"Len?" Mikuo muttered to himself with eyes wide and surprised as can be.
Of all the people they could have ran into, it had to be him, the person who was deeply in love with Rin. The blonde however, had no idea that this boy was head over heels for her. She just stood there with an oblivious expression planted to her face. The yellow haired boy was fast approaching, turning back now would only lead to suspicion. Len looked like he just came back from the convenience store, for he had an obvious pair of plastic bags hanging around his hand.

"Who's he?" Rin asks Mikuo quietly.

"Ju-Just my friend." Mikuo replies hesitantly, he didn't know what to do.

As Len finally made his way to Mikuo, he instantly focuses his eyes to the shorter girl beside him. Immediately, he recognizes her. How couldn't he?

"No way..." Len speaks slowly as a visible pink glow appears on his cheeks.

Rin makes a puzzled expression on her face, trying to figure out why the boy became nervous all of a sudden.

"Yes?" Rin replies as she tries to smile, hoping that Len's agitation might be put into ease somehow.

However, this only made the boy blush more furiously than ever. He quickly averts his eyes away from the girl to avoid embarrassment. As Len's friend, Mikuo noticed this right away.

"What brings you here, Len?" Mikuo says as he playfully punches him on the shoulder.

It was strange to run into Len at this time of hour, not only that but he was wandering near the Hatsune residence. Mikuo knew that Len lived much farther away than he was, he often stayed at Len's place to play some video games or a sleepover if ever he and Miku ever have a fight. Why would Len go all the trouble to buy from a convenience store that was miles away from his own home. You've got to admit, it was kind of strange. That was the first thing that came to Mikuo's mind when he saw him. Was he possibly stalking Rin? Has Mikuo's best friend's crush for Rin turned into obsession? Rin lived only a couple of blocks away from Mikuo was. It was bugging the green haired boy so much.

"I texted you earlier," Len speaks with ease. "I was going to crash at your place tonight, remember?"

"You're kidding, right?" Mikuo says as he begins fishing out his cellphone from his pockets. He only realized seconds after that his phone wasn't with him.

"I forgot my phone..." He murmurs to himself. What should I do? What should I do? The boy is trapped in a situation that he knew would happen sooner or later. He was so deep in thought and stress, he hasn't noticed that the two companions behind him were already talking to each other.

"Excuse me," Rin speaks first "Are you a student at Utaumi Academy?"

Len felt a little part of him die so suddenly when he heard her question, he knew from the beginning that this girl wouldn't remember him at all since their first meeting was far too brief. However, he quickly moves on and answers her right away. He didn't want to leave a bad impression on Rin.

"Yes." He smiles at the girl. "I'm in your year actually."

"Ah." Rin carefully puts her finger on her chin, trying to recall the boy's face as she focuses her determined eyes on him. But it was no use. She had no idea who the boy was, even though this particular stranger was mostly with Mikuo all the time.

"I'm sorry." She says in a slightly depressed manner. "I usually have good memory."

"Don't worry about it." He replies. "I'm Takakura Len."

"Nice to meet you." She smiles at him. "My name is Kagamine-"

"Rin." He quickly answers her in a happy mood. "I've heard many great things about you, you know? You probably have many admirers."

"Thank you." Rin replies with a shy smile. "You are really kind, Takakura."

Len laughs at the girl's reply. He wasn't used to being called by his last name. I

"Call me Len instead." He replies kindly.

"Len?" She repeats as a tint of pink appears above her cheeks.

"Can I call you Rin?"

"Yes, you can." She smiles.

Mikuo finally comes back to reality, noticing the two talking so naturally. He then quickly approaches them in an obvious frantic manner, who knows what they've talked about. Mikuo was to busy thinking of a plan to turn this situation around. He had to make Len leave or else something might happen that could lead to the end of their friendship. Or worse, he might get beat up to death which he feared the most. Len might be a tad shorter than Mikuo but he has a fist of steel, he once saw Len beat up a boy taller and three years older than him in seconds. Len is most frightening when he's in a bad mood.

"Can I ask you two one question?" Len asks, slightly troubled.

"What?" Both Rin and Mikuo ask in chorus.

"Why are you two together at this time of night?" He asks.

Mikuo literally froze in shock, he had no idea how to answer him. Luckily, witty Rin was with him that time. The girl knew that their little secret must remain a secret at all costs. Telling a white lie didn't hurt anybody, right?

"Ah!" Rin speaks instantly. "I was going to buy something from the convenience store when along the way, I saw Hatsune."

"Yeah!" Mikuo quickly agrees

"Not weird at all!" They both said in chorus.

"Oh, I see." Len says in relief. Len knew that Rin lived just a few blocks away from Mikuo, their more likely to meet each other every now and then. Not that he was a stalker or anything. Mikuo himself shared that piece of information to him.

"Listen, Len." Mikuo speaks. "I don't think you can crash at my place tonight."

Len's face hardened. It was obvious to Mikuo that he was clearly upset, he was his best friend after all. Like Rin, Len too wasn't the type of person to burst from heavy emotions. But Mikuo knew Len long enough to distinguish his true feelings.

"Sorry." Mikuo added.

"It's fine." Len says in a deadpan manner. "Here." He hands him the bulging plastic bag, Len was probably looking forward to hanging out with Mikuo. Rin's eyes glittered in delight as she saw some of the contents through the somewhat transparent bag. She was obviously still hungry.

"You can have that," He says. "The ice cream might melt when I get home."

"Thanks." Mikuo says as he takes the plastic bag. "We'll hang out some other time, I promise."

"Sure." Len halfheartedly smiles at him. "Later."

The lemon haired boy walks past them heading for home.

"Len is very nice." Rin says, still eyeballing the plastic bag on his hand.

"See you tomorrow, Len!" Mikuo calls out him. Len was already farther away from the pair, he replies to his farewell with his hand waving without turning back.

"It was very nice to meet you, Len!" Rin imitates Mikuo. This time, Len looked behind and waved at Rin.

'Of course...' Mikuo thought, slightly annoyed.

"We can eat this, right?" Rin asks him.

Mikuo forms a devilish smile.

"I'd share this with you if you tell me why you were with Minami that day." He says hanging the plastic bag above his head to tease Rin's hunger and height at the same time.

The blonde narrows her eyes in response, obviously angry for Mikuo acting so childish at a time like this. "Fine. I'm not that hungry anyway." she crosses her arms in discontent. But before she could turn away from Mikuo, her stomach once again lets out that buzzing sound causing Mikuo to laugh in victory.

"Just tell me, Kagamine." He grins at her. "You're at your limit."

Rin's expression was fuming with embarrassment and anger. But when Mikuo notices this, he quickly picks out a snack from the plastic bag and shows it to Rin. He didn't want her to get too angry. The girl quickly grabs the small cracker snack, later ripping in open and eating out of its contents like a wild bear. Rin's anger was quickly replaced by bliss because of the delicious snack. Mikuo found it incredibly fascinating and amusing to see the girl's reaction since he's used to seeing Rin in an uptight mood. After seeing the power of food, Mikuo thought of an idea.

"Hey, Kagamine." It took Rin a few seconds to notice him because she was too focused on eating.

"Every time I give you a treat, you need to tell me a part of your reason." He challenges her with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Reason?" She asks him.

"Why you were with Minami that day." He replies. "I want to know."

"Fine." She crumples the empty wrapper in her hand. "But it's going to sound silly."

"I can handle it." He says with a smile.

"Popsicle first." She says blankly with her hand in front of him.

Mikuo makes a slightly annoyed expression. "Well played, Kagamine." He mutters as he surrenders the strawberry-flavored Popsicle. Rin smiles in response and without hesitation, she quickly opens the wrapper revealing the cold dessert.

"Why are you so interested anyway?" She asks him as she takes a lick.

"I'm the one giving the questions here." He replies as he tries to take back the Popsicle.

"Ok! Ok!" She says as she blocks the Popsicle from Mikuo's reach. "It was Kaito's idea."

"He said that..." Rin pauses and shyly darts away from the boy's eyes.

"What?" He asks in concern.

"Can we walk while we talk?" She asks him. "I feel uncomfortable just standing here."

"Alright." He agrees quickly as the two begin to continue their walk home. The sky was pitch black, but one could easily spot the wavering moon above them. Streets were illuminated with the familiar bright lights that led them their way to home and the constant sounds of crickets can be heard from ear to ear, it was soothing in a way. The air was cold, it's a good thing that the two were wearing thick clothing.

"Since Kaito knew that we were going to get married," She speaks. "We thought of a plan."

"What plan?" He asks her.

Rin presses the cold Popsicle onto her lips with an uneasy expression drawn to her face. Will he get mad if I tell him? She was heavily concerned about this matter but she had no choice. She has to tell him now, they made a deal after all. Rin tries to reply to him but her words were inaudible to the ear, she obviously did it on purpose. The boy makes an irritated expression, he knew what she was doing.

"I can't hear you." He says in a mocking manner. Rin does reply again but the result was the same. Her face was starting to turn red, ever redder than the Popsicle. Mikuo was seriously irritated at this point, he couldn't tolerate her stalling any longer. He suddenly tilts his head nearer to the girl's face and bites the Popsicle (that was placed on her lips) at the other side. From another's perspective, specifically from behind, one could mistake them for kissing. Rin's face turns bright red. The two stood there for a few seconds until Mikuo pulls back to his original position, licking is lips to savor the sweet strawberry flavored dessert. The girl was still frozen in place, her mind was still processing the event.

"Don't make me do that again, Kagamine." He whispers to her. "Or else the next time you avoid the question again, that Popsicle won't be between us anymore."

Rin didn't react, she was still in shock. For Mikuo, her expression was priceless. He tries to cover his laugh using his hand but it was no use, he was obviously snickering nonstop. "Just kidding, Kagamine." He says to her playfully, ruffling the top of her head.

"Hey, Kagamine." He calls her again, "Hey, snap out of it. I was only kidding."

After a few seconds, Rin finally comes to. She carefully drifts her icy blue eyes to Mikuo's, glaring at him like he's the worst person on earth. It didn't surprise Mikuo one bit, he boy expected this reaction from her anyway. "You can have it." She hands him the Popsicle with a disgusted expression on her face. "It's already contaminated." Mikuo grins and takes the Popsicle from her hand "Don't mind if I do."

"Admit it." He says to her while smiling mischievously from ear to ear. "You liked it."

The blonde irked at the thought, "Don't do that again, Hatsune." Rin replies to him in a cold manner "I didn't like it one bit."

Mikuo sighs in disbelief as he bites a chunk off of the Popsicle, "My bad." He says to her "I just wanted revenge since you were avoiding my question." 'Girls normally fall for that kind of stuff, right?' He was slightly ticked off because his plan didn't work out as he wanted it to be.

"Are you still going to tell me?" He asks carefully while eyeing her movement, knowing that Rin might explode in anger at any minute due to his act. It was stupid of him to do such a thing. 'Who am I kidding? After what I did, she's never going to tell me.' He thought.

"No, I'll still tell you." She says without any sign of anger at all. Mikuo's face was in awe, he almost looses his grip on the Popsicle. "Wa-Wait! Seriously?" He asks her in a frantic manner. "You're still going to tell me?" He asks. "After what I did to you?!" Suddenly, Rin darts her eyes on his.

"Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I won't tell you." She tells him in dryly. "It was stupid of you to do that in the first place." 'What on earth was he thinking? Seriously, this boy is so inappropriate sometimes-No, I mean always.' She thought.

"Sorry. Okay?" Mikuo hands her the plastic bag that was still filled with snacks. "It's yours now." The boy's face was blushing frustratingly, "I can be really random at times. It's just that-" Mikuo suddenly halts in realization. "It's just that?" Rin repeats with a curious face.

'I was so jealous.' He wanted to say that to her but he couldn't. 'I didn't do it because you were avoiding the question- well, sort of. But the way he touched you was so irritating to me.' Mikuo begins to remember the accident at the gym. 'It made me want to do it.' All of these thoughts were piling up in his mind, the thoughts that he wanted to tell her face to face but couldn't. Before, Mikuo only thought of Rin as some bossy, know-it-all who was challenging but fun to pick on but after these past few days, he realizes it. Something changed ever since Meiko and Miku decided to tell them that they were going to get married soon.

"What am I to you, Kagamine?" He asks her out of the blue in a stern manner. In return, Rin's face grew bright red. "Wh-Why are you asking all of a sudden?" She almost stutters. 'He's completely unpredictable! First he asks me why I was with Kaito but now he's asking me what I think of him? What on earth is going through his mind?!' "Please, tell me." He asks her. "I won't ask you about Minami anymore."

'You're conceited, noisy and selfish.' She thought, 'Stupid, rude...' She was compiling every insult that she could think of but when she looks up to his eyes, it made her want to answer him truthfully. 'Proud but straightforward and stupid but persistent.' It was difficult for her to decide but if it meant not bringing up Kaito ever again, she'd have to tell him.

"So, what is it?" He asks her again.

"Before, I thought of you as some lazy jock who acts like a total jerk to everyone," Mikuo shudders at her words. "But, you're actually different now that I got to know you better." Rin continues as she turns her head away from the boy, trying to hide her flushed face from him. "You're sort of okay."

Mikuo's face brightened in delight, sadly Rin was wasn't able to see this expression of him since she was facing away from the boy. It was a relief for him that Mikuo wasn't the only one able to realize it, he was glad that Rin's impression of him slightly changed. "In other words, you like me?" He teases her. Rin turns her head instantly towards him, "There you go again-!" Before they could even start their aimless quarrel, a familiar figure calls out to one of them from the distance.

Once again, I'm terribly sorry for the late update (seriously.) I should have made this chapter longer but I know that it would take a whole lot of time. I've changed my writing style a bit since certain people including me are very meticulous when it comes to proper writing and grammar. I would like to know your opinion if I should stick with this one or the previous one (for those who read the early chapters.)