of two very temperamental teenagers. "Erm…"

"Don't force him into our argument!" Len crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. Ah, he's so cute, Kaito cooed internally. Kaito stepped between the two siblings and draped an arm across their shoulders.

"Come on, guys, let's not argue! You know what? Instead of boring iced coffee, we should get some ice cream!" Kaito exclaimed, azure eyes shimmering with excitement. "That will make everything all better!"

"Ice?" Len began.

"Cream?" Rin finished.

The older boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! We'll be so happy about eating our delicious ice cream, we won't even remember what we were arguing about!"

"Kaito-nii, where the hell are we supposed to get ice cream at 7 o'clock in the morning?" Len inquired. Part of him was asking just to prove a point, but the other part was genuinely curious. He couldn't help but find Kaito's ice cream enthusiasm a little…off-putting.

And also kind of cute, but there was no way in hell Len was going to admit that, not even to himself.

"The convenience store is open pretty early," replied Kaito, tapping his chin thoughtfully. Already, Kaito could feel the dreamy grin on his face at the mere prospect of ice cream. He knew that he was probably creeping Len and Rin out with his strange obsession, but he couldn't help it. "Ice cream is love," the cerulean haired boy sighed.

Len and Rin exchanged a slightly – okay, incredibly – disturbed look. Their locked eyes flickered frantically, the mirror images communicating without words.

God, Len, your friend is creepy as hell! Did you know he was such a weirdo?

No! He seemed perfectly normal yesterday! I guess you can just never tell who's a psycho. I mean, look at the people who still think you're normal. Little do they know, my sister is a few grapes shy of a fruit salad. Len shook his head pityingly.

Rin merely smiled unthreateningly at her brother before reaching over and popping him upside the head.

The trio finally arrived at Starbucks – Len ordered an iced vanilla latte; Rin chose an iced caramel macchiato; Kaito (after spending ten minutes arguing with the barista: "Can you use ice cream instead of ice?") went with a mocha frappicino . The surprisingly childish teenager (Is he really older than us? Len couldn't help but wonder) pretended to cry, and finally the poor under-paid coffee-maker was left with no choice but to plop three scoops of vanilla ice cream in along with chocolate and coffee.

Len was sure to slip the man a tip; anyone who dealt with an ice cream-loving Kaito deserved it.

And thus, our heroes carried on to school, sipping their cool caffeinated beverages, and chatting about random things, such as bananas and elephants, and how wonderful oranges were.

The day of Kamui Gakupo started off with significantly less excitement, thankfully. After stopping at the corner store and picking up a specially-made bento – jasmine rice and eggplants drizzled in teriyaki sauce – Gakupo made his way to school. However, just as he turned to make the shortcut through the park, he was knocked off his feet by a pretty girl on a bicycle.

Though, once he saw who was on the two-wheeled vehicle, he quickly took back his thought about her being cute.

It was Megurine Luka or, as the great Gackpoid referred to her, Little Miss Bubblegum. Childish, yes, but also very amusing for his petulant inner four-year-old.

Luka opened her mouth to apologize but was quickly cut off by a rather snarky comment from the violet immature teenager. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Miss Bubblegum."

Luka's delicate face conveyed her bewilderment. "Um, Gakupo-san, my name is Luka, remember? We were in drama troupe together? You cussed me out and threatened to beat me up with an eggplant plushie last year? Don't tell me you've forgotten."

Gakupo snorted; obviously Luka didn't understand that he was mocking her. Make no mistake, Gakupo was almost certain that the girl wasn't stupid; in fact, she had the highest grades in their class. Bubblegum just seemed to be the type to see the best in everyone, assuming that he'd merely forgotten her name rather than assuming that he was deliberately being rude. This prospect just made the purple-haired boy hate her even more.

How dare she be so considerate!

Of course, there was always the chance that she knew he was mocking her and therefore chose to make fun of him in return by questioning his intelligence. Internally, perhaps she was saying, "Haha! You dumb bastard, you can't even remember the name of the girl who stole your position as Yamaha High's acting star! Mwahaha!" Naturally, to anyone who possessed any common sense, they would've immediately passed this concept off as ridiculous, and completely illogical. However, to Gakupo's paranoid mind, this made perfect sense.

As they say, common sense is not common.

"Oh, I remember you perfectly well, Luka," he answered tauntingly. Luka seemed genuinely bewildered by Gakupo's pissed-off tone, as well as his scathing glare. However, the pink-haired girl merely chose to shrug it off. Perhaps he'd had a bad morning?

Despite his chewing her out last school year, Luka did not hate Gakupo as he hated her. In fact, she had been rather disappointed when he'd been kicked out of drama club, even if his untimely dismissal had given her the current position of club president. Gakupo was a talented actor, and she had grown tired of having to act alongside him in tragedy after tragedy. When Luka spoke up, the club members threw out some suggestions and took a vote. Through a unanimous decision (with one exception, of course), it was determined that The Wizard of Oz would be their next production; and who else would play the role of kind, sweet Dorothy other than Yamaha High's sweetheart, Megurine Luka?

And of course, who would act alongside her as the well-meaning, oblivious Scarecrow, other than their president and performing arts prodigy, Kamui Gakupo?

Luka had been excited; finally she could see Gakupo perform something happy rather than the same old depressing song and dance of Shakespearean tragedy.

But then, one day, he threw an eggplant plushie in her face.

Luka had been so shocked, that she couldn't do anything other than stare at him, faintly wondering if she should laugh or punch him in the face. It hadn't hurt nor had Gakupo's harsh words; it was just the sheer ridiculousness of the situation that was making her angry and annoyed. So rather than slapping him or crying or laughing in his face, Luka responded to his immaturity with her own.

She stomped on his foot in her sparkling ruby slippers.

Dorothy would be proud.

There had been complete silence in the auditorium. A few students who had popped in to see what all the commotion was, stood near the door, uncertain whether or not to leave. Gakupo bit his lip, but finally in the midst of the silence, let out a low whimper that reverberated against the stillness of the theater.

And then, everyone slow clapped.

Some girl with curly bright pink ponytails started in slowly. A silver-haired girl, a shy thing that mainly worked on lighting and props, hesitantly joined in. And soon enough, everyone was clapping and whistling, cheering on Miss Bubblegum who had just slain the Lilac Dragon.

Dorothy had defeated the Wicked Witch.

"Well, do you want a ride to school?" Luka asked, scooting up on the bike and patting the small space behind her, skirt riding up a little as she did so.

Gakupo briefly considered the offer. He would get to school much quicker, not to mention everyone would be jealous when they saw him riding to school with a pretty – he clenched his teeth as he finally admitted it to himself – girl. His small collection of fangirls would be a little jealous, but that would just make them want him even more.

Mmm, tempting.

However, he would also be showing up to school clinging to the back of the girl who'd made a fool of the Great Gackpoid.

Thanks, but no thanks.

"No, thanks, Bubblegum-chan," he smirked. Gakupo took off into the park, sauntering away confidently. Luka glanced down the turquoise watch on her wrist. "Someone's going to be late," she muttered to herself before pushing away from the curb and pedaling away.

"Miku, what the hell is that?" Neru demanded as her eyes darted up from the cell phone she kept hidden underneath the table. The two friends sat in the back of the school library during their study period. They were supposed to be doing the Spanish II homework that both of them had failed to complete – neither was particularly good at the language, leaving both of them to wonder how they passed the first level of Spanish – but Neru was too distracted by her texting, and Miku was too distracted by her hunger.

And thus, that brings us to our current predicament.

Miku pulled out her snacks, careful to keep them hidden from the demonic, spinster librarians. She popped open a bag that Neru had initially assumed was chips. However, when Miku pulled her hand out of the bag, the blond quickly realized that they were NOT chips.

"Dried leeks," the teal-haired girl hummed pleasantly. She slipped the treat into her mouth and chewed, the leeks making a disconcertingly crunchy sound. She then pulled a thermos out as well. Miku popped the top off and poured a generous helping of thick mud-green juice into the cup-sized lid. She proffered both the leeks and the juice to Neru. "Want some?"

"No!" the text-a-holic blurted quickly. She could say beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could happily live the rest of her life without ever having dried leeks or that toxic biohazard juice. "What's in it anyway?"

"Oh you know, a little of this, a little of that," was Miku's nonchalant reply. Perhaps some mysteries of life are better left unanswered, Neru pondered. In this case, ignorance is definitely bliss.

"Sooo," Neru drawled, "Wanna go shopping this afternoon?" Her fingers moved lightning-quick over the small QWERTY keyboard of her phone. The complicated tangle of cell phone charms and straps slapped against her manicured hands.

"We can't. We both have softball practice this afternoon, remember?" Miku said around a mouth full of leeks.

"Damn, I forgot about that."

"I don't see how," Miku teased. "That thousand pound gym bag should've been enough of a reminder. What's in there anyway? The boys' soccer team?"

"I wish!" the blond snorted. "But, you know," glossy lips twisted into a smirk, "a little of this, a little of that," the blond mimicked.

"Hey," Miku chose to err away from that conversation for the time being, "did you see that Kaito guy yesterday at the softball meeting?"

Neru raised an eyebrow but did not look away from the small glowing screen. "Yeah. He seems nice in an oblivious idiot sort of way. Why do you ask?"

The leek-lover giggled at her friend's description of Kaito. "He's pretty cute. I hope we get to know each other this year. I mean, I've seen him around school, and we've had a few classes together, but I've never really gotten to talk to him."

Neru's head darted away from the cellular device; the glint in her eyes could only be described as devious and excited. "Aww, you like him! The two of you would be soooo cute together! I can just see it now; you'll fall in love, get married, and then have a bunch of blue-haired, leek-loving babies together! I better be your maid-of-honor. Oh, and name one of the babies after meee! Please!" she begged.

"Neru, I do NOT have a crush on Kaito! And no, I am NOT naming one of my children after you!"

The blonde girl pouted. "Killjoy. I would name one of my kids after you. Besides, you may not have a crush on him yet, but you will soon enough! And I, your best friend, Akita Neru, will be there to witness the whole gooey, sappy, romantic ordeal!"

That bitch! Gakupo mentally ranted as he stormed into the guidance office. She knew I was going to be fucking late! Why the fuck didn't she say something?

Hmm, perhaps it was because he threw a stuffed eggplant in her face? Or maybe because he screamed at her? Or quite possibly even because he continuously called her Bubblegum?

No, this and that are probably unrelated.

Probably.

Gakupo shoved open the door of Leon's office with complete disregard for all sense of propriety and manners. The sulking violet dramatically flopped into a chair across from Leon's desk, completely ignoring the shaking freshman in the chair next to him.

Leon stared at Gakupo unabashedly, though he couldn't say he was surprised to see the senior here in the least. "Erm, Gakupo…" The counselor was unsure where to begin.

"I need to talk to you about Bubblegum Bitch," Gakupo snarled. The little boy next to him shifted his chair away as far as possible.

Leon didn't bother with chastising him about his colorful language. "I'm busy with another student right now, Gakupo."

"Oh, I see," the former thespian stated coolly, his sudden bout of calmness setting Leon on edge. "I'm not important enough; my problems don't matter in comparison to some freshman. You have four years to sort out his issues! I'm just a senior; I'm gonna be gone in a few months. Shouldn't we sort this out now, before I have to go off to college with all this emotional baggage?"

Gakupo was truly a gifted performer because only five minutes later Leon found himself fully focused on the teen, no freshman insight.

As the Great Gackpoid ranted on – Leon wasn't quite exactly sure about what; he only occasionally heard the words 'bubblegum' and 'gonna beat her with an eggplant' – Leon's mind wandered. Hmm, I wonder what I'm going to eat for lunch today. Maybe I'll get Lola to take me to McDonalds. Yeah, some French fries would be really good right now. God, I'm starving. Is it twelve yet? How long has this drama queen – er, king been sitting in my office? It's at least been thirty minutes. That's an acceptable time to 'listen' to him, right? Maybe if I oh so casually write him a pass, he'll take the hint and go back to class.

"…Therefore, it's totally acceptable for me to push her in front of a bus, right?" Leon jolted in his seat at Gakupo's sudden declaration. The counselor sat up straight and got back into serious therapist mode. They definitely didn't pay him enough for what he had to deal with.

"Gakupo-kun, you've got to learn to work with Megurine-san. The two of you are going to be teammates. At least make an attempt to get along with her. And please stop talking about murdering her, or at least don't tell me about it. I have to report these things to the principal, as well as the school psychologist."

Gakupo pouted and muttered under his breath. "But I don't want to."

Leon sighed, frustration leaking through. "Look, all the world's a stage, right? Meaning that even if you don't like her and wish she were dead, you can at least act like you feel otherwise?"

The violet-eyed student sighed. "Whatever. Can you write me a pass back to class?" Leon didn't hesitate to meet the boy's request. He'd written so quickly, that the words just looked like squiggles. The security guard was definitely going to accuse him of having a fake pass.

"Oh, by the way, Gakupo-kun, I may be busy for the next few weeks," Or year, "So if you have any other problems, start going to Lola-san, okay?" Gakupo nodded and it took all Leon had not to burst into maniacal laughter.

Kaito couldn't help but feel incredibly ridiculous, more so than usual. Currently, the cerulean boy was crouched down amidst the bleachers, determined to remain unseen by his sadistic torturers disguised as physical education teachers. Down below, teenage boys ran around in a blood thirsty war known as flag football. A bit further away, the girls stood in the tall grass "playing" field hockey. Most of them just stood there socializing.

Kaito tugged his gym shirt further over his head to keep his bright blue locks from sight. It had taken him exactly ten seconds of game play to realize that unless he wanted to die or lose a limb, he should probably find a way to get out of playing football. Even though it was just flag football, most of the guys tackled anyway, and conveniently enough the teachers were always looking away whenever it happened. Kaito hadn't even wasted time with Demon sensei. He carefully tip-toed over to the metal bleachers and hid near the top.

At the beginning of class, Kaito explained to Demon-sensei that he'd signed up for softball, and practice would be starting this afternoon. However, the sadist refused to believe him, even after Kaito showed him the sign-up sheet. "Shion, get out on that field with the others," he had demanded. Normally, the bluenette was a very relaxed person, and he didn't get angry easily. Never before had he wanted to punch someone as bad as he had wanted to punch Demon-sensei at that very moment.

Finally, Demon-sensei blew the whistle for them to return indoors, and when he thought the coast was clear, he emerged from his hiding spot and blended in with the mass of sweaty teenagers.

"Shion!"

Kaito clenched his teeth in a desperate attempt not to strangle his teacher to death. "Yes, sensei?" he asked, turning around slowly.

"Where were you? I didn't see you on the field!" Demon-sensei demanded.

"I was out there. I was probably just moving around so much, you couldn't see me." Was he a superhero now, capable of running so fast that he was just a blur? There was no way Demon-sensei was going to buy that.

"Nice try, Shion, but I'm not buying it. Since you're so fond of telling lies and skipping class, you can do a set of fifty push-ups when we get inside." Demon-sensei stalked ahead, leaving a very depressed, very angry Kaito behind him. When the bastard was far away, Kaito closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the clouds.

"Ice Cream Gods, please take away all that man's ice cream. He doesn't deserve it. Amen."

Dell's crimson eyes twitched in barely repressed annoyance. He pried open the door of his locker with more force than intended. He shoved the binder into the locker, the frail plastic slamming against the metal. Around him, students hedged away, sensing his agitation. The only one unaware of his increasing irritation was actually the source of his irritation – Hatsune Mikuo.

Mikuo remembered seeing Dell at the softball meeting. The teal-haired boy smiled at him, and Dell nodded in response, and the rest was history. Mikuo latched onto Dell, like fangirls and pedophiles latched onto Len.

Mikuo was pretty smart, and most of the stuff he said wasn't too stupid, so Dell didn't really mind being around him for most of the day. In fact, there was only one main problem Dell had with Mikuo.

He would not shut up.

Seriously, does this guy come with an off button? Mikuo apparently felt it necessary to share every single mundane thought with his newfound friend. Dell was resisting the urge to strangle the poor boy when Len showed up.

"Hey, guys," the blond boy greeted them. Mikuo responded with a peppy, "Hi, Len-chan!" Dell's greeting was less excited. "Hey."

"Len-chan, your ponytail is really cute. Do you think I would look good with a ponytail?" The little shota smiled at Mikuo's happy-go-lucky attitude.

"Yeah, I think so. Then we can be hair twins!" Len laughed. Dell rolled his eyes as Len and Mikuo continued to talk. Honestly, it didn't surprise him in the least that Mikuo and Len got along. They both had sweet personalities and were easily approachable. They were both really smart, too.

One of them was just a tad more talkative than the other.

"So, Mikuo-kun, are you excited about softball practice?"

Mikuo nodded, turquoise hair swaying as he did so. "Yeah. I've never really played before outside of P.E., but I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to get to know everyone. Len-kun has some softball experience, right?"

Len snorted, a soft almost feminine sound. "Barely. Rin has a tendency to over-exaggerate my abilities. I used to play baseball when I was really young, but I sucked at it."

"I'm sure Len-chan's not that bad."

"Oh God, Mikuo-kun, you don't know the worst of it," the blond boy smiled sheepishly at the memory of his Little League days. "I was so bad that they never let me play in any of the games. I always sat on the bench watching everyone else play. It used to make Rin so mad. One day she kicked my coach in the shin and called him a fascist bastard; I'm pretty sure she didn't even know what it meant. I got kicked off the team after that. Rin felt really bad about it, but I didn't care. I'm pretty sure that if she hadn't kicked him, I would still be sitting on that damn bench to this very day."

Mikuo and Dell both laughed. "I can't really say that surprises me," Dell smirked. "Rin definitely strikes me as the type of person to kick a bitch."

"Len!" a loud voice called, belonging to none other than Rin. Len rolled his eyes. Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

"There you are!" Rin huffed, slightly out of breath. Her short flaxen hair was frazzled and wind-torn, and her fat floppy bow was twisted off to the side. Rin donned a pair of dark blue shorts and pale yellow tank top (Isn't that mine? Len pondered), which struck Len as odd, considering the fact that his sister didn't have gym this semester. "I need your help with something, Lenny. You see, I maybe possibly sorta accidentally got your sneakers stuck in a tree. So, yeah."

"How did you get my shoes stuck in a tree?" Aquamarine eyes widened in confusion and trepidation. By now, Len probably should be used to Rin's troublesome antics, but he wasn't. Despite the fourteen plus years of mistakes, pranks, and general mayhem he'd experienced because of his female counterpart, Len could honestly say that his twin would never cease to amaze him, both negatively and positively.

"See, what had happened was," Rin began, and already Len was groaning at the expected randomness of this story, "Gumi-chan and I were on our way to lunch, but Gumi left her notebook in the French class room. Well, when we went back to get it, we noticed that there was this kitten stuck in a tree." Here Len exchanged a look with Dell and Mikuo to see if they too found this anecdote quite as outlandish as he did.

"Gumi-chan and I immediately dashed outside to save it! I started to climb the tree, but then I realized that if someone walked by and looked up, they would be able see my underwear – which is really embarrassing 'cause I'm wearing the ones with the cute dancing oranges on them. So I dashed inside and got our practice clothes from inside my locker, but I was in such a hurry that I accidentally put your shirt on instead, Len!" Rin paused to take a quick breath. "Anyway, when I came back, there were some birds messing with the poor kitty. Gumi and I started throwing stuff at the birds to get them to leave it alone, and one of those items was your shoes. And now they're stuck in the tree…and the kitty's still there too."

Len wasn't quite exactly sure how to respond, so he just settled for staring incredulously at his sister. Dell seemed similarly perturbed, but Mikuo was just smiling the entire time, clearly amused. Without another word, Rin grabbed Len's hand and dragged him down the hallway, leaving Mikuo and Dell to follow behind them.

Kaito sat in back of the classroom bored out of his mind. He was supposed to be taking notes, but he found his mind wandering, thoughts dancing between ice cream and Len. The blunette tapped his ink pen against the edge of his notebook. A few rows ahead Neru and Miku were giggling and occasionally one of them would glance back and look at him (Do I have something on my face?). Meiko sat directly in front of him, locked in a dead sleep. Kaito's eyes drifted out to the window.

Ah, it looks hot outside. Is there a kitty in that tree? Poor thing. Maybe I'll go outside and get it after class.

At that exact moment, Len braced his feet against the scratchy bark of the oak tree. After taking three deep breaths, he dug his feet into the tree and began to climb. The cat – an adorable creature with patches of black fur against the white – was desperately holding on to a branch. Len completely forgot about his shoes, climbing faster and faster.

"Be careful, Len!" his sister shouted from down below. Len glanced back over his shoulder to where his friends waited; suddenly the tree seemed much higher.

Kaito bolted out of his seat and took hurried, panicked steps to the window. His classmates blinked up at him, initially confused by his sudden movement. However, as soon as Miku shrieked, "Oh my god, is that Len-kun?" the rest of the students crowded around the window.

Len ascended as closely to the feline as possible, wary of the birds harassing it. The terrified blond latched onto a nearby branch, afraid that grabbing the same branch would send both him and the cat to a dangerous fall below.

Kaito frantically shoved the window open, his heart beating and his palms sweating as watched his locker neighbor dangle precariously from the tree. Next to him, Miku held onto his arm tightly, concerned for Len's safety as well.

Len squeezed his eyes shut in fear as he edged one of his hands away from the branch towards the kitten. He held his hand out for the cat to jump into, but the poor thing was much too frightened to do so.

"Come on, kitty," the blond soothed, his aqua eyes gently urging. "Everything will be fine. I've got you." The tiny cat carefully perched itself onto Len's arm, scurrying along the length to rest on his shoulder. Len smiled at the creature, and then snagged his shoes by the laces before slowly lowering himself to the ground. Suddenly, though, his foot slipped.

Kaito and the other teenagers shouted and screamed as they watched Len lose his grip go tumbling downwards. The blue-eyed boy felt his heart lurch, his fists gripping the window frame tightly.

Instinctively, Dell rushed forward, just in time for the little shota and the kitten to fall into his arms. The crimson-eyed smoker carefully lowered the blond to the ground, Rin, Gumi, and Mikuo rushing forward to embrace him.

Miku, Neru, and Kaito breathed a sigh of relief, glad that their teammate was unharmed. Len looked up, eyes wide as he took in the sight of all the students who had been anxiously watching him. The happiness Kaito felt when those glittering aqua eyes landed on him was incomparable. Len's rose-colored lips tilted up into a dazzling smile, one that was just for Kaito. "Onii-chan!" Len shouted, waving.

Mikuo watched curiously as cute little Len-chan greeted his nii-chan from up above. There was something about it that he just couldn't place his finger on. Something about Kaito and Len's interactions with each other that seemed just a little different from how they interacted with others.

It didn't take much effort, though, for him to realize that the look in Kaito's eyes was completely adoring.

Luka leaned back against the bench in the dugout, the cool metal refreshing against the heated skin of her body. She wore the official Yamaha High gym uniform – a pair of dark blue shorts and white t-shirt with the school's name written across the chest – and pair of knee-high pink socks. Next to her were Miku and Neru, also in the gym uniform. Further down, on the other end of the bench was Gakupo and Meiko

"Where are the others?" Luka asked, mainly aloud to herself. The actress had been the first to arrive, followed by Miku and Neru, then Gakupo and Meiko.

"I don't know, but I know they need to hurry the fuck up," Meiko grumbled. She was burning up in this heat, sweat already pouring down her face.

"Sorry we're late everyone!" sang a cheery voice that could've only belonged to Rin. She and Gumi walked arm-in-arm towards the dugout, practically skipping, the cute kitten from earlier scurrying at her heels. Behind them Len, Mikuo, Kaito, and Dell trudged across the field, their arms laden with softball equipment. Rin patiently waited for the rest of the boys to join them before jumping into her tirade.

"All right, guys! Today we're gonna start with batting. Before I go over the proper technique, I figured we should just jump right on in so I can see how you guys are already. So does anyone want to bat first?" Rin grinned expectantly, but no one volunteered.

"Alright, Lenny, how about you go first?" the blond girl declared, pointing at her brother.

Len sighed, "I'd really rather not."

"Oh well! You don't really have a choice!" Rin shouted jubilantly as she grabbed her brother and pushed him onto the field. She retrieved a bat and a ball from Kaito, shoved the wooden bat into Len's hands, and took her position as pitcher.

"C'mon, Rin," Len pleaded in an attempt to reason with his twin. "I'm telling you; I suck. I can't do this."

Rin shook her head, effervescent smile still in place. "Yes, you can, Len. I believe in you. You can do anything if you put your mind to it! Now I just need you to believe in you. Now, c'mon, Lenny! Show this ball who's boss!"

Len couldn't help but find Rin's enthusiasm contagious. He was pumped and energized, a bit more confident after Rin's inspiring pep talk. From the dugout, Mikuo and Gumi whooped and hollered for him. Len tightened his grip on the softball bat, determined. He nodded at Rin and readied himself.

Rin nodded back, proud of her brother's resolve. She swung her arm back then snapped it forward in a graceful sweeping arc. The ball soared towards Len and when he judged the distance close enough, he swung.

The wood made contact with the ball, a sharp crack echoing throughout the field. Momentum redirected, the ball slammed against the fence separating the field from the dugout, causing the teammates inside to jump.

Len smiled at them apologetically, his eyes downcast due to embarrassment. "Hehe, sorry."

Rin patted Len on the back, proud of him nonetheless. Len returned to the shade of the dugout, his kitty rushing forward to greet him. He beamed down at the kitty before scooping it up in his arms and taking a seat. "You'll do better next time, bro. Alright. Gumi-chan, you wanna go next?"

"Yup!" the green-haired girl chirped, bouncing up to the plate. Gumi spun the bat in the air like a baton before catching it in one hand. "Gimme your best pitch, Rin-chan!" The ball shot from Rin's hand in a blur. With a well-rehearsed ease, Gumi swung out with the bat, knocking the ball deep into the outfield. Rin nodded her approval. "Good job, Gumi-chan. Who's next? Perhaps our Student Council president would like to grace us with her talents?" Rin teased.

Miku shook her head. "Oh no, Rin-chan, I'm not good at softball." The teal-haired president took up the bat and patiently waited . Rin threw the ball once more, but this time it was terribly off-course. Miku side-stepped the ball, before picking it up at gently tossing it back.

"Mm. good job, Miku-chan. In a real game, you would've wanted to avoid hitting that ball too," Rin praised. "Let's try that again."

Rin pitched the ball once more. Miku steadied herself and swung; however, she completely missed the target, tilting her head away just in time to avoid being beheaded by a baseball. She stared at the ball with wide teal eyes, blinking away the shock of almost having died. Rin giggled sheepishly, "Erm, sorry about that."

Next up was Gakupo. The drama king held the bat in his hands tightly, his violet eyes observing Rin warily. When the ball came his way, Gakupo missed completely.

After him, Neru went. Her golden eyes bored into Rin, daring the girl to hit her with the softball. The softball captain made to pitch the ball, but paused mid-throw when a sharp trilling ring came out of nowhere. Everyone turned towards the sound, which just so happened to be coming from the hot pink cell phone resting in Neru's pocket. With complete disregard for the fact that she was in softball practice, the long-haired blond flipped open the device with practiced ease.

"Why don't we come back to Neru?" Miku suggested as she watched her best friend text. Kaito was chosen to go next. The bluenette shuffled up to the plate, sapphire eyes glancing at Rin nervously. The blond pitched, and one second was all it took.

Kaito swung much too hard, the wooden bat flying out of his hands and heading straight for the dugout entrance, narrowly avoiding nailing Meiko right in the face. The brunette screamed at him, and Kaito shrank away, completely oblivious to the ball that was still headed straight for his face.

Meiko guffawed loudly as the softball nailed the blue-haired boy directly between the eyes. Kaito whined, rubbing his forehead sadly as he scooting back into the dugout.

"Kaito-nii, are you okay?" Len asked, his sky blue eyes concerned, as Luka went to bat next. Len allowed his thin fingers to gently caress the rapidly forming bruise on Kaito's forehead. Kaito sighed peacefully at the soothing feeling of the adorable blond's hand on his face.

"I'm fine, Len-kun," the blunette answered, not wanting Len to worry about him. Kaito smiled reassuringly and briefly considered asking Len to kiss his bruise better.

Smash!

The two boys jumped as a sharp crashing noise rang through the air. Dell was currently standing at home plate, a pleased smirk on his face. When he swung, the ball made contact with the bat, sending it soaring out of bounds. The ball flew cliché enough, straight through the window of a biology classroom. Even from out on the field, they could hear the surprised shrieks of the people indoors. Dell didn't seem remorseful in the least.

Rin shrugged, not alarmed in the least, a drastic comparison to the reactions of her teammates. The blonde captain simply picked up another ball and continued on as though nothing happened.

Meiko went next, her expression skimming the line between boredom and annoyance. It was hot, and the brunette just wanted to go indoors and drink something cold. Perhaps she should've joined the science club; at least they didn't have to go outside much.

Meiko hit the ball, sending it soaring overhead and crashing, thankfully, through the hole Dell had already created. Once again, the people indoors screamed. Meiko couldn't help but think that they deserved it for enjoying the cool air-conditioning while she was out here sweating her ass off.

Last but certainly not least was Mikuo. The teal-haired boy was the only one, other than Gumi, that managed to successfully hit the ball without nearly decapitating themselves or someone else, and without taking out any windows. Afterwards, Rin instructed the team to complete a few laps around the track to build up some endurance (Meiko, Gakupo, and Dell has a few choice words in response to that request). Len was the only who didn't complain; he lived with Rin, so any remarks he made would result in horrifying punishment the second they got home.

The group ran around the track, uncomfortably sweaty. When they were finished, they collapsed into an exhausted heap, worn out mainly by the sun rather than exercise.

"I wish…the heavens would just open up and pour ice cream on me," Kaito panted, out-stretched across the somewhat cool grass. Rin smiled down (a little sadistically) at the group; she was used to running around in the heat, so the sun didn't affect her at all.

"You guys did pretty good for your first day. We'll practice some pitching tomorrow." Rin winked over at Gumi, giggling as she recalled the rather embarrassing (for Len) conversation from the day before. Len couldn't help the blush that formed on his face when he saw Gumi winking back at Rin.

"Hey, are you okay, Len-kun?" Luka inquired politely, genuinely concerned about the shota's health. She handed him a pale pink water bottle. "Here, you might be a little dehydrated. This'll help."

Len graciously accepted the water, taking a deep swing to fight back his embarrassment, though his cheeks were still rosy. However, Len nearly choked when Rin shouted over to Gumi, "Hey, I wonder if Kaito-nii is good at pitching!"

A/N: Rawr! Why do my endings feel so abrupt? By the way, there isn't gonna be any MikuxKaito, this is just for the sake of the plot. The whole recurring pitching joke is a sexual innuendo. "Pitching" would be the equivalent of being the seme or topping. (I am probably explaining this unnecesarily)

I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter, and I will try my hardest to get that up soon. Please REVIEW! It would mean the world to meee!

SEE YA NEXT TIME!