Chapter 75

Rin.

"Len," I whispered as we walked in with Miku and Kaito. He looked at me with a straight face.

"What is it?" He asked. Even though he was doing his best to keep a straight and stern face, I was hopelessly falling for him.

"I've...got your clothes from last week," I mumbled awkwardly, "Doris washed them and everything."

Len nodded. "Thanks. I'll pick them up after."

I shuffled in place and then led the group to the ballroom. There was an attached music room as well, and sometimes the music club would practice there.

"Miss Rin, the rest of your friends are here!" Doris called from the hall.

"Send them in!" I yelled back.

Soon, everyone was in the private music room of my home. I glanced at them shyly. Even though most of them had been here before, it felt a little weird. My father...Len's father...was so rich, and he was never here, and he left me with this huge, empty palace of a home.

I'd give all this away just to be with Len, but it was impossible.

Yuma.

"I wrote a song," I announced as soon as I entered the area. Everyone turned to look at me, including Gumi. This was a song that I hadn't even told her about, but I had been working on it for a long time.

"What, you just show up and say that?" Miku frowned and then sighed, "Fine. Let's hear it."

I nodded and found a seat in one corner of the room. Everyone else sat down as Gakupo came running in, a kitten cradled in one arm, pulling Luka along.

"What is she doing here?" Gumi looked at me and I shook my head, pulling out my guitar, "And what's this song you're talking about?"

I smiled at her. She sat down beside me. "The hardest part was coming up with the title," I said as Gakupo and Luka sat down and stared at me, "I call it...A Clingy Boy Sticking For Fifteen Years."

Meiko stifled a laugh. "That's a funny name."

"Well, the song's not so funny," I said before I began to strum.

(Kimi e no ai o tsudzutta poemu o

(Okuri tsudzukete juugo-nen

(Henji wa mada konai

(Henji wa mada konai)

Gumi.

Yuma's song brought tears to my eyes. Why would he even write a song like that? It was so tragic and horrible, and I didn't want him feeling that way at all! As he strummed the final notes, I grasped his arm tightly and kept my head down.

"That. Was. Amazing," Kaito's eyes were glistening with tears that were ready to spill, "Why did you keep this secret for so long?"

Yuma shrugged and took my hand in his, rubbing circles with his thumb against the back of my hand. Such a simple gesture, but it sent shivers throughout my body. I squeezed his hand tighter.

"That's it, you're singing that for the concert!" Miku clapped her hands together and the rest of the club nodded.

"No," I looked up at Yuma and shook my head. I must've lost control of my emotions, because my cheeks were wet with tears.

"Gumi, what's wrong?" Yuma's hand moved away from mine and he wiped my tears away.

"Why did you write a song like that?" I asked, "A song about a lover who never replies because...because she's dead?"

"It's got nothing to do with you," Yuma said. He continued after a pause, "Actually, it does. If...if you were to disappear on me, then I'd write poems for you every day."

"Don't even talk like that!" I pressed my head against his chest, not wanting to let anyone see my tears. I felt his hands rubbing my back.

"I'm sorry, Gumi," he said softly.

Meiko whistled. "Could you two lovebirds quit it already? I want to sing next!"

I pulled away from Yuma. This was stupid. I was embarrassing him. I turned away and crossed my arms.

"Hold on," Yuma's tone when he spoke to Meiko was firm. I felt his fingers around my arm.

"That's how much I love you," he whispered into my ear, the warm sensation of his breath giving me goosebumps, "The song goes two ways, you know."

I swallowed and looked at him. "Are you trying to make me cry?" I realized that I shouldn't have said that, because his eyes were torn with hurt immediately after. I tried to perform damage control, "If you died, I'd never stop writing for you. I'd run forever, and I'd scream poetry at the top of my lungs till I'd fall in the dirt and lose my voice. And then I'd rest and start all over again."

Yuma pressed his nose against mine. "Sometimes being apart is worse than being dead," he whispered, drawing me in for a kiss.

"Can you two have the sentimental moment somewhere else, please?" Oliver said quickly, just as our lips brushed each other, "I-It's just, Meiko will take her anger out on me."

Yuma pulled away. "You're right," he said with a nod, masking the whimper that somehow escaped me, "Let's move on."

Meiko stood up and pulled a stack of sheets out of her bag. "It's called Change Me," she said, handing out the sheets. It was sheet music and lyrics, "Oliver, do the drums while I sing."

(Tsuyoi chikara

(Senaka osarete

(Gururu mawaru

(Keishiki ga)

Meiko had an amazing voice. I was spellbound by her performance, even though she only had drums backing her up. Once she was done, the entire room was filled with a storm of applause.

"Can I say 'that was amazing' again?" Kaito grinned. Miku elbowed him.

"You guys better learn your parts!" Meiko yelled, smiling.

"She's pretty good, isn't she?" Yuma asked me.

"Yeah," I smiled, "But I still like you better."

He laughed. "It's not a contest."

Miku stood up and looked at Len and Rin. "You two, sing Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder!"

Just then it occurred to me that Miku would make an excellent dictator. I shook the thought out of my mind before it blossomed into something bigger.

Rin was staring at Len, and he wasn't even looking at her. Slowly, they both got to their feet. Kaito pulled a laptop out of his bag and turned on the song's instrumental. They began singing, but something was off. Their voices weren't mixing in that almost magical way that they were before.

At the end, everyone clapped, but it was significantly less enthusiastic. Miku stared at Len and Rin. Rin was gnawing at her lower lip, and Len's gaze was fixated on his shoes.

"What the heck was that?" Miku yelled. Rin shook her head. Len shrugged.

"I don't know," Rin whispered.

"You two better practice on your own time, because I didn't except this sort of drop in quality!" I could see that Miku was freaking out. Kaito patted her on the back.

"We will," Rin said softly.

"I'm sorry," Len mumbled. Miku scoffed.

"We're ending the meeting for today," she mumbled, "I'm sorry for yelling, but you two seriously need to get your act together, I mean, what was that?"

Rin.

This was all because of Len and me. I decided not to linger on it at that point in time, partly because tears were welling up in my eyes. Instead, I led everyone out of the room and took them to the guest room, where Doris had put food.

"I'm sorry about that, Miku," I whispered as we sat down. She looked at me, but the look in her eyes wasn't fierce or stern; it was soft.

"It's okay," she said, "I shouldn't have yelled like that, especially not in from of the others. It's partly my fault."

"We'll practice," I assured her. She sighed and bit into a leek-flavoured potato chip, and I'll tell you right now, those actually tasted pretty good.

"You better," Miku frowned, "I'm just worried, that's all. We can't screw up."

"I know."

Eventually, everyone began to leave. Gakupo left with his kitty first, and Ms. Luka ran after him. Then Meiko got a text from Mikuo, and she left. Gumi wanted to go for a run before it started to get dark, and Yuma scolded her because her ankle had only just gotten better, but he followed her anyway. Oliver had to finish his extra credit project, so he ran off, and then Miku and Kaito left.

Len and I were left sitting, on sofas opposite each other. He was leaning forward, arms hanging in the v-shape that formed between his legs. His hair fell over his face, and I couldn't tell if he was looking at me or not, but I could feel his eyes against me.

"I've been thinking," both of us said at once. I swallowed slowly as he sat up straight and pushed some of his hair back.

"You first," we both said together again.

"Y-You go first," Len said. I nodded and exhaled slowly.

Long chapter, hooray! I was going to add some humour in the part with the snacks, but I was tired and lazy and the chapter was getting long and yeah. I might add something later, and if not, I might add it to that Spectrum of Yellows: Deleted Scenes story that I'll publish later.

Thank you for reading. Vote and comment if you enjoyed! Add it to your reading list/library!

See you next chapter! What have Len and Rin been thinking about? Will she tell him that her father arrives tomorrow? And seriously, what's up with Yuma? What did Gakupo name his cat?

We'll come closer to answering these questions, and others, next time!

P.S. I'll give links for lyrics and videos of Yuma and Meiko's songs, but I'm kind of tired right now. They're popular enough that if you search them up, they'll come up.