The Guy Next Door

Chapter 4
Mikuo Hatsune

Rin's POV

"Hey Neru," I called, knocking on the door gently. "It's time for dinner." I found the door unlocked and I poked my head in. Neru was asleep on the bed with her hair completely down like mine and dried tears staining her face. I sighed and almost decided to leave her alone until I heard he stomach growl. She shifted a bit and I kneel by her bed, gently shaking her. "Neru, wake up. It's dinner." She groaned and one of her eyes cracked open.

"I'm not hungry."

"Liar," I answered. "You're stomach grumbled when I came here." She blushed a bit. "C'mon Neru. Get up." She did sit up and threw her legs over the side of the bed.

"How long have I been asleep, Rin?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I don't know," I answered. "An hour maybe?" I grabbed her blue hair tie and handed it to her. She pushed my hand away.

"I want to keep my hair like this," she said. "We have different eyes, so it'll be fine." My face scrunched. It's not that I'm obsessed with Neru's ponytail, it's just that I like my own hair style, thank you very much. I got on the bed behind her and tied her hair back in a normal ponytail. It still surprises me that she didn't fight back. I jumped off the bed and pulled her up.

"Let's go, Neru," I said, dragging her downstairs. We passed a bathroom, but she refused to wash her face when we went down to the dinning room. Everyone was already sitting down and Miku was setting the table.

"Neru, Rin!" Tamako called. There was an empty seat next to her and one next to Len... I looked at Neru and I let her take the seat next to Tamako, letting Neru sit on left. I sat on Neru's left and I sat on Neru's left with Len on my left. When I took my seat, he was talking to someone using a cell phone, but I tried not to listen. Guess what? I failed.

"...no, I'm just at home," he said. I observed the clear glass next to me filled with water. Huh. He called this place home, huh? He chuckled. "Hm? Oh, I had to take care of someone. No, not like that." He smiled, I could see it in the glass. "Yeah, it was a girl, but I would never cheat on you like that." A bell rung in my head. Of course he had a girlfriend. I grasped the glass and took a sip out of it. "Hey Rin?" I turned to Len with a questioning face. He smirked at me, his hand covering the bottom of his phone so his girlfriend wouldn't hear. "That's my water." I looked at the cup in surprise and placed it down, standing up from my seat.

"Rin?" Miku asked. "Where are you going?" I walked to the doorway of the dinning room.

"I'm going to put soap in my mouth," I said, walking to the bathroom and shut the door and literally took the soap, rubbing it with my tongue. IT tasted nasty, but it helped me remove a small annoying feeling in my stomach. Someone knocked on the door and I opened it to Gumi.

"Hey Rin, that was the most calm I've seen you interact with Len all day," she said. "Don't tell me you like him or anything." I wiped my mouth with a towel and shook my head. I knew I didn't blush because she truly believed me. Gumi wasn't the easiest person to trick. "Alright, I guess you're just worried about Neru."

"I am. She didn't want to ponytail her hair when I got her," I said, frowning. "She always ponytails her hair. This twin telepathy thing really makes me hate being her twin sometimes." I sighed and leaned on the counter. "She's really emotional, you know?" Gumi looked me over for a minute and I gave her a questioning look.

"Y'know, you're a lot like Len," she said.

"What?"

"I mean, not only to do you both have blonde hair, blue eyes, and can be passed as twins," she stated. "But you both have cool attitudes at times." he paused for a minute. "I think the both of you are tsundere." I broke a giggle.

"Len's tsundere?" I asked. "Wow. I thought he was more like a pervert character in some shojo manga." Gumi laughed.

"Then what does that make you?" Gumi asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"As long as I don't die in the manga, I don't care," I answered.

"Typical cool Rin," Gumi said, rolling her eyes. "You know, there's someone I want you to meet tomorrow. I think you'll get along just perfectly." I nodded and we went back into the dinning room. Whatever I felt towards Len...was platonic now. I'll be his friend if he let's me.

The next morning, I finally woke up naturally instead of to a screaming Hatsune. The sunlight gently shot into my room, filtered by the white curtains. I really like this room. Too bad I'll have to leave at the end of summer. I sat up on my bed and looked around for my towel. Someone knocked on my door and I got up to answer it.

"Mikuo?" I asked, the teal haired guy in front of me. He was about to say something, but blushed and shut his mouth. "What?" I looked at my clothes and slammed the door quickly. I only wore my underwear and spaghetti strap top! I can't believe I forgot! I grabbed my black shorts, yanked them on and threw my pink t-shirt on. I opened the door again and Mikuo looked calmer. "Sorry."

"Um...it's okay," he said. "But I need to talk to you. It's kind of important." I raised my eyebrow.

"Okay, fine," I said. We went to the gameroom balcony and sat down on the metal chairs there. "Before you say anything, why did you lead Neru on like that? You even knew she liked you."

"It's...hard to explain," Mikuo said. "I'm dating this girl because I felt sorry for her. I didn't know...I didn't know she was so suffocating. I mean really suf-" His phone started to ring and he saw the called id, making him sigh. "It's her."

"So...she's yandere?" I asked.

"More than you can ever imagine," he said, ignoring the call. "Wanna hear the worst part?" I nodded. "She's cheating on me, yet she's still claiming that I'm hers. It's so annoying!" He groaned. "I even caught her-"

"Wait, wait, hold up," I said. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Honestly?" he asked. "You're the only one I can talk to who won't freak out on me. That's why I normally like to make sure you of all people don't hate me." He looked at me with a weird expression. "You don't hate me, do you?" I shook my head.

"No, it's just that I don't having my sister cry," I said. I decided to dismiss the topic. "What did you want to talk to me in the first place?"

"For this," he admitted. "And because Gumi told me to introduce you to one of the neighbors. I don't know why, but she thinks you two will get along pretty well." He stood up and stretched. "You go get ready in something nice and I'll meet you in the main kitchen, okay?" I sighed and stood up.

"Why not?" I asked.

After I took a shower and fixed my hair, I pulled on a gold tube top on under a gray fitting vest. I also wore a light gray skirt with a yellow belt that hung out a bit and leggings underneath that stopped a few inches above my knees. Of course I had my white ribbon, with black hair clips, attached to a head band in my long blonde hair and a orange ribbon around my neck. My shoes were boots that were heelless and didn't reach too far up my ankles. I also wore my favorite butterfly necklace and a black wrist band around my left wrist. The outfit reveal a bit of my stomach, but not too much.

"Wow, nice," Mikuo complimented when I met him in the main kitched. He threw me an orange. "Breakfast on the go." He wore a normal "Mikuo" outfit. A gray shirt and white skinny jeans with sneakers.

"Thanks," I said, peeling the orange and popping a piece into my mouth. "So, who are we going to meet?" Mikuo smiled.

"It's a surprise," he said, picking up a banana. "Len catch." He threw it behind his shoulder and a hand reached up, grabbing it instantly. I looked behind Mikuo and saw Len there, a bit sleepy, but dressed. He wore a white shirt in a light gray hooded jacket with sleeves that didn't cover his wrists. He also had light gray jeans with a yellow belt that hung out and normal black sneakers. What got to me was that he had a black wrist band as well on his right wrist. Huh.

"G'morning," Len said, yawning.

"Morning," Mikuo and I said at the same time. Len nodded and leaned on the counter next to me.

"Is he always this sleepy?" I asked. Mikuo nodded.

"Hey Len, we're going to visit him today," Mikuo said. "Do you want to tag along?" Len slowly nodded his head and Mikuo took that as a yes. "Alright then. Let's get going."

"Do we have to go now?" Len groaned.

"You're lazy," I said. "Seriously, man get up." Len looked up and glared at her.

"Rin, he's not a morning person," Mikuo said.

"Neither am I," I told him. "But you don't see me sleeping in the kitchen."

"That's because I'm not aloud in the girls' dorm, much less their kitchen," Mikuo pointed out as he dragged Len to the car. We got in his BMW and he drove out of the shed. I sat in the front with Mikuo as Len occupied the entire back seat.

"Now can you tell me who we're going to visit?" I asked. Mikuo drove only a little bit until we pulled into another parking garage. Mikuo picked up a paper ball on the ground and threw it at Len who hissed in surprise.

"Get up!" Mikuo said. "We're here."

"Where's 'here'?" I asked.

"This is Haine-Kagene residence," Mikuo said. Len's eyes popped open. "I'm going to take you to see Ren and Rei." I looked at Len who had death in his eyes.

"Hell no."