Hey! Next chapter! I know my updates are coming pretty... slowly, but I'm trying. I just have a lot of stuff going on right now. Not story-wise, just... life-wise... sort of. But anyway, enjoy this chapter and leave a review!

Chapter 25: Unknown

Len woke up, feeling a cold sweat on his face. For a moment, he couldn't remember where he was. Slowly, the confusing cleared and images of his dead sister flashed in his mind. His heart rate increased ten-fold as he slowly began to panic. Then, a small sound caught his attention; Rin breathed against his neck, very much alive in the warm craddle of his arms. He sighed in relief.

Just a dream, he told himself. It was just a dream. Rin stirred lightly in her sleep, and Len tightened his arms around her, nuzzling his face in her hair. She sighed in content, settling down, going back to the depths of a deep sleep. Len sat there, waiting for her to wake up. It gave him some time to think, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to think. But he knew he had to; there was too much inner turmoil he had to settle.

First and foremost, he needed to come to terms with what he'd done to two of his friends. Neru, he could forgive himself; it still pained him to think about it, but not for the reason he would've thought; he was upset about everything Neru must've seen to end up like she did, not the fact he'd killed her. It was a lot like what Rin had been obliged to do to Lily. True, he'd had quite a shock at first, blaming himself, but she'd been so far gone, she hadn't really been Neru anymore. It's not like he thought it was best that she was dead, but he'd done it to protect himself and Rin. For that reason, he could forgive himself for shooting Neru.

But with Gumi, it just wasn't the same. Sure, she'd been injured and in pain, but at least she'd still been Gumi. Perfectly saine, and harmless. She hadn't threatened to kill them; in fact, she'd been genuinely pleased to know that they were safe. How could he forgive himself for killing someone who'd cared about them? And the fact that she asked him to do it wasn't an excuse.

Len sighed, smiling slightly. Before he fell asleep, he'd been thinking exactly the same thing, only then he'd also been contemplating suicide. Now, although he still felt horrible, he didn't feel the same urgent need to end his life. Crying in Rin's arms – well, more like crying with Rin in hisarms – had helped a lot. He decided not to focus on the issue of his crimes anymore; it wasn't particularly the most important thing right now.

Gumi said all the messages on Neru's phone announced someone's death. That meant it was probably safe to assume whatever it said was true, and somehow prophetic, as stupid as it sounded. He thought back to the first message they'd ever received.

Welcome to the Game, my friends! It has already begun. Prepare yourself and never hesitate to strike down your friends, because in the end, only one of you can win.

He thought it was odd that the game referred to itself with a capital G, like it was a person. Perhaps the name of the game was literally 'the Game'? Not that it really mattered. But something about that still bugged him for some reason. The people behind this game really knew how to put him on edge with the most trivial kind of thing.

Len found himself wondering once again who would have made such a horrible game where they pitched friends against each other to the extent that they would actually consider killing another. Really, what kind of sick mind would do that? Well, obviously their plan to make them turn against each other worked, since Neru decided to kill them to win. Len assumed the murderer – most likely Meiko – was killing off their friends' for the same reason. But then again, Meiko was naturally insane.

Something else about the messages was nagging Len. So far, it was obvious they could predict someone's death. But that was the only truth that had been confirmed so far. The first message was sent as a presentation and, now that he thought about it, also the warning of Kaito's death. The thing he wasn't sure about was whether everything was true, or just the parts about people dying.

Len never really thought about the part where only one could win, because he'd always figured him and Rin would beat the game and get out alive. Looking at it now, a feeling of dread settled in his stomach; the messages never lied. Logically, that would mean everything it said was true, and only one could win. It could be just a way to scare them, to break the trust that used to link them, but if the game wanted to, it could easily kill everyone until only one was left. Besides, why would everything be true except for that one part? It just didn't make sense.

It was undeniable; only Rin could win. He realized now that he'd never done anything in the game for his own sake. From the very beginning, his mindset was to make sure Rin would win, not him. Trying to win had never even really occurred to him. He just didn't care about that. Even now, knowing he'd have to die in the end, it didn't matter. Rin would always be his priority. He was afraid, yes – how could he not, staring death in the face – but his resolve didn't waver. In a way, his subconscious had accepted that he would die long before his conscious had even realized it.

There was one thing that could get in the way; Rin. Both cared about the other far more than ordinary siblings. He hadn't had much time to think about his and Rin's relationship, but he knew now that she loved him in a non-sisterly way. He also knew she wouldn't win the game knowing the price it would cost. That meant he couldn't tell her. He'd have to do it when she wasn't looking, when she wouldn't be able to stop him. But first, he had to make sure she would be the only one left alive. Which meant he might have to kill more people.

He quickly shoved that out of his mind. He would not think about it. He would just do it when the time came. That left only one thing pestering him; the black crystals. Out of all the things he'd seen that was the strangest. He didn't even know how that was possible. Bodies just didn't get covered in black crystals like that, much less vanish into thin air. He'd seen it happen twice; once with Miki and once with Teto. They'd both been dead and Len had absolutely no idea what they were for. Originally, he'd thought it was for the disposal of the bodies, but he couldn't confirm that because he's only seen it happen twice. Every time someone had died, they hadn't stuck around long enough to see if it would happen again. Miki had been almost instant, and Teto had been a stroke of luck.

Whatever it was, he suspected the game of purposely showing him the phenomena only twice so that he would be kept in doubt. It had complete control over the entire area, and if it hadn't wanted him to see it, it could have easily avoided it. But it didn't, instead allowing him to watch his friends explode and vanish. But what were they for? What did they do? His cluelessness frustrated him.

Len forced himself out of his thoughts and back to the present, knowing thinking about the black crystals would do nothing but anger him further. He analyzed their situation; not that there was much to analyze. They were back in the familiar halls and still had no idea where they were going. The only thing they could do was continue moving and hope that they'd find where this place ended. Besides, they'd stayed in this area too long; it was time to go before the game decided to force them to leave.

He shook Rin awake; she grunted and resisted but finally stood up when he insisted. Len gathered the backpack, Rin watching him with tired eyes. She was still half-asleep as they began walking again, but the fogginess of her mind soon cleared.

"Do you think we might run into them?" Rin asked. "Luka, Gakupo and Meiko, I mean," she added when he gave her a puzzled look.

Len hadn't thought of that. "I hope not," he answered. "One of them might try to kill us. I honestly think it's best if the game finishes them off." He knew he was coming off as rather cold, but what could he say? If they did find them, he'd have to either watch them die or kill them himself. Neither of which was something he actually wanted to do.

Rin didn't answer, but he could feel that she more or less agreed with him to a certain extent, though it made her uncomfortable. Len felt a pang in his heart too, but he ignored it; lingering on unpleasant things only made him bitter and depressed, so honestly, what was the point? A heavy silence settled between them, the sound of their footsteps doing nothing to lighten it. For a while, Len let it stretch on, but soon, the quiet drove him mad and he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So, what do you think those black crystals were?" he asked, wishing he could take it back as soon as the words left his mouth. So much for not thinking about it anymore.

Rin looked at him with a frown before answering. "I don't know."

Len let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He felt disappointed. What had he been expecting? Irritation slowly crept up on him again as his mind tried to find an explanation for the phenomena that shouldn't be possible. He tried to think of something else, in vain; his thoughts kept wandering back to the same questions, sending him on an endless loop that held no answers.

"What's that?" Rin demanded, worry in her voice. Len snapped his head up, jerked out of his thoughts, and tried peering through the darkness to see what it was Rin was pointing at.

Something was on the floor, but he couldn't tell what it was through the darkness. Only a faint shape was discernible. He couldn't even describe what the shape was; it didn't look like anything he'd seen before.

"I have no idea," he finally answered. "I'll go check it out."