Spectrum of Yellows: Vocaloid Fanfiction (Pairings in desc.)

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Len.

I know the whole jump rope thing was just Miku's idea, so that she could get me talking to Rin, but I didn't have any problem talking to her. In fact, I wanted to talk to her. I was just afraid that she would try to do something that wouldn't be right, since she didn't know that we were half-siblings.

If I had known before that fateful Saturday that he had the same father, things would have still been very different. I wouldn't have tried to advance my relationship with Rin past the point of friends. I would have told her right away, in fact, that we were related.

The problem was that we had become more than friends. That was where the problem started. That was why I was so confused.

After school, Rin was waiting for me at my locker. I warned myself not to do anything that would hurt her. Just be casual, I told myself.

"H-Hey, Len," she smiled. I nodded.

"Hey," I said, "How was your day?"

"My math teacher kept making us solve problems with cats in them," she groaned.

"Wait, what?"

"You know, Ms. Luka. I don't know why, but all she's been talking about this week are meringues, cats, and cats in meringues...it's really weird," Rin shook her head.

"That does sound weird," I nodded, shutting my locker. We headed downstairs.

Rin raised a finger in the air. "I think I've figured it out, Len," she frowned, looking at me.

"F-Figured what out?" The way she was talking was making me nervous.

"The song that we're going to perform for the concert," she smiled. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Remember the one I just wrote, Butterfly on Your Right Shoulder?"

I nodded. That was the second one that we sang together, and it was a pretty upbeat piece.

"That was a pretty good song," I smiled. Rin's eyes sparkled when she looked at me, and I reminded myself who she was in relation to me.

"Thanks," Rin said as we entered the music club's room. Everyone was sitting around a table, talking quietly. We found seats and sat down beside each other.

Rin's hand gently grazed mine, and I flinched, but she quickly pulled it into her lap. She probably didn't know what I was keeping from her, but she seemed to understand what I was trying to avoid.

"You guys, we have to decide on our songs!" Miku slammed a fist on the table. A laptop sat in the centre of the table, and it shook with Miku's sudden outburst.

I counted the members, one of which was a face that I hadn't seen before. Meiko was sitting two seats over from me, between Kaito and Gumi, looking at her phone.

"Oh, right," Miku quieted down and stood up, pointing at me, "Len is our newest member! He will be singing with Rin, and he might sing alone, but we'll see how that goes. Len, this is Kaito, as I'm sure you know. He wasn't here last week. Meiko has been sick for the last two weeks and she's back now."

Kaito grinned at me. Meiko waved. Miku cleared her throat.

"And Mr. Gakupo isn't here today, but we've got him on video chat," she gestured towards the laptop. There was a green dot next to Gakupo's name on the screen, indicating that he was online.

"He hasn't been here all week," Meiko frowned, crossing her arms, "I seriously wonder if he's okay..."

"So here's the full list of members," Miku went on, nodding at everyone as she said their names, "Oliver, Yuma, Kaito, Rin, Gakupo, Meiko, me, and you, Len. Gumi's just hanging out, and that's fine by me."

Gumi nodded. She was sitting beside Yuma. "I'm not singing!"

I nodded. "So is there a list of songs that you have?"

Kaito nodded, beating Miku to it. She scowled at him for half a second before putting on neutral expression.

"We have to take the theme of the event into consideration," he said, "And then we'll have a vote."

"The Song of Summer festival lasts from two in the afternoon to nine at night," Oliver said, "Our concert is going to be from six to eight. After that, the festivities begin to wrap up."

I nodded. "Sounds like a lot of planning," I said.

"Yeah, a lot of planning that I have to do!" Miku said, "We have to make this perfect!"

Luka.

"You can't be feeling that bad!" I frowned at Gakupo. He was sitting on his sofa, staring blankly at his laptop.

"The meeting's about to start," he mumbled and then sighed, "I don't even want to do this..."

"The concert's in three weeks, right?" I asked, shaking him by the shoulders, "How can you drop out of it now?"

"I can," Gakupo said, "I'll just tell them that I can't do it anymore."

"They won't be singing any cat songs!"

"They'll need a new teacher to supervise the group," he went on, ignoring me, "Or else they won't be able to perform."

"Wait, what?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"The teacher doesn't need to perform," Gakupo clarified, "They just need to be there at every meeting and at the concert."

"So that's even more reason for you to not quit!" I yelled, "Stop being so depressed!"

"You could supervise," Gakupo looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully, "Kaito's there, too."

"I don't care about Kaito, I care about you!" I covered my mouth and tried to take it back, "I care about you...not being able to perform! They'll be short one person, and I can't play an instrument! I can't sing!"

The sliver of a smile touched Gakupo's face. "Maybe you can," he said.

I shook my head. "I can't! And stop trying to change the subject!"

He sighed. "It's better I drop out now, rather than later."

I looked him straight in the eyes. "Please," I nearly pleaded, "Please don't do it. I want to...I want to see the concert with you in it! I want you to...smile, like you used to."

He chuckled. "Luka, are you flirting with me?"

My brain stopped processing at the sound of him saying my name. I wondered how it would sound if he sang it.

"No," I finally said, "I'm not flirting with you. Flirting is...by definition, it's when you behave as thought you're attracted to someone."

"I know that," Gakupo said.

"...But you're not serious about it," I finished carefully. Really, I couldn't even believe what I was saying, "A-Anyway, I just want you to go back to being your happy self. Lunchtime just isn't the same without you around. Nothing is the same without you around."

"Are you feeling okay, Luka?" Gakupo pressed a hand against my forehead. I blushed.

"I actually don't think so," I mumbled as his laptop began to beep.

"They're starting," Gakupo said, pulling away, "I won't drop out of it...okay?"

I sighed and smiled in spite of myself, pushing some of my pink hair behind one ear. "Thank you," I said.

He nodded and started the video call.