Aneko: And we are seriously at the end of the wind down for this story, people. Not sure what I'm going to do after this one's complete. I still want to write on the site, but this fiction has taken me so long to complete that I'm actually short on ideas for other things at the moment…anyways, so my placement test for Japanese went well, and I'm right at the level I should be at. Yay, hooray! Anyways, enjoy!

Oh, and here's one more thing, though I don't know if anyone will notice this. As of this chapter, I'm upping the rating to T, because this chapter turned unexpectedly darker than anything before it. I wasn't planning for this chapter the way it went originally at all, which is why I had the rating as K+. One of the reasons this chapter took a while is because I was figuring out what direction to take things. This is what happened.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Vocaloid. The only thing about Vocaloid I own are…the PS3 game and a few songs from iTunes. Oh! And a little Len cell phone charm. He's so adorable~!

Also don't own the song right below this, an excerpt from Linkin Park's "Leave Out All the Rest."

Leave Out All the Rest

I dreamed I was missing

You were so scared

But no one would listen

'Cause no one else cared

After my dreaming

I woke with this fear

What am I leaving

When I'm done here?

-Leave Out All the Rest, Linkin Park

Saki brushed her hair behind an ear. "Oh. I just needed to go to the restroom. Sorry I slipped out without—"

"Not that. What did you just throw away?"

Saki shrugged, putting the cap back on the bottle. "Oh, nothing. It was just trash. Nothing important."

His eyes darted to the bottle, the trash can, and back to her face. Saki put the bottle back in her pocket and walked to the door, sliding by Kaito. "Should we head back down to everyone? I'm sure they're waiting for us."

She hasn't really expected it to work, so she wasn't surprised when Kaito grabbed her arm and flipped her back around.

Mrs. Fujita was chatting with Gakupo when she heard a loud thud from above. She raised her eyebrows, looking up at the ceiling.

"Well that was…odd," Gakupo remarked, looking up as well.

"I'll be right back," Mrs. Fujita said. She walked over to the staircase. She couldn't hear anything else. "Saki? Are you alright?"

There was a moment of silence. Mrs. Fujita was about to walk up the stairs when she heard her daughter's voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Saki called back. "I dropped something, and Kaito's helping me pick it up. We're almost done. We'll be done in a minute."

Saki waited.

"Well, okay. Hurry, though, or you two are going to miss the end of the videos."

"Okay!" Saki looked up at Kaito. "We're being expected downstairs, so…" she lifted her head to indicate their position on the floor, Kaito looming over her as she laid there placidly. "…you should probably let me get up now." She kept her voice to a murmur, aware that she could still hear everyone talking below them.

"How long?" Kaito asked. His voice was harsh, but he also strained to keep it quiet. Just like that day in his apartment, he leaned over her his hand gripping her wrists. Unlike last time, though, Saki wasn't struggling to fight back.

"You know, Kaito, if this is going to happen every time we talk about important things, I can't ever see us talking like normal people."

"How long, Saki?"

Saki searched his face. She could see sadness in his blue, blue eyes, hear it roiling in his voice. But her breathing stayed even and her eyes were dry. "Since I found out the truth—the truth—of everything."

"Why—why?! Saki, this isn't fair!"

His hands tightened on her wrists, but Saki was almost certain he didn't realize it. She released a breath and smiled up at him. "It never was. And that's why I have to do this."

"Don't give me that crap! Saki, how could you do this? Are you giving up?"

His teeth were gritted so hard Saki could see the muscle in his jaw jumping with the effort.

Saki worked her wrist free of Kaito's hand, then brought it up to his face and rested it on his cheek.

"Do you remember, Kaito? That day after we saw Daisuke-san, do you remember what you said to me? You said 'It's frustrating not being able to control your own life.' Do you understand?"

"No I don't! Maybe Saito did those things and lied to you, but you control you, no one else does. There was no reason to do this!"

Saki freed her other hand and brought it to his face as well. "Kaito," she whispered. "Kaito, I'm sorry."

"If you're sorry, then you'll stop."

Saki lifted her head up so that she could rest her forehead against his. "It's already too late."

"No, it can't be…it can't." Kaito leaned forward. His head hit the ground by her shoulder.

Saki closed her eyes, resting a hand on his arm. She wished there was something she could say something to him, some way to make it better, but there wasn't.

"This isn't fair."

Saki smiled unhappily. "It never was," she repeated.

"And just what do you expect me to do about this?! You can't seriously think that I won't try and stop you."

Saki shook her head and grabbed his arm tighter. "There's nothing you can do. I'm already…too damaged to be fixed."

"Stop, don't talk like that! You aren't "damaged!" Why do you even think you have to do this?"

Saki breathed in another careful breath and released it. "Because I want to make this right."

From downstairs, they both heard Meiko's impatient voice. "Oi! Saki-chan! Kaito! Aren't you two done yet?"

Saki looked into his eyes. "We'd better go down, or they're going to come looking for us."

Without a word, he stood, offering a hand to help her up. Saki couldn't read the expression on his face. They went down quietly, and when they arrived back in the living room, Saki laughed and apologized.

"The lamp in my room fell over and knocked things off my desk. Kaito was helping me pick them up," she said, smiling.

Kaito said nothing, staring at the wall.

Everyone settled back down to keep watching, and Saki happily joined them, immersing herself in the videos and the discussions everyone had about them. But whenever she happened to look up, she found Kaito looking at her with that same expression. Each time, she shifted her eyes away and went back to speaking to the person beside her.

As the evening began to wind down, Gakupo stood up. "I believe that it would be best for us to return soon."

"Whaaaaat? We don't wanna go!" The twins said.

"Hush." Meiko put a hand on both of their heads. "We've been here for the entire evening. Saki and her mother need their rest. You'll see Saki tomorrow."

"Okaaaaaaaay."

Luk gave a slight bow. "Thank you for letting us visit your home."

"Ara, what polite young ones you all are," Mrs. Fujita said, smiling. She looked down at Rin and Len. "We'll just have to do this again sometime, won't we?"

The blonde-headed twins perked up immediately. "Yeah! We should!"

"Then, we will just see ourselves out."

"Oh but that won't do. Let me see you out the gate."

Everyone began heading for the hall. Saki made to follow after them, but Kaito grabbed her arm.

"Saki. We aren't done talking about this."

Saki looked away for a moment, then met his eyes again. "Tomorrow. I'll meet you at the park around three."

Then she pulled her arm free and walked to the door.

The next afternoon, she found him waiting for her, his fingers drumming a nervous beat against the bench he sat on. He practically leaped up when he saw her. "Sa—"

"Hey, Kaito, I was thinking karaoke sounded like fun. Should we go?" she interrupted. She turned to start walking, but Kaito grabbed her and flipped her back around, keeping a hold of her shoulders.

"Are you out of your mind? You think I'm going to let you sing when you so very obviously haven't been taking your medicine? Don't joke with me!"

Saki flinched at the loudness of his voice. She took a deep breath—something she had been doing a lot lately. "Come on, Kaito. Let's go for a walk."

They started walking around the little path. Kaito no doubt had no idea what to say, which was alright, as Saki did have things to say, and didn't really want him to interrupt.

"First, Kaito" he said, looking at her shoes. "You have to promise to let me say everything irst. And then, when I'm done, you can argue with me. Promise."

His nod was jerky. "I…promise."

"Okay…Well, let's see…I stopped taking the medicine a couple of weeks ago. Daisuke-san…was sad. He didn't tell me not to, but I think he wanted to. He just knew that I wanted to do this, so he didn't try to stop me. The way I figure it from Daisuke-san's hypothesis, I'll have just enough time."

"To do what?" Kaito snapped.

Saki stopped walking. "To end things. You know, Kaito, there's something I haven't told anyone. Something about the software." Saki grabbed her arms, her shoulders hunching together in the process. "After I found out about the software, I started…having dreams. I had a dream about my memory of when Saito was about to start the operation—watched it happen."

"Well that makes sense. It was a horrific experience. I'd be more worried if you didn't have any nightmares about it."

"No, you don't understand. I watched it. Not as Fujita Saki. I watched Fujita Saki being a terrified orphan who had no name. Don't you think it's weird, Kaito? Having memories of watching myself? Don't you understand what that means?"

Kaito shook his head so fast she was afraid he was going to get whiplash. "Come on, Saki, it's just a dream, right? You were just so scared that you dreamed something like that, okay?"

"What color are my eyes, Kaito?"

"What? Why are you—"

"Look at me. What color are my eyes?" she interrupted, asking again.

"They're dark brown and they always have—" he stopped so fast he nearly bit his tongue. As he had been looking at her, her eyes shimmered aquamarine, then back to brown.

"And my hair," she said. "What color is it?"

"It's brown," Kaito said. But even as he said it, he saw the color, between blue and green. "It's—it's the lighting, I'm sure. It looks different in the shade or in the sun. It's not…"

"Kaito. Look at me. My face, my hair, my eyes…it isn't a coincidence, the fact that Hatsune Miku is the name Saito…"chose" for me, and it isn't a coincidence that the wig and contacts were the colors that they were. Somewhere, I'm sure Daisuke-san has notes that say what Hatsune Miku's planned colors are."

"Saki, stop," Kaito said. His voice was small. "Please stop."

"Saki who? Don't you get it yet?" she asked. Her voice began rising, though she wasn't really trying to make it do so. "Do I need to keep going? I have no memory from before I was operated on—not because of trauma, but because "I" didn't have those memories in the first place. I can read music and sing well without any kind of training at all. Vocaloid software or not, a human girl like Fujita Saki would have needed at least a few lesions. The truth is—"

"Stop it…"

"—There was never a girl named Fujita Saki!" She shouted. "Just a poor orphan girl who was used mercilessly, and do you know what happened to her? She died the day that I woke up!" Her hands tightened around her arms as her throat burned. "I took the place of an innocent little girl, but you're going to try to stop me from ending this!" She screwed her eyes shut. "I stole her place, but I am here! I am right here!" The screamed words echoed in the emptiness around them.

It wasn't the first time she had thought about it, but saying it aloud made everything feel more real, and she felt light-headed with the thoughts swirling around in her head. She fell to the ground, keeping her eyes shut against the spinning scenery around her. For minutes she just breathed.

She felt hands on the sides of her face, and she opened her eyes to look at Kaito.

The expression on his face could have broken her heart. "Listen," h said. His voice was calmer and gentler than it had ever been before. "Listen to me. Not Fujita Saki. Not Hatsune Miku. Not by parents who love you for who you are to them. You are a girl who has a friend who worries about you because you are a good friend to her. You are a girl who sings because you love it. Forget the names. You are right here. You didn't steal anyone's place—don't ever think that."

She clung to the words, gripping his hands, even just to make sure they were there.

He leaned his forehead against hers. "This was not your fault," he breathed. "But…"

He didn't keep going. She looked up at him. His next words seemed to be dragged out with a hook his face becoming more and more anguished. "But if you…really don't think…you should have this body, I won't…stop you. I won't argue. You do what you have to."

He looked like he was going to be ill.

"But Saki," he cried. His hands let go of her face, only to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into him. "Saki!"

The sound of the name jerked at her heart. He sounded like he wanted to continue talking after saying her name, like there was something important he needed to tell her, but he didn't.

She glanced at his face again. He wasn't crying—of course not. He probably couldn't. Why would Saito need to give his tools the ability to show sadness?

But they were in Kaito's voice, in the way he kept saying her name, and in his posture, in the way his arms shook as he held her.

She rested against him, and found that she was crying, and she couldn't tell if she was happy, or very sad.