悲しいの歌

Chapter 5
I Found It!

It was a Monday morning, and Len was done with his morning shift at work. He had started working at a creamery located at the nearby town, much to Kaito's joy. He had four hours to spare before returning for the next shift, so he thought he'd spend it like he has been doing for the past week—visit Rin at the hospital. She was not free to leave just yet; but the nurse continued to bring good news from the doctor. He recalled that she mentioned something about Rin returning to stay with him if her condition did not worsen over the next few days.

Len was filled with hope, and just the thought of Rin staying with him brought a goofy smile to his face.

*T*T*

"And so, they started staying over during the weekend. I had to buy three more makeshift beds just for them!" Len grumbled as he reclined beside Rin, who shifted to the left to make space for him on the hospital bed. Rin giggled, raising a slender hand to her lips. Len grinned and continued with his stories, making wild gestures to simulate Kaito and his antics. The hospital bed groaned slightly under the weight and continuous movement.

Rin's eyes were filled with mirth as she poked Len's cheek playfully. He reciprocated the affectionate gesture with an awkward blush. "Hey, Len…is it me—or have you put on weight from working at that ice-cream shop? Listen; the bed is groaning out loudly in protest under your weight!" she teased, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

Len replied almost immediately. "No, I haven't..! I haven't been eating a lot of ice-cream!" he was almost indignant, which made Rin giggle harder. An idea struck him as he was about to start pouting. With a sly smile, Len abruptly pulled his cotton grey shirt up to his chest and pointed to his lean stomach. "Hmm…I wonder if I'm fat after all?" he asked, a playful tone in his voice.

Rin squealed and covered her eyes with her hands. Len laughed, pulling his shirt back down. He ruffled her hair and grasped her hands tightly, leading them away from her eyes. "We've been together for so long, Rinny—there's no need to be shy~"

Rin smacked his head, a red rash creeping up her neck. She always failed at teasing Len. "Ah…Len..! You idiot—you don't say such things just like that!" she whined. Spotting the oranges in the basket on the small bedside desk behind Len, she continued. "In return, you have to peel oranges for me. I haven't had them since yesterday, and I'm hungry."

"W-What did I do—"

"It doesn't matter; you'd have to peel them for me anyway! Now peel!"

"Eh…" Len's whine died away at a glare from Rin. "Y-Yes, my Queen…right away."

Rin watched, her head propped up by her right hand as Len peeled away the orange skin and dropped them onto the piece of tissue paper he'd placed on the bed. Rin nodded, satisfied as he presented the round, exposed, orange flesh veined with white fibres to her. She motioned to tear a piece away, but Len beat her to it. Nonplussed, Rin looked up and Len held the piece of orange fruit to her lips. Under the soft light provided by the sun shining in through the curtained windows, Rin could make out that Len was not smiling; instead he was blushing rather furiously.

"Wha...Len..?" A half-formed question tumbled out of Rin's mouth, but he pushed the piece of orange against her open lips, this time more insistently.

"Eat it, Rin." Len said shortly. She could tell that he was gathering up quite a lot of his courage to do this, and the thought made her giggle softly. Frowning uncertainly, Len spoke. "I-It isn't alright for me to feed you, Rin?"

She closed her mouth around the piece and held it in between her mouth as she settled back into her pillow, smiling as she chewed on the sweet fruit. Len looked almost relieved and went back to plucking another piece of orange flesh.

"Lenny's shy." Rin sang softly, making sure that it was loud enough for him to hear.

"I-I-I am not shy!" Len replied indignantly, flushing.

"You're red~"

"I…It's the light!"

"The light's a soft yellow, Lenny~"

"A-Ah—"

"My dear Len is so adorable~" Rin sang, wiggling her fingers in the air.

Len chewed on a piece of orange, scrunching up his nose, thinking of a witty comeback. He felt a hand slip into his left which at his side and looked down. Rin closed her cold fingers around his and graced him with a sweet smile.

"Len will always be so precious to me." Rin gazed back at him, a light blush fluttering across her pale cheeks. She chortled at his startled expression and transferred her gaze to their interlocked hands.

Suddenly, impulse shot through him, and he hovered above her, their faces mere inches away from each other. The peeled orange rolled down lazily to the bed from Len's lap. Rin's startling blue eyes widened, her lips parted slightly in shock, unguarded. Len laced his fingers with hers tightly as he gazed into her eyes. They were inscrutable, but to his relief, he did not find any feelings of disgust nor anger in them.

"L-Len..?" Rin whispered; her breath filled with the sweetness of the orange she had just consumed.

Len closed the distance between their lips slowly, and a little uncertainly. He was afraid that Rin would recoil or turn away, but to his surprise, Rin's gaze softened a little, as if telling him that she wouldn't do that.

So he kissed her.

It was like not those kinds of kisses they had watched the actors and actresses do in the movies; those hard, desperate kisses with writhing tongues and a lot of fiery passion. It would kill Len to think about doing those with Rin, let alone actually perform it out. (Len→ "orz)

Both hearts thudded harder against their ribcages as the kiss lengthened and deepened. Len tightened his grip on Rin's fingers, and Rin's legs shifted under Len's weight slightly. Neither of them heard a loud, cheery voice outside the ward, saying something in reply to a shakier voice.

"Eh, it's alright, it's alright! Just let me bring it inside already! What? Ah…you don't remember me? I have blue hair—how can you not remember me? It'll be fine, it'll be fine…ah, and I'm going in already!"

Kaito burst into the private ward, a cream-coloured bag in his hand and his blue scarf fluttering wildly. He was so intent on a grand entrance that he did not notice the duo's actions. Rin pushed Len off her wildly and he quickly arranged himself on the bed, propping the pillows around him as though he had been in that position for a really long time.

"My beloved flaxen-haired babes~ how are you…what's this atmosphere?" Kaito asked, his nose twitching as though he could sniff a certain scent.

Len threw a pillow at Kaito's head, still breathless from the kiss. "B-BaKaito—what are you doing here? You ruined—y-you were supposed to be back at your home!"

Kaito removed the pillow from his face and smirked at Len. "I wanted to give Rin this orange flan I found in a café a little ways from here…I bought a few to share, so I thought we'd share! Anyway, I came here to look for you to bring you out with me to look at something…what's wrong? Am I interrupting a little together time here?"

Rin stifled a grin as she gazed at Len's red and slightly irritated face. "A-Ah…BaKaito! What are you talking about?" he snapped, ready to toss another pillow at Kaito's face, which was getting a little contorted from the smug smile he was flashing. Rin snatched it out of Len's hands and gave him a quick hug, turning to Kaito. She reached out to him, and he walked over to her, giving her a hug and ruffling her blonde hair.

"You brought orange-flavoured something?" Rin piped, an excited tone catching onto her voice as she waited in anticipation. Kaito reached into the bag and held out an orange-hued flan that wobbled precariously in a cute plastic container. "Behold..! The most fashionable dessert that has swept innumerable girls off their feet…ORANGE FLA—oouff"

Len had tugged on Kaito's blue scarf like a handle, and the flan fell out of his hands into Rin's outstretched ones. She stared at the flan as if it were the most beautiful dessert she'd ever seen.

"Ah~ It's so cute~ How can I bear to eat it?" Rin whined, quickening Len's heartbeat. She stared at the top of the flan which had a bear's face imprinted on it and squealed. Kaito fished out another two flans and tossed one to Len, who almost dropped it.

"Like this…" Kaito popped open the cover and downed the whole dessert in one mouthful. He chewed, as if he were pondering. In a few seconds, he swallowed the flan down and looked at the wide-eyed duo. "It's good. Not as good as ice-cream, of course, but it provides some stiff competition."

Rin's eyes sparkled, and with much gusto, she devoured the flan in a startlingly short amount of time. Len watched on, horrified; because he had never seen her devour something whole—even oranges, and amazed; for he had never seen her with such good appetite. Staring at the flan, he popped open the plastic cover and scooped a piece of flan into his mouth. The refreshing sweetness of oranges paired with the richness of creamy milk and thick coffee-caramel mix greeted his tongue. He found himself devouring the very same dessert with as much fervour as Kaito and Rin had displayed.

"I-I-IT'S REALLY, REALLY GOOD." Len blurted out, as much as he preferred bananas over oranges. Kaito and Rin were folding their arms and looking smug, though they probably had their own reasons.

"I'm glad you appreciate my taste in desserts." Kaito flicked his blue hair, a sparkle escaping from his fingers.

"I told you oranges were good." Rin smirked, her bow somehow adding onto her smugness. He had no idea how, but it did. And he was right. They both had different reasons. Shaking his head, he remembered Kaito's speech just now.

"Say, Kaito, did you say that you want me for something?" Len asked, disposing of the plastic containers in the nearby bin. Kaito smacked his forehead as a gesture of saying 'Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot. Thanks for reminding me.' He smiled slyly and motioned for Len to come closer. Curious, Len faced his right ear to Kaito's beckoning hand. Rin stared on; perturbed that she was being left out of the circle.

"I found it." Kaito whispered into Len's ear.

"Huh?" Len stared at the silly, grinning blue-haired male in total confusion.

"Tch, you thick-headed shota..! The wedding ring, I found the wedding ring!"

Len was about to kick Kaito's ass all the way back to his apartment when he heard the second sentence. His heartbeat accelerating, he stole a glance at Rin, who had returned to eating the peeled orange in peace, blissfully unaware.

"Y-you found a nice one? Can I trust your taste..?" Len gazed suspiciously, and Kaito reared back, his pride hurt with that comment.

"Ugh! I can't believe you just said that..! Of course you can trust my taste!" Kaito burst out; his voice high and laced with irritation. Len heard a giggle behind him and did his best to suppress a grin as well. It was always such fun teasing Kaito.

"I think I'd better see it for myself. Do you have it with you?" Len asked.

"What do you think I am, stupid? Of course I haven't bought it yet. I just wanted to bring you along to have a look at it." Kaito snapped. Len resisted the urge to hit his head for being so petty. Instead, he nodded amicably.

"So, when are we going? I get off at 8pm." Len asked, shifting his gaze to Rin, who returned it with a quizzical one. A look of mischief flashed in Kaito's and he grinned impishly.

"How about going off now? The jewellery sparkles more under the bright light of the day."

Len stared at the clock on the wall—it's just 12:42pm! He wasn't even halfway through his shift! Kaito always had an unquenchable thirst for getting people into trouble. It's like he needs people to suffer for him to survive. "Now, you crazy blue-headed freak—everyone knows that's just absolute bullshit! Sparkle under the light of the day? More like you want me to get fired! Shouldn't you be more mindful of that—seeing as the only person that gets anything out of my job is you?"

Kaito raised a hand to his chin as though he were thinking. "You see, I figured if you get fired, I could replace you in that ice-cream shop. Oh, that'd be heaven. So far, no one in that town knows me well enough to ban me from any ice-cream shops so—"

"You were banned from ice-cream shops?"

"…ah, we should really get going. I'm bringing Miku out to dinner later." Kaito spoke quickly. "Better say goodbye to your fair maiden!"

Len missed Kaito's head with the empty paper bag by mere centimetres. Shaking his fist angrily at him, he turned to Rin, who was holding the orange peel in her hand.

"Rin, I'm going to see something with Kaito. I'll be back to see you before you sleep, so don't worry!" Len smiled as he brushed a lock of hair away from Rin's eyes. A light pink fluttered across her face as she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. Len immediately felt the cold of winter being expunged from his body. In fact, his cheeks were on fire. Coughing awkwardly, Len gave her a quick hug, ignoring the incessant cackling of Kaito from the door. He wondered what Kaito would do if he knew what they were doing just now…resuming his awkward coughing fit, Len hurried to the door, trying desperately to flush away the scene playing in his mind. Kaito might be able to read his mind. One could never be too sure.