-This chapter has not been Beta-Read! Read at your own risk-

With Sweet Lolita Kisses back in contact, I'll be updating the chapters with their beta-read versions over time. However I don't want to bother her too much, so I'll let her finish one job at a time before beta-reading the new chapters.

Thank you for the reviewers: Ness Caelum, CluelessLeaf, XxRed CapxX, Toan Daxland, CuriousSisters and Higashino Ruuya. Thanks a lot, and forgive me that I cannot update for a long time! I sprained my leg bad and have to be bed-ridden for a good one week…

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No matter what you do, in this modern world, it should be certain what matters the most. No matter what part of the world, no matter which part of the world you live in, one thing is certain if you are still a human living in a society.

You need something that will please the society to continue living with comfort inside it. No matter what, it's a give and take connection we are all living in.

"Iroha, is it true that you attacked your own classmate?" Mizki had asked her little sister with concern. On that day, one of the student's parents had called to Mizki and complained of the ruckus that her little sister made- and asked her for a compensation for it.

In the modern society, you cannot just take the pleasure of them. Even though you are wounded, bruised, maimed, or disabled, nobody would care; the pities they are showing are just a façade with a certain goal.

The goal is a certain retribution that is offered by whom they pity.

"I did?" Iroha gave her elder sister a questioning look. "I did? Did I? I don't understand…" she said quietly, avoiding the gaze of her older sister. Each time Mizki had that sad look on her, Iroha never wanted to see it. But she finally gave up and returned the gaze with teary eyes. Has she given up in hiding things anymore? Or is it the realization that the sad look will be carved on her older sister's face as long as she does not admit her fault?

"But… but…" the pink-haired girl sobbed, putting her tiny head on the older one's lap. "They called you stupid, they called you an idiot, because I cannot understand what the teachers are talking about, they said it was because of pity they let me in the school…"

The sisters stared at each other in silence. After a silent nod from Mizki, the girl cried. She cried so loudly that the nearby sparrows flew away from the front gate they had perched into, leaving the already closed store with more silence. The gentle afternoon breeze, the monotonous ticking of the old clock, even the orange-tinted sky failed to calm her down.

Seeing her sister cry like this, crying just like little girls do when they are bullied, Mizki gritted her teeth. Just the sight pierces Mizki's heart like a rusted thorn- the world is never fair. It's even less fair for the people on the lower scale of justice.

Mizki looked at her wallet- looking at what few money she had in possession. That lady had just sucked half of her saving for 'hospitalization', some kind of possibly unimaginable hospitalization after getting stabbed at the arm with a mere ballpoint pen. She could not help but agree with Iroha – if the parent is that screwed up, having a child of horrible manners could have been unavoidable karma on her part.

Mizki could not enlist her little sister to a special school for 'her kind', it just felt unfair. The school let her in because it was the school Mizki had attended in her childhood, but the parents did not seem to agree. It is, after all, a school for 'normal people'. Why let in someone with a mental disorder? Someone who can snap to rage at any given time? So, when the chance came…

Everything is her fault. Mizki felt guilty just enlisting her if she had known it would be like this. She only wanted her to be happy. She wanted her to experience the education in school like she would never feel anymore. She wanted her to find happy memories… but why is it the total opposite which comes upon them?

When someone is no longer able to provide the retribution, be it fame, money, or merely the feeling of delight, they are no longer considered the part of the society.

This is what they call a 'freak', which attending to require more trouble than it's worth. The 'freaks' are trashes of the society, dried-up wells with no more water to be sucked from.

"Big sister, am I a freak? That's what people in school said, I think they are mean." Iroha's pleading eyes and that question was a strong enough weapon to break a part of Mizki's heart. "I don't want to go to school. I want to stay at the store and help you, sister. I don't want to see the mean people."

Mizki hung her head low. She swallowed a bubble of air, cursing at herself. She didn't want Mizki to suffer anymore. But that's the sad part in one's life. It's not that humans are mean at heart, but they had adapted to the power governing over them, the power that had lasted for as long as she remembered. Adapted to the term 'mean', or 'evil'- consciously doing what is 'mean' for the sake of merely surviving, or even just to fulfill one's desire. Iroha cannot stay blind to this mean world, she have to adapt or she would have to suffer more.

At worst, she could die trying…

She would die…

Why did that sentence appealed to her so much? Has she given up trying? She was indeed desperate, but her mind told her that was not the cause.

No matter what she might do, Iroha would probably never align to her surroundings. Maybe she would stay the 'freak' she is and suffer the more the made contact with the harsher parts of the society. Mizki could never stay there forever; there will be the time that she would die, when she would have to leave her to tend for herself.

When that time comes, what will happen to Iroha?

When that possibility came to mind, Iroha being dead just trying seemed to be a better example than the rest of the contents of her already hazy mind.

But… what if Iroha's life ended right here, right now? She would not have to suffer; she wouldn't have to worry about the future. The thought that Mizki had been blocking off her head for the past few months resurfaced- the grim thought that Iroha would never, ever obtain a good future.

She looked at her hand which had been comforting Iroha. A pang of regret overcame her, trying to wash out the single speck of intention that emerged on her brain which contains The thought of ending the suffering; the thought of killing Iroha.

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"So, you consider your intentions as 'pity-killing', like those in the movies?" Rin gave a piercing stare at Mizki, who in return nodded meekly.

Ten minutes has passed since Rin's entrance to this strange space called "heart", to converse personally with Mizki and stop her intentions to kill Iroha. After some efforts and a little bit morale-crushing, Rin was able to make the red-haired girl spill the story that started it all.

"That's one of the most stupid excuses I've never heard."

It was cold. If Mizki could sense anything from what Rin had just said, it would be the plain coldness of both the sentence and the expression Rin was showing when she said it. No compassion, no kindness, just the pure blunt truth. Mizki could only watch in awe as Rin moved closer to her and whisper to her ear.

"If you don't even trust your own little sister, you're even lower than her. Don't even think of killing her, maybe you're the one who deserved death."

She was lower than her sister? Mizki felt something short-circuited in her brain as it tries to both accept and deny the sentence aimed towards her.

No, it can't be.

She was the one to care for her sister, so it must be a lie. She had to cook for two people's worth and earn money for the living for two people, so that must be a lie. She enlisted Iroha in school when she even quitted, so that must be a lie. Iroha made a ruckus because someone in the class insulted Mizki, so it must be a lie. Iroha was sad because Mizki was suffering, so that must be a lie. Iroha was a freak and Mizki was the sane one, so it must be a lie. Mizki wanted to kill her because she was out of options so it is a lie. It is a lie. IT IS A LIE!

Or is it? What is right? What is wrong? Who is at fault?

"Wouldn't you get over your self-denying?" Rin scolded the person on front of her. "Or are you going to waste our time just standing around? Or make me an object of pity like you did to Iroha?"

"What do you mean by an object of pity? I never…" she trailed off, but stopped when she caught upon Rin's point. "No, that's wrong." She said, with a smile that erased all the bad predicaments in Rin's heart. "She is my sister. I know I am wrong from the start, so I keep telling lies to myself. There's no one to tell me what's right or wrong as I'm supposed to be the mature one, but there's one now, and I'm thankful for that."

Rin smiled- she was having the wrong mindset about her after all. She could dig some more info out of her, but there was no point going rough from the start; the reason she started all this was to find out the motives. After that part is done, the only thing she needed to do is to move on to the conclusion.

The blonde smiled, and without any warning took the redhead's hand, pulling her into a hug.

"U-uh… Rin…" Mizki stammered with her head almost redder than her hair. "Why are you doing this…? It's of… awkward…"

Rin tightened her grip onto her friend's body. "You haven't been hugged by somebody who cared for you, right? For all these years, you gave people your care and naturally, they grew attached to you. It's only a one-way road for you; you never get your shared love back and endured through it."

Mizki fell silent, but she then gave back a nod, coupled with a smile. She could not explain the feeling when Rin said she cared. It felt like lifting the weight pushed down into her for years, until the person forgot what "comfort" and "discomfort" is.

"So, can you give a little more trust to your little sister? I know that you don't hate her. You cared for her, right? Then just give her the chance you can give to her."

Mizki felt her eyes welling up with more tears. Same substance, same gland producing it, but something was different.

It was not sadness, not happiness either. The tears kept flowing down in droplets, each representing the regret in Mizki's heart. She had mistrusted Iroha, one of her own blood. She had doubted the only family she had. If something was to happen to Iroha, who would protect her, except for her family? If Iroha cannot do it, she only needed someone to support her to move on. And who else could it be but Mizki?

"I'm sorry…" Mizki slowly whispered.

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"You're not going anywhere!"

Len retreated at the sound, his sword readied to block the oncoming blow. It has been fifteen minutes since they had arrived. His body was getting weaker by the moment. Rin had to make it. She had to. He believed that she can make it.

Then a bright light came from where Rin had gone to. The light from there was formerly dim, but it was now rivaling the radiance of the sun itself. It was so bright that it disturbed his vision, reducing the colors into bleached white.

"Something's tickling me from below…" Len decided to throw out his curiosity and focused on the approaching figure before him, expecting a blow…

But it never came. Along with the quickly growing grass beneath his feet, the clone Mizki's figure had stopped its movements and dropped her knives into the ground.

"It seems that that friend of yours had healed the core, warrior." She spoke with a gentle face. "Then I should not be needed here. Go to her if you wish, it's about time you return."

It didn't take long for Len to begin running into Rin's direction. The clone Mizki watched him disappear from her sight and whispered, letting the wind to catch and deliver it to him.

"And thank you for not going all out, I couldn't afford for this place to be destroyed."

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When Rin opened her eyes, what she saw was a blur of green and pink. Her head was spinning as if she had just ridden a rollercoaster. It was almost the same as when she had arrived inside Mizki's soul, if not worse. The feeling of nausea and dizziness were almost overbearing, as if throwing up the contents of her stomach was one of the best possible courses of action to dispel her discomfort.

"Where… am I?" She whispered, for the scenery in front of her wasn't anywhere close to the Nekomura Groceries. She felt the softness beneath her; it was of a cotton pillow. Then, this is…

"What are you thinking, Rin?" came a shout that left Rin's ears a ringing mess. "If you don't feel very well, then don't go with me and rest in your room! Look at what you have done to yourself, when Iroha called for me you were pale and unmoving like a corpse! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Stop… shouting, Gumi…" Rin croaked out, unable to find the energy she needs to talk back to her green-haired friend. In fact, she couldn't even think with the buzzing and spinning head of hers. The guess was just because what the voice said was identical to what Gumi would have said.

"…Geez, I don't care anymore!" the voice whined, "Just take a good rest for now, I'll take you home after you wake up."

"Yeah, I'll do just that…" Rin closed her eyes once more, ready to move into a slumber, when blur of yellow came upon her vision.

"Welcome back, master. I am glad you returned safe and sound." He said. The sentence was made as formal as possible, but the happiness that was inside cannot be hidden very well.

"I'm back…"

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A/N: Whoops, what happened with the fluff I just promised you guys? *bangs head* I'm not good at this kind of thing… I fear making the weird… kind of fluff.

Next: (teasertrailercough) Len decided to enter Rin's heart in order to find what's inside…