Chapter Eighteen

I'm Her Mother, So . . . .

"Father, I'd like to kindly request my girlfriend's hand in marriage," Len said firmly, bowing deeply to the man standing before him. Rin couldn't believe what an idiot he was being as she stood stiffly behind him, struggling to keep calm. She couldn't taint her image by attacking him right now of all times, so she withheld the urge to smack him over the back of the head.

"You're supposed to ask the girl's father that, moron," she sighed, shaking her head at Len, unable to resist wearing a slightly amused expression. He was so strange, but it was really endearing in some ways.

Len looked to her curiously then, straightening himself up and turning his body toward her. "Didn't you know? Kiyoteru is your father."

She cast him a withering look. "No, Len. This is your father."

He nodded, his face completely serious as he held her gaze firmly. "Yes, I know that, but he's yours, too."

Rin paused and stared at him. His expression was so serious, so certain, that a seed of doubt planted itself in her mind, and she questioned, "What?"

"He's your father, too. We're brother and sister. Didn't you know that? Look at us, Rin. We're practically twins!"

Rin's eyes widened in horror, and she stammered, "B-b-but, you just asked for my hand in marriage!"

"We'll be a political statement!" Len exclaimed proudly, grabbing her wrist to pull her toward him. Their faces were barely an inch apart now. "'Brother and sister, separated at birth, get married!' That's what the headlines will all read!"

"You're crazy!" Rin exclaimed. She'd been dating this boy for a month, and now she found out that they were siblings? What hadn't he said something sooner?

Then, Kiyoteru laughed, and she looked toward him desperately as Len continued to grin, his face incredibly close to Rin's own. "He's not serious, Rin dear," he explained, thoroughly amused. "I'm sorry about that. Thank you so much for putting up with his antics. I'm glad he's managed to find a level-headed girl."

Rin felt a tick of irritation that Kiyoteru had let her believe Len for so long, but this was her first time meeting the man, so, instead of snapping, she remarked coolly, "It's Iroha you should thank for dealing with him. She's the one who comes to wake him up every morning and drag him to school."

"You should join her sometimes," Len commented, the loudness of his voice reminding Rin of how close they were. She took a step back in discomfort as he grinned at her. "It'd definitely make me wake up quicker."

"I have better things to do in the morning," Rin retorted, gazing at him icily. She was far from forgiving him for that trick he'd just played.

"So cold," Len sighed.

Then, Rin turned a sweet smile to Kiyoteru and stated, "I'm Kagamine Rin. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He took her small hand in his surprisingly large one and replied, "Hiyama Kiyoteru. The pleasure's all mine."

"What are you doing here?" was the first thing Rin had to say to the man that she hadn't seen since Len's funeral.

Upon stepping off the elevator, the first thing she'd seen was Iroha and Kiyoteru sitting on the floor in front of the apartment, laughing at some joke she'd missed. Even before she'd bothered wondering about Kiyoteru's presence, she wondered about Yuki's absence, but questioning Kiyoteru had come out first.

"Rin," Iroha said, as though it wasn't already clear that Rin had arrived. The pinkette and the black-haired man quickly scrambled to their feet. As Kiyoteru took a step forward, Rin took one back, eyeing him cautiously. It wasn't that she didn't trust Kiyoteru. He'd always been kind to her, and she had no reason to think badly of him. Still, his presence here bothered her, and she was acting purely on instinct in that moment.

"Where's Yuki?" Rin questioned Iroha before her previous question was answered, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"She's with Piko," Iroha quickly assured her, obviously seeing that franticness that had surfaced in Rin. Things were fine now, they were finally fine, Rin futilely tried to reassure herself. So why was Kiyoteru here? Had Iroha called him here? Did she not want to take care of Rin and Yuki anymore? "Miki is going to bring her home."

Did Iroha think she could just leave after everything? Didn't she realize that Rin still desperately needed her, that Yuki needed her, too? Did she really think it was okay to just let Kiyoteru take over? "What didn't you tell me?" Those words meant two things now, questioning about both Kiyoteru and Yuki.

"She called me right before school was ending," Iroha defended, looking a little shocked by Rin's harshness. "Calm down, Rin. Everything's okay."

Rin felt herself grow even more annoyed at being told to calm down, so she whipped her fiery gaze onto Kiyoteru and snapped, "Why are you here?"

He didn't back down from that vicious gaze, though. He simply stared at her and stated, "I came here to check up on you, Rin. I've been trying to call since the funeral, but it goes straight to voicemail."

"I unplugged the phone after Len died," she said, nearly choking on the word died. "At the time, I figured that, if Len wasn't calling, there was no reason to pick up, so I unplugged it." She felt herself calm down a little as a dark memory shadowed her gaze. "And I got a call from someone that I really didn't want to talk to after I'd decided to plug it in again, so I unplugged it again."

Iroha looked down at the carpet. She'd been there when Rin had gotten the call and had taken over the phone for her as Rin had downed an entire bottle of sake in one swig. She could understand why Rin had gone to such drastic measures.

"I came to see how you and Yuki were," he then informed her, easily offering his forgiveness for her not having made contact for months. "And I planned on looking into Iroha while I was down here, so I guess I got two birds with one stone."

His smile didn't comfort Rin at that moment. Instead, she felt herself growing more and more untrusting of the man as her defensive side kicked in. "What do you want with Yuki?"

Kiyoteru looked to Iroha for assistance, but she simply gave his a curious expression. She was wondering now, too. So, he looked back to Rin, and he stated, "Quite honestly, Rin, with the way you were at the funeral and the way you avoided making contact with me, I wasn't sure you'd be a suitable mother. I came to see if you'd like me to adopt Yuki."

"Adopt me?"

The three adults turned to Yuki, who stood next to Piko and Miki at the entrance of the elevator. Devastated, Yuki turned her expression to Rin. She looked completely betrayed as she wondered, "He's going to . . . adopt me?" But, before Rin or Iroha could explain, the girl's gaze turned to Yuki, sparking with anger as she shouted, "You said you weren't going to let that other person adopt me! You said you'd keep being my Mama! You said you wouldn't let me go! You said you still wanted me! You're a liar! You're a terrible liar!"

"Yuki—" Iroha started, but it was Miki that fell to her knees before Yuki and began to stroke her hair as she glared at Iroha.

"Shh, Yuki, shh," Miki whispered as Piko took the child's hand and gazed at her worriedly. "That's not the person who wanted to adopt you, okay? I'm sure there's a logical reason, okay? Your Mama and Rin have both chewed me out on several occasions. There's no way they'd let you go that easily."

"You're all a bunch of filthy liars!" Yuki still insisted, glaring now at the woman who was trying to calm her down.

"You're just wound up right now, Yuki," Piko was murmuring gently to her. "You're just worried about Ryuto, okay? You don't really mean it, right? You know they wouldn't do that to you."

"So that's Yuki," Kiyoteru breathed. Rin hated the fondness in his gaze. He didn't know Yuki. He had no right to show those loving eyes to the girl.

As he took a step toward Yuki, Rin barked out, "Stop." He froze immediately under her icy gaze, and Rin growled, "I'm her mother. I will take care of her. I don't need you here, so kindly leave and don't ever come here without first clearing it with me. You're not needed."

"Rin," murmured Iroha, looking worriedly at Kiyoteru. Rin froze when she saw the pained expression in his gaze, immediately regretting the way she'd spoken to him. He was Len's father, the kindest man she'd ever known. He didn't deserve those harsh words, especially since he'd lost the two most important people in his life. And, still with that pained expression, he gave her a guilty smile.

"I'm sorry, Rin," the man excused, bowing to her. "I didn't mean to come in here and mess things up for you. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Taking care of Yuki without Len, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to handle it, but I can see that you love Yuki very, very much. I'll go now."

She stood very still as she passed by him, and then the little girl that had fallen into quiet tears, and heard the elevator ding shut. Staring at the floor, she felt the world shaking around her. That poor man. He'd just been trying to take care of her, as he always had. Just like Aria, just like Iroha, just like Yuki.

"I'm sorry," Rin murmured to no one in particular before she dashed toward the stairs and raced downward. She pulled herself in front of the elevator as it dinged open, revealing Kiyoteru once more, his face in his hands. She took a few steps back, allowing him space to exit. Only after the elevator closed once more did he look up and notice her.

"Oh, Rin," he murmured, delicately forcing himself to smile. His eyes were bloodshot, Rin immediately noticed. He brushed his hand along his eyes, and she noticed his tears. The guilt was nearly incapacitating now as she stared at him. "I'm so sorry. It seems I've made a mess of things. I promise, I'll leave you alone from now on."

She was a terrible person, the worst kind of person, she noticed as she stared at this man. Seeing his tears made her want to cry. She'd done this to him, this poor man, the one who'd always treated her with such kindness.

Unable to stop herself, she hugged her arms tightly around him and hurriedly told him, "I'm so sorry, Kiyoteru. I didn't mean to be like that. You were just worried about me, and I stomped all over it. I was just so worried that you'd come to take her away from me. If you took Iroha or Yuki from me, I have no idea what I'd do. I love them both, and I need them both so much." She tightened her grip around him and continued, "I'm so sorry. You needed me are Len died, didn't you, and I cut you out completely. You called me your daughter, but I abandoned you the moment things got tough. You took care of me all the time when I was younger. I'm so sorry.

"I love you, Kiyoteru. I'm so sorry that I've been so terrible. I promise I'll do better from now on. I'll bring Yuki to visit you, and you can come visit us, but I can never give her to you. That's not how Len wanted it. He wanted me to be her mother. I was meant to be the one to take care of her, and I've done a terrible job up until now, but I'm trying to do better. I've been terrible ever since Len died, and I've had no right to be. I'm going to start making up for it now, I promise.

"Yuki is my daughter, Kiyoteru. That was Len's last gift to me. He left me Iroha and Yuki because he knew I couldn't do it on my own. And, now, he's left me you, too. Please forgive me, Kiyoteru, and please be a part of my life. I've missed you so much."

And then, in the following silence, Kiyoteru hugged her back, and she felt herself begin to cry, murmuring her apologies over and over again in the comfort of his embrace.

Author's Note: The moral of this chapter: do not have serious, life-altering conversations in the hallway where anyone could walk by and eavesdrop.