TAFTFE: Chapter 4 - First Friend (RinxLen)

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There's A First Time For Everything

Chapter 4: First Friend

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Ah, sleep. Don't you love it? You're just so relaxed and you don't care about anything. How I love sleep. I was curled up in my bed. Thank goodness I had an hour before I had to get up for school. I was so tired.

BAM!

"Oh…my… gosh. KYAA!" cried Lily as she barged into my bedroom.

"Lily!" I whined and put my hand sover my face. I hated it when she just walked in, especially in the mornings. "What are you squealing about so early in the morning?"

"I got a Valentines text from Al! I GOT A VALENTINES TEXT FROM AL!"

"Val…en..tines?" I asked slowly. I couldn't quite remember if it was. Even though I was used to moving, I always got a bit mixed up what day it was for a short while after.

"You dork. It's Valentine's day today!" she said with a grin.

I groaned. I'd always hated Valentine's Day. I felt sick seeing all those lovey-dovey couples kissing in the hallways at school. I also admit I was jealous. Not necessarily that I didn't have a girlfriend, more like I didn't have a friend. All the other days of the year I could cope with that fact but the 14th of February was the one day where I almost felt lonely. Almost.

"So you mean to say," I said with an unsure look, "you've already got a boyfriend? Lily, we've only been in Cho for a week."

"Not a boyfriend. Just a friend… who sent me a Valentine text," she giggled and hopped off. "Laters, dweeb!"

It was a Thursday, the Thursday after the Saturday I'd spent at Rin's place. We exchanged a few texts on the Sunday but no long conversations. The week had been quite boring really. School, work and getting lost (Yuujou was far bigger than I'd first believed).

Rin was still talking to me and being as enthusiastic as ever but I still wasn't sure what my relationship with her was. I still didn't know if she was a friend. How are you supposed to know when someone is your friend? Do you have to have a ceremony where I'd say, 'Do you, Rin, take me, Len, to be your friend?' Alright, that was silly.

As for Rin's portrait, I finished it the night I'd started drawing it but I hadn't given it to her yet. I wasn't sure what was wrong. Something about it was… off. I was also worried about what she'd think of it. What if she didn't like it? Goodness, I was beginning to fuss like a girl.

'Right, Len. You're going to march into school today and hand her that drawing like a man!' I told myself. But I still felt nervous…

I was still nervous walking to school an hour later. I clutched my rucksack tightly and hoped that the drawing wasn't getting squished in the bag. Lily had already run off to her new best friend, Momo, and that boy that I believed to be called Al. That's another problem about Lily. She gets a huge crush on someone in a matter of minutes.

"Len!" I heard someone call and looked around to see Rin running towards me. "Morning!"

"Morning," I nodded back. It was still Rin doing the most of the talking.

"Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!" she exclaimed and held out a little box of chocolates to me.

Wait… Rin got me chocolates?!

My stomach started doing back flips and I gulped as I began to feel myself growing warm. With my slightly shaking hands, I carefully took the box from her. Our fingers brushed in the process and my stomach did another flip.

"Why don't you open them?" she asked but before I could there was a loud BRING!

"Wah!" I cried out in alarm, only to realise I'd fallen victim to that darn school bell again.

"Never mind," said Rin but I noticed her smile had dropped slightly. I put the box in my bag and we made our way to class. On the way Rin giggled, "You know, this is your fifth day here. I would've thought you'd be used to the bell by now!" I just scowled.

Thankfully, class whizzed by and Rin and I soon found ourselves on our way to lunch. People kept staring at us in the cafeteria so we decided to eat away from the majority of the school. Our place was underneath that orange blossom tree Rin had dragged me to after I'd failed to stand up to the Akumas. Thankfully, we hadn't had anymore trouble with them. They just stared at us as we walked past.

We were on our way with Rin happily chatting to me while I kept quiet and listened. To be honest, I liked it that way. Talking to people has never been my thing. Suddenly Rin stopped talking. I looked up to see what had happened and she was staring worriedly ahead. It was the Akumas. We were about to walk off when the pink girl stood forward. 'Oh no, she's gonna punch me, isn't she?'

"Kagamine-san… W-we have chocolates for y-you."

…what?

I swear both Rin and I twitched our eye at exactly the same time. All three held out their chocolates, waiting for me to take them. Their faces were bright red. When they realised I wasn't going to take them they shoved them in my hands and ran off.

"What just happened?" Rin asked slowly.

"I… don't know," I replied, still in a slight daze.

Our lunch was awfully awkward. Rin had shut up completely. This was probably the first time I'd ever heard her so quiet. After finishing my bento I nervously looked down at the chocolates I'd received from the Akumas. What were they playing at?

"You're not going to eat them, are you?!" Rin asked suddenly. I guessed she'd seen me staring at them. "They could be poisoned!"

"Relax, I'd never eat them, poisoned or not." With that, I picked them up, walked over to a nearby bin and disposed off them. "Happy now?" I asked as I sat back down.

"Yes.." muttered Rin before she went quiet again.

I'd had enough of this awkward silence. Funny how when Rin was talking, I wished she'd be quiet but when she's silent, it just wasn't the same. "Why don't I eat yours, then?"

"Oh, yes please!" she said with a grin. Good, Rin was back.

I pulled the chocolates out of my bag and carefully unwrapped the box they were in. I lifted the lid and saw about fifteen chocolates roughly the size of large marbles. Some were a bit funny shaped.

"Sorry they look a bit odd. I made them myself, you see," apologized Rin as she rubbed the back of her head.

I felt myself begin to blush again but I shook it off. I picked up a chocolate and popped it in my mouth. I could taste the rich chocolate instantly but there was another taste there. Something sweet like… bananas. I sucked on it slightly and it soon melted on my tongue.

"So?" Rin asked nervously. "Bananas are your favourite, right?"

I stayed quiet for a few moments before I turned to Rin with a smile. "Rin, these are amazing!" I exclaimed and quickly put another in my mouth.

"You really think so?" She grinned brightly.

"Yes! But, how did you know bananas were my favourite?"

"You smell like bananas!" she giggled.

I sweat dropped. 'I smell like bananas? Really, Rin? Mind you, she smells like oranges.'

"Then, is your favourite food oranges by any chance?"

"Yes."

Rin burst into laughter while I just smiled at her and rolled my eyes. So we all smell like our favourite food, huh? Well, I just feel sorry for whoever adores garlic.

Rin got up to put her rubbish in the bin but she managed to knock over her bag. Two objects fell out and I picked them up to give to her but something caught my eye. They were in similar shaped and sized boxes to the ones my chocolates had come in, only they were both wrapped in a pale blue paper. But it was what they were labelled that got me.

To Miku Hatsune. To Kaito Shion.

I knew Shion-san, he was the one I talked to on my first day but I immediately disliked him when I saw his attitude towards Rin being bullied. As for this Miku Hatsune person, I believed she was the girl with those long, teal, twin tails in my class. I'd never actually spoken to her before.

"Rin," I said carefully. "Why do you have chocolates for Shion-san and Hatsune-san?"

Rin sighed, chuckled and said, "Aren't you bored with my back stories yet?"

"No, I want to know," I said firmly. "It doesn't look like you guys are particularly close, so why?" Perhaps she had a crush on Shion-san? No, I didn't believe that. As for Hatsune-san… No, I doubted she had a crush on her either.

"Well," Rin started. "believe it or not Miku, Kaito and I used to be really close."

"Really?"

"Yup. We met in elementary and were great friends all the way up until our first year in junior high. Then the Akumas came along. They ruined everything."

"I'm guessing they've always been bullies then," I commented.

"They sure have," agreed Rin with a small nod. "They wanted to rule the school, or at least junior high. They forced people to do all sorts of stuff for them. Miku's mother is a makeup artist and when they discovered that they tried to get Miku to give them loads of free makeup but soon backed away after hearing her dad was a cop.

"Then they got to me. Once they found out I was quite smart they always wanted me to do all of their homework. I, of course, refused. I wasn't scared of them like some of the others who had given in. That ticked them off. So...they spread rumours about me. Kaito and Miku believed them, were disgusted and turned on me. They haven't spoken to me since. I sometimes wonder if they were even my friends if they could abandon me that easily. But every year, on Valentine's, I still make them chocolates. I just never give them to them. "

"Are you gonna tell me the rumours?" I asked softly, not sure how else to respond. "You don't have to, I'm asking just out of curiosity."

"They said," Rin paused to hide her face with her hands, "that I had stolen all of their boyfriends, done…that…with them and that I was a s…sl…"

"You don't have to say that word, Rin," I said darkly. Rin let her hands fall and looked up at me with wide eyes due to my tone of voice. "They are witches, the lot of them. In fact…"

I got up and made my way over to the bin. Thankfully, the chocolates were still at the top so I didn't have to dig in the rubbish for them. I lifted them up, dropped them on the floor and began stomping on them. I didn't care if anyone was staring. I was too busy enjoying killing the carefully wrapped gifts.

"L-Len! What're you doing?" called Rin.

"They had no right to treat you like that!" I yelled back. "They're lucky I'm crunching their chocolates and not their heads!"

I picked up the remains of the bashed sweets and threw them back into the bin. After dusting off my hands, I joined Rin back under the tree. She was perched on her knees, looking up at me worriedly. "What?" I asked.

"You didn't have to do that," she mumbled and looked to the side.

"Yes, I did," I insisted and sat down next to her. "Tell me, why do you still do what they say?"

"I'm afraid they'll spread something even worse if I don't," Rin admitted.

"Rin, I want you to promise me something. Never do what they say again, understand?"

"But-"

"Promise," I ordered through gritted teeth.

Rin gulped. "P-promise."

Rin looked awfully gloomy now. I started looking for a way to cheer her up. 'Ah, the drawing!' I dug around in my bag for my sketch book and removed the page with Rin's portrait in it. 'Here goes nothing.'

"Here," I said and I handed it to her. She took it and stared. Her eyes were wide but other than that, there was no emotion. Her mouth was a horizontal line. Her eyes then slowly closed and I could tell she was thinking about something. Did she not like it? 'Crap, crap, cra-'

"Len, I love it!" she cried with her grin returning.

"R-really? That's g-great!" I said. I was relieved. But soon I was panicking again when I found Rin had thrown her arms around me. "O-Oi! What are you doing?"

She drew back a bit when she noticed I was uncomfortable. "I thought you wouldn't mind, being as we're friends and all…"

I froze.

F…friends?

Friends?

FRIENDS?!

"We…are?"

"You didn't think we were friends?" asked Rin. She looked hurt. 'One minute she's sad then the next she's happy... and she says I change!'

"I don't know you see. I haven't had a friend before," I said shyly.

Turning back into happy mode, Rin said, "Well, now you've got one!" She held out her hand. "Hello, Len! I'm Rin, your new best friend."

Best friend…

'So now she's not only my 'friend', SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND?!'

While on the inside I was slowly failing to function, I hesitated a bit before lifting up my left hand to shake her right. She smiled as we shook and when we broke apart, I still felt a warm sensation tingling on my fingertips.

The bell rang and you can imagine how I reacted. We put our remaining rubbish in the bin and I put the rest of Rin's banana chocolates back in my bag. We headed back for class. I really wasn't fussed on lessons. I knew most of it anyway, but it couldn't be helped. Luckily, last lesson was a free lesson and everyone just stayed in the classroom.

I was sketching random objects when Rin suddenly announced, "I HAVE AN AWESOME IDEA!" The whole class stared and Rin sheepishly chuckled when she realised how loud she'd been.

When the class resumed to normal, I asked, "And what might that be?"

"To celebrate us becoming best friends in the whole world, galaxy, universe and there's no one else we'd rather be best pals with especially since Rin is awesome and-"

"Rin."

"Oh, right. Sorry. We should do something to celebrate our friendship!"

My heart did a little flip rather like my stomach had earlier on. "What?"

"Let's go to the amusement park!" exclaimed Rin and she clapped her hands together. "Rinto used to work at an amusement park not far from here while he was saving up for college. They all know me there and let me pay half price for my tickets!"

I smiled again. I was smiling a lot more now. I think Rin's grin was beginning to rub off on me. But it was definitely for the better. "Okay, sounds great," I agreed.

The school day finally came to an end. We collected our things and exited the school. Rin was telling me all about the theme park and it sounded rather fun actually. I'd only been to one once but I was four so I didn't really remember. My parents told me they didn't care much for roller coasters.

We came to the point where we went different ways to get home. We both waved and separated but it wasn't long before I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket.

From Rin

I forgot 2 ask. Should we go on Sat?

I rolled my eyes and replied:

To Rin

You could've asked 2morrow. Yes Sat is fine : )

Almost instantly the reply came.

From Rin

I just wanted to no. Ok! C U 2morrow BEST FRIEND : P

There it was again, best friend. Then I realised something. For the first time in ages, I didn't feel lonely. For the first time in ages, I felt wanted. For the first time in ages, I felt really happy.

I'd just made my first friend…

…on Valentine's Day.

Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't that bad after all.