its only been like 1 whole year wass good yall lmao

Rin

"You know that you won't get anything done like that, right?" Neru murmured, her honey eyes glancing at Rin for a split second before darting back to the teacher in the front of the room, who continued babbling on about the French revolution despite none of the students really paying attention, the only exception being the class nerd who'll most definitely ace every test, quiz, and assignment that year.

Rin was supposed to be working on a worksheet that was passed out nearly 10 minutes ago, but instead she spent the majority of her time staring at the paper, which was devoid of her writing. The paper was two sided and held questions about the unit the class was on, which was the French revolution. It wasn't that the worksheet was difficult, because it really wasn't. Rin just got lost in her daydreams, her deep thoughts.

She sighed, figuring that she should probably at least write her heading on the paper and start off on the multiple choice questions. They were the easiest.

"Yeah, I'm well aware." Rin mumbled back, her eyes fixated on the paper as she circled the answers to the questions. "I'm just thinking."

"Oh? Of what?" Neru asked, genuine curiosity in her voice. By now, the teacher had stopped talking and was instead writing something on the board, handwriting pleasantly neat and big enough for the people in the back to see. That was one of the things that Rin liked about her history teacher- he always wrote his words on the blackboard big and neat. In Rin's other classes where she found herself in the back of the classroom, the teacher's handwriting was either too small or too sloppy for her to read from where she sat, resulting in poor note-taking skills that'll ultimately come back to haunt her later when she found herself in need of studying. "Also, where's Len? And Miku? You think they're...uh..."

Rin looked over to find Neru giving her a suggestive look, her fingers on her right hand making a circle. Before she could fully finish conveying her message- which Rin had clearly received- Rin let out a low hiss and slapped her other hand, which was approaching the circle she made, only one index finger out.

"Sweet Jesus, I do not need to have that image seared into my brain for the rest of my life!" Neru grinned at Rin innocently.

"You know they're gonna get married. Better to accept it early." Rin rolled her eyes, though she didn't necessarily deny the two of them getting married in the future. Len had changed a lot, sure, but he certainly hadn't lost his infamous heart eyes, which could commonly be seen when Len had a major crush on some girl once in a blue moon. It was a rare sight to see, and the fact that he's been giving Miku that soft, lovely, fond gaze after becoming so different only added to the fact that he definitely had a crush on the tealette.

Rin recalled the day they went to some cheap Japanese restaurant a couple weeks ago. The general restaurant was a pretty nice place for such cheap prices. The paint wasn't peeling off, the lights weren't flickering ominously, the smell of something stale, sour and gross didn't linger in the restaurant, and there was no chalk outline hiding timidly from sight in a dimly lit corner.

Rin, Len, Neru, Gakupo, IA, and of course, Miku were sitting at a table-booth in the corner of the restaurant, farthest from the entrance. It must've been a lazy day, because the group of friends were alone in the restaurant from the time until they entered to the time they left, full with the satisfying Japanese food that everyone craved from time to time. Len, IA, and Miku sat on the booth's chocolate brown, leather seats, and Rin, Gakupo, and Neru sat on the surprisingly comfortable, expertly constructed chairs across them. Neru and IA were chatting about something that Rin didn't remember while Gakupo occasionally interjected his "insightful" opinions, which earned him a smack on the head from both girls.

Maybe Rin was a little too into her bowl of miso ramen, because that large chunk of grilled pork was just too tempting even if steam rose from the bowl angrily like a warning, to notice and aid Miku in her quest to master the ways of the chopsticks. The poor girl was fumbling with the two slender wooden sticks almost pitifully as she tried to get a grip on one of her spider rolls (Rin shuddered in disgust and fear when Miku stated her order, but luckily there were no actual spiders involved) ineffectively. Len had been watching her struggle with an amused look on his face, as if he enjoyed watching his (soon to be girl)friend struggle.

Rin vaguely remembered Miku snapping at him, something about helping her before she starved to death, to which Len replied by saying something snarky as usual. It seemed that he was always full of snark, but it was just secretly a mild form of tough love. Rin, through her loud slurps as she hurriedly carried the noodles in her mouth, heard the sound of what sounded like Miku's hand hitting Len's shoulder. It was a sound Rin had grown used to, because her brother just loved to tease her as violent as ever best friend. When you added a hothead and a someone who loves sarcasm and attitude, someone usually ends up getting smacked.

Rin remembered eyeing the two suspiciously as she drank her iced tea, deciding to observe them instead of attempt to help, because observing was far more entertaining than actually doing anything. Len tried to show Miku where to place her fingers on the chopsticks by showing her how he did so, first. Miku tried but failed. Len let out a snarky comment. Miku threatened to stab him with the chopsticks.

So next, he tried to show her slowly. Miku tried again to successfully hold her chopsticks properly but like all her previous attempts, failed. Len snickered and, apparently not learning his lesson from a literal minute before, muttered another teasing comment, something along the lines of, "What, you wanna do the cliche thing where I have to guide your hands because you're so clumsy? If you wanted to hold my hand you could've asked."

Miku snapped an angry retort back. Rin recalled it being something like, "Can it, lover boy! Don't forget that one time you walked me home and you did exactly that!"

Rin almost choked on her noodles when she heard that sentence, because since when did Len walk girls home and hold their hand? Len, as it is, could barely compliment a girl, unlike his older days where well-crafted, thoughtful, and admirable words smoothly rolled off his tongue after being thought up within a mere few seconds. That was the charmer side of Len Kagamine.

The Len Kagamine now, though, probably murdered the charming side of himself and replaced it with the almost awkward, tough, probably scared to show affection, side of him. Rin sighed softly as she picked at a piece of pork, attempting to tear off a bitesized piece. She dragged the meat through the broth, frowning with eyebrows knitted in concentration.

"Oh- shut up, leek freak." He mumbled irritatedly, his voice holding the smallest, most miniscule trace of embarrassment that only his twin sister could pick up.

Len ended up having to show Miku where to put her fingers onto the slim wooden sticks by placing them there, wearily glancing around the table, most likely to make sure nobody saw his act of kindness, though he made it seem like he was committing some crime punishable by death.

But despite it, Rin saw something glinting in his eyes that she hadn't seen before, and when he caught her staring, he didn't deny any unspoken accusations, although a red flush didn't find its way to his cheeks. Simply, he glared at her and asked what she was staring at. ("Your good looks, Len. That's what I'm staring at." "Shut up.")

It was in that moment that Rin realized that, recently, Mr. Heart Eyes Kagamine had been looking at Miku like that, maybe without even realizing.

But, then again, although her brother used to be a smooth talker who knew how to treat the ladies, he was as ignorant as he was flirtatious.

"Didn't you have a ginormous crush on my dearest blonde idiot of a brother from, like, 7th to 9th grade?" Rin retaliated, smiling smugly at Neru's increasingly flustered face, which was beginning to resemble a steaming tomato. Neru was always a little sensitive about the topic of having a crush on Len. He was probably one of her few serious crushes. Rin remembered her talks with Neru about her obvious crush on the blonde, which were mostly made up of Rin's teasing about how they would totally be sister-in-laws when they got older (although Rin knew her most definite sister-in-law would be a certain teal-haired girl who was mysteriously absent, along with her brother, which definitely wasn't fishy at all.)

"Oh- you!" She seethed, eyes darting around the room and landing anywhere except for the quietly cackling, evil blonde in front of her. "We do not talk-"

"Ah, I see we have someone who's excited about history? The Terror, to be exact?"

Neru flushed a brilliant red as the teacher's voice rang out, loud and clear, for her and the rest of the class to hear.

"A-Ah, I-"

"No no," The teacher waved his hand dismissively at Neru. "I know you love history, that's why you're passing this class with flying colors right?" Neru drew her arms together, crossing them at her chest. "Can you tell me who started the Terror?"

"Maximilien Robespierre." Rin's hushed whisper didn't fall upon deaf ears, but rather ears that needed a hearing aid.

"One Million Robes-spheres!"


Rin immediately took note of the beat up, lime green '70's Chevelle parked in the driveway of her home. The thing was peppered with holes that looked suspiciously as if bullets had tried to pierce through them, with shattered windows and mysterious dents and enormous scratches to add to the picture of illegal activities.

Nonetheless, she continued to her home, but with great caution. Her feet were light against the harsh ground, and her slender fingers moving the key ever-so-lightly as she unlocked the front door.

"...no, she's a psycho...can't let Rin be...and end up in a ditch because of..."

The voices and fragments of a sentence grabbed the blonde's attention immediately, and she almost dropped her keys in surprise upon hearing someone- likely, an unknown person- utter her name, and having it followed by something that indicated her ending up dead.

Her heart jumped as she gradually made her way towards the living room, she realized.

"...No? Hatsune, I know you want answers, but later...I promise. Okay?" Ah, thought Rin, Len...he's home? From when? Miku, too?

"Fine. I saw some stuff today, Len. I deserve to know what's going on."

A small sigh of relief left Rin's mouth, the breath she had been holding for so long out of fear and anticipation now gone. It was odd that her brother and Miku didn't end up at school, but were instead speaking in almost hushed tones in her home. Len was an odd person, though, so Rin simply adapted to the behavior and looked the other way. She headed toward the room where the voices spoke with light and quiet footsteps.

"Hey, you two stayed home from school today...alon...?" The teasing words about to leave Rin's smirking lips came to a gradual halt.

Splatters of red coated Len's white longsleeve, and he held his shoulder which leaked crimson through the light fabric. His hair wasn't the usual I'm too lazy to care type of unkempt, but more like I almost died a few minutes ago type of unkempt. An angry gash ran across Len's forhead, leaving a small trail of dried blood, and Rin almost cringed at his tired appearance.

Miku wasn't much better, either. Her tangled, teal hair possessed the same sort of unkempt look that Len's did, and she was littered with small cuts and tears in her clothing. She wore an oversized obsidian coat that Rin could've sworn she's seen Len wear before. Rin's mouth spoke before she could realize fully what was going on.

"What...happened to you? Are you okay?" The pair looked at Rin with a surprised, almost scared gaze, their heads whipping around to stare at her. Rin swallowed at the enormous amount of tensity in the room; it was unlike anything she'd felt, at least around her brother and best friend. Rin walked forward, and Len stood with an outstretched arm, hand raised as if attempting to tame a wild animal.

"Rin." He warned, but her feet walked without her consent and her mouth babbled without her knowing.

"Is this why you missed school? You're bleeding, Len! Jesus Christ, what happened?!" Rin's eyes swept through the room despite Len's vague protests, until they caught sight of an unknown man wearing an torn white outfit covered in dust and a crimson substance frighteningly similar to blood- fresh and old- rubbing his temple nearby.

Len, too buried his face in his hands, only to hiss in pain- presumably due to the cut on his forehead. Miku pursed her lips pried his hand away from his face to push his long bangs upwards. But no teasing words came to Rin's mind, nor tones of suggestion. Her eyes were locked onto the man, captivated by the aura of mystery and the vague ache in her chest.

"Shit." Cursed Len quietly. The man looked up, and froze when he saw Rin. Then, a smile slowly spread across his face. Rin's heart called out to the man who she hasn't spoken a word to. Her eyes found themselves nearly pouring rivers of liquid melancholy, and she soon realized why.

"You..." She cleared her throat, and closed her eyes. The resemblance was uncanny, and she opened her eyes again.

"You remind me of...my late father."