Butterflies Rin X Len

Chapter 4

Rin P.O.V

When I wake up, Len is gone, and so is the storm and rain from last night. My heart clenches as I gaze mournfully at the empty spot. I throw back the covers and shake my head. Maybe it was just a dream. But as I gaze out the widow, I see that everything is wet, so it wasn't a dream. As I get ready for school, I try to forget everything. I need a clear head! Maybe I should just ask for one on my birthday or something, no way I will get one on my own…

I grimace as I pull on my uniform, hating the sight of it as memories of the last two years flood back into my head. At least I'm a junior now; soon my torture will be over. I grasp my bow tightly before pulling it on, briefly remembering how I got it.

Len gave it to me on our first birthday after we came to live with the Vocaloids. I hadn't even thought to get him something; we had never even been able to celebrate before. It was the first gift I had ever gotten, and I told Len that in absence of a real gift for him, I promised that I would make sure we stayed together forever. Back then, that was our greatest fear, that we would be separated…

These melancholy memories flit through my brain as I watch him eat his cereal, topped with bananas, his favorite. I slowly drink a glass of orange juice as I stare at him from the corner of my eye. He suddenly catches my eye.

"Morning, Rin." He smiles. I feel a blush creeping up as I remember last night. I duck my head, hiding in the short blonde curtain of my hair.

"Morning, Len." I reply. He resumes eating quickly since we need to leave soon.

The ride is short as we pull up to the massive brick building that some call school. Concrete paths snake around it, and the windows gleam like dark eyes in the morning sun. Once inside, everyone scatters, including Len. He didn't say anything to me on the ride over. He sat in the front, and I in the back. I don't know what to think about us anymore. It's 7:45 and my head already hurts.

After slowly walking to my first class alone, I slide into a desk in the back, trying to blend in. The teacher talks on and on, and I try to concentrate. I think this is math, or maybe some type of science, but although I was determined to keep a clear mind, it kept straying to Len. He was so frustrating! But yet… I didn't want to go without him. I put my head on my desk. Why was life so complicated? I was happy when the lunch bell rang.

As I walk through the halls, I spot Len, his tall form dressed in the boys' uniform, his long strands of hair grazing his shoulders. I feel my heart tug me towards him. But before I decide to go talk with him, I see that he's surrounded by three girls, all of them garbing for his attention. I narrow my eyes. All of them look tacky, their shirts unbuttoned, skirts pulled up high. I feel so ugly next to girls like that I think as I glance down at my similar uniform. I look almost chaste. Why is he talking to them? He turns and his eyes meet mine. He shows no emotion, no regret, and I turn away. Let him do whatever he wants, I don't care. I go to the library and grab a book. I feel miserable, so I spend the rest of the period staring at the same page, seeing only his face.

The rest of the week is a blur, nothing new except that I may be more miserable in school now then I was last year. The teasing has escalated, with my careful shield around my heart softening with every blow. And it's only the first week of school. Hip hip hooray. By Friday, I am emotionally, physically, and mentally worn out. Len surprisingly looks the same, although I really shouldn't be surprised, his light is still on every night when I fall asleep. I once listened near his door to hear him crumpling up paper. I worry about him, there seems to be something wrong. I guess we can both use the weekend to relax, starting as soon as we walk out the doors.

Unfortunately, Meiko doesn't have the same idea. In order to prevent any "drifting apart,"
we must do things as a family. She decides that we are to watch a movie together tonight. I grimace hearing this news, and already start plotting ways to get out of it. But Meiko has already thought ahead.

"If you decide not to share in this, I can give you something else to do! Something fun…" I shiver a bit at her words, who knows what she's come up with, sitting by herself all day, half drunk. Better to halfheartedly participate then suffer at the hands of Meiko. If only I had a road roller…

After dinner, I change into a camisole top and long pajama pants with oranges on them, my favorite. They are all soft and funny, my favorite pajamas. Then I get distracted, playing with my hair in the mirror, trying to make it look cute. It's only when I realize why I'm doing this that I stop and hurry downstairs, where almost everyone has already gathered. Of course, the only spot left is a small space beside Len.

Meiko nods towards the seat as I enter and stand awkwardly. I glance at the floor, it suddenly looks exciting. But then Len looks up at me and pats the seat beside him. I somehow can't refuse his offer, feeling the stupid butterflies in my tummy again as I slowly walk across the carpet, weaving in between Teto and Luka to reach him. I sit down then hold myself stiff, leaning away from him even though every particle of myself wants nothing more than to lean in to him. The movie has already started, illuminating the dark room, casting bright flashes of light on us. Len suddenly leans over between the small space between us and talks slightly over the noise.

"You can scoot over if you want." He whispers to me, moving his arm to the top of the couch. My throat is dry as I consider my options. Eventually I give in, gingerly laying myself by him. He wraps his arm around me, pulls me closer. I wiggle uncomfortably, which causes Kaito to look down and glare at us for the interruption. So much for not giving in. My head rests on his strong, firm chest that I feel through his thin t-shirt. To make matters worse, his fingers start lazily tracing patterns softly on my skin, leaving paths of tingles on my bare skin. I blink my eyes sleepily, relaxing as he does this, suddenly feeling drowsy. I inhale deeply, catching the good smell of him. Before I know it, my eyes are completely shut and I feel myself drifting, cradled in his warm arms…

When I wake up, I have the strangest feeling. Confused, I rub my eyes with my hand, then realize I'm in the living room. And laying on Len.

I freeze when I realize that we are lying on the couch, with him on his back, head propped up by the armrest, and me held tightly in his arms, lying practically on top of him with my head lying on his chest and my legs and feet snuggled between the side of the couch and his legs. He's asleep, breathing light, easy breaths. His lips are dangerously close to my head, so his warm breath caresses my forehead. I wiggle a bit; realizing one of my arms is wrapped around him too, while the other is tucked up by my face. When I try lifting my face from his chest, it feels hot, and he only tightens his arms around me. I relax back, realizing there's no way for me to get off of him without him waking up. Besides, it's not like I'm not enjoying it. My head snuggles perfectly into the crook of his neck and he's warm… I feel drowsy again; at least until I realize that everyone must have seen us like this. I flush and also remember Len with those girls at school. I start wiggling out of his arms, ready to flee to my room.

He shifts as I try to leave.

"Rin…" He mumbles in his sleep. He sighs. I clench my eyes shut, torn. Then carefully, I climb back up towards him, laying a soft kiss on his lips.

"Love you Len." I murmur before slipping out of his arms. I glance back as I leave, his sleeping figure resting peacefully on the couch alone.

I spend the rest of the day with Miku and Luka, we go shopping for groceries and stuff. We consider it girl time because none of the boys are allowed to come anymore. Meiko banned them after Kaito put Len in a cart and they raced around the store while Meiko chased them, and when Gakupo got us kicked out after harassing the checkout girl. It's a peaceful day, but I don't see Len hardly at all until Sunday morning.

I'm drawing while lying on my tummy on top of my bed. It's a sunny day outside, and our only day without work or school. I carefully drag the pencil across the page, furiously erasing afterwards. I hear a soft knock at the door.

"Come in." I call. Len opens the door, peering in cautiously. I sit up.

"Hey Rin." He says, shutting the door behind him. I feel my palms start to sweat.

"Hey." I say, casually wiping my hands on the back of my lilac shorts. I'm also wearing a soft white blouse that is one of my favorites. He leans against the door.

"What are you doing?" He says, gazing at me beneath his bangs.

"Just drawing…" I reply, feeling awkward. Don't tell me this is just a social call! He sighs.

"What is it Len?" I say curiously. His face is troubled. He looks up mournfully.

"I can't write anything Rinny." He says, depressed. My heart pangs. Len loves to write, no wonder he looks so upset!

"You mean anything good?" I crawl towards the foot of my bed. "You're too hard on yourself Len." He shakes his head.

"No I mean nothing Rin, nothing at all. And it's been like this for a while." He rubs his hands on his face. "I've tried taking a break, but that still didn't work." I cross my legs. It's been a long time since we just talked like this.

"It'll be ok Len, you'll see! I think you're just stressed or have something on your mind that's just blocking you." He looks up at me, staring into my eyes from across the room.

"Yea maybe that's it…" There's a silence, with us gazing meaningfully at each other. He looks towards the window, breaking it.

"I'm sorry to bother you Rin, I didn't mean to dump my stupid problems on you." His voice sounds harsh. I take a deep breath, calming the anger that flares up.

"It's nothing Len." I say softly. "I really don't mind." I look down at the sketch pad. He sighs again.

"Can I stay here Rin? Just watch you draw or something?" I swallow nervously, then nod.

"You can fold my laundry." I say bossily, trying to hide my feelings. I nod towards the basket of clean laundry by my closet. He grins.

"Ok." He lifts the heavy basket easily, and carries it over to the bed. I stare at his strong arms. He plunks it down on the bed, making me bounce.

"Len! Be careful!" I say. He laughs then sits on the bed next to me. I lay down again on my stomach. He reaches into the basket, only to pull out a pair of my orange and white dotted panties.

"Hey Rin." He says. I glance up, then flush at this. I grab them from his hands, shoving it under me.

"You perv! Don't go touching my underwear!" He blushes too.

"Sorry Rin, I didn't mean too!" We sit in silence.

"Turn around." I order. He does, confused, and I pick all of my underwear and bras from the basket, then turn and shove them in a drawer in my dresser by my bed.

"Ok, now fold." He turns and glances at the basket cautiously. I resume my drawing as he picks up a shirt. He makes small piles of different laundry around us, covering the bed. Soon the basket is empty, but instead of leaving he just lays down beside me on his stomach, gingerly moving the small piles over. He rests his hands on his arms and watches me. It would be uncomfortable with anyone other than Len, but it's comforting to have him around. We lie in silence as music from downstairs floats through the door. Suddenly we both freeze. Oh no.

"Crap." Len says. We both fling ourselves off the bed to run out into the hallway and pound down the stairs. There's only one person who always listens to music when she cooks. We fly off the stairs into the kitchen, where we see the horrendous sight.

Meiko, fully donned in an apron and hat, spins around as our feet hit the tiled floor. She grins, a can of sake in one hand and a spatula in the other. A pan of blackened something sits in front of her on the stove.

"Hey you two! My gorgeous little babies!" We cringe, not only at the comment but also at the obvious fact that she's more than a little tipsy.

"Gakupo!" Len calls loudly. Meiko scowls.

"Why you gotta do that? It was GOING to be a surprise!" She giggles. Gakupo pounds up the stairs from his basement bedroom.

"What's burning?" He takes in the sight. "Damn. TETO!" Out of all eight of us, Teto is the best with drunken Meiko. She skips in through the screen door, her cute little pink skirt flying.

"Uh-oh! I'll get her!" She trots up to Meiko. Meiko glares at her through squinted eyes.

"I'm FINE Teto! No need for concern!" I eye the blackened pan as smoke begins to waft upward. Len pulls me gently to the side, away from it. I blush a bit.

Teto plucks both the sake and the spatula out of Meiko's hands. Meiko stares at her empty hands confused. She glances down, as if she's dropped them, then up again to spot it in Teto's hand. She lets the spatula go, but fights for the sake. Teto grabs her chin.

"NO! No more!" She says firmly. Meiko growls. Gakupo cringes, but Teto stares her down intently. I realize Len's arm is still holding mine.

"C'mon Meiko, you wanna watch TV? I'll watch it with you!" Teto says. Meiko huffs.

"Fine. But I get to choose the show!" Teto leads her away to her room. Gakupo runs over to reach and turn off the burner. Len and I turn quickly and try to sneak away.

"You two fix dinner." Gakupo says to our retreating backs.

"But we don't know how to cook!" Len says, waving his hands. "We could burn down the house!" Gakupo raises an eyebrow.

"Better you two then Meiko. Then the insurance covers it. Just don't let things get too steamy ok?" he wiggles his eyebrows at us and disappears. I huff.

"What do we do?" Len says helplessly, staring at the kitchen, which now seems foreign. I step back towards the stairs.

"Well I'll see you at dinner Len!" I turn to run up the stairs but Len catches my collar and spins me around. His hands grab my waist, his forehead rests against mine. I am suddenly really uncomfortable.

"Nope. Let's do it together Rinny." He grins, then brushes his lips against my forehead. I push him away, smacking him. He's still not allowed to do that!

He yanks open the fridge and peers in. I walk up behind him, looking over his shoulder. Other than many cans of sake, there are plenty of groceries we bought yesterday. Unfortunately, Len and I have no idea how to make something out of it all. I turn around.

"Len, get rid of that will you?" I point at the pan.

"Ugh sure, just stand over here so I don't drop it on you." He grabs my waist again, and I would swat him away, but I'm too afraid that he will drop that nasty stuff on me. He carefully carries it to the sink. I wrinkle my nose and shy away from his touch.

He looks at me and brushes his bangs out of his eyes. I turn back to the fridge to avoid his gaze.

"I guess we should just throw it all in a pot and hope for the best." I say. I glance back at him and he frowns.

"Maybe we should look in a cookbook." He walks over to the fridge and reaches up for one, his shirt rising up, exposing his ab muscles. I know I should look away but… I snap out of it and suddenly need to rummage through a drawer for a pot holder.

"Here's a good one Rin." I cautiously come up behind him to read over his shoulder. Some type of rice and fish combination. I hope he's planning to cook it, because it sounds complicated to me.

"OK… maybe you should cook the fish. I'll supervise!" I lift myself up to the counter and sit. I look at him pointedly. "Ok, go!" I say.

He rolls his eyes, but then they travel to my thighs. I grab the book out of his hands and place it on my lap. He looks away, embarrassed. I read the directions out to him, and he prepares and stars to cook. I'm shocked, because it appears that Len actually knows what he's doing. Or is just talented. He looks almost graceful as he rushes around the kitchen. Soon though, it's all done, and shoved into the oven, which I turned on myself. Len sighs and tightens his ponytail, which became loose in his hard work. I hold my arms out.

"Len, lift me down?" I put on my puppy dog face. I have the feeling this isn't a good idea, but… Len takes off the frilly apron I made him wear and walks over to me. But instead of lifting me down, the stupid boy places his hands on my waist and leans in, then kisses me again. I flush angrily, but feel my resolve easily slipping away. I throw my hands around his neck, pressing back passionately. He moves his hands to my back and my head leans against the cabinet behind me.

Suddenly, I hear a voice outside, coming up the steps. My eyes snap open, and I push him away.

"Damn it Len! Why-" He covers my mouth with his hand, gesturing with his head to the door silently. Of course. God forbid someone else know. Always has to be secret. I bite his hand, and he pulls it away.
"OW! Rin!" I push myself off the counter and run upstairs, retreating to my room. I slam the door, ready to throw myself into hiding again. But then I spot all the piles of carefully folded laundry, sitting all over my bed. Angrily, I sweep them all off my bed to the floor, irrationally throwing some against the wall. Once they are all off my bed, I stand there, panting angrily. My room looks like my closet threw up all over. There's a shirt hanging form my lamp, a dress from my ceiling fans. I refuse to get back into my bed again however. I'm still angry, and don't feel like hiding from Len. Instead I turn right back around and march out the door, making sure to close it on the way out. I don't want to give Len that satisfaction of seeing my abused clothes strewn across the room. I take the back way, sneaking out the front door before running to the backyard then down the path to the studio, because I feel like practicing. Maybe then I can get through all this anger.