Chapter Text
Piko wakes up the next morning around eight. He'll have to call into work and say he can't make it. No doubt Rin's father will understand. Besides, he never really takes sick days and is late once in a blue moon. He'll be okay, he decides.
He rises and stretches. Piko still has the clothes he wore yesterday on. He probably could have snuck into Len's closet last night to borrow something, but he isn't exactly interested in the crossdresser's closet. Though admittedly the boy has been wearing girls' clothes less and less lately. He looks less feminine now that he's grown up a bit. Still, whenever he's out with Miku or on his own, he tends to stick to his disguise. None of the idol's fans know he's still dating Miku. They think the relationship ended while she was still in Germany, much to the relief of the couple.
Piko sighs and shakes the thoughts of the odd pairing from his mind. Their strange ways will never cease to confuse him.
Piko ends up in the kitchen, where Len and Rin both sit at the table, Len with coffee, and Rin with tea. The girl half of the Kagamine spawn smiles at him warmly, yet tiredly. Her eyes are still bloodshot and the bags under her eyes have darkened, but he's glad she managed to drag herself downstairs.
"Yo," Len greets simply.
"Hey," Piko replies.
"Breakfast?" Len asks. He's the only one in the house with any cooking talent. Piko can probably use the microwave and that about it. Same goes for Rin, though she seems to be able to bake without burning the house down.
"Whatever you're having," Piko says.
"Alright. I've got a meeting with some company about becoming a spokesperson, so I'll be gone in another hour," Len tells them. What, like they've got something to do without him there?
"Nice to know," Piko mutters as he slides into a seat at the table, setting his head on the table top. The wood is cool in the early morning air. Len gets up just as he sits and heads to the fridge.
Rin pats the back of his head gently. "Poor thing," she says a bit teasingly. "You must be tired."
"Damn straight," he agrees. "How do you feel?"
Her smile turns a bit sour, though it remains on her face. "Tired. Sad. A bit angry. But better. Thanks."
All to be expected, of course.
"Hey, Piko," Rin begins, leaning in a bit closer. "I don't really know how to approach this, so I'll head into it the best I can. Gumo told me you like me."
Piko freezes in the act of sliding her cup over to himself for a sip of tea. The first thing he thinks to do is to act angry, to deny it completely. But if she's the one asking, she's probably ready to talk about it. He won't lie, his heart feels like stone and his stomach is twisting into knots, but this is typical whenever the subject of Gumo arises. So Piko swallows his fear of rejection and replies.
"Yeah," he says. "I do. But it's not important."
Rin looks shocked. "But it is!" she insists. "You've always thought you aren't good enough for anyone and I made you feel like second best!"
"That's not true," Piko replies, completely forgetting that Len is so close. "I'm your friend. Friends aren't second best."
Rin looks on the verge of tears again. "I should've realized," she says, a hint of anger in her voice. Anger at herself, Piko suspects, though that's ridiculous. She can't be expected to know things like that, especially when he's tried so hard to make sure she doesn't.
"It's fine," he tells her quickly.
"It's not."
"To me, it is."
Rin looks at him then. Really looks at him. Examines his entire face, focuses on his weird, mismatched eyes, settles on them and reads him like a particularly confusing book.
"Piko," she says, "You're an amazing person. I think you're an amazing person. But… just not yet, okay? I need some time. Relationships are odd like that."
Is she saying what it sounds like she's saying? Piko swallows and ignores the clatter in the kitchen. Rin has reached out and taken his hand in her own.
"Because I really like Gumo still, and that won't go away. And it won't be fair to you, either," Rin tells him in a gentle, quiet voice. "So wait a bit longer?"
Piko knows he can wait.
"Of course," he says.
And that's that.
Not three days later, after Rin's settled down a bit, Piko finds himself out with Rui, who's been kind enough to spend a bit of her extra time with him. They're at a mall, for some unknown reason, and Piko's waiting for her to get the hell out of the changing room. It's the first day he hasn't really been around Rin, who still isn't taking the breakup grandly. Miku replaced Piko for a while and took her swimming. Not that he minded being around Rin, but seeing her in a state of constant depression was starting to wear on him.
"Damn it, Rui," he growls, checking his watch. It was a present from Len, of all people, at Piko's graduation. It's a nice watch; not too showy but quite sturdy. Piko can't even imagine the price tag and doesn't really want to.
He rubs his forehead as a headache begins to set in. Shopping with Rui is never much of an enjoyable experience, but he decided that he deserves a bit if a treat. He has some money saved up and his own clothes could do with replacing. So, yeah, he came along, despite foreknowledge of this odd form of torture.
His inner grumbling is interrupted by none other than Gumo, believe it or not. For some unexplainable reason, the universe decided to place them together, even though Piko isn't exactly fond of the other boy at the moment. Admittedly, they are probably still going to be friends, what with Gumo's persistence and Piko's genuine like for the boy, despite recent events.
"Hello, Piko!" the green-haired boy greets with a smile. He is also alone for the moment, though he looks like he's waiting.
Piko swallows rude comments that are admittedly the epitome of childishness and replies as best he can. "Hey, Gumo."
"Who are you waiting for?" Gumo asks.
"Rui. She managed to drag me out with her," he sighs. The conversation is easy to ease into, as though Gumo's forgotten he just broke up with Piko's good friend. The boy certainly is strange.
"That sucks." Even Gumo knows what a nightmare Rui can be sometimes. He's heard from the others (mainly Piko and Rei) how her shopping trips usually end up. "Work today?"
"Boss gave me the day off," Piko says. Apparently, it was "the least the man could do in return, seeing as you've helped my daughter through tough times recently." He didn't mind, though it seemed a bit excessive.
"That's great!" Gumo replies. "The guy's pretty cool sometimes."
"Yeah," Piko agrees vaguely.
"So," Gumo's face gets a bit pensive at this, "how's Rin?"
He's been expecting this question and answers evenly. "Better. She went swimming with Miku."
Gumo looks a bit relieved. "That's great," he states. "That's really great. Because, well, I still like her, but I just… I didn't see a relationship working out in the long run. Besides-"
"Your ex?" Piko interrupts. Gumo nods.
"Yeah. He was in Canada, believe it or not. God's knows why we broke up in the first place," Gumo says. Piko swears he hears the word "he," but ignores it. None of his business, even if it does turn out Gumo's, well…
…Got a boyfriend.
"Actually, here he comes now," Gumo waves to someone approaching from behind Piko and the silver-haired boy turns to see a person very similar to a male version of Luka. Though his eyes are quite different. Piko can't decide if they're golden or yellow.
"Hello!" the boy greets. He's tall. Damn tall. Probably six foot at least. It bugs Piko that he always seems to run into tall people. Why can't anyone be shorter than him, damn it!
"Piko, Yuuma. Yuuma, Piko," Gumo introduces.
"Cool eyes," Yuuma offers as greeting. The two don't look like a couple. They stand closer, but don't hang all over each other, not like Luka and Lily or Rei and Gumi. So they're more of a Miku and Len couple, then.
Piko realizes he has some weird classifications when it comes to couples and decides to stop thinking.
"Um, thank?" he replies. People don't usually comment on his strange physical appearance. Maybe they think is a sore topic. He's glad someone doesn't follow the same train of thought.
"What are you out for today?" Yuuma continues the conversation with ease. Piko minds less than he thought possible.
"Shopping. My stupid ex convinced me to leave the house," he says and is surprised to feel a stinging pain in the back of his head where Rui has thrown her shoe. Luckily, it's a flat, so no extensive damage is done.
"What were you saying?" she asks sweetly, offering out a hand to take the shoe Piko's now holding.
"That you are a psychopath," he mutters as he hands over the shoe.
"For that, you owe me a drink tonight," she tells him. "Hello, Gumo!"
"Hello, Rui."
"Shopping?" she asks, letting her bags sit on the floor. She really is lazy. Then again, Piko would probably do the same.
"Yeah. Yuuma here left most of his stuff overseas. He gets a whole new wardrobe now," Gumo explains.
"Sadly, Gumo has no taste, so I'm doing everything myself," Yuuma adds.
"I see nothing wrong with jeans every day," Gumo replies evenly.
Yuuma shakes his head. "He simply doesn't understand," the pink-haired boy sighs.
"That's Piko, too," Rui agrees. "I can picture exactly what to put him in but he'll never agree."
"I don't want skinny jeans," Piko retorts. "Nor am I interested in crossdressing. You already have Len."
"Who does not want to be an online sensation," Rui concludes.
Yuuma grins. "You are a girl I think I can talk to. See you around?"
"Oh, yes. Definitely," Rui agrees and smirks. As the two older boys depart, Rui turns to Piko.
"They're dating, right?" she asks.
"Yep," Piko confirms.
"Oh. Pity." And with a sigh, the raven-haired girl drags Piko to the next store.
It really is a while before things get comfortable again. Their group doesn't feel like shaking Gumo, but thankfully the boy knows that he should probably keep his distance for a while yet. It's a few months before they properly gather again, this time joined by Yuuma, who takes a shine to Rui. It's even longer before Rin holds herself to what she said.
One day, just as spring is turning to summer and rain has given up soaking everything is can, Piko finds himself in the Kagamine household. It's Gumi's birthday, so of course everyone has to celebrate. The guest list is extensive an includes, but is not limited to: Rei, Rui, Akita Neru, Kasane Teto, Miku, Len, Rin, Luka, Lily, Gumo, Kaito and his kid sister (who, for some unknown reason, thinks the world of Gumi), Aoki Lapis (Kaito's girlfriend), Aria and Yukari (Len's high school friends who get along well with Gumi), Haku (Neru's crush and denied girlfriend whom she met through Len), Gumo, Yuuma, SeeU, Mikuo, and Piko as well. It's a good thing that the Kagamines have a big house.
Piko finds himself in the kitchen, helping Len cook. Gumi's too shy to properly request anything so Len's making homemade pizza. Piko's job is to hand out drinks and keep Rui out of the alcohol. This was Rei's request, as the girl would never listen to her brother but might (pretty big 'might,' if you ask Piko) listen to him.
Miku takes up his job for a while as she doesn't mind spending time with Len. Besides, Rui's otherwise occupied trying to flirt with someone. Piko isn't one bit surprised that she's bugging Kaito's little sister, who is only a year younger than them, even though he knows Rui isn't actually interested in girls at all. She just likes being unpredictable.
Rin finds him on the back patio. The Kagamines have a large expanse of land, considering they still technically live in the city. There's a nice amount of space out back and it's relatively well cared for. Piko likes the backyard. No one's there, either. No matter how big the house is, Piko can't get used to the crowd of people.
"Hey," Rin says as she sits down, pulling her wicker chair next to him. With crossed legs, she leans her head back and stares at a fresh blue sky, eyes mirroring the color strongly, though not perfectly.
"Hello," Piko greets in response. "It's chaos in there."
"I guess. But Gumi's enjoying herself," Rin grins. Last he saw, Gumi was taking part in an epic game of Spoons and seemed to be having a lot of fun.
"Yeah," he agrees.
It's quite for a long stretch of time that's really only a few moments.
"Piko?" Rin begins.
"Yeah?" he says.
"Want to go out?"
"On a date?" he asks. She confirms with a nod. "Of course."
"That's good."
The silence infiltrates their conversation again and Rin is once again the one to break it.
"Want me to kiss you?"
Piko smiles a bright smile. "I thought you would never ask."
And so she does.