X-x-X-x-G-U-M-I-X-x-X-x

'Do you want some warm milk before you go to bed; I know it always helps me sleep.' Rin suggested, going in the fridge and pulling out a carton of milk. Gumi watched her as she heated the milk in a pot over the oven. After a few seconds, Rin poured the milk into a little glass, and passed it to Gumi. Gumi drank it. It was very nice, and it made her feel very drowsy. Rin smiled softly at her, and scooped Gumi up in her arms. She carried Gumi out of the kitchen, and Gumi was now beginning to be drift off to sleep. But she was determined to stay awake. They arrived at Rin's room. Rin opened the door with her elbow, and Gumi saw that Rin's room was white and orange. Rin still had her bedside lamp on, the light from the lamp was making Gumi even more drowsy.

'Onee-chan...?' asked Gumi sleepily. Rin set her down on Rin's bed, and pulled the covers over her gently, like Rin was worried that Gumi would snap if she did it too quickly. She had a sad look in her eyes. But why was she looking at her that way for?

'I just need to go to the bathroom to put my pajamas on, I'll be back in ten.' said Rin softly. Gumi grabbed her hand. Gumi didn't want her to go, and to leave her on her own so that man could touch her the same way Daddy used to. The man had Daddy's eyes, one second they can be all nice, and then they could be very scary the next.

'Get changed in here, onee-chan. I'll close my eyes so I won't embarrass you.' said Gumi. She was telling the truth after all. Rin sighed, and let go of Gumi's hand.

'OK, fine, but no peeking now, or else you're going back into your own room with Prima and Miko.' added Rin sternly. Gumi covered her eyes with the bed cover, humming the song Gumo would sing to her. It was called "Kagome, Kagome". Gumi missed her onii-chan a lot. Daddy got angry at Gumo because he got the wrong type of beer for him, and hit him seven times in the head with a crowbar. Gumi asked the doctors where he was because Mommy was worried about him. They just said that he was sleeping, and that he'd wake up very soon. But she remembered that time when Grammy Aimi died, and Mommy said that she was in a very deep sleep and wouldn't wake up for a long time. Gumi knew that Gumo was in the same sleep. She remembered seeing that big box he was in going down in the mud. She didn't know why they had to cover him up with mud. It was just pointless to her. That was only a week ago as well.

'OK, move along and let me in, you're taking up all the space.' whispered Rin. She was wearing an orange shirt with white trousers, and now her pretty bunny ears were gone. Gumi scooted along the bed to give Rin some room. Rin climbed in the bed and turned so that her back was facing Gumi. Gumo would always sleep with Gumi when Mommy was being beaten by Daddy. He'd hold her close, sung that song he'd always sing and stay with her until she was asleep. Gumi hugged Rin's back for comfort. Rin jumped slightly, and turned to face Gumi.

'What's the matter?' asked Rin. Gumi shook her head.

'Nothing onee-chan, I just thought that you are a lot like my onii-chan Gumo.' replied Gumi. She was telling the truth: Rin had that niceness and the same gentleness like Gumo.

'I never knew you had a brother.' Rin said in surprise.

'He died a long time ago.' said Gumi. Rin looked sad then, and hugged Gumi close to her whilst saying sorry. She hugged Gumi the same way Gumo did, her arms wrapped over her like a rope. Rin started humming a song. It didn't sound anything like "Kagome, Kagome" at all, it sounded more… beautiful.

'What's that song called?' asked Gumi, slightly intrigued.

'It's called "Proof of Life". My mommy would always sing it to me to get me to sleep.' replied Rin, yawning a little.

'Can you teach me how to sing it?' asked Gumi.

'Maybe tomorrow when I come home from school.' replied Rin with a smile. Gumi held onto Rin tightly as she carried on singing that song to her. A song of an impatient wait for spring, the sound of the chains of life, a rotting fate, winters passing by, a scary, painful and lonely darkness, not being alone, connected hearts, wanting to sing a gentle song, wanting to leave behind a proof of a life, a warm hands embrace, hands that said "I love you", not wanting to sing a sad song, a last wish to laugh and to sing a gentle song, a song dedication, and to say thank you in a last moment. Gumi fell asleep after the song. It was a really sad song, but the way Rin was singing it was very soothing and peaceful…

Gumi woke up in the middle of the night from her dreams of Gumo to hear Rin whimpering softly. Gumi looked up at Rin's face. Her expression was fearful and horrified, shaking madly. Her eyes were still closed. Maybe Rin was having a bad dream.

'Onee-chan?' asked Gumi softly. Rin shook her head fearfully.

'P-please, d-don't hurt daddy… M-mommy, why is daddy not moving… M-mommy, don't leave me… P-please mister, I-I'll do what you w-want, but don't k-kill mommy… Mommy, make them stop touching me… s-stop it mister…' whimpered Rin, hugging herself. Gumi frowned: why did Rin sound like a little kid? She poked Rin in the stomach a few times. But Rin didn't wake up.

'I-it hurts, mister… Mommy, w-why won't you w-wake up… no, no… MOMMY WAKE UP, EVERYTHING'S BURNING, WAKE UP!' cried Rin, tears rolling down her cheeks. She started to scratch and dig into her arms with her sharp nails, making her weird zigzag scars bleed. Gumi grabbed her shoulders and shook her as hard as she could. Rin screamed. Gumi started to cry a little bit. The door swung open. Gumi looked up to see the blonde woman, who was panting slightly. Lily seemed to have run to get to Rin's room. The lady rushed towards Rin and held her in her arms as Rin continued to scratch herself and scream at the top of her lungs.

'Shh, its OK sweetie, it's OK…' cooed Lily, tears rolling down her cheeks. Rin calmed down after a while, but now she was crying hard, her eyes were still screwed shut. Maybe she was still dreaming.

'Onee-sama, you're scaring me!' whimpered Gumi. Rin's eyes snapped, and the crying stopped suddenly. Her eyes looked frightened, like she had just woken up from a very long nightmare. Tears streamed down her cheeks again, but Rin just hugged Gumi and carried on crying. Lily left after a few minutes, because Rin seemed to have fallen asleep after crying. But then Rin started whimpering again. Gumi shook Rin's shoulders. Her eyes opened quickly.

'Should I get that lady again, onee-chan?' asked Gumi softly. Rin looked at her with fearful eyes.

'No! Gumi, please, don't tell anyone about this!' Rin begged softly. Gumi thought about it. That lady did say that Gumi should tell her if anything was upsetting her, and the way Rin was acting a few minutes ago was really upsetting her. But Gumi nodded. She didn't want to see Rin sad anymore. Rin hugged Gumi and started crying again.

'I'm so sorry, Gumi…' murmured Rin after ten minutes of non-stop crying. Rin held Gumi so tight that Gumi couldn't even breathe much. But Gumi didn't mind. It made her feel warm inside, the same feeling she felt when Gumo was alive. The warm feeling was making Gumi even sleepier.

'Onee-chan…' Gumi muttered. Rin looked at her, a very sleepy look in her eyes and across her face.

'Uh-huh… what is it?' asked Rin, yawning. Gumi nuzzled her head in Rin's chest.

'Can I sleep in here with you?' Gumi asked. There was a pause, and Gumi was worried if Rin would say no to her. But she felt Rin stroking her hair softly, hugging her tighter.

'Of course you can, Gumi… stay as long… as you… want…' Rin's voice trailed away, and was replaced with deep, peaceful breathing. Gumi smiled to herself and drifted off to sleep again…

'Useless piece of shit, that's what you are!' Daddy yelled at Gumo, throwing stones at him. Gumo dodged every single stone, but one scratched his face. Mommy was holding Gumi tightly, trying to cover her eyes from what was happening, but Gumi was still able to see what was going on. They were in the now destroyed sitting room.

'D-Dad, just calm down, I'm sorry, they didn't have your beer in stock!' Gumo cried, abandoning the cans of beer. Mommy stood up slowly. She moved towards Daddy, but he just kept hitting her. Gumi sat in the corner crying. What could she do? She didn't know why Daddy was always so angry at them all. Whilst Daddy started kicking Mommy, who was now on the floor crying, Gumo made his way towards Gumi. But Daddy saw him.

'OH NO YOU DON'T, YOU SON OF A BITCH!' Daddy bellowed. Daddy stopped kicking Mommy and grabbed the crowbar from the coffee table. Daddy whacked Gumo over the head with it hard. Gumo fell to the floor with a thud, groaning in pain. Gumi started to crawl towards him.

'Onii-chan…' whimpered Gumi, tears falling down her cheeks. Gumo gave her a weak cheeky grin and laughed a little.

That seemed to have just made Daddy angrier. He yelled in fury and hit Gumo over the head again. He did it again, and again, and again… Gumi just watched in horror as Mommy screamed for Daddy to stop hurting him.

'C'mon then, get up!' Daddy barked after hitting Gumo for the seventh time. Gumo didn't respond. He laid still, the back of his head covered in blood, his neck covered in bruises. Daddy kicked Gumo in the side hard. But Gumo didn't move. Daddy went pale, and dropped the bloodstained crowbar. Daddy backed away from Gumo quickly and ran out. Gumi waited, just in case Daddy came back. Then she crawled towards Gumo and started to shake him by the shoulders. But he didn't even respond to that. Gumi moved Gumo's head so that he was facing her. His eyes were still open, but the little glittering light in his eyes were gone. His pale green eyes were unfocused and glazed over, his green hair was now covered in blood. Gumi started to cry over Gumo. She wanted him to wake up, but she didn't like this prank that he was playing on her. Mommy started crying as well, but Gumo didn't move. Gumi felt a sudden cold shiver go through her. But then she felt warm arms wrapping around her gently, and she could hear someone saying something-

Gumi woke up crying, the sun shining in her face brightly, and making Gumi squint. Rin was shushing her softly whilst hugging her closely.

'It's OK; it was just a nasty nightmare. Your daddy won't hurt you anymore.' whispered Rin. Gumi looked down. It was Rin's arms that were around her that woke her up then. Gumi closed her eyes again. She could get use to sleeping with Rin.

Just as long as she didn't have any more nightmares about that night with Daddy and Gumo.