Everlasting Gift

Chapter 8
Neru's Epic PhotoShop Skills

"Hey, did you see that picture?" asked one girl. She was huddled in a group with her friends.

"Which one?"

"The one with that new girl, Rin, cheating on Len."

"No…show me!"

"I'll send it to you. It's on my phone. Someone anonymously sent it to my phone this morning."

Neru walked past a lot of conversations that went like this. She smirked. Sooner or later, Len is going to have to see one. Preferably sooner though.

"Hey, Neru? What are you thinking about?" asked Miku, blinking at Neru. "You just zoned out in the middle of the sentence."

"Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking about how we always come to school on time lately," Neru lied.

"Yeah, it's kind of funny how shocked the first period teacher was when she saw that I was already there," Miku said, giggling at the memory.

"Same here!"

The two girls walked up to the school entrance.

"Hey," Miku suddenly started, "did you notice anything strange about Rin?

"No, not really," Neru lied again. Obviously she knew something was strange since she was the one that was causing it.

Over the past two months, Rin had been suffering from what Neru would like to call "extremely bad luck." Her pencil case mysteriously disappeared a few times and ended up in places like the toilet in the boy's bathroom. Some of Rin's books and textbooks had gone missing and she had to buy more. And her homework also vanished and then turns up after class…Yeah, you get the idea.

"Hmm…There's also rumors of Rin cheating on Len too, which would definitely not happen," Miku thought out loud.

Just then, a student ran up to Miku and asked her, "Hey, do you know who your sister is kissing in this picture?" The student held up her cell phone to show Miku. "I think he's pretty cute!"

Miku grabbed the phone from the girl's hands and brought it closer to her face. "I – I'm not exactly…" She trailed off in the middle of her sentence, shocked at what she was seeing.

In the photo on the phone, the girl was definitely Rin. But the guy she was kissing in the picture wasn't Len…

"Isn't that person one of the teachers in our school?" exclaimed Neru, peeking over Miku's shoulder.

"Really?" asked the owner of the phone. She grabbed it out of Miku's hands and ran off to tell her friends what she had found out.

Miku stared blankly at her empty hands. Her brain was still trying to process what she had seen in the picture. That's not Rin, that's not Rin, that's not Rin, she thought to herself over and over again. It didn't work.

"There's no way that the girl in the picture could be Rin! It's got to be some long lost twin or a distant relative or something!" Miku said, turning toward Neru.

"I don't think so. It really does look like here," Neru said, frowning, with the right amount of doubt in her voice. Those times she spent in the drama club really did pay off.

"What if Len sees? That'll be the end of it. Len was already mad at her yesterday. Do you know why?" she asked Neru.

"I'm not really sure. It was something about trusting her." Neru glanced around, looking just like a person who was about to tell her friend some deep, dark secret.

"What is it?"

"I heard Len grumbling about Rin cheating. I think he's planning to break up with her or something," Neru whispered softly into Miku's ear. Everyone around them wondered what they were talking about since Neru was Len's sister and lived under the same roof as him.

"There's no way she even has a chance to cheat. She's been so busy with the drama club and then she comes straight home. Any other time, she's either with Len or at home."

"Are you sure she actually goes to the drama club meetings?" Neru asked Miku, raising an eyebrow. "No one actually goes to every one of those meetings. They usually skip or something."

"Eh..? But Rin told me that she had a lot of fun. I don't think she would skip. And she's not a liar either." Miku narrowed her eyes at Neru. "Why are you so positive that Rin did all these bad things? Are you jealous or something?"

Miku had hit the nail on the head. Neru was jealous of RIn. Extremely jealous.

"No…" Neru said a bit too quickly. Miku looked at her strangely, obviously not believing her. However, she decided to ignore it.

If Neru really is Rin's twin sister, then I don't think Neru would do anything bad to Rin. After all, they are family, thought Miku.

Miku obviously thought wrong.

"Good morning, Akaito, Luka," Rin said as she came into the classroom, alone.

"Where's Len today?" asked Luka, putting down the book she was reading.

"I'm not sure. He mumbled something about a student council meeting. I don't even think he's on the student council," Rin replied, shrugging. Len had told her to meet him in the café nearby after school. Rin had agreed, mentally noting to make up an excuse or feign sickness to get out of the drama club.

Luka and Akaito exchanged glances, knowing that Len wasn't on the student council. They knew exactly why Len didn't come with Rin today. And so did Neru.

"Hey, did Len talk to you at all yesterday?" asked Akaito.

"Not really. Whenever I started talking to him, he gave me some kind of death glare. But he talked to Miku though. I think he's mad at me for some reason. Do you know why?" asked Rin with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Umm…you do know the rumors that are going around right?" Luka asked Rin slowly.

"Like?" Rin frowned, wondering what she was talking about.

"You cheating on Len and sleeping with a teacher or something," Luka said, not bothering to soften her words. Luka pulled out her phone and scrolled through her pictures and showed Rin the same picture that had been spreading around the school like a virus.

Rin grabbed at the phone, like Miku did in the morning. "Is that me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it is. I also got that photo. I think most of the school and even some of the teachers have it. It's been going around since last night," Akaito chimed in.

"Even the teachers?" Rin mumbled. She was dead, so very dead. The guy she was kissing in the photo looked like Mr. Hiyama, her social studies teacher!

"I think so. I was passing by one of the teacher's rooms and some of them were gossiping on how Mr. Hiyama would be fired or something," replied Akaito.

"Did Len receive one?" asked Rin, her voice revealing the panic she felt inside.

"Probably," replied Luka. "It's been spreading around quickly and whoever sent the first picture sent a message saying 'Pass this on' or something like that."

"Do you know who sent it to everyone?" Desperation crept onto her face, knowing that she would be in trouble if this was shown to the school board or administration. Her reputation would also be destroyed.

"If I did, that person would be suspended for cyber-bullying and getting into a good college would be hard for him or her."

The classroom door opened and Mr. Hiyama walked in. "Get into your seats and take out last night's homework," he ordered the class. The whole class scurried to do what he told them to do, hearing the anger in his voice.

Rin quickly walked over to her seat, sliding into it and taking out her homework. Mr. Hiyama walked over to the teacher's desk in the front of the room and put all his lesson plans onto the desk. Looking up, he met Rin's eyes and glared. Rin gulped, wanting to slide down in her seat. She looked down to her desk, her bangs shielding her face.

This is going to be a long day, thought Rin nervously.

Rin sighed, relieved that school was over. She glanced toward Len who was sitting next to her.

He still didn't say a word to me. I wonder if we're still meeting at the café after school…

Rin got up from her seat and pushed in her chair. Len did the same and waited for Rin to gather her books by the doorway. When Rin approached him, he turned and started walking down the stairs, Rin following.

"Len?" She stopped at the entrance of the school.

"Yes?" He also stopped and turned to her.

Rin was surprised. She wasn't expecting a reply from him. "Umm…I-In case you heard those rumors…I wanted you to know t-that they aren't true," she managed to say, staring at her feet. She bit her lip, imagining Len's doubtful face.

"I see…" he said, looking away. Rin looked up at him, knowing that he definitely didn't believe her.

"Let's go," she said, pulling on his arm, trying to get him moving again.

Len pulled away from her touch and began walking toward the café once more. Rin followed, facing the ground so her hair would cover her reddening face.

They got to the café in a few minutes. Len chose a booth in the back corner of the café, where no one would be able to overhear them talking unless they were sitting next to or behind them.

"What do you want to drink?" asked Len brusquely, gesturing toward the menu.

"Umm…I'll just have water."

Len began to order. "I'll have a cappuccino and she'll have a glass of water." The waitress began jotting their orders down. A minute later, she came back with the drinks. Winking at Len, she turned away to take another table's orders.

"So…" Len started to say. "I'm thinking of breaking up."

"What?" exclaimed Rin, not believing what she had heard. "I told you that all those rumors weren't true and that photo was definitely fake! I didn't cheat on you and I definitely didn't sleep with another teacher!"

"Really now? I have evidence right here," Len said, reaching for his bag. He had placed the love notes he found in Rin's desk into his bag this morning. Now, he took them out and showed them to Rin.

Rin took them from his hands, wondering what it was. She skimmed through the pieces of paper, surprised. "But…these aren't mine!"

"Really? I found them in your desk, you know? How are they not yours?"

"I-I don't know who wrote these but they're definitely not mine!" Rin felt tears prickling. She felt like the Boy who cried wolf, although in this case, she didn't cry wolf – the villagers had assumed she did.

"Stop lying to me. I'm not stupid. Why don't you tell me who wrote these to you?" asked Len calmly.

"Like I said, they're fake. I don't know."

"Did you really sleep with Mr. Hiyama? You two were kissing in the photo. How many other guys did you go out with behind my back?"

"I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T!" yelled Rin, finally losing it. She started sobbing and customers stared at the two, watching the drama unfold. "Why won't you believe me?" asked Rin, getting up and grabbing her bag. She ran out of the café toward home, where she could sob into a pillow.

Len watched her storm out the door and she disappeared. He tilted his head back, still sipping his cappuccino.

Did I go too far? Was she telling the truth?

In the heat of the argument they had, not one of them noticed Miku in the booth behind them. Miku had the menus propped up so they wouldn't see her when they had come in. Miku left, leaving money and the tip on the table.

Len noticed Miku leaving. Who wouldn't recognize the two long, teal ponytails that swung whenever she walked?

Miku got home and unlocked the door to her house. "I'm home!" she called out to her parents.

"Hush, your mom is on the phone," Mr. Hatsune told her, pointing to where her mother was pacing around, phone cradled between her ear and shoulder.

"What do you mean 'sleeping with a teacher'? Rin always came straight home after school!" Mrs. Hatsune said to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

Oh, no. They called home too, Miku thought.

"Mmhmm. Hmm. Oh." Mrs. Hatsune finished talking. She put down the phone on the table. "RIN HATSUNE! YOU BETTER COME OUT OF YOUR ROOM AND GET DOWNSTAIRS NOW!"

The door upstairs creaked open. Footsteps were heard and the stairs creaked when Rin stepped on them. "Yes, Mom?" asked Rin, holding a tissue in her hand.

"The school just called me and said you and a teacher from the school were…in a relationship. Is that true?" asked Mrs. Hatsune angrily.

"No, it's not. It's just a rumor because some stupid picture went around."

"Picture? What picture?" asked Mr. Hatsune curiously.

"This one." Miku took out her phone and scrolled through it. She found the photo that she was looking for and showed it to her parents. Mr. Hatsune stared at it for a long minute.

"Doesn't that kind of look like the boy you were dating?" he asked slowly. "Only, he dyed his hair and is wearing contacts now…"

Miku got her phone back and looked at the photo again. "Actually, yeah…Looks like someone is really good with PhotoShop in our school."

"What else did the school say?" Rin asked quietly.

Mrs. Hatsune turned red with anger for a moment. "They. Expelled. You."

Rin gaped at her mother, shocked. She knew that she would be in trouble, she didn't know that she would be expelled for something like this. After all, she never did kiss Mr. Hiyama or any other teacher.

"Anything else?" asked Rin softly. Her throat felt tight and tears came to her eyes again.

"The teacher, Kiyoteru Hiyama or something, is being interviewed now and if it is true than he will be fired. Even if it isn't true, he's probably going to quit and work at a different school," replied Mrs. Hatsune. She grabbed the phone again and began to dial.

Rin sat down on the couch, silent. Tears streamed down her face. She didn't bother to wipe them since there would only be more. Just as quietly, Miku sat down next to her, giving Rin a hug.

"It'll be alright," whispered Miku, arms still wrapped around Rin.

Rin didn't reply. She stared at her feet but she returned the hug.

"Sorry to bother you, but could you please call back whenever you have time? Something came up." Mrs. Hatsune left a message to whoever she had just called. She put down the phone. "Rin, just go to your room and stay there until dinner or something. I need to think."

Rin obediently got up from the couch and walked back upstairs to her room. The door was closed shut. Miku soon followed, wanting to comfort her sister.

She walked upstairs and quietly knocked on the bedroom door. Hearing no reply, she walked in and closed it behind her. Rin was curled up on her bed, pillow hugged to her chest. There was a pile of tissues around the trash can since it was already full. Miku sighed, cleaning it up.

"Rin, it's going to be alright. Mom and Dad are going to do something to get you in school again!" Miku reassured her cheerfully.

Rin hiccupped, not replying. Miku walked over to Rin's bed, sitting down. She reached over and began patting Rin's head. "This is just like when we were in fifth grade and you were nervous on your first day of school, remember?"

Rin nodded slowly, burying her face into the pillow she was hugging. Soon the pillowcase darkened with even more tears.

"M-Miku?"

"I'm right here, Rin."

"Could y-you please…keep doing that?" asked Rin, voice muffled from the pillow.

"Sure," replied Miku. She kept patting Rin on the head and reminiscing about their childhood together.

"Hey, do you remember anything before you were adopted?" asked Miku, feeling that Rin had calmed down a bit.

Rin paused before giving Miku a muffled "No."

Miku nodded to herself. "Hey, it's time for dinner now. Do you want to go downstairs or should I bring something upstairs?"

"I'll go down." Rin got up from the bed and went down the hall to the bathroom to splash her face with cold water. She fixed her hair so that her signature bow wasn't askew and that the clips were in the right place. She walked downstairs with Miku and to the dining room.

Rin sat down silently next to Miku. Across from her sat her mother and Rin couldn't bear to look at her in the face.

"Oh, Rin. I called your grandmother earlier but she didn't pick up. She's probably going to call sometime soon. Be sure to pick it up," Mrs. Hatsune told her.

Rin just nodded.

"Alright, then. Let's eat," Mrs. Hatsune suggested, smiling softly.

"Itedakima – " The phone rang, interrupting them. Rin got up from her chair and went to the living room to pick of the phone.

"Hello?" she whispered softly into the phone.

"Rin? Is that you? My, my, it really is great to hear you voice again," her grandmother said over the phone. "I heard something occurred. Would you like to tell me what happened over there?"

"Well, I don't know where to begin…"

"Just start from the beginning. Is it that boy you're dating? Last time you called, you seemed so happy that you were going out with him."

"Err…well, in a way, yes. There have been rumors going around school that I've been cheating and then today, this photo came up with me kissing some other person and that other person looks like a teacher from the school, and then…" It all slipped out of Rin's mouth. Her grandmother was the type of person who could wheedle anything out of a person.

"And then…?"

"I got expelled," Rin finished flatly.

"So, what would you like to do now?"

"I-I'm not exactly sure. I don't want to stay here but I don't exactly have any other place to go in Japan…"

"You can always come back here. If I'm here, then you'll always have another home here. Besides, I believe that your flight ticket home expires in December. It's only November now. You can still come back." Rin could hear the hopefulness in her grandmother's voice when she suggested that.

"I'll see what I can do. It was nice talking to you, Grandma. Good night."

"Good night. Remember, you'll always have a home here." Rin hung up and went back to the dining room.

"So? What did she say?" asked Mr. Hatsune.

"She said I could go back to America and live with her if I wanted to," replied Rin. To her mother, she asked, "Could I?"

Her parents exchanged a glance. "I don't see why not…" Mr. Hatsune began. "It's not like another school would accept you with that scandal on your record."

"That's true," Mrs. Hatsune agreed. "Well, let's start packing."

Miku picked up her chopsticks and began to eat, suspicions forming at the back of her mind.

When Neru invited me over to her house, she did have that PhotoShop program right? And when Neru sees both of them kissing, she just stops in mid-sentence and stares…could it be Neru that was trying to break them up?