Sorry for the late update! Here it is though, a little late. This chapter turned out kind of icky, and my writing feels weird since I just came out of a bad block. Hopefully it's not as weird as it feels when you read it! Enjoy!


"You know, every minute, my heart shouts 'I'm living' 70 times.

But when I'm with you, it's in just a little hurry,

And shouts 'I love you' 110 times.

As long as my heart is still beating, I want to protect you.

That's enough of a reason for me to live."


Rin had been spending a lot of time at Kaito's house since the winter formal. Not that Kaito minded- if anything, Rin's company was relieving -although, admittedly, it was starting to worry him further about just what, exactly, it was that he was feeling for her brother, considering the reason that Rin was away from home so often now was not only because of Kamui, but also Tei.

According to Rin, Tei and Len officially had some kind of a romantic relationship, and the thought of it wasn't so far-fetched to Kaito. He'd seen it happen, after all. He'd seen them kiss. And now Tei was spending her time with Len whenever she had a chance, and Kaito hated himself for the inscrutable feelings he had against her.

"Miku spends all her time with Megurine now, Suzune is always with Hibiki, Len with Sukone, Aria is on vacation, and Nakajima, for some reason, avoids me like I'm the Black Death. She's been blowing off our tutoring sessions left and right," Rin said one day after collapsing onto Kaito's bed and stuffing her face into his pillow. They'd just returned from band rehearsals, and Kaito had asked to walk her home, only for her to tell him she was going to come to his house for the evening.

As always, Avanna welcomed her with open arms and a bright smile the moment she walked through the door. Rin had blushed at the attention, and now here she and Kaito were.

He flopped down beside her on the bed, pushing his fingers through his hair to work out the sweaty tangles that intimate guitar-playing could often give him. "No worries," he said. "You're always welcome here."

"Thank you," Rin responded, shifting her head to peer at him. A delicate smile lilted her lips.

It panged Kaito's heart to look at, so he shut his eyes. He and Megumi were making grave mistakes. If they, and Kaito in particular, didn't do something soon, then there was no doubt that the person Rin was now would be a much different Rin leading up to her death. Bitterness and loneliness, as Kaito had learned in adulthood, could bring forth a shell of a person. Someone entirely new.

"I've been working on new song lyrics," he said, desperate for a change of topic. "I didn't show them at practice today since they're not quite done, but...You wanna see?"

Rin rolled onto her back and sat up, nodding eagerly. "Of course I do," she said. She crossed her legs, resting her elbows in between them, watching Kaito intently as he leaned over to the nightstand and pulled his journal out from underneath a stack of papers. Pursing his lips, he dusted it off once or twice, then passed it toward Rin.

She accepted it with a grin, leaning back against the headboard as she began to flip through the pages. "This thing is already packed full, huh?" she laughed. "I'm glad to see you're finding use for it."

"It's definitely come in handy so far," Kaito mused, slumping beside her to vaguely follow the songs she was looking at. The current one that her attention was fixed on was a project Kaito was mildly uncomfortable with having her see.

"Magnet," Rin read, "with Luka and Miku?" She flicked her gaze to Kaito, beaming. "You really care for them, don't you?"

His cheeks burned red. "I think I care for everyone a little too much."

"It's never too much," Rin said, and carefully flipped the page as if scared ripping it would tatter the beauty of the song. She squinted at the song she was currently reading, blue eyes wide and confused. The handwriting was illegible, so Kaito didn't blame her, nor himself; he'd written it at midnight after the dance with no intentions of it being read until now.

Rin noticeably struggled to decipher the writing for a few minutes before giving up and asking Kaito to tell her what it said. "It's called Heartbeat Number Eight Hundred Twenty-Two," he murmured, pointing at the heading. "It's about...love. And stuff."

"What's with you and love all of the sudden?" Rin chimed.

Kaito's blush deepened, and he made an attempt to shrug it off. "Because it's easy," he said. "It's an easy thing to write for."

Rin let out a breathy giggle and flipped the page. It was Kaito's most recent work, a half-finished scrawl of nonsense across the parchment. It wasn't nearly as bad as the previous one, though, which gave leeway for Rin to catch the gist of it. Her smile faltered, eyes narrowed into slits at the words. "This one's...depressing," she whispered. "It's a huge jump from love."

"Yeah, well." Kaito shifted his gaze toward the door, shoulders partially raised.

Rin's eyes followed his, then slowly turned to glance at his face. A frown marred her features as she closed the journal, set it aside and said, "This is kind of random, but..." She looked at her hands, fidgeting aimlessly in her lap. "My mom wants to have dinner with you and your mom."

Kaito jolted out of his trance, jerking his head toward Rin. "Oh?" was all he could force out. Having Kamui in his household or being in the same household as him was unnerving. After facing him with Len, Kaito had an intense desire to avoid ever having to see him again. An impossible request if he wanted to save lives, he presumed, but he couldn't help thinking it.

As if reading his mind, Rin said with a shake of her head, "Not with my step-dad. Just your mom, my mom, Len, you and me."

Kaito instantaneously relaxed, although...Why would Rin's mother want to go to dinner with Kaito's own without inviting her suitor? It didn't quite add up, but he wasn't about to question or contradict it. It was exactly what he'd wanted.

"My mom said she's willing to have you both over tomorrow night, if that works?" Rin continued.

"I'll...talk to my mom about it," Kaito said.

"Great!...Er, Kai? Kai, you look a little pale." All signs of interest in the matter at hand fled Rin in a heartbeat. Her lips twisted in concern as she reached for Kaito, who was pushing a hand against his temple to keep the dull ache thrumming within it at bay.

He hadn't had one of the visions in weeks. It had been long enough that he, in a moment of panic, forgot just what it felt like being submerged in one.

Numbness crept from limb to limb, branching from his spine to stretch out in every direction to the rest of his body. It snaked around his cheek, preventing him from feeling Rin's palm against it, and slowly did he lose the ability to hear her voice as well. Black and red tendrils flecked his peripheral, and just as quickly as they were there, they weren't.

Because Kaito wasn't either.


"What's that?"

Pausing in the middle of a bite of rice, Rin raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's what?" as she dropped her chopsticks and cautiously leaned back in her seat.

Across from her, Megumi narrowed her eyes. She waved frantically toward Rin's cheek and urged, "That. On your face. It looks like a cut."

Rin offered a smile. "You just answered your own question, didn't you?" She glanced back down at her bowl of rice, appetite elsewhere. The chopsticks remained discarded by the edge of her fingertips.

"Yeah, but I meant- where'd you get it?"

"You should've just asked that," Rin said. She brushed her thumb across the gash on her cheek, forcing her smile not to falter. "I tripped on the way home from school yesterday. A loose branch caught my face, and-,"

Megumi rolled her eyes, bemused. "Bullshit," she declared, her lips curling into a sneer that was commonplace for her. She slumped forward over the desk table in between them, radiating vibes that Rin always found oddly endearing in spite of their evident agitation. "If it's because of that, then you should tell me."

"It's...not though," Rin tried. An obvious lie. A deception Megumi could see through as if it were transparent.

"You're always like this. You and Len both," Megumi murmured.

Something inside of Rin perked up. She folded her hands in her lap, feeling her mouth start to quiver and desiring to calm it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Every time I try to help, you make it seem like everything's fine. You constantly push me away under the thought that, 'oh, it's all good, no problem here', right? But I'm not an idiot, you know."

"I never said that you were."

"But I can tell you think it. Len, too. You guys just think I'll walk away from the fact you're going through Hell. And it's fucking annoying."

"We just...don't want you to get involved." Shrinking into herself, Rin glanced around the classroom, holding her breath. When she felt assured no one was listening, she turned back to Megumi and added, "Can...we maybe not talk about this here?"

"Fine. Just...Tell me if I'm right or not." Megumi tapped her index finger against her cheek twice.

In response, Rin averted her gaze and nodded her head, her knuckles glowing white from the intensity in which she was clutching at them.

"Figured as much," Megumi muttered. She tousled her already unkempt hair into an even more so unkempt mess. Eventually, she managed to say, "Wanna come over after school today?"

"Of course," Rin said, swallowing down the reluctance her voice was pertaining to. Oftentimes, it was Len that spent his time with Megumi; the two of them had been friends much longer than Megumi had with Rin. It felt wrong spending so many of their afternoons together when Rin already had her own friends, friends she'd known before she'd encountered Megumi.

Even so, there was something about this girl. There was something that made Rin feel both captivating and captivated, and she couldn't for the life of her find out what it was, nevermind escape it.

After that, the day passed with incredible slowness. In the middle of classes leading to the end of the day, it was as if the clock had just decided to stop, and with it, the world halted on its axis. The best Rin could do to get through it was cast her brother glances from across the room. Occasionally, she'd switch to Megumi, and this warm sensation would rocket through her whenever she found that Megumi was staring back.

By last class, they were practically having a staring contest that led to Rin getting distracted and having the teacher call her out- something she was unused to -multiple times. But it was worth it, to see Megumi snicker at her and duck her head away to hide the red flush of her face.

When they left the room together after Rin had told Len that she'd be gone for most of the day and to let Kamui know, the two of them walked unnecessarily close, their hands just brushing, yet neither of them attempting to move away.

"Hey, Gumi?" Rin asked about four minutes into their walk. She felt relieved to have permission to use the nickname, especially considering it elicited a grin from her companion.

"What is it?"

Rin swiped her tongue across her lower lip. "Is it...Do you think it's...hard...? Living without your parents?"

With a level gaze and no signs of irritation at the question, Megumi replied smoothly, "Do you think it's hard living with a replacement of your dad?"

Rin winced, a hand flying to her cheek in a manner of protection against something that wasn't there. "I...I still have my mom, so...I don't know."

"It's hard," Megumi said after a long pause. "But I'm used to it. I've made a living for myself just fine without them, you know? So, it could be worse. It could definitely be worse."

"A living for yourself," Rin echoed.

"Yeah, a living for myself." Megumi quirked a brow, as well as the corner of her mouth. "What, surprised?"

"Confused. The heck do you mean by that?"

Megumi pivoted on her heel to walk backwards in front of Rin, hands jammed in her pockets. "I have a job, I have a boyfriend, I have a car-,"

"And you still walk to school every day," Rin interjected.

Grinning, Megumi playfully rolled her eyes and shifted her shoulders back. "Saves gas," she replied. "But, anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, things aren't bad. I've got money, I've got a living, friends, a place to stay. It's not bad."

"It's funny; you come off as such a pessimist, but you're really not...are you?"

"Nope," Megumi said, and the rest of the walk was quiet.

They walked up the steps into Megumi's apartment, a crappy place belonging to her aunt that she was allowed to live in as long as she paid rent. Most would find it repulsive, but Rin enjoyed it. Anything, anywhere- it would be better than her own home.

She followed her friend into the living room, where they agreed on a movie before collapsing into the comfort of the sofa. As always, they sat in close proximity offering little breathing room that was, somehow, pleasant.

"Want a snack?" Megumi asked once the movie started.

"Sure! What do you have?"

"Uh." Rising from the couch, Megumi lifted her shoulders and said, "I'm not sure? I'll surprise you. That okay?"

Surprise you. The words stuck with Rin, and she had no idea why. "Alright."

Megumi disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, returning with two marble sodas, a bowl of chips, and some chocolate. She set them down on the coffee table and plopped down next to Rin with a huff. And as if on instinct, her arm drooped lazily over Rin's back, warm and consulting.

Everything inside of Rin caught flame, and maybe everything outside, too; her face was surely suffering, bursting into heat like a match. She struggled to keep her dopey smile at bay and failed.

"So, I've been thinking," Megumi said, pausing the movie.

Rin, whose attention hadn't been on the film anyways, glanced at the girl beside her. "About what?"

"I think I might be a lesbian."

Rin spit her soda right onto the sofa, coughing and wheezing for breath. "What. What?!" She spun around so quickly it cracked her neck, and she forced herself not to cry out at the pain. "What about Okunuma?! What do you mean you're a lesbian?!"

Megumi rubbed the back of her neck. Patches of red crept up her neck. "It's...complicated. I like Roro, don't get me wrong, but...Guys are just a handful."

"What?!"

"We've been spending a lot of time together, you and me...so...I dunno. It's made me start thinking. A lot of girls can be pricks, but so can guys, and...I just think girls are better." A pause. "Plus boobs are kinda great."

Dumbstruck, Rin said nothing. She just stared at Megumi, mouth agape, heart racing.

"Look," Megumi forced out, "what I'm trying to say is I think I might really, really like you, Rin. Like, a lot."

"...Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"What about Okunuma?" Rin repeated, her voice quieter, softer.

"I...That's a problem. I can't break up with him. It's...again, it's complicated. He's sort of the reason I'm alive right now and I can't break up with him because of that."

"So you want to cheat on him? With me?"

Megumi looked down at her feet, almost ashamed. "Yeah."

The ability to breathe fled Rin. She didn't know what to say or do or what Megumi was expecting her to say or do so she could just go ahead and say or do it already without sputtering and suffocating. This felt like it was everything she ever wanted and yet, it wasn't. It never could be.

"Okay," she agreed. She was fine with this. If she was finally given someone that she felt like she loved, felt loved her, then she couldn't reject her. She had to nurture it. She had to accept it.

Megumi looked up from her shoes wildly. "What? Seriously?"

"Seriously," Rin confirmed.

"Holy fuck," Megumi whispered. And that was when she placed her hands on Rin's cheeks, soft and delicate, and pulled their faces together. Their noses bumped. Rin closed her eyes. She couldn't sense anything aside from the warm breath on her face.

Then Megumi was kissing her. Her lips were chapped, cracked and bitten, but Rin invited them toward her own with passion. Her fingers moved on their own, fisting in Megumi's hair as their mouths moved in sync, heads turning, bodies desperate to be closer, closer, closer.

Rin let out a soft sigh as Megumi's tongue dashed across her own, and that was it. She unraveled. She forgot everything, forgot who she was, forgot why she was here.

She simply melded into Megumi, simply watched her world erupt into sparks around her, simply gave in to an intense desire she hadn't known lived within her. She found herself wishing that others would consider her like Megumi did, would look at her with eyes full of amazement and delight and humor.

But having it be Megumi and Megumi alone was enough.

Being Megumi's secret was undoubtedly enough.


He collapsed, hyperventilating, into Rin's awaiting arms. He could hear her saying his name, calling out to him, to Avanna, repeating, "Kai! Kai! Kai, can you hear me?! Kai!" like she was a broken record.

They'd never hurt this bad; they'd never hurt at all. This one had shown no signs of pain, of hurt, and still, he was shaking, aching, stinging in every place that could. Rin's hands stroking his hair were doing little to help, but he appreciated the effort.

Slowly, his vision returned to normal. His body clicked itself into place, prepared to function normally, and he could finally sit up and pull himself away from Rin. He hadn't heard his mom enter the room, but there she was next to the bed, holding a glass of water with a pained expression on her face.

"Kai?"

Kaito didn't quite register it. He was too focused on Rin, a happy Rin in another universe that had been violently ripped away, existing in the presence of a girl that claimed to love her.

Did she? Did she really? Even now, after years and years and years, could Megumi possibly still feel the same way for Rin? And would Rin ever feel the same way about Megumi? Kaito didn't know, he didn't, and it bothered him. How was he supposed to fix things if he was a mess like this all the damn time?

He had to find a way to make them get together. Right? Come on, that had to be the right thing to do!

"Kaito!"

He jerked back to awareness in a rush. He fumbled for the water, chugging the contents as soon as the glass was in his hands. Avanna quietly asked, "Are you okay, blueberry?"

"Yeah, it's…" It's what, Kaito? What? You had a vision, you panicked, you broke down, you saw something that needs to happen again, but differently this time? "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Rin was teary and explosive and nervous, smaller than ever, but at the same time, larger than life. That was the magic of her, and even Len. They had such a way with their presences and their absences. They were huge. Always. "What happened?"

"I think it was a migraine," Kaito lied. "I'm okay, though. I feel fine."

"You should rest," Avanna said, and glanced apologetically at Rin. The blonde gave Kaito a brief hug and multiple "wish-you-wells" before leaving.

When she was gone, and it was just Kaito and his mother, he slumped back into his bedsheets and mentally willed a headache away as he said, "Rin wants us to have dinner at her house tomorrow."

"Oh?" Without even having to look at his mother, Kaito knew she was flustered and blushing. She was sunshine in the company of others, especially the Kagamine twins. "Well, that's very nice of her. I've never met Lily before, either...What a good idea, huh?" Her expression fell a heartbeat later. "But, Kai, sweetheart...Are you sure you'll be up for it?"

"Of course."

Just like that, it was decided. And strangely, it wasn't quite like Kaito had agreed to a dinner at his friends' house.

It was more like he'd just sealed himself into some unchangeable fate.


Throughout all of literature class the following day, Megumi glared at Kaito with daggers for eyes, and Len did the opposite; he didn't bother giving Kaito any kind of attention at all. The Megumi thing, Kaito could understand. He'd witnessed an intimate moment he wasn't supposed to witness. But the Len thing, Kaito was baffled on. He hadn't done anything wrong as far as he was concerned, and yet Len was avoiding him just like Megumi was avoiding Rin; like he was Black Death.

He was unnerved and uncomfortable. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't go away. He was stuck with it. To make it worse, for the first time, he wasn't listening to the reading of To Kill a Mockingbird, and by the time Oliver had finished reading the chapter aloud, Kaito had no idea how to answer any of the questions in the packet they were given shortly afterward.

"We need to talk," was what Gumi said as soon as class ended. She grabbed him by his sleeve and dragged him away from the desk before either of them could explain to Len where it was they were going.

She shoved him out into the hallway as a swarm of their peers followed suit to get supplies for classes after break. Megumi waited until every last one of them were out of sight. Then, she said, "Don't you go trying any bullshit to interfere with Rin and I, you got it?"

"She's pretty upset that you keep blowing off the tutoring sessions. It seems obvious that she likes you, and finds you friendly enough. You have a shot to be with her again. Why-,"

"Fuck off, Shion, that's not what I'm saying," Megumi snapped, her palms flying to his chest. Startled, Kaito stumbled back, his shoulder blades knocking into the wall behind him. He swallowed the anxiety bubbling in his throat, as well as the building ache in his temples. "I'm saying that I don't want to be in Rin's life anymore, okay? I have to stay out. I have to. I'm doing a good job so far- don't fuck it up for me!"

"Nakajima," he said carefully, testing the weight of her name on his tongue again and again as he mustered up the courage to continue, "what happened? What happened that led her to getting killed?"

Megumi frowned, her eyes locking intensely with his. She balled her hands into fists, grit her teeth, and took a threatening step toward him. "Me," she whispered, her voice laced with thick, raspy condemnation. "And I'm going to change that. I'm going to help Roro, I'm going to change him. I'm going to save my parents, I'm going to save Rin and Len and Miku, I'm leading this thing. Not you. Me."

Not you. Me.

Kaito shook his head. "I'm going to help."

"Are you even listening?! No, you're not!"

Insisting on a change of conversation, Kaito said, "Do you have any idea why Len's ignoring me?"

"What?"

"Len. He's been pissed off at me since the dance."

Megumi's countenance dropped into a look of repugnance. She covered the lower half of her face with her palms, and groaned for a consecutive span of fifteen seconds. "You really are a fucking Bakaito, aren't you?"

"...Huh?"

"When the two of you danced at the formal, he thought that you thought he was...into you, or something. And that you realized and that's why you ran away." She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "He's embarrassed."

Something eased off of Kaito's chest, but it was just as quickly there again. Into me? The tables were turned then. Oh, God, how the tables were turned.

"I'll talk to him," Kaito reassured.

"Whatever." Gumi spun around to head back into the classroom, but paused as soon as she grabbed the handle. She peered over her shoulder, cracked the knuckles of her free hand, and hissed, "Just don't fuck things up anymore than you already have."

With that, she threw open the door and slammed it shut behind her.

Kaito had never felt so afraid of a girl in his entire life than he was in that moment, and he swore, for as long as he knew Megumi, that feeling wouldn't ever change.


From five to six that evening, Kaito did nothing but write lyrics into his journal. The side of his hand, from pinky to wrist, was silver from the constant rubbing against graphite. Eraser shavings were scattered over his desk, and his eraser itself was practically naked, bare and overused. Kaito stopped only when Avanna poked into his room, pushing an earring into her left ear, manicured fingers working leisurely.

"You ready?" she asked.

"Just about," Kaito responded. He hefted himself to his feet, sliding into a pair of sneakers and tugging a sweatshirt over his arms. In comparison to his mother, who was wearing a sleek purple dress and a black sweater, he felt misplaced, but he wasn't going to get all dressed up just for a dinner with his friends.

He hurried after Avanna down the stairs and out to the car, where he slipped into the passenger's seat and blasted the song that was currently playing. Avanna slid into the driver's seat, turning the keys in the ignition as she asked Kaito, "How's your head feeling?"

"Fine. It hasn't hurt since-" today during school "-yesterday."

"That's good," Avanna said, backing out of the driveway. She hummed along to the tune on the radio for awhile, otherwise keen on assessing the dark, snowy road ahead. "Have you talked to Meiko lately? I haven't seen her around for a bit."

"She's been busy with hockey, and I've been busy with the band, so." Kaito shrugged. "We just haven't been able to hang out much."

"Aw, that stinks." Frowning, Avanna turned the corner onto another road, delving back into quiet that was uncharacteristic of her.

She remained that way until she parked the car and hopped out, waiting for Kaito to do the same. Then she locked the doors, and the two of them made their way up the steps to the familiar Kagamine household. Looking at it set Kaito's heart ablaze; all he could remember was an eternity ago, tending to Len's wounds and thinking something along the lines of, wow, his skin is so warm.

His cheeks glowed red. Beside him, his mother's silence melted into liquid gold. She rapped her knuckles against the front door, rocking back and forth on her heels, turning to look at Kaito and say, "This should be nice," every so often.

The door swung open a moment later, and there she was; Kagamine Lily. She was nothing quite like Kaito expected, and yet, all the same, she was. Her hair was the same golden blonde as her children's, although much longer, swaying toward her hips like a waterfall cascading down rocks. Her eyes were a dull blue, not quite resembling the bright intensity of Len and Rin's own. She was tall, too. Really tall. And slender. Pale. All these details that both connected and disconnected with Kaito's images of her twins.

He looked into her eyes and wondered and wondered and wondered how they would look the day she realized the cruelty her suitor was putting the kids she loved through.

And he thought that, right now, he could tell her. He could say, "He's doing terrible things to them," and declare the truth to the world, but where would that get him? Where would that get anyone?

Megumi told him to stop interfering. He was starting to believe it was a good idea.

"You must be Avanna and Kaito," Lily said, and a bright smile swept over her features. It was just like Len's; tenacious and unexpected, but beautifully graceful. Her teeth were as white as the snow falling around them, illuminated by the red painted over her grinning lips. "I'm glad to finally meet the both of you."

"I can say the same," Avanna said with a cheery laugh. "Strange how we haven't met when Kai and Rin have been friends for so long!"

"And our boys, too," Lily added. Her eyes flitted to Kaito. "Len gushes about you all the time. The both of them do, really. What's your charm, kiddo?" She laughed, and all Kaito could do in response was stare at his feet and cup his cheeks with his palms. "It's cold out there. Come inside! Dinner's almost ready."

Lily side-stepped out of the doorway, allowing for Avanna and Kaito to tread inside. Since the last time Kaito had been here, it was different. It smelled better, it was brighter, and the furniture appeared to have been moved around; the lounge and dining area had swapped places. Weird.

"Do you need any help setting the table?" Avanna asked, and to that, Lily replied, "Oh, if you wouldn't mind, that would be great!" and with that, Kaito's mother was gone, leaving him to close the door leading into the outside and stride his way further into the house. Across the lounge, on the sofa, he could see the twins, Len dozing on Rin's shoulder with Rin eagerly waving Kaito over.

The TV was playing something he had little interest in, but he collapsed next to Rin anyway, heaving out a relieved sigh. When Kaito sat down, Len blinked open an eye and stared at him from where he was drooped against his sister. "Oh," he mumbled groggily, "I forgot you were comin'."

"Surprise," Kaito said lamely.

"He's pretty tired, so excuse him," Rin said a moment later, eyeing Len affectionately as she started petting his hair. It fell loose from its usual ponytail and tumbled down his neck, the elastic disappearing into the cushions.

A familiar heat was starting to arise in Kaito's body. He bit his lip and averted his gaze to anything that wasn't him.

Scooting closer to Rin, Len mumbled into her shirt, "I had a weird dream. About snakes."

"Snakes?" Kaito echoed, a trace of a snicker already easing its way into his voice. It managed to startle him; he figured that he'd be desperate to avoid Len's avoiding him. But Len wasn't really avoiding him now, so Kaito had no reason to avoid him. There was no avoiding to be avoided!

"Snakes," Len confirmed. "Huge snakes. And, like...I dunno. They leaped out of the ground and ate people. It was fucked up, man." He hesitated for a few seconds, then added, "I have a fear of snakes, so that made it kinda shitty, too."

"They're nasty," Rin said, giving a determined nod. "I don't like them much myself."

Kaito smiled. The simplicity that came with talking to these two had a way of soothing his world, soothing him, lulling him into a symphony of peaceful ease. He felt at home in a place that terrified him. Only the two of them could make something as twisted as that come true. "I think they're kind of cool. They don't even need arms or legs to move; it's impressive."

"It's terrifying, is what it is," Len murmured, his voice muffled by fabric. Awkwardly, his eyes passed toward Kaito, then jolted in the opposite direction the moment Kaito's own made contact with him. Len cleared his throat, shifted into a sitting position, and jammed his hand under his knee to collect his elastic and start pinning his hair back. "So, uh…" He finally managed to peek at Kaito again. "What did you and Megumi go to talk about during literature today?"

"I was kind of curious about that too," Rin said, lips tugging into a frown. "Last thing I knew, she- no offense -kind of...hated you."

There was no denying that. Kaito crossed his legs and said, "She was just telling me to stop slacking off."

"You were kinda distracted throughout classes." Dropping his hands to his sides, Len leaned back on the armrest and swung his legs up from the ground into Rin's lap. "It was unlike you."

"Well," Kaito said pointedly, "I was kind of wondering why someone was ignoring me. But Megumi filled me in on that, so we're all good."

"Oh." Len's face turned the same tomato red that Kaito's had been doing all day. "Wait, the...the entire reason? You're kidding. Oh my God." He hid his face with the sleeves of his shirt. "I'm going to kick her ass, I told her not to say anything about that."

"She said you were embarrassed, so I didn't push it."

At this, Rin let out a hoot of laughter. "Embarrassed? That's an understatement; he was humiliated. He kept ranting on about how you were forever going to believe he was into guys."

"Which I'm not," he said, too quickly. And the unspoken words that came after, Which I can prove thanks to my girlfriend.

Girlfriend. Right. Len had a girlfriend.

And Kaito still felt pained in ways he couldn't decipher every time he remembered this.

"Kids! Dinner!"

"Ugh. Rin, carry me," Len whined.

She shook her head and pushed at his shin to urge his legs off of her knees. "I'll drop you," she said when he finally tossed his feet to the ground.

"You callin' me fat?" Len sneered, flicking her forehead as he shoved himself into a standing position. He stretched his arms over his head, cracked his back with a loud pop and headed for the kitchen.

"No," Rin retorted, marching after him with Kaito close on her heels, "I'm just fragile. My arms will break."

"I can second that. The last time you tried to hit me, you complained that it hurt your wrist," Kaito huffed. "I suffered no injuries."

"Hush, you," Rin said through a grin. She pulled out a chair beside Len and seated herself, giving Lily a waggle of her fingers. "Smells great, Mom!" There was so much affection and admiration in her voice, emotions that were so typical for Rin.

Kaito sat across from her to his mother's right, eyeing the sweet-smelling fish on his plate. At least, that's what the aroma told him it was. He didn't feel like disagreeing.

"So, Lily," Avanna started as she lifted her chopsticks and started picking at her meal. "Are you married?"

Lily shook her head, blonde hair bobbing around her face. "No, actually. But I have a boyfriend." At the mention, she cracked a bright smile. Kaito made sure to stare at nothing but his chopsticks.

"Ah! Really now? What's he like? Why isn't he here?"

"He's lovely," Lily said dreamily, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Kamui Gakupo, that's him. He works as an engineer, always busy. He's working now, actually. Night shift at his corporation. But he's so sensitive, you know? Gives you those mushy, gushy teenager feelings, like being a kid again."

Kaito could barely believe that parents could openly talk about this sort of thing in front of their children; he wasn't involved in any of this, not really, and it was making him sick. Swallowing down a bite of fish, he glanced from Rin to Len, waiting for a change of expression, a tell that warned Avanna that Lily was lying, but there was nothing. They were blank-faced, absorbed in eating their food quickly and maybe a little too passionately.

"What about you, Avanna?"

"Me? Oh, no. I don't date." But you will, Kaito thought resentfully, narrowing his eyes upon his plate. And you did. "I prefer the independent life."

"I understand. I did, too, after...my husband passed." She paused, as if noting the way both her children flinched at the mention of their father. It piqued Kaito's curiosity, ideas of what happened to their other parent whirring through his head. He wondered if they ever directed the same curiosity toward him. "But then I met Gakupo, and it changed. Sometimes it takes until you meet the right person."

Avanna smiled. "Maybe. I'd have to consider it," she said, shoving her chopsticks through a slice of meat before popping it into her mouth.

"Now, Kaito," Lily said. Her attention switched toward the bluenette so quickly he almost jolted out of his seat. "I heard from Rinny you're in the band she's managing?"

He nodded.

Lily exploded into a grin, clapping her hands together. "Fantastic! I was in a band when I was your age! Most fun I've ever had. Honestly." She dropped her arm to lean her chin onto her fist, saying, "Is it fun? Do you enjoy it?"

"Oh, um." Kaito wrestled back sputtering. Why did talking to her like they were both normal human beings sting so much? "Yeah, it's...fun. I'm the lead guitarist, so. I get to do what I love. Plus, everyone else in the group is cool."

"They're really talented, too," Len added from the corner of the table. "They ignite an entire crowd to life like they're electricity. And Hatsu-what's-her-face is actually, like...not horrible at leading. Not horrible at all."

Rin rolled her eyes, though her smile was teasing. "What, you thought she would be horrible?"

"Well." Len shrugged, averting his gaze to the floor. "Yeah. Basically," he murmured.

"I'll never understand what your grudge on her is," Rin sighed. She waved a hand dismissively at her brother and returned to her dinner.

"Wait, you don't like her?" Kaito asked. "Is it even possible not to like Miku?"

A puff of laughter escaped Rin's lips. "Is it?"

"It is," Len confirmed, crossing his arms. "I'm the living proof that it is."

"He's been this way for years," Lily said with a laugh. "It was in...er, third grade, I think? Somewhere around then, and she-,"

"Mom."

"Well, he'd been growing his hair out for the first time that year, and it was finally at ponytail length, and, oh my God, he loved that ponytail, still does. And he'd flaunt it, and at that time, Hatsune had her in ponytails too, and Len would always call his better-,"

"Mom!"

"So, one day, she grabbed a pair of scissors and snipped his ponytail right off during lunch break! My poor baby, he cried for a week over it."

Humiliated, Len slumped into his arms, groaning out in agony. Rin laughed hysterically, holding her stomach and catching her breath in between breathless giggles.

"He hasn't liked her since," Lily concluded.

"It's not just that," Len argued, throwing himself back in his chair. "Okay, it's, like, a huge factor, but there's other stuff." He paused, his lips pursing, eyes darting in Kaito's general direction, then Rin's before he inhaled deeply and added, "She's annoying and fake and acts perfect and it's irritating. Not to mention she's a jerk to me whenever she comes over."

"She's not a jerk to you," Rin said. A surge of amusement sparkled in her gaze. "She just ignores you because you always stare her down as if you want to kill her."

Avanna took a sip of her water, raised an eyebrow and said after she'd lowered her glass, "See, I don't have to deal with this too often; Kai loves everyone."

"No, I don't," Kaito mumbled.

"Name one person you hate," Len said, and the moment he did, everything about him slunk, because they both knew the answer; Kamui. A name Kaito wouldn't speak here, not in front of the woman that loved him.

He cleared his throat, brushed off the tension and slowly forced out, "Uh...world hunger?"

The table erupted into spontaneous snorts and giggles, and Kaito realized that he felt at home in a place that was anything but.


"That was absolutely delightful," Avanna said the moment the door shut behind them. The cool winter air bit at their faces, threatening to rip them into pieces. The snow was beginning to fall harder, littering the ground in ashen white.

Kaito tugged his scarf over his nose, making his way for his mother's car. He squinted against the flakes scrambling for refuge on his eyelashes.

He slid into the passenger's seat of the vehicle and buckled his seatbelt as Avanna hopped in on the other side. "Did you enjoy yourself, sweetheart?" she asked. "Your head didn't start hurting, did it?"

"Nope- well, uh, a little bit? Not much. I feel fine, so it's alright." He leaned against the window. "But, yeah, I had fun."

"Me too! They're such a close family, don't you think? Ooh, her boyfriend must be so charming!" Avanna cried. She jammed the key into the ignition for the thousandth time, cranked the car to life, and sped out onto the road.

"Um, about that."

Avanna tightened her grip on the steering wheel, peering at Kaito with obvious interest. "Hm?"

"Mom, it's...There's something I've been meaning to...to tell you." He could hear Len's voice pleading with him in the back of his mind. Please, Kaito, please, please. Don't tell anyone. Please. If you do, he'll...he'll hurt them. I can't let him hurt them. "But you have to promise to keep it between the two of us- just us for a little while, okay?"

"O...kay. Yes, okay." She was starting to look concerned. Her brow had drawn close on her forehead.

Kaito shook out his hair, fighting for words. "I need your help," he said, "and it has to do with Kamui."

"Kamui?" Avanna repeated. "What about him?"

"It's...he's...He's not a good guy," Kaito said. "He has Lily fooled. Bad, Mom. Real bad."

"Kai, what are you getting at?" Avanna urged.

Kaito bit his lip. His hands fisted in his jacket. "Mom," he said, "he abuses Rin and Len."

And he had never seen his mother look quite so shocked and surprised and disgusted in his entire life. She might as well have just slammed the brakes and sent them flying into a tree. "He's abusive...? What?"

He went on to explain to her how about a week ago he'd stumbled upon Len in his house, bruised and beaten and bleeding, and how the blame was all on his step-father, yet Len wanted no one to know of that truth. "I saw it, Mom. I don't want to see it again," he said.

"For Christ's sake," his mother muttered. She spoke nothing else until they reached the driveway of their own house, where she rested her head on the steering wheel and said, "You're not lying? Promise me?"

"I promise you."

"Oh, what do we do in this kind of situation?" Avanna whispered, and, without knowing what else to do, Kaito leaned against her and replied, "I've been wondering the same thing."


On the way to band rehearsals the next day, a familiar figure stopped Kaito halfway down the hallway, grabbed his sleeve, and dragged him into the nearest empty classroom, slamming and locking the door tightly shut.

"Nakajima?" Kaito said, stertorous. He took a staggering step away from her, toward a desk.

She grit her teeth, her demeanor unsettling and bewildering. She paced around the room, fingers locked in her hair, and when she turned to look at him, she said something very similar to what Kaito had said to his mother the night previous; "I hate to admit it, but I need your help."


/cries and laughs at the same time because I don't know if I like this chapter or not but, God, do I just love Avanna and GumiRin/ YEAH, so, I'm very iffy about this chapter, my style just feels WEIRD, and idk I don't like it, but,, oh well, it's here and interesting stuff is starting to happen, lowkey cliffhanger, wOo. But GumiRin, oh boy. I've been waiting to incorporate this pairing since I started this fic. PLUS MEIKO WILL BE RETURNING SOOon, I've missed her, she's been missed.

I apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors! Thank you for reading; leave a review if that's your thing, and if not, see you soon!

With love,
Hour.