A/N: Yup, that's right... another one-shot from me. I seem to be cranking these out lately, haha. It's been a while since I've had a writing streak like this.
Okay, so I'll be the first to admit-I'm not the best at writing fluff. I write a lot of romance, but I specialize in writing really dark, morbid stuff (those of you who've read "The Perfect Duet" would know). But this story popped in my mind and wouldn't leave after I watched the PV for Rin and Len's "KagaPIYO!" In this story, I'm pretty much having Len do what I couldn't do, haha. Anyway, enjoy, and I hope you enjoy the fluff! (Don't forget to brush your teeth). By the way... allow me to point out that Rin and Len are NOT siblings. No twincest here, folks!
Confessions 101
It had sort of burst out of his mouth over dinner.
"RIN, WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME TOMORROW?"
All the Vocaloids who sat at the table turned their heads toward Len, all conversation ceasing. The food on Kaito's fork had fallen off when he had stopped when it was only halfway to his mouth. Meiko had nearly spit her nightly sake all over the table. Luka had finally lifted her eyes from her untouched tuna. Miku had stopped playing with the leek garnishes and stared, mouth agape. And finally the girl of the hour, Rin, was staring at a very red-faced Len, wide-eyed and also a little flushed in the face herself. There was an extreme awkward moment of silence. Gakupo finally coughed.
"You mean...hang out...?" Rin clarified.
It seemed to finally hit Len what he had done—shoot! He was only thinking of what to say in his head, he didn't mean to blurt it out. His lip began to quiver.
"Y-yeah..." Beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead.
"Okay, sure!"
beep...beep...Beep...Beep...BEEP...BEEP...
Len slammed his hand on the snooze button of his alarm clock, still keeping his face buried in his terribly comfortable pillow.
"Five more minutes," he thought.
Bad mistake.
"Len, wake up, NOW!"
Len's eyes shot open when he heard the sudden crash of his door to his bedroom slamming against his wall. His whole body jerked for a split second, but immediately afterward, he rolled over and stuffed his face in the pillow once again. As Rin stomped into the room, she heard a muffled,
"Five more minutes..."
"No... not five more minutes! Do you know what time it is?"
It was like she was talking to a corpse.
"It's 11:52, STUPID."
Len reached up, still keeping his face stuffed in the terribly comfortable mass of fluff, and grabbed his alarm clock. Now gripping it with two hands, he lifted his eyes from the pillow and stared at the electronic numbers that seemed to glare at him—it was 11:52 indeed. His whole body suddenly jerked awake. Had he kept pressing the snooze button again? How could he possibly sleep in that long? Oh, wait... he knew the reason. And apparently Rin knew, too.
"I told you last night you shouldn't have stayed up 'till freaking 3:00 IN THE MORNING playing Mario Kart with Kaito and Gakupo!"
"I was having fun throwing bananas on the track!" Len was throwing himself out of bed now.
Obviously that wasn't the best response—Rin looked fumed. Len only knew one way to resolve this situation: completely suck up to her.
"I'll be ready in five minutes! You can take all the time you need—and I'll even treat you, today!"
Rin's feathers were quite apparently still ruffled, but at least she had turned around and shut the door behind her. Len quickly ran over to his closet, almost crashing into it, and threw open the doors. He scanned his wardrobe, tempted to just grab something random and throw it on. He caught himself—not today! Today he had to look nice... but not too nice... but not too sloppy either... kind of in between? Realizing the clock was ticking his time limit of five minutes, Len settled with a black sweater over an orange, collared shirt and gray khaki shorts.
Quickly (yet efficiently) looking in the mirror, he adjusted his clothes to look nice with more effort than usual. He began to run a few fingers through his hair—no! Today called for the comb. After fishing for a comb out of his drawer, he combed his hair to tie it back into his usual pony tail. Today was special. Why? He was going to do it... he was finally going to confess to Rin Kagamine.
Anxious feelings had been piling up in his heart for years now—since they both became Vocaloids. He had been getting mixed signals from Rin and he grew restless of the constant butterflies that flew around in his stomach whenever she would say his name, or grab his hand to take him somewhere, or when she would rest against his shoulder when she was tired. Len had thought of confessing countless times before, but he felt like he wasn't quite ready for a relationship. He had come to the cruel realization the other day, however, when he caught a glimpse of Rin slightly blushing at other guys passing in the street, that if he didn't make any moves, she would possibly wander off. And he didn't want that. Then in a single moment—he was ready for commitment. (Or perhaps he had been ready all along, but was just simply in denial. There remained only one question:
How was he going to confess?
Len shrugged his shoulders and figured something would come to him later on that day while they were out. He glanced at the clock. Only four minutes had passed—a new record. After pulling some socks out of his dresser, he walked over to his night stand and fingered a few coupons for various places and slipped them into his wallet. He would never know with Rin—she was always so unpredictable whenever they spent time together in the city.
Looking at himself one last time in the mirror, he carefully looked over his appearance and nodded in approval. Then shoving his wallet in his pocket, he opened the door to his bedroom and stepped out into the long hallway of bedrooms. When he turned to close the door behind him, he felt something wrap and cling around his arm. The familiar scent of orange-flavored perfume brushed across his nose.
"You did get ready fast!"
She cheered up fast...
"Y-yeah" Len murmured, turning his head toward her and flushing a little.
Rin looked really cute today. She wore her usual white ribbon and barrettes in her golden-blond hair, but the outfit she wore was something Len was seeing for the first time. It was a white, button-down jacket with a black skirt with an orange plaid scarf around her neck and brown, laced, knee-high boots on her feet. Len finally composed himself.
"Well, let's go out!"
"So where do you want to go first?" Len asked as they stepped out of the Vocaloid residence.
He was prepared for anything. He had coupons.
Rin's stomach suddenly grumbled and she quickly placed a hand on her stomach and blushed. Looking up at Len, she laughed nervously. It was noon after all.
"I'm a little hungry." She said.
"Okay, then let's go to our usual cafe!"
With that they started off towards the station. While Rin's mind was on food, Len's mind was on completely different things. Should he grab her hand? Rin was usually the one to take action with that, but she seemed too preoccupied with hunger at the moment. Maybe he should even confess then and there? This was a date... sorta. And if it wasn't, maybe he could make it a date by confessing.
"Just do it... just do it... just do it..." He thought repeatedly.
Then turning his head down, face as red as a fully ripe tomato, he shoved one hand in his pocket and with the other suddenly grabbed Rin's hand. He could feel Rin jump in surprise, but he didn't dare look at her. Len curled his fingers around hers a little tighter and mumbled something.
"What?"
Shoot. How was he supposed to say it again?
"You know, Rin, I..."
Silence.
"I—I—I—I..." Len could feel his heart pounding and his knees already giving out.
"What is it?"
"I—I think the weather is very nice today! A little cold, but nice!"
This was going to be much, much harder than he thought.
"Is that why you grabbed my hand?"
"Uh... yeah. My hands were a little cold, so I thought I'd share the warmth of a fellow human being... ha, ha... ha..." He watched his feet as they crushed the leaves on the ground. Crushed like this opportunity.
"Oh, okay, then." Rin giggled.
And with that, she pressed her hand back.
"Stop it..." Len had said to the butterflies that had suddenly taken flight in his stomach.
"So, what are you going to order?" Rin asked, peeking over to her menu at Len.
"Uhh... probably something with substance since we haven't really eaten breakfast. Probably a sandwich with iced coffee."
"You're no fun."
"What? What were you going to order?"
"Mitsumame!"
Len sighed, setting his menu down, "Come on, Rin, if you eat sweets like that first thing in the morning—or afternoon—you're going to get fat."
"What?"
"I meant, you'd get fat with happiness." Len quickly corrected himself.
"Hmm..." Rin put a finger on her lip, as if in deep contemplation, "Maybe I'd better get the chicken salad or something..."
Len sighed and let his eyes wander around his surroundings, leaving Rin to her decision-making process. Setting an arm over the back of his chair, he looked around the cafe. It was always relaxing here. It was never too crowded, even at lunch. The tables, chairs, and floor were all made of a dark wood. Here and there on shelves for display were a few plants to add some greenery, and on each table was a small vase with flowers. The lighting was dim, but combined with the natural light that came through the window they sat next to, it set for a very soothing effect—or romantic.
Maybe Len could confess here...?
Suddenly his heart began to pound furiously and suddenly flushing in the face, he turned only his pure, blue eyes toward Rin, who seemed to be making her final decisions. Bringing both his arms down, he balled his hands into fists and set them on his knees. His elbows were locked straight and he stared intently at the closed menu in front of him.
"Hey, Rin..."
"Hmm?"
Len occasionally glanced up at her confused face, but would quickly stare back down at the menu. He began to breathe a little heavier.
"You know... I..."
"Are you ready to order?" The waitress had come.
Len had to do everything in his power not to face-plant on the table.
"Yeah—" Rin began, thank goodness, "I'll go ahead and get an omu-raisu with tea."
"All right, and what about you, sir?"
Len suspected that his face was still slightly red from the whole incident, but he had gathered himself enough to make a food order, "I'll get a sandwich with iced coffee."
"Okay, just a moment." And with that the waitress walked away.
Len couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Is there something wrong, Len?"
"No, it's nothing..."
"Oh, okay..." She shrunk back a little, but then leaned forward after a moment, "Hey, I still want something sweet—do you think we could share a sundae together?"
"Okay..." Len almost touched his head to the table.
After all, they say sweets are the best thing to cheer up from this kind of thing.
"Do you want to ride that next?"
Len pointed to the Ferris wheel off in the distance, leaning towards Rin as he did so to direct her gaze toward it. They had been at the amusement park for quite a while now, and both agreed that their next ride would be the last after getting off the carousel. The Ferris wheel would be perfect, he thought. He had been stumped at first where to confess to her when Rin suggested that they go to the amusement park (he had a coupon for it, by the way). Everywhere else was crowded and bustling with people, but once they would go on the Ferris wheel, it would just be the two of them. He felt a little strange, though—it felt like he was hunting or something...Despite Len's efforts, however, Rin was staring elsewhere in the amusement park.
"I want to ride that."
Len followed her line of sight and saw his worst nightmare—a roller coaster. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his forehead. He froze, staring with his mouth slightly open.
"Len?"
"Huh? Oh—okay, we'll ride... that..."
Rin bounced up and down, "Come on!"
She grabbed Len's hand and began speeding toward the roller coaster. Len didn't know what to feel at that moment. He could feel his heart pitter-patter all over the place in his chest, but he had a horrible, gut-wrenching feeling of fear. Well... if Rin wanted to go, he'd go. But really?This was the last ride they were going on. They'd probably go home after this. How on earth was he supposed to tell her how he felt on a freaking roller coaster?
As they stood in line, Len stuffed his hands in his pocket, gritting his teeth together, shoulders tensed. Every time they took a step forward, he grew that much more anxious.
"Are you cold again?"
"Absolutely freezing." Len lied. He was actually really hot.
Rin laughed, "Let me help." She then curled her fingers around his left arm and leaned her body up against his.
Oh, goodness...
Len felt like his head was going to explode. He hated roller coasters, but he loved Rin. He hated this horrible feeling of anxiety that overtook him as they came to the front of the line, but he loved the way Rin held herself against him. And to top it all off, he had taken it upon himself to find some way to confess to her on a roller coaster. He felt he faced the most difficult task in his life.
"How many in your party?"
"T-two..." Len stuttered.
"Row one."
Rin had almost literally dragged Len behind her as they approached the front row. The very front. She seated herself, pulling the shoulder bar over over her head, beaming. Len moved like a robot, jerkily into the seat next to her.
"You're still cold?" Rin asked.
"Just a little." Len said as he pulled the shoulder bar over. It had taken him several tries.
He suddenly felt the tips of her fingers touch the top of his hand.
Oh, great.
A little after, Len felt the roller coaster lurch forward. His stomach churned. If he didn't have "the man complex" where he swore to himself he'd never cry in public for something so ridiculous, he'd probably be bawling like a baby at that moment.
"I'm so excited!" Rin called over to him.
The roller coaster began to climb upward—the first drop.
"Oh, crap." Len murmured.
When they reached the top, Len found himself squeezing Rin's hand so tight, he wondered for a brief moment if she was able to feel anything at that point. Then suddenly, they dropped, and the most embarrassing, girlish scream ripped from Len's lips. Next to him, he could hear Rin bursting out laughing. How embarrassing... Was he really going to confess when things were like this?
He had to do it, though. He absolutely had to do it. Even if he had to scream.
They approached the first loop, Len's heart pounding for more than one reason.
"RIN, I LOVE—"
"WHAT WAS THAT?" She screamed back.
"I LOVE—"
The roller coaster turned upside down.
He just couldn't do it.
"ROLLER COASTERSSSSSSSSS!"
Hearing a laugh escape from Rin made him incredibly happy yet embarrassed beyond anything. He coped with that feeling as well as being absolutely terrified for the rest of the ride. When the car had finally stopped, his face was red and there were the tiniest drops of tears in the corners of his eyes. When the shoulder bars came up, this time, Len was the first to move. As they cleared the ride, Len fell on his hands and knees trembling. Rin patted his back.
"You know, you could have just said that you were afraid of roller coasters."
Len had never taken a more dramatic bow of shame than that moment in his life.
"I don't want to go home quite yet." Rin, said holding her hands behind her back and glancing up at Len, beating her eyelashes.
"Hmm?" Len looked down at her, still shaking a little.
They walked under the archway that marked the main exit of the amusement park. It was already 5:00, but of course Len was not opposed at all to the idea of not going home.
"Do you want to do something else?" He asked.
Rin put her finger to her lips, her contemplating gesture, and stared up at the sky. After a moment, she smiled at him brightly, "I feel like singing!"
"Oh, Rin... it's the weekend—I don't feel like practicing anything right now."
"I wasn't talking about any of our Vocaloid songs, silly. I was thinking more of karaoke."
"Oh," Len replied, "That's cool. I even have a coupon!"
He definitely was prepared.
As they walked the city streets to their favorite karaoke box, glancing at the display cases of different stores and being lit by the early lights of the evening, Len once again thought of how he would confess to Rin. This time, it was a karaoke box... which meant singing. He could request one of the Vocaloid love songs—their songs were plenty popular enough to show up at a karaoke box. And then he'd do the classic "I love you" afterward...
...That was possibly the most cheesiest thought he had ever had.
What was even worse was that he seriously considered it.
Okay, that was the plan.
Len thought that he must have been the lamest guy in the world planning to confess to the girl he liked at a karaoke bar. It seemed girls liked something new and original—creativity—which he obviously lacked.
When they had finally come to the karaoke box and reserved their room, Rin was the first to the mic after typing in a request.
The first notes of "Love Is War" came on.
Oh, how ironic.
Len watched her sing, with an unusual amount of passion to the point it was almost disturbing. As she approached the end of her song, he trailed off in his own thoughts. Obviously he was going to be singing after her and he did have a song in mind, but something came up before. Rejection. What was he supposed to do if she rejected him? What would have today been for? What would the butterflies in his stomach do? What would his chest do?
Rin stepped away from the microphone.
"Your turn!"
Len stepped up after requesting the song, his fingers numbing up. He stepped in front of the microphone and started waiting for the song to begin playing. Staring at Rin, his eyes became wide as he watched her sit down on the couch. His heart was beating louder than ever—what if she really was going to reject him?
"Oh, my gosh... oh, my gosh..." He unknowingly said out loud.
"Len, what the heck?"
He snapped out of it when the beginnings of the song he requested began to play. It was "I Like You, I Love You." Bringing the microphone closer to his lips with a trembling hand, he began to sing when his entrance came in.
"He-he-he-hey, hey, could you wait a minute? If you're busy, sorry. Just a little, hey, a little while. I want to talk with you..."
He didn't have to question whether or not he was blushing, he knew by how hot he felt that he was. As he sung, he kept a fixed gaze on Rin, who was smiling, listening to him sing, a little red herself. As Len sung the last phrase, the moment of truth came, his heart nearly flying out of his lips. Still clutching the microphone and gripping it a little tighter, he yelled into it the words he had been waiting to say all day.
"Rin! I love you! Please go out with me!"
The smile disappeared from Rin's face. Crap... crap, crap, crap... what did that mean? Len's knees were trembling. Then unexpectedly, Rin let out a storm of giggles. Len was obviously taken aback.
"That was a nice touch to the song, Len! I think it went along well—you were so convincing too!"
Silence.
Really?
Really?
Len nervously smiled at her now. And stepping away from the microphone, he murmured, "Yeah..."
Was that a rejection? She didn't really say it was. Did it not come across clear enough? Regardless, Len's energy was spent. He wasn't sure if he could attempt confessing for a fifth time in one day. Appearing a little smaller, Len stepped away from the microphone and smiled at Rin.
"Your turn."
As they stepped out of the karaoke box, night had already fallen. The city was now alive with fluorescent lights that brought it a different spirit. Unfortunately, there were no stars, though... just the moon.
"Well, we should be getting back, then." Len said to Rin.
He was still a little disappointed, but he was much calmer now. As he turned in the direction towards the house where they and the rest of the Vocaloids lived, he was suddenly stopped by a sudden tug on the sleeve of his sweater. He turned around to find Rin staring up at him under her curled eyelashes, a small smile on her face.
"Before we go home... do you think we could both look at the moon together?"
"Okay, sure—I'm pretty sure there's a park across the street there."
They didn't talk much as they crossed the street and entered the park, escaping from the bustling night life of the city into a small, green haven. Rin moved in front of Len toward a bench and sat down immediately, moving her gaze upwards toward the moon. Len took his place next to her—a little farther than he normally would have. It was a long moment before either of them said anything to each other.
"Hey..." Rin began.
"Hmm?"
"About what you said in the karaoke box?"
"Yeah?" Len slightly blushed in the face. How embarrassing.
"When I said that 'it was a nice touch' to the song... what it really meant was 'I'll think about it.'"
Len turned his head toward her, the butterflies fluttering again.
"And I did think about it, and my answer is..." Rin balled her fists on her knees, moving her shoulders forward, "yes..."
Len's eyes widened in the darkness.
What a wonderful feeling.
"Really?"
Rin looked at him, her face as red as his, "Really."
Len smiled, "Wow... that's... great!" He was getting excited now.
"What took you so long?"
"Huh?"
"Why did it take you so long to confess to me? I've seen you do your crushing signals for years now."
"Ah, well..."
How was he supposed to explain this?
"I saw you blushing at some guys when we were hanging out last weekend... and I thought you were going to be asked out by some other guy eventually."
"What?"
"Huh?"
Rin began to laugh, "Ah, no, no, no!" She bent over wrapping her arms around herself, "I just saw a bag I really liked—there's no way I'd blush at a guy if he wasn't you."
"Ah—"
Rin scooted closer to him, pressing her shoulder against his. She moved her hand and entwined her fingers with his, gripping them a little tightly, but delicately. Then bringing her face closer to his, she whispered,
"You know I... I love you, too."
Len felt something press against his cheek. There was that familiar heat again, but this time he welcomed it. Rin was his girlfriend...
That had a really nice ring to it!
It was almost 9:00 when Rin and Len came into the entry way of the Vocaloid residence, walking in hand in hand. Hearing the door close, Miku, who was cooking dinner (it was her turn), moved away from the kitchen and peeked into the entry way to welcome Rin and Len home. When she saw them holding hands, Rin and Len both stared back, blushing red in the face. Miku's expression beamed,
"I knew it!" She chirped.
A/N: I hoped that flowed well for you guys. And I hope it wasn't too redundant or too boring. Anyway, please let me know what you guys think by leaving a little review! I love reading them. :)