Things Left Unsaid

Piko's fresh out of high school with no plans, save for an incomplete one that he's not so sure about; tell Rin how he's felt about her for years. Provided her actual boyfriend doesn't get in the way.

Pairing(s): PikoxRin, GumoxRin

Background Pairings: MikuxLen, ReixGumi, MikuoxSeeU, LukaxLily, KaitoxTeto, past RuixPiko

Genre(s): Romance, friendship, hurt/comfort.

Character(s): Piko U., Rin K.

Welp. Here's the sequel to What I Can't Say. If anyone's been waiting, you're welcome. If you're just now joining us, you might want to read WICS first, though you don't really have to. This shouldn't be too long, less than ten chapters. I'm planning for about four or five, but that might change in the future.

If that's all, here's the first chapter!

/

Piko sometimes feels as though he's spent most of his life in some sort of shadow. Sometimes it's because he just isn't good enough to be seen through the shadow of someone else. Sometimes he just doesn't want to be seen. Waiting and watching silently, ready to jump in but unable to make himself do just that. His life is on autopilot, it has been for years, and now he's simply along for the ride.

Piko knows he's a waste. It doesn't take a horribly abusive stepfather for him to understand this. While still in high school, he had made a point as being as utterly useless as possible. Sometimes it wasn't necessarily an act; he's never been very smart anyway. He's never been much of anything, really. And he would have been okay with accepting that. Being a failure wasn't quite as life-shattering as some people thought. But this was all before Rin Kagamine.

There's something about the squirrely older girl he just can't ignore. He's tried. God, how he's tried. But after three years, she's stuck fast and Piko knows he won't be getting over her, or getting rid of her, so easily.

He's lost friends over the years. Childhood friends, all but one, never hung around for long. Miku, his best friend since forever and a day, is actually the only friend he's kept. He could still count on both hand how many friends he's had, but now he can count on one hand how many he's got. But Rin's complicated the matter. To her they are friends. Saying "just" would pollute that. Piko values her friendship. He really does. He just wants something else, something different. It's hard to call her a friend when he knows very well he doesn't think of her as one.

It made it all the more complicated when Rin eventually got herself a boyfriend.

Megpoid Gumiya, nicknamed Gumo, a distant relation to Miku's friend Gumi, is everything he feels he isn't. The boy is very intelligent, fairly outgoing but not annoying about it, charming, and Rin's age. He shares Rin passion for college and plans to also get a medical degree. He's romantic and nothing less than gorgeous. And he genuinely likes Rin, no matter how much Piko wants to deny it. They've been dating a little over six months, as Rin likes to remind Piko. He knows how much she enjoys talking to him about everything, including (especially) Gumo and can't bring himself to hate hearing her talk about his rival at all. Rin mentions how long their relationship has lasted every chance she gets to Piko, knowing he won't be annoyed. Well, he doesn't exactly show how annoyed he is, so of course she doesn't know he's annoyed.

As an added kick to the gut, Gumo seems to like Piko. The older boy knows how Piko feels about his girlfriend, yet clearly doesn't see it as any kind of threat. He also makes a point of being friendsly to him, even when Rin isn't looking. It bothers Piko so much he's made a point of avoiding Gumo as much as possible. He doesn't want to be Gumo's friend. He wants to hate him, to have a reason to hate him besides the fact that he's dating his long-term crush. Piko just can't think of any reason to hate him.

That might be the most painful part of this whole angst-ridden ordeal.

/

Piko is relieved he's finally found a place to live after (barely) graduating. His old house, with his mother and stepfather, can't be forgotten fast enough. His new apartment is small but comfortable and his roommate is agreeable. It's an added bonus that he knows his roommate and might even call him a friend. At least, he's a friend of a friend, and Piko knows that he can borrow money if the rent's too much for him. Kagene Rei comes from a fair bit of money and would probably lend him some just as a favor to Miku.

His room is still mostly boxed up. The summer heat makes it far too difficult to care about unpacking. Luckily, it's the weekend and he has two whole days to get out what he needs before heading out to work on Monday. It's all thanks to Miku's boyfriend that he has a job at all. Piko, never mind being young and having only the basic education that high school offered him, is a secretary at the workplace of Kagamine Leon, Len's workaholic (and very successful) father. He's making a decent amount of money considering he doesn't need it to pay for college. He never plans to go and having a steady job like his current one is doing nothing to convince him to go.

College is for the people who know what the hell they're doing, the ones who got amazing grades and remember the basics of algebra, which he certainly can't. People like Rin and Miku and Rei. And Gumo, he remembers with a shudder. It's hard to even think the name without feeling the slightest bit sick.

Rei's offered, despite his natural neutrality to everything in life, to help him unpack and move his furniture around, but Piko declined as politely as he could. He likes Rei, but the last thing he wants is to go anywhere near anyone after escaping his hellish house. The past few weeks since graduating have been horrible. Between complaints from his mother and getting smacked around a bit by his insanely huge and buff stepfather, it's a relief to be anywhere alone. Honestly, he was getting to the point where he'd move out whether he had a place to stay or not. Hearing constant complaints about his decision not to go to college from two unemployed assholes who considered themselves his parents was not something he needed in his life. So the silence was nice. That would be an upside to living with Rei. He is quiet. His girlfriend is quiet. Hell, his entire life makes a point of being quiet. Piko likes that about the boy. It's definitely a quality he could respect.

With a sigh, Piko finally yanks himself out of his spiraling thoughts and moves with disdain to the box labeled "Bed," which contains his pillows, sheets, and blankets. His bed, a new one as he left the old one at his mother's house, is pushed under the window in the corner, bare and yet unused. He has a feeling he'll be steadily unpacking for the rest of the week, but the bed is currently the most important thing. He needs to sleep. He likes to sleep. Plus, having his bed made will make him feel far more settled.

While he's in the middle of pulling the cases on his pillow, a soft knock echoes from his door (God, he loves it when people knock. His mom and stepfather never did) and he welcomes in Rei with a quick word. The raven-haired boy (he's gotten really tall lately. How is he still growing? Piko's still a freaking shrimp) enters quietly, only stepping inside a few inches to talk to Piko.

"Miku's arranged a trip out to eat. To celebrate you moving in. And graduating, I suppose, since she hasn't had a chance to do that," Rei announces.

Miku moved back from Germany around this time last year, much to everyone's excitement. In her years living in Europe, she'd changed a bit. She was happier, a bit more outgoing and confident. Piko thinks that she's finally forgiven herself for middle school and can't believe the difference it's made. She's still in a relationship with Len, which started around the time she left three years ago. They're a couple that fights more often than they don't, but everyone knows none of the fights are ever really serious. It's how the two have always bonded. Honestly, Piko's glad something has remained the same through the past few years.

Besides gaining confidence, it seems Miku's intelligence skyrocketed while in Germany. Maybe it was the differences in schools that helped, but something about the education over there had her soaking up knowledge like nobody's business. Besides learning German, she became quite adept at English. With three languages under her belt, there was no doubt someone would rush to hire her once she finally graduated from college.

Mikuo had moved back around the same time as his sister. Ever the loyal brother, he had waited for her to graduate and moved back with her, starting college a year late. The boy had put off his own reunion with his super-secret girlfriend (not even Miku had really known about her until their return) who was luckily still there after moving in from Korea. Piko had struck up an odd sort of friendship with Mikuo's girlfriend, while he didn't necessarily consider Mikuo a friend. SeeU was a sweet girl who seemed to think that had untapped potential beyond belief. Being unable to correct her, Piko accepted her quirks and decided she wouldn't be such a bad person to get friendly with.

Nothing much changed about his friendship with Miku. She was still his best friend. She made the most of it, too. No doubt she saw it as her duty to put together a little event to celebrate Piko's escape from his old house.

"Great. When?" Piko asks.

"She's coming around to drag you to her house now," Rei replies.

"Excellent. And you, I suppose?" Piko grins as Rei rolls his eyes.

"No doubt," is the response he receives.

Piko has a feeling he's going to enjoy whatever Miku has planned if Rei is forced to go.