Title: Masquerade

Chapter 2: Five Thousand Miles

Lured by the scent of toast and eggs, Len inched his way down the stairs, hands tightly grasping at the railing as he blindly followed his nose. His eyes were foggy and heavy with sleep and his pyjama-shirt was hanging off one shoulder. Mere minutes ago, he had finally managed to coax himself to sleep after a nightful of tossing and turning, only to be snapped awake by that infernal alarm clock. The aforementioned clock now resided in its final resting place: the wastepaper basket. It had somehow "dropped" onto the wall and "broken" by "accident". Len shuffled into the warmth of the kitchen, his slippers brushing against the linoleum, and he clambered onto his usual stool at the island counter.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

"Morning, mum…" Len slurred, eyelids cemented shut. He was unwilling to accept that the sun had dared to rise and begin the new day again. Why didn't the sun take a break for once? How many dawns has it broken since its last holiday? It's been working for the past few million years, it needs a day off. God knows why it hasn't gone on strike due to low wages yet... He allowed the nonsensical train of thought to roam about his mind until his mother set a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. Snatching the toast, he gobbled it down without a glance to the jam and butter. His was starving from not eating any of his dinner, the unexpected kiss the day before having stolen his appetite.

"Morning, Len!" echoed a green-haired girl. She sat opposite him, swinging her legs and munching on a piece of toast. Deep red strawberry jam dripped from the bread onto her plate as she ate.

"Morning, Miku…" Len murmured a reply, nodding his head in acknowledgement before he proceeded with his 'search for the fork'. His hand roamed about the counter blindly as if it had detached itself from his body, and a tired smile cracked on the blonde's face when he located the cold eating utensil. He was about to eagerly dig into his eggs when...

Wait a minute.

"Miku! What are you doing in my house?" the chair screeched as he stood up, pointing the fork accusingly towards his classmate. She took her time chewing the last bit of her toast and washed it down with a few gulps of milk before she slammed the glass down on the pink coaster.

"For breakfast, of course!" she declared proudly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She shovelled a spoonful of scrambled eggs into her mouth, a few nuggets of yellow egg tumbling back onto her plate. What? What kind of friend stops over at your house just to eat your food?

"What about your house? What happened to it? Do your parents know you're here?" Len had surprisingly recharged himself from an unseen force and was frantically firing question after question at Miku. His disbelief of the girl's casual-ness was written all over his face and though his stomach grumbled complainingly, he ignored it. What exactly was going on?

"I ran away from home," she announced happily.

Len froze. WHAT? Frantic and desperate to wake up from this nightmare, he snapped his head towards his smiling mother. "Mum?" he whimpered softly, as if begging her to tell him that this was all a sick early-morning joke and that Miku hadn't really ran away from home to live with them... But all he got was:

"Miku's telling the truth, Len. She ran away from home and she'll be sleeping over for awhile. Hurry up and eat your breakfast, Len, you'll be late."

Not only was this not a sick joke, it wasn't even early-morning. With a chaste glance at the clock on the wall, he began to shovel mouthful after mouthful down his throat. Late. Late. Late. Late. LATE!

Why must everything go so wrong?

"Len-san, Len-san, wake up!"

Stifling a small yawn, he hesitantly pried his eyes open and dragged his head from his folded arms. A piece of notepaper clutched to the side of his face and Len hastily tugged it off and slammed it onto his desk. Gosh, was it time for lunch yet? he wondered, threading his fingers through his hair. He couldn't recall how many lessons he slept through, all he could remember was that he had sat down on his seat that morning and instantly blacked out. Wow, he didn't realize what a heavy sleeper he was… Also, somewhat amazed that none of the teachers had woke him up so far, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Curiously, he gave his 'wake up call' a blurry-eyed glance. It was Miki-san, the new transfer student, and, according to Miku, "her rival". He could imagine the green-haired girl cornering him after school to probe him on the what-how-why's of Miki and why she had talked to him. She seems to harbour some sort of unhealthy obsession and paranoia of Miki stealing the spotlight from her. Len couldn't care less now of Miku's agenda. He was more interested in why he had been woken up. Was he in trouble? Had a teacher told her to call him to the staff room? Was she going to confess her love to him too? No, wait, she already did that to Shion-senpai yesterday...

"Sorry, Miki-san… I was just-" Len began his excuse, assuming it was reason number one.

She held up a hand and smiled. "It's fine. It's just that there's a senpai waiting for you outside. He told me that he wanted to talk to you." She said all this in a slightly hushed voice. Though Len was relieved that he wasn't in trouble, his gut did a free-fall right after. A senpai wanted to talk to him? Was it Shion-senpai? Did he find out? What should he do?

Len felt a shockwave rush up his spine and he his eyes snapped to the classroom door. The half-opened sliding door didn't show much from where he was sitting, much to his dismay. Suddenly, a figure moved and Len's heartbeat hastened as he noticed two things about the senpai: he was tall and he was a 'he'. "Uh… What's it about?" he asked instinctively though he was sure Miki-san herself had no idea.

"Sorry, Len-san. He just told me to get 'Kagamine-san' and that was it," the red-head paused as if realising something. "Since Rin wasn't here, I assumed he was talking about you. Was I wrong?"

No, not exactly, if he wanted to see me about what happened yesterday… Len mused but kept his thoughts to himself. He shrugged at Miki. "I'm not sure myself… Thanks anyway," he replied and without a second glance, he walked towards the half-opened door. He dragged his feet as if they had been coated in lead and his gut felt as if it had an anchor attached to it and he was dragging it along behind him. He imagined the concrete floor being sliced open by the weight of the anchor and called himself silly to imagine such odd things at a time of crisis. Or what he thought was crisis... Well, it was a time of crisis! This time, he noticed how loud his breathing was and he wish he hadn't as it echoed into his ears and drowned out the lunch-time chatter of his classmates.

Stepping out the door felt like stepping into a different world and Len had to press his hand against the wall to stabilise himself. The one-minute journey from his table to the door had seemed like hours and his head felt insanely light on his shoulders, as if someone had pumped helium into it and he was floating to the ceiling. If all those sensations weren't enough, he was hit with a wave of shock when he realised that the senpai that had called him out wasn't Kaito-senpai...

It was ten times worse...

"Ka-Kamui-senpai," Len stuttered, feeling as if someone had ripped his backbone from his body. Sure enough, there was the purple-haired senior, in all his splendour, standing right in front of him. He had heard rumours of him once beating up a whole group of yakuza-type delinquents single-handedly and of him being the heir and only son of the most notorious gang leader in Shinjuton. His demeanour was cool and frightening at the same time and his blue eyes surprisingly looked upon him with some sort of... Len wasn't sure what it was, but it had a positive aura to it. But after a second, it was replaced with a cold stare and the blonde took a small step back. Wild thoughts of whether he would live to be seventeen flowed into his head as he stood there, anxiously waiting for Kamui-senpai to break the silence.

"You're not Kagamine Rin," was the first thing he said and Len's gut gave a jolt as if someone had twisted it into some sort of grotesque balloon dog. He dropped his gaze to the floor and shoved his fingers into his pockets, his right hand tightening around his cellphone, needing something to hold onto. To call him frightened would be an understatement.

"No... I'm her brother... Kagamine... Len..." he whispered softly and hesitantly, wondering if Kamui-senpai could see his shoulders shaking. He half-hoped he did and half-hoped he didn't.

"I see." Though it wasn't really much of a reply, Len felt as if he had been crucified with icicles. He now was well aware of why those rumours of the senpai had sprouted so easily. Even though there was no proof of his violent past, no one could be blamed for believing them once they had heard him speak. His words were cold and razor-sharp, like a katana and his eyes matched his tongue. Len was surprised he didn't radiate some sort of anime-like blue fiery glow.

"So, you're her brother..." those words rang in the blonde's ears. He said it so casually, yet they still metaphorically pierced through him. He curiously mused how many metaphorical bandages it would take to dress the metaphorical wounds caused by the metaphorical ice-daggers being thrown at him. Maybe it was the kiss from the day before that had heightened his reactions, but nonetheless, the senior made him insanely uncomfortable.

"Is my sister... in trouble?" Len dared to ask. He said it in the most polite way he could muster, clamping his jaw shut once the question left him.

"No." At this moment, Len had gathered enough bravery to look up at him. The calm, collected face of his senior filled his view and the blonde noticed with relief that he was a safe distance away, meaning that he would have time to run and scream if he was suddenly attacked in the middle of the hallway. But upon making eye-contact, Kamui-senpai shattered his personal bubble by leaning over and he studied Len's face with much interest. Len shuddered; it felt like he was being probed and violated by those icy blue eyes and he didn't like it one bit. From the moment he had stepped outside into this ice-cold nightmare, he had wanted to retreat to his desk and sleep.

"You look a lot like her," Kamui-senpai muttered and Len wasn't sure whether he was referring to his sister in general or his 'sister' that he saw yesterday. Len's breath hitched in his throat as the senior raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"We're twins... Fraternal twins, but twins... We look a lot like... Everyone says so..." Len stuttered out sentence after sentence, testing how one felt on his tongue before proceeding to the next one. None of them seemed right but Kamui-senpai withdrew himself from the close proximity, seemingly satisfied by the answer. But Len wasn't really sure what his senpai was thinking, and he was sure he never wanted to. He felt he was stepping deeper and deeper into dangerous territory with every word he said to this demon-incarnate. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration...

"Okay," the purple-haired man said after awhile, and with a nod, walked off in another direction, leaving the blonde standing at the doorway. Len had bowed instinctively, and though he knew that his senior hadn't seen it, he remained in that position, frightened and somewhat stung by the menacing personality. He didn't really have a word to explain the feeling Kamui Gakupo-senpai gave him. It felt like when you pressed the tip of your tongue to something cold and, when it got stuck, you pulled back. Your tongue bled and stung from the cold at the same time and you had to grit your teeth from screaming out in pain. That was what Len felt like, only that the pain on his tongue was all over his skin.

He didn't like it at all.

Everyone around him chattered as they crowded around the entrance of the school, opening their small lockers and pulling on their shoes. The sounds of metal doors opening and closing and the collected body warmth from many students surrounded him. Len placed his bag on the tiled floors before slipping off his indoor shoes. Nonchalantly, he opened his locker and his pair of white sneakers greeted him after a hard day of school. He cast a glance at Miku, who was apparently walking home with him and sleeping in his house tonight. She seemed preoccupied, laughing and gossiping away with Neru-san and Teito-senpai. Shaking his head in exasperation at all the problems that had popped up that day, he tossed his indoor shoes into the locker and pushed his feet into his converses. Unbelievable... Len sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, stress mounting onto his shoulders like a festering tumour. No wait, two festering tumours... He crawled back to reality to slam his locker shut and a piece of paper slipped out of the locker beside him. Rin's locker! Len thought with mounting curiosity and he found himself picking up the paper. Hastily scrawled in messy handwriting on a piece of ripped notepaper was:

'Saturday. 4:30pm. Vita Shopping District? – Kaito.'

His heart gave a great lurch forward and suddenly, the tumours faded off his shoulders. Hastily shoving the note into his pocket, Len grabbed his bag and sprinted out the entrance. The rain-tinged spring wind whipped at his hair and his body felt weightless, his feet treading on the air above the ground. The blonde clutched his bag tighter and ran past the student parking lot, past his friends loitering at a large flowerless sakura tree and past the grounds where the kyuudou club were shooting arrows. He didn't know whether he was running away or running towards something. He couldn't really differentiate between the two at the moment. He only stopped running when the echo-y sounds of feet against metal filled his ears. Seeing the sheet of browning matter beneath his feet, he realised that he was on the metal bridge that was twenty minutes from his house and forty minutes from school. Len was suddenly aware of the layer of sweat beneath his shirt, the ache in his legs and his lungs desperately pumping for air. He grabbed the thin railing of the bridge and looked down at the clear water. The shadows of the bloomless sakura trees played upon the surface. The thick musky scent of grass filled his lungs and the trickling of water made him lick his dry lips. A leaf slipped from a branch and silently fluttered past the bridge. It made contact with the shining and glittering water and, letting itself be carried away, slipped down the stream. Len's eyes followed it until it disappeared from view, but he didn't move, eyes fixated upon the point where the river was no longer visible. A single thought entered his head.

I have to cancel Saturday's baseball game.

His hand slipped from the grainy railing and into his pocket to feel the weightlessness of the notepaper. Like before, it seemed to shock him with electricity and he began to run. This time, he knew clearly well that he wasn't running away nor running towards. It was the type of light-hearted running when you forget all about the pain in your thighs, the shallowness of your breath and the thumping of your heart. At the point you forget all those things that hold you back, you find yourself smiling and you can swear you can see the wings sprouting from your shoulder-blades. Len grinned as he ran.

As if he had five thousand miles to cover and he didn't mind.

(A/N: I was really happy at the positive feedback on chapter one. I'm really thankful and I hope that all of you will stay with this story up to the very end. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up since my exams are near, but I will try my best to get it up as soon as possible. Because I know that there is a group of awesomely supportive readers eager to read it. =3 Thank you so much, everyone! I hope you will review this chapter too. -heart-

Glossary

Miki – Just in case some of you aren't aware yet. Miki's one of the new Vocaloids to be released. She was released along with Hiyama Kiyoteru and Kaai Yuki on the 4th of December 2009.

yakuza – Japanese mafia.

Shinjuton – My sad attempts at combining the words Crypton, the company that created most of the Vocaloids, and Shinjuku, a city in Japan and a well-known yakuza hangout.

katana – A long sword used as a weapon by samurai.

anime – Short form of 'animation'. Japanese animated shows.

indoor shoes – In Japan, most schools require you to have a pair of shoes to wear in school and a pair to wear outside. The indoor shoes are kept in small lockers and it's mandatory to change into indoor shoes before entering the school any further. This is done mostly to maintain cleanliness and to prevent mud and rain from outside from dirtying the floors.

sakura – Japanese cherry blossoms. They usually bloom during the months of March and April.

five thousand metres – A reference to the song 'Shissou' (Running) by Last Alliance. The opening lyrics are 'gozen mairu hashite' which roughly means 'I'm running five hundred miles'.

Thanks for reading and remember: review, fave, alert. =D)