Everlasting Gift

Chapter 6
Operation Udon

"Hey, Miku," called out Rin from the other side of the room that they shared. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," replied Miku, rolling over to face the direction that Rin's voice had come from.

It was around eleven in the night and both Miku and Rin had just finished their homework. Miku was tired from all the homework that her teachers had given. She envied the speed that Rin had finished hers. Miku had gone straight to bed after she had finished her homework, with Rin's help of course.

"Umm…can I ask you something?" Rin asked.

"Go ahead."

"Umm…" Rin hesitated. "How do you know that you like someone?" she asked Miku quietly.

Miku was surprised. Usually it was her that crushed on a guy and not Rin. Rin was the more level-headed one of the two.

"Are there any particular people that you're thinking of?" asked Miku, smiling even though she knew that Rin couldn't see her in the dark.

"Not really…I'm just…wondering," Rin replied. Miku knew that she was lying through the way that she had just fidgeted in her bed.

"Okay then…Well, I guess you know that you like someone when your face just turns red and gets warm when they look at you. And your heart goes doki-doki when they start talking to you. And also when you stare at them and they glance back and smile at you," Miku told her, remembering all of her previous crushes. "Are you sure that there's no particular person that you're thinking of?"

"Well…I was thinking about Len," Rin said uncertainly. "His face goes kind of pinkish too. I think it's cute but I'm not sure if he likes me back. And I don't want to confess to him and get rejected."

"I'm sure that if he rejects you he'll try to do it without being mean. But I don't think he will. I've seen the way he stares at you sometimes during lunch."

"Really?" asked Rin, happiness filling her voice. "Do you think I should confess then?"

"Do you really believe that you love him though?"

After a moment's pause Rin replied slowly, "Yes. I feel like I knew him from somewhere, you know? Like that feeling that you knew someone from a past life or something."

Maybe you did, Miku thought, remembering the soft, whispered conversations between Neru and Len. Miku caught the words "twins," "sister," and other words from those quiet conversations. Now that I think about it, Neru and Rin could pass as sisters. They both have the same blonde hair and their faces are the same. It's the eye color that's the difference.

To Rin, Miku said, "Yeah, you get those a lot when you're in love. I know I had those feelings before. It's like déjà vu but different since it feels like you knew them."

"Then how do you confess to a guy?" Rin wondered out loud.

"Well, I guess you have to get him when he's alone or arrange it somehow. Then you go up to him and tell him your feelings. A simple 'I like you,' or 'I love you,' should work."

"But isn't that really scary? Especially if you get rejected."

"That's why you try to get him alone. That way even if you get rejected, no one will know but yourself and the guy and he'll probably forget about it soon."

Rin rolled over in bed and yawned. "Thanks, sis. Good night."

"Good night," Miku replied, knowing that Rin would already be fast asleep. Miku rolled over in her bed and closed her eyes, letting the drowsiness take over.

Rin and Miku walked down to the corner of the street that Len and Neru lived on. They stopped and waited for the two of them to come out of the house. After waiting for a few minutes, they actually did, arguing as usual about Neru waking up late and taking too long eating breakfast.

"Neru, wake up earlier next time!"

"You know I can't!"

"You never tried."

And the bickering went on and on.

"Umm…good morning?" Rin said to the two of them, not sure that they would hear her.

"Morning," grumbled Neru, still irritated from the argument.

"Good morning, Rin," Len said, turning to her.

"Morning, you two. Still fighting like always?" Miku smiled at them.

"Because this guy's a bossy jerk," said Neru, pointing at Len.

"It's for your own good. Besides, it's rude to make Miku and Rin wait for us every morning," sighed Len.

"We don't exactly mind waiting for you two. You should take your time and enjoy breakfast, Neru. It's the most important meal of the day," said Rin.

"Hear that, Len?"

Len didn't reply. He just turned away from Neru and started walking to school, tired from arguing with such a stubborn person.

Rin ran up to him and grabbed his arm. "Come on! Let's go ahead of the slowpokes back there!" She started to jog, dragging Len with her.

Len gradually began picking up the pace and broke out into a run. Rin held tightly to his arm, making sure that she wouldn't lose this race.

"Hey, let go! That's cheating!" Len said playfully.

"Well, you always have the advantage so I get to cheat," she retorted, sticking out her tongue.

"Fine, fine. Whatever. Let's see if you can match my speed then." Len moved his legs faster and faster, only to feel Rin's grip on his arm grow tighter and tighter.

"Wait! You're going to fast. I can't keep up!"

"Too bad! You're the one who decided to grab onto my arm."

"Can you please stop running for a sec? I have something I want to tell you."

Len stopped, hearing the nervousness from Rin's voice. "What is it?" he asked her.

Rin could feel her heart pound quickly in her chest. She knew from the warmth spreading across her face that she was blushing. She looked up into Len's cerulean eyes and took a deep breath.

"I l-like you…" she managed to stammer out.

"What?" Len asked, surprised. He wasn't sure that he heard her right.

"Never mind!" Rin said, pushing him away, about to take off.

"Wait!" Len said, grabbing her arm before she could run. "Did you just say 'I like you?'?"

"Yeah…"Rin said, blushing even harder. If Len didn't hear her the first time, then that meant he didn't feel the same way, right?

"I like you too," Len whispered into her ear, pulling Rin into a hug. The words didn't sink into her mind until she realized that she was being hugged by Len.

She tilted her head up and noticed that Len was watching her face, waiting for a reaction. She got up onto her toes and slid her arms around Len's neck, bringing his head down to her height.

And pressed her lips to his.

"Hey, Miku. Have I ever showed you the shortcut to get to school?" asked Neru suddenly, remembering the alleys and pathways she and Len had cut through to get to school on time the first day.

"No, you haven't. Is there really one?"

"Yeah, I remember it. We're almost at the place where it starts," replied Neru, gesturing to one of the cramped alleyways.

"We have to go through that?"

"Yeah. It's not too bad, and it's actually big. It's not too dirty either. We might make it to school on time if we take the shortcut."

"Alright, then. Let's try it."

The two girls weaved through many pathways that were never used by people unless they were part of the Mafia or some gang. In broad daylight, those types of people would never show up if there was a risk of someone spotting them from a window.

Five minutes later, they could already see the school.

"I wonder if we made it before Len and Rin?" wondered Miku out loud. "That was a pretty good shortcut." She was panting slightly from the exertion of climbing over a few low fences.

"Yeah, Len and I went through it once when we were really late. We didn't even get lost even though it was our first time!" Neru told her proudly.

Miku scanned the streets, seeing if there were any of her friends that were still arriving. As she glanced around, she noticed two blonde teens kissing.

"Hey, Neru, look. Isn't that Len and Rin over there?" Miku told her, pointing. Neru glanced toward where Miku was pointing. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

"It's…definitely…them," Neru said through clenched teeth.

"Looks like Rin's confession went well," Miku commented, watching the two break apart from their kiss for air.

"Confession?"

"Yeah. Last night Rin was asking me how to tell if someone liked you and how to confess to someone you like," Miku replied, smiling at the memory.

"Really? She must be really insecure then," Neru said, attempting to hide the bitterness and jealousy in her voice.

Miku didn't notice. "Not really. No one likes to be rejected, especially by the person you like."

"And no one likes to see the person you like in love with someone else." Neru turned from the scene. Akaito and Kaito had come up to Len and Rin and were probably congratulating the two for getting together. Miku turned to her companion, not sure of what she just heard.

"What?"

"Nothing. Come on, let's get to school. Let's surprise them by being earlier!" Neru said to her, grinning.

"Alright! It'll sure shock them all!" Miku and Neru went on ahead toward the school. Neru tried to put the image of Len and Rin kissing in the back of her head, but it kept coming back.

I'll show you that love is war. You better pray that you'll win because I'm not going to give up. Not ever. You're going to regret fighting against me.

The bell rang, signaling the end of history class and the beginning of lunch. Rin stretched her arms and got up to walk over to where Len was sitting.

"Len! Let's go eat!" she said in a sing-song voice. Rin was still happy that she hadn't been rejected when she had confessed to Len. The good mood would probably stay with her for quite some time.

Len was currently being bombarded with questions about his love life. Rumors really did travel quickly in their school.

"Who confessed?"

"Did you guys kiss yet?"

"How was it?"

Len spotted Rin and darted through the small crowd of people who had gathered around his desk. He grabbed Rin's hand and dashed toward the cafeteria, dragging her along too.

"Wow, you sure have a lot of fangirls," RIn commented.

Len snorted. "Don't worry, none of them mean anything to me. They're just weird, crazy stalkers."

"Alright." Rin smiled at him brightly, feeling slightly relived.

Neru was already at their usual table in the cafeteria. "Here, I bought the ramen that you wanted," she said, handing a tray over to him.

"Are you going to buy lunch?" Len asked, turning to Rin.

"No, I have a bento that I made at home."

"I'm going to go on line for an udon," Neru said to the two of them, not sure if they heard or not.

"Alright. Can you get me a pair of chopsticks while there?" asked Len.

Neru had already turned and walked away. She gave him a little waving, gesturing that she had heard what he said.

Len's stomach grumbled as he stared at the ramen. Rin, who was sitting next to him, heard.

"Here," Rin said, handing him her chopsticks. "You can use mine. I'm not really hungry right now."

"No, it's fine. You should eat. I'll wait for Neru. Besides, the udon line isn't that long. I think she already got her food," he said, noticing her from the corner of his eye.

Neru power-walked over to them, spotting a person's book bag lying on the floor. She looked at her udon that was filled to the brim with soup and noodles and a plan formed in her mind.

She walked over to where they were sitting, "accidentally" tripping over the bag that was lying on the ground. From there, Neru slipped and fell but somehow caused the bowl of udon on her tray to flip up into the air and fall right onto Rin. Some of the soup had splattered onto Len.

The scalding soup seeped through the thin material of Rin's school uniform. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Neru kept apologizing over and over again.

"It's okay," Rin told her, "I have another shirt in my book bag somewhere. I can change into that."

Rin went off to the bathroom to change. Len grabbed napkins and tried to mop up some of the mess from the soup. Neru smiled to herself. Operation Udon, complete!