Sakine Syndrome
Chapter Eleven
''A night walking with Miss Lonesome"
"Move it! Get out of my way!"
"R-rin, try to be more polite," said Miku, voice faltering. "Manners don't cost anything…"
"Manners? Hah! Manners run away screaming from Kagamine Rin!" Rin declared proudly- for some reason Len couldn't fathom. Nobody could sound 'proud' about being a rude, completely irridemable human being apart from Kagamine Rin.
Rin followed her haughty statement by sticking her nose up in the air- acting as though she were the princess of some small, undiscovered kingdom called Lucifena.
Maybe Rin was just trying to get in character for her up-coming music video to 'Daughter of Evil'; but it wasn't like Rin really needed to work hard to play a convincing spoilt brat. She had that 'act' down perfectly already.
"Well, that's certainly true. I'd run screaming from you too, if I had any sense," said Len, smiling, burying his hands into his coat pockets.
"Hey." Rin turned to stick her tongue out at Len. "Watch it, buster."
"Alrighty then, Stumpy."
"That insult totally bounces off the amazing armor of Kagamine Rin because she knows Len is only like an inch taller than her anyway!" Rin declared, her eyes blazing with the fires of determination. "That's why you have to spike your hair up, Lenners. 'Cause you're a short-ass and you know it!"
Len laughed; although, in almost any other situation, he would have prodded Rin in the side or made some disparaging comment to combat her venomous glare.
Len wasn't in the mood to argue with his sister.
Not when they were on a mission.
Rin was walking at the forefront of the ragtag Vocaloid party, her arms swinging back and forth as though she were marching them into battle. She looked unusually serious; but the effect was ruined, somewhat, by her over-sized coat. Rin had been unable to find her own coat, and she'd point-blank refused to leave the house without one, considering the temperate was cold enough to turn water to ice. However, the only spare coat they'd been able to find on short notice (fashion didn't matter overly much when you were trying to track down a runaway sibling- trying not to freeze to death, however, did; especially when you had to perform 'Butterfly on your Right Shoulder' tomorrow to a crowd of thousands as Kagamine Rin did) was one of Kaito's old, ratty, threadbare blue and white coats worn from use. The arms fell well past the tips of Rin's fingers, and the hem brushed the floor, gathering a fine film of dirt and grime when Rin moved.
Len was loathe to compliment his annoying sister- especially as Rin was already so big-headed if she accepted any more compliments her head would explode like an over-filled balloon- but, in that huge coat with that serious scowl, Rin did look...
Really very cute...
Of course, Len didn't say that.
Admitting to Rin he found her somewhat adorable would've been suicidal.
No; it was much better to say nothing.
Meiko shuddered, wrapping her arms round her bare shoulders. She hadn't thought to take a coat when she left the house. She hadn't thought of much at all, really; she'd been so fixed on her goal of trying to put as much distance between herself and Kaito and her confused feelings as possible.
Now, however, Meiko was paying the price. Her skin was ice-cold to touch; her own embrace couldn't offer her any warmth anymore.
Meiko ran her fingers up and down her arms, trying to generate some friction, but that didn't help; instead, it only seemed to spread the cold- just like introducing ice cubes to liquid nitrogen.
Meiko had no idea where she was.
She didn't know where to go.
And she was...
Scared.
The buildings surrounded her on all sides- seeming to press into her- and the cold December wind bit through her flesh like the hungry teeth of a ravenous beast.
There were no people around anymore. Somehow she'd managed to leave them all behind; the families, the kissing couples on dates- their happy sounds had faded to all but background noise, and now even that was gone.
Meiko was in a small, secluded alley, on Christmas eve, all by herself, without a coat, and she was going to catch a cold and die.
It was not a pleasant way to go; especially not for a well-known diva like herself.
Her final resting place was not particularly picturesque, either/
Ground glass sparkled on the ground; bottles (some of them half-empty, oozing sticky liquid) were shattered against the grey concrete- larger pieces of glass shimmering with sharp, jagged sides. The scent of trash hung in the air- thick and heavy, almost tangible. An overflowing dumpster was sat directly opposite Meiko, located underneath a weather-ruined building with boarded-up windows. The side of the dumpster was sprayed with some crude graffiti- strange symbols in bright red paint that had run, just a little, from rainfall; and maybe the person who'd left their mark there hadn't had a steady grip on the spray can in the first place (perhaps that had something to do with all those empty bottles of alcohol?)
It wasn't a Christmas eve scene.
Meiko should have been at home, with her family, sat by the fire.
Not...
Not here.
Suddenly, there was a flash of movement- a loud clang- and Meiko jumped, her fingernails digging into flesh.
Her heart leapt into her throat.
There was somebody- or, to use a hackneyed phrase, something- moving about in the darkness. Meiko could feel eyes staring at her from pooled shadows.
They were watching her.
Meiko couldn't even draw the breath to scream.
Who was it?
Who was there?
They were questions Meiko couldn't ask. Her throat felt dry- completely parched, like sandpaper- and it hurt even to swallow, let alone try to form words, sounds.
She could only gasp.
…But, as Meiko soon discovered, she needn't have worried.
There was a small meow- tentative, almost- and then, out of the darkness, loped the form of a bedraggled cat. Its fur was almost indistinguishable from the shadows cast across the glass-strewn, gum-splattered floor; but its green eyes were very distinctive, and very piercing.
Almost knowing.
Meiko watched as the cat- a skinny creature, painfully skinny, like a bundle of sticks covered in fur- moved with a clumsy inelegance towards the dumpster. It pawed at the pile of decay unsteadily- off-balance, was it limping?- and then it dipped its head to wrestle some half-rotten food item from the pile of fly-ridden trash.
The cat didn't linger, though.
With another purr and a flick of its tail it successfully pulled the festering piece of whatever out of the foul-smelling chaos; and then, moving quickly despite its limp, it melted back into the darkness. Meiko was sure she could see the cat's lime green eyes staring at her for a few moments- before it, too, turned tail and fled.
Even the starving cat with the visible ribs and a mouthful of rotten, slimy something-or-other scavenged from a trash pile didn't want to associate itself with Meiko.
That was funny, almost...
Meiko gave a small sniff, her eyes burning, throat stinging, as she wiped her bare arm across her eyes.
She had so many fans- but they couldn't help her now.
Nobody could...
She really was alone.
And it was that thought- above all else- that made Sakine Meiko slump against the filthy floor and cry.
"Hey, guys, I knowww I'm totally amazing but I'm a bit busy now, kay? So stop staring and go about your daily lives and I won't have to break some jaws or smack some bitches, okay?" Rin declared for the whole street to hear, as she pushed her way inelegantly through the gathering crowds.
The streets were completely packed, the people huddled together in their winter coats like rather festive sardines in a cramped can. After all, it was Christmas Eve. The darkening street- lit up with fairy lights strung in a complex mesh from building to building- bustled with activity; from late-night shoppers who'd put off buying Christmas gifts until the last minute (they'd have a fun fun fun night of insomnia and frenzied present-wrapping ahead of them, thought Len with a small smile) to couples spanning the entire age spectrum on 'romantic' dates (although what was so romantic about being pushed about the town centre like electrons in a circuit board Len didn't know) to a family of frantic Vocaloids cutting a path through the crowds to find their long-lost (for about an hour, anyway) sibling.
If the Vocaloids had been regular people the task of getting from point A to point B to point Meiko probably wouldn't have been too difficult.
However, as they were a family of famous robot singers, they were getting a fair bit of attention- thus, creating more blankly-staring, open-mouthed obstacles for Rin to plough through, with her body made of pointy elbows and hateful death glares.
Hell, even the people who didn't know who the Vocaloids were just had to stop and stare at the strange blonde girl in the coat twelve sizes too big shouting at everybody.
The street was relatively crowded to begin with; but, as news began to spread the whole Vocaloid family (sans Meiko) were wandering around, more and more people began to join the fray. Many of them had their cell phones or digital cameras out, and they were trying to take pictures; blurry snapshots of Rin's scowling face half-hidden by the back of somebody's head and the like.
Was it really worth the effort?
Urgh. A gaggle of spotty guys- two of them bespectacled- were shouting at Miku, trying to get the twin-tailed diva's attention. When Miku finally turned her head, eyes wide, confused, they seemed to melt against each other in a horrible pile of acne-covered, fanyboy-ish goo.
It was enough to make Rin grind her teeth together.
"Miku-chan, would you give me a cutting of your hair? Please? Please!"
"Len-Len, would you sign this CD? Let me get you a pen-"
"Screw you and your sissy pens, you can sign my face with my own BLOOD!"
"Hey Rin-Rin, can I get a picture of you kissing Len? It would be soooo cute!"
"No, fuck that! I want a picture of Len kissing Kaito!"
"No fair, I asked first!"
"Miku-chan, what's your cup size?"
"What about that signed CD, LenLen?"
Rin's left eye began to twitch.
She needed to do something to halt this madness- and fast. If she didn't, she'd turn into some crazed serial killer, head off to the nearest construction site, and then proceed to enact her wildest fantasies by running over that stupid mass of intense idiocy with her road roller. Spinal columns snapping and screams of pain and blood flowing across the streets everywhere! People writhing in pain, trying to get to their feet, only to realise their legs were smashed and broken! Pain! Destruction! Evil laughter!
Yes!
That was the sort of world Kagamine Rin wanted to be in!
But that was no good.
That was no good at all.
Rin paused, pinching her cheek; trying to draw herself out her fantasy.
She still had a runaway sibling to find.
Snapping spines could come later.
Moving with fearful speed, Rin pulled her over-sized ribbon off her head (it tangled in her hair, making her wince), stuffing it into her pocket. Then, she proceeded to liberate Kaito of his scarf. After that she pulled Miku's long hair free of it's trademark twin tails, and then tucked all of Miku's turquoise locks neatly into the back of her coat and put up the famous diva's hood.
All the while, as Rin worked at hiding as much of her useless family's faces as possible to avoid public scrutiny, she'd been glaring daggers and knives at anybody who dared try to take a picture of her.
Especially pictures of her being 'cutsey' with Len.
Bleurghhh.
Perish the thought.
Even if Len was kind of adorable, in a goofy, stupid way- not that Rin would ever tell him that. He was already so vain, spending longer doing his hair in the morning than Rin did, he didn't need another ego-boost.
After Rin had 'disguised' everybody- albeit loosely- the crowd around them seemed to die down; but it didn't thin completely.
The Vocaloids might have been unrecognisable with their hoods pulled over their faces, shadows marring the upper-part of their heads from the public view, but that didn't change the fact there were still a lot of late night shoppers and hand-in-hand couples.
And they still had a Sakine Meiko to find.
Miku and Kaito were rather pathetic when it came to negating through the crowds; they hung back, wide-eyed, apologising every time they bumped shoulders with somebody else.
Kagamine Rin was something else altogether, though.
She moved like an unstoppable force of nature- a hurricane, maybe- obliterating all who were foolish enough to cross her.
Even in that ridiculously over-sized coat, with the sleeves that trailed almost to her knees (the swamping, engulfing nature of that coat was all the more strange considering Kaito wasn't that much taller than Rin; but clothes worked in mysterious ways), Rin was a force to be reckoned with.
To be more precise, she was absolutely terrifying.
"H-hey! Watch out, retard!" spat a familiar-looking blonde-haired, turning to give Rin the middle finger.
Rin returned the gesture with an equally terrifying scowl that would've made Nosferatu the Vampyre cry.
"Maybe you should watch out where you're going, asshole!" Rin spat back, voice acidic. If Len had to place it on the pH scale (because he did stupid things like that when he got bored), he'd say it was about a 3.
"You really do have a way with people, dear sister," said Len, voice fringed with obvious sarcasm, as he gave a small, apologetic smile to the blonde girl Rin had all but ploughed into like a truck.
The unnamed (yet strangely familiar-looking) blonde girl promptly flushed, glared at him- and then swore, very loudly.
Len sighed.
Well.
He did try to be polite.
Even if Rin didn't.
"Oh man, you should've seen it- it was fuckin' hilarious."
"Y-yeah; he just, like, fell over on her ass! W-what a fucking retard!"
"Hahaha!"
The sound of mingled laughter (male laughter) made Meiko lift her head. Her movements were slow, sluggish; her circuitry eaten through, fried, with cold and worry. Sakine Meiko moved like the robot she was, with heavy limbs hanging, her head pounding.
She didn't know how long she'd been sat in the cold, but the fetid stench of garbage no longer smelt so disgusting. Meiko knew it was clinging, sickly, to her hair and clothes and skin; but she didn't care.
You could get used to anything, she supposed, if you were exposed to it long enough- no matter how unpleasant it was.
Even fear.
Even confusion.
And even loneliness.
The sound of laughter was getting closer- echoing around the otherwise deserted alley- and Meiko could hear footsteps, too-
And then a loud crash split through the silence.
It sounded like breaking glass.
"W-what'd you do that for?"
"I-I just dropped it, it slipped, it slipped- n-not my fault, not my fuckin' fault... I-it's so cold I can barely feel my fingers, y'know?"
"W-waste of perfectly good booze, disphit."
"Why don't you just lick it up off the floor if yer sooo desperate, man?"
"Maybe I will, Ryu- maybe I fuckin' will."
"Ahahaha. That's sick, man."
And then, as Meiko stared- too tired and dazed and cold and miserable to even think about moving- several figures walked round the corner.
Right into Meiko's field of vision.
It was a group of boys (or was that young men? Meiko could hardly tell; though one of them had stubble). There were four of them, dressed in baggy clothes, holding half-filled bottles of suspect-looking liquid in their slackened, frost-bitten fingers. They walked uneasily, lurching, as though leaden weights were tied to their legs; and Meiko realised, by the unpleasant smell that hung about them (of vomit and cigarette smoke and alcohol mixed together in a putrid cocktail even more overpowering than the strewn-about trash) that they were drunk.
"H-hey-" one of the boys (men?) said, slurring over his words, pointing at Meiko. "L-look. T-there's some homeless bitch in our spot or sumthin'."
"She's not movin'. D'you think she's okay?"
"Who the fuck cares- she's a sexy girl, and she's all alone, in our spot," said one of the boys/men (it was impossible to tell; but they didn't look that old. Hardly old enough to be shambling, red-eyed wrecks through dirty alleyways), pointing a trembling finger at Meiko's fallen form. "W-what you say?"
"What're you suggesting?"
The boy/man sniggered and rolled his eyes (the whites were more yellow than white, and they were bloodshot, criss-crossed with crimson lines like veins)- and then he made a crude gesture.
"I-it's Christmas eve, an' we're all alone gettin' pissed," one of his friends said, nodding; speaking far too quickly, words pouring from his mouth like water from a fountain. Spit, too, flecked his lips- some of it running down his chin (though he didn't seem to notice- he was swaying too much). "T-this fuckin' sucks. W-why don't we have some fun with the fairer sex, huh?"
"Good idea."
Meiko's shoulders stiffened. The rapid racing of her heart was beating a tattoo against her ribcage; and when she tried to ease herself onto her feet (she was shaking; the cold had cut right through her and she probably looked worse than those men did- her cheeks stained with snail-like tear-tracks, her hair messy, the scent of garbage clinging against her bare skin) she slipped slightly.
The group of men (no not men stupid boys, stupid children not much older than Miku, thinking they were so intimidating with their beer and their cigarettes well fuck them) began to snigger.
And then one of them started forwards- his body jolting as though he were on a ship out at sea (he smelt like a sewer; just looking at his rat-like face made Meiko's insides constrict)- and his eyes widened with recognition.
"H-hey, thass... thassnot some random chick," he said, tripping over his words (and God, he probably hadn't drank that much and he was already wasted; how pathetic). "Thassnot... she's... she's that..."
"What're you talking about, man? It don't matter where you've seen her before, s'long as she's up for some fun."
Meiko's eyes narrowed.
Fear coursed through her body; a fear so potent she could barely keep herself upright- and she was so cold, the trash-flavored wind dancing across her exposed skin and making her shudder-
But there was more than fear inside her.
Far more.
There was revulsion.
Disgust.
And anger.
"N-no I know her I know her- pretty little girl, s-such a fuckin' tease with those tight outfits an' short skirts," the stupid boy said, getting over-excited in his drink (and possibly drug) induced torpor. His fingers were trembling like flies in a spider web; and then, moving suddenly, his hand reached forwards to take Meiko's arm.
Meiko didn't intend to shout- didn't intend to give them the satisfaction (she'd done enough shouting already).
But she couldn't help herself.
The sound tore itself from her lips before she could stop it-
"Let me go!"
And...
The man's knowing smirk widened.
His grip tightened.
"I-I know it now! Ahaha... I didn't fuckin get it at first cause she looks like such a wreck, but it's her! It's totally her! It's Sakine Meiko- tha' tight-ass bitch superstar. I'd recognise that high-pitched squealy 'voice' anywhere, ahahaha. Her songs are fuckin' awful but she's kinda hot, huh?"
"Haha! Whoa, Mitsuru- you're right; totally fuckin right. God, she looks nothin' like her picture," said another man (not a man a stupid boy Meiko could outlast him in a drinking competition she could wipe the floor with him and she wouldn't even break a sweat).
"C-can you even fuck a robot?"
"I'unno," said 'Mitsuru', his demented grin growing wider. "W-why don't we find out?"
"I-I can feel it...! W-we're close!"
Rin, Len, Miku, and the few other members of the public that had strayed from the busy central high street in their late night Christmas eve celebrations turned to give Kaito a funny look.
"What? You can feel what, Einstein?" asked Rin flippantly, pressing one hand against her waist (but the effect was ruined, somewhat, by the massive sleeve that engulfed most of her fist).
Kaito didn't reply at first. His body was trembling despite his heavy coat (Rin had taken his scarf away and had appropriated it for herself; scarves were such a 'Kaito' item it was a dead giveaway of his true identity).
Rin began to tap her foot on the ground, growing impatient-
But then it hit her too.
That much was obvious by the way she winced, doubling over in pain- and a short, sharp, broken 'owww' forced itself from her throat.
A sudden, sharp burst of pain exploded inside her head- inside her brain; tapping on the inside of her skull like fingertips- as though somebody was trying to prise her head open.
Miku and Len, too, were staggering slightly, their fingers going to her heads; trying to compress their skulls together, trying to keep all their thoughts and feelings in because it was tearing them apart at the seams just a little and it hurt it hurt it hurt so much, but it wasn't a constant assault of painpainpain, no; it came in sporadic bursts, like the pinpricks of needles or the undulations of the tide; in and out and in out, and Miku's eyes began to water and Len half-collapsed against Rin for support but despite the pain and the fear and the red-hot burning anger they knew.
All of them, connected by pain- Meiko's pain; but that pain had passed to Kaito, which had then been shared with Rin and Len and Miku until they were all feeling enough anguish for five people- knew.
They knew where Meiko was.
But the burning agony passed quickly- far too quickly, the tide went out and stayed out and they all tensed, waiting for another onslaught, but it never happened; and Len was left, almost boneless, his head resting on Rin's shoulder with her arms round his waist, and Miku had collapsed against the nearest boarded-up building, and Kaito was left with a filthy taste in his mouth no amount of spitting would remove, until his throat felt red-raw.
But the peculiar sensation of their heads being prised open was gone.
It was over.
That should have been a comfort.
But it wasn't.
The Vocaloids could help but worry… That they'd been too late.
Somebody else had already found Meiko.
And severed her connection with her family completely.
a/n: Intense chapter! o:
I like how I wrote this. It seems kind of different from my usual style because I focused on setting/description more than feelings, but idk if the quality of my fic suffered from that because Meiko's emotions are quite frankly more important than what the air smells like, but whatever XD I have discovered I like describing surroundings too, even though I rarely do it in much detail.
What's gonna happen next? Dundundun!~~
Oh, and I totally seem to be slipping some adorable Len/Rin in here without really intending to. I'm sorry XD Their relationship is cute too though, you know? XD~
~renahhchen xoxo