So. Meet the last update for at least two weeks. Why? BECAUSE EXAMS DSJLJDSJDSLFJDFJ UGH. Guys, exams. Fanfiction authors everywhere: Behold our greatest enemy. I have seven exams to knock out and it ain't getting any easier. I'm sorry. That's what it is. :/

But after that summer! Which also happens to be incredibly busy for me... Ugh. Well, we'll see. :D

The Puppet Master

Looking back on it, ironically, Miku was harder to trick than Kaito.

She doesn't understand the fact that I want to talk to her; She keeps staring at me across the room after I deliver the message. And she stares. And she stares. Suspicion is clear in every area of her face; She loathes me greatly, I think.

Yet she still fears me.

I live off that fear; In fact, it gives me great pleasure to see it. The only person I can't stand fear from is Rin. Rin has to smile. If she isn't smiling, it hurts me.

"Are you coming?" I ask her quietly, and she jumps at her lockers. She looks around to make sure all of her friends are gone; Something silly and redundant, I took great care and precaution to make sure that no one was around. I'm not that careless, you see, that I will let someone see Miku leave the school alone with me.

"Er, yeah." She's bubbly and pretty. Popular; She has a lot of 'friends.' She goes everywhere in groups, she likes to take pictures of herself, she paints her nails coordinating with her scarf coordinating with her shorts. So here I am, trying to figure out the same thing- Why? Kaito was also seemingly normal- maybe a bit of an imbecile, but normal all the same. So why do they want to ruin Rin's life? What is their ulterior motive? What do they have to gain by torturing her?

She slams her locker door shut, her hand cradling an almost-empty Starbucks cup. Taking a sip, she checks her phone before looking up at me. She stands there, eyeing me suspiciously. "Okay, let's go."

We walk out together, and I am silent for the first part of the walk.

"Where are we going?" she asks, lips pursed. For a couple days after Kaito's death, Miku's sense of matching and color coding and neatness went awry. It seemed she was too distraught to be able to pull herself together. But now her tastes had returned, and polished and refined as ever. Which left me wondering, did she really care?

But that is not my main concern, nor really a concern at all. "The river," I respond, making sure my voice is minimally icy. This lets her know that this is a serious conversation, and she knows very well whom it concerns. I lead her down the path towards the river.

The river is a favorite place of the students to be. Many times they will stand around, especially with their 'significant others,' doing cutesy things like taking pictures of themselves with the river as a backdrop and holding hands as they skip rocks. Mostly, they stand around, engaged in passionate make-out sessions.

Rin likes to sit here, feet dangling in the water, as she sometimes writes and usually wants some sort of serene setting as she does.

I have picked an excellent time to be here; There is no one, they are all at the football game. Today, to honor Kaito, the football team is having a sort of memorial ceremony. I guess that is where Rin is at, and am surprised that Miku is actually free. I thought definitely that she would shake me off to go commemorate Kaito, but I suppose I guessed wrong.

She throws her backpack down and flops onto the ground, flinging her sandals behind her into the grass. It almost appears that she is smiling, inviting me to question her about why she decides to mercilessly bully someone like Rin.

"Why?" I ask quietly, and she knows the answer without me saying a single other word. She shrugs.

"It's easy to hurt someone, Len." she says, with almost a note of mischief in her smooth voice. "You should know that very well." I raise an eyebrow at her statement because no, I've never really hurt someone willingly. If you ignore Kaito's death. It almost seems that Miku knows I am the murderer.

So why is she so nonchalant about it? She talks like she is talking about the weather. Wasn't this girl Kaito's girlfriend? Shouldn't she be screaming wildly at me, eyeliner streaming down her face with her frantic tears, or running away as fast as she can so I don't deem her my next victim? She looks up at me with an air of superiority, and I ask her again, crouching down to her level.

"Why, Miku? What do you have against Rin?"

"She is pitiful, worthless, and always smiling," Miku sneers at me. "If she rises above me on the social level, my status will be shot down quicker than I can say 'shoot.' I can't afford that pathetic, ever-cheerful girl to go above me- It's always happy-go-lucky for Rin, isn't it? I bet she's never experienced an ounce of sadness in her entire life. Not a single ounce."

I cock my head at this absurdity, my blood taking over that familiar, boiling, hot feeling. "You realize that her parents are dead, right, Miku?"

"Huh. I didn't know that." Miku murmurs, but her face remains passive, uncaring. "I don't care, Len. So what if her parents are dead? Thank god they don't have a chance for reproduction. Anyway, Rin is still happy, isn't she?" Miku brushes her arms off like she's brushing away Rin's happiness.

"She doesn't care about social ladders," I hiss between my teeth. "Why do you hate Rin? These are not valid reasons."

Miku stares at me. "Because Kaito was in love with her."

This does shock me; Greatly, in fact. "He was what?"

"My boyfriend," she licks her lips quickly, "Was in love with Rin. In fact, he loved Rin while we were dating." She flicks her eyes towards my expressionless face.

"That can't be true. He constantly beat her up... All that kind of crap. He hated her." I say, my fingers digging past the grass, past the mud. I feel lighter in regards to the fact that I killed him.

"Yeah," she says chillingly. "Because I asked him to. But did he listen completely? No. He had to have his little fun with Rin while he was at it. He would comment, later- 'Your lips aren't like Rin's. Your hair isn't as soft as hers. She has a nice smile.' I hated her." Miku leans forward. "I wanted her gone. I was tired of being compared to a pathetic girl who couldn't even compare to me."

This was... This was a very elaborate plot that has nothing to do with Kaito. Kaito was just a pawn- Miku is the real mastermind. I would have never suspected her, never suspected this whole drama unfolding behind two kids whom I thought bullied Rin because of the social contrast. But no, it is never that simple.

"You asked him to beat her up?" I am seeing red again. I struggle to control myself, the heat and the anger that I feel crawling up inside of me. I can feel a monster, there, and that monster is ready to strike.

That monster is ready to kill.

(Little did I know that soon that monster would become my conscience, my guide. I would succumb completely to it. I would rely on it to direct me.)

"Of course," Miku titters, a little, light laugh as soft as a blade of grass. "And I hoped it would hurt him, too... But he was an oaf. He didn't feel anything, so long as he got his share of Rin. I kept him around because he was good-looking. But I did not care for this cheating business. To be honest," she blinks at me. "I'm not overly upset that he's dead."

That stops me still, like a clean blow to the head. She is not upset- She was never upset. She used Kaito's death as a reason to further eradicate Rin from any sort of life she could have had. She never cared for him, did not spread rumors to bring who she thought was his killer to justice- She spread rumors because now that Kaito was dead, Rin was at a vulnerable spot. And that was an advantage whose strings Miku plays puppet master for.

That monster rages inside of me, and my fingers shake. I am breathing a little harder now, trying to quell it, control it. My hands move of their own accord. I can feel all the rage, all the fury, all the anger and hatred and love, oh, I can feel that protective flair adding to the heat- And suddenly, I feel it brimming over.

One minute Miku is standing at the edge of the river, making a snide remark about falling in, and the next minute, my arms, moving on their own accord, shove her.

Miku stands there for a moment on edge, and then she teeters forward. Time stops for a moment as she falls towards the river, slowly, slowly, almost mocking me.

Her shocked eyes meet mine; I think mine are as stunned as hers are. I don't know what I am thinking, what is going on in my body and mind. They are working together, but without me. I watch her fall through the air, and I think about grabbing her hand and pulling her back up. My hand even extends, unwillingly, to her.

It is far too late.

The river is a favorite place of couples because they like to walk across the river. They achieve this by holding hands and hopping across the rocks, barefoot, because shoes have less grip and you are more likely to fall if you have them.

Miku is barefoot, but it does not help her because she does not land on her feet. I recoil, spinning around to slam my hands over my ears before I hear that soft, yet deafening crack. It both seeps into me and shatters me at the same time. She has shattered. Literally.

I sink to my knees, hand tangling in my hair tightly. I've killed another one. I've killed her I've killed her I've killed her. But this time, I do not feel that sickness in my stomach. In fact, that outpour of emotions from earlier has been quenched, and now they are sitting, still and calm, inside of me. I still feel lightheaded, though, and I am absolutely horrified. Dead, Miku is dead.

I am a murderer.

I might go to jail.

Juvenile. Or would they charge me with an adult sentence, since I am nearly an adult?

The rocks are red. Bright, crimson, blaming, accusing red. I cannot tear my eyes from them. Miku's body has slipped into the water with barely a sound.

You see, bodies sink upon first hitting the water. Miku's body sinks downwards now, but soon, perhaps after three days, it will float back up to the surface. Miku is not... Overweight, per se, so she will not float very easily. But she's not muscular, so she will not sink completely, either. My guess is that she will be partially floating, partially sinking, when someone finds her.

I am sick. I am a wicked, sinful person and I have gone too far. Quickly, I pick up Miku's backpack and dump it in the water as well. With all her books and such, it sinks like a rock. Her phone buzzes on my left and I pick it up.

My hand is quick; I dash it downwards towards the rock and it shatters into brilliant little pices, shards landing with little 'plops' against the sparkling water.

The evidence is gone.

Miku has never been here.

I see the blood on the rocks and use Miku's Starbucks cup and river water to wash it away. It clouds the water for a minute, but a quick swirl causes dust to mix with it and vanish.

I am shaking.

I am in that hysterical, quiet state when I wander to the memorial game for the football players. Rin is quietly standing to the side, looking out of place and slightly desperate. She'd told me earlier that Gumi had left because she had babysitting. Rin is a kind person, yes, who hardly searches for the bad in people. Yes, she came because she did mourn the loss. But also one of the main reasons she probably came was so the blame on her would be eased a little.

With the root problem gone, though...

I debate, before I actually walk up to her, whether or not I should tell her about Kaito's interests in her. About Miku's jealousy, about everything. I gaze at her for a minute before I shut the idea down and tried to push it down, away from my main focuses.

She sees me, and her face lights up. She trots over to me herself, handing me the tiny tub of candy she'd been holding.

"Hey, Len. I didn't know you were coming," she says in a quiet, slightly cheerful voice. I can feel her struggle to keep that smile on her face, but she looks tired and upset and too wound up to really appear all that happy as she usually is.

I don't even know what takes over me at that instant when I see her face, all sweet yet troubled. I want to take that distress away from her, I want her to stop worrying, and I want her to smile with ease. Killing Miku will probably only weigh heavier on her, but until they find her, I want Rin to be able to relax. Miku was the ringleader, after all; without her, the other girls won't do much. And hopefully, it will be at least three days- That will be enough time for Rin to pull herself together, right?

I raise my hand to her cold, red cheeks, and her blue eyes lock on mine as though she is looking up to me. I drop my hand and then pull her into a crushing hug, all of that emotion from before completely vanishing upon sight of her.

For some reason, this tiny thing has me completely wound up like a ribbon; I don't even understand.

"Len?" she sounds confused but not upset, and I hold her even tighter. My eyes are wide, my head resting over hers. I'm, for once, scared. I don't want her to know. I can't let Rin know. I can't.

She smiles gently and pats me awkwardly with one hand. "Hey, it's okay. Do you wanna talk about it?"

No, Rin, I don't care about my problems. You put up with so much; I shouldn't have to say anything, shouldn't be able to complain. Miku is down, Rin, and I promise; I will take your problems away one by one if I have to.

I hold her so close to me it's like we are one, bound together. I can feel the heat permeating through her thin jacket- God, she's small and warm and everything beautiful.

(My favorite thing. Person. Everything.)

It's desire that floods through my veins, for some reason. I have never, ever wanted Rin as badly as I want her now. Bundled up in kindness and wrapped around with a smile, Rin is a gift that I definitely do not deserve.

I tangle my hand in the hair beneath her ear and whisper, "No, it's okay. I only need you to be here." She grins, cheeks still a soft, holiday red. The smile is kind of naive, but since it's Rin I don't really care all that much.

"Okay, I'm done." I step back from her and my hand falls onto her hair. I tousle it and force a difficult quirk of my mouth as a pitiful attempt at a smile. "You're okay, right? Has everyone been treating you all right?"

"Oh," she falters. Smiling weakly, she plays with my fingers and breathes in. "You know, it's okay. I mean, the usual. The usual. Yeah."

"The usual?" My voice is icy.

She catches her breath, dismissing me with a pour of words. "Oh, you know, not much- The usual teasing, they call me the w-word a couple times. You know," she whispers. "They call me a..." she whispers "...They call me a whore." she shrugs. "It doesn't really bother me, Len, as long as you and Gumi don't believe it."

After Miku, I've been trying to clean my hands of the sin. My emotions aren't rising, my anger isn't as hot- You know, until I see the bruise against her collarbone. "Rin..."

Rin sees where my gaze has landed and tries to brush it off quickly, tugging the loose shirt she is wearing up until the dark, fresh bruise is hidden. She laughs. "It's nothing, it was really itchy and I went at it with my nails and-"

After all this time, she's still lying to me. My palms smack against the wall, pinning her within the cage I have formed with my arms. I lean towards her, still slightly shaky from being so close. "Don't you dare lie to me, Rin." I say softly. Disapprovingly. She cups her fingers over her mouth.

(Don't you dare. I know something is wrong when I see your face like that.)

"I don't want you-" she quivers. "I don't- Want you to worry- I mean, about me, cause you have- You have a life, Len! You can't constantly j-just watch over me- You know?"

"No," I murmur, adjusting my black glasses. "You want to tell me how that bruise came to be?"

"No," she squeaks, and I sigh, straightening. She thinks she is off the hook, clearly, because she wilts in relief. I think about kissing her, again, because that's all I seem to be thinking of lately. Rin's mouth soft, the sweetness emphasized by her constant smiles. I lift my hand, tracing my thumb over her bottom lip. She closes her eyes, and her lips part; I can feel the slight heat against my skin.

Damn. I think, dropping my hand. I need to get out of here before I do something I seriously regret. A confused blush rises into Rin's pale skin and she struggles to talk. She understands none of what just took place, but then, neither do I.

"Um," we both say simultaneously, and then she gives in.

"It's just a scratch," she admits, tapping her index fingers together. "This girl tried to grab the back of my shirt and she ended up grabbing, well... My skin instead." She scratches her head hastily and her eyes widen. "But it's nothing, really, Len." she says earnestly. "I promise."

I sigh and give in. There are some things I cannot control and this is one of them.

"Hey, have you seen Miku yet? I can't find her." One girl sighs as she walks by with her friend. "Honestly, she loved Kaito so much that I can't imagine why she wouldn't have come."

Both the inaccuracy of that statement and the fact that I am responsible for her being missing causes a wave of both nausea and burning hatred to sweep through me, leaving me pale. Rin notices almost immediately and clasps her hands to either side of my face, forcing me to look down at her, wild-eyed.

"Are you okay, Len?" she says, panicking. "You just turned completely pale, and-" she pauses, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Something happened, didn't it? Come to think of it, where is Miku?" she turns to me again and holds onto me tightly. "Len, what happened?"

"I don't know," I mutter, giving up. "But I need her cause she has half of my group project."

"Oh," Rin nods in understanding and her hands fall away. "I see. Well do you want to go find her?"

"No!" the word bursts out of my mouth, panicked and sharp. Rin stares at me and I hastily cover my mistake. "Um, I mean. I don't know," I sway a little, feeling even more sick. "I'm feeling sick." It was not a lie, not fully. If Rin caught on this quickly, she'd know I was responsible for Miku's death. I have to cover my lies. "Rin," I say in a whisper. "Come with me." I lead her into the brick wall around the restroom. "You've got to promise not to tell anyone what I tell you, okay?"

"Okay, Len." she whispers, looking worried. "What is it?"

"I saw this guy leading Miku down to the river about an hour ago; I was there to draw the scenery. Before I left, though, I saw them arguing. You don't think..."

"Oh no, Len!" she says, looking rather nervous for something she hasn't even done. "You don't think that he- That maybe he hurt her?" Why does she care? It was about time Miku was hurt for something she'd done. "What if he did something worse?"

I pause, taking her hands. "Do you want to go down to the river and see?"

She contemplates for a moment, and lifts her eyes to mine. "O-Okay."

So I lead her her down to the river and 'we' both scour the scene thoroughly. Rin is like a little detective, searching everywhere for something that might help her. I stiffen as she nears the rock Miku was smashed into. Hopefully Rin will think it was the 'other' guy I mentioned.

"I don't see anything," she finally surrenders, crossing her arms. "What did this guy look like, Len?"

"He had on a bright neon orange hoodie," I say, lies coming out smoothly and carefully. "Um..." I pause for effect, squinting to remember. My mind conjures some fake guy. "He had Aviator glasses... And he had blue Converses. Oh yeah, and ostentatious jeans."

Rin's jaw slackens. "He sounds... Interesting."

"He looked interesting. Uh, Rin? I'm still feeling sick."

"Right, okay." She heads back up the hill. "Huh. I wonder if she's okay." Who cares? I want to shout at her. All she did was make your life a total hell. She puts the misery in your miserableness. (A/N: Yep, I'm not crazy. Miserableness is a word.)

"Come on," she offers me her hand with a cheerful, yet slightly forced smile. "Let's go. I don't think she's here."

"U-Uh, yeah." I take her hand and thrills shock through me. I'm jittery, uncontrollably nervous. Rin is killing me, but it's the best way to go for me. Every time I'm around her, I completely lose control of myself. My normal, calm stature just- poof! -vanishes. I do things I don't generally think I'm bold enough to do.

Such as this; kissing the top of her head. My lips press against her hair. She stills. After I do it, I freeze in shock. I just kissed Rin. On the head. And she didn't run away. Screaming. After spraying me with pepper spray.

(I'm elated.)

She just stands there, and I clench up, but then her eyes soften and she smiles, slipping M&Ms into her mouth and chewing.

"Don't worry," I say, smoothing down a flyaway strand of hair. "It's going to be okay." It's going to be okay for her. I don't know about me, but Rin's world will soon brighten again. But I don't matter. No one matters but Rin.

(Right?)

Er... Right, Len. Haha. *coughs and backs away* You're always right! And hot. *drools and runs*

Well, there you have it- She's dead. Sorry if I offended anyone- If it makes you feel better, practically everyone dies! /shot for being an idiot. Erm. What else do I have to say...? OH YEAH! Remember, no updates for a while... Cause exams. xD Thank you for the reviews, favorites, etc... Um. Yeah. Expect Len not to be so kind in the coming chapters~

Haha. Hahahaha.

REVIEW PLEASE!

~Alias