Chapter 101
Len.
Rin recoiled a bit and gasped as everyone crowded around us.
"Welcome home, Rin!" They all cheered in unison.
Miku snatched Rin away from me and hugged her so tight that Rin appeared to be choking. Thankfully, she let go quickly, only to look at Rin with teary eyes and then hug her again.
"I missed you so much, dammit!" Miku cried into Rin's shoulder. Rin smiled a little, her eyes also brimming with tears.
"I missed you, too," she whispered. Miku nodded, finally pulling away. Then, Gumi jumped her.
"Rin!" She yelled, "Welcome back!"
"G-Gumi, we greeted each other at the airport!" Rin patted her back and Gumi smiled.
"I know, but still!" She pulled Yuma over and instructed, "Shake hands!"
The two shook, and I noticed the slightest hint of a grimace paint itself for a spilt second onto Yuma's face. I noted it quietly, but didn't get to think much about it for the next little while or so.
Kaito suddenly smacked me on the back and I yelped. "You scared me!" I yelled, noticing that he was using crutches. He laughed.
"Like them?" He gestured towards the crutches, "Turns out, Doris used to be a nurse! She had some stuff lying around and lent me these."
"That's great!" I smiled, looking at the bandages wrapped tightly around his forehead, "You scared me yesterday, Kaito!"
"Hey, I'm sorry," he shook his head, "But at least I'm here today, right? That's what matters."
"Okay, who wants pizza?" Meiko hollered from the front of the living room. Mikuo stood beside her, clearing his throat as everyone began clamouring up them for a slice of pizza.
"Line up!" Mikuo yelled, getting everyone nice and orderly, "Geez, you mention pizza and people become animalistic!"
I stood in line with Rin, and we were at the front. Meiko handed plates to us before giving Rin a quick hug.
"Welcome back, darling," she smiled, "Len's been lonely without you around."
I blushed. I never told her that, but I guess it was kind of obvious. Rin looked at me and giggled.
"Well, he won't be lonely anymore!" Rin grinned as Mikuo put a slice of pizza each in our plates. We walked back and sat down on one of the sofas. Oliver came over and sat down on the one opposite, followed by Neru, Mew and Miriam.
"Are you feeling better?" I asked Oliver. He nodded with a half-smile.
"Sometimes, being around friends really helps," he sighed, "Thank you, Len."
"Wait, why're you thanking me?" I frowned, "I should be thanking you!"
"It's like...," Oliver's sentence was interrupted by a loud growling. I looked at Rin, who blushed and turned away.
"My stomach," she whispered. I smiled.
"Come on, Rin!" I said, "You're hungry, so eat!"
She nodded and took a bite of her pizza slice. "Did you seriously plan all this for me?"
Miku approached us while nodding. "Len came up with the idea!" She said, plopping down beside Rin, "And he's got a surprise for you..."
"H-Hey!" I yelled, "Don't tell her that!"
Rin blushed again. "What's the surprise?" She asked quietly. I turned away and fidgeting, prodding my pizza nervously.
"Just wait and see," I mumbled.
"If it's anything like the stuff in Miku's fanfiction, then you two are going to enjoy it!" Kaito laughed and limped over to Miku's side. She gasped and threw her pizza at her boyfriend's face. Neru was drinking some water and it came out of her nose as she started to guffaw.
"Stop it, Kaito!" Miku hissed, "Nobody needs to know about that!"
Kaito sat down as the pizza slid off of his face and onto the floor. His face was covered in pepperoni, cheese, and tomato sauce. "Hey, at least my clothes aren't ruined!" He said with a huge, cheesy grin. Yes, I just punned, except Kaito's grin was pretty authentic.
Miku groaned. Kaito laughed. I watched Gumi make Yuma run laps around the living room, probably making him run before letting him eat. Oliver reached forward, offering a napkin to Kaito, who gladly took it and began wiping his face.
"Haha, pizza face!" Neru just couldn't stop laughing, and I admit, that line of hers got me, Rin and Oliver laughing, too. Of course, Kaito didn't take it to heart; he just laughed along before kissing Miku with his tomato sauce covered mouth, and she looked like she actually enjoyed it.
"There's actually more than one surprise," I explained to Rin, "And I haven't read any of Miku's fanfictions, so I don't know what goes on in there..."
"That's why I brought a copy!" Kaito pulled a few folded up sheets of paper out of his pocket and waved them in the air. Miku yelped at the sight.
"Hey, where did you get those?" She screeched, "I only have one copy!"
"I asked Jeremy the Second to get it photocopied for me!" Kaito smirked, dodging Miku as she launched herself at him. He handed the papers to me and I looked at the first sheet with Rin peering over my shoulder.
"Just skim through it," Kaito said, grabbing Miku and tickling her, "You don't have to read it here."
I nodded, and Rin flipped the page. Our eyes ran down the words and we both blushed about halfway through.
"D-Do you want to keep looking?" Rin asked me with a small voice.
"I don't know, do you?" I shifted a little in my spot before flipping the page again. We kept reading, stopping again at the end of the page.
"T-That's enough of now, don't you think?" I chuckled uneasily at Rin and she nodded. Her entire face was red. I handed the sheets back to Kaito, "Here."
"You weren't supposed to read that...," Miku slumped in Kaito's arms. Suddenly, she started squirming, "Kaito, how could you?"
"Miku, it's okay!" Rin said quickly, "It's written very well! The content is...the content..."
"It's imaginative!" I said, filling in Rin's silence, "Let's get back to enjoying the party now, okay?"
"Who wants a Slurpee?" Mikuo yelled. We all went quiet. Neru stood up suddenly and started flailing her arms in the air.
"Me! Me!" She hollered before pointing down at Oliver, "And him, too!"
"No," Oliver said bluntly, "She's the only one who's crazy about them."
Neru smacked Oliver on the head and scoffed."I'll go get us both one," she said, strutting off. Oliver sighed and grinned, extending an arm towards him before pulling him onto our side.
"She likes you," I whispered. Oliver blushed and looked at me like I was crazy.
"Are you kidding?" He burst out, "No, she doesn't! She's just a big pain!"
"Shh!" Rin giggled and pressed a finger to her lips, "She'll hear you!"
"She doesn't like me," he said under his breath, crossing his arms and sinking into the sofa cushions.
"Do you like her?" I asked slyly. Oliver shook his head.
"No. Can we talk about something else now?"
"Yeah, like the cake you made for Rin?" Miriam said suddenly before gasping and covering her mouth with her hand, "I didn't mean to say that."
Rin looked up at me. "You made a cake?"
"There's like, fifteen cakes here," Mikuo appeared suddenly, sitting down with Meiko on another sofa and looking at Rin, "But there's only one that Len made."
"H-Hey, I didn't make the entire thing myself!" I flailed my arms in the air, "Miku and her butler helped...Meiko and Mikuo also helped..."
"And Ms. Luka helped with the finishing touches!" Meiko beamed at me, "You haven't seen the final product, have you, Len?"
I shook my head. Rin was blushing again. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"Len, you are so sweet!" She squealed, pulling me into a sudden hug that made me yelp in surprise, "I'm betting it's an orange cake!"
"Yup," I said with a nod before smiling, "You found out a bit earlier than you should have..."
"I'm so sorry!" Miriam apologized, shaking her head.
Mew smacked her on the head. "Doofus," she said.
"No, it's fine," Rin shook her head and looked at the two, "I'm surprised enough as it is!"
"Do you want to bring the cake out now, Len?" Mikuo looked at me just as Yuma and Gumi finally arrived and sat down.
"Do you want it now, Rin?" I asked, "I had something sort of planned out, but..."
"Then follow your plan!" She smiled, "Don't worry about me."
"What? How am I supposed to not worry about you? I love you!" I exclaimed.
"You guys have to eat, okay?" Mew said, "We bought so much stuff, like ice cream..."
"Ice cream?" Kaito's eyes widened and he got to his feet. Miku slipped off of his lap and fell to the floor, "Ice cream?"
"Kaito!" Miku groaned, looking up at him. He was looking all around, trying to find the ice cream.
"Yeah," Mew nodded, "And leeks..."
"L-Leeks?" Miku stormed to her feet and stood beside Kaito, looking for the leeks.
"They're over there, you two," Miriam gestured to one end of the living room and the two made a mad dash for the leeks and ice cream.
"My leeks!" Miku yelled, making a dive for the platter of leeks.
"My ice cream!" Kaito cried out, hugging a tub of vanilla ice cream to his chest, "Mine!"
Neru looked at them with her mouth slightly agape and an eyebrow raised. "Nobody wants their leeks or ice cream," she said slowly, "So why are they getting so possessive?"
"Mikuo! Spoon!" Kaito yelled, and Mikuo got up in an instant, running into the kitchen and returning with a spoon.
"God bless you, dude!" Kaito shook Mikuo's hand furiously before digging in. I looked down at Rin, who had begun to laugh.
"They're so cute," she said between laughs.
"You know, they bought a load of orange and orange flavoured products, too, right?" I said to her, making her laughing stop suddenly.
"Where?" She asked, grabbing my collar. I yelped and nearly fell on top of her.
"Look over there, beside the leeks," Mew said flatly. Rin grinned for a half a second before grabbing my hand and pulling me over to what I will refer to as 'the orange corner.'
"There's bananas, too!" Miriam hollered, and I looked to see bunched of bananas piled up next to the orange things, "We set it up this way specifically for you two!"
Okay, now it was the 'banana and orange corner.' Rin looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes and a crazy smile on her face as she madly peeled an orange with her hands. I tore off the top of a banana and smiled just as manically.
"You two look like you're having fun!" Gumi dragged Yuma along and beamed. Yuma was limply holding a droopy slice of pizza in his hands, trying to smile, but he was clearly tired.
"I am!" Rin nodded vigorously before she stuffed the entire orange - the entire circular thing - into her small mouth. I burst out laughing and she bit down, juice spraying from her mouth.
"I'm sorry, Rin, it's just-it's just so...," I couldn't stop my laughter. She chewed furiously and swallowed the entire thing.
"It was good, you know!" She smirked, smacking me on the head. I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her, licking her lips and chin before pulling away.
"I can tell," I whispered with a smile. She blushed and snatched my banana from me.
"Hey!" I tried to take it back, but she stuffed all of that down her throat, as well, "M-My banana!"
"There's plenty more!" Rin crossed her arms.
"Yuma, can you eat an entire orange?" Gumi looked up at him and he froze up, putting his free hand in his hair.
"I don't think I want to, Gumi...," he shrugged before falling to the floor and sitting, cross-legged. Gumi sat down beside him.
"Yes, you do!" She smiled sweetly, "I'll peel it for you! Rin, hand me an orange!"
Suddenly, everyone crowded around Yuma and Gumi. Yuma slumped a little, watching Gumi tear off the fruit's bright orange skin with her bare hands.
"I don't know if I like all this attention," Yuma said, his volume a bit louder than usual.
"Oh, you want some space?" Neru asked, her phone open as she recorded a video of the scene.
"Do you want us to move back, Mr. Yuma?" Miriam frowned.
"Are we too close?" This was Mikuo.
Everyone shifted back a little, but really, only a little. Yuma sighed and Gumi held the now-peeled orange up in the air.
"Ta-da!" She exclaimed. I sat down beside them, Rin close by and eating another orange. My gaze flickered to Kaito and Miku, who were a couple of feet away, oblivious to what was going on as they continued to stuff their faces full of leeks and ice creams.
"Yuma, you must eat this," Gumi said firmly but lovingly, running a finger along his face. Yuma glanced down at his unfinished slice of pizza. I could tell that he wanted to get that finished first, but this was Gumi asking, and after all, it was just an orange.
"Okay," Yuma nodded, "But if I eat it, you have to..."
He pulled Gumi close and whispered something into her ear that made her face flush. She fidgeted a little and he pulled back, looking at her with a half smile.
After a moment, Gumi nodded. "Okay, it's a deal," she said to him, "Now eat this!"
Yuma took the orange from her hands and everyone began to cheer loudly. They chanted his name and he just stared at the orange for a few seconds.
"Yuma! Yuma! Yuma!" They yelled. Yuma closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth as wide as he could, forcing the fruit in. He covered his face with his hands and chewed as much as he could, and some of the juice dribbled down his chin.
"He's actually doing it," Rin sounded amazed.
Gumi looked thrilled. She grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him back and forth till he swallowed and raised his palms as a gesture that he had done it. She let go of his shoulders and hugged him.
"You did it!" She said. Yuma nodded against her shoulder.
"Don't forget your half of the deal," he whispered, making her blush again, "Later."
"I wonder what he's going to make her do...," Rin mused. I chuckled a little.
"If it's anything like what Miku wrote about us...," I began before Rin cut me off.
"That was too much!" She said, blushing, "Let's not talk about it!"
"R-Right!" I nodded and we got to our feet, "Do you want some French Fries?"
"Are they orange flavour?" Rin looked at me questioningly.
"I don't think so..."
"I'm kidding!" She laughed, "Sure, why not?"
Was this chapter funny? I need to know, because I'm trying to work on my humour. Please tell me what you thought. Also, are you guys liking the longer chapters? I don't know if anyone noticed, but from Len's POV in chapter 98 onwards, I changed my writing style a bit. The longer chapters take a bit longer to write (duh) but there's more to say, too.
Please vote if you liked it, and do comment! I try to reply to as many as I can, and they make me smile to myself a little. See you next time!