MikuRin/Rinku ☆ True Blue

Meiko's Words☆

"Not hungry, Rin?" Kaito asked, concerned. Rin was prodding and poking her uneaten dinner, looking thoroughly disinterested in it. 

"Sorry," Rin said, looking up, apparently having zoned out. "I was just thinking," 

Len glanced over at his sister, knowing what was on her mind. 

"About what?" Kaito said. 

"Nothing important," Rin lied. "Just school work,"

Meiko and Kaito exchanged looks. "Alright, sweetheart," Meiko said. Rin looked over just in time to see her mouth something to Kaito, who nodded. 

"What is it?" Rin said, putting down her fork and crossing her arms. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Meiko replied. "You just seem a little down, that's all,"

"Oh," Rin said. "Probably just stressed. I have a math quiz next week," it wasn't a complete lie; she did have a quiz coming up, and she was not excited about it. However, that was far from the only reason she was feeling 'down', as Meiko had put it.

"Ah," Meiko said, thought she looked unconvinced. "Well if you want help studying, we're happy to give you some pointers," 

Kaito nodded. "Don't hesitate to let us know if there's anything we can do for you, Rin-Rin,"

Rin smiled at her parents. "Thanks mom, dad. But I'll be alright. I'm going to go get a head start on the chapters we'll be reviewing in math tomorrow,"

"Don't work yourself too hard, Okay?" Kaito said. 

"Of course," Rin said, standing up and picking up her dishes and walking into the kitchen. She rinsed her plate and glass before tucking them in the dishwasher and heading upstairs back to her room. 

She tried to study, at first at least. She turned up her music so thoughts wouldn't intrude, put her phone on silent, and opened up her math book. Slowly, she began to solve some of the problems in the book. She etched the answers in lightly, in the very possible case she had gotten them wrong, as to easily erase them later. 

Rin flipped to a new page once she finished the first section, landing on some graph problems. Miku's really good at these, Rin thought, before shaking herself mentally. She had to be able to do at least her homework without thinking of Miku, otherwise she really was doomed. 

Rin shut her book, angry at herself for thinking of Miku, and angry at Miku for having done something she was angry at in the first place. She sat down on her bed, digging the bases of her palms into her forehead. "C'mon, Rin," she muttered to herself. 

All of a sudden, there was a gentle knock on Rin's door. She straightened up and removed her headphones before she said, "Come in!" in as cheerful a voice as she could manage. 

Meiko opened the door, greeting her daughter with a little smile and wave. "Hi, angel," she said. "May I sit down with you?"

Rin nodded, scooching over on her bed so Meiko could sit next to her. Meiko shut the door behind herself and crossed the room to do so. She put a hand lightly around Rin's shoulder, allowing her to shrug it off if she didn't want it. Rin didn't move, so Meiko kept her hand there. 

"What's up, buttercup?" Meiko asked quietly. "And don't say schoolwork," she added as Rin opened her mouth to speak. 

Rin nodded. Her mother could always tell when she was lying. "Just friend drama, I guess," she sighed. 

"Ah. High School girls truly are ruthless, huh?" Meiko said.

Rin let out a little huff in agreement. "Someone... a girl who was being really nice to me, I found out some things about her, and now I'm mad at her even though she was so sweet," she explained. "I feel bad, but at the same time, what she did was not good,"

Meiko tilted her head slightly, as though contemplating this. "Hm," she said. "that sounds tough, Rin,"

"Yeah," Rin agreed miserably, dropping her head onto Meiko's shoulder. "I just wish I'd never even found out, you know?"

"You'd really rather be kept in the dark about something like that?" Meiko asked. 

"Well, yeah... I don't know. Maybe not. I guess it's better I found out sooner rather than later," Rin said.

Meiko didn't say anything for a moment. "Have you thought about why she did what she did?"

Rin looked at Meiko, surprised. She hadn't, but really, what could possibly be the reason behind Miku's words in the video? She couldn't think of what could possibly drive someone to say that other than blatant homophobia. 

Unless Miku had something to hide. 

A look of realization dawned over Miku. If she was keeping a secret and needed to uphold an image, than it was possible, even if unlikely, that she had hidden behind a mask of hatred in order to cover up any suspicion. Rin suddenly felt a glimmer of hope, wanting her hunch to be correct, for this to have an explanation. 

"Thought of something?" Meiko asked, smiling softly at her daughter. 

"Maybe," Rin said slowly. "I don't know yet." She thought about it more; she wasn't letting Miku completely off the hook yet, even if she had been trying to keep her own secret safe by saying those things. She should have said something to Gumi, she shouldn't have said anything along the line of what she did. It wasn't okay, no matter the reason. But it was a start towards understanding Miku, and the person she was, or at least had been. 

"I'm going to get ready for bed," Meiko said, standing up and kissing Rin on the forehead. "Night, Rin-Rin,"

"G'night, Mom," Rin replied as Meiko walked back to her door to leave. 

"Remember, Rin," Meiko said, turning back to look at Rin as she stood in the doorway. "We see things as we are, not always as they are. That probably applies to your friend, whatever they did. I love you, Rin. Sleep well,"