Hardened

Chapt 17

Len
2 years earlier
Len was nervous. He was shaking. He felt like throwing up the casserole he made for dinner that night. He wanted to curl up in a ball and forget about the whole situation. He didn't feel like crying, though, don't get it wrong. He was doing this for a good cause and he knew that. He was doing it to protect Rin.

He opened his notebook to the last page and read what he had written- the results of eavesdropping and lots of research. He stared at the words but they just seemed like a blur of incomprehensible writing. He couldn't focus with his mind jumbled and alert like this. He exhaled shakily and eyed the bow that Rin had given him that night by his request. Pull yourself together, Len. He told himself.

Calming down a bit, he glanced down, back at the page and read through the information to make sure it was correct. Thursday, 2 a.m. He nodded slightly before tearing out the page and ripping it into tiny pieces. Dumping half of it into the garbage can in his room, he went to the bathroom and threw the rest in the toilet then flushed it. He winced at the loud noise. He hoped Rin wouldn't wake up because of it.

He crept back into his room. His phone buzzed as he did so and he glanced at it. It was a text from Kaito. He wondered if he should read it or not. It was already 1:30 a.m, so he needed to get a move on.

Not only that, but he didn't want to make this any more difficult. Seeing Kaito and Rin and Neru and his mother would make it so much harder than it already was to do what he had to. He reached for his phone hesitantly and decided to read it.

aye lenny u ok man?
1:29

bish i kno u read this so u better answer me or i s2g i will go to ur house and climb thru ur window n beat u up till u tell me whats wrong with u
1:30

Ha? I'm fine, you ice cream doofus. Y? Do I seem weirder than usual ;)
1:30

bru ur always weird like half the time idek if ur just having a seizure or dancing to some weird asian song or what
1:30

Shut your mouth! I'm amazing at dancing, you're just jealous of my skillz :P
1:31

a walrus having a spasm attack dances better than u man
1:31

idk bout u but i dont wanna look like a walrus that needs help??
1:31

Well maybe I like walruses having spasm attacks.
1:32

do u have a walrus fetish
1:32

do u need help bcoz i can pay for ur therapy
1:32

wait oh shit i shouldnt have mentioned that pls dont-
1:33

I. NEED THERAPY, LALALALA THERAPY~
1:33

when will u not do that
1:33

I will never not do that ;)
1:34

But ya rly I'm fine. I g2g actually, cya.
1:34

Len had let the conversation carry on longer than it really should have. His heart felt heavy as he stared at the screen for a moment. Will he ever see Kaito again? Will they ever have conversations like this ever again? Kaito was his best friend. He didn't know what he'd do without him. Kaito, despite being the goofy, happy idiot he was, was always there for Len through thick and thin. A sad smile spread on his face at the memories of Kaito sticking up for him and helping him through all his problems. He was about to turn his phone off when another text from Kaito came through.