The golden, soft sand on the beach was as warm as the sun in the blue sky. Rin Kagamine felt she couldn't have chosen a better day for a picnic with her boyfriend. Wearing her yellow polka dot bikini and white sandals and carrying her wooden picnic basket, she cheerfully walked on the beach. She was walking to the spot where she and her boyfriend agreed to meet up after school yesterday for their romantic date. With every step she took to the spot, she got more excited to meet him. She couldn't wait to share her cheese sandwiches, apples, grapes, ham slices, chicken legs and chocolate cakes with him.

When Rin arrived at the spot, her boyfriend, who had long black hair and was wearing tight dark blue swim shorts, was there too, but her excitement to see him turned to absolute shock. She was shocked to see him because he was with another girl. She was tanned, had long black hair and was wearing a strapless black bikini. She was kissing her boyfriend.

"Ben!"

Ben and the girl stopped making out and looked at the angry Rin.

"Rin!" Ben cried. He got up and approached her. "Rin, you're early than I expected."

"I met here exactly at the precise time that we agreed to meet!" Then Rin turned to the other girl. "Who is your new girlfriend?"

"I'm Jen." The girl offered her hand to Rin, who didn't shake it.

"How long have you been you and Jen been dating each other, Ben?" Rin demanded.

"This has just happened recently," Ben said.

"I thought it was more than four months," Jen said.

Ben gave her a hard stare. "Thanks a lot, Jen!"

"Four months?" Rin cried. "That was longer than we dated! Am I just here for you for your pleasure, Ben? Am I just one of your toys to be ready whenever you choose to play with?"

"No, no," Ben said. "Well, actually, I –"

"Well, it doesn't matter! I refuse to be your toy anymore! We are through!" And, with that, she just ran off as she cried her eyes out.


Rin was so upset that she couldn't focus on where she was going and that was why she tripped over a rock and her picnic basket in her hand flew away from her.

Rin just let out her frustration as she sat down to check her foot. Then she began to cry. She cried about both her hurt foot and her boyfriend, who was never her boyfriend at all, using her the whole time. Why did this have to happen to her? What did that Jen have that she didn't? Was she more beautiful? More positive? Funnier?

Then Rin heard something coming from the sea. She turned to see a young boy rising from the sea. He was wearing black swim shorts with yellow trimmings and scuba diving equipment. He was also carrying a wet plastic bag in his right hand. As he took his diver's mask, regulator and flippers off, he looked at Rin. "Rin?"

"Len?"


Rin never realised how much she had forgotten the day when she met Len Kagamine, even if it was only three weeks ago. She started to remember it was a hot summer's day and she was in the countryside, picking blackberries for her mother's delicious apple and blackberry pies. When she filled up her whole basket, she started to head back to her family's farm.

She walked cheerfully as she embraced the warm sun and heat surrounding her. Then she felt that she couldn't walk any more. Her boots were stuck in the mud. She tried to lift them out, but she couldn't and her legwarmers started to sink as well. She realised that she was sinking into a marsh.

As she continued to sink, Rin thought she could just reach to the nearest edge. She tried to jump out to reach it, but all she succeeded in doing was sink even further down, covering up all of her short black shorts and dropping her basket of berries.

As her white tank top started to sink as well, Rin yelled out for help. But no matter how many times she called out for help nor how loud, no one came and no sound of rescue approaching her could be heard.

By the time only her face and her hands were showing, Rin gave up hope that anyone was coming to help her and she started to burst into tears. Then a rope loop was thrown over her head and her hands.

"Grab the rope and hold on tight!"

Rin did exactly what she was told at once. She managed to free her arms out of the tough mud and get the rope under them. "Okay, I'm ready!" Then the rope became tight and it started to pull her out of the sinking mud. She was soon out of the mud in less than a minute.

As she nervously caught her breath, Rin turned to see who her rescuer was. It was a brown horse and the rope was on its harness. Then she saw its owner, a young male teen with blond hair, taking the rope off and putting it into the bag that was on the end of his saddle. He was shirtless and wearing only black shorts, boots and legwarmers.

After he sorted his horse out, he turned his attention to Rin. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Rin didn't know why, but she started to feel better just for looking at him and being very close to him. "Well, I'm still alive, thanks to you and your horse."

The boy smiled. "No problem. I'm Len. Len Kagamine. And this is Din." He patted his horse Din as he said that.

"I'm Rin Kagamine," Rin said.

"Are you that farm girl on the other side?" Len asked.

"Yes," Rin said. "There weren't any blackberries close to my farm, so I had to look for whatever blackberries I could find. That bush over there –" She pointed to the other side of the marsh. "– was the closest I could find."

"Well, you'd better be careful if you come back here again," Len said. "There's very dangerous marshes here, even on very warm days like today."

"Yeah, I'll bear that in mind," Rin said.

"Are you okay for getting back home?" Len asked. "I can give you a ride back. I know a lake I can take you to so you can wash the mud off your clothes."

"Well, if you don't mind," Rin said.


So Len, with Rin in front of him, rode on Din. He took her to the lake he promised to take her. It was massive, but it looked very calm. He helped her off and she took her clothes off revealing her striped bikini. She wore it in case she had to take her clothes off for whatever reason, like that marsh incident. She went into the water and started to wash the mud off her clothes, while Len let Din to the water so he could have a drink.

It wasn't long until Rin's clothes were clean from the mud.

"Are you ready to head back now, Rin?" Len asked.

"Not yet," Rin said. "My clothes need to dry. I'm just going to have a quick swim. Care to join me?"

Len took off his boots, legwarmers and black shorts, revealing his tight black swim shorts. He followed her.

The lake was cool, but it was what Rin and Len needed for a hot day like this one. They both felt better for it.

"Tell me, Len, do you have a girlfriend?" Rin asked.

"I do," Len replied. "She's called Penny, but I call her Pen for short. She's beautiful and kind and she's my scuba diving partner. What about you, Rin? Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I do," Rin said. "He's called Benjamin, but I call him Ben for short. He's such a dream. He's tall, he's good-looking, he's very smart, he has good manners, he's everything a boyfriend should be."

"Very good," Len said. Then he decided it was time to get out when he noticed that the sun was starting to set. Len got out a towel from the bag hanging on Din's saddle. He dried himself first and gave it to Rin after he finished. When she dried herself, she put her clothes back on. She wasn't surprised how quickly they dried, given how warm the weather was.

"Are you okay heading back home now, Rin?" Len asked.

"Well, I know the way, but I have no blackberries to take to my mother. She bakes pies for a living, you see."

"Well, these are all I can spare."

Rin was surprised when Len got out a basket full of blackberries and emptied less than half and gave it to her. He put all he took out into a plastic bag. "That's very generous of you, Len," she said, "but I can't take these, not after all you've done for me."

"It's no trouble," Len said. "I enjoyed spending time with you. I hope I see you again." He started to head back to Din when he pulled back gently by Rin.

"I have something for you to say thank you for all the good you have done for me today," she said.

He didn't have time to wonder what it would be because she gave it to him immediately: a kiss. He didn't know what to say or what to feel as he got back on Din and they rode back to their home.

As she started to head back to her farm, Rin inspected the blackberries. They looked really good and delicious. Then she started to think of Len and all the good he has done for her today.


Rin's daydreaming ended when she noticed Len standing above Rin and holding her basket.

"Did you drop something?" he asked.

"Thanks, Len," she said, taking the basket off him. "Come and sit next to me."

Len sat down next to her. "So, how have you been, Rin?" he asked.

Rin sadly told him about how she got cheated by her boyfriend Ben who wasn't even her boyfriend in the first place.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Len said. "Pen had to leave me too."

"Why?" Rin asked.

"Because she and her family had move close to her grandparents who both are sick and need looking after," he said. "She hopes it won't be long, but she can't make any promises that she will return here. She says that if I want to move on, she'll be fine with it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Rin said. "What's in that bag?"

"Oh, it's just broken bottles, broken toys and rusty tin cans among the other rubbish I've collected. I'm doing it so the sea can be healthy again and the marine life can thrive again."

Rin thought that was very admirable of Len. "And I bet all that hard work's given you an appetite. Here. Why don't you have a picnic with me?"

Soon Rin and Len were tucking into her picnic basket. Ten minutes later, there wasn't a crumb left.

"That picnic was really delicious, Rin," Len said.

"Thanks, Len," Rin said. "It's the least I can do for all you did for me three weeks ago. And all you're doing to make the seas healthy again." Even though she hadn't even spent a whole day with him, she felt happier with Len already than her whole time dating that horrible idiot Ben. She didn't feel that she was over Ben yet, but being with Len made her feel that she made a start.

"So what are you doing this weekend?" Len asked.

"I don't know," Rin said. "What about you?"

"I have a scuba diving lesson on Saturday," Len replied.

"Lesson?" Rin was surprised. "I'd say you were an expert after what you achieved today and at your age."

"Well, there's always more to learn, that's what I always say," Len said. "There are openings if you like to come and give it a try."

"Okay," Rin said. "I'll see you on Saturday then."

"Great," Len said. "See you on Saturday. And thanks for the picnic once again. And here's something for you to say thank you." He put in his hand on the back on Rin's head and he kissed her on the lips gently.

Rin had a strong feeling that he would do it one day, but she liked it. In fact, she enjoyed it. Then Rin kept her eyes on him as he got up and started to walk away with his scuba diving gear and the bag of rubbish. She didn't take her eyes off him until he was out of sight.


Rin was at the swimming pool on Saturday like she said she would. As she walked to it, she couldn't stop thinking about Len. She hadn't seen Ben since she found out the truth about him. Though she still wasn't over what he did to her, not seeing or being with him made her feel better everyday.

Rin was delighted to see Len, wearing his brown swim shorts, standing by the scuba diving gear. There were only two gears there. At least he was on time and wasn't with another girl. "Hi, Rin," he greeted.

"Hi, Len," Rin greeted back. "Am I too late or too early even?"

"You're neither," Len said. "The scuba instructor just told me that he can't come and do the class today. But since I'm here and the swimming pool lifeguard hasn't rearranged anything, I'd thought I'd not waste this moment and keep up my scuba diving practicing."

"And you can teach me all you know about it," Rin said.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked moodily.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Len sighed. "I had a text message from Pen last night. She says her grandmother has died and he grandfather needs care - both psychically and mentally. She and her family are moved there permanently now. She says she will come and visit me sometimes and she will keep in touch with me forever. We both enjoyed our relationship while it lasted. How are you doing with Ben?"

"I'm still not over him or what he did," Rin said, "but I'm getting there."

"Well, hopefully, this scuba diving lesson will help you," Len said. He gathered the gear as Rin took her tank top and shorts off, revealing a strapless white bikini. Then he helped her into her scuba gear and explaining how everything works. Then he put his gear on and they did their scuba diving practice.

As he taught her all he knew about scuba diving, he was impressed at how quickly she learnt. As if that wasn't good enough, he noticed her eyes were smiling as he taught her and watched her make excellent progress. On the one hand, it reminded him about his lessons with Pen and it made him a bit sad now that he wasn't going to be with her like they used to be, but the other hand told him that this could be a new opportunity for him as well as Rin.

Soon Rin and Len emerged to the surface of the pool.

Len looked at the clock. "Wow, only an hour," he said. "You're a quick learner, Rin."

"Thanks, Len," Rin said. "And you're a great teacher."

"You know all I know now," Len said.

"And I'll be able to help you pick up all the rubbish in the sea and help the marine life thrive," Rin said.

"It's about time the sea had a mermaid like you to help it," Len said.

Rin chuckled bashfully. Then she reached to kiss his lips. Then he put his hands on the back of her head as they continued to kiss.

"So what do you want to do now?" Len asked.

"Anything, as long as it's with you," Rin replied.

They discovered they only had about thirty minutes before the pool opened to the public again so they took the opportunity to swim with each other and kiss each other.