All of Miku's classmates fussed over her. She couldn't blame them, not when the lord she spent the holidays with had just been the victim of an assassination attempt. Despite this, Miku insisted again and again that she was fine and had not at any point been in danger.
"I'm sorry," Gakuko said after she shooed away the other girls, sat beside Miku, and took her hand in her own, "but you must understand why we're all in a frenzy."
"I understand," Miku promised, looking around the ladies' room at the Cinderellas who still stared at her and her few friends who sat with her. "I suppose I would be the same way as well if one of you girls returned with such news."
"If it were me," Ona declared, "I would have personally hunt down the so-called assassin and give him a lesson in archery."
"By give him a lesson," Gakuko began, a teasing smile on her face, "do you mean target practice?"
A wicked grin grew on Ona's face. It was the closest to a smile Miku had ever seen on the girl.
"Exactly," Ona replied, and she mimicked shooting an arrow. "Yes! Bull's eye!"
"Ah, my eye!" Gakuko pulled away from Miku and covered her eye. Being the drama queen she was, Gakuko rolled off the couch and cried out in exaggerated pain. "That was my favorite eye!"
After how tense the past couple days had been, Miku was grateful for the laugh. It seemed Ona and Gakuko had become rather good friends over the holiday break. However, Miku's light mood vanished when she noticed Luka wasn't laughing along. As she focused more of her attention on the pinkette, Miku realized that Luka wasn't really listening to them in the first place.
"Luka," Miku called, "are you all right?"
"Huh?" Luka looked towards Miku, blinked, and offered a small, sad smile. "Yes," she answered. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired is all."
Miku frowned but said nothing. Luka returned to her aimless stare while Gakuko and Ona kept joking with each other. Whatever was on Luka's mind was something Miku never, ever would have anticipated.
Gumi is going to be executed. Gumi is going to be executed. Gumi is going to be executed.
No matter how many times Rin thought the words, they still had no meaning to her. They were just syllables from a long dead foreign language. They didn't mean anything. There was no rhyme or reason to the sounds. Everything was fine, even if the words tried to insist otherwise.
Gumi is going to be executed. Gumi is going to be executed. Gumi is going to be executed.
Yet that didn't stop Rin from dropping everything off in Miku's rooms and rushing with Cul to the Juliet quarters. There Ia, Nana, and the others who weren't working sat around in Gumi's room. Rin tried to remember what it was like to share with Gumi, but as she looked around the room without Gumi's presence, Rin felt as if she was someplace foreign instead of familiar.
"What happened?" Rin asked, sitting between Cul and Ia. The Juliets welcomed Rin back into the circle as if she had never left. All tension between Rin and the others no longer existed.
"One of the teachers caught Gumi and Ms. Megurine in Ms. Megurine's rooms," Ia answered. "She was one of the few Cinderellas who didn't return home for the break. Gumi and she spent a lot of time together. We warned Gumi about it, but she didn't listen." Ia buried her face in her hands. "This is all our fault. We should have tried harder to keep her from going this far."
"It's not your fault," Cul said, a comforting hand on Ia's shoulder. "We all tried to reason with her. Gumi knew the consequences if she got caught. Nobody's surprised this happened."
"I'm surprised!" Rin exclaimed. "I knew Gumi was falling in love with Ms. Megurine, but I didn't think she would take such a big risk."
"Well, she did," Nana replied. "Now she's going to die for it."
"What about Ms. Megurine?" Rin questioned. "Certainly, she's going to be punished, too."
"She already was," Cul spat. "A slap on the wrist and a fee for sleeping with someone else's property. She gets to go free, and Gumi's going to die."
Rin shook her head. "This isn't right!"
"We know that," Ia whispered, "but it's the way things are. Cinderellas can abuse us all they want with no consequences, and we have to suffer because of their actions. There's no escaping it. We are all under the mercy of those awful Cinderellas, and they enjoy hurting us for being what we are."
The words were out of Rin's mouth before Rin knew she was speaking them. "Miku would never do that."
The Juliets all blinked and stared wide-eyed at Rin. Color draining from her face, Rin realized what she had said. If only she could have taken the words back.
"Miku?" Cul questioned. "As in Hatsune Miku? You don't mean that Cinderella you've been forced to follow around, do you?"
At Rin's hesitance to respond, Ia added, "Rin, don't be stupid. She's a Cinderella, and you're a Juliet. Don't think if it actually came down to it that she wouldn't sacrifice you to protect herself."
"And after what's happening with Gumi." Nana shook her head. "Rin, you shouldn't speak like that at all."
"I know." Rin sighed and looked at everyone else in the room. Most of the girls couldn't meet her in the eye. Rin didn't think any of them would betray her, but she could tell some were already counting Rin as a lost cause.
"I know," she repeated. "I'll . . . I'll be careful. Besides, Mi— I mean, Ms. Hatsune hasn't had any fainting issues since I was assigned to follow her around. I'm sure we can get this job revoked."
"For your benefit, I hope it does," Cul replied.
Although Rin knew Cul only spoke in Rin's overall best interest, she still felt stung by the comment. The Juliets didn't know Miku. They had no way of trusting that she wouldn't let anything happen to Rin.
Or maybe I'm the one who's wrong, Rin thought. After spending so long being close to Miku's side, there was no denying Rin would start to see her mistress through rose-colored glasses. Not to mention Rin knew she had begun to develop feelings for the Cinderella. Maybe it was for the better if Rin and Miku parted ways. Miku was with Lord Shion anyway; she would forget about Rin before she had time to even miss her.
"I'll talk to Master Tonio," Rin declared, standing to her feet, "but first, I need to speak with Gumi."
"There's no way they would let you down there," Cul said sadly. "We already tried."
"Well, it's my turn to try." Rin took a deep breath. "I have to see Gumi, or get thrown in the dungeons myself trying."
"Please, don't get into trouble, Rin," Ia pleaded. "We wouldn't be able to bear it if we lost you too."
"You didn't miss me when I was in service to Ms. Hatsune. You won't miss me too much if I got executed for seeing Gumi." With that said, Rin spun on heel and left. It was a low blow, she knew, but at that point, she couldn't bring herself to care.
After how they have been treating her, none of those Juliets had a right to care what became of Rin. For Gumi's sake, Rin would watch out for herself. However, that didn't mean she wasn't going to risk everything just to speak with Gumi, possibly for the last time.
Why would Master Tonio be in such a place as this? Kaito held the electric lamp higher as he walked through the tunnels. There was a lot he had to tell Master Tonio privately, and he was told he could find the man in the dungeons.
"Master Tonio," Kaito called when he saw the man approaching.
A raised brow was the only indication Master Tonio gave that he was surprised to see Kaito. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I wanted to speak to you in private," Kaito answered. "I suppose the dungeons isn't the worst place to talk."
"No," Master Tonio muttered, "I suppose it isn't."
"What are you doing down here anyway?"
"Personal business." Master Tonio used the hand not holding his own electric lamp to wave Kaito down another path.
The dungeons weren't as damp and creepy as the fantasy novels Kaito used to read made them out to be, but it was still dark from sunlight barely able to enter the small windows and cramped from the stone walls. Nonetheless, the cells were still clean and had things such as a bed, small table, chair, toilet, and sink for those locked inside. It wasn't an ideal place to spend one's time, but it wasn't the worst either.
"That Galaco Juliet lied to me," Kaito told Master Tonio.
"I'm surprised you believed her," Master Tonio replied. "Even if she didn't suspect who you are, that doesn't mean she was going to give away all her secrets to the highest bidder. Not if she had any sense of loyalty."
"Anyone can be bought with the right price."
"And what, pray tell, Lord Shion, is your price." Master Tonio only grinned when Kaito stared at him and added, "I would bet your mother believes the rebellion to be a legitimate threat now."
"You would bet correctly," Kaito said. "I must decide the next course of action for my family, and I wanted to discuss with you what the better solutions might be."
"'Better solutions'? Not the best solution?"
"I don't think we'll know what the best solution is until long after everything is said and done. The most we can really hope for is doing the best we can with what we know now."
"I suppose at this point in time, it's to keep the family hiding and you never be alone," Master Tonio said. "If the other lords and ladies are smart, they will also lay low. If you're going to bring down the system, taking out those in power isn't a bad place to start."
"How are we going to react?" Kaito asked. "The Thorns tried to assassinate me. How do we retaliate?"
"You don't let them know they have succeeded in scaring you," Master Tonio answered. "Show them you won't let Juliets of all people bring you down. Fate placed you above them for a reason. Remind them of that reason."
For a moment, Kaito said nothing as he absorbed the words. Then he nodded. "I understand."
Rin furrowed her brows at the sight of Master Tonio and Lord Shion together in the dungeons. They didn't see her, but she still waited till they, backs to her, were a long ways down the tunnel, then she sprinted forward. Before coming down, Rin studied the map of the dungeon tunnels. She didn't know where Gumi was, but she knew the route to take so that she passed each and every cell. It was now a matter of slipping past the guards and weaving her way through the darkness.
"Gumi? Gumi?" Rin whispered as she went. The only thing Rin had with her to light her path was a pack of matches she stole from Master Tonio's office. She had never once seen him light a cigar, so Rin doubted he would miss the matches too much.
"Rin?" The response came after minutes of searching.
"Gumi!" Rin quietly exclaimed as she ran to the cell. She dropped the matches, fell to her knees, and wrapped her fingers around the bars. Nearly weeping at the sight of her only real friend, Rin said, "Oh my goodness, Gumi, I came as soon as I could. Oh, tell me it isn't true!"
"It isn't true." From the little light in the cell, Gumi stood from the table she was seated and approached the bars. Sinking down as well and wrapping her fingers around Rin's, Gumi said, "I got tired of sleeping in the Juliet quarters, so Head Juliet said this cell could be my new room. Isn't it nice?"
In spite of the situation at hand, despite herself, Rin laughed. Then her face sobered. "I heard you were caught with Ms. Megurine."
Gumi sighed. "Yes, that's what happened. We forgot to lock her bedroom door, so one of the teachers looking for Luka walked in on us and . . ." Gumi shook her head, not allowing herself to finish. "Of course, she had to go tell Head Juliet, who in turn had to tell Mistress Prima. I could have sworn Mistress Prima was happy to tell everyone the punishment of my crime would be death."
"So, Ms. Megurine knew . . . ?"
"That I'm really a girl?" Gumi laughed. "Well, Rin, you can't do what we were doing without somebody noticing that something's missing."
"And . . . and Ms. Megurine didn't care?"
"She's like me, Rin. She likes other girls." Gumi pressed her forehead on the bars. "Had we different tattoos, things . . . I don't know. Things might have ended differently."
"Aren't you scared?" Rin asked, her eyes burning.
"Of dying? Rin, are you kidding? I'm terrified." Gumi shook her head, tears now slipping through her closed eyes and wetting her lashes. "However, if I could do it all over, I wouldn't change a thing. As much as I wish this isn't how it was always meant to end, I can't regret falling in love."
"Even if falling in love always meant death?" Rin softly whispered.
"I would much rather die young and have loved than live forever and never love at all," Gumi replied. "I'm getting what I would have wanted. Don't be too sad for me."
"I just can't think like that," Rin said after a moment of silence. "I don't want you to die. I wouldn't want to die for what you're willing to die for. Gumi, it's not worth it!"
"Yes, it is, Rin." Gumi reached out and cupped Rin's cheek. "I like to think my death will prove something."
"Yeah," Rin laughed without humor, "it will prove just how little the elite care for us."
"No." Gumi shook her head. "I want to believe my death will prove just how broken our world is, and somewhere in all this brokenness, someone will rise up to fight back."
Rin's spine went rigid. "You mean a rebellion, don't you?"
"That's exactly what I mean," Gumi whispered, as if she could suffer worse consequences for the words than what she was already set to face. "I'm not a fighter, Rin. I wouldn't last in a world that's trying to destroy and rebuild itself. People like you, however, have what it takes to bring those who oppose them down to their knees."
"People like me." Rin shook her head. "People like me are the ones who don't know how to fight back."
"No." Gumi used her thumb to stroke under Rin's eye. "You're a dreamer, Rin. You can imagine what you want the world to be, and you can fight for that vision."
A cry tore out of Rin. She leaned into Gumi's palm, tears streaming like a waterfall.
"I could never support a rebellion!" she cried, remembering her promise to Master Tonio to help snuff a rebellion out before it could begin. She could never admit such, especially not to Gumi in that moment. "I know I never could. Gumi, you don't know. You just don't know."
"Rin, I do," Gumi insisted, but Rin didn't have the heart to correct her. "Rin, look at me."
Sniffling, Rin looked at Gumi. The greenette smiled. Albeit a small, sad smile, but a genuine smile nonetheless.
"Everything will be okay," Gumi promised. "I don't know how it will be, but it will be. Sure, it might be really bad for a while. It will likely get worse and worse until you don't even know what good looks like anymore. Still, in the end, it will be okay. You will survive. You might even manage to see the world become a better place. Because you're strong enough to make it to that end. I'm not."
"You're the strongest person I know," Rin said, her voice cracking.
Gumi smiled. "Then I should probably introduce you to my friend Rin. You're going to love her. She might be timid, but she is the bravest person on Artemis when she has to be. She speaks her mind, saves those who can't save themselves, and spends every day dreaming that if the world is limitless, then why can't she? Her heartbreaking past doesn't stop her from living in the present. Although she doesn't understand herself, she doesn't let that stop her from trying. If anyone can change the world, it is Kagamine Rin. I hope you can learn to love her just as much as I do."
Reaching up, Rin wrapped her fingers around Gumi's. "I don't want to lose you," she forced out after she managed to get her sobs under some semblance of control.
"You won't lose me." Gumi spoke softly, as if she was tired. "As long as you remember me, I'll be right there."
"Please," Rin tried.
"I'm ready to go," Gumi said. "Yes, I'm terrified, but I'm more scared of living than I am of dying. Besides, it will be painless. Alive one second, gone the next before I can feel a thing. And if it does hurt like hell, at least I'll be gone before I can really feel it. I don't think that's a terrible way to die."
"If you're trying to make me feel better, you're failing miserably."
"Yeah, you're right. Rin, just remember that everything will be okay. You'll be okay. I'll be okay. If there's only one thing you can remember from this conversation, it's that it will all be all right in the end. Understand?"
Nodding through her tears, Rin sucked in a shaky breath and replied with, "Understand."
It was as Miku walked to her rooms Gakuko stopped her.
"What is it?" Miku asked, heart dropping at Gakuko's worried expression. "Is somebody hurt?"
"Not yet," Gakuko answered. "After I heard the news, I got Luka to tell me what was wrong."
"News? What's wrong with Luka?" Miku shook her head. "Gakuko, I don't understand what's going on."
Taking a deep breath, Gakuko said, "Luka was caught sleeping with a Juliet during the break. The Juliet is going to be beheaded the day classes start back."
If not for Gakuko holding Miku just above the elbow, Miku would have collapsed right there and then. She tried with little success to process it all at once. Luka sleeping with a Juliet. The Juliet receiving the death penalty because of it. Shaking herself away from Gakuko, Miku thought it all through as she ignored Gakuko calling after her and stormed to Luka's rooms.
"Is it true?!" Miku demanded, entering Luka's rooms without knocking. She should have thought about it. Miku should have planned how to address the issue. Instead, she held nothing back as she raced towards her friend and bluntly demanded, "Did you really sleep with a Juliet?"
Luka, who sat at her mirror and brushed her hair, jumped. She whipped her head around and stared at Miku. Her mouth hung open.
"Answer me!" Miku demanded, tears rising. "Did you sleep with a Juliet?"
Swallowing, Luka kept her reply simple. "I did."
"And now that Juliet is going to be executed," Miku said, barely able to speak over the lump forming in her throat.
Unable to look Miku in the eyes, Luka stared at her feet as she replied, "Yes."
"Don't you even care?"
"I shouldn't." Luka returned to brushing her hair. "Juliets are property. They're easily replaceable. What I did was stupid and shameful to my family, but I at least have the chance to redeem myself."
"What about her? The Juliet?" Growling, Miku asked again, "Don't you even care?"
"Of course I care!" Luka snapped. Tears now fell from her eyes. "I do care, but what does that matter? She's just a Juliet. Girls like her aren't special."
"Girls like her aren't special." Miku wanted to argue. Juliets were people. They lived and loved and laughed. Juliet CV02 was proof to Miku just how human Juliets were. The problem wasn't their tattoo, but what the world spent their whole lives telling them their tattoos meant.
"Stop this," Miku whispered, ready to drop to her knees and beg if she had to. "Don't let this happen. Maybe . . . maybe you can save her."
Luka shook her head, the action causing the tears to fall faster. "I already begged Mistress Prima to spare her. I even offered to buy her. But Mistress Prima refused. The execution's going to happen, and there's nothing I can do to stop it."
Abruptly, Luka stood from her vanity. She got up so fast her chair fell over. Pacing, Luka cried over and over how it was her fault and Gumi was going to die because of it.
"Gumi?" Miku questioned. "Is that . . . is that the Juliet's name?"
"They're not all named Juliet," Luka said slowly. "They're just all called Juliet to make them seem less human." Clutching the hairbrush even tighter, Luka said, "And it works. It has always worked. How could I have been so blind for so long? How can the others remain blind? This is all my fault. This is all my fault!"
Screaming, Luka hurled her hairbrush at the mirror. The glass cracked and shattered and fell to the floor just as Luka crumpled. Face placed in her hands, Luka sobbed, her very heart broken.
Miku knelt by Luka's side and enveloped the girl in a hug. Luka wrapped her arms around Miku and buried her face in Miku's shoulder. For minutes afterwards, the two Cinderellas sat together on the floor. One cried over her broken heart. The other cried at what was to happen if she didn't act soon.