Hey guys,

I'm just announcing that I won't be completing this story. I always held in the bottom of my heart that someday I would happen and craft some spectacular continuation but it ain't going to happen. This whole thing was just a manifestation of the bitter regret and loneliness I felt at the time. As a person, I've changed too much - no longer as naive and idealistic as before - and I don't think I can bring this plot back to the path that I started along and go where I had hoped to go.

So thanks everyone for their support. I read every review and it really made me happy that people read my stuff.

Rin Kagamine pounds on the button of her alarm clock a few seconds before it rings out. She has always had a strangely astute sense of when to wake up. It takes a bit of effort for her to open her eyes, as always, but today she is driven by a fresh determination. The fan on her ceiling is blowing gently, sending a pleasant breeze towards her face, luring her back towards sleep.

I can't be late today. There's something important.

She rises from her mat on the floor and looks across her bedroom. Her house is small enough so that she could see her door from her bed. Rin looks out the window and sees that the ground has been covered with snow.

Looking out the window to see the whole earth changed in a night is a miraculous feeling. I wonder what else has gone on that I was unaware of in sleep?

Her backpack sits under a small shelf bolted to a wall. It held several oranges. One of them is about to fall off the edge. She had slept with her uniform on, knowing that she would be bogged down if she tries to dress right before school. She isn't a morning person.

She grabs the orange that's about to fall and begins to peel it. It hasn't fully ripened yet, so the taste is rather sour, but she doesn't mind that.

Crap. This one has seeds.

But she doesn't want to waste any time moving to the trash can. Swallowing the seeds, she grabs her backpack. Her eyes fall on a set of white wooden headphones. It's old but functional. At least it hasn't broken within a month of use, like those cheap airplane microphones.

I used to listen to music all the time, but...I won't have the time when I enter high school. I need to study. I don't enjoy it, but it's the only thing that keeps me fulfilled now. That's all I need to live on. It's not like I have anything else that serves as my life purpose...

She picks it up, ready to stow it away. She hangs it over one of the branches of her coat rack.

Damn. I'm forgetting something.

She thinks for a bit and remembers. Her good-luck charm. Walking to her windowsill, she picks up a necklace and puts it over her head. It's a thick piece of string, holding a piece of pale-yellow chalk at its end. It touches the top of her sternum and its cool touch gives her a refreshing feeling, a feeling of confidence. She doesn't believe much in superstition, but having few companions, she has grown to rely on this for support.

A friend had given it to me. I don't remember his name. I. was very young at the time. I don't even remember why he hung chalk at the end of the necklace.

Rin walks out into the snow and cold weather. A few icicles hang from the edges of her roof, glimmering brilliantly. Normally, this would be a cancelled day due to inclement weather, but all her school's students live within half a mile, so there's little excuse to not attend. She's glad, because she can hardly wait any longer. She's being waiting for this day for a long time.

It's a beautiful view - the bright snow in wide expanses. Several evergreen trees, shaking in the wind and freeing little piles of snow into the air, tower over the earth. The snow on the ground had already become intermingled with ice, making the fields seem adorned with small patches of light. Rin can't help but feel hopeful.

Perhaps it's a good omen.

Rin finds the street that eventually leads to the school and takes off in a run. The snowblowers and plows haven't yet moved to this section of town, so it's a challenge to move quickly. Wind blows up the fluffy parts of the snow, carrying them across the street. Snowy wind grazes Rin's cheeks.

Several shovelers wave to her as she passes them. She's breathless from the running, too tired to respond. Her backpack feels really heavy now. She could feel her socks becoming drenched with the melting snow.

As she nears the school, her nervousness begins to react with her fatigue. She continues to walk towards the school gate with wrenching feelings in her chest and gut.

I don't even have time to exercise anymore because of studying.

Soon she sees the towering brick buildings of her middle school. It's a gigantic place, the massive chimneys giving it the appearance of an industrial factory. The grounds have already been filled with fresh footprints in the snow. Normally, they would be in a scattered, disoriented array, as students move to different classes, but today they all point in the same direction, towards the center of the campus.

As she walks in, she spots two of her classmates sitting on a stone bench right by the entrance.

"Yuki! Akari!"

Rin greets them and approaches, but stops after she walks closer.

Yuki has the top of her face muffled in her scarf. Her cheeks are as white as bone. Akari tries to make a smile of recognition at Rin, but her face quickly collapses into sadness and turns away. She seems to be shaking slightly.

Rin immediately understands. She tries to put on an expression of nonchalance, trying to display no emotion. But she feels very unnerved. She could feel the goosebumps spreading throughout her arms, even though she's under a thick winter coat. Her stomach gives an unpleasant lurch. She notices that her heart is beating energetically.

The pressure and competition here is insane. Even Yuki and Akari, two of the best students...

"W-we didn't make it. Leave me alone, Rin. You go see...for yourself."

"Yeah…"

Turning away from her defeated classmates, she walks towards the center garden. She sees the large crowd of people, congregated at the front of a stone wall. She hears a distant cacophony of sounds. She tries to get a look at the wall, but she can't see anything except for the bobbing heads of people.

She sees a boy sitting not far away from the crowd. Rin walks close to him.

He quietly mutters to her: "It's over. My parents. They're going to…"

A sweat drop moves down Rin's cheek as she moves to another area of the crowd.

20000 have applied, but only 200 will be admitted into the high school. It's one of the most selective in Japan. Be admitted, and everything will be secured. Honor, fame, prestige, reputation…it's all at stake, at this moment.

Rin stands on tiptoe to see over the head of the girl ahead of her, who is sobbing into her arm.

Sheets of white paper are posted on the wall, with the admitted students' names written in blue ink.

Let me see my name...

Jogo, Junpei, Kadokawa, Kaku…

Wait, let me check again...

She scans the list again and her eyes open wide.

My name isn't between Kadokawa and Kaku…

"Kagamine didn't get in! Can you believe it?"

"The genius Kagamine? Seriously?"

Those words seem to claw into Rin's heart. A destructive, persistent clawing.

What just happened here?

It doesn't feel right. I've worked into a frenzy over this. I feel so vulnerable. Where is my arrogance? I can't even hide behind that anymore...

A chilling gust blows and ripples Rin's hair. A sense of doom pervades Rin's consciousness. She closes her eyes, but she can't forget that nightmarish feeling.

I have a void. And I can't even fill it anymore, with those feelings of smugness, those feelings of superiority I get from my teachers' praise and my classmates' admiration. I have to keep up this facade, this calm and composed mask. I'm can't let the others see my tears...

Rin adjusts her hair bow and sweeps her yellow bangs in front of her face. The hair over her forehead forms a shadow over her face, so that nobody could see her eyes. She could taste the salty water drip into her mouth. She walks out of the crowd, face down and silent.

The main inspiration for this is the song The Lost One's Weeping.

I have also been inspired by my personal experiences and several anime that I have watched, namely Clannad, Kanon, Shingeki no Kyojin, Sword Art Online, Angel Beats, Chuunibyou demo koi ga Shitai, Accel World, and the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. I have also been influenced by the visual novel Rewrite.

I used Wiktionary for the list of names.

Cover image is authored by the Good Smile Company (pretty cheerful name...).

I have tried hard to make this work completely original. If you see ideas or structural aspects (word choice, sentence structure and placement, etc.) that seem closely derived from other works, you should notify me of the transgression. I read often and may pick up figures of speech or word patterns that I may involuntarily use here. I have run everything through a plagiarism checker.

If you could take some time to review, I would appreciate it. It is my first attempt at fanfiction, so I lack experience, but try to be critical. Any advice on the person to take (first or third) would also be welcome.