Chapter 74

Luka.

I bit my lip as Gakupo removed the cardboard box from the bag. It was a plain old box: brown and drab and not very exciting.

I watched as his eyes widened at the sight of the air holes at the top of the box. He looked at me with an expression of bewilderment. I smiled stupidly in response, and he lifted the lid.

Inside was a kitten with stripes of milky white strewn across its pitch black fur. She was sleeping softly, her eyes clamped shut and pink button nose twitching slightly.

"I'm...I'm sorry, she looks nothing like Meringue," I stuttered, shaking my head and turning away.

"Luka, she's beautiful," Gakupo whispered, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder, "Really, you didn't have to..."

"I did, okay?" I said quickly, "I had to. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "I never expected this," he said. I nodded quickly.

"Are you going to name her Meringue?" I asked slowly. He frowned.

"I'm not sure yet."

I sighed. "Well, I was thinking...and I thought that I'd give you permission to call her Megurine, instead. O-Or Meringue the Second, if you want."

"I'm actually thinking of calling her Incubator," Gakupo mused, "But maybe Megurine is better."

I blushed right then and there.

Neru.

I frowned as I entered history class, right after lunch. I'm full on food and hungry for flirting. Len, the adorable blond boy who sat towards the back of my class. How could I have noticed him for so long?

I scoffed. That the way love works, I suppose. Teenage love, at least. I trotted over to his seat, swaying my hips. Hey, it was a habit of mine, walking like that.

Len was flipping through a huge binder filled with sheets and sheets of notes. I leaned forward and pressed my palms down on the edge of his desk, showing off my brightly-painted, lemon coloured nails. He frowned at his notes and looked up at me.

"Hey Neru," his tone was flat. I nearly blushed. He knew my name!

"Hey Len," I smiled, "What're you doing?"

He shrugged. "Looking over stuff, I guess," he muttered.

"You're cute," I burst out.

He chuckled. "Thanks."

"So...we have a test on Monday, don't we?" I pressed a finger against my lips.

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm kind of worried about it."

"Why don't we study together after school?" I suggested. He stared at me.

"Neru," he said softly, "What is it that you really want?"

I pulled out my phone and started to fiddle with it. "N-Nothing, it's just...you seem like a nice person."

"I'd appreciate it if you got to the point," he smiled, "Class is about to start."

I balled my fists. "I like you," I said slowly.

"Okay," Len said, still smiling. I scowled. I couldn't read his thoughts.

"So?" I asked finally. He shrugged.

"So what?"

"Yes or no?" I asked, "M-Maybe we could just...go for a walk one day, or talk and..."

"I'm sorry, Neru," he said softly, "But I have to say...maybe."

"Maybe? What kind of an answer is that?"

"I don't know," he said quietly, "I'm not sure yet."

Rin.

I was getting out of math class, the last period of the day, when Kaito called my name.

"Rin, did you see?" He sounded so excited. I turned around and waited for him to catch up.

"What happened?" I asked. He looked so excited, you'd think it was his birthday.

"Ms. Luka didn't act weird towards me!" He grinned, jumping up and down like a fangirl. I smiled, knowing that as weird a reason as it seemed, it was enough to make Kaito happy.

"That's good!" I said as we walked down the hall and to Miku's locker, "Maybe she found a special someone."

"Yeah, maybe," Kaito nodded, "She's pretty, I won't lie."

"Better not say that in front of Miku," I winked.

He shook his head. "Miku is completely different!" He proclaimed proudly just as she arrived at her locker. Almost instantly, Kaito was reduced to a stuttering, blushing, adorable mess.

"H-Hey, princess!" He said as she pulled her locker open. He hugged her from behind and she yelped.

"Kaito, let me get my stuff!" She squealed as he kissed her cheek. I smiled casually and turned away.

I'm not jealous, I'm not jealous...

"We can go now," Miku tugged my arm and spun me around.

"Huh?" I frowned, "S-Sorry, I sort of zoned out..."

She giggled. "Thinking about Len?"

"N-No, I just..."

She clasped a hand over my mouth before I could continue. "It's okay, Rin," she whispered, "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

"We're just taking it slowly," I repeated my excuse from lunch, this time with an extra dose of lameness, "That's all."

Miku nodded. "Let's go," she said, "We're heading straight to your place today."

"Yup," I smiled.

I would have to see Len there, and then I'd start going crazy again. I'd have to sing with him, too. Of course, I was just being selfish; it had to be hard on him, as well, and I wasn't thinking about that.

How was I suppose to get over him if he was wherever I was? And more importantly, how was I supposed to get over him if our friends thought that love between us was okay? We hadn't even told them yet, but there was no way that I could bring myself to do that. Who knew how they would react?

"Here we are," I said to Miku and Kaito even though we were a few feet away, "I've got snacks ready and everything."

I stopped walking suddenly, because of what was near the gates. It looked like a memory from a week or so ago, and I was somehow reliving it with a shift in perspective.

Len was leaning against the wall by the gate, hands in his pockets and eyes turned away. It reminded me of how he would wait for me before school, so that we could walk together. I could tell how hard he was trying to keep himself from looking at me, and my heart ached. He was pretending not to see me, and here I was, staring at him and making it harder for both of us.

"Come on, Rin," Miku pulled my arm and dragged me towards my home, "Yuma and the others will probably be here soon, and if they're late, I'll smack 'em."

We were standing right in front of the gates, and Len was still doing his best to ignore me, but I just couldn't look away. He looked so perfect, and I was spellbound.

"Is everything okay between you two?" Kaito asked slowly, eyeing both of us.

Instantaneously, Len and I both looked at him.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine!" We both said at the same time.

Of course, everything was far from fine.

What do you guys think of the recent developments? Will Len push himself to say yes to Neru? Will Rin ever tell her friends the truth? Will she ever get over Len? And what about her father, who arrives tomorrow?

And...what is Yuma hiding?!

We'll come closer to the answers to these questions and more next chapter! Thanks for reading!

And now the mandatory "Vote, comment, share, support" line. Follow me if you haven't already!

Did you guys know that there's an 'embed' function on Wattpad? You can use it to share a story on social sites. Anyway, I was just...if you guys could, maybe promote my story around, that'd be nice. B-But only if you feel that it's good enough and worth reading, I mean, I don't want to force anyone or anything, it just makes me happy to see that so many people are enjoying it.

Anyway, I've been talking too much. See you later.