Chapter 14
"Rin, get up. It's time for lunch."
"Leave me alone, IA. I'm still pissed that you came over to my house last night," Rin muttered groggily. She had fallen asleep in class again, this time dream free, and had received a rather unwelcome awakening.
IA frowned and, after thinking for a moment, she pulled Rin's chair away from her desk, causing Rin to nearly topple over. Rin quickly turned her head to give the pink-haired girl a look that could kill.
"What the hell was that for?!" Rin practically shouted.
"Keep your voice down, or Ms. Luka will get mad at you again," IA calmly berated her.
"Like I care," Rin grumbled with a huff.
IA sighed softly. "Anyway, let's go get lunch. If we don't hurry, all the good things will be gone."
"Huh?"
Though, before Rin could ask why they were getting lunch from the cafeteria instead of what they usually did, IA grabbed her wrist and began dragging her out of the classroom. Rin gave many loud (and some obscene) protests, but in the end IA managed to successfully pull her to the food line in the cafeteria.
"Let go of me!" Rin yelled and, with one last good tug, she freed her wrist from IA's grasp. It wasn't like it even mattered anymore, though, considering she was exactly where IA wanted her to be.
"When we get to the front, choose anything you want. I'll pay for it," IA said suddenly.
Rin blinked a few times in mild surprise, before a familiar look of irritation formed on her face. "I don't need your money. I'm not poor, you know."
"I know that. I went to your house, remember?" IA responded.
"How could I forget?" Rin muttered while reflecting on the previous evening in annoyance. "So, if you know I'm not poor, why are you offering to buy my lunch?"
"Well, for one thing, I'm almost certain you didn't bring any money with you, because you usually don't have a need for it," IA started.
She had a point, but it wasn't like Rin was going to admit that.
"And secondly, it's just the nice thing to do," IA continued simply.
"Didn't I tell you once before that I don't want your kindness?" Rin asked curtly, narrowing her eyes at the pink-haired girl.
IA ignored Rin's comment and moved forward in the line, finally arriving at the food station. She picked out what she wanted and put it on a tray, before turning to look at her blonde-haired companion.
"What do you want, Rin?" IA questioned.
"Nothing," Rin replied firmly.
IA frowned slightly and pulled Rin's arm to bring the girl closer to the array of food options, causing Rin to yelp and give IA a displeased look.
"Choose," IA said simply while gesturing to the variety of foods laid out before them.
Rin scowled but grabbed a random package of sandwiches anyway. The sooner she got this over with, the better. IA, seemingly satisfied, added Rin's item to her tray and led them over to the place where they could pay.
"Can you hold this for a second while I get my money out of my bag?" IA asked, holding out the tray to Rin.
"Whatever," Rin muttered while taking the tray from IA.
IA smiled softly then rumaged through her bag for the correct amount of money. Once she had enough, she handed it to the cashier and turned back to Rin.
"Thanks," IA said as she took the tray of food back.
"I didn't do that much, you know," Rin responded, still annoyed by this whole situation.
Though, as they started walking off to find somewhere to sit, she remembered the question she wanted to ask earlier.
"Hey, don't you normally bring your lunch?" Rin pointed out.
IA nodded. "Yeah."
"So why didn't you bring your lunch today?" Rin asked.
"I wanted us to sit with Yukari, and she always buys her lunch on Wednesdays," IA answered simply.
"Why do you know that?" Rin was a little creeped out by the fact that IA knew this when, as far as Rin knew, the two girls never spoke to each other.
"Because Yukari's my cousin," IA replied, not seeming to notice Rin's creeped out tone.
"Really?" Rin asked, surprised. "If she's your cousin, then why don't you two ever hang out at lunch or anything like that?"
For a moment, IA seemed slightly hesitant, before she casually shrugged. "I never thought about it before, and Yukari has her own group of friends, so we just never did."
"And what made you think about it now?" Rin questioned, looking at IA with a mixture of curiosity and puzzlement.
IA sent her a sideways glance as she pushed open the doors leading out into the courtyard. "Yukari told me last night that she became friends with you yesterday."
"She told you what?!" Rin exclaimed incredulously.
"She said that you two ate lunch together, and that you didn't even yell at her or anything. I'd say that's a friendship, at least with you anyway," IA explained simply.
"Hold on a minute, what the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Rin growled in irritation.
"Oh look, there's Yukari. Yukari!" IA called, ignoring Rin's last question.
Yukari looked over at the duo at the sound of her name and offered them a small smile. "Oh, it's IA and Rin. What are you two doing out here?"
"Do you mind if we sit with you today?" IA asked.
Yukari blinked, surprised, then smiled meakly again. "That's fine with me." She then turned to look at the other people sitting with her. "Is that alright with you guys?"
There were four other people sitting at the table in the courtyard with Yukari. To Yukari's left was a girl with long red hair topped off by an unusually large ahoge, and beside her was a silver-haired boy who was considerably lacking in height. Across from them was a girl with green hair that was cut shorter in the back than it was in the front, with two long pieces in the front falling over her shoulders at each side. Sitting to the right of the green-haired girl was a petite girl with somewhat bright blue hair that gradiated to purple near the end. Rin had the vague feeling she had taken note of some of these people on the first day (probably because of their unique appearances), but she hadn't bothered to remember their names.
"Sure, I don't see why not," the girl with green hair replied first, giving Rin and IA a friendly smile.
The rest gave nods of agreement or simple statements of "that's fine", giving the two outsiders their approval. IA set her tray down next to the blue-haired girl and gestured for Rin to join her.
"You're Rin Kagamine, right?" the red-haired girl inquired as Rin sat down. She didn't seem to hold any sort of malice, just curiosity.
"Yeah, what about it?" Rin responded a bit warily.
The red-haired girl giggled, causing Rin to raise an eyebrow questioningly.
"Don't mind her, Rin. She's just excited to meet someone new. That, and she thinks you're pretty interesting," the silver-haired boy explained plainly, elbowing the girl beside him to get her to stop giggling.
The way he spoke was similar to IA's way of speaking, only his voice was more quiet while hers was more monotone.
"Interesting?" Rin repeated, her eyes starting to narrow a little. I didn't come out here to be mocked, she thought in irritation.
"After your, um, outburst a few days ago, Miki's taken a sort of interest in you," the girl with green hair began a bit tentatively, as if carefully choosing her words. "In a way, you could say it's kind of Miki's hobby to befriend people others think are a little strange."
Rin let out an annoyed huff and began munching on her sandwich, observing her new companions with mild curiosity. They were a group she had seen hanging out together quite a few times, and they seemed to mostly distance themselves from the rest of the class. Rin figured she could probably classify them as the "loner types" that clung to each other for support, different from the kind of loners that she and IA were. They were probably outcasts due to rejection from the popular part of society, Rin and IA were simply outcasts by choice.
"Um, don't you think we should introduce ourselves?" the blue-haired girl pointed out. Her voice was soft and sweet, higher than the other girls'.
"Oh, right! My name's Miki, I hope we can be great friends!" the red-haired girl, Miki, chirped.
That's probably not going to happen, Rin thought with a small scowl.
"I'm Piko Utatane," the silver-haired boy, now known as Piko, added simply.
"I'm Aoki Lapis, it's nice to meet you both," Lapis, the blue-haired girl, smiled sweetly at them.
"And I'm Gumi Megpoid, good to meet ya," the girl with green hair, Gumi, finished.
"My name's IA, and you already know Rin. It's nice to meet you all, too," IA introduced herself before gesturing to her blonde-haired companion.
"Hey, I can introduce myself, you know!" Rin snapped.
"There's no point. They already know who you are, I just did that out of formality," IA responded plainly.
Rin made an irritated noise that was somewhere between a growl and a hum before returning to her sandwich. It wasn't half bad for school food.
"So, what made you decided to eat out here with us today?" Yukari asked, directing the question more toward IA than Rin.
"Just felt like it, I guess," IA replied offhandedly.
"I see..." Yukari mumbled thoughtfully.
"Turns out you told her we became friends yesterday," Rin said, sounding like she was accusing Yukari of a horrible crime.
"Huh? I did...?" Yukari seemed to be thinking for a moment before she remembered. "Ah, that's right! Oh, um, was I not supposed to say that? I-If it makes things any better, I don't think I used the word 'friends'!"
"It doesn't," Rin stated flatly.
"Ahh, I'm really sorry! I-I just thought that since, you know, you didn't seem that bothered by me it meant we were sort of friends..." Yukari trailed off nervously.
Rin looked at Yukari curiously. Even though IA said they were related, the two of them couldn't be more different. They didn't look like each other, they certainly didn't act like each other, but Rin supposed that since they were only cousins that wasn't too surprising. Still, it was interesting to see.
Rin sighed. "Quit acting like that. It's not like I'm going to kill you or anything like that."
"O-Oh..." Yukari blinked in surprise before smiling sheepishly. "Right, sorry about that."
"And quit apologizing, too. It's getting annoying," Rin added with a point look.
Upon noticing Rin's gaze, Yukari nodded quickly. "Got it!"
"Silly Yuka, there's no need to be intimidated by Ri~" Miki commented in a singsong voice.
"Ri?" Rin echoed, confused.
"Miki likes to give people nicknames. We all have one," Gumi explained.
"Mmhmm! Yukari is Yuka, Piko is Pi, Gumi is Mimi, Lapis is Lapi, and Rin is Ri!" Miki chirped. Then, she paused and hummed thoughtfully. "Hmm, but what should IA be? Her name is so short I don't have much to work with..."
"You can call me Aria, if you want," IA said while stirring her cup of yogurt.
"Aria it is then!" Miki grinned happily.
Rin was tempted to ask where the name Aria came from, but she decided not to in favor of staying out of the conversation. She was hardly listening to what they were saying after that, her attention being focused instead on her surroundings. Winter was on the way, meaning it was getting colder out. Soon, it'd be too cold to wear shorts anymore, which kind of sucked. Rin liked her simple hoodie, shorts, and tennis shoes combination. Not that she particularly cared about clothes, though. It's a nice day outside... Rin thought to herself, watching the branches of trees sway in the breeze. Somehow, sitting out here like this, having lunch with people she hardly knew but wasn't entirely against, brought a small trace of a good feeling into her life.
A/N: What's this? An update that hasn't taken me over a month? What kind of magic is this?! Haha no but seriously this is really good for me, and probably the only reason why this update was so fast is because I wrote three chapters all at once the last time I updated. Sorry if there's any mistakes with the spelling/grammar (there shouldn't be since someone read this over for me a week ago) but I don't really have time to check. I'm working on a project for school right now so I'm super busy ;n; Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please tell me what you think! Your support fuels me to keep writing!
Have a wonderful day/night/whatever~