Chapter 1
WHOOSH!
It must be a hurricane out there. Which really sucks. First day of the school holidays, and there's a massive storm in town.
I'm stuck at home, of course, all by myself. Mum's gone to do some charity work in Cambodia and Dad-
Well Dad left years ago.
Cut it out. There's an irritating series of thumps caused by hail hitting our roof. My sister Lenka and I used to wait until there was a big thump, then go out with an umbrella and see how large the hailstone was. Our area receives quite frequent hailstorms.
But Lenka's gone too, she left a year ago with her new husband. I'm still not used to missing a girl's presence in the house.
THUD
Whoa. That was loud. The hailstone that caused it must have nearly broken down our front door. Well, there's no harm in having a look, is there?
I'm too lazy to grab an umbrella, because if the hailstone hit our front door, all I have to do is reach out and grab it. It's probably a good thing I didn't bring one too.
Because when I open the door, a girl falls right into me.
I catch her, but only just. Shit, she looks bad. There's blood flowing openly from a gash in her forehead and bruises purpling her arms and legs. She must've fallen unconscious as I opened the door. I do what I have to do.
I put her down on the nearest couch, I'm not strong, but she's light. Then I dash to the bathroom and open drawers, hoping that each one will contain the first-aid equipment. Bingo.
I grab a pack of bandages, some cloth and an ice-pack and rush back. Carefully, I clean the wound on her head with the cloth, which turns red instantly. That'll never wash out. After slapping bandages on, I put the ice-pack on the most bruised part of her body. That's done. What do I do next?
Well, I can't leave her on the couch. That'd be rude, and she's soaking the couch. So I pick her up again and bring her to my bed. Now she should be comfortable. I'll just take the couch. As I begin to leave, I turn back out of curiosity and get a good look at her.
Underneath the network of bruises and ignoring the blood everywhere, she's quite cute.
She's wearing -uh- really short shorts, and a short-sleeved top. She must've been freezing and hapless in the hail. Upon her blond hair, there's this large hair bow, and, -oh wait, it's tangling itself with the bed frame. I better take it off.
As I leave the room, I wonder what Mum will say. I've used up our first-aid kit, soaked the couch, stained a cloth beyond recognition and, -oh shit, I left the front door open.
Now there's hailstones in here as well.
Mum would love it. She'll make that talk about how I'm starting to take initiative and look after the people who aren't as well of as me yada yada yada. There's only one problem.
She'll think I brought the girl in only because she's cute.
-The Visitor-
"Who are you?"
"Wutttttt?"
"Who are you?"
I open my eyes and the girl is standing right above me, but bending down so her face is in front of mine. Shit, that's freaky.
"I'm –uh- Len. Um, can you like move, please, so I can –uh- get up?"
She moves out of the way and I get off the couch. Hey wait a second.
"What are you doing out of bed? You need to rest with bruises like those."
"I'm alright," she says.
"Well, I'm not. If you fall unconscious again I don't have the strength to carry you anymore."
"Again?" she asks, "When did you help me?"
"Last night, you were standing outside my door in the hail, and when I opened it you fell uncon-"
Uh oh. Could it be?
"If you don't mind me asking," I say, "Who are you?"
"I'm Rin. Rin Kagamine."
That's a relief.
"Do you know your parents' phone number? I can call them and- hey is something wrong?"
When I said parents she collapsed onto the couch clutching her head. She stops then looks at me.
"I'm fine."
"Well, normally people don't just collapse while clutching their heads. Tell me if something feels wrong."
I go to make breakfast, but she stops me.
"Len!" she says, grabbing my arm, "Something feels wrong."
Huh? Already?
Rin shakes her head a few times then looks up at me.
"I can't remember anything."