A/N: It's been a while since I updated. A lot of things happened, like finding out I failed TAFE which meant $3000+ was wasted, as well as being VERY SICK, however this chapter is finally here. This was the HARDEST chapter so far to write, simply because I wasn't sure how to introduced the situation. I hope it's fine. There may be mistakes because every time I re-read it, I literally re-wrote it. Not editted, re-wrote. Several times and I think this is the best I've done. It's pretty much what I was aiming for... kinda. Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter Six

How the hell did he get himself into this situation?

Wait! A better question!

How the hell would he get himself out of this situation?

If things went the way they were meant to, he would be sitting in his final class, studying like he normally would on a Tuesday afternoon. However, Aiko-san had declared Len too unstable and unfit to remain at school, grabbed his bag and ditched the rest of the afternoon. Ditched! Wagged! They'd left school without permission just so Aiko-san could take him shopping for… bathers…

Ok, when Len said he didn't have any, he meant any appropriate to wear. He'd brought them over the years, had convinced himself he needed them, yet they had never been worn. Yet, once again, he would out shopping for another pair that would, most likely, never be worn. What made matters worse was Aiko took him to the most expensive damn shop to hunt for said bathers.

And now here he stood, a pile in his arms while she continued to look for something appropriate. In his hands there had to at least be half a dozen bathers Aiko-san deemed appropriate, but to buy these meant he'd never no money to put food on the table.

Quick, think of something! "Aiko-san, maybe I wasn't clear beforehand, however the reason I don't have bathers is because I can't swim. What good are they for someone who can't swim?"

"Hmm…" Aiko-san mumbled, barely paying attention. "Plenty of time for swimming lessons."

Who was she kidding? It was Tuesday, Shion-senpai's party was Saturday. That was only four days. If he couldn't actually swim, then that would be a pathetic amount of time to learn how. Reality was, he did actually like swimming, or the water at least. The problem was, he was too ashamed to go, and the pool was always busy at all hours, so how could he get a chance to do that? "Aiko-san… are you joking?"

"Nope," she turned, grinned then carried on. "Actually, I don't believe you."

Great! "Ok, yes it was a lie. However, Aiko-san, I don't need you to do this. I mean, have you seen the price tags on these? I couldn't even afford one with the rates I get paid!"

Aiko-san stopped, glanced at him, at the pile, back at him, and then sighed. "Alright, I'll pay."

"That's not what I meant!"

"Come on, Len. You need something to wear right. Just leave this to Aiko-chan, ok?" She winked.

Len stood there, frustrated, letting out an exasperated sigh. He'd give her five minutes to work herself out, then he was just going to grab one pair and march her out. So how did he pass the next (estimated) five minutes? He grumbled. That was all he could do for now. He grumbled about everything she looked at, grumbled when she got side-tracked and grumbled when she began looking through her selected pile for the "perfect" pair.

Eventually, she settled on a pair old school style black and orange bathers. Thankfully, Len actually liked them, so they spent the next couple of minutes shoving all the others back onto the shelves. Now, all Len needed to do was get her out the store before she-

"Alright, now we need to make sure they fit!"

"…" Len couldn't speak. He'd been trying (secretly of course) to lead her towards the door. However, it was clear Aiko-san had other plans.

"Come on, the change rooms are this way," she grabbed hold of him and began tugging him in the other direction. Still, Len couldn't even produce a sound. It was only when the change rooms came into sight did the panic set it. Considering Aiko-san's attitude, he didn't expect to get away with just trying them on. She'd want to see them on, just to make sure they were right. This could be big trouble if she noticed he was flat down there. He had to think of something… quick!

"Ai-Aiko-san, I have work soon. I-I don't have time to try them on." Big ass lie since he had at least had two whole damn hours before that shift.

"Len, it doesn't take that long to try on a pair of board shorts. We can't just walk out of the shop and assume they're going to fit."

Oh yes they could! "A-Aiko-san…" he began, but realised he couldn't make up any excuse why to not put them on. Looks like he had to do it. He was going to have to start the water works to convince her otherwise. Of course, there were so many people around, so he wasn't sure he could do it. However, he had to do something in order to get out of this.

Maybe you should just admit the truth? He could do that, but…

Without actually realising, he had begun to cry. It was only by Aiko-san's expression that told him that, yes, something had happened. It was only until she spoke when he actually did realise he was crying. Out of embarrassment, he covered his face with his hands, telling himself to stop. What the hell was wrong with him? He shouldn't be crying like this. He was being so stupid. "I-I have to go!" Len choked out, before bolting away from her.

"LEN! WAIT!"

No, he wasn't going to. He raced as fast as he could, trying to find somewhere he could just hide. He knew Aiko was faster than him (hell, she was on the damn track team!) so he needed a quick escape.

Searching… Searching…

There!

Len spotted the signs for the toilets and bolted towards them. He nearly knocked over a man coming out the toilets, mumbled a quick apology and shut himself inside of a cubical.

It felt like hours. It probably wasn't, but it certainly felt like it had been hours since Len had made his escape. Slipping from outside the cubical, he found himself alone in the toilets, and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of a relief. Stepping up to the mirror, he took in his feature, noticing his blue eyes were now tinted with red after crying for so damn long. He shouldn't have cried, should have taken control of himself, but he didn't. Sure, he'd been desperate to escape, but he shouldn't have…

Ignoring it, he stared at himself for a moment, examining his plan face, bloodshot eyes and small shoulders. He was so plain… he never expected Shion-kun to notice him… or his friends. Most people had ignored him, turning him invisible.

Len who never spoke. Len who held himself with so much hostility. Len who never laughed, never smiled. Len who had just shut everyone out.

"I know you're not good around people, but don't you find it boring having no friends?"

Shion-senpai was right to believe that. Len had just closed off his world to everyone, and most people probably assumed he hid himself in the toilets and cried. He'd been so angry… why hadn't he actually paid attention to everything. He was so blurred by his anger, he'd never saw Shion-senpai watching himself, his eyes sad. Instead, Len let himself the angry…

"Just because you all have your own perfect families that make you all nice food, some of us don't have that luxury and have to buy something to eat."

Why had he actually said that? What gave him the right to assume Shion-senpai was perfect? Wasn't he only just telling him the day before that he'd spent time in hospital because of cancer…

Now Len thought about it… what type of cancer did Shion-senpai have? He thought people were battling cancer for years, not just a span of months…

What was Shion-senpai hiding?

"How do you expect people to understand when you don't give reasons?"

Two… faced… liar…

Len clenched his eyes shut, will his brain to shut up and took a breath to steady himself. He should not wander down that path. He should just forget about it, get himself back on track. It wasn't completely Shion-senpai's fault…

"Argh!" Len yelled, scratching his head and storming out. He'd barely stepped out from the door way when he recognized he was waiting for him just outside. Ok… he hadn't quite escaped.

Aiko-san was doing something on her phone, but she'd pushed off the wall, guessing who came out. A few seconds, she turned the screen off, look at him square in the face, and just stared. Len wouldn't lie, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up on their ends, and felt suddenly threatened. She was right in front of him, her face blank, but her eyes hurt. "Come on," she said, holding her hand out for him. "Let's go somewhere without people, so we can talk privately."

It looked like today was going to be a day his big secret was going to come out after all.

The walk back to Aiko-san' place was about ten minutes long. He debated about running a few times, but found himself feeling dumbstruck when he saw it. It was tall two story building, with about six windows across the top half and four on the bottom. The garden in the front was a small, mostly taken up by a drive way and a path way to the front door. It didn't excuse the small garden there however. There was a small flower bed along the wall, filled with colour flowers with names Len didn't know. Past the large fence, it was mostly invisible, unless you came up to the gate. He didn't have much more time to admire the place when she hustled him into the house. The first view he greeted was a long hall way, and a staircase up. The further he stepped in the more he saw. The living room was on the right, being overly large with two couches and three recliners. The TV against the wall wasn't the too big, but was of decent size. The walls were white, but were covered in numerous photo frames. A lot were of Aiko-san and who he assumed was her parents on trips or just outings. There were thousands of photos of faces he didn't recognize, some with Aiko-san in them, others without her. The kitchen and dining were on his right, and one large room. He couldn't get a good view of the kitchen where he stood, but the table in the middle was large, with at least ten seats around its long, slender wooden table. Maybe they had parties? Suddenly, he thought back to the photos. Maybe Aiko-san had a big family?

Aiko-san waited patiently at the foot of the stairs, waiting for him to get over the shock. He was about to head to her when a plump woman stepped into door way, spotting him then Aiko-san. "You brought a friend, dear?" She said with a kind smile. Her eyes wrinkled at the side as she did; giving him a true, genuine smile. She looked like someone who smiled often, her blue eyes gleaming with gentleness. Taking her in a second time told him the only reason she was plump was because she was pregnant. The third time he finally realised her and Aiko-san were exactly the same. Long blonde hair that tinted red in the sunlight, soft, almost dull blue eyes and a soft, oval shaped face. They had thin lips, and a small nose, and when both of them smiled, their cheeks dimpled just the slightest.

However, Aiko-san's mother was showing age. The hair around her temple was slightly lighter, and there strands here and there that were the same lighter shade. He didn't dare call it grey, because they weren't. Just paler, lighter. She was probably late forty's if he had to guess. "Mother, this is Kagamine Len-kun. He sits next to me in class."

"Oh!" She looked surprised, then smiled at him. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Kagamine-kun. I hope she hasn't been too much trouble?"

"N-No, of course not!" Len replied, bowing slightly to her. "It's a pleasure to meet, Minami-san." He replied politely.

"We're going to sit in my room… there is a few things to discuss," Aiko-san said. The comment made Len nervous, wondering if her mother was going to get the wrong idea.

"Of course; would you like me to bring up some refreshments?"

"I'll get them later," Aiko-san replied. There was an underlined challenge, though Len didn't know what for. Her mother just smiled, nodded and headed into the kitchen, leaving them alone in the hallway. "Come on," Aiko-san said the minute her mother was gone. She begun to climb the shallow stairs, and a moment later, Len followed her. Her room was the first to the left, right next to the stairs. She opened the door, and ushered him in.

He'd never been inside a girl's room… and he felt a little disappointed. Aiko-san room was the expected pink thrills and ribbons, but rather plain. There were a couple of posters of guys on the wall by the door. There were a few photos on the other wall, while one complete side of the wall was covered in mirrors. On closer expectation, he realised it was a sliding wardrobe. In the middle of the room were three bean bag seats, with a small table between them. The rest of the room was filled up with a desk with a small blue laptop, her bed with dark blue and purple sheets and the purple curtains hanging on the window.

"You look disappointed, Len-kun," Aiko-san smiled, hanging her bag on her chair and sitting on her bed. "Kaito said the he was when he came up here once."

"Kaito has been in here?"

"We walk to school together. He's five minutes away from me. I was running late, so he came in. He was in my room as I fixed my hair and put on my shoes. He complained the whole time."

"I'm… not that disappointed. I guess I had this expectation it was going to be pink with ribbons and stuff," Len admitted.

"It used to look like that. I grew up fast, but Chiyoko's room is very pink with all her cute stuffed animals and stuff," she grinned, winked then after a moment of amusement, she sighed sadly. "Len… let's talk about what happened today. Not just this afternoon, but everything."

Len stiffened, unsure on what to say or do. "Where do you want to start?"

"This morning," Aiko-san said. "Think about it, I'll go grab us something to drink and eat," she announced, jumping off her bed and moving towards the door. "Take a seat, I won't be a minute," and she was gone. Len dumped his bag next to the black bean bag and sat down. He wasn't sure on what to do… really wasn't. After a moment, he couldn't handle sitting around doing nothing so he got back up and began to wander around the room. This time, he actually noticed a few other things. On her desk was a bunch of frames. Picking one up, he stared at it, trying to work out who they all were. Aiko-san was there, as well as another woman who looked just like her and her mother. Everyone else was… very different. "They're my siblings."

Len shrieked, nearly dropping the frame when he turned around to Aiko-san who'd stepped into the room and shut the door, casually balancing a tray of drinks and snacks with ease. She didn't seem to notice she'd scared the crap out of him. "All of them… they look so… different."

"Well… they aren't all my real siblings. Most of them are fostered. My sister and I are the only children my parents actually had. They took care of the rest. The eldest is literally seventeen years younger than my mother."

Surprised, Len looked back at the photo. "Your mother was seventeen when she took him in?"

"He was the first. My mother took him in when she was actually nineteen. He was two years old and had been abandoned. She reached out to him and took him in. Cleaned him up, feed him and called him her own. He was abandoned because he was different to most boys."

"What was wrong with him?"

"He was transsexual."

Len stood there, dumbfounded. He'd heard her right… he didn't imagine that?

"After two years, mother met father, and a year later they had my sister. They got married, and begun fostering children once my sister was three. They tried again and again to have children, but every single one of them were stillborn or terminated because they wouldn't survive. They adopted about nine children between me and my sister. Considering I'm only twelve years younger than her, that is a lot of children. Three more were taken in after me, but they stopped, slowed down. Mother continued to try for children, and swore to herself this would be the last time. She's pregnant with my little brother, and is ready to pop. We're praying so hard that she has a healthy little boy."

"So… how many brothers and sister did you get through fostering?" Len asked cautiously.

"Seven boys, five girls… besides my older brother and sister. I think of the eldest as my real brother, regardless. The others I do feel as if they are blood of mine, but I adore my big brother. He's getting married soon, so we're all excited."

Len looked at the photo, counted them then frown. If including her older brother, there should be eight boys… there were only seven boys and six other girls beside her and her sister. That didn't feel right. "Wait, but in this photo-"

"The second boy mother and father took in had gender issues. When he was fourteen, he asked to have an operation to turn him into a girl. My parents agreed and helped him through it. It was strange, but we got used to it. He's happier this way, and that is all we could ask for."

Len stared at the photo for another moment. "Did they all have issues?"

"No, but one of the girls does have a muscle disorder. Can't see it in that photo though, but she does have it."

"Does… the youngest three live here still?"

"Two do, one wanted to go to a special school that was some distance away, so he boards there. He visits during the holidays."

Len finally turned to Aiko-san who'd sat down on one of the bean bags, holding a mug in her hands. "So… you're used to weird things like that?"

"Weird? That's harsh. Then again, so is reality, but no one is born prefect." Aiko-san grinned. "If we were, life would be bloody boring."

Placing the frame back on the desk, he walked over to her, dumping himself in the bean bag beside her. "How… how do they do it?"

"Do what?"

"Deal with problems like this? Didn't you all… struggle?"

"Of course they struggled. My oldest brother got called harsh names when guys realised he didn't have a penis. Wanna know how he dealt with that? He punched every single one of those assholes in the face, breaking a few noses while he was at it."

Wow… Len wouldn't have the guts to do something like that. However, as they sat in silence, everything was sinking in. Aiko-san wouldn't judge him… he knew it…

Could he really…?

"A-Aiko-san?"

"Yeah?"

"I…I have something I want to tell you."

"What is it, Len?"

Not Len-kun… just Len. He turned to her, looked her in the eye and felt himself waver. She stared at him with serious eyes. Not judgemental, just serious eyes. Out of nerves, he turned away, clenched his eyes closed and opened his mouth. "The truth is that I am…"

A/N: A whaaaaaat? Will Len confess? Hmmmm... xD I also didn't remember if I mentioned Aiko's surname previously, but it's Minami Aiko. Hence why Len greeted Aiko's mother as "Minami-san". Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. Hope to get more out soon :D