Kaito and Gakupo, two of the village's most well known samurai's, conversed as they headed out for drinks one night.

"Did you hear about Kagamine Rinto?" Gakupo asked Kaito as he carried his sword over his shoulder.

"No," Kaito answered. "What about him?" Unlike Gakupo, Kaito wasn't as much of a show off when it came to his weapon. Kaito preferred to keep his sword sheathed on his hip.

Gakupo tilted his head at angle, perhaps to view Kaito better, and said, "Well you know how it has been said that the storm took the lives of the merchants that sailed that night only two months ago?"

"Everyone knows about that," Kaito said.

"And how only last week there was a storm?" Gakupo asked.

"Gakupo-Kun," Kaito said, sounding tired, "I know about the storm last week. What are you leading me to?"

"Well on the ship that was rumored to have sunk was a man named Kagamine Rinto," Gakupo went on. "Apparently, the ship made it, but it was during the storm last week that the ship Kagamine-San was on sunk."

"What bad luck for him," Kaito said, tilting his head as well in order to see his best friend better. Perhaps they should get to the bar first before talking; both were in the habit of looking at the speaker and this wasn't helpful when both were walking forward.

"Well all's not so bad," Gakupo replied. "He was the only survivor of the wreck, and he washed up on the shores of the beach, right where his finacée was."

"Whoa," Kaito said in amazement. "Could have perished twice but manages to escape death both times. What a fortunate man."

"There is one problem, though," Gakupo frowned. "He can't remember anything. His friends, family, nothing. His fiancée did say that he called her by her name, but other than that he showed no signs of knowing her."

"Amnesia, hm?" Kaito mumbled. "Just proof that no one's invincible, I suppose."

"Seems so," Gakupo shrugged.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Rinto, I'm home," Miku called when she arrived home from her trip to the market.

"Let me get those for you," Len, pretending to be Rinto, said.

"No, I can handle it," Miku said. "Thank you, though."

Len sighed. "Miku-Chan, I'm not helpless. It won't be a problem if I go with you to the marketplace or help you carry your bags."

"But you still need to rest," Miku said when she placed her bags down. "You survived a sinking ship, and it hasn't even been ten days since! You need to rest until the shock doesn't affect you anymore."

"I'm fine, Miku-Chan," Len pleaded. "Honest."

"Yet you still don't remember me?" Miku frowned. Len shamefully looked away. "I'm sorry, Rinto, but you must understand that I believed you were dead. I can't help but all of this worrying."

"I'm sorry," Len said.

Miku ser down her groceries, walked up to Len, and tightly wrapped her arms around him. "Don't apologize for something you had no control over. I only don't want to risk losing you again is all."

Len wrapped his arms around Miku. "Then please let me help around the house. Not to exaggerate, but I could die of boredom if not given something, anything to do."

Miku laughed against Len's chest. "You can't stay serious for a moment, can you?"

Running his fingers through Miku's hair, Len said, "I am only trying to prove to you that I'm okay. No more sailing for me. From now on I'll always be here with you. Forever."

Miku snuggled deeper into Len's chest. "Promise?" she asked.

Len kissed the top of her head. With his lips still against her hair he whispered, "I promise."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What's on your mind, Lenka-Chan?" Miku asked the girl. After "Rinto" had returned merely two weeks ago, Lenka had visited Miku every other day to help get him readjusted. Lenka would tell "her brother" all of their childhood stories in hopes of him recalling them, but not a thing she told him got "Rinto" to say "I remember that!"

Lenka pursed her lips tightly. "I don't think that's Rinto," she answered.

Cocking her head to the side, Miku asked, "What ever do you mean?"

"That's not Rinto," Lenka answered. "He acts so different from before. Too different, actually."

"He has amnesia, Lenka-Chan," Miku reminded the blonde.

"In case you have forgotten, Miku-Chan," Lenka said, "amnesia means 'memory loss,' not 'attitude replacement.' He's too helpful, very formal, and treats me, his little sister, with respect. You know as well as I do that Rinto is - I'm sorry - was a little lazy when it came to house work, never once used an honorific when addressing you, or respected me as if I was an adult. I don't know who that is, but he sure isn't my brother."

Miku looked at Lenka with disbelief. "Can't memory loss also include forgetting how one used to act?" she questioned the girl.

"Maybe," Lenka admitted, "but I just have this feeling in the pit of my gut that the man living under your roof is not Rinto."

Shaking her head, Miku said, "Just give him time. Rinto's memory should return some day, and if not then maybe the new Rinto will eventually grow on you."

Biting her lip, Lenka went back to kneading her bread as she said, "I hope you're right."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time continued to go by, and "Rinto" failed to remember anything. Since Miku had to get "Rinto" to know her all over again, Len began to learn about who Miku was and how she changed from childhood. She was still very sweet and kind hearted. She still held an obvious love for animals. Overall, she was still that same girl, and that girl grew into a beautiful, amazing woman. Len was bringing her smile back, and every time she smiled his heart would fill with so much joy his heart could just burst. It was only a matter of time before Len realized something very important.

It was during the full moon that it happened. There was a loud bang that had awakened Len from his sleep. Careful to not wake Miku, who was sleeping on the other side of the room, Len slipped out of the house and went across the street to the kimono shop in order to see what had caused such a noise. He may have been in human form, but Len still held on to his cat hearing.

After Len had managed to get inside, he looked high and low for the cause of the bang. He searched behind counters and under desks, but still no sign of any intruder other than himself. All that was left was for Len to check the back. He opened the door and looked inside to find the place a mess. Kimonos lie all over, and a few mannequins were toppled over. Perhaps this was the cause of the noise. The last Len had noticed was the most surprising.

Before him, illuminated by the light from the full moon, stood a girl. She wore a soft pink kimono with a white sash, and a white bow adored her hair. In her hand was a pair of scissors, and scattered around her bare feet were masses of blonde hair.

"I didn't think it would have come to this," her voice that was so sweet it made honey seem bitter said.

"Who are you?" Len bravely asked.

The girl laughed so hard her slim shoulders were bouncing up and down. "Why Len," the girl turned around, allowing the moonlight to reveal her face, "do you not know your own sister?"

Gaping, Len gasped in total disbelief. "Rin!"

The girl, Rin, cocked her head in mock hurt. "Are you not happy to see your own sister? Your favorite sister, at that."

"No, I mean - It's just," Len couldn't find the right words to say. "How?" he asked, hoping that one word would be all it took for Rin to know what he meant.

"I'm a Bakeneko too, you know?" Rin said. "When I saw that your turned into the girl's fiancé, I took on the form of his sister. The sensation of being human is an unusual one," Rin said as she inspected her hands, "but it's not too bad. However," Rin ran a hand over her now blonde hair, "the fur length of the girl is ridiculous. I had to cut it for fear it would eventually snap this human neck if I didn't."

"But . . . why?" Len now asked.

Rin crossed her arms in what seemed to be annoyance. "I need to warn you, and I doubt you would understand me if I had remained in my true form."

"Warn me?" Len questioned. "Of what?"

"Are you fully aware of the situation you have created for everyone involved?" Rin asked.

"To the fullest," Len answered.

"That if you wish to keep the girl happy you will have to remain by her side forever?"

"That was the plan from the beginning."

"As you are under the form of the girl's fiancé, she will eventually expect you to marry her."

"If it will make Miku-Chan happy then what reason have I to not do so?"

"But she's a human, and you're a Bakeneko!"

"What I truly am has no meaning to Miku-Chan."

"Because she doesn't know who you really are."

"I'm aware of that."

"It's not right to make anyone believe they are marrying someone they don't know."

"I only want her to be happy, even if it means receiving the love she holds for another man."

Rin placed a hand on her forehead as she heavily sighed. As stupid as the plan seemed to her, to Len it was something he believed he had to do. "Would you even be okay with marrying this girl?" she asked.

"If it will make her happy," Len answered, "then yes."

"But will it make you happy?"

"Miku-Chan's happiness is my happiness."

Rin was going nowhere with him, she soon noticed. "Why are you doing all of this?" Rin asked the big question.

"Because I promised to bring back her smile," Len answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why would you make a promise like that in the first place?" Rin asked, unable to understand where her brother was coming from.

Len looked down at his feet. The look on his face was not shame, but realization over something he had known his whole life but finally acknowledged. "I love her," he said quietly yet confidently.

"I beg your pardon," Rin said as she leaned in closer, as if that would help her hearing, "but did you just say what I think you said?"

Len looked Rin dead straight in the eyes. "I'm in love with Miku-Chan. I love her to the point that seeing her so miserable was slowly killing me. I care not that she doesn't love me, because she thinks the love of her life is alive and is happy believing such. As long as she is smiling, what do I care for what she feels for me? I'm not pretending to be her lover in order to have her; I'm taking his form so that she can finally smile again. When she cries I die more and more on the inside, and when she smiles I feel more alive than I have ever been. I love her, Rin, and nothing you can say or do will change my mind."

Rin stared at Len as if she were seeing him for the first time. "Len . . ." she whispered.

Without another word, Len turned around and left Rin alone with the moonlight. He knew his sister's intentions were just because Len could see it from that angle. He was cruel. Very, very cruel. He committed the crime that could never be forgiven, the sin that continues to punish over the course of one's life. He was a Bakeneko, and he fell in love with a human.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the days that followed, Len had not come across Rin again. He believed she only took human form in order to talk to him and resumed her true for after doing so. Where ever she was, she was staying out of sight. Perhaps she counted him as a hopeless cause and left to go somewhere with less idiot Bakenekos.

"Rinto-Kun," Miku said one night, "are you okay? You look troubled."

"I'm fine, Miku-Chan," Len said, despite his posture and tone noting otherwise.

Miku sat across from Len and said, "Please tell me what's wrong. You know you can talk to me, right?"

Knowing there was no way he could talk her out of not pressing him, Len told her his problem while being as vague as possible. "It has recently come to my attention that you may want to go through with our planned marriage."

Confusion written all over her face, Miku said carefully, "I love you, Rinto-Kun. You know that. Of course I would want to be married." Looking down at her lap she continued, "But if you rather we weren't . . ."

"It's not that," Len assured her. "It's only I'm not who I used to be. I know that. I was only wondering if you would still love me, even if I am different."

Miku smiled softly as she kept staring at her lap. "Call it weird, but I love you more now than I loved you then. Actually, I love you in a totally different way. You are a different person, so I love you as if you were someone who came to comfort me and not as who you once were. It's as if . . . It's as if I stopped loving Rinto when the boy who looked exactly like him emerged from the ocean that day." Blushing as she giggled, Miku looked at Len as she said, "Is it weird that I love you as if you were someone else and not my long time fiancé?"

"No," Len shook his head, "not at all." It pleased Len to hear that she held love for him in her heart, even if she knew not who he really was. "It only makes sense," he went on to say. "I'm different, so what you feel should be different as well."

Warmly smiling, Miku looked at him in a way she needed no words to say. He understood, for he reached out and took hold of her hand. It was when Miku was looking deeply into his eyes that she noticed something. Rinto had gray eyes, yet in this lighting the boy's eyes were cerulean. The color was gray again before she could take a double check, but the glimpse was enough to make Miku wonder. Had Lenka been right after all? Is this boy really not Rinto?

Author's Note: I'm not going to lie: The scene of Len-Kun finding a human Rin was the scene I had planned the most inside my head and my favorite to write. Of course their conversation didn't come out half as well as I had hoped. ORZ Oh well, I have wanted to write human Rin before I even started this fanfic so I'm glad to have finally done so. Too bad nothing here is about her!

-Ray