Len sometimes wondered if he was rash or just plain stupid. Of course, knocking on a stranger's door past midnight and leaking out one of his most closely guarded secrets weren't the stupidest things he had ever done…but he had to admit that they ranked pretty high on the list.

Miku was sitting opposite him, holding on to a cup of steaming hot cocoa. He had a cup of his own too, but it was resting before him on the glass coffee table, completely untouched. He felt out of his element here – this whole house was so sleek and modern and it was completely unlike what he was used to. His house was vintage and rustic, with just the perfect touch of homeliness to it. His house was one that felt lived in. Miku's house was cold and perfect, but at the same time so untouchable.

But that wasn't surprising. She had only moved in here recently, and to be honest Len couldn't actually remember ever seeing another family here before. He vaguely remembered a young businessman snapping this house up a few years back, but he was rarely spotted around the neighbourhood since he was always jetting off elsewhere for work. Few people had passed through the front door of this house. "So…where are your parents?" he asked, sounding unbelievably awkward. He normally did not sound this uncertain about himself. He was smooth and suave, but she was the first girl who had ever rejected him so bluntly and he wasn't fully recovered yet.

"They flew back to our old house overseas. There are a few more matters they had to clear up there, and then they'll be back here. Hopefully we're settling here for good, but I don't intend to move away even if they do. I'm old enough to look after myself," Miku answered primly, taking a sip from her cup. He stared intently at the dark brown liquid in his own cup, two marshmallows floating on top of the surface. He didn't really know how to begin a conversation with her, but he really appreciated her hospitality. The heat of the cup warmed his hands up perfectly, and he was just waiting for the hot chocolate to cool down a little before he drank it. He had a very sensitive tongue.

"That's good," he answered absentmindedly, silence falling between them again. He looked around the living room, curious about the place she lived in. There was a flat screen television in front of the coffee table, and he was seated on a sleek leather armchair. Miku was curled up on the long sofa next to his chair, which was made from the same glossy black leather. The wallpaper was a totally pristine white, but the soft lighting made everything seem a little bit yellow. There were potted plants situated strategically around the room, making it seem slightly more welcoming. He looked down at the floor and saw wooden planks, perfectly cut and spaced and largely hidden by the fluffy white rug beneath his feet. Miku certainly lived in a comfortable looking house, even if it didn't have the same homey vibe as his. "And how did you find school today?" he continued making small talk.

"It was fine," she shrugged, blowing a little on the surface of her hot chocolate, her pale hands cupping the warm ceramic. She was watching him with something almost like suspicion in her eyes, but when he turned to look directly at her she dropped her gaze towards her lap. "I learnt some of these things in my previous school already, actually. This school is slower," she ran the tip of her finger around the rim of her cup, still carefully refusing to meet his gaze. "And everyone here seems to be pretty nice. I shared the same History class with your sister, I think. She looks just like you."

The mention of his sister sent a jolt through his body and he unwillingly thought back to what he saw just an hour ago. He coughed, hoping that his face wasn't turning red. "Yeah, my sister is Kagamine Rin. We're twins. She's the older one," he didn't know what else to say. Miku looked at him now as though she wanted to say something, but instead she averted her gaze again, this time looking at the glass coffee table. Her lips were pressed firmly together. "Okay, so you wanted to know about my score, right?" he finally said. No point in both of them dancing around this topic and pretending that they were good friends. She looked up then, something akin to relief flooding her green eyes.

"Yes, I'm really curious about it," she started, setting her cup down. At the same time, he reached out for his hot cocoa, inhaling the bittersweet scent of dark chocolate. His marshmallows were starting to melt into the chocolate. "I can swear I've seen something like that before somewhere. I heard it once…when I was little…in a movie or something, I don't know," she pursed her lips, thinking hard as he took a sip of his drink. "But I really loved that song, that's what I remember. I couldn't recall the tune but when I saw your music sheet, something just clicked."

He lifted an eyebrow. "A movie?" he echoed. He didn't think that his special melody had ever been in any movie. Miku shrugged gracefully, settling back in her chair with her hands clasped loosely on her lap. She looked very relaxed, almost haughty, but her droopy eyes stopped her from seeming too cocky. It was a difficult feat to pull off – he knew that if he had been taking the same position in this armchair, he would look like an arrogant jerk. "I don't think this song was ever in a movie. I would know. I've been trawling through years after years of video and film…nothing showed up."

She frowned at that. "I know there's a connection to a movie or drama of some sort, though. That's where I remember hearing it, or at least what I think it is," she yawned then, lifting her hand to cover her dainty mouth. It was a very pretty, delicate sort of yawn, and suddenly he realised that it was already past one in the morning and she was probably tired. "I'm sorry that we have to cut this discussion short, but I'm too exhausted to think properly at the moment. Is it okay if we talk about this after school tomorrow?" she ran her fingers through her hair, raking her fringe away from her face. He hesitated. He wouldn't be free tomorrow, though he did want to continue talking to her.

"I can't make it. I have an appointment tomorrow in the evening," he said apologetically, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. Sliding it out of his track pants, he saw he had three missed calls from his mother and a single text message telling him to come home soon. He hadn't noticed all that, not with him being fascinated by Miku's house and then feeling awkward about talking to the girl. She bit her lip, looking like she wanted to ask him something, but once again she held herself back. He watched her for a bit, but when it didn't seem like she would say anything he finally continued. "I can show you the sheet during lunch break though, or if we share any classes tomorrow. What do you have?" his Thursdays were a lot shorter than Wednesday, so he could probably find some time.

"Not much. I have Film Studies and Art History, then a lunch break followed by Math. Then another short break and gym class, and I'm done with school after that," she fiddled with a few strands of her long hair, watching him as he frowned, trying to match his own schedule to hers. "My lunch break is two and a half hours long, from half past eleven to one in the afternoon. I have double periods for Film Studies and Art History," she mentioned. He smiled, having found a common time.

"I can meet you at twelve. My lunch break starts then," he finished the cup of hot cocoa, licking his lips to get the chocolate off his mouth. "Well…thanks for the drink," he motioned with the empty cup. She nodded and he thought he saw a small smile cross her lips, and then they both rose from their chairs and he was standing in the middle of her living room, wondering how he was supposed to just…leave. It felt so strange to say goodbye and just go, since she was a girl and whenever he was alone with a girl they would do much more than just talk and then walk out of the house.

"No problem," she held her hand out and he passed her the cup, sticking his free hand into the pocket of his track pants. His phone was a cold, hard surface against his fingers, and as he held on to the edge he felt his phone buzz again. Probably another message from his mother. "Do you need me to see you out?" she offered, sweeping her teal hair over one shoulder, her gaze never leaving him.

"It's fine, I'll see myself out," he hastily told her, not really wanting to spend any more time in her presence, at least not for tonight. She nodded, and he headed down the hallway towards the door, feeling a sort of burden being lifted from his shoulders. It was too much pressure, staying here and making small talk with this girl he barely knew. It wasn't a routine he was comfortable with – he never really had to hold a conversation with anyone, normally he just smiled and whispered a few words and then their clothes would be off and he would leave, silent and mysterious, before dawn.

But he knew he couldn't do that with Miku. She was much, much too guarded around him. And she most likely wasn't interested at all in him – a truth, but one that was difficult to admit, nevertheless. "I'll see you in school later then," he glanced back at her. She had followed him to the doorway of the living room and was looking at him from the other side of the corridor. "Have a good night," he muttered, before turning around and letting himself out. She didn't say anything in response, and when he was outside the house he felt the cool night air against his face and he let out a quiet sigh.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made the trek from Miku's place to his own house, which was two streets down from this one. The wind blew his blond hair back and forth, making him regret not tying his hair up before he left the house. Yanking up his hoodie to protect his exposed face from the night breeze, he shivered a little in his thin jacket and track pants and moved a little faster, eager to return to the comforting warmth of his room. He was sure Rin was asleep by now, since it would be two o'clock soon. That was good; he wouldn't have to face her quite so soon then.

His parents were probably up and still working. He would tell them the truth about where he had gone – his parents were pretty lenient so they wouldn't mind, though of course they didn't know what he was doing most of the time when he was outside. They were liberal, but not to that extent – he was sure his father would have a fit if he was aware that his son was going around sleeping with any woman who wanted him. For just this aspect, he was thankful that his parents often worked odd hours and this family dinner they had was usually pretty rare. It would be difficult for him to explain his frequent late night jaunts and why he returned home so late even on school nights, otherwise.

His house was approaching, the windows still lit, and he found his footsteps slowing a little, the sudden urge to dawdle a while longer outside making him tarry. "I didn't get her number," he realised aloud, followed by a soft groan of annoyance. Now how was he supposed to contact her during lunch? She might not be in the cafeteria when he was released from class, since her break was so long. Oh well. It would be better for him if they couldn't find each other, actually. Then he could keep his music score secret for just a while longer. It would take a while before he got used to the idea that this melody was no longer exclusive to him. It felt like he had to give up part of himself.

Reaching his house, he quickly unlocked the front door and slunk in, hoping to get past his parents unnoticed – they were still in the living room. However, his eagle-eyed mother, who was now curled up against his father and idly watching something on television, spotted him the moment he stepped inside and beckoned him over. Sighing to himself, he ambled over and stood next to the couch, awaiting a lecture from his parents. His father was now working on something on his laptop, so he didn't look at Len, but he did acknowledge his son's return home with an absentminded nod. His mother turned around, regarding him with something almost like uncertainty on her face.

He could see Rin in his mother's face, and he could see himself too. "We know you've been doing well in your schoolwork, so I won't lecture you about sleeping late and how that would affect your grades. You're old enough, responsible enough, to understand what your grades mean for your future," his mother began, and he could see her wring her hands, as though nervous. He frowned – suddenly, this talk seemed to be a lot more than just a warning against him staying out late. "It's just that your father and I have been talking about the past, and it suddenly occurred to me that…that we don't know how much you've progressed since that incident, you know? We never really wanted to bring it up because we didn't know if you even still remember, but you weren't answering your phone and I was…call it paranoia, but I was so afraid that something happened…" she ended with a light sob.

Len blinked, stunned. He didn't really know what to say, watching as his graceful mother hiccupped slightly, wiping her fingers underneath her eyes. His father looked up then, rubbing his hand across her back comfortingly, but he didn't deviate fully from his work – his whole family was rather used to his mother's theatrics. She was just a tad melodramatic, but Len knew she was just concerned about him. "I'm fine, Mother. Really. And I do remember that incident," he knew which one she was talking about. There could only be one thing in their past that his entire family referred to in such a manner – such a secretive, furtive manner, as though just the mention of this incident would curse them somehow. "There are rarely cars out here late at night. And I'm old enough to be careful."

She nodded, still wringing her hands, and his father glanced up again, this time looking right at him. "We know you'll be careful. And we don't mind you staying out late at night. You're a boy, after all," his father said this with a casual dismissiveness that would probably offend some people, but he was used to this preference. His family was pretty modern with their thinking but they still adhered to the idea that boys were safe outside late at night; girls were not. Rin had a strict curfew and she often complained to him about how overprotective their parents were of her. Of course, Len thought that was rather silly. Rin was even more capable of looking after herself than he was. "But we were hoping that you would wear…lighter colours when you're outside at night," he indicated Len's fully black outfit, which made him blend into the night as though he was nothing but a shadow. "Just so that headlights would, you know…reflect off you. We'd rather not tempt Fate."

Len slowly nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I'll keep that in mind in the future," he reached up to scratch the back of his head, a yawn gracing his lips. He was beginning to feel a little tired. "I'll let you know where I'm going and everything as well," if they happened to catch him slipping out, that was. He understood and appreciated his parents' concern – if he was in their shoes he would no doubt be worried for his child too – but a teenage rebelliousness that lay somewhere deep inside him was still uncomfortable with his movements being monitored by his parents like that. "Anyway, apparently one of my new classmates moved into the vacant house a few streets down from here. I saw her so I dropped by to say hi, and I lost track of time…but yeah, I'm back now, so no biggie."

"A new student?" his mother perked up at the sound of that. His mother was a bit of a social butterfly and enjoyed meeting new people. "That's nice of you to visit them. Maybe after my work business is finished we can invite your classmate over, get to know them a little better. And here I was, wondering if you actually had any friends besides Kaito and Piko! I mean, they are dears, but it would be nice if you met some new people," his mother giggled like a child, glancing at his father. Len felt his lips twitch – if his mother was aware of just how many girls he knew, she would have an aneurysm. He knew his mother wanted him to find a girlfriend soon, since he was already eighteen and he had yet to introduce a single girl to his parents. That was probably why she was so excited now about him socialising. He hadn't even told her whether this new classmate was a girl or a boy.

"Yeah well, she's not really my type," he shrugged. "It just happens that we're partners for the music final so there's that," his mother's eyes turned as wide as saucers, but before she could question him on why he had a partner this year when he normally neglected to find one, he cut in. "I'm really tired and it's a school night so I'm going to sleep now, good luck with your…your work," he waved his hand vaguely at his father's laptop and slipped up the stairs, glad to have escaped his mother's questioning. He loved his parents but God, sometimes his mother asked way too many questions.

Rin's door was firmly closed, and even the minute crack he had seen earlier was gone. He couldn't hear anything coming out from her room, so he turned away from her door and walked into his haven, flopping down in bed without bothering to change out of his track pants. He did take off the hoodie though, carelessly tossing the jacket onto his chair. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the incident his mother had mentioned. Just the very memory of that made his head hurt.

"I do remember," he spoke to his ceiling, feeling restless. His arm was resting over his forehead, and the stars seem to swirl above him in all their cold, childish splendour. It couldn't compare to the night sky outside, but it tried, and he tried too. He tried very hard to remember, but he couldn't remember everything, and he wondered if he was doomed to remain like this forever.


Miku woke up an hour earlier than she had to, her body clock still struggling to synchronise itself with her new surroundings, so she spent half an hour in the kitchen brewing up a fresh pot of tea. The smell of tea was soothing, and it always helped her to relax a little before the start of the day.

She sat in the kitchen, skirt folded neatly beneath her, her gaze fixed on the white tiles of the kitchen wall. She didn't know how to feel about today. She would have a chance to look at Kagamine Len's music sheet, but she didn't feel…excited about it, not really. She knew she ought to be delighted, she ought to be falling all over herself at a chance to explore her past – but she wasn't. If there was one thing she had learnt when she was travelling the globe with her parents, it was that holding on to memories was difficult and it brought unnecessary pain to herself. Did she really want to dive into a past she once thought abandoned? She had resigned herself to discarding those first ten years of her childhood. Why was she bringing that up again, and undoing her careful work from all these years?

She lifted the smooth dark ceramic to her lips, taking a sip of tea. It was green tea – she had chanced upon green tea in one of the countries they lived in prior to this, and she had fallen in love with the slightly bitter, aromatic taste of the liquid. When she came here, the first thing she had done was source for green tea, and although the only thing she found were the commercial packet kind with barely any taste to them, she was glad. It was better than nothing. Closing her eyes, she savoured the taste of the tea – almost bland, yet not quite, a sharp undercurrent of taste dancing on her tongue as she rolled the tea experimentally around her mouth. It would do. Satisfied, she swallowed her gulp of tea, ignoring the heat as the tea slipped down her throat. She still had so much time.

Her gaze drifted to the neatly stacked cups in the rack, landing on the light blue one with the happy smiley emblazoned on one side of the cup. It was entirely too cheesy for her, she hated that cup; but it matched Kagamine Len's hair and eyes so she thought it was funny to let him use it last night. She certainly hadn't expected him to come to her house, and it had almost been automatic when she let him inside to speak with her. It would have been rude to leave an acquaintance just standing outside when she was talking to him, and her upbringing even dictated that she make him a drink, though the whole time she was wondering what he was doing here and what he could want from her.

In hindsight, it hadn't been too surprising. She lived in the same neighbourhood as him, after all. She just admitted that she didn't consider this possibility as she thought that maybe…maybe he had already moved away, and maybe he no longer kept his old habit of walking around the neighbourhood. But it seemed like people rarely broke their habits. She should know – she herself was proof of that. Every day for the past five years, ever since her parents had trusted her to use the kettle by herself, she had woken up in the morning to make herself a nice hot drink. Sometimes, it was steamed milk. Sometimes, it was tea. Sometimes, it was coffee. It really depended on how she was feeling that day.

At night, Kagamine Len looked a little different from what she saw at school. In school, she saw a self-possessed, confident young man – no, not arrogant, and certainly not overbearing. But there was a certain air of self-awareness about him that made him particularly attractive. She could understand why there were girls in class who buzzed excitedly about his every move and dreamt of the day he would glance at her, those blue eyes softening with attraction, perhaps even love. But she understanding their desires didn't mean she wished to partake in them. After hearing what Mikuo told her about Len, she was rather determined to stay as far away from him as possible.

He was bad news. But bad news had this way of…making everyone notice it. People liked to look at tragedies, and Len always had something in his eyes that carried the same sense of melancholy. She noticed it her very first day. She knew those blue eyes, and knew that there was once they were light and carefree. This was an older Len, a different Len whose eyes were shadowed by experience and the loss of naivety. It did make her curious about what happened to him, but she also knew that people changed and it was no longer any of her business to probe. Nor should he be butting around in her business. She decided that as long as he kept out of her way, she would keep out of his, but at the same time she privately acknowledged that it was unlikely Len would truly leave her alone.

He was attractive in the day, but she knew she was pretty too. Attractiveness didn't really mean anything; in society, looks were just another asset to be exploited, a genetic silver spoon in the mouth, a pre-birth lottery. But at night he was awkward, he hesitated, he seemed more true to himself than he was in the day, and that unsettled her enough to make her listen to him. And now, she didn't know how to feel about him. If she helped him with the music piece, if they really managed to unlock it and they could remember what it meant for both of them, then what would happen from then on? She knew the music piece was from her childhood, and not just any childhood – it was from her past more than eight years ago. And that was extremely dangerous territory.

If she thought about it too much she might just break down. All her life she had been walling that part of herself in, keeping it separate from the rest of her consciousness. It hadn't been her intention to do so, actually. But it was a self-defensive mechanism, because when she thought about her hometown all she could do was cry and long for her friends and her home. So her mind blocked it off, blocked everyone off, and she focused on her grades and on taking pride in her uniqueness. Coming back meant that this mental shield would start to disintegrate. But she hoped that it would hold and withstand the test of time. It was a new life now, she didn't need her past to cope here. No one here held any special significance to her, she reminded herself. No one but herself.

The clock struck seven o'clock, and she rose from her chair, deciding that it was time for her to leave for school. Class started in half an hour, and she was already cutting it pretty close. It would take her twenty minutes to cycle to school if she pushed herself a little, so she finished off the tea and quickly cleaned up, tossing the teabag in the bin and washing the cup before placing it on the rack to dry. Picking up her bag from the ground, she walked out into the weak, watery morning light, heading straight for the sleek cyan bicycle leaning against the porch. She liked to cycle and to feel the rush of the wind against her face. As she mounted her bike, she looked out across the neighbourhood and idly, she wondered if she would see Len on the way to school. But she hoped she would not.


Her lessons passed quickly. She met a few new people today, who all introduced themselves with looks of curiosity on their faces – there was Megurine Luka, a tall and shapely girl with lovely pink hair and calming blue eyes. She was beautiful, and when Miku told her so, the girl giggled, waving the compliment away. Miku wondered if she was called beautiful very often, and found it sad that nowadays, most guys seemed to think that 'hot' was considered worthy praise. Personally, if she was just called 'hot' by someone, she would be mildly offended. She was much more than just her body.

She also spoke to Rin as well, Len's twin sister. Rin talked to her as though they had never met – but that was right, they never really had besides yesterday in History class. It was just funny, looking at Rin and seeing her twin brother. They looked so similar, it made Miku wonder if the two of them had ever swapped clothes and impersonated each other before, just for a day. She would do it with Mikuo if she could persuade him to get into a skirt and find a way to hide her long teal hair. She and her cousin looked quite similar as well, but Rin and Len were…uncanny. Then again, they were twins.

"Oh, you met Len!" Rin sounded surprised when Miku mentioned this – Rin had been asking who else Miku knew in their school so far. "He's a bit of a jerk," Rin looked uneasy mentioning this, some emotion flitting across her face as she spoke. "You definitely shouldn't get involved with him. I mean yeah, he's my brother, but…he's bad news," she shrugged. Miku slanted her gaze over to Rin, who smiled and continued as though nothing had happened. Did she know about her brother's doings? It couldn't be comfortable, knowing that your sibling was fooling around with girls and having to comfort your friends after he broke their hearts. She wondered if Rin had ever spoken to Len about that.

"You need to tell him to screw his head back on right," Yamaha Mizki stage-whispered to Rin, who just waved the girl's comments away and continued talking. They were all sitting together at Rin's lunch table – it was no surprise that Rin was well-liked in school, from what Miku understood being the twin sister of the infamous Kagamine Len had its own share of perks. But Rin herself was bubbly and cheerful, and it probably helped that she was tough and could hold her own in an argument. Miku found a strong girl to be particularly admirable, so she was pretty fond of Rin.

The three girls made noises of surprise and shock when Miku told them where she sat for lunch yesterday – given that she wasn't really that comfortable with most people yet, she had opted to eat her lunch outside in the courtyard. She defended her decision though. The courtyard was a nice place to be in, wide and spacious with wooden benches for her to sit on and no one coming to bother her while she was eating. Miku wasn't a loner, but she wasn't extremely outgoing either. She was as comfortable around other people's company as she was with her own. Rin declared that from then on, Miku always had to sit with one of them when eating, to which she finally acquiesced.

After a while of chatting and laughing – Miku was regaling her three new friends with tales of the various countries she had lived in, when she was younger – she glanced at her phone and saw that it was a little past twelve. She gasped, quickly putting her unfinished sandwich back in the plastic wrapping, meeting her friends' confused gazes. "I need to talk to someone," she explained, "we agreed to meet at twelve so I ought to look for him now. It's kind of important," she hesitated. Yes, it was just a piece of music, but it was important for her. And she knew it was important for Len too, at least if it happened to be the same thing as she assumed it to be. Because if it was…

Mizki's look of surprise was becoming sly. "Oh, you need to talk to someone, eh?" she nudged Luka, who was seated next to her and staring at Miku with an expression of curiosity on her face. "Isn't it a little too soon to be interested in someone already?" the girl giggled. Mizki had long pink hair that was just a little longer than Luka's, and bright green eyes that seemed to glow more than her own. It made for a very intense, captivating kind of look, and her knowing gaze made Miku feel just a little uncomfortable. Miku hastily grabbed her bag, leaving her half-finished lunch on the table as she scrambled out of her seat, aware that her new friends and some of the other tables were all staring at her as well. She probably looked like she was running away from something. In a way, she was.

"I'll be right back, it'll be quick," she tossed over her shoulder, zooming out of the cafeteria as quickly as she could without actually running. Everyone was turning around to stare at her, and that was making her feel extremely out of place. But when she finally got out, exhaling in relief at having escaped all those questioning eyes, she groaned and slumped against the wall, wondering at how forgetful she could possibly be. In their arrangements last night, she and Len had forgotten just one thing, and now she stared at her phone angrily, although she knew that no amount of staring would change her current situation. The phone display showed that it was already fifteen minutes past twelve and honestly, she had completely no idea where Kagamine Len could possibly be.

Even though she didn't want to get herself involved with Len, it probably would have been a good idea if she had actually asked him for his number.