"If I somehow get pregnant a second time only a month after I get pregnant the first time, I swear to God, I will kill you, Kagamine – "

"Hey, you said you were six weeks late when you first told me, didn't you? By all accounts girls don't get their periods while they're pregnant. So you don't have anything to worry about."

"In some cases – "

Len silenced her with a kiss. He pulled away, false anger on his face. "Don't you 'in some cases me', missy," he teased. Rin snickered and lightly smacked him before turning over, Len's blanket pulled tightt over her chest. She sighed and closed her eyes. She wanted to sleep, but it was still daylight. She reveled in the feeling of Len wrapping his arms around her waist. She snuggled into him and smiled when she felt his lips brush her back and shoulders.

Rin opened her eyes and looked at the clock on Len's nightstand. "Aw, damn," she muttered. Len continued to kiss her in random places.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice muffled against her skin.

"I've gotta get dressed. . .Luka was gonna go with me to my first obstetrician appointment... The appointment is at 3:15 and it's 2:47," she groaned.

Len propped himself up on one elbow. "What's an obnoxiotrician?"

Rin snorted and burst out laughing.

"OBSTEtrician, Len," she choked out with great difficulty. "it's a baby doctor, basically. They watch the baby while it grows to make sure that everything falls into place correctly."

"Can I go with you?"

"No! It's. . .kind of…a personal thing. . ." she stuttered, panicked.

"Aww. . ."

Rin grinned, lifting his spirits. "I'll let you go with me when I go in for my first ultrasound, though, how's that?"

Len's eyes sparkled with nearly naïve delight. Rin sighed. "I have to get ready, Len."

"One more kiss before you go."

"You're so annoying," Rin murmured as she turned toward him. She let him get close enough to touch his lips to hers, but just barely. She pulled away the second their lips came into the slightest contact, and Len whimpered in complaint. Rin smiled and started to get up when Len bolted upright and pushed his lips to hers.

"You know I hate it when you tease me," he mumbled.

"You had it comin', baby."

"So what exactly are you coming in for, Rin?" Luka asked, her voice down as she flipped through a magazine.

Rin shrugged. "I dunno. I would assume it's just a meet and greet with the doctor since it's so early."

"Kagamine?" a nurse called.

Rin's heartstarted racing. She knew there was no reason to be afraid, but she still was.

"Hey, Rin, you gonna go?" Luka nudged the blond seated next to her. Rin nodded hastily and stood. "Yeah, I'm going."

Rin and Luka followed the nurse back into the clinic. She led them into a room with an examination table, a regular table, and three chairs.

"So. . .why didn't you bring Len along?" Luka inquired as the nurse left the room. Rin sat down in one of the chairs.

"Because he'd totally lose his head. He's finally adjusted to the fact that we're having a baby and can't wait to be a father." Rin hung her head ans sighed. "I don't have the heart to tell him that this isn't what I wanted."

Luka's eyes widened as she looked at the steel plate on the door. It read "Abortion Consultation Room 2". Her mouth dropped open.

"Rin, you're not gonna kill it, are you?"

"I don't really have a choice."

"Rin, abortion is the exact same thing as murder! Your mother wasn't married when she got pregnant with you, so based on what you seem to believe, she could have aborted you because she hadn't wanted a baby! But she didn't, Rin!" Tears flooded Luka's eyes as she turned and took both of Rin's hands, squeezing them. "Rin," she pleaded. "Don't abort the baby. How are you gonna tell Len?"

Rin looked down. "I'll tell him I miscarried."

"You're not that good of a liar."

"With Len, I am."

"Rin, please, think this through!"

"Luka, it's not like I'm getting the abortion today! I'm just getting the paperwork I need. It takes time to fill out, so I have to take it home and make sure everything is in order. I'll be bringing it back during my next appointment."

". . .Rin, this baby isn't just a blob of tissue." Rin looked up at the pink-haired girl in front of her. "It's a part of you. . ." she paused. ". . .and a part of Len. You kill it, you kill a little bit of yourself and him."

She had a point. Rin felt her heart lurch painfully at the thought of hurting Len like that. Before she could respond, a woman dressed in what was obviously a very expensive, modern suit walked into the room.

"Good day," she greeted cheerfully, her eyes sparkling behind her black wireframe glasses. Her flowing chestnut hair cascaded over her shoulders in lazy, elegant curls. A pin adorned with a green gemstone flower held her bangs out of her face, matching the satin top peeking out from behind the lapels of her charcoal blazer. The heels of her black pumps clacked against the hardwood floor. She held her hand out first to Luka and then to Rin, smiling the whole time. "My name is Akiha Kobayashi, I'll be your doctor during the procedure," she said to Rin.

'Awfully chipper and well-dressed for what Luka just told me is a baby-killer,' Rin mused. She shook the woman's hand then settled back in her seat, her heart pounding with indecision.

"Like we discussed over the phone, an abortion takes a lot of paperwork, so today I'll be giving you the forms to fill out and you can bring them back at your next appointment to finalize your decision. Then we'll schedule a day to begin the procedure." She smiled, as though to reassure Rin before setting a briefcase on the table and opening it. She pulled a folder from inside the case and pushed it across the table toward Rin.

"I know it seems like a lot, Kagamine-san, but it's mostly reading, really. I advise you to read all of it, because in the unlikely event that something goes wrong, we don't want the blood on our hands."

Luka pulled the folder to herself to look at the papers inside. She leafed through them, her aura growing darker and darker with each passing second. Rin shivered as she noticed Luka's eyes growing colder than she was comfortable with. Dr. Kobayashi, however, didn't seem to notice.

"I know it seems like it was kind of a waste of time, but that's all we have to do today," she bubbled. "Before you leave, talk to the receptionist so she can schedule another consultation with me. Rest assured, the procedure is harmless to you. A few days after it's finished, you'll need to take it easy, but after that, you'll be able to go about your life like nothing ever happened."

Rin stood. "Arigatou, Kobayashi-san," she murmured as Luka ushered her out of the room. Soon afterward, as Rin and Luka got back into the car to return home, Luka turned and grabbed Rin's shoulders.

"Rin, you've got to think about this. Look at the real consequences of an abortion. Physical and emotional. I said it earlier, and I'll say it again. It won't affect just you. It'll destroy Len."

Rin shook Luka's hands away and looked down at the folder in her lap. "I know. I'm thinking about it."

Rin lay on her bed in tears. Luka had asked her to listen to the testimonies of women all over the world who had had abortions, and she knew she wouldn't be able to go through with it. Many of the women she'd listened to had attempted suicide on more than one occasion while others found themselves unable to have children again. One man who spoke admitted that he'd instigated his girlfriend's abortion and now his decision had become his greatest regret. If Rin aborted her baby, she knew she would never be able to live with herself. And what if she and Len decided they wanted children later and she was rendered infertile? That would hurt even more.

"I can't do this. . ." she sobbed into her pillow. She heard a knock at her door and groaned.

"Leave me alone. . .I don't feel like talking right now," she called, her voice thick. The door opened a crack, allowing the light from the hallway to flood inside. Len poked his head inside. "Rin-Rin. . ." he called softly.

Rin opened her eyes and found herself slightly amused by Len's sillhouette. His usual ponytail had somehow stood on end, and every time he moved his head it flopped a different direction, reminding her of a dog's tail. It wasn't enough to cheer her up, however, so she dropped her head back to the pillow and buried her face in it, ignoring Len. She heard his soft footsteps approaching her and her lamp clicked on, shedding a dim light on everything around it. Her bed sank a bit as Len sat down beside her and pulled her hair behind her ears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice low as he ran his fingers through her hair, gold as sunlight. Rin didn't respond. Len pressed a breathtakingly gentle kiss to the skin behind her ear, sat back up and comfortingly rubbed her back.

He looked down at the floor and noticed a folder with a thick ream of paper poking out. He picked the folder up and looked at the heading on the first paper just in time to hear Rin protest.

"Len, don't read those!"

But it was too late.

"Rin. . ." he muttered. "what is this?" he asked, his voice filling with anger and confusion. Rin refused to look at him. She only looked at the heading of the paper. ABORTION CONSENT FORM.

"Rin," he repeated, his voice a little more intense. "what the fuck is this?" Rin noticed her tears dropping to her jeans. She remained silent for a moment.

"I. . ."

"What?"

Rin winced at the anger in his voice. "I. . .I was going to get an abortion. . .I didn't think we could handle a baby, Len!" She looked up at him and felt her chest constrict even more when she saw the heartbroken expression on his face.

"Len, I thought it would be best for both of us! We have no money and. . .and we're only sixteen! We're not fit to be parents, Le – "

She was caught off guard as Len's hand collided with her cheek. Her eyes widened as she held her hand to her slowly-bruising cheek, her sadness gone and replaced with shock. Len had slapped her. He'd never hit her before – at least, not like that. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at Len in disbelief. His eyes flared with his anger for a moment before he seemed to realize what he'd done. His eyes softened and tears began to fill them as he reached to Rin to pull her close to him. "Rin I'm sor – "

Rin pushed him away. "Don't touch me," she cried, her sadness having returned. Len's face fell as he looked down at Rin's orange-patterned comforter. "You didn't even listen to my whole story, Len! I decided that I wasn't going to go through with it! The thought of hurting you like that made me change my mind!" Rin choked up and hunched over, crying again. She let Len wrap his arms around her to comfort her while she cried.

"I'm sorry, Rin. I. . .I don't know what came over me. . ." he kissed her hair. "I hope you'll forgive me."

"I'll think about it." Rin replied, burying her face into his chest.

"I'm just. . .horrified that you wanted to end its life before it even got to live it," he whispered, continuing to console Rin and himself by playing with her hair. Rin felt herself calming and gripped his shirt for a sense of security.

"I was afraid. Afraid and acting on impulse, Len. I'm gonna call and cancel my appointment tomorrow and mail the consent form back to the clinic. I've got to – WE'VE got to pick a doctor for me to see during my pregnancy. I'm not leaving you out of the loop this time."

Len smiled. "Can we start all over? Forget this ever happened?" he asked, pulling away to look her in the face. "Oh, look at what I did to you!" he nearly sobbed at the sight of the ugly bruise he'd given her and rested his head on her shoulder. Rin held him close to her.

"We can forget, I'll say I tripped on the stairs when people ask about the bruise." She gave Len the same treatment he gave her and tangled her fingers in his hair. "Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt that much anymore.

"But the fact of the matter is that it hurt initially. I still hurt you."

"Len," Rin chuckled. "You hurt me every time I have sex with you. It doesn't bother you then. Just don't hit a pregnant girl again, okay?"

Len kissed her again, his face still showing his hesitance to accept her forgiveness. "Rin, you can slap me back and call me any name you want now, just so you know."

Rin smirked and patted his cheek. "You're sweet," she whispered. "There, I slapped you and called you a name."

Len smiled and tousled her hair as he pulled her to his chest in a childlike manner. "Just one reason why I love you, Rin."