Miku shouldn't be here. What is she doing here? Kaito felt the world slip away as Miku slowly entered the room.

It was clear she tried hard to hold herself upright as to not appear small like a lamb in a den of wolves. Nonetheless, she looked around the room and made eye contact with everyone. Her eyes lingered on Kaito the longest.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice small. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Are you all working together to put a stop to the Thorns?"

None answered her. Miku's eyes again rested on Kaito, and he squirmed under her stare. Perhaps he should have talked to her sooner after all.

"More to investigate than to stop," Master Tonio said, breaking the silence. He waved Miku forward, and she steadily approached. "How do you know about the Thorns and are intentions with them?"

"My cousin Kaiko has a big mouth," Kaito muttered, not knowing he was speaking until he heard himself talk.

"No sense throwing your cousin off the hovercraft," Master Tonio told him before turning to Miku. "We don't know who shot Mew and why. We don't even know if it was an attack against us or Mew just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Miku kept her shoulders back and chin high as she asked, "I believe the question is what was Mew doing outside of her rooms in the first place?"

It was Kyo who answered. "From what Wil told us, Mew was on the verge of figuring something out in this investigation and left to speak with Master Tonio."

"If she had messaged me first," Master Tonio said slowly, as if this was all his fault, "I would have told her I wasn't in the academy last night. Based on how long Wil said she was gone before he heard the shot, she was returning from my rooms after discovering I wasn't there."

"Where were you, anyway?" Kaito asked, his tone more judgmental than intended.

"I went to a hotel to call my daughter," Master Tonio answered, glaring at Kaito as if he had just made some absurd suggestion. "I can't have a verbal conversation with Avanna without fear someone will overhear and pass on news to my wife. Avanna's going through a hard time right now, and she really doesn't want her mother to know anything about it."

"What happened?" Miku didn't sound curious, but genuinely concerned. At Master Tonio's hesitance to reply, she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. She seemed to know something was wrong by the man's lack of response.

"She lost the baby," was all Master Tonio said.

"I'm so sorry."

"Me, too. For everything you have had to go through these past few months."

"Well, we did volunteer of our own free will," Kiyoteru said. "You didn't force us to do anything, after all."

"That's not the point," Ona said, speaking slowly. When Kaito saw her swallow, he knew she was more uncomfortable with Miku's presence than he was. "The point is what do we do now? Before we were just investigating with no real threats—"

Kaito cleared his throat.

"No real threats except that attempt on Kaito's life," Ona corrected herself, "but this is beyond what we signed up for. Somebody with a weapon was in the school. Somebody who didn't want to steal anything based on the lack of reports on missing items. Whoever this was must have had one purpose and one purpose alone: Kill one of us. Whether he was after Mew specifically or settled for her, we don't know, but this was not just some random attack. It can't be."

"But why attack at a school if this was intentional?" Yuu challenged. "Certainly there are better times and places, wouldn't you think? And if this was planned, why not attack in Mew and Wil's rooms? Why not take two out at once?"

For a while, nobody spoke. All sat silent as they absorbed Ona's and Yuu's words. Kaito turned his attention to Miku to see how she handled all of this.

Shaking where she sat, Miku balled the fabric of her skirts in her hands. This is what I wanted to protect you from, Kaito desired to say but knew better than to speak. Miku walked into this, and now she had to prove she was capable enough to handle it.

"The attack came from the inside," Miku blurted out. Her cheeks pinkened as everyone turned to face her, but she maintained her composure as best she could as she explained, "Who else would shoot Mew in a camera's blind spot and manage to get away without being caught but someone who's familiar with the security system? Anyone who broke into the academy would have to get through the guards and sneak inside without getting caught, and then they would have to know where the security cameras are located and how to best stay out of their view. Although not impossible, it's very unlikely anyone could pull all of that off. However, if it was someone already within these walls and already was familiar with the security system . . ."

Miku trailed off when she noticed how intently the others looked at her. Looking downwards, Miku began playing with her fingers. Kaito wanted to walk over to her, reach out, and take her hand. However, he didn't. He could barely move from where he stood as he processed her words.

Cursing under her breath, Ona said, "Miku's got a point."

"But that would mean whoever shot Mew is still here in this building," Yuu pointed out, growing pale.

"Just means we're closer to finding our suspect than we originally thought," Master Tonio replied. "We will have to do some digging on everyone here, and it won't be easy. In order to deduce who could have shot Mew and who's unlikely to have, we need to figure out where everyone was when the attack happened and if they have an alibi to back it up. Anyone who wasn't where they were supposed to be is an automatic suspect, so if you know of anyone who wasn't in their rooms past curfew, list them. The sooner we find out who did such a terrible thing, the better."

When Master Tonio said that last part, Kaito immediately thought about that blonde Juliet. As fond as Miku was of her, that didn't make this girl harmless. If anything, she could have been the most dangerous Juliet there after getting a Cinderella of all people to think highly of her.

Not to mention Kaito caught her wandering about when she was supposed to be resting. He was aware that she was recently whipped, even if he didn't know what for, but she wasn't punished for nothing. Of all the people Kaito could bring to mind, she would have the most motivation to attack the very people trying to bring her kind back to their knees.

Taking a deep breath, Kaito exhaled slowly and shoved the thoughts aside. He had no proof that anything he thought was accurate. The Juliet may have been out of her quarters when she wasn't supposed to be, but this was long after Mew had been attacked. It didn't escape Kaito's mind that she wouldn't hide like a coward as any attacker would to avoid suspicion, but that alone didn't make her guilty. She could have been doing anything that may or may not have related to what happened to Mew.

"Until further notice," Master Tonio said slowly, "we will have to keep low and do nothing that will draw suspicion. Whether this was a random attack or deliberate, no one can take any chances. Do I make myself clear?"

Slowly, everyone agreed one by one. Kaito was the last to respond, saying nothing more than, "Yes, sir."

Master Tonio turned to Miku. "And you didn't see any of this, correct, Ms. Hatsune?"

"I didn't see a thing," she whispered. Her eyes glazed over Ona and Kaito, and Kaito couldn't read what she could possibly be thinking. "Nothing at all."

After Master Tonio dismissed the meeting, Miku fled the room before anyone could talk to her. She found Luka and Gakuko in the dining hall, and they had saved a seat for her between them. Plopping down, Miku began filling her plate with any pastry she could get her hands on.

"Are you okay?" Gakuko asked cautiously as Miku crammed a cinnamon roll into her mouth.

"No," Miku answered between bites.

Ona arrived a few minutes later. At first she walked towards Miku, but she must have changed her mind after seeing nobody had saved a spot for her. It wasn't as if she usually sat with them anyway. Miku and Ona made eye contact, and Miku could tell Ona was mentally debating whether or not to speak with her. Mind made up, Ona turned on her heel and searched for an available seat.

While the others seemed hardly able to touch their food, Miku shoved pastry after pastry into her mouth. She had so much on her mind, and she needed a distraction until she was calm enough to think rationally. Food was that distraction.

"I'm going home," Luka suddenly announced shortly before breakfast ended.

As Miku studied at her friend, she realized this declaration wasn't all that sudden after all. Luka had spent most of the hour picking at her food and pushing it around her plate. What she must have been doing during that time was work up the courage to tell her friends that she was leaving.

"I . . . can't stay anymore," Luka said when neither Miku nor Gakuko responded to her announcement. "After what happened with Gumi, and now this . . . It's getting to be too much."

"Don't look so upset," Gakuko said, her demeanor soft as she showed Luka a sad smile. "Nobody can blame you for wanting to leave. I'm still making my mind up right now."

"It's not just that . . ." Luka crumpled her napkin in her fist. "Being here reminds me too much of Gumi. Everywhere I look, I keep expecting to find her sending me funny faces from a distance. It's painful every time to remember she's gone. I can't stay in this school. Even before this morning, I thought about leaving. Now I have a valid reason to go, and I'm taking it."

Not having any words, Miku reached out and wrapped her fingers around Luka's fist. Luka blinked, and a single tear fell from her eye. Even after breakfast ended and the girls were ordered to either go to class or go to their rooms to pack, the three friends sat together, silently wishing one of them farewell.

"How are you holding up?" Kaito asked as he stepped into the hospital wing, two cups of hot coffee in hand.

"How do you think I'm doing?" was how Wil answered, his words taking on a slight growl.

"Sorry, that was a stupid question." Kaito offered the coffee, and Wil accepted it.

After he heard word that Mew was stable even if it was unknown if she would ever wake up again, Kaito spent some time debating if he should see Wil. In the end, Kaito knew his friend needed the company of those who loved and cared about him more than anything, even if Wil didn't want it. Kaito waited what he assumed was an appropriate amount of time, allowed Kyo and Yuu to visit their brother and sister-in-law first, and then waited a little longer before getting freshly brewed coffee from the kitchen to bring to the man.

Sitting beside Wil, Kaito let the silence stretch between them. There was nothing he could say, so he didn't bother to try. Empty words like "I'm so sorry" and pointless ones like "Everything will be okay" would be a waste of breath. Kaito was sorry, and he wanted to believe everything would be okay, but saying such would mean nothing to Wil. After his father died, Kaito understood just how little such things meant when one was overcome with such intense levels of grief.

To pass the time, Kaito watched Mew and her monitors. He kept his eyes off of her shaved head from the surgery and the bandages that covered the scar. Instead he focused on the steady rise and fall of her chest. The beeping that signaled she was still alive . . . for now.

If only I believed her when she first told me her theory, Kaito thought. Maybe she wouldn't be here right now if I had only listened to her.

Kaito was being foolish. As guilty as he felt, this wasn't his fault. The person at fault was the one who pulled the trigger.

Yet he couldn't stop himself from thinking that if he didn't upset her and listened to her instead, she would have asked him to join her as she expressed the idea to Master Tonio. Of course, Mew wasn't the type of person who required backup. There was nothing stopping her from dragging Wil along last night, but she still chose to go alone.

For minutes that felt like hours, Kaito played the game of feeling responsible but trying with questionable success to convince himself this wasn't his fault. His coffee grew cold in his hands. All he wanted more than anything in that moment was for Mew to wake up and scold him for being such a worry wart.

"It's a miracle she's even alive right now," Wil said, his voice so soft but still breaking the silence into millions of little tiny pieces. "She was shot in the head. I like to think Mew's still breathing just to spite whoever did this. 'Oh, you thought you could kill me? Think again, jack-hole!'"

"She never struck me as someone who lets you get things done the easy way," Kaito replied as softly. The silence resumed.

It struck Kaito full force then what the plan to find her attacker was. He and the others were going to pick through cherries to find the bad one. Nobody expected Mew to wake up, or else the suggestion would have been to ask her after she regained consciousness.

"Did I ever tell you how we met?" Wil suddenly asked, his eyes gazing into the past. He didn't let Kaito answer before he continued, "It was at a ball here during her second year. I will never forget it, even if I live to be one hundred and have forgotten my own name.

"My father was really sick, and it was his dying wish to see me married before he passed on. It was frustrating he made that his dying wish. The bastard knew I never wanted to marry, but I couldn't outright oppose the old man either. He took me off the streets, gave me a home, and made me his heir. I suppose giving him a daughter was the least I could do.

"So, my mother had her tailor friends look at me and try to design the best suit to catch a pretty Cinderella's eye. For some goddess forsaken reason, they all agreed on a white suit. A pure, snow white suit with a black collar and tie. That was it.

"At the ball, I stuck out like a sore thumb. While men and women all over dressed in bright colors, dark colors, soft colors, and loud colors, I'm wearing a pure white suit against my night dark skin. Oh, I drew attention all right. Definitely got a lot of comments, too, and it was clear the compliments were forced. You never insult a future lord, even if he looks like a shadow wearing a bedsheet.

"Then this sweet voice behind me says, 'Looks like I'm not the only one protesting colors tonight.' I turn around and see the most beautiful woman I have ever laid eyes on. Paler than the moonlight, eyes and hair dark as ink, and a dress of ebony. I knew she was beautiful because I don't go around spitting poetry, and already I turned over a new leaf just describing what was before me.

"Long story short, I said something stupid trying to impress her. She caught on to what I was doing, laughed, and told me I had to try harder. Condemn it all, I did. Oh, how she laughed and laughed at all my horrible attempts to woo her. Soon enough I was saying dumb things on purpose just to get her to laugh, it was such a pretty sound.

"I asked if she wanted to dance, and she declined, saying there was something more fun she wanted to do instead. The catch was we had to sneak away. As smitten as I was, I didn't think twice what she could possibly have wanted to do with me in private nor what someone would think if they saw this magnificent ghost leading me astray. When she led me to a quiet room away from the clatter of the ball and pulled out a set of One Card, I knew I had found my soul mate."

"Your story sounds like a fairytale brought to life," Kaito said after Wil had stopped speaking for a few minutes.

"No," Wil disagreed, "it was better than a fairytale. Even that first night, Mew was so real. She cursed at least thrice every round, she bluntly stated whatever was on her mind regardless if it would come across as rude, and she didn't bother with formalities when the night ended and she said she wanted to hang out with me again. Nothing about her tried to be impressive. When I had introduced myself at the end of the night – we spent hours together without knowing the other's name, can you believe that? – she calmly stated that she knew who I was and was glad I wasn't the boring, snotty lord-to-be she expected I would be. You can't meet an honest woman like that and not respect her, not if you're a decent person."

"Didn't you ever fear what your parents thought of her?" Kaito asked. "I mean, as much as I like Mew, she isn't exactly the type of Cinderellas most nobles would want their sons to marry."

"If they didn't like her for her flaws, then that would be their problem," Wil answered. "I was told I had to marry; the least they could let me do was pick out who I wanted to be stuck with for the rest of my miserable life.

"They were put off by Mew at first, but they grew to love her. So much so that my father changed his mind about dying and is still alive to this day. I feel that I was tricked into marriage, but I can't complain. Mew isn't just my wife. She's by best friend and partner in crime. I would be lost without her."

His expression depressed as he looked back at his wife and muttered, "If she doesn't wake up . . ."

Having nothing to say, Kaito again let the silence join them. He kept watching Mew intently, as if he would miss a twitch of her fingers if he took his eyes away for too long. Yet no matter how he watched, Mew remained stone still.

"If you love someone," Wil said, speaking so softly it almost went unheard, "don't be afraid to tell them. Show it to them every day how much you care. After all . . . , you never know when your last chance will be."

Kaito pondered the words for a minute before taking them to heart. What happened to Mew was proof of how little time they all had. As heartbreaking as the overall situation was, Kaito knew he could not waste another second.

"Message me any updates, okay?" Kaito said, slapping Wil on the back once before rising to his feet. "And let me know if you ever need anything. I'm sure you hear that last part a lot, but Wil . . . I'm here for you."

"Thanks, brother," Wil replied, offering Kaito a sad smile.

Hearing Wil call Kaito "brother" warmed his heart. They weren't just friends. They were family. Now it was time for Kaito to extend their family.

Since Rin proved herself to be too restless when she was supposed to be recovering, Head Juliet gave her the task of creating fliers for both the upcoming ball and fundraiser.

"Why we're still having such things at a time like this, I don't know," Head Juliet had said, "but Mistress Prima wants these things to happen and she wants them advertised."

Perhaps, Rin thought, Mistress Prima was behind the attack or at least knows who's behind it if she wants to keep going on as if nothing happened in the first place.

Or maybe she isn't involved whatsoever and is in denial of the potential dangers.

With the fliers finished, Rin began the task of pinning them to all the billboards. It reminded her of when she first began working here and was giving the very same task. Rin remembered how Miku followed her around that day and how Rin wished for her to leave. Filled with melancholy, Rin continued her job. Things had changed so much between then and now, and Rin wasn't quite sure when all this change took place.

As she passed by the ladies' room, Rin snuck a peek inside. Her heartrate skyrocketed at the sight of Miku, sitting with Ms. Megurine and Ms. Yuzuki. Never had Rin so badly wanted to break the rules – she would have given anything just to walk inside the room and speak with Miku without punishment soon following.

Remembering how being whipped felt and how her back still ached, Rin slipped away unnoticed and pinned the fliers to the board. When she heard someone approaching, the footsteps urgent, she shifted behind the billboard as she saw who it was. Lord Shion stalked down the halls. Rin, not wanting to risk his attention, pressed herself further behind the board despite her back screaming at her to stop. However, whatever was on his mind held on so tightly that it seemed he wouldn't have noticed Rin even if she blocked his path.

"Ah, there you are, Miku," Lord Shion said, stopping just outside the door. "May I speak with you in private, please?"

Rin heard Miku excuse herself and watched as the Cinderella walked out of the room.

"What is this about?" she asked, linking arms with Lord Shion as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

It was natural.

"I'll tell you when we go someplace we can't be overheard," Lord Shion answered as he began to lead Miku away.

Not as if I'm going to let that happen. Once again on her feather feet, Rin slipped into the shadows of the setting sun and followed the duo. She kept enough of a distance that if either turned around they wouldn't assume she was following, especially since Rin kept her fliers clutched to her chest. All Rin needed to do was listen to their footsteps when she couldn't see them to know which paths they turned. It was almost too easy.

Turning the corner just in time, Rin saw Miku and Lord Shion enter a room and close the door. Rin scurried up to the door and lightly pressed against the wall. Whether by accident or fate, the door was not shut all the way. Carefully, Rin pushed it with her toe, creating enough of a gap for her to hear without straining. Rin steadied her breathing and listened with all her attention on the words either said.

"I should have told you the truth," Lord Shion was saying. "I thought I was protecting you, but now I know I was hurting you. Believe me, Miku, there will be no more secrets from now on."

"How can I believe that?" Miku challenged. "I won't know someone's lying to me until it's too late."

"You're going to have to trust me." A slight break in dialogue, then, "I care very deeply for you, Miku. If this is something you want to involve yourself in, then I will accept your decision no matter how I feel about it. After all, you made a very valid point after storming into our meeting. There's no reason we shouldn't consider you a valid alley."

A heavy sigh. "Maybe I don't want to be a part. Maybe I just want you to be honest with me. I don't want to be protected. What I want is for the person I love to trust me enough to talk to me no matter how hard it is."

Rin's heart hurt as if a knife pierced through it. "The person I love." It should not have hurt this much, but it did.

"And you have every right to want that and so much more. Miku . . . I love you. I love you so very much. My family loves you, my friends love you, and I want to spend every day with you."

All the air was suck from Rin's lungs, and try as she might, she couldn't breathe in to refill them.

"Kaito . . . ," Miku breathed his name, knowing what was coming as well.

"I had been wanting to ask since you visited me and my family at our district, but . . . certain events forced me to put a hold on it. I wanted to wait for a safer time, but after what happened with Mew, I realize life's too short to wait. Even though I'm missing a very important part of this process, I didn't want to wait a second longer and hope you will forgive me for being rash.

"Miku . . . , will you marry me?"

Say no. Say no! Rin hated herself for having such selfish thoughts, and she hated herself more for wishing them to come true. She still couldn't breathe, and her heart felt as if it was splitting into two. Her chest ached as if it was seconds away from caving in on itself. Her eyes stung as a large lump formed in her throat.

When it took Miku more than three seconds to reply, Kaito quickly said, "I know it will be more than some time before you're the legal marriage age, but I don't want to spend another second not knowing whether or not you will have me for your own. We can work through our issues. I will learn to be the honest partner you desire and deserve. Please, just tell me you believe in us just as much as I do."

A heartbeat. Two. Rin's lungs ached for air.

The reply was soft at first, but it got louder with each word.

"Yes. Yes. Oh, Kaito, yes! A thousand times yes! I will marry you!"

It happened all at once. Rin could barely breathe in shaky breaths to fill her tortured lungs. Her heart shattered into a million pieces, and her ribcage guarding it collapsed. The lump in her throat kept any sound from escaping her mouth. Tears fell from her eyes like rain in a hurricane.

Having no desire to hear anymore, Rin pressed the fliers against her chest and fled the hall. Everything hurt so, so badly Rin doubted she would ever be whole again.

If only . . . , she thought as she pressed the fliers hard against her chest, creating wrinkles and creases that would not make them very presentable, if only I could tear the pieces of my heart out so I would never have to feel this way again.