Two years ago - Tenth grade graduation
The graduation ceremony was the most solemn event they ever had to participate in. Yet the senior students, their families, their teachers and the school community were enthusiastic.
The venue was one of their region's biggest convention centres, and the school rented a conference room in one of its wings. Despite the name, the structure and layout of the room already had the facade of one of the main halls to add the extravagance and atmosphere of the humble event.
Everything went as planned by the school administration. Despite the teachers being on stage most of the time, the focus of the program were the senior students with their prussian blue togas and graduation caps.
It was a common sight amongst them to have their hair styled, make-up on faces, school uniforms in their prime condition with shined shoes, and the brightest smiles with the significance of today.
When Rin climbed on the stage to receive her awards, Kaito clapped in support and friendly admiration. He gazed towards Len similar to that day in rehearsals.
Len still had that focus at the stage, and this time he visibly smiled. His eyes seemed to sparkle with subtle glee as he clapped.
Some segments in the latter half of the program were witnessed in its fruition once left to the imagination back in rehearsals. There was a speech from their speaker—an alumnae who graduated five years ago. Their class valedictorian's speech was uncovered for the first time, and a skit the students (who endlessly rehearsed) dedicated to their families and carers who joined them.
After Kaito hugged his parents and his sister, who managed to book her flight in time for her brother's graduation, he left from their seats.
But not without his parents begging him to socialise with his friends instead of them. Kaito hung out with some of his classmates as they walked around the elevated hall where families and carers were seated.
Kaito saw Len being doted on by his parents. His mother smiled fondly as she held the one medal her son wore around his neck.
Len's parents both had corporate office jobs. His mum particularly was a manager in a big corporation. It was evident with their body language and their attire as if they were in a work conference instead of their son's junior high school graduation.
Their attitude at work did impact some of their parenting towards their only son, which caused some resentment and tension to Len. Kaito was told all of it when they were younger.
It was usually the case that they pushed him to work hard with his studies and produce higher grades. His childhood consisted of him being forced to show a proper work ethic that Len still struggled to achieve.
Kaito was on the receiving end of Len's heart-to-heart conversations these days, whether it involved Rin or other aspects of his life. With a few compromises here and there, and some realisations on both of their ends, Len's life at home was better than before. His relationship with his parents improved overall.
After Kaito and the classmates he followed had moved on from the area, he left the scene of Len with his parents.
Afterwards, he saw Rin with her family. It was not an image of an affectionate family, unlike Len's. But the appreciation and pride towards the youngest Shimoda child was obvious by the looks from her parents as they commented on the many medals she had on her neck.
Her older brother and sister stood nearby with deadpanned expressions. Kaito heard Rin's father's jest on how the longer she wore her medals, it might give her cramps on the neck. Based on the body language and the small smile on her face, Rin felt comfortable around her family for a short while.
Kaito did not see much of Rin's interaction with her family as he and his group quickly left to another side. Their aimless lingering lasted long until the seniors were told to return to their seats at the lower deck and the program resumed.
After a few more moments that led to wrapping up today's events with a final farewell, the senior students were now officially graduates. They were finally ready to open the door for another chapter in their lives.
Ambiance music was played alongside hats thrown up in the air with cheers and screams of joy. Everyone else clapped for the new graduates at the conclusion of the ceremony.
It was then the seniors were called for the last time to gather on stage and pose for a final class photo. Large smiles, tear-tracks on cheeks and even an incoming sob was captured behind the cameras for the final moment of these students together.
Families were able to reunite with their teenagers and accompany them nearby the stage, where small groups now socialised and mingled with their teachers, the school administrators, and parents of fellow classmates.
Len's parents talked with the principal and the teacher who assigned the research assessment. Rin's family stood on the sidelines as they quietly spectated from where they stood, far-away from the people. Until Kaito's parents approached them and the Shimoda parents engaged with them from that point.
Kaito and his friends took photos together as the camera shutter clicked several times at rapid speed, including their group hug. When they deemed the photos to be decent, some of them were dragged by other groups and so they separated.
His closest friends all expressed sincere words of gratitude and appreciation for their friendship and the experiences they shared for the past four years. Kaito already missed Lily, Gumi, Neru, Miki and Nana once they all moved to new schools.
He was not left alone longer after their separation when a hand tapped his shoulder. When Kaito turned around, it was Rin who waited for him to notice her.
"Hey Kai, congratulations again! You worked hard since seventh grade. Now all that hard work paid off. I'm proud of you. Thank you for being my friend ever since" Rin beamed with her radiant smile. Her several medals clinked and clanked against each other whenever she moved, and earned a few teasing but fond remarks.
When Rin offered a handshake right after, Kaito took her hand firmly and shook it. "Thanks! Congratulations to you also Rin. Look at you digging up all those medals there." Kaito chuckled.
Rin merely replied that there were others who had more medals than her. He would not let his friend's weak excuse slip through him.
"Regardless, you deserve it. You out of all the people in our cohort worked extra hard for what you have right now. That's something to be proud of."
"Oh, you flatter me too much. But thank you." Rin's smile was still present, the sparkle in her eyes and the flush on her cheek was noticeable under the conference room's ceiling lights.
A force of heavy mass suddenly hit Kaito, which made him wobble before he could hit Rin.
When he turned his head to the culprit, it was Len and his arm wrapped around Kaito's shoulder in camaraderie.
"Kai! We made it!" Len grinned.
"Thank you, my friend." Kaito chuckled. "Congratulations are also in order for you who barely crossed the borderline to the passing rate. I'm surprised you weren't given a fake copy of the certificate."
Kaito smirked, purposely teased Len out of spite on that forgotten fact. But it was made in a place of fondness with his sarcastic tone at the end.
"But well good sir, as you can see, I was given a ticket for this venue, which enabled me to bring my family to this prestigious event. I was bestowed this lustrous toga made from the finest satin as you. I'm standing right in front of you, and behold!" Len paused to bring out his certificate out of nowhere.
"Here is my certificate, signed by the principal of this humble institution and by the minister of education himself to verify its authenticity!"
"You do know they can be easily duplicated through photoshop—"
"Yet! I did not resort to those." Len humorously replied to his friend. "Now here I am blessing you with the grace of yours truly on this memorable day." He put up the act and finished it off with a graceful bow.
Kaito rolled his eyes fondly. In a flash second, he heard Rin chuckle behind him. Whether it was because of Len's antics or their interaction in general, he was not sure.
Kaito would never know as they were suddenly pulled together by his mum, who held her phone and obviously aimed the camera in front of them; with the intention for photos.
"Hey, you guys! Smile!" Kaito's mum, Kanako, called the three of them out loud, on top of the busy crowd around them.
Len, Kaito, and Rin stood together shoulder-to-shoulder and smiled in front of the camera.
Kaito stood in the middle of his two friends and thought it was a little symbolic.
He was beside his two most important friends. He became their unofficial middle man when they first got together, and the remaining bridge that attempted to connect them after they separated.
Someday, would he be involved to help the two to get along again?
Kaito felt awkward at first when his mother suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made them stand together for a photo. Yet in the end, he appreciated it. A memento was created for this day with his closest friends.
After the three of them expressed their gratitude to Kanako, Len spoke out but not towards Kaito.
"Hey Rin," Len called for her attention, which she granted when she turned her head to him.
"Congratulations on all your awards. You deserve it. You'll always be the top of our class for me." Len stuttered along his lines. But it was the best ever attempt Kaito saw him do.
Even if Len flubbed throughout, he already took huge courage to approach Rin without a buffer in between them compared the last two years.
"Congratulations too, Len and thank you." Rin smiled. "You also deserved your award."
Len scratched his neck and timidly grinned as he thanked Rin.
They began small conversations with smiles on both of their faces, and even a few chuckles alongside.
The scene intrigued Kaito so much he brought out his own phone and took several photos of them with his shutter on silent. He was surprised neither Rin nor Len had noticed.
When Rin took a side-glance, it was then that she discovered what Kaito did and gasped.
"Kai! Cut that out!" Rin quickly covered her face with her palms.
Upon Rin's raised voice, even her parents and Kaito's were interrupted from their conversation and checked on the three friends.
Rin covered her face with one palm and the other shook in front of Kaito to avoid more of her embarrassment caught on camera.
Len simply stood there. His face flushed and his mouth was only able to produce noises. Until he hogged his friend on his phone. Kaito did not refuse without a fight, and raised his arm up so Len would not steal the phone from him.
The scene made the parents laugh, and Kaito joined shortly until both Rin and Len groaned.
Despite the ruckus, it did not stop Rin and Len to continue their chat with each other. They managed to learn about their plans on the upcoming break and from that point on forward.
Rin visibly showed her amazement when Len shared that he was to attend the school farther into their city that specialised in the creative arts. He was enthusiastic to add that he was keen to focus on animation and game development so he wanted to get a head-start to improve his skills.
Rin commented how Len's choice of school and his plans were far more interesting than her's, as she was still unsure of what to do for university two years from now.
When Len asked about her plans (if she didn't mind answering it), Rin simply stated that she just got admitted to a school farther from their place.
When she mentioned the name, Len widened his eyes. "CFH? Then you and Kai might still be classmates then."
And that was Kaito's cue to re-enter the conversation. Rin always wanted to move there after they finished tenth grade at YMH, before he even considered it.
Since he and Rin were in separate batches with their applications, Rin's outcome was announced on a different date from Kaito's, specifically yesterday.
The three of them still talked about the future until Rin got dragged by Gumi to join the girls in their photos.
Rin waved bye to Kaito and Len and separated from them. The two boys went on to have their own conversation until they also parted ways and got into other groups.
It was thirty minutes after the graduation program ended when Kaito was once again with Rin, but not for long.
"Hey Kai, my family is heading off now so I'm finishing for the night. They already told your parents. Thank you for everything again, and see you soon at CFH!"
"It's all good, Rin! Thank you also for everything. Hope you and your family have a safe drive home!" Kaito greeted and hugged his friend.
They waved each other bye even when Rin walked away and turned her back for the final time. Quickly after, she returned to watch her direction and joined her family towards the exit.
Kaito was supposed to start his way to where his family was, when someone called out his name.
"Kaito! I'm sure now!" Len ran quickly and halted his momentum when he was close to where his friend stood. He had a huge smile on his face and he seemed to be agitated, as if he was about to burst.
"What are you sure about!?" Kaito raised his eyebrow on the sudden behaviour of his friend.
"My feelings for her! I love Rin again!"
It was then Kaito felt his brain shut down and then rebooted. During the short-circuit moment, he had not noticed people nearby heard Len's confession with varied reactions.
Kaito seemed to gain sense once again when Len desperately asked him a question. "Have you seen Rin!? I need to tell her right now!"
"Yeah I saw Rin—" Then Kaito had to pause after he realised a crucial detail. "Shit, she just told me they left!"
"No!" Len's voice broke. "We should find Rin! I'm sure she's still close! Please Kai!"
Len's pleas convinced Kaito they might not be too late.
They quickly rushed through the exit at the speed of light, passed in between the crowds and without second doubt of what everyone else would think.
They searched through the hallways of the convention centre and reached the outside parking lot where most families who travelled by car had parked.
The location was the most convenient in the short distance towards their wing. Yet there was no sign of Rin nor her family's car on sight.
Kaito felt a sudden weight internally pull him down.
He assured Len there was still time for him to sort out his feelings for Rin.
At the same time, Kaito hoped Len's feelings were just another phase just so Rin would never get hurt again. He obviously was meant to betray Len for the sake of Rin.
But why was it, right now, it hurted him to see Len finally realise it was too late…?
Kaito turned to his back and saw Len's shoulders slumped. He heaved a sigh and dropped his gaze to the floor. With a mutter, Len's voice broke.
"I'm too late."
Len's legs gave out and he kneeled on the ground. His eyes were unfocused and lost its hopeful gleam he just had mere seconds ago.
Kaito walked towards Len and wrapped his shoulders with his arm in comfort.
They walked back indoors in silence. Their footsteps and Len's heavy, slow breaths were the only sounds heard from them.
No, Len. You were not too late. I should be the one who should feel sorry. Kaito thought to himself.
I lied to you. I betrayed you once again for Rin. I gave you false hope with your last chance.
"And that was it. I ruined Len's chances to get back with Rin." Kaito somberly stared at the curtains that gently swayed with the wind from the open window.
He avoided the gazes of his friends as he concluded his reminiscence. "I convinced him during the summer to reach out to Rin. I volunteered to plan for the three of us to go out somewhere, an opportunity for him to confess. But he always refused."
Miku, Oliver, Gakupo, and Luka's expressions were solemn with frowns on their faces.
"To answer Gakt's question, it's not only Rin. Len also remembered. He does it fondly, now that he's in love with her again. But for Rin, more likely everything felt like a shot on her chest. I'll never know because she never mentioned him as much as possible."
Once again, their group was silent. The background noise from the conversations of their other classmates were the only things Gakupo, Oliver, Luka and Miku heard.
Kaito stared distantly at the view from the window. The curtains danced in front of him while he avoided their gazes.
"It's my fault for not reaching out to Len afterwards, even when he never answered my messages." Kaito sighed. His sombre gaze at the window remained.
"We just drifted apart. I never bothered to realise it earlier. When I did, I didn't do anything to stop that distance between us. I'm a coward, too scared of what he would say after all those days of abandoning him again. It's been a whole year since we last talked."
His friends did not know what to say. It was a heavy conclusion they all now carried, after they insisted to share the burden of regret from Kaito's chest.
"Would you think that Rin and Len were the case of two souls fated to meet, but were not destined for each other?" Oliver broke the silence.
"How come that's the case, Oli?" Luka raised her eyebrow but was curious on how Oliver would present his opinion.
"If Rin had not met Len, she wouldn't have known the feeling of being in love more than the stories she read. She learnt that it was okay to be vulnerable with other people. We all know despite how helpful Rin is towards others, she doesn't like it when others are helping her." Oliver began.
"Specifically with Len, he would not have improved himself if he hadn't let Rin into his life. It's as if the two were meant to meet with a purpose. But it didn't guarantee that their relationship would work out. It was proof when they broke up and caused a rift in their whole cohort."
"I think you might be reading too many romance books, Oli. That's a little bit of a stretch." Gakupo squinted his eyes and his tone indicated his disapproval, though not outrightly demeaning to his friend.
"No, I think that actually makes sense." Luka's eyes widened and her right palm was raised at the group's eye level. "The two obviously had chemistry. But their relationship ended up being volatile for both of them."
While Gakupo, Luka and Oliver enthusiastically debated the legitimacy of the latter's opinion, Miku was disengaged.
She simply sat and stared at empty space. Her eyebrows were scrunched as if she was in deep thought.
Kaito felt concerned for his friend and crush that he had the urge to check on her. But she beat him to it when Miku spoke to him.
"Kaito, you mentioned something a while ago."
"Wait, what? What do you mean, Miku?"
"That part when Len told you he still loves Rin. That means Len is more likely to still be in love with Rin today."
Miku's response made the three others break off their debate and turned their heads to her.
"But Miks, that was a year ago and it was on our graduation nonetheless. What if he already moved on and could be dating anyone else today?"
"I have a hunch he'd be the kind of guy to post about something personal if it's big and special. At least on a vent account." Miku retorted.
"He's not using his old vent account anymore. So I don't think that's the case today even then." Kaito reluctantly replied.
"What are you getting on now, Miks?" Luka joined the bickering of the two.
"I think we should help Rin and Len meet again." Miku casually suggested.
"What!? Are you sure with what you just said, Miku!?" Gakupo's eyes widened.
"Listen, Rin is obviously still struggling with the lack of closure from the break-up. More likely this could be the similar case with Len, especially since he fell in love again. Don't they deserve to clear everything they've held on for too long—grudges, regrets, shame, and the 'what-ifs'?"
"You seriously want two people who had the ultimate wreck of a break-up reunite?" Oliver gently chided over Miku's impulsive decision.
"Guys, think of it! What if Len is still holding on those feelings for Rin after all these years? Even if he may have passed on with the feelings, this would help the both of them get the closure they need!"
"But that still doesn't make any sense, Miks. This is all too sudden and impulsive." Now it was Kaito who put his opinion on the idea.
"It will make sense once you all remember what will happen after we finish this year and we all graduate." Miku huffed her breath. The shift to her serious demeanour also influenced the whole atmosphere within their group.
"Have you all forgotten Rin will move overseas at any point this time in the year?"
Miku's words struck personally to all of them. Breaths were cut short, eyes were widened and a muttered curse by Gakupo was heard.
"She may be forced to not wait for graduation once that visa is granted. It could literally happen today and we would all none be the wiser, even Rin and her family. She might actually go home later and then receive the news." Miku reasoned out.
"Would you want Rin to leave the country with unresolved business and regrets about what she could have done once she boarded that plane?"
It was something their friend group had dreaded ever since Rin shared the news that her family had plans to migrate after they lodged a family application for permanent residency overseas.
As her friends, they were happy and supportive of what Rin would do for her future. But it was painful to imagine they would be far away from her. Hang-outs would never be the same without chaotic, sarcastic and witty Rin.
They all wanted the same thing: that Rin's visa be granted once graduation went through. Any time far earlier than that would force Rin to miss out a long-awaited moment she always looked forward to.
The daunting fact was that it could happen anytime. And Miku's words only reminded them of it after they blissfully forgot it.
"...But what if it all backfires? What if Rin or Len, or both of them, didn't like the idea of being forced to meet by their mutual friend and his new mates?" Luka boldly argued Miku's point. Her arms crossed below her chest.
"Their relationship already failed once. It's already finished. Why are we trying to revive something that's been dead for ages?"
"No, Lu. I'm moving on from the point that we could make them a couple again. I'm insisting on the fact that Rin and Len need to resolve the issues they have from the past, or they'll never have any other opportunity in the future to do it."
Miku and Luka continued to throw points at each other. Tensions rose between them. But they were far more controlled than what would usually happen with Miku and Yuki.
"Now I'm convinced Miku's actually right. I'm raising my hand for this cause." Gakupo raised his hand within the level of his shoulder in the middle of Luka and Miku's debate.
"What, Gakt!? Are you actually serious?" Luka cried out loud as she temporarily removed her gaze from Miku. She turned to the direction of her friend for the supposed betrayal.
"I'm leaning towards Luka for this one." Kaito simply commented.
"Finally, someone who understands the lack of logic on this idea, thank you Kaito!" Luka then turned in the opposite direction to where Kaito was.
"And this is the man who personally knows the two of them! We would be disrespecting both Rin and especially Len, a dude we personally haven't met, if we insist on this supposedly reunion. It'll be far messier than their break-up, mind you."
"But Luka, Rin needs this!" Miku cried. "Evend before Kaito would have told us about Len, I could already feel that this is something she would have wanted to do."
"Now, Miku. That's where you're wrong. You feel it, but not seen it nor heard it from Rin herself. And we're back to the question: How much can we expect for this whole plan to fail because either of them doesn't want it? I think it's a lot." Luka retorted.
Being competitive as she was, Miku still argued with Luka. She believed Rin and Len deserved a reunion, likely for the last time.
"Fine! You have Kai's vote, I have Gakt's. Whoever gets Oli's vote, the majority wins." Miku's frown deepened as she stared headstrong at Luka.
"I agree. Now Oliver," All of them looked at their friend with a book under his palms on the table.
"What do you think? Should we let Rin and Len meet again before Rin moves overseas? Or should we just let the two of them be at peace away from each other, now that we've learnt they're not the most compatible couple." Luka explained.
Oliver stood quietly and blinked for a few seconds, as if he had not heard what Luka told him. If there was anyone else besides his friends that looked at him right now, they would be slightly disturbed with Oliver's eccentric behaviour.
But Luka, Miku, Gakupo, and with the recent addition of Kaito and Rin, already understood their friend. They were aware he already thought of the choices and merely forgot to acknowledge it first.
After a few silent moments of waited anticipation, Oliver took a deep breath and released it. He finally said what he had to say.
"... I'm on Miku's side."
Miku jumped from her spot. She cheered and pumped her fist in the air. The woman also did a fistbump with Gakupo who joined in on her quick celebration. Luka merely facepalmed while Kaito was dumbfounded.
"But Lu is right. There is a large chance this whole thing could end up in shambles. That's why we need resources, external help from people outside our group. I mean, people who actually both know Rin and Len and not just Kaito." Oliver explained a detail that expanded this new plan.
"If we have all of their confirmations, then I think we're all set to do the plan. Bonus points if we can talk to Len, since I think we need confirmation if he still has feelings for Rin."
"Exactly, Oli! Thank you! Of course we wouldn't just drag the two of them in a park and then go from there. Think of this as our farewell gift to Rin, as much as I hate to give her a farewell gift if it means she gets to stay with us." Miku lowered her voice by the end at the mention of Rin's impending departure.
"But I'm serious with this plan, guys. Rin needs to let go of that difficult part of her past if she wants to move forward."
"If I have a word, I don't think talking with Len should be a bonus. I think we need to see him." Gakupo emphasised the very word.
"Now that we're so sure that Rin needs that closure despite denying it, we should give Len a heads-up on our plan, like Oli said. If he's still in love with her, then we help him confess. If he's not interested in her anymore, then we help him to apologise and seek that closure from Rin."
"Woah, Gakt. You're a genius there!" Kaito smiled. He slowly changed his mind on the plan.
"Well, these looks are not for nothing." Gakupo winked and pointed at himself with his thumb. Luka rolled her eyes while the rest of them laughed.
"Okay, Kai. Now that we're all on the same page, we need to talk about what I said with 'external help'. Are there any people we can ask their permission for this plan? They need to be like you who know both Rin and Len." Oliver began to organise the details.
"Now who said we're on the same page? I never agreed to be in this whole plan. I still think we're meddling ourselves in other people's business, even if one of them is our trusted friend." Luka crossed her arms below her chest and frowned.
"But Luka!" Miku whined. "We need you in this plan! We need each other if we're able to pull this off."
"Lu, if we managed to get permission from the first person, would that convince you otherwise to join us?" Kaito negotiated.
"See, now Kai himself is with us! We can't leave you all alone, Luka!" Miku commented with a smile.
"I may not have been able to talk with Len since last year. But I have a gut feeling he still has feelings for her. Just a hunch as his friend." Kaito shook his shoulders.
Luka hummed with a frown, while she thought of her reply. After a few moments, she decided. "Yeah. I'll accept it. But I'll drop out anytime I think I don't want to be involved with this anymore."
"Yes! That's a deal!" Miku smiled and grabbed Luka's hand to shake it. The deal was sealed.
"Also, I need to mention this right before we begin. I'm sure you guys are already aware of it." Kaito coughed for effect and began.
"We all know Rin is too observant for the liking of anyone who has the deepest of secrets inside them. Can we please try our best, including me," Kaito raised his palm as if he was on an oath.
"To not be obvious with our planning and be careful around her. But not too much that she'll start suspecting something is wrong. That also includes you, Lu, even if you're not officially part of us yet."
Luka hummed her agreement. Miku, Gakupo and Oliver eagerly nodded with serious faces and hands in oath.
"And to answer Oli's question," Kaito began. "Yes, I know who we should approach for this plan. We're still connected on social media and they're all still active there so I can reach out to all of them."
Kaito smiled. "I'll talk to one of them first to see if they're available to meet us. After that, we'll go from there with the other two."
"Awesome, Kai!" Gakupo cheered.
Oliver wordlessly snatched the nearest object on one of the nearby tables.
"Hey! That's my notebook, Oli!" Miku called him out. Oliver seemed to not hear her when he started to scribble what seemed to be notes.
"We need to be careful with our planning. That's why we need to write everything we need to know, what we need to do and what not to do. It's like a guide, if you will." Oliver smiled.
"And here, Kai, you should write the names of those people who we'll be asking for help. I've added some space just in case something happens and they end up recommending another person who can help us."
"What happened with the three-person rule, Oli?" Luka asked.
"We're not disregarding that, Lu. I meant it as a back-up plan in case we can't contact one of them or they won't be able to help us and can't give us a yes or a no."
Luka merely nodded with Oliver's idea. He made a point there, she thought to herself.
When they seemed to reach an agreement, Kaito wrote the names of people they would contact soon.
He also added Len's name for the reference of everyone, even if he knew they would have known the basics of the plan by heart. It would not hurt to be careful.
Miku's eyes focused on the last name Kaito had just finished writing. She grabbed her phone, pressed the screen a few times in rapid succession. And she scrolled with her thumb.
"Seriously, this Len never posts shit? Is Rin's ex-boyfriend living under a rock?" Miku complained while she made a face that completely doubted what she saw at the moment.
Luka got intrigued with what Miku saw on her phone. So she quickly stood behind and watched her friend scroll on Len's social media account from her shoulder.
"Why are you already looking at his social media!? That's creepy!" Kaito reacted.
"No, Kai. This isn't cyberstalking. I'm doing a background check. I may have started this whole plan. But I can stop all of this if I see the dude we're trying to reunite with our Rinny is actually an asshole with big red flags."
"Pfft, he already was." Luka snickered.
"Can we please not comment like that about my friend?" Kaito chided his friends, which included his secret crush.
"This Len barely posts anything about himself. And look! Anime and video game profile photos! Of course he'd be the type to not show his face for that edgy aesthetic."
"Or he could have self-esteem issues by the looks of it." Luka followed up with another comment of her own.
"Can you two please stop giving unsolicited comments about my friend?" Kaito repeated his plea for the second time. The people he was meant to address were distracted on their browsing.
Miku made her scrolling slower to skim through the posts on Len's wall. "Video game memes… Coding memes… Nerdy jokes I'm too stupid to understand… Jokes about sports? Seriously, is this the person Rin fell in love with? He's the complete opposite of her! I would never see Rin being delighted with sports!"
"Wait! Oh Lord, don't tell me he shared this meme with sexist undertones…" Miku scrunched her face. "Oh god, please…"
Luka made a pained 'Ooohh' sound before she began another comment: "That's a no from me."
While Luka and Miku were so invested with their 'background check' based on Len's activity in his social media, Gakupo and Oliver already joined them. The two silently spectated the activity on Miku's phone screen.
"Oh wait, you guys!" Miku called out, as if she was already aware of the audience on her phone. "He posted something other than memes! It's from his other social media account connected here."
"That's just his stuff on top of a table. Meh." Luka frowned on the seemingly boring photo that would not tell much about the person they did not cyberstalk, but performed a background check.
"No, it's more than that." Oliver joined the conversation. "Look at the corner, an electric keyboard is almost cut out from the frame. But you can see the edges of it. His notebook has both codes in the C++ program, a coding language for computers." Oliver dissected out each detail as he pointed his finger on Miku's phone.
"It looks like a draft or something since the laptop shows us what seem to be polished codes halfway from being finished. The next page shows musical notes and lyrics on the bottom."
"Oli mate, that's awesome observational skills there! You're our resident detective." Luka chuckled.
"Oh, he has another photo attached in this post." Miku called out. She quickly swiped her screen towards the left to move to the new photo. "Holy shit, this is Len!?"
Kaito was fed up with his friends not listening to him. His curiosity got the best of him when Miku and everyone else were surprised in front of her phone.
Kaito joined the crowd and looked at her phone screen. Sure enough, Len was there and did not hide from anything nor had anything to cover his face.
His hair did not have the multiple sharp edges he was known for, with the loss of the excessive hair wax that he usually groomed in. But he still had a ponytail above his neck that seems longer now.
The photo was a mirror selfie taken from the bathroom on the mirror above the sink. Len smiled, albeit awkwardly. He had his thumb up in the air and it was evident that his eye bags were the only feature that stood out. The caption read:
MirrorSound27_: this project is on the way to ruin me with a road-roller ;w;
"Aw, look at him pulling all-nighters for his assessment. Looks like he's taking art school seriously." Luka chuckled with her joke. Miku also laughed alongside.
"With the sheet music and the coding, it looks like he's coding a program while composing a song at the same time. Now that's extreme talent right there." Gakupo made his comment for the first time.
"Didn't Kaito mention that he was planning to focus on game development? Maybe he's involved with making a game for an assessment." Oliver loudly speculated.
While Kaito confirmed Gakupo and Oliver's opinions, Miku rapidly scrolled through Len's social media account through the photos. Eventually, she reached the very end where the page did not refresh nor the scroll bar shortened.
"God damn it, there's no photos from two years ago! He only made the account after he, Kaito and Rin graduated." Miku grumbled.
"Hey Kai, do you have photos of him when you guys were classmates together?" Miku turned her head back to make eye contact with Kaito and pleaded.
"I mean, I could dig up the photos to show you." He replied.
"Hey, wait! We still need to finish writing the master plan! What if we get lost along the way?" Oliver caught everyone's attention before they completely forgot the point to cyberstalk Len in the first place.
"Oops, Oli's right. There, I'm done with the background check. Not much data I could work on in the first place, and Kaito's approval is enough assurance for us, I guess?" Miku confirmed. "Alright, let's polish everything."
Oliver opened Miku's notebook once again after they got sidetracked with her 'background check' from earlier. "Now that we have the names, we need to clarify the steps to take for the final time."
And so Oliver wrote on the paper. Along the way, various people gave comments and suggestions orally or, like Miku, audacious to write alongside him.
It resulted in various strikethroughs on certain words or phrases until they finalised all the steps.
OPERATION: CLOSURE FOR RIN AND LEN!
1. Ask permission on Confidante #1 - Lily (Rin's close friend) - she's nice and can agree with this
2. Ask permission on Confidante #2 - Gumi (Rin's best friend, Len's classmate since primary school) - did not like their relationship in the first place but kept quiet to support Rin, tough to convince + hard-headed
3. Ask permission on Confidante #3 - Neru [(Len's ex-girlfriend] Rin's close friend outside Kaito's group) - same as Lily to more likely agree
*We must reach a majority vote to continue with the plan
Back-up Contacts
- Nana
- Miki
- Kokone
4. Reach out to Len [he better accept we're doing all the work for him]
- Kaito contacts him first and ask if he wants to meet-up with us
~If yes, we arrange a meeting
~If no, we offer the help remotely through Kaito
- If he still loves Rin, we help him confess
- If he doesn't love Rin anymore, we help him seek closure
5. Get Rin to meet with us [nform her of the whole plan when she's being brought to Len at a meeting place (We have to do as a surprise!)?]
~We use the reason that 'our group just want to hang out' so Rin would be willing to join us
~We bring along Len and hide him temporarily before Rin is ready
~If Rin denies, we will [respect her choice and abort the whole plan] Miku will [coerce] convince her
"Now, does everyone agree with this final version?" Oliver flipped the notebook with the people in front of his desk so they could read it properly.
"Yeah, I'm chill now." Miku smiled.
"You better be, Miks. After you edited the hell out of that plan." Oliver frowned and almost glared at the young woman.
"I'm so excited with all of this, to be honest. Like we're on a mission to fix this sullen relationship!" Gakupo pumped his fist in his chest, whether through exaggeration or actual sincerity, his friends never knew.
"Yup, I'm all set." Kaito answered last.
Then he took a glance at Luka. The girl herself sighed.
"Do I really have to agree even if I'm not part of this plan?"
"Of course, because eventually you will join us soon." Miku answered with a cheeky smile.
A few moments of silence until Luka finally answered. "Oh alright. Yeah, I agree with everything."
"Then it's all settled then." Oliver replied, closed off Miku's notebook and gave it to its rightful owner. Miku smiled, like a child who got her favourite candy. She put the notebook in her bag for safekeeping.
The door opened and there stood Rin on the foyer. She was in a conversation with someone from the younger class. The young woman smiled and made hand gestures whilst she stood at the door to hold it open.
"Rin's here. Remember what Kai mentioned!" Miku lowered her voice on the last part.
After the younger student left, Rin closed the door and approached her friends gathered in one spot. It looked like something big happened to them.
Must be some big gossip she had to miss out, Rin guessed.
"I really got dragged by another teacher right after I finished with the first one. I ended up marking quizzes from the year below us to help." Rin sighed.
"Aww poor Rinny, you must be so exhausted! Here, have some of my spare tuna sandwich." Luka teased Rin and brought out a ziplock with the mentioned snack inside.
Rin denied as she already ate her lunch in the midst of the marking. But she was thankful of Luka's generosity.
"Why the hell would you bring an 'extra' tuna sandwich?" Kaito mockingly asked.
"For emergencies, duh!" Luka replied, as a matter of fact.
The bell rang shortly for the end of lunch period and the start of next class. Everyone inside the room organised themselves. Those who spent lunch outdoors also made it in time to enter the classroom.
"Oh, before I forgot!" Rin spoke out of nowhere. "Miks, I'll grab your notebook so I can do the guitar elements on your song, as you requested."
"Sure thing, Rin! Thanks for reminding me. I would have forgotten it if you didn't mention it." Miku quickly brought out her notebook with her compositions and gave it to Rin.
"Thanks, Miks! I'll get back to you maybe tomorrow, or at the end of the week if we get too much school work today."
"No worries at all, Rin! Take your time, that song doesn't really need any rush." Miku assured her friend.
Rin smiled in appreciation for Miku's understanding, and put the notebook inside her own bag.
Before anyone else could speak, their teacher finally arrived and class started.
Little did everyone else know, a certain group of friends were in a crisis.
Behind Miku and Rin, a horrified Kaito, stressed Luka, terrified Gakupo, and worried Oliver sat side-to-side and gave each other looks of fear and apprehension on what just happened in front of them.
Miku just gave Rin the notebook where the whole plan for her very own closure was written on.
.
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Go to the AO3 version of this fanfic. Everything that was under these [] brackets are meant to be strikethroughs. Go to AO3, people who use it are sexy because the creative liberty and the compatibility with CSS and HTML are what makes it sexy.
