Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Vocaloid. Please enjoy the story and I would appreciate reviewing!
This chapter is like, twice as long as others. x 3 x I hope you all like it.
Oh, and, sorry for the lame reference. (You'll know what I mean.) I was snickering when I wrote it. I had acutally never seen the first or second one but I wanted to write about a lame ghost movie.
Things were a lot different the next day.
I woke up, still feeling tired. I rolled over and Miku poked my cheek.
"Ugghhh…What is it?" I asked, my face in the pillow so that my voice was muffled.
"Good morning. I made us breakfast."
I looked up. "Breakfast?"
"Pancakes."
Miku NEVER makes breakfast. It's something I do every morning. Can she cook? Maybe she made breakfast every day I was in the hospital.
The pancakes were a bit clumsily made but I enjoyed the day off. As I looked down at them, I realized I didn't have much of an appetite. Miku looked at me expectantly and I took a bite.
"Delicious." I said. I ate the rest without really tasting them.
Miku held my hand as we walked to school.
"Hey!" called Rin as she ran up to us. Len caught up to her.
"Hey guys." I greeted.
Len smiled at me. I turned my head without smiling back.
By this, I felt like I was betraying him and it made my heart hurt. How would I be able to do this? Could I do this for Miku after everything's she's done for me? We're terrible people, really. She's fake and selfish. I'm greedy and double-crossing. All we do is lie.
"Wait up!" Gakupo arrived and threw his arms over Len and me. "Bah! I'm so tired. Carry me to school."
"Yeah right. You're too heavy." I said with a laugh.
"Maybe you're just too weak." He countered. "Len could do it. Bridal style, Len?"
Len, who was a good foot shorter than Gakupo laughed. "Maybe next time." He said.
I smiled with the change of atmosphere. Though Gakupo could be an idiot, he always made me feel better.
"Ah, Kaito." He said, seeming to have thought of something. "Want to come to the movies after school? Way of celebrating, like a welcome back party. You too, Len. It'll be a boys' night out."
If I wanted to get over Len, I shouldn't go. But if I wanted to get over Len…well, after confessing like that I can't just avoid him. Deep inside though, I didn't want to get over Len. Even now, seeing the small glance he shot me when he was invited, a glance that probably wanted to see if I'd say "Yes" or "No" made my heart beat faster. Len was as tempting as the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.
"Sure, I'll go." I said. As always, double-crossing.
"I guess I'll come along too." Replied Len. He didn't look up.
"Awesome." Gakupo grinned.
"What about me?" whined Rin.
"Yeah." Miku chimed in.
"Sorry, no girls allowed." He said.
Neru and Luka came up now. "Hey, don't we have off tomorrow?" asked Luka after they both greeted us.
"Uh, I think so." Said Rin.
"Yeah, Teacher-In-Service." Said Miku.
"We should totally have a slumber party." Suggested Neru.
"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Rin said with excitement.
"Okay. We can have it at my house." Said Miku, wanting to be the host of the party. "But, Kaito, you have to stay away. Spend the night at Gakupo's or something.
"Whaaaat? You guys live together?" Rin asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Len's smile disappear.
"Yeah, why do you think we always come to school together?"
"I guess I never realized." Said Rin.
After school, Gakupo caught me at my locker. Len was with him.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yeah. You driving?"
"Mmhm."
"Hope you don't get carsick easily." I muttered to Len.
We got into Gakupo's messy van and left school. He was blasting a CD. I felt a little bad for Len, who had to sit in the back with stacks of junk. I kicked an empty soda can on the floor of the car.
"So, you're staying over tonight, Kaito?" Gakupo asked.
"Yeah, if that's alright." I responded.
"No problem. Let's pick up your stuff before the movies."
"Okay."
"What about you, Len? You staying over?"
"I'm invited?" Len asked, surprised. I allowed myself a small smile.
"Uh, yeah. Hahahah." Gakupo rolled his eyes.
"Okay. Sounds great! But, er, would you mind stopping at my house too?"
"No problem." Said Gakupo.
We pulled up to my house, Gakupo's car screeching to a halt. He really needed new breaks.
"Woah…"
I looked back to see Len staring the house in awe.
"You live here?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah." I said, a little embarrassed. The house I lived in with Miku was very large and well-kept. We hired a gardener to tend to the landscaping.
"I've always wondered who lived in this house. I just figured it was some rich old guy, not a high schooler." He commented.
"Well, yeah. Technically, it's Miku's house. But we've been living together since…" I caught myself. "Well, it seems like it's been a while." Is what I managed to say at the last second.
"Ooh, I'm telling Miku." Gakupo said in with a laugh.
I gave him a little punch in his arm and got out. I quickly got my stuff together while I was inside so I could return to the car. I hated to admit it, but I was really excited for tonight.
"That was fast. Next stop, Len's!"
"Trust me, it's nothing compared to this place." He said, watching my house disappear as we turned the corner.
After stopping by Len's place, an old, medium-sized house with lots of decorations outside, we put our bags in the car and headed to the movies.
"So what are we gonna see?" I asked.
"Supernatural Occurrences." Said Gakupo with a grin stretched wide across his face.
I slapped my forehead. "That? We're going to see that dumb ghost movie everyone said sucked?'
"What? Dude, it does NOT suck."
"You haven't even seen it."
"Neither have you."
"The people who gave it 0.5 stars did. And I've seen the commercials. Big deal, some lights flicker and the
blood pours out like tomato juice." I said sulkily.
"Well, that's what we're seeing so…!" Gakupo said angrily.
He seemed set on this and had probably been thinking it over for a while. I knew that I should just suck it up and see it with him. I mean, how bad could it actually be?
Gasp. "Did you hear that, honey?" A woman sat up her bed.
"It's probably nothing." Said the guy, rolling over in bed and hoping to get back to sleep.
The bedroom door slammed suddenly and the woman let out a scream. I noted the bad acting of her husband who sat up and asked in a lame voice "Who's there?"
I rolled my eyes at this but I heard a noise from next to me and looked to see Gakupo's drink rush out from the cracks of the styrofoam cup and he crushed it in his fist. I looked up to his face, which was pale with frightened eyes glued to the screen. Trying hard to keep from laughing, I elbowed Len.
"Get a load of this guy." I whispered to him, pointing at Gakupo.
Len muffled his laugh with a hand placed over his mouth. As I silently chuckled with him, I now became all too distracted from the movie with his presence.
"Ooh, did you see that?" I asked, referring to the ghost the woman saw in her dreams.
"Looked like a rubber mask." Len said. We laughed.
"Shhhh!" Gakupo hissed. Len and I laughed more, quieter.
When I shifted a bit in my seat and attempted to place my hand in the armrest, I accidently bumped Len's hand, not having realized the space was occupied. I drew back automatically, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw his arm unintentionally twitch so that his hand opened. I bit my lip and chased a few thoughts away before placing my hand in his. I was breaking all the rules tonight wasn't I? At least the theater was too dark for Gakupo to see this. I did sneak a glance at Len, whose jaw was stiff. I didn't think I imagined the light glow to his cheeks, even in the dark.
"That. Was. AWESOME." Gakupo said, pumped up. He began to chatter about the movie and I tuned him out.
"What did you think, Kaito?" he asked.
"Huh? Oh it was…" I grinned, remembering my favorite part of the movie. The part where I felt a particular person's warmth in my hand. "Not too bad."
Later, we got to Gakupo's house. He lives in a small apartment. He doesn't have a ton of stuff there, but what he does have isn't put away and makes the place look messy. He pays the rent himself, with the help of his part-time job. He moved here because he couldn't get along with his parents.
"Sit wherever." He said. "Want anything to drink?"
"What do you have?" asked Len.
"Water, milk, lemonade, energy drinks and…I think I have some hot cocoa packs."
Len's eyes lit up. "Hot cocoa, please. I could make it to spare you the trouble."
"Nah, it's fine. Kaito, you?"
"Milk." I said, sitting on a beat-up armchair.
We played some video games and watched a dumb comedy. Eventually, we settled down for bed and got on our pajamas. I wore a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. I set out my sleeping bag and sat down. Len then returned from the bathroom, wearing baggy pajama bottoms and a blue tank top. My eyes gathered the sight of his hair down, released from its usual white band. He noticed my glance and looked away self-consciously before setting out his sleeping bag next to mine. I lied and told myself I was angry at Gakupo for needing the couch because he "sleeps there every night and the floor makes his back hurt." But who was I kidding?
"So, I wonder what the girls are up to." Said Gakupo, on the couch. His purple hair, too, was out of its ponytail and reached at least his waist.
"Who cares?" I said with a huff.
"How are you and Miku doing? Things seem sorta…different." He said.
I panicked a little and felt Len wait for my answer.
"I guess she's just missed me from the hospital." I said, which was the truth. But her clinginess had another reason about it that I wouldn't dare to share.
"Yeah. What about you, Len?" Gakupo smirked. "See any girls that catch your eye yet?"
I could tell Len was caught off guard by this. "Uh…no." he said, not a lie, but also a hidden truth accompanying the thought in his mind.
"Aw, you guys are boring!"
"And what about you?" I asked. "Ever think about getting back with Neru?"
"What? Yeah right!" he sputtered, but I could see the blush of embarrassment.
"Those two were together?" Len asked.
"Yeah, they were quite the couple." I said. More honest than Miku and I, I thought with a frown.
"So what happened?" curiously questioned Len. "But only if you want to say." He quickly added, noting Gakupo's sudden silence. I shut my mouth.
"We just argued a lot. Things began to fall apart." Gakupo said with a serious tone. Since he wasn't a very serious person, that tone always darkened the room.
"She still loves you…" I said, almost a whisper.
"I know." He said. His lips were pressed together and his eyes dark.
"I'm here for you. We all have our own troubles." I said.
He gave a small, bitter chuckle. "What troubles do you have? You've got a great girlfriend, a big house, never have to worry about money." His voice shook. "No parents to tell you what to do!"
I glared at him, disgusted. He met my eyes with his own steely ones before coming to his senses. "No. I didn't mean that."
"Think before you talk like a jackass." I said, pissed off. I felt Len shrinking next to us.
"Sorry." He said, but I could tell his question still remained.
"I do have my own troubles."
"You do? I never hear about them."
"I…I don't like to talk about them." I said, backtracking.
"I talk to you about mine. And look, I just snapped on you and you didn't punch me or anything."
"What? I wouldn't do that. I know you were just venting."
"Yeah, well, I want to return the favor."
"Look, I'll tell you when I want to talk, okay?"
He looked at me for a while. "Okay." He said. Then he grinned and the air felt lighter. "Sorry again, man. Anyway, I'm exhausted. I think it's about time I…" he yawned loudly. "Yeah. Goodnight." He said, turning over. Len and I said our goodnights and the lights were turned out.
I mulled over the day in my head. Walking hand in hand with Miku to school. Parting ways with the girls to go to the movie. Len's hand in mine in the dark of the theater. Watching Len beat Gakupo at a game he claimed to be a master at. Arguing with Gakupo just now. My own troubles. My secrets. The blond-haired boy just a foot or two away from me.
"You asleep?" whispered Len.
"Nah. Can't turn my brain off." I said.
"I think the hot cocoa is keeping me awake."
There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Kaito…" his voice was nervous, a little pained. "Are things…different now? Now that you're out of the hospital…?"
I turned to him. I had to give him up right? My hand tingled at the memory of Len's own hand in mine. I couldn't do this. I knew that from the time I decided to give up on him that I wasn't fooling myself.
"I feel just the same for you." I said, staring into his eyes.
"Then why…I mean, you're still with Miku…"
"I want to be with you." I said, scooting over a bit so I could put my hands on his shoulders. I let my hands slide down and take his. "But…I can't leave Miku."
Len looked at me, upset. "Well then you DON'T. If you did, you'd leave her!" he said, almost a shout. I peeked over my shoulder at Gakupo. He snored loudly and stirred but didn't wake. We returned to our hushed voices.
"If I leave Miku, she'll have no one." I said quietly. I looked Len in the eyes. "She may seem popular, but she's lonely. She needs me."
Len looked down sadly. "Why can't she find someone else?"
Because we're cousins. I don't think I could say that. None of our closest friends even knew. I opened my mouth. Then closed it. Opened it again. Stuttered.
"What? What do you want to say?" he asked. I could tell he was a little worried now.
"I can't tell you…"
He gave me a sour look. "You can't tell me?" he repeated bitterly.
"You'll think differently of me." I said.
"You sound like a kid. What could change my mind? I thought we could confide in each other."
"Miku is…my cousin." I said, the words sounding foreign to me. I had never told anyone this before.
Len's eyes widened before regaining composure. His jaws stiffened in the slightest. I was waiting for him to make me regret this…
"Your cousin?"
"My aunt and uncle passed away…her parents. My mom left me. Never met my dad." I cleared my throat quietly. "I moved with Miku after the funeral. I couldn't stay in my old house. And Miku needed someone with her."
"So…after you moved in together…" he struggled to find the words. To grasp this. "Things became…"
"No." I said with a level of distaste. "Not like that. We argue like normal relatives. I don't love her any more or any different than I would a cousin." I said.
"So why did you start dating?" Len asked.
"Miku likes the attention." I answered frankly.
"Sounds shallow…"
"But I have to be there for her."
"Then why did you kiss me?" he said with exasperation. It did feel like the conversation was going in circles.
"Because, you're different, Len. I love Miku like a cousin. She's rotten, but I care for her. You…" I slid my hand along the side of his face. He blushed lightly. "I love you." His eyes met mine with longing and pain. "I loved you since we met. I realized it on the ferris wheel. I couldn't lose you….I still can't…"
"Kaito…I don't think I can let you go…Not for Miku…Not for myself."
His breath brushed against my lips. I realized how close we were now. Our body heat bounced off each other. Len seemed to have come to a decision.
"Kaito…I don't care if I'm your second. I don't care if I'm your secret. I just want to be yours."
Our lips met. My hands rested on his back and his clutched my hair. I had never kissed like this before and I could feel myself melt into it. The wonderful feeling of Len's lips on mine intoxicated me. I dreamt of only him that night.