long-distance relationship
It was Len's twenty-seventh birthday.
Frowning at some TV commercial that had just flashed, he gripped the remote tightly. Why was he forced to sit here and watch some superhero cartoon show? He was done with this phase long, long ago. Gone were the days that he'd wear red capes and draw out a plastic sword. He experienced chasing his neighbors while in his superman costume, telling that they should surrender. Rescuing damsels in distress, oh, he was over that, too. Len would free his dog to chase the girl he liked, and then he would help her by dragging his own dog away. In the end, the girl he liked disliked him more. She hated him more than his dog. Whatever. The thing here was: "childhood" was done for Len Kagamine. Why? Go back to the first sentence.
Adults would never celebrate their birthday watching a cartoon show. He was supposed to be having the day of his life, drinking beer and partying. But of course, that wasn't Len. Partying? Psh, so mainstream. He'd rather face his computer and do his work. Nevertheless he never meant that he wished to spend all day sitting here (watching cartoons), though. Now, why was he here again?
Oh, right. He was waiting for a five-year-old boy to come out of his room.
The blond man furrowed his brows. No, it was taking him so long. What on earth was that kid doing in his room? When that cunning little blond asked him if they would leave the house at exactly eight in the morning, that kid had planned everything. Len should have seen this coming. He was supposed to see it! The kid was so antsy last night; he even pushed him out of his room when he tried to kiss the boy good night. "I am a big man," said the tiny blond with a tall pride. "Goodnight kisses are for losers," added the boy. Losers, huh? Len smirked.
The flashy colors on the screen faded into black as his thumb pressed the switch button. Heaving a sigh, Len calmed himself down. Nero was just a kid. He didn't mean to ruin this day (yet), for sure. Well, Len wished that the boy really did not plan this all out. Again, Nero was just a boy. This kind of behavior was expected from a kid of his age, right? Hell, Len's mom said that she'd seen worse. But still...
"Are you still there?" a little voice yelled from upstairs, loud stomps echoed after.
Len tilted his head up as though he could see the boy from the top-stair. It was empty but Nero's squeaky voice still talked. The impatient blond lifted his wrist to check the time, and yes, they would have to leave after five minutes.
"Nero, come down now. We'll be late."
Soon enough, the boy's footsteps thudded against the wooden floor. A boy came running downstairs with his bright blond hair bouncing at every step. He had a cheeky smile on, a really cute smile that could magically melt Len's irritation as though it was a candle to an ice. Len did not stand from his seat, and instead he waited until the boy slumped next to him. Damn those flushing cheeks, the man told himself. This boy reminded him so much of her. Nero was her girl version, Len admitted.
"Are you mad?" Nero asked, crawling towards the scowling man. Grabbing Len's face, he whispered, "I did something really important so...I was stuck there."
Len just arched a brow. It was very uncharacteristic of Nero to apologize. Whenever he would say the word 'sorry', Len felt like he shouldn't believe what the kid would say next. This boy was a menace most of the times. He must be up to something again. Right now Len's face was being squeezed by Nero's tiny hands. Didn't he say he was sorry a few seconds ago? Was this a new form of tormenting?
"Okay, let my face go."
"No!" whined the kid, puckering his lips. Len cursed himself. Sure, Nero was cute but that wouldn't change the fact that he was annoying. "I'm going to tell you so-something."
"Spill. Hurry up. We have to drive, you know." Len rolled his eyes. His hand patted the boy's head. "It's an important appointment. We can't be late."
Nero held him up for a good half minute while making fun of his face. He stretched Len's cheeks, poked his nose and even tried to put his thumb in Len's nostrils. But when the older guy told him that they should go now, Nero told him the secret. "I just pooped and I forgot to wash my hands."
Nero hopped down of the couch and ran away from the vexed Len. His giggling echoed inside the house even though he was already on the lot. Len just rolled his eyes, knowing that the kid was joking. He was raised better than that. Len stood and grabbed his keys calmly. When the door was locked behind him, he walked to the car. The boy was already in the passenger's seat.
"Hurry up, dad! We'll be late! Walk faster! Hurry!"
Smiling, Len went straight to the driver's seat and started the engine.
For the first ten minutes of the drive, Len's son was sitting well-behaved behind while humming the soundtrack of his favorite cartoon show. After another ten minutes when they left the town premises, the kid had his face pressed against the window as he stared at the wide green fields in awe. The stalks of glades bowed as they passed by. Nero told some story his teacher read last Monday and Len listened to him. The father interjected some questions about such fable, wondering how did the turtle defeat the bunny from a race.
"The bunny...l-lost the race be-because he walked as slow as you did earlier," the boy wipped his head to Len's direction. "You're the bunny, dad. Bunny dad."
"A handsome bunny, am I not?"
The kid just made some gross noise of disagreement. Thirty minutes passed and Nero was lying prone on the cushion, bored to the core. He had sung all nursery rhymes he learned, told the wonderful stories he could remember from his school. The boy complained about the ride, his patience too short for today's trip. The father apologized about their somewhat long drive, but was interrupted when the boy begged for him to tell a story instead.
"What story? I don't know a good one," replied Len anxiously, recalling the plot of some good action movie he watched days ago. Would Nero like theTransformers?
"Tell me something about...about...about m-mom," the boy stood behind Len's seat, wrapping his arms around his dad's forehead. "Come on, dad. I want to hear how you met."
"I told you that already,"
"I can't remember. Come on, dad..."
Sighing, Len agreed.
Len met his wife when he was nine. The sun was warm and bright that morning of spring. Everything was green and lovely in the Kagamine's lawn. His mother loved planting flowering plants, and that morning he was asked to water them. That morning too he met the girl who would be his wife fourteen years later.
She had the prettiest hair; it had the color of the summer skies. Her smile was equally charming like her face. Len instantly fell in love with the new girl in the neighborhood. Her name was Miku, nine years old too. She told him that he got nice flowers there. Though Len didn't like flowers a lot, he just laughed it off. He invited her over so they could water them together.
Miku loved white and pink peonies. They were outrageously beautiful during spring, she said. Together, they look after the flowers Len's mother took care of.
In their garden he first met his wife. They were young and innocent back those days. Len suddenly missed the good old days.
It was easy for Len and Miku to become best of friends as they grew older. From the meaningless holding hands, it was easy for them to hold each other romantically. When puberty hit them and hormones kicked in, they became an item. Their story was filled with peonies and good tales. College ended soon, but their story would never end.
"That was all, Nero." Len turned down a path where willows lined up. "You can tell what happened next."
"No, dad. I can't." The boy was now sitting next to his father, arms crossed against his chest. "What happened next?"
"Well," Len shrugged, eyes still on the road. "An annoying cute boy was born and his name was Nero. The end."
The boy whined again, his brows drew together. His flushing cheeks were puffed as he waited for his dad to tell him the part of the story he would always leave out.
"Say it this time, dad. What happened next? Where is mom?"
The father remained quiet for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. Kids were naturally curious, weren't they? What a pain...
"Didn't you say you were in a long-distance dictatorship?" Nero yelled at his dad. Well, he got one word incorrectly there.
"It's a long-distance relationship, Nero. Dictatorship is a different thing."
"But I don't understand what's that, dad."
"Well," scratching the back of his head, Len smiled awkwardly. "It is...what it is. Yeah."
How was Len supposed to explain things to his own child? Actually there was no need to explain because he was truly in a long-distance relationship with the love of his life...
...with him here and Miku in heaven.
Today, they would go to visit her grave.
a/n: sorry. this is so boring. well, well..well. advance happy valentine's day. this isn't the daddy Len I wanted to write but...