They were in the final stages of rehearsals. Kaito and Miku were in the process of practicing the new choreography to "Cantarella" when Kaito's phone went off. Miku didn't approve much of the interruption, and she made sure he was aware of that, but Kaito excused himself anyway and went to pick up the call. After all, it was extremely rare for his brother to contact him these days.

"Akaito? What's up? How are you doing?"

Akaito answered softly, almost meekly. "Hey, I… Actually, there's something I need to talk to you about. It's… kind of important."

Kaito looked back towards the stage. Miku stood with her arms crossed, tapping her foot as she waited for him to return. He hated to dismiss Akaito like this, but he was technically at work right now and if it wasn't too urgent, couldn't it wait for an hour or so?

"I'm so sorry but I don't really have time to talk right now", he said. "We're in the middle of rehearsals. Is it okay if I call you back later?"

A short silence, and then, "Yeah… sure. Promise you'll call back?"

"Of course, as soon as we're done here. Bye then."

"Bye."

Kaito hung up and stared at his phone for a while, frowning at the inexplicable sinking feeling in his chest. But he did his best to shake it of before he hurried back to Miku, taking it from the top once more.

It did not go well though. He couldn't concentrate at all on the task at hand and he kept making clumsy mistakes he never did otherwise. He couldn't keep his mind from straying, recalling the sound of his brother's voice on the phone. Akaito had seemed off somehow, not quite himself, and Kaito couldn't rid himself of the feeling that something was wrong. It distracted him to the point where he became scattered, stumbling, fumbling and delivering a truly terrible performance.

Miku was getting annoyed with him. He could tell from the way she kept sighing and how the crease between her eyebrows deepened with every faulty step he took. He didn't blame her. It had been a long day and she'd been working harder than any of them. They also had a few more things left on the agenda before they could wrap it up and go home, and here he was, slowing them down and tripping up the schedule.

He decided to take a breath, pulling away from Miku and stepping back as he tried to gather himself. But he wasn't being attentive, he wasn't keeping track of his surroundings, and he didn't realize just how close he was getting to the edge of the stage until— the floor disappeared under his left foot.

Everything moved as if in slow-motion. He saw Miku, her eyes widening, her hand reaching out for him, her mouth opening as she shouted his name.

Aah, you've gone and done it now, BaKaito.

He hit the floor below the stage. The fall was brief and it shouldn't have caused him too much harm, but he ended up knocking his head against something hard and angular that blackened his vision for a second and he heard his teeth clatter with the impact. Lying on his back, he looked to the ceiling, his view crowded by the piercing brightness of the stage lights. He reckoned he should be feeling some measure of pain, but there was only a fuzzy numbness filling his mind.

Suddenly, shadows appeared all around him and he heard voices, high-pitched in their distress. He made an attempt to sit up.

"Don't move! Lay still, you idiot!" Meiko said, her hands on his chest, pushing him back down. A swirl of teal and pink hair, two sets bright blue eyes. Everything was drifting in and out of focus. He blinked rapidly, trying to keep at all from merging into a blurry mass.

"I'm going to look for help!" Len exclaimed and vanished out of sight.

"Me too!" Miku said, following behind him.

Meiko spoke again, taking charge of the situation. "Luka, can you see if there's a first aid kit here somewhere? I'll call for an ambulance. Rin, can you stay here and look after him? Good girl."

And then, there was only one figure left by his side. He felt her slender fingers curl around his hand as he turned his head to her. Something about her presence soothed him deeply. He felt that he didn't need to worry, that it would all be fine, as long as she was there with him. She leaned in closer and spoke to him quietly, holding one hand to her mouth as if they were sharing a secret, just the two of them.

"Kaito, I want you to listen to me and stay calm. You're bleeding a little, but don't worry about it too much." She pointed to her own head as she gave him a wink and a smile. "Your skull's too thick to take damage that easily."

Despite himself, he smiled back at her and she gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Her hands were so small and so gentle and her eyes regarded him so tenderly. He noticed how the stage lights seem to hit her from just the right angle, reflecting off her blonde hair and creating the illusion of a halo around her head. As he stared up at her, this nearly 19 year old girl he knew so well, he could feel something begin to shift around inside him. A new, unfamiliar sensation was taking root, growing, budding, reaching full bloom. For some strange reason, his heart was beating faster.

Has she always been this beautiful?

"Rin-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"You look like an angel."

With that, he closed his eyes and passed out.

—

It had been almost a week since the "incident" and nothing was the same. Rin had been moving her dinner around her plate for the past 15 minutes without actually eating anything. Meiko, Luka and Miku had all been trying to involve her in the customary small talk, but the fact remained that she hadn't said a single word since they sat down to eat. Len wasn't saying much either, sitting at the opposite side of the table and mirroring his sister's apparent lack of appetite. But at least he'd eaten a hearty helping for both breakfast and lunch earlier in the day, whereas Rin certainly hadn't.

Eventually, Luka got so concerned from watching her play with her food that she placed a hand on Rin's shoulder.

"What's wrong, Rin-chan? I thought you liked yakisoba? Do you want me to get you something else? There are plenty of leftovers in the fridge."

Rin shook her head and put her chopsticks to the side. "I do like it. I just… I don't feel well. I think I'll go to bed."

She rose from the table and Len lifted his head, opening his mouth to say something to her, but she left the room without looking at him and he stayed quiet. Seeing as she'd given him nothing but the cold shoulder as of late, it was almost impossible to imagine that they'd once been inseparable. Kaito thought something like this had been a long time coming though. Ever since the twins had reached adulthood, they'd been growing in different directions, establishing their independence as individuals. Recent events had only made it more evident how far they'd strayed from each other, and Len especially seemed to struggle with the new status quo.

"I don't feel well either", he said before he shoved his plate away from him, stood up and left the room as well. The rest of them finished their dinner in silence.

Kaito volunteered to wash the dishes afterwards. He often found that the mundane routine of housework worked wonders for his psyche. It helped him to center himself while he tried to come to come up with a way to help Rin. Meiko was on drying duty and stood next to him as he scrubbed away at the plates, glasses and frying pans. He felt her glance pensively at him a few times before she spoke up.

"Kaito, do you know something about… whatever is going on?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah…"

"But you can't tell me?"

"No."

She put her hand on his back and he looked at her.

"You'll figure it out", she said reassuringly. It wasn't like her to be so unconditionally supportive towards him. He'd expected her to chew him out or at least serve him a big ol' scoop of tough love, but all she did was give him a light pat before she went back to drying the dishes. It might've been just what he needed.

Later that evening, he went to Rin's room and knocked on the door before he could talk himself out of it.

"Who is it?" he heard her call.

"It's me, Kaito."

"…You can come in."

He opened the door. Rin was sitting on her bed, her back facing him as she gazed out the window. The only source of light was a small lamp on her bedstead, the rest of the room was shrouded in gloom. She didn't turn to look at him when he entered the room and closed the door again, neither when he drew near to her, the floorboards creaking slightly underneath his feet. He stopped moving once he was within an arm's length of her, standing awkwardly by the side of the bed.

"Are you still angry at me?" he asked. She shook her head.

"You were in a difficult position, I get it. You didn't want me to get hurt."

He pointed to the spot beside her. "Is it okay if I sit?"

She nodded, but still didn't look at him, even as he sat and his weight on the mattress made her slide closer to him. He observed her with apprehension, concerned about her vacant, dull-eyed expression. This was somehow worse than seeing her all torn up a few days ago. Her intense emotional outbursts was at least something he'd seen before, but this apathetic person sitting next to him didn't resemble the Rin he knew at all.

"Rin-chan… Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" he wondered. He didn't know what else to say.

"No", she said flatly. "You shouldn't bother with me. I'm just a stupid girl getting myself into stupid situations."

She laughed. It was a hollow, hideous sound.

"Don't say things like that", he said, grabbing her shoulder as he tried to turn her towards him. "What happened… it's not your fault."

She looked at him then, her face still empty of emotion. "He said he loved me, you know, and I believed him I told him I loved him too and I then slept with him. Isn't that the stupidest thing you've ever heard?"

He could't do much but stare at her, desperately trying to grasp what she was telling him.

"But then I when those texts", she continued in the same monotone voice, "I thought, 'who is this person? I don't know who this is. There's no way he could do something like that, not to me'. So what do I know, really? I'm in love with a guy who called me a slut behind my back."

She turned her face back to the window. Kaito felt his initial shock fading somewhat and he scrambled to collect his thoughts. He wasn't getting through to her. She'd shut herself off, stowed away her feelings somewhere deep within her. He had to take a different approach.

"Am I no good then?" he wondered. She turned again and finally, finally, something stirred in her eyes. She blinked and her brows knitted together.

"What… do you mean?"

"I didn't ask you out on a whim", he said, smiling sadly as reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "I asked you out because I… I'm in love with you. I love you, with all of my heart. I should've told you so much sooner, then maybe you wouldn't have needed to go through all of this. But I'm telling you now, so… do you want to be with me?"

Rin shrunk back, crawling away from him as tears surfaced in her eyes. In a sense, it was a relief to see her cry again, to know his words was having an effect on her. However, the response she gave him wasn't the one he'd wanted to hear.

"No, Kaito", she said, "you don't want me. You're so lovely and you deserve someone better than me, someone who would choose you first. Don't you understand? I didn't do that. Everything I wanted to give to you, I gave to him."

Her face crumpled and she broke into a fit of sobs. She tried to cover her face with her hands but he grabbed onto her wrists, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"Nothing that happened between you and him changes the way I feel about you", he told her. "You're still you. You're still Rin. You're kind, clever, talented, funny and beautiful and I love you all the same."

She stared at him and Kaito realized suddenly that he was leaning towards her, pulling her close. He kissed her so gently his lips barely brushed over hers. Rin trembled against him and he released her wrists to cup her face, pressing on a bit more decidedly, a bit more insistently. His mind flooded with the sensation of her soft, supple lips as he shut his eyes, surrendering himself fully to her. But he didn't have time to savor any of it, before her hands were on his shoulders, carefully yet firmly pushing him back.

"I'm sorry, Kaito", she whimpered, looking at him with those beautiful blue eyes. "I can't… It's too late. I… I'm not in love with you anymore."

His arms fell to the side as she twisted away from him and buried her face in her pillow, bursting into tears once more. He made a few tame attempts console her, but whenever he touched her or tried to speak to her, she only seemed to cry harder. Ultimately, he decided to cut his losses and got up from her bed, leaving the room without looking back. He shut the door behind him and his knees immediately went weak. He leaned his back against the wall and focused on breathing, fighting to swallow the lump in his throat while her words reverberated through his head.

"I'm not in love with you anymore."

She'd been chasing after him for so many years, and now, when he finally turned around to face her, she was already walking away from him, following another in his stead. Wasn't that just his luck?

"Kaito-nii… are you okay?"

Kaito turned his head and saw Len peering at him through the doorway to his room. He edged closer, looking uncertain and confused, and his eyes darted to his sister's door. They could both hear her muffled sobbing from the other side. Almost instinctively, Kaito reached out and ruffled Len's hair, hoping to encourage, comfort — anything really. All he could think about was how tall and broad-shouldered Len had become, seemingly overnight. Why was the time always moving so fast?

"You should go to her", Kaito said, nodding towards Rin's room "She needs you."

Len wavered for a moment, his gaze riddled with doubt, but it wasn't long before he seemed to find his resolve. He straightened up and went for the handle, opening the door without even knocking first. Rin sat up as he entered the room, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"You don't have to tell me anything", Len said to her. "I just… want to be here for you."

And as if he'd said the magic words, Rin leapt out of the bed and threw herself into her brother's open arms. He caught her and held her close, both of them spinning with the momentum, embracing to each other so tightly it was hard to tell where one of them ended and the other one began.

"I'm sorry for pushing you away lately. You know I'm nothing without you", Rin said and nuzzled into Len's shoulder.

"And I'm nothing without you", he murmured and kissed her hair. Kaito left them to it, his heart feeling a little lighter. It seemed like he'd managed to do something good today after all. But he couldn't let himself rest, not just yet. There was still one more difficult conversation he had to take care of.

He made his way downstairs and went to the living room, finding Meiko and Luka hunkered down on the couch for the evening.

"Mei-chan, does anyone need to use the car tonight?" he wondered. Meiko shrugged.

"Not as far as I know."

"Alright. I'm going out for a while. I don't know when I'll be back."

"Okay! Don't run over anyone!" she yelled as he turned and doubled back to the hallway. He grabbed the car keys from the sideboard, stepping into his shoes and shrugging a jacket on before he went outside. He got into the car and was just fastening his seatbelt when the door to the passenger's seat opened. Miku got in and slammed the door shut. She was angry, very angry.

"Where are you going?" she demanded rather than asked. Kaito really wasn't in the mood for arguing with her. He started biting on his thumbnail, but caught himself and stopped. Stupid bad habit.

"If you must know, I'm going to see my brother", he said defensively. "I need to figure out how all of this happened. I need to fix it."

"No, you don't", Miku snapped. "Didn't I tell you to wait? Rin-chan will get over him eventually."

"She told me she's in love with him."

"Yeah, well, Rin-chan has terrible taste in men."

Kaito winced and gave her a wounded look. "Ouch."

Still, she refused to yield. "Kaito, I swear to God, I will never speak to you again if you do this."

He stared at her, not sure whether to believe her or not. He knew the situation was rough on her, as well as it was on him, but he hadn't expected her to oppose him to this extent. He got that awfully familiar feeling that he was missing something, that there was a piece to the puzzle somewhere outside of his reach.

"I… I just think everyone deserves a second chance", he said, trying to stand his ground. "Besides, this is my brother we're talking about."

"That's the thing!" Miku exclaimed, exasperation clinging to her voice. "If it was any other guy who hurt Rin-chan like that, you wouldn't be doing this, would you?"

"No, but I'm still doing this for her. I want her to be happy", Kaito muttered, but she was having none of it. She shook her head furiously, jabbing her finger at him.

"No, you're doing it for yourself. You're acting like you're the only one who cares about her, like you're the one who knows what's best for her. But you're not! We all care about her, Kaito! What happens to her affects all of us! Why is it so hard for you to understand that? I can't let you do this. I… I can't bear to see her like that again!"

It was in the painful wake following her flare-up that Kaito realized it. The look of absolute desperation on Miku's face as her her eyes watered and she slumped against the car seat, resigned to the woes of her heart.

"Oh ", was all he could say, flushing at the insight. "You too?"

She didn't answer. She stared out the window, her lips tightly pressed together, her hands balled into fists as she sniffled.

"So what's your excuse?" he asked her. "Why haven't you told her?"

"I'm her best friend", she said bitterly. "I can't afford to take that risk."

"To be honest, I always thought you liked Len."

"Len's a sweet guy but he has one fatal flaw."

"What's that?"

"He's a guy."

"Ah… right. I should've guessed."

Kaito ran out of things to say and a leaden silence descended upon the two of them. It lingered on for an entire minute before Miku gave a frustrated sigh.

"Obviously, you won't listen to me, so… I'll let you go on one condition."

"Okay…" he said hesitantly. "What's the the condition?

"I'm coming with you", she replied. "I want to hear what he has to say for himself."

—

It was getting late when they arrived at Akaito's house. Kaito parked the car by the curb and looked to his brother's residence. The windows facing the street were completely dark.

"Maybe he isn't home?" Miku mused aloud. "You should call him."

He pulled up his phone and did just that. The signals were going through. He waited for what felt like an eternity, but there was no answer.

"There, look!" Miku exclaimed, pointing towards on of the windows. There was a dim blue light there now. Akaito's phone was clearly inside the house, but why wasn't he picking up the call? Was the phone on mute again? Did he just refuse to answer out of stubbornness? Or maybe… had something happened to him?

"I'm going to check the door", Kaito said and got out of the car. His body felt cold and rigid as he made his made to the front door, his heart racing with worry. He pressed his index finger down on the doorbell, hearing its chime resound through the house. Nothing happened. He rang the doorbell again and again and again until Miku grabbed his hand and he turned his head to her.

"It's not locked", she said, opening the door. He hurried inside, kicking off his shoes before he went searching through the house with a frantic sense of urgency. He went to the living room first, turning on the lights as he came into the room. He found Akaito's phone lying on the coffee table but no sign of Akaito himself. He wasn't in the adjacent kitchen area either, but there was a concerning amount of medical supplies strewn about the floor.

"I've checked the bathroom", Miku said as she came up beside him. "He's not there."

Kaito gave her a hard-set nod and they went together up the stairs towards the bedroom, arriving at a closed door. Kaito stood before it, listening for sounds, anything that would suggest his brother was in there, but he couldn't hear anything. Fearfully, he lifted his hand and knocked twice.

"Akaito? Are you in there?" he called. Miku glanced at him as he pressed his ear to the door and listened again. Then, there was something. Not quite a spoken word, but something like a grunt or a whimper. Unable to stay put any longer, Kaito opened the door.

The room was pitch black and it took a few moments before his eyes got used to the dark. The only movement he spotted came from Akaito's bed, a slight shift under the comforter, and approached carefully, hearing his brother's strained breathing now that he was getting close.

"Akaito?" he said again, gently lifting the comforter. Akaito's scarlet eyes gazed up at him, but they were glassy and unable to focus. His skin was clammy with sweat and so pale it was nearly translucent. Akaito emitted a pained groan, before he curled up, turning his face into the pillow. Kaito sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on his brother's back.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, keeping his voice low.

"It's my head", Akaito whined. "It hurts so fucking much…"

"We should go to the hospital", Kaito said. "You need to see a doctor."

Akaito gave a barely noticeable shake of the head. "No, it's fine. It'll pass… soon enough."

"It's clearly not fine!" Kaito exclaimed and Akaito clamped his hands over his ears.

"Don't be so loud", he hissed and let out another groan.

"It's probably a migraine", Miku said. Kaito had almost forgotten she was there.

"Why do you think that?" he asked. She gave a noncommittal shrug.

"He's got a headache and he's hypersensitive to light and sound. Those are pretty typical symptoms. Does he have any history of migraines?"

"Um… I don't actually know…" Kaito looked to his brother. "Has this happened before, Akaito?"

"Y-Yeah", Akaito grumbled, "but it's never been this bad."

Miku tapped one finger onto her lips. "Well… stress is a common trigger for migraines, so I guess you do have a conscience after all. Or maybe this is just karma?"

"Shut up", came another hiss from Akaito. "You don't know… anything."

"I know that you should be ashamed of yourself", she growled, "and you deserve to suffer after what you did to Rin-chan!"

"Miku, please", Kaito sighed, trying to diffuse the rapidly building tension. "If this is a migraine, is there anything I can do to help him, or do we just wait it out?"

She gave him a look that seemed to channel all of her revulsion towards the thought of helping Akaito.

"For now, I think all he can do is endure it", she said reluctantly. "Over-the-counter painkillers might help at the onset of an attack, but if those aren't working for him, he should really go see a doctor soon so that he can get a prescription."

"How do you know these things?" Kaito wondered, impressed by the range of her knowledge. She shrugged again and a little smile appeared on her lips.

"I browse the internet a lot in my free time. I like to be well-informed."

Akaito gave a grunt that sounded like "show-off", but luckily, Miku didn't seem to hear him. Kaito stood up and hinted at her to follow him out of the room. He closed the door behind them and lead her back downstairs.

"You should go back home", he said and handed over the car keys. "I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on him overnight. I know you came here for a reason, but I don't think he's very talkative right now."

"Sure. It's not like I want to stick around here the whole night", she muttered."But Kaito… why are you even bothering with him? Aren't you angry at him? I don't get how you're just fine with what he did all of a sudden."

"I'm not fine with it", Kaito answered softly, "but he's my little brother. It's my responsibility to make sure he's okay. Thank you, by the way, for… everything."

Miku splayed her hands and shook her head. "You guys would be lost without me."

"You bet", he responded, smiling a genuine smile for the first time that day. But then she gave him an odd look and his smile faltered a little.

"Don't push yourself too much, Kaito", she said. "I know I basically called you selfish earlier, but you're really anything but that. You're always doing so much for everyone else. You need to look after yourself once in a while too."

He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't think I know how to do that though…"

Miku pulled him into a sudden hug, brief but tight enough to squeeze the breath out of him.

"Of course you don't. You're an idiot", she said with a lopsided smile. "I'll check up on Rin-chan for you when I get back."

She took on her shoes and was just about to head out the when Kaito grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Although he knew it was probably highly insensitive, he couldn't keep himself from wondering. He wanted to know, even if he wouldn't like the answer.

"How long?" he asked. "How long has it been… since you fell in love with her?"

She turned her head away from him. He could sense the change in her stance as she gave pause, before she exhaled heavily, as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"It doesn't matter", she said. "I never stood a chance, anyway. But, if she were with you… at least I'd know she'd be well taken care of."

"I'm afraid she rejected me", Kaito answered, letting out a woeful, self-pitying laugh. Miku whipped around and stared at him, so appalled and disheartened she was speechless for a few seconds. It was quite touching how bad she felt for him.

"Oh no… Kaito. I'm so sorry, I really am."

He let go of her arm and stepped back, lowering his head. "Don't be. I honestly don't think it would've worked out. I mean, she's six, almost seven, years younger than me. If it had gotten out that we were dating… I think you could guess what would've happened."

"I would've backed you up, and so would the others", she told him, with that absolute certainty only she could muster. "Sure, it would've been hard, but Rin-chan would've fought tooth and nail for you if she so had to. She's… not the one to give up on the ones she loves so easily."

He met her gaze again and they stood there for a moment, wallowing in how miserably in love they were, before they looked up the staircase. Kaito wagered they were most likely thinking the very same thing — Akaito didn't know how lucky he was.