Hey! This is 'Len'. I wrote another chapter. 'Rin' and 'Neru' tell me this one is more interesting. I think so too. I like it when people talk to me, so leave me a review even if it doesn't really have anything to do with the story X3

Chapter 2: Separation

"Kaito!" Gakupo yelled with his hands cupped around his mouth. He sighed, beginning to feel more and more hopeless after every call. After receiving the message, Gakupo and Len had arranged four groups to search for Kaito. They had decided that it would be safer if everyone was equipped with some kind of weapon to defend themselves. After that, each group had split up and went down one of the four dark hallways that lead out of the main room full of crates to search for their missing friend.

"Do you think we'll find him?" Luka's voice said, interrupting his thoughts.

"I don't know," he answered without looking at her.

"Gakupo," Luka said, her voice trembling slightly. "What do you think is happening?" He thought about this. The only reasonable thing he could come up with was some kind of sick joke.

"I don't know," he answered instead. An ear-wrenching, male screech then sounded. Gakupo and Luka glanced at each other with wide eyes as Neru and Haku looked to where the sound came from.

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The second Len heard the shriek, he bolted, leaving Rin, Teto and Ted behind. Running as fast as he could, he knew the others wouldn't be able to keep up, but all he cared about was finding Kaito. He ran down the long, seemingly endless hallway from where he'd hear the noise and stopped short when a heavy-looking, steel door came out from the darkness.

That's strange, he thought. The door didn't match the futuristic glow of the hallway at all. For a few seconds, he debated on whether he should go in or wait for the others. Kaito could be dying in there, he remembered, grabbing the handle and pulling as hard as he could. The door swung open easily. What the hell? Len thought, puzzled. What's a living room doing here?

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"I don't know where he went," Teto told Gakupo. "I heard the scream, but I think he was already gone… I'm not sure though."

Rin was pacing near the wall, feeling sick with worry for her brother. She looked at Gakupo, hoping he would decide to go now so she could follow him.

"We'll wait here for the others," Gakupo declared. Exasperated, Rin walked over to Gakupo.

"Why can't we just go now? If we aren't here, they're obviously gonna know we went further down the hallway!" she yelled angrily.

"I'm not taking chances," Gakupo argued stubbornly. Rin glared at him. She wanted to leave by herself, but she knew it was stupid and she didn't want to see Len's reaction if he ever learned she went off alone.

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Shit, Meiko thought. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. She was practically ripping her hair out of her head. After hearing the scream, she had quickly ordered everyone to turn around and head towards the hallway the sound had come from. Lily and Gumi followed her, and although they were moving fast, Meiko still thought it was too slow. "He's alive," she continuously repeated in a whisper. "He's alive."

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Miku wasn't a very good leader. She knew that, so when they heard Kaito's screech, she voluntarily gave the commands of the group to SeeU. SeeU had decided it would be best to turn back and meet up with the others. Miku, Ia and Miki agreed and soon enough, they were back-tracking down the hallway.

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Luka was angry with Gakupo. First, he had let Kaito go off on his own and then he let Len, who was reckless sometimes, disappear as well. In reality, she knew it wasn't really his fault, but she needed someone to blame. Every few seconds, she would glance at the entrance of the hallway to see if Meiko's or Miku's group had arrived. Although she had waited only a few minutes, it seemed like an eternity before they finally appeared.

"Gakupo!" she yelled in Gakupo's direction. "They're here! Let's go!" Gakupo looked over and spotted the others. He nodded and everyone started down the hallway.

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When Len opened the door, he had been very surprised. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it definitely hadn't been a living room. Cautiously, he entered the poorly lit place. He heard a faint noise and realized that it was coming from a small TV resting on a low shelf. The TV was showing some old black and white show he didn't know about. A quiet moan drew his attention to the center of the room, right in front of the brown leather couch. There, a crumpled figure covered in blood was clearly dying. Len knew the person was dying just as well as he knew it was Kaito because a least twenty small, sharp knives were stuck everywhere on his body. He wanted to run away, but he couldn't leave Kaito alone during his last few moments. Trying his best not to feel afraid, he slowly kneeled beside his friend. Kaito turned to look at him, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Len?" he said in a barely audible whisper. Although he felt like crying, Len forced himself to smile.

"What's up man?" he said quietly. Kaito tried to laugh, but instead, he just ended up spitting blood onto Len's sleeve. Len took his hand and squeezed it.

"It hurts… so goddamn much," Kaito said with great difficulty. Len bit back his tears.

"It's almost over," he said, his voice shaking.

"Yeah," Kaito said, shutting his eyes for good. His heart beat once and went still, never to move again.

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Gakupo, Meiko and Miku in the lead, the small group rushed down the hall. Without hesitation, Meiko passed through the big, metal door. She stopped, momentarily confused by the random living room. Her eyes then slipped to the floor where Kaito was lying. She dropped to her knees, unable to say anything. A heart-wrenching sob came from the door as Miku turned around and exited the room. Gakupo's eyes fell to the floor and he immediately turned aaway. Reading the sorrow on his face, Ia knew what was in the room. Barely holding back her tears, she turned to the others behind her. Luka walked passed Gakupo, who was leaning against the door frame to hold himself up, and, doing her best not to look at the bloody mess that was Kaito, forced Meiko out of the room.

"Len?!" Rin shrieked. She ran inside the room and caught a glimpse of Kaito's body before Len forced her back out through the door. He sat her down in the corner of the hallway and then turned to face Gakupo. His face streaked with tears and his voice tense and strained, he gave the final verdict:

"He's dead."

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A dark cloud was hanging over the group. They walked back down the hall, leaving Kaito's body behind. Once they arrived in the main room, no one said anything. One by one, they fell asleep, glad to escape the horrors of the day. Rin's head leaning against his lap, Len watched her sleep, hoping her angelic face would erase the image of Kaito's pain that was etched into his brain.

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Gakupo had decided that they needed to go. Staying where they were wouldn't do them any good, so they needed to keep moving. Sorrow still weighing heavy on the group, they prepared to leave, packing more weapons and some food. They also brought containers obviously meant for water, but oddly enough, they were empty. Luka had flipped a coin to decide which of the two hallways they would go down. They hadn't considered going back to where Kaito had been found to see if the living room lead anywhere, but no one mentioned it. Meiko's group had reached a dead-end in their hallway. That left Miku's group and Gakupo's. Gakupo in the lead they started down Miku's hallway, but then came to a stop. Gakupo turned around and walked over to where Len and his sister were standing, right at the very back of the group.

"Len can't come with us," Gakupo declared resentfully.

"What?" Rin shrieked, recovering her senses faster than Len. "Why not?"

"Because he killed Kaito!" Gakupo yelled angrily.

"You think I killed Kaito?" Len said in a threatening voice.

"You were the first one there," Gakupo replied.

"What the fuck!" Len yelled. "In case you didn't know, I left after I heard the scream. He was already pretty much dead when I got there!"

"Teto said you were gone before he screamed."

"I said I wasn't sure…" Teto added in a small voice. Gakupo ignored this and continued his accusation.

"Kaito didn't stab himself to death, which means someone else did it. And you're the only who had time."

"Maybe it was someone else," Len added desperately. He knew what it looked like. He understood why Gakupo would think he did it.

"There's no one else here, Len," Gakupo replied, glaring at Len.

"Why would I want to kill Kaito? He was my friend!"

"Because of the message," Gakupo answered simply.

"What?" Len asked, confused.

Gakupo sighed. "The message on Neru's phone. Only one of us can win. Whoever sent that wanted to scare us. Clearly it worked."

"What does that ha/" "Don't try telling me you wouldn't kill to protect your sister?" Gakupo said with a mocking grin.

Now Len understood. Gakupo thought he killed Kaito to give his sister a better chance at winning this so-called 'game' they were playing. Len looked at the rest of the group. Everyone's face was marked with uncertainty, but he could feel them turning against him. He sighed. He knew when he was beat. Grabbing the front of Gakupo's shirt, he pulled his face in close.

"Fine. I won't follow you. But," he threatened, "if anything happens to Rin, I swear I'll kill you." With that, he pushed Gakupo away and turned around, heading towards a different hallway.