"If you don't mind my asking… What are you doing?"
It's a beautiful day, and Rin is in a rather good mood. Choosing her clothing with a strict eye, she turns to a curious Len, tossing a pamphlet at him that had been lying on the nearby living room end table.
"I forgot to tell you, but I have a part time job today," she says absently, returning to the task at hand. "I'm volunteering."
"Volunteering for…?" He flips open the little book, poring over the pages with interest before nodding his head. "... a festival?"
"That's right. It's a tradition around here. There's a festival at the end of this month every year where people celebrate the moon. I know someone who runs a booth there, and I always lend a hand when I can." She picks up one of the two yukata lying before her. "I promised him I'd at least attend today."
"I see. I know little about 'festivals' other than the celebratory games and vast amounts of food," Len responds, leaning against the couch and watching her. "Is this an important event?"
"You could say that," Rin shrugs. "It's important to the people who hold the event every year. It's been a tradition for at least a century now, and generations upon generations of families have painstakingly made it happen over many hardships. They treasure it greatly."
"Do you treasure it as well?" he inquires, and Rin pauses.
"...You could say that."
It's truth, after all. The moon festival has always been a time of kindness to her. She's spent almost half her years attending it, and helping out the owner of one of the booths there. A gentle older man who always treated her quite well. In fact, way back when, he had seemed thrilled at the prospect of her helping him, and she remembers fondly how much it meant to her to be there.
It gave her a sense of belonging, and it's something she hasn't been able to replicate other than that fateful day.
"Now," Rin begins, clapping her hands together, deciding on the yukata on the left and turning her gaze onto the blond before her. "I was thinking you'd be joining me."
He raises a brow. "I am?"
A sly smile settles on Rin's face, and she doesn't have to see herself in the mirror to know there's a mischievous gleam in her eye.
"That's right... And I even got you a yukata."
.x.X.x.
The bustle of the crowd sends the hairs on the nape of her neck standing straight up, but Rin holds her own, letting the atmosphere wash over her like a tidal wave.
The festival is lively, as usual. She sees people of every age and size about, from children with their grandparents to sweet young couples on romantic dates, going past the stall. The sky overhead is filled with the last vestiges of the sunshine, replaced by the dark night coming, and the full moon overhead is visible even still amongst the clouds. Sparklers are being lit this way and that, and the scent of fresh fair food wafts to her nose, making her mouth water with the temptation.
Behind the booth, which is one of those fish-catching stalls where you can catch a little fish of your own to take home with a small, breakable net, Rin smiles and accepts cash and tickets, while Len assists the younger children and helpless adults with the fish-catching process.
He's a natural, which is to be expected when you're not human, but this makes for an excellent teaching experience.
It's been about two hours since they arrived, and it's been an easy night, truthfully. Even though Rin isn't one for crowds and busyness, there's just something refreshing about the excitement in the air during the festival, the beautiful sights and true humanity of it all. Not to say there is no androids at all, or that it lessens it; but when she looks out, she doesn't see humans and robots. She just sees people having a wonderful time. It feels much like it must've been back before people had androids of their own.
A large hand places itself on her shoulder, and Rin jumps, startled, not even realizing she'd zoned out until this second. She looks over her shoulder, to the grinning older man beside her.
"Hey, Rin," Bruno says with a soft smile, his bronzed face wrinkling slightly around his eyes. "Thanks again for manning the booth for me again this year."
Rin offers a smile in return. "Of course. It wouldn't feel right if I didn't."
"Your yukata looks good on you," he says, giving her a gentle pat. "I'm surprised you've never gone out to enjoy the festivities on your own."
She glances away, and bites the inside of her cheek. "Yeah, well… I've got no real interest in being out there."
It's a lie, and she knows it. It feels as apparent to him as it is to her, but she holds up the charade, knowing exactly why she does it.
To her, being out there with those people just feels wrong. Like she doesn't belong with them, easy to single out from a crowd. A stranger among families that aren't hers.
Bruno's deep brown eyes narrow, and his kind face seems to meld into one of concern.
"...You know, Rin," he says, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Not having a family doesn't make you less of a person."
Her heart throbs painfully in her chest, a dull ache she usually ignores. Right now, though, with Bruno pointing it out as bare and thin as brittle glass, she can't hide from it.
"...I know that," she tries to rebut feebly. "I know that, Bruno, I just… Look out there."
She raises a hand at the throngs of people laughing and smiling, having the time of their lives and living in the moment.
"Those people out there, they're happy, healthy, with nothing but this day on their minds. I can't be so carefree anymore. I mean, I never was. It's… not easy trying to be like that."
Her words ring hollow and sad even to her own ears, but Bruno just smiles at her reassuringly.
"You say that, but I see someone still trying to progress," he says. "Rin, your life is not at a standstill. You still have time. Enjoy it."
"Bruno…" she starts, but he shushes her and points to the side. She follows his gaze, realizing he's gesturing toward Len. He's on one knee, helping a boy no older than five or six hold onto the net and speaking to them in a low tone.
"If you were ready to live a life so isolated, that android wouldn't be here right now," Bruno says calmly. "But just the fact that he exists means you want to be just as human as everyone else, and be a part of someone's life."
The sentence hangs in the air heavily, and she feels a lump build in her chest, sharp and aching.
In that moment, Len looks up from his task and meets eyes with her, and smiles her direction. It sends her stomach leaping in a new way, and her face tinges red. Bruno laughs from the side, and nods knowingly.
"I want you to know that, Rin," he says, his deep voice kind and sweet to her. "You have a right to enjoy things just as much as anyone does. With that being said… I want y'all to get out of my booth."
She whirls on him in confusion. "Bruno?"
He ushers her away from where she stood, taking over smoothly.
"Go out and enjoy the festivities for once, Rin," he says, meeting her eyes and tilting his head. "Take your android- Len, was it?- with you, and I don't want to see either of you til the fireworks are over. It's about time you went and had fun out there with the rest of them. Besides, I can't have my booth manned by a daydreamer."
"But, I-!"
She tries to protest, but one look from him shuts her down as easily as if he'd said something.
"...Thank you," she manages finally after a beat of silence, and there's nothing but friendly care in his expression.
"No problem. And…" Just as she starts to turn away to get Len, he halts her. "It's been good to see you're still doing fine."
Rin looks back at him, chest panging painfully.
"Yeah, Bruno, I… I'm still doing fine. Thanks for worrying about me."
"Always. Now get out there and have fun," he commands, brushing her away with a wave of his thick fingers.
Unable to stall any longer, she approaches Len, and he stands up from his post as soon as she comes close.
"Everything alright?" he asks, and she nods.
"Yes, but… why don't we go, um... " She struggles to find the words, and she can feel Bruno's eyes burning a hole into her spine. "... go and look at some other booths?"
Len's curiosity seems piqued, and he raises a brow. "Is that alright? Do we need to be concerned with the booth?"
"No, Bruno said he'll handle it from here," she replies.
"Then, we can do whatever you'd like," he says. "Shall we?"
Barely managing a move of her head, she agrees, and the two of them set off into the crowded area, becoming one with the mass.
Almost immediately, Rin realizes it's hard to stay together, and she tries to stick as close to Len as possible as well as avoid others as they brush past her. The people are illuminated with paper lanterns and string lights, but it's still hard to make out facial features in the darkening night hours.
Suddenly, something slips up against her hand and grips hard, and Rin's breath catches her throat as she looks down. Len's hand is tight against hers, refusing to budge even when she's shoved a moment later in the opposite direction. When she looks up at him, his handsome face is shadowed, but his eyes are bright and luminescent.
"Stay close to me, and I won't let go," Len says softly.
Rin, almost short-circuiting herself with the contact, is left frozen for a few moments before she allows herself to hold on just as strongly, his hand a lifeline in the chaos.
His skin is really… so warm…
How is he so warm?
He stays true to his word, and when they start walking, he stays paced with her effortlessly. With their hands laced between them, Rin feels herself begin to relax more with each step they take.
The next few minutes pass in a blur. She finds herself hopping from booth to booth, swept up in a wave of some kind of childhood nostalgia and intrigue from never having explored the full festival before. She and Len get takoyaki and taiyaki, even dango, and she enjoys the savory and sweet flavors as if it's the one and only time she'll be allowed to.
It's so different. From being the outsider, to being just like everyone around her. She always was the one looking in at the happy, joyful lives of strangers, but now she's in their place.
It hurts, but in a wonderful way that she's never felt before. It honestly meets none of her expectations, yet blows what little she knew out of the water. For just a moment, she breathes in the air and belongs.
Rin goes to point out something fascinating at one of the booths, but then realizes that her companion has suddenly vanished from his post beside her. His lack of presence without any notice at all leaves her abruptly hollow, and she tries to peer through the crowd to find him. She must've let go of his hand when she got over-exuberant.
A little trickle of icy anxiety sweeps through her, and she calls out his name; yet its swallowed in the ruckus around her, and she realizes so is she. She can't find an in or out of the chaos, and it leaves her hands turned sweaty and her heart thrumming at an unnatural rhythm.
Where did you go?
"Len! Len!" Her voice sounds so quiet with everyone around her speaking too. She raises her hand as high as it will go, hoping he sees. "Len!"
In a flash, there's something warm and strong wrapped around her torso, and she's pulled back with a soft thud. Her mouth gapes open, startled, but when she recognizes the sleeves, she peeks backwards.
Locking eyes with Len, she becomes all too well-aware of the way both his arms are tightly wound over her chest. His expression is calm, focused.
"Why did you leave…?" she asks him in a whisper.
"We were separated a few feet away when someone walked between us. I heard you calling my name, so I found where you were."
He doesn't break away from her gaze as he talks, and she feels a heat begin to rise up her throat and to her cheeks.
"Ah…" she murmurs. "You can… let me go now."
There's a beat of silence, and then he releases her on command. It leaves her skin feeling colder and barren, and she reflexively crosses her arms in front of herself as if to preserve the heat he'd left.
"Mommy! Mommy, the fireworks are gonna start soon!" A little boy rushes past Rin's leg, hurrying to his parent and nearly throwing her right back into Len's hands. "Let's go, I wanna see fireworks!"
The fireworks…
"Would you like to go see the fireworks, Rin?"
Her name draws her attention back to Len. Her heart aches softly.
"...Yes," she manages finally, noting the crowd has begun to converge to viewing spots. "I suppose so."
"Let me lead you, then," he responds, taking her hand once more, and Rin doesn't offer protest as he guides her through the dissipating audience.
As if navigating the area with years of knowledge, he easily brings her to a higher area that oversees most of the ongoing festivities. A lone tree sits there, its leaves just barely hanging on to the vestiges of summer, and as they walk up, she's left dazzled by the expanse of stars above them.
Usually, each year she'd sit just outside Bruno's booth and watch the lights from her perch, so it's an entirely new experience being thrust right into the sky along with them. She can see so many people below them, spread out and anticipating what lies ahead.
She can't blame them. She is too.
It's the first time she's let the excitement wash over her like a security blanket, and as she looks to her side, Len is gazing back at her with nothing but warmth and sweetness. It sends her blood racing through her veins, leaving behind a pleasant tingle.
"...You look like you're enjoying yourself already," he remarks. "Do you like the fireworks?"
Rin turns back to the darkened sky.
"...I do. I've never really gotten to watch them like this before. I… never exactly had a family to watch it with, so I always just stayed at the booth or did something else while they were going on. So being here right now feels a little surreal. They always made me feel so free."
"Have you never attended a festival with your parents?' Len asks her, and she can feel a sense of chill creeping back over her.
It's okay. He doesn't know. How could he?
The words bubble up into her throat, and she hesitates to say anything, not used to sharing such personal information. It hits too close to her heart, a reminder of what no longer is.
A voice in the back of her head makes itself heard, though; Len is her android. He was built for her, to know her, and he can't do that if she doesn't open up even a little bit to him.
She's been so careful to show him only the select parts of her life so far, but in the long run, he only knows surface details. Of course there is so much he doesn't— and may never— know about her, but… in this case, all she's done is hide away vital information about her past.
She's so used to hiding, that being seen feels scarier than the truth itself.
Fingers twisting and intertwining together in front of her, Rin refuses to look at him again, letting her mouth open as if another person is controlling her actions.
"...My parents died when I was very young," she eventually says in a hushed voice. "I was only five years old at the time. They'd gone on a cruise at sea and their boat sank to the bottom of the ocean. I grew up without having all of those formative memories like those children down there," she gestures downward at the families littering the area around them. "I didn't have that. I had foster homes and strangers and— and then eventually, just myself."
She doesn't enjoy bringing back the memories, and it leaves a thick lump in the back of her throat. Rin forces herself past it, reminding herself that the past is still the past. What matters is the here and now.
Even if it haunts her every single day like a sword swinging above her head.
"I might not have had that for myself, but when I come here, every year, it feels… a little closer to what it might have been like," she finally says, closing her eyes and breathing in the thick night air. "Fireworks make you feel so good about the world for a little while. So bright and beautiful, lighting up the sky when it's at its darkest."
A shrill sound issues above them, and she reopens her eyes to see an arc of light, followed by a thunderous pop and a burst of light so breathtaking that she can't help a gasp of awe.
The fireworks show begins, and Rin is enraptured by the essence of it all. It makes the darkness so small, and the negativity of her words disappears as if it were never there.
In this moment, she is a child again, finally enjoying the festival the way she'd wanted to for so long but was scared to do alone.
For this, I have you to thank, Len.
If it weren't for him being here with her right now, she wouldn't be standing here. Yes, Bruno encouraged her to go and have a good time, but she knows if it weren't for Len, she would've forcefully said no and never stood here at this moment.
Yet, here she is. Her, and Len, side by side and decorated in flashing blues, reds, greens and yellows. She absorbs the excitement, the roaring of the crowd around them, the exhilaration of the moment.
A small sensation at her fingers, makes her glance down temporarily, and she realizes Len has taken her hand in his again- yet this time, it's him who squeezes it, as if trying his best to be reassuring. When she looks into his eyes, she feels a new feeling of breathlessness take over by the deep intensity hidden there.
He steps close, and she is rooted to the spot as his other and reaches up to brush aside her blonde bangs from her eyes. Her legs are rapidly turning to jelly, and she can't focus on the fireworks anymore, entranced by the colors across Len's blue eyes instead.
His fingers softly dance along her cheek, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she realizes he's leaning in.
A lance of absolute panic pierces her, but it's enveloped by a sense of desire, absolutely encompassing everything else.
What is he…?
Is this his programming, responding to the moment?
Her eyes close on instinct, and she waits with bated breath for the feeling of his lips against ers, quaking in place with terror of not knowing how it will feel or how she'll react.
It feels like she waits forever, the fireworks growing louder with the finale approaching, then…
...The soft pressure of something vaguely warm, not on her lips, but her forehead.
Her eyes fly open, and she is face to face with his chiseled collarbone. She can't see his face, but she can most definitely feel the softness of the kiss he leaves on her skin. Her cheeks are on fire.
He stays like that for what feels like an absolute eternity, and when he pulls away, she can only stand with her mouth open with a questioning look. She searches his expression to find what she's looking for, but his easy poker face betrays little.
"...I think that I may agree with you," he speaks softly, turning to look up at the collage of colors against the skyline. "...Fireworks do make you feel something."
Rin is only able to study him, lit up like a star beside her, and in that moment, her entire body aches to reach out.
To take his hand, to pull him close. To place her lips against his.
It's an overwhelming, strong sense of something she has never felt before. Her world has narrowed down to only him, and her forehead seems to tingle just from the memory of his kiss.
Len…
If anything, this night has imprinted itself in her memories with a stamp-like intensity, and she can't stop her heart from threatening to pound right out of her chest.
But in that moment, when he had been so close, and had done something so unexpected, it had done something that she can't put a name to. It leaves her weak and drowning in a sea of something new and terrifying, but when she tries to focus on it, it leeches away, just out of her grasp. Yet, she knows one thing to be true.
It had set a fire inside her.