Chapter 25

Kaito.

I waited for Miku's response for a long time, looking at her desperately, silently praying that whatever she would say, it wouldn't hurt me.

I had my palms splayed out onto the carpet, knees folded in behind me, as I stared down at the screen and watched the corners of her mouth curl up into a grin. Dear God, I had never felt such an urge to kiss her like I did when she smiled at that moment...

And then she burst out laughing, her head thrown back and her mouth wide. I moved away from the phone slightly as her laughing filled the room.

"W-What?" I took the phone in my hands and looked at her. She finally managed to stop laughing.

"Kaito, you're hilarious!" She giggled, "You nearly convinced me!"

I opened my mouth to say something like, no, I'm serious, but the words didn't come out. I looked down at the ground. "Yeah," I smiled as well as I could, "Good night."

"Dammit, I'm such an idiot!" I screamed, getting to my feet hurling my phone at the bathroom door again. Surprisingly, it once again bounced off and fell into the trash. I strode out onto the balcony and threw myself against the railings, looking down at the sparkling city lights.

"This is what happens when you try to make everybody happy," I muttered, tugging at my hair as it blew in the wind, "They think that everything you say is a joke..."

Len.

I woke up the next morning and sat down outside Rin's home, by the gate. I kept thinking about Kaito, and how he had hurt Rin. As my mouth formed a frown, I decided that I'd deal with him when I saw him in school.

"Len...," I turned to see Rin with her hands holding the black iron bars of the gate. She was still in her pyjamas, and her bangs weren't clipped to the sides of her face like they were when I usually saw her.

I smiled. "Coming to school?"

She looked at me with wide eyes and then smiled back. "Just give me a few minutes!" She said, and then paused, "In fact, why don't you come in?"

This time around, I didn't feel half as awkward as before when she had asked, so I stood up and nodded as she opened the gates and ushered me into the yard.

"You can come inside the house, silly!" She giggled, watching me eye the benches and gazebo.

"Everything looks so polished...," I whispered, following her down the stone path.

"Yeah, that's because Doris the cleaner comes by every week to maintain everything," Rin said, "And there's nobody around, so nothing really gets used much..."

Fountains spurted around me and flowers grew in bushes around the path. We walked up a few steps and she pushed open the door, leading me in.

I walked in and stepped onto a mat, where I took my shoes off in an attempt to be polite. Rin walked down the hall and I followed her.

"Wow," I whispered, walking after her but pulling off full three-sixties as I passed, absorbing the setting as much as I could. The living room was a grand, open place, polished and pearly white. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and luxurious sofas lined the perimeter. There were two spiral staircases, one on each end of the area, each with polished silver banisters and gleaming steps.

"You wanna hang out in the kitchen?" Rin said as she headed up the stairs, "There's still half an hour before school starts, and I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

And that was when I decided that I was going to make Rin some pancakes, even though I had never made pancakes in my life.

Hooray, chapter 25! That's half of fifty! I've written so much, and I intend to keep going till the end!

By the way, I'm sorry for that tease back in Chapter 23, with Miku and Kaito...I apologize. (._.)

Though you know, it wasn't a tease just for the sake of it. It'll build up in future chapters, just wait and see! The conversation with Miku will result in Kaito reacting in certain ways, and...well, really, that's all I can say without veering off into spoiler territory. You'll see.

I promise that it'll get better.

Also, thanks to everyone who has been reading. Even if no one read this, I would still update and write, but the fact that people read it and enjoy it just makes me feel better. You are all awesome! Thanks for all the votes, comments and reads so far, and thanks for having faith in me. I'll keep going, till we reach the end!

/end of weird one-sided talk with readers