A/N: Arbitrary time slots are arbitrary. I got bored so I started picking random (but not so random if you think about it) time slots.

Thanks for reading!


April 16 — 1:30 p.m. — Summer Base

For the first time since forever, Len was finally back at the Summer Base. Going to the Spring Base was pointless now that Rin was gone, and the more Len went, the worse he felt, and not just because he would be reminded of Rin's absence when he was there.

He'd left work early, too tired to even try and motivate himself to be positive, and decided going to the Summer Base might help. He'd probably get in trouble for just sneaking off without letting anyone know, but he didn't care anymore.

The Summer Base was a warm, almost sweltering home that had plenty of sunshine and nature themes decorated throughout. He hadn't really missed living in the Summer Base; any home without Rin was pointless, but with Rin nowhere to be found, Len supposed he did like the Summer Base more than the Spring Base. As gloomy as he was, he was part of Team Summer: he felt better in the sweltering summer heat than the lukewarm weather of spring.

Len had been taking a nap on the sofa when the front door opened and clicked shut, waking him up. He didn't bother to even open his eyes, doubting he'd be noticed, until a shadow loomed over him and spoke.

"Well, well, look who finally decided to come home."

Len opened one eye to find Lily peering down at him with a smile, her long blonde hair tucked behind her ears and dangling past her shoulders. He simply closed his eyes again and turned towards the back of the couch, lazily drawling out, "Leave me alone, Lily."

"Oh Len, you're so cold despite being the sun," Lily laughed, reaching down to ruffle Len's hair. "It's nice to see you here though. Things get boring when you're not around."

"I don't see how I make things interesting by just being around," Len grumbled, lightly brushing Lily's hand away from his head, opening his eyes lazily again to stare up at her.

"It just feels better to see the whole gang together when it's not summertime," Lily simply laughed, leaning against the couch as she continued to pester Len's hair. Len tried to swat at Lily's hand again but quickly gave up, too tired to protest. That and because Lily was a good head petter. Len guessed that if he died and were reincarnated as a cat or dog, he'd want to be Lily's pet for that very reason. After Lily had had her fun, she stepped back and stretched her arms.

"Well, I'm going to go make lunch then. You want anything?" Lily asked.

Len shook his head and mumbled, "Just want sleep."

"All right then. By the way, just warning you, but I passed Miku in Headquarters when I left. She's been looking for you and she looked pretty pissed," Lily warned before disappearing into the kitchen.

Len just curled up even more on the couch at the mention of an angry Miku. He'd expected it, but he really didn't want to be bothered with that right now. Relishing the lingering silence that was bound to be broken any moment, Len quietly dozed off. He'd probably gotten at least a few minutes of sleep in before the front door slammed wide open.

"LEN KAGAMINE! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SO COME OUT RIGHT NOW!"

Len groaned inwardly and tiredly sat up, peeking out from behind the top of the couch. Miku had probably spotted his unruly blond hair poking out first though, so she was looming threateningly over Len by the time he propped his chin up on the top of the couch and rolled his eyes up at her. He said flatly, "What?"

"You know exactly what," Miku hissed. "Who said you could leave in the middle of the day?"

"I did," Len retorted.

"You don't count!" Miku snapped back. "How could you just leave like that? You know how important your role is right now! What if something unexpected happened and you weren't there to stop it?"

"Maybe you could stop it then," Len grumbled.

"And if it suddenly snowed because of that ice cream idiot?"

Len glared back at Miku's furious look. He hissed, "Maybe try harder in getting Rin back then."

Miku rolled her eyes. "You know we're doing all we can to get her back. It's not our fault she doesn't want to come back either."

"You're not doing enough then. Tell her I'll die if she doesn't come back soon."

Miku raised an eyebrow. "Everyone knows you won't actually die if Rin doesn't come back for a while, so you should know it wouldn't work on Rin of all people. So stop moping around and actually try for once, please?"

Len knew Miku meant well, but he couldn't help it. A twinge of annoyance snagging his heart, he snapped, "You're just saying that because you're all nice and comfortable with Luka around to pamper you."

"Luka has nothing to do with this."

"Really? You think you'd be fine if your girlfriend wasn't around to calm you down all the time?" Len jeered. "Don't be stupid Miku. Luka's the only reason you're here acting all stuck up and pretentious. Maybe I should just go burn your girlfriend to death and see if you still want to work."

"This isn't a joke, Len," Miku hissed, her temper flaring.

"I'm not joking," Len growled back. "It's not my fault you can't understand how I feel even though you're supposed to be my friend, but I guess having a lover makes friends unimportant."

"Len, I know you're angry that Rin isn't make yet, and so am I, but don't bring Luka into this," Miku said. "You're right, maybe I haven't been considerate enough as your friend, and I promise I'll try get everything back to normal for you, but you have to promise me you'll do your best to do your share too."

"I am doing my best," Len grumbled.

"Really? Leaving half way through the day without telling anyone is your best?"

"I was tired."

"Now you're just making excuses," Miku said, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Everyone's tired, but at least they're still trying to cooperate."

"I need Rin around to work," Len shot back quietly, rolling his eyes.

"And you know what that still sounds like? An excuse! An excuse to just be lazy and not contribute while everyone else is doing the best they can to cope with this situation until everything gets back to normal! You haven't even bothered to try your best! All you've been doing is complaining nonstop because you have some stupid dependence on your sister who isn't even going to bother to come back herself because she knows better than to take you seriously!" Miku hissed.

It was Len's turn to glare, his tone vicious as he hissed, "Oh really, you think I'm making all this up? You think I'm not trying my best to ignore the fact I literally can't stand being apart from Rin?"

"I've seen you work perfectly fine without your sister around," Miku shot back.

"That's only because she's never been away for so long! Now I don't even know when I will be able to see Rin again, or if I'll ever see her again because she—"

Len broke off, not willing to say anything for fear that just saying the words would make it come true. Len had seen the way Rin had looked at Mikuo before, he wasn't stupid. What if Rin was staying in the Winter Base because she really just wanted more time with that boy? Or if she ended staying forever? Or even worse, if they… became a thing.

Miku's voice broke Len out of his horrified thoughts. She glared down at him, too angry to even notice that Len's attention had wandered off. She hissed, "Those are still just excuses! You're just scared of even trying to work without Rin around because once you realize you'll be fine, you won't have an excuse to not work hard if Rin's not around and give her one less reason to stick around. You're just a pathetic excuse of a brother who's scared to even see what life might be like without Rin!"

Len's heart burned at the accusation. Him, scared of living without Rin constantly by his side? He didn't need Miku to tell him that to know it, but that wasn't it. He was scared of living without Rin but that wasn't the point. Rin disappearing from his side wasn't just a scary threat that left his future in unforeseen waters. No, Rin disappearing from his side was a threat to his present too. Rin kept the darkness from his past from catching up to him, kept him from relapsing into that gloomy state. She wasn't just the guide to his future; she was his future, and Miku of all people should've known that. But she was too busy caught up in her so called stress and she'd abandoned Len for love.

For the first time in a long time, Len felt truly lonely, and when he was lonely, it became so much easier to just hate everything and everyone around him.

"Fine. FINE!" Len yelled, slamming his hands down against the couch as he leapt to his feet, burning two holes into the back of the seat. His normally blue eyes ablaze with a fiery red rage, he snarled, "You think I'm not working hard enough? You think I'm just making excuses to see Rin? Fine then! I'll work harder, harder than I've ever worked even when Rin was around. I'll do all the stupid little things you want me to do because you're not willing to get Rin back anytime soon. Sure I might be exaggerating a little bit but I'm telling you this right now. If you don't try harder and get my sister back from that stupid brother of yours, I'll burn myself out if it's the last thing I do."

Len stormed off, not even bothering to open the front door as he kicked it down and stomped out of the Summer Base, leaving a smoldering path behind him as he went. Miku watched him go with a furious glare before she finally let out a long sigh. With a wave of her hand, she doused the embers Len had left in his wake. Now that Len was gone, Miku felt a little guilty for lashing out at Len like that, but she knew his forced gloominess had to stop. She'd seen Len be perfectly fine without his sister. His dependence on her was mostly just in his head, a trap he'd set himself and couldn't get out of. At this point, Miku didn't care if she had to use anger or force to get Len to snap out of it and see reality as it was for himself. Len needed to realize his dependence on Rin was just his fear of reaching out to others, and Miku wasn't going to tolerate it any longer.

"I don't think that was the greatest course of action," Lily suddenly commented, poking her head in from the kitchen. She'd heard the entire argument of course, but she knew better than to interrupt. Anyone trying to interrupt an angry Miku and an angry Len was just looking for a death wish.

Miku sighed, going over to the kitchen to plop down in a seat by the dining table, watching as Lily continued to cook. She said, "I know, it's just … I know he's capable of working properly without Rin around. It's just, ever since he reunited with Rin, he's just had some complex about needing her around to be happy and functional, and I just don't know how to get him out of it. I don't even know why he's like that and I'm supposed to be his friend."

"Let him deal with it on his own terms then," Lily replied. "Give him time to acknowledge it himself rather than trying to make him come out of his shell. Knowing Len, anything you do to drag him out of his comfort zone only pushes him further inside."

"I know," Miku sighed. "I just wish there were an easier way to help Len cheer up and be himself."

"I think we've already established that Len being himself isn't being cheerful," Lily laughed, setting some food in front of Miku. "Besides, you got him to agree to work. Take that as an improvement."

"Thanks Lily," Miku smiled, waiting for the taller girl to sit down before they started a late lunch in silence. "I do hope it's a step in the right direction. If not, I really hope nothing bad happens."