Sweet, I broke my Writer's Block. For now, at least.

I hope this comes off as romantic as I wanted it to be. If it doesn't, though, oh well. Also, I just noticed how little Rin actually talks in this.

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Not Even Close

Rin had always wanted that white ribbon. Each time she and her brother passed the store widow on their way to school, she stared at it sitting neatly folded in the open box. The box itself seemed to be recycled from an overly large wedding ring container, but it was a poor neighborhood and so she didn't mind. All she wanted was the ribbon, anyway. She wouldn't have kept the box.

But with her and Len's birthday being later that week, Len, who had always acted as her older brother despite them being the same age, was saving up to buy it for her. It was obvious what he was doing, and he wasn't that good at hiding it from her. But the truth was, while she did want that white ribbon for her birthday, there was something else that she wanted more; her brother.

For the past nine years of her life, she had been secretly admiring him, slightly more than a sister is expected to. Her heart would beat faster when he held her hand to walk her to school the first day, and she would act just as scared on the second in the hopes that he would hold it again. Coming onto her fourteenth birthday, this hadn't changed, and she walked right into high school with her brother tightly holding her hand. That was one way that he acted like he was older, but she didn't mind. It was one of the things that attracted her to him.

On the morning that was their birthday, they were walking to school together again, still holding hands as if it were the first day. Before they turned into the gate that led to their school's entrance, Len pulled on her hand to stop.

"Just a sec, Rin," he said, "I have something here for you."

Pulling her off to the side, he took a small wrapped box out of his bag and presented it to her.

"Happy birthday."

Holding it in her hand, she quickly unwrapped and opened it and gasped, despite knowing beforehand exactly what it was going to be. Taking the clean white ribbon out, she was speechless. Len then said to her,

"Go ahead and try it on. I'll help you."

Stepping closer to her to help tie the ribbon in her hair, she tried not to blush as he ran his hands through her hair to find the right place. After a few moments he stepped back and smiled at her.

"There," he said. "Perfect. It looks great on you."

Rin was no longer trying to hold back the blushing as she stood in absolute silence. Len, looking at her quizzically, asked,

"Rin…? Are you alright?"

She didn't answer, and continued to look at him wide-eyed.

"Isn't it what you wanted?"

Acting on instinct and feeling alone, she lunged forward and hugged him tightly. Taken back at first, Len soon hugged her back. After a few moments, Rin looked up at him and said,

"Not even close."

She kissed him, they smiled, and they went on with their day.