I...feel like, with this chapter, this story took a turn for the worst.

Last Chapter.

"But, Rin?" he asked, his soft voice almost shaking in some kind of hesitation or fear. "What about Miki?"

Rin's lips curved up in a tiny smirk. "You'll have to forget her. She was foolish enough to get herself killed." She beckoned for Kaito to approach her, and with her soft, small hands, she covered his eyes, as Luka did the same to the silver-haired boy.

She didn't plan on telling any of them of her intent to kill the boys within the week.

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"We just nearly killed each other up there." Miki waved one hand limply up at the top of the gorge like he could see her, but Piko knew very well what she was talking about. "You would've thrown me over had I not pushed you back."

"That's not true. Good people don't deserve to be hurt like that," Piko told her, his voice firm.

"W-What...?" Miki raised her eyebrows. "But Len said that y-"

"I like to kill the bad guys," the white-haired boy answered, heaving a sigh. "I saw you as a bad person because you had kidnapped Len and Mikuo. But you're not a Vocaloid. You're not one of them. You're just a girl who's fighting for her life, and you're extremely loyal to your team." There was a pause before he whispered, "Even I probably wouldn't have thrown myself into a river to save one of my teammates."

Chapter Seven.

When the four returned, news of Miki and Piko spread quickly. Len and Mikuo had been reunited with their companions, allowed to sit next to them and catch up with each other briefly, and the blond boy had earned himself a fierce kick in the stomach from Rin when he dropped his voice to a whisper so that the others couldn't hear the words that were being exchanged. She ordered for the girls to keep a close eye on them, that they couldn't be trusted, and it wasn't long after that the whole underground bunker had plunged into an uneasy silence that stretched on for a few long minutes.

"Alright. Here's the deal." Relief seemed to flicker across almost everyone's face when the pinkette spoke up sternly, clapping her hands together to get their attention. Many different gazes of varying colors and emotions - some teasing, some interested, some harsh - rested on Luka as she sighed heavily. "I'm cutting right to the point. We've many differences, yes, but we all have the same goal."

"Survival," Gumi murmured, barely loud enough for anyone to hear her.

But Luka caught her loud and clear, and she nodded. "That's right. We only want to survive. To live through this apocalyptic lifetime, am I right?" she asked. Her voice echoed, bounced off the dirt walls that surrounded them. When she was only answered with a couple of nods, she repeated her question louder, slamming her fist into her palm. "Am I right?!"

A chorus of mumbles came from the two groups this time.

"With two teams living so close together, it can only increase the risk," Luka went on. Her sapphire eyes seared into Len's, Rin's, Kaito's...every person in turn until she could focus her gaze on her leader's again, as though her only goal was to convince the bloodthirsty blonde. "We could stumble across each other and not know. It would result in a pointless slaughter. It would only kill what few real people remain in this world - because everyone else has been made to conform, to obey, to do as they are told. They don't know the meaning of the word freedom anymore. But we do, and our goal is to bring that back to our country, right?"

"Right," Kaito agreed. A few of the girls cast him surprised glances - and Dell and Mikuo did as well, because why would he speak so willingly while being stuck in an enemy's place? "We have to restore humanity."

Luka's firm sapphire gaze clouded over with pity, and she pressed her lips together before letting out a near-silent sigh. She tapped her fingers against her knees. She knew exactly what was on his mind. "I'm terribly sorry for your loss, Kaito," she told him softly, offering a faint smile. "I understand what you're going through."

Kaito raised a brow as though he didn't believe her. His eyes were challenging, and he was quick to fold his arms across his chest while snorting in irritation. To him, people would only say that to try to make others feel better, when in reality, they could never understand what true agony he was suffering in his heart. His poor, broken heart.

"I lost my sister to the Vocaloids," Luka told him. She dropped her gaze to stare at her lap, where she'd brought her hands together to pick at the hem of her shirt. "Gumi and I..." The pinkette waved her hand at the girl with emerald hair so the boys would know who she was talking about. "We were with my sister, trying to bring more food back. We were running out of it...and ammo. We crossed paths with some Vocaloids...and she ended up getting caught in the crossfire."

One could feel the pity that thickened the air just then, and they could all see the few tears that slipped from Luka's eyes and fell from her chin onto her lap. Kaito had a look in his gaze that betrayed kindness and support, just as any real friend should show. Even though they had never met before that moment, they could relate. They had similarities, Luka and Kaito, and they could understand each other.

Kaito had been sitting directly across from the pinkette, and he leaned forward so that he could stretch his arm just enough to place his hand on her knee. "I'm so sorry..." he mumbled.

Rin took that moment to leap to her feet, throwing her arms up in exaggeration. "Oh, bullshit! You all are such softies! If they died, it's because they were weak." She whirled to look at Luka, her eyes blazing with a cerulean fire. "I liked Ari, too, but sometimes things happen! And in a world like this, there's nothing you can do about it! You have to stop living in the past!"

Luka's expression turned cold, and she stood up as well, towering over her blonde leader as she placed one hand on her hip. Her voice cut through the air like daggers, vicious and hateful towards someone she mostly viewed as a friend. "Maybe, Rin," she snarled, biting out the name with a long drawl of built up fury, "if you focused a bit more on what kind of life you had before you had to kill to survive, you would understand!"

"I don't need to think about things that'll make me weak," the blonde retorted. She folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. "I had a good life, yes, but it all changed when Master took over. I threw that life aside, Luka! I focus on the here and now so that I'm prepared for whatever life will throw at me, and it's high time you do the same!"

Having said what she wanted to, Rin whirled around and stormed to the rusty ladder that led to the hatch on the roof of their bunker. She didn't bother to mutter an apology to Rui when she shoved the girl aside so that she could get out of the inner circle they had all formed. Everyone watched her curiously, yet they were too afraid to say a word as she threw the hatch back, stepped into the outside world, and slammed it shut.

Luka groaned and slapped a hand over her face. "I want her to cool off, but we can't just let her go out there alone. She didn't even bring a weapon."

"She always keeps that knife on her doesn't she?" Rei mumbled pointedly, head tipped to one side.

"But that won't be of any help if she's against a Vocaloid with a gun," the pinkette pointed out. She turned around and leaned back against the wall, sinking to the ground so that the dirt against her back caked up on her clothes. "I don't know what to do about her. She's so ruthless. It'll be the death of her one day."

"It would also mean a problem for them if they decided to team up with us like you're suggesting," Gumi added, jabbing her thumb in the new additions' direction.

"Oh, relax." Len's voice was cool, and it had a husky, gravelly tone to it that lingered in the air long after he'd fallen quiet. "I can tame the prissy bitch, and you guys know it." He stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets, jerking his head over to look at Luka with a stern, serious expression etched into his features. His messy bangs fell partly into his eyes, but the blue still shone through remarkably bright and mischievous. "If I recall, Rin gave me her trust when you all first took me in, as a form of...game, you could put it. You have to trust me. I can do wonders for you all. Rin and I are alike, I can tell - with the both of us leading you all, we'll accomplish great things." He spoke not with arrogance or a plea; he seemed sincere, like he knew what he was talking about. It was more than a little shock to all of them who were listening.

"And what makes you so sure about that, huh?" Rui snapped, fixing him with her harsh golden eyes. She clenched her hands into fists. "You act like you can control us? Well, you can't!"

"I never said I could," he replied with a shrug. "But I'm saying that we have experience with things like this - killing, fighting, and surviving. We can-"

"We all do!" The raven-haired girl's voice rose to a high note in the end. "We've been fighting for months! We know how to take care of ourselves! We don't need you telling us what to do or how to survive!"

Len stepped closer to the shorter girl and bent over her, glaring down into her eyes with his lips formed into a scowl. "You're gonna piss me off real quick, girly."

"Hey." Luka clapped her hands together a couple more times, drawing the focus back to her again. However, her main goal was to separate Rui and Len from their quarrel before it could truly begin, and noticing how they had only barely glanced over in her direction, the pinkette sent them a glare. "Knock it off, both of you. This is important. I understand what Len is saying, but we need to focus on the matter at hand."

"I thought the matter at hand was getting these two groups together?" Rui snarled. "Why don't you let me settle things with this cocky bastard right now and we may get along better?"

"As if I'd waste my time fighting with a little brat who could probably barely take a punch," Len sneered as he straightened back up.

"You wanna test me?" the black-haired girl challenged, leaping to her feet without a second thought. She advanced on Len, prepared to smack him across the face, but her twin snatched her by her wrist and tugged her back to the ground so she was sitting on his lap. Rui squirmed, though, refusing to calm down while shouting out profanities at the blond who chuckled at her and rolled his eyes.

"Guys, stop!" Luka had never screamed louder in her life except when she was wailing in agony over her sister's death, and it was an effective way to shut the both of them up. "Gumi, go find Rin and give her a gun to protect herself with in case she needs it. The rest of us will stay here and talk this out. None of us are leaving until we reach an understanding as to how we can work together. Do I make myself clear?"

Len reached out to take Gumi by her wrist, and when she looked at him in surprise, he sent her a grin and nudged her backward. "I'll go talk to Rin, and I can assure you guys that things will be worked out by the time we get back."

"She won't listen to you!" Rui howled as Len climbed up the latter with a gun in his hand. "She doesn't know you like she knows us!"

"But as he said, they think the same," Luka pointed out. "It might be best if he goes, even if they aren't exactly on good terms yet. And he knows what he's getting into," she added, casting Len a sidelong glance as he hollered back at her in acknowledgement of what she just said. "Rin is the only one of us that's not trustworthy, who will pull something, even if a deal's been made."

"You do realize what a stupid move that was, right?" Dell spoke up for the first time, tipping his head to the side and raising a silver eyebrow as he fixed her with his crimson eyes. "You've just given him the perfect chance to escape."

"You don't know him as well as you thought, it seems," Luka scoffed. "He's taken quite an interest in Rin, and I'm sure he'd sooner go after her for a chance at some psychotic fun than run away from his captors. And either way...even the most heartless of people will be lost in the world without those who they've been with for months. Rin would never be able to leave us alone, because she would be lonely working without a group. Len's most likely the same."

"You have a very optimistic view of things, don't you?" the blue-haired boy asked curiously, his eyes glowing with admiration for Luka's way of thinking things through.

Luka shrugged. "The way I see it...a leader in charge of a group like this shouldn't be controlling and fierce and threatening. They should try to understand things and do what they feel is right. If something goes wrong...then oh well." There was a pause, and after a moment of holding Kaito's gaze, she averted her own to stare at the ground. "Rin says that will get me killed one day."

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Rin panted, a few drops of sweat rolling down her cheek and dripping off her chin. She stared down at the undergrowth beneath her feet, watching the crimson pool up to her left. Her bloodied knuckles were oozing red more than she had been expecting them to, the skin scraped and torn back to leave a tender, dirt-coated wound. She found her hand surprisingly stiff, numb with the pain, however she clenched it and unclenched it again and again to test her strength despite the self-inflicted injury.

Damn Luka...making us seem weak and pathetic. She leaned back against one of the nearby trees, tilting her head back until it thumped against the trunk. She could feel her hair getting tangled in the bark, becoming even more messy and dirty than it had been earlier. Another bath in the river was desperately needed, but the trek was so long just to get there...

"Ah, I found you."

The blonde girl had closed her eyes only for a moment, but they snapped open again as she whirled around to look at the enemy who was standing some three or four feet away, a gun held tightly in his hand. His blue eyes were amused, sarcastic, and his smile was more than enough to give her the impression that he was more sadistic than she'd initially thought.

"What the hell do you want?" Rin growled, narrowing her eyes. She waved her arm as a signal for him to go, and Len responded to her with a chuckle.

His steps were slow and taunting, the leaves crunching beneath his boots as he approached the blonde girl who continued to stare him down defiantly. He lifted the gun in his hand so that he could touch the barrel against her chin once he was near enough, but she felt no fear. The safety was still on, and he wasn't poised to pull it back; he wouldn't be shooting her today, she knew, and he probably never would even if he had a reason. He'd torment her, wouldn't he?

Rin didn't like how he loomed over her - even if he was only an inch or so taller, she could still tell. He stared down at her with cold amusement, his teeth showing in a wide smile that hid secret meanings that Rin wasn't even so sure she wanted to know. His free hand was held behind his back, as though to prove that he wouldn't be making a move on her.

The blonde girl frowned heavily at his close range, but made no move to push him away. She saw it as a challenge; he'd try to see if he could get her to back off, to see if she would chicken out. Surely that was it?

"They wanted me to find you," he drawled out, dragging the cold metal of the gun down the length of her throat to pause at the base of it, "and bring you back."

"And why should I believe you?" Rin queried. "You're a liar, and they're weak. You could've easily shot them all down and are trying to eliminate me now."

"Think, Rin. If I wanted to eliminate you, then wouldn't I have done so already?" he asked.

She hated to admit that he had a point. But in a way, he'd just made a stupid mistake. He pretty much told her right out that he wasn't going to kill her...so Rin would have no problem standing up for herself if her not dying was a guarantee. She hated getting pushed around by some arrogant guy that she barely knew, anyway.

With a fierce shove, Rin sent Len to the ground, and the gun stumbled off the side somewhere. Rin staggered backward at first, as though she'd completely forgotten how to fight, but the moment Len was back on his feet with a psychotic grin, Rin launched herself for him. When the blonde girl tackled the boy to the ground, she was rather surprised at his strength when he fought against her, even though the pair had fought only the day before.

They rolled around as their partners had done during their match that day, throwing punches whenever they found the opportunity. It didn't last long, though; it was only a few seconds before Len scrambled away from her just enough to avoid another hit from her bloody knuckles.

Rin growled in frustration when Len fisted a handful of her hair as he prepared to stand up, and he yanked her off the ground by it. His other hand grasped for one of her wrists, and he effortlessly brought it around behind her back, twisting her arm in the process. The blonde girl in his hold snarled bad words at him, cursing him to the hottest pits of hell as he made her balance herself on her feet. Though, he refused to release her grimy blonde locks as he brought his lips forward to whisper in her ear.

"Listen to me," Len growled, his breath hot against her skin.

She squirmed in his hold and tried to look at him through the corners of her eyes. "Go to hell-ah!" Len silenced her quickly with a simultaneous tug of her hair and twist of her arm.

"Listen to me," he repeated venomously. "You're not in a position to be arguing with me. So you're going to do as I say."

"I knew we couldn't trust you," the blonde girl snarled at him. She bit down on her lip when his fingers buried deep into her skin, tightening around her wrist with bone-crushing strength.

"You don't have anything to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you, Rin, unless you do something to provoke it. Our teams are going to pair up, and we're going to become one great big, happy family."

"Damn it, why are you in on that whole 'teaming up' thing? Don't you know it's a ridiculous idea?"

Len chuckled. "I say it because you and I will make a great duo to lead these fools. Our goal is to survive, as Luka said. You know very well that we're the only two capable of leading them to success."

Rin panted, still breathless from their fight just a minute before. Her body shook slightly with her ragged breaths. She tried to turn to him to meet his gaze, but such a movement only hurt her neck; she fixed her gaze on something ahead of herself. "And why did you have to hold me down to tell me that? If it involved my control over my team, I would've listened."

"You're such a power-hungry bitch, aren't you?" Len shrugged and let go of her; Rin hadn't been expecting the release, and she collapsed to the ground on her hands and knees. "You attacked me first, and you weren't going to listen if I tried to say it in a nice way, anyways." He brushed his hands together as thought to clear them of the dirt that wasn't there. "And don't make me do that again. I don't like dominating defenseless girls."

"Oh right." Rin snorted and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand to clear away the blood from her brief scuffle with Len. "You prefer for them to dominate you."

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Sleep was about as sound as it could possibly be for Piko if he was leaned back against the rough bark of a tree, head tilted to one side so that his chin rested on his own shoulder. He knew before he drifted off to the faint sounds of the redhead's breathing and the swishing over the river that he would wake up with a crick in his neck. He'd mentally prepared a list of stretches to do that would help relieve his stiff, aching bones. He was prepared for having an encounter with the Vocaloids sometime late at night, planning on different strategies for different attacks. He was ready in case Miki decided to launch a sneak attack on him - but he couldn't really see that happening, no matter how much she probably hated and feared him.

He wasn't prepared, however, to wake up to a high-pitched screech that ripped through the air when the sun had barely risen from the horizon, casting long golden rays of sun onto the ground.

Piko leaped to his feet in an instant, all his senses alert suddenly even though he had been deep in a realm of relentless nightmares tormenting his unconscious just moments before. He staggered around the tree in an attempt to get to Miki before something really bad could happen - heck! She could've just been grabbed by the Vocaloids for all he knew - but the moment he was facing the same way that she was, fingers curled into fists to punch whatever could've possibly been threatening her, she backed into him. Her screams still pierced his eardrums, but she was sobbing as well, her breaths coming out in ragged hiccups.

Unconsciously, the white-haired boy placed his hands on her bare shoulders to steady the shaking girl, talking loudly in an attempt to be heard over her distressed cries. "What? What is it? Are you okay?"

Miki's wobbly legs led her farther back, pushing against him until they were stumbling farther away from the river with unsteady footsteps. One of her hands was held up to her mouth, her fingers pressed to her own quivering lips, and she slowly lifted a shaking finger to point at the shore directly in front of where she had been sleeping.

His gaze followed her finger, resting on something pink that had washed up overnight. Water swirled around it, tugging at the mess of pink that was clumped together with mild traces of red. Then, Piko took a step away from Miki, releasing her from the loose grip he'd been holding on her, and he padded forward until he could kneel in front of it. Tears came to his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"Y-Yuuma...?"

I hate it, I hate it. Might be re-written. I'd wait and rewrite before posting, but I'll end up forgetting it with everything else I've got going on. XD

.::Review Replies::.

YellowFluffiesForever22: Well, to be masochistic basically means you enjoy punishment. Now tell me (even though Len didn't really show that side of himself with his dominant sadist side in this chapter), doesn't Len keep pushing Rin's patience to its limits when she's scolding him? Because he WANTS her to hurt him! Once they get more into each other romantically, I'm sure I'll include it more :3 I like your thoughts of Miki and Piko ^3^ Thanks for the review~

cristal12997: I know): I feel bad for making Yuuma die. I want Rin to be as mean as she can possibly be!:D Thanks for the review!

Guest: Oh naaahhh, I know you weren't hating on Luki! (one day I'll write a story and Luki will be important in it XD) Thanks for reviewing!

DaniChibari: Yup! That was Hiyama! I'm glad it gave you chills! But I'm still feeling bad for killing poor Yuuma and making Kaito all sad. D:I like the way you think on the Miki and Piko bit. It's like you understand what I was kinda going for. X3 Piko's already protective of her, though. Kinda...but I guess that kinda also made a bit of sense lol? Thanks for the review!

Honeycloud of RiverClan: Hey, I Googled it so 50 feet is perfectly survivable XD Besides, I never mentioned it. :P They'll argue later. But if I was stuck with the guy I really dislike...I don't even know what I'd do. What about you? XD

Lady Ratatosk/Lil Miss Spike: You are the same person, right? I'm pretty sure you are...Anyways, thanks for the reviews and the compliments! And also, thanks for pointing that out! I went back and read the first couple of chapters with that in mind...I never noticed it before :P I'll try to work on it!

Mirror of Words: You shall find out later. :P Thanks for pointing out that error! (But I can't remember if I fixed it or not. Oh...joy...) Backstory will come soon if you want one! (I never gave much thought to one, but I have an idea!) Nah, I think they are too. But someone else likes it because they know when they can loosen up a bit and not be so tense, which makes sense. ^^ Thanks!

Ten-Faced: *whines* But they already did thaaaat. Hm...I'll get something good in mind, I hope. Rin is just a bitch. That's more of the point XD But don't worry. THINGS are gonna happen.

Jateangel: Is that enough RinxLen for ya for the moment? XD I suck for taking so long. I'm so sorry. /sobs in a corner

Guest: Thank youuuu!

DarkestThingInTheLight: Haaaa! X3 That made me laugh too much XD

Thoughts?

(:Mizune