Everlasting Gift

Chapter 11
Alternate Ending

Rin climbed into the taxi that came to bring her to the airport the next day. She watched as her adoptive father and the driver load all of her luggage into the trunk of the vehicle. She glanced toward the blue, cloudless sky.

Perfect weather for flying, she thought, feeling her eyes about to tear again. Rin had thought she cried everything out last night, but obviously, she had more in her.

The trunk door slammed shut and the driver got into his seat in the front.

"Going to the airport, huh?" asked the driver, turning the ignition key.

Rin nodded, knowing that he would see through the rear view mirror.

"Traveling at such an age must be nice," he mused. Noticing her puffy, red eyes, he quickly added, "But there will be things that you have to leave behind."

"Yeah," she agreed, staring out the window as they slowly made their way out of the neighborhood. "Yeah."

Len woke early. Yawning and stretching, he walked over to his computer. He pressed the power button, knowing that he still had homework to finish. Usually, he would be done in a night, but he had spent most of last night thinking instead of on his homework.

The computer whirred and soon started up. Len typed in his password and logged on. He went to his documents to open the blank word document he had started last night. However, when he scrolled down, he noticed something new in the file.

A new .psd file.

Len was sure that he hadn't done any PhotoShop-ping in the past week. Curiously, he hovered his mouse cursor over the file and double clicked it to open it.

He waited for the program to open up, drumming his fingers on the desk and wondering what would it be. The file itself was titled "lenxrin_changed."

The file opened. Len's eyes widened with surprise at what he saw. It was the picture that went around school via cell phone yesterday.

He glanced at the bottom right corner where the layers panel was. There were a few layers there, including a black and white layer and a few other color layers. Quickly, he hid them by clicking the little eye next to the layer name. Then he used the history brush and got rid of all

the other colors that was applied to it.

After a few minutes of editing, Len soon saw the original picture. Instead of a picture of Rin and Mr. Hiyama, it was just a picture of him and Rin.

Len felt his blood run cold, immediately regretting what he had said to Rin in the cafe yesterday afternoon. He silently cursed at himself and got up from his chair, barging into

Neru's room.

Neru was snoring, curled up under the covers of her bed. Her long blonde hair fanned out under her head. She didn't even stir when he walked right in.

Len walked over and roughly shook her awake.

"Huh?" she asked groggily, eyes barely open. Looking around, she found Len leaning over her. "Len?"

Without a word, Len dragged her out of her bed and half-carried Neru to his room. Neru didn't protest, still dazed by the fact that Len was in her bedroom.

He dumped her in the chair in front of the computer, turning her head towards the computer screen. At first, Neru didn't register the picture and the program that was in front of her. After a minute of staring, she slowly realized what it was.

Turning towards him, she tried to explain. "It was just a joke, I swear! I wasn't trying to do anything..." She trailed off, seeing the steely glare coming from Len.

Silently, Len handed Neru his phone. "Why don't you just tell Miku everything?" he suggested.

Neru could have sworn that he had a devilish glint in his eyes. She sighed, taking the phone and dialing Miku's number.

"She won't be happy if I wake her up at this time," Neru noted, seeing the time on the computer.

"Whatever."

After three tries, an extremely irritated and groggy Miku picked up. "This better be good, Len. If I find that you're calling me at six in the morning just to say 'Good morning' or anything else, I'll have your head!"

"Miku, it's Neru. And I called about..." Neru hesitated, wondering what to say. "You know, the thing about Rin. Umm...what happened to her?"

"Oh! Well, she got expelled," Miku said. Her voice seemed to cloud over in tears when she said that. "I'll tell you what happened when we walk to school." She hung up after that.

Neru brought the phone down from her ear and snapped the flip phone shut. Len looked at her suspiciously. "Miku just said that Rin got expelled but she hung up."

Len sighed. "Fine, go back to bed," he told Neru. He turned back on his homework and started typing randomly onto the once-blank document. Neru backed slowly out of the room, glancing back at Len's figure, frantically typing on the computer.

I really messed up this time. He hates me now, really hates me.

Miku waited at the corner, sighing. She wondered how she was going to tell Len and Neru that Rin was moving to America. That was halfway across the world! She also wondered why the heck did Neru call her at six in the morning just to ask about Rin.

Did Neru have something to do with all this? Miku wondered. She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear Len and Neru approaching her.

"Hello? Anyone in there?" asked Neru, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Oh, it's you guys. Good morning," she replied, forcing a smile onto her face.

"So will you tell us what happened to Rin now?" asked Neru.

"Oh, well, because of the photo thing she got expelled," Miku started, pausing because of Len's interruption of, "Expelled?"

"Yeah. The phone call came from the school after you two broke up. And then we called our grandmother on our mother's side and Rin decided to go to school there in America," she continued, ignoring Len's comment. "She just went to the airport a while ago."

Len's eyes widened. "What time does her plane take off?"

"In an hour or so."

He glanced at his watch. 7:30, it read. The airport is only about half an hour away but it's rush hour…

Turning to Neru he said, "You promised to tell Miku everything. Now go. I'm going to go to the airport." With that, he ran toward the busy intersection, waving his hand to hail a taxi. He climbed into the back seat and sped away.

"What did he mean by tell me everything?" asked Miku slowly.

"By everything, he meant everything. Now where should I start?" was Neru's reply.

"Driver, can you go any faster?" Len asked.

"If I drove any faster, then I would get arrested for breaking the speed limit. Besides, can't you see we're stuck in traffic?" the driver replied. "Why are you in such a hurry? Normally, you go to the airport a few hours before the flight, not five minutes before."

"There's someone I want to see off."

"You sure it's not a reason to skip school or anything? After all, you are in your uniform AND carrying a school bag there."

Len sighed, already tired of arguing with the driver. "Look, if you get me to the airport, I'll go to school and stuff."

"Alright, alright. Do you know which terminal the person you're seeing off is at?"

"Umm...Lemme ask a friend," he replied, taking out his phone. Quickly typing, he sent a text message to Miku.

Which terminal is she at?

He pressed the green SEND button on his phone and waited for a reply.

"Well?"

"I didn't get a reply yet..."

His cell phone beeped and vibrated, signaling that a new text message had come.

3.

"Terminal 3," Len told the driver.

"Alright." The driver turned onto the lane that would lead them to the specified terminal. However, the taxi didn't get far before stopping.

"Wow. It sure is busy," the driver remarked.

"I'll get off here," Len told him, knowing that if he stayed, he would've missed Rin's flight. He paid the taxi fare and stepped out of the taxi, ready to jog to the airport.

But he didn't see the car whose brakes had failed careening toward him...

Rin clutched her ticket in her hand, wondering if she should give it to the person. If she did, there would be no turning back.

She stood at the back of the line, letting other people pass in front of her. Other people getting ready to get on the plane stared at her strangely, wondering what she was doing.

Rin bit her lip, deep in thought. If she missed this plane, she would have to go home and explain to her parents why she didn't go and have to make a long distance call to her grandmother...

Rin was so deep in thought that she didn't notice her phone vibrating.

Eh? I thought I turned it off though, she thought as she took out her phone. It was a message from Miku.

Rin flinched, expecting Miku to have sent an angry text message on why she didn't say good-bye to her. Still, she opened the message, wanting to reply.

However, the message wasn't what she had expected.

Len's going to the airport to see you. Try to delay the plane. Everything was Neru's fault. Will explain later.

Rin almost dropped the phone in shock. She thought he hated her! And what did Miku mean by everything being Neru's fault? She shrugged, making a mental note to ask later. For now, she focused on the most important part of the message. Len was coming. To see her!

Suddenly an announcement went up on the speakers of the airport. A female's cool voice was heard.

"There has been an accident on one of the roads to the airport. Because of that, we will be delaying the planes for two hours. We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused."

Eh? Well, the planes are already going to be delayed. Might as well wait in front of the airport for Len to arrive.

She found herself in front of the airport already, her feet automatically bringing her there. Well, even my feet know that I never really wanted to leave...

Rin stared down at the empty road. Normally, in front of the airport, there would be cars. But for now, there were none. It was eerily quiet.

She sat down on a bench, waiting. Suddenly, a siren was heard and Rin looked up to see an ambulance zooming past her. A glimpse inside the ambulance showed that the person lying inside it was a boy about her age with blonde hair.

He looks a lot like Len...wait...can it be...?

Rin stood up from the bench she was sitting on. Her legs felt like jello. She tried walking toward the ambulance that had already walked away. Instead, she collapsed, hitting her head on the bench she had been sitting on, blacking out.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Rin blinked, her eyes slowly opening. She looked around, wanting to find the source of the annoying beeping noise. She pinpointed the sound to be coming from the monitor on her right.

Wait...monitor?

Rin then noticed that she was lying down on a bed. She tried sitting up on the bed but felt a tug on her arm.

Ew, it's a needle! She was extremely tempted to pull it out of her arm but thought better of it.

"Rin! You're awake!" At her bedside, she saw Miku, who just woke up from a short nap.

"Am I in the hospital?" Rin asked.

"Yeah. Don't you remember? You hit your head and knocked yourself out. Someone was kind enough to call the first person in your cell phone contact list."

"Oh." Rin frowned, trying to remember what happened before she fell. Instead, she remembered something else.

A fire.

Where did that come from?

And in that memory of a fire, she heard something.

A boy's voice.

Len.

Rin suddenly sat up and turned to Miku. "Can I get up?"

"Umm...I think so, as long as you don't feel dizzy or anything. You hit your head pretty hard, you know," Miku replied.

"Am I allowed to pull this thing out?" asked Rin, gesturing toward the needle in her arm.

Miku giggled, amused by Rin's hate for needles. "I guess you can. You're not that badly hurt except for a huge bruise and a scrape. Let me ask the doctor first, alright?"

Miku headed to the doorway, watching for a doctor to pass by. She spotted one, making rounds and peeking into every room. When he approached Rin's room, Miku asked, "Can she get out of bed?"

The doctor looked inside and saw that Rin was awake. "Let me do a few tests first just to make sure that she's fine."

He held up a flashlight to her eyes and told Rin to follow the light with her eyes. Rin would have liked to roll her eyes at something this simple, but if she did, she probably would have had to stay in bed even longer.

After a whole minute of this, the doctor turned off his flashlight and said, "She's fine. You can leave the hospital if you'd like," and walked away.

"That was quick," Miku remarked. She turned toward her sister on the bed. Rin was busy trying to pull the needle out from her arm. However, she had a bit of trouble.

"Here, let me try," Miku said, heading over to the bed. "Look the other way." Rin obliged and Miku quickly slid the needle from her skin.

"All done." Rin quickly got up from the bed and put on her shoes.

"I need to check something out. Can you wait for me by the entrance?" Rin said suddenly.

"Umm...sure." Miku looked at her weirdly but didn't ask any questions. She turned and headed out of the room, leaving Rin alone.

A few moments after Miku left, Rin dashed towards the front desk. "Is there a patient named Len Kagamine? What room is he in?" Rin asked in one breath.

"Wait a moment, please," the receptionist replied, going through the list of patients. "He's in room 317, on the third floor on the left side of the hallway," she said, gesturing towards the elevator.

"Thanks." Rin ran toward the elevator and pressed the up button, feeling her blood run cold. After a few seconds of waiting, she grew impatient and opened the doors to the stairs, taking them two at a time. In less than a minute, she reached the third floor. Opening the door, she dashed down the hallway, skidding to a stop at room 317.

Rin raised a hand to knock but faltered, her hand trembling. This is all my fault. This is all my fault. He definitely doesn't want to see me!

She gathered up her courage and quietly rapped on the door.

But I still want to see him one last time...

She opened the door slowly, expecting it to creak loudly. But obviously, the well-oiled hinges of the hospital door wouldn't squeak.

She peeked into the room, after opening it a bit. Len was sitting up on bed, talking to the doctor. He must have made a funny remark because he and the doctor began laughing.

"Umm...excuse me? C-Can I come in?" she asked nervously.

"Oh? Is that your sister?" the white-clad doctor asked.

"Eh? That's my girlfriend. And, sure," Len replied.

Rin felt relief flood through her body when he said that. So, technically speaking, he forgives me, right? Right?

"Really now?" The doctor didn't look convinced. "I won't tell if it's a secret or anything..."

Rin sighed. This again... "It's like this. We look like each other, but we're definitely not siblings. We're friends that go way back."

"I see. Well, I'll leave you two alone. If you don't feel well or you notice that something's wrong, just press that button by the bed." The doctor left the room, swiftly, smiling as if he knew some deep, dark secret.

"Umm..." Rin stalled, wondering what to say. "Sorry?"

Len snorted. "It's not your fault. Aren't you supposed to be on a plane on the way to the other side of the world or something?"

"Well, like you, I got into a bit of an accident," Rin started, "but it's not as big as yours." Rin eyed the cast on his leg and the bandages wrapped around his head.

"What happened to you?"

Rin walked over to the side of Len's bed and sat down on the chair nearby. "I hit my head on a bench. Nothing much to worry about. All I have is this big bruise and probably a lot of lost brain cells. Otherwise, I'm totally fine!"

Len narrowed his eyes. "'Friends that go way back...'" he mumbled to himself. Rin smiled sweetly at him.

"Well, we do go way back, don't we?"

He smiled back, knowing what she was implying. He leaned back against the pillows of the bed.

"Don't you ever try to leave again, promise?"

"I promise."