Butterflies: RinxLen Part 1

Morning again. I lay motionless in my bed, blinking at the sunlight that peeks through the blinds. Sighing, I roll out of bed, stretching a bit before padding across the carpeted floor to the door. I pause a moment before opening it. I wonder if Len is awake yet. Pushing that thought of my mind, I open the door and hurry down the empty hallway, almost running straight into Miku, who too comes out of her room.

"Oh hey Len- oops, sorry I meant Rin!" Miku says, blushing.

"Don't worry about it Miku." I reply. Without my bow and wearing my baggy pajamas, I do look like Len. I glance back towards his door, opposite mine, yearningly.

"Is Len up yet?" Miku asks, seeing my glance.

"I-I don't know. I just got up too." I stammer. Why would she think I knew? We don't share a room anymore. Not since we were pre-teens…

"Oh ok!" Miku says cheerfully, without any notice of my stammer. "Let's go eat, I think Luka's cooking!" Grabbing my arm, she guides me down the hallway to the kitchen. The kitchen is bright and large, to accommodate all of us Vocaloids that live here. The sun streams through the windows, lighting up the marble counters and tiled floors. Our Huge table sits smack in the middle of a bunch of windows, so it's always warm too. And Miku was right; Luka is cooking, thank god! The only other people who cook are Meiko, Gakupo, and Kaito, but Kaito always adds ice cream to whatever he's cooking, Meiko can't cook AT ALL, and Gakupo usually ends up making something strange. Although Gakupo's cooking is usually edible, none of us are really sure what's in it. I sit down while Miku investigates what Luka's cooking. Kaito wanders in sleepily, wearing fuzzy pajamas with leeks printed on it that Miku got him for Christmas. Miku bounds over to him.

"Hi Kaito! Good Morning!" She buries her face in his chest while hugging him tightly. Kaito smiles sleepily and wraps his arms around her too. I sigh at their embrace and pad over to the fridge to get some juice.

"Hey Rin, can you get me a glass too?" Gakupo says while walking up from the basement. He tries to snatch some bacon on his way to the table. Teto prances in after him from the hallway, singing out a "Good Morning" before sitting down.

"Hey, we have to wait for everyone!" Luka scolds gently. She's cooking bacon and eggs, but she must have woken up recently too, because she too is still in her pajamas, a cute pink nightgown. I smile at her. Thank goodness we have Luka as some type of mother figure, because Meiko sure isn't a good candidate!

"Hey whose turn is it to get Meiko?" Gakupo asks, leaning back in his chair and smiling gratefully at me as I set down his juice. Speak of the devil, I think, plunking myself in a chair, my back to the windows.

"Nose goes!" Teto squeals and we all put our fingers on top of our noses. Gakupo, who was drinking the glass of juice I brought him, loses.

He groans, gets up, and walks down to the master bedroom at the very end of the hall which Meiko claimed a long time ago, for some reason. We all here a crash and look up expectantly. Sure enough, Gakupo comes in, carrying a sleepy, hung-over Meiko, still wrapped in her red blankets. Her straight brown hair is all messed up, falling in her eyes. He carefully sets her in a chair and she slumps over the wood table.

"Sake…" she groans, and I hurriedly set down a can in front of her. Gakupo leans over, his long purple hair hitting poor Meiko in the head.

"Hey sleepy, time to wake up!" She swats him away while chugging her sake. I turn to the fridge for a second can, and then freeze.

"Good Morning!" Len says. I carefully regain composure and grab the can of sake from the fridge, a gust of cold air washing over me as i shut the door carefully. I set it down by Meiko while looking at the can the whole time, willing myself not to look up, and then sit down by Miku. Good, two chairs away from Len. I look up and tentatively glance over. Len is looking over here, so I look away; ignoring the butterflies I feel whenever I see him. Why was he looking over here? Was it at me?

Stop it! I scold myself and the butterflies. Although Len and I have been acting like this for almost a year now, it's always forced and tense, at least for me. But ever since THAT happened, it has to be this way, no matter what I feel…

Meiko, who has recently regained full consciousness and is sitting upright, starts giving us the rundown for today. I tune out when Miku starts arguing with Teto about practicing Triple Baka.

"Rin? Rin!" Meiko yells suddenly, practically in my ear.

"What? Don't yell!" I say, holding my ear. She leans closer, her large eyes staring intensely.

"Rin, you and Len need to practice the routine for Kokoro, then at three you two need to go and re-record Revolution, since SOMEONE spilled ice cream on the first run and ruined it!" She glares at Kaito, who glares right back.

"A whole cone of my favorite kind ruined." He says darkly. Miku pats him sympathetically on his back, and Kaito puts his head down, still mourning. Len snickers a bit, which earns him a glare from both Meiko and Kaito. I gaze at Len while Meiko continues giving directions to who else will be using our small recording studio behind our house and the empty rooms we use to practice our stage routines and singing. Our house is pretty big, due to our recent successes with our Concerts and CDs. Unfortunately, that success makes Meiko want even more, and since she the founder and head of our group, she is obsessed with making us a worldwide sensation. Which is why we make sure she is always a little tipsy, or else she would work us into our graves. When she's sober, she's a complete tyrant. When she's really drunk, she gets a little crazy. Which is why we try to keep her in the middle ground. We love her to death, but just can't deal with a sober Meiko all the time!

When I hear that me and Len will be spending the day together, I get nervous, because I can't remember the last time we were alone together. Usually when we practice, Meiko's supervising or someone is around, but it sounds like a tight schedule today. Yet as I go to my room to change and get ready, I realize I'm rushing because I'm actually excited. I make myself sit for a while on my bed, staring out the window, listening to the muffled sounds of everyone else getting ready. In the mirror, I examine my appearance. I'm wearing a skirt with long tight shorts underneath, since we are practicing, and a tee shirt I've had forever. I like to be comfy, so I dress that way, but I still like to look cute! I'm only missing my bow and pins to keep my bangs out of my eyes. So after I tie my bow, I leave to meet Len outside.