Chapter 2
*Len POV
A simple game of tag... not quite.
A simple, easy mission... you could say that.
A simple, quick assasination... technically.
A simple, stealthy kill... ugh.
I sighed, knowing that I wasn't making things any better for myself. The concrete underneath me dug into my palms and knees, and the belt on my side held knives and guns that rubbed against my side. I looked down at the street from where I perched on top of a two story abandoned building and picked through the empty cars, trying to find a sign of life.
Suddenly a door slammed open to my left and I whipped my head around to see a round man in a black suit walk out the back door of a bar. Perfect, he was drunk. I slunk along the cold concrete to the far edge of the roof top while sizing up the man's body gaurds. Three in all, not including my target.
His name was unknown to me, the only information they gave was a picture sent into my database. He was labaeled as 'Target 68', as if I needed to know. As if reminding me how many people I've killed is going to make me any more precise in my killings.
I disgust myself.
My foot touched the edge of the building and I snapped out from my thoughts. The men were now almost directly below me, and I had perfect shots at evry one of them. I silently pulled a gun from my side and crouched up on the edge of the building. My aim was perfect and known well amongst the VOCALOID group, this should be easy...
Or so I thought.
Out of nowhere, my vision started to go hazy, and heat rushed up to block out my senses. I began to slouch over to one side, but I caught myself by reaching out and slapping my hands on the ground. The gun that was in my hands clanged loudly against the floor and I could faintly hear commotion below me. I tried to push myself up, but instead my arms simply collapsed beneath me and I fell to the floor.
For a few seconds, I struggled pointlessly against the wave of fatigue washing over me. But when the sharp pain in my chest returned, I gasped loudly and blacked out.
*Narrator POV
"Rin! Hey!"
She looked up at the door.
"Open up already, you've been in there for an hour!"
Rin blinked and sat up in the water, making the bubbles fan out across the tub. Steam clogged the bathroom and fogged up the huge mirror set against the wall across from the sink. The small girl in the bath tub sighed and heaved herself out, letting the water drip onto the teal mat.
"I'm going already!" Rin yelled back to her impatient friend waiting outside the door and pulled a towel down from the shelves to her left.
Miku huffed and began to pace beside the door, but kept silent. From inside the bathroom, Rin rubbed her blonde, matted hair until it was relatively dry and wrapped the towl around her thin body. She grabbed a comb on her way out and pulled open the door.
"Fianll- OMG!" Miku jumped back and waved her arms in front of her face. "Steam much, Rin?"
"Sorry." Rin mumbled and pushed past her friend to the dressing table where they had been just hours before.
The party had been amazing. The food was great, the music was great, River was great, and the special performance was absolutely fantastic. Rin had never experienced a VOCALOID performance before, and was astounded by Len's powerful voice.
But something still confused her.
"Have you decided what movie we're going to watch in that super long bath of yours?" Miku asked.
"Hmm... hmmm..." Rin combed through her hair and stared at her reflection. "Hmmm...!"
"If that's all you're going to say, I'll pick out one myself!"
"Huh?" Rin looked up as her friend walked out of the room, calling a 'good-bye' behind her.
Hair smooth and damp, Rin sighed and plopped down on Miku's feather bed, letting her thoughts sink into the mattress. She had never once before heard of VOCALOID, so why did it seem so nostalgic? Better yet she had never even seen Len before in her life, so why did she feel such a strange pull towrds him? She shook her head and rolled over. That wasn't it. It was more of a love... a desire... a crush? No, she didn't like him in that way. And then the voice in the songs that felt so... unnatural. So foreign. Out of place.
How come River and Miku didn't feel this way?
"I've got it!" Miku cried, bursting in through her double doors and prancing over to where Rin was slowly sitting up.
"What?"
"The movie of course, baka!" Miku rolled her eyes and held out a DVD in front of Rin. "Here, I'll put in the disk."
She popped open the case and pulled out a round DVD before tossing the case on the bed and moving over to the TV. Rin reached out and grabbed the DVD case, and let out a small squeak.
'The Strange Lolita.'
Rin shook her head as Miku turned out the lights and joined Rin on the bed. Across the room a huge TV had a commercial running.
"Isn't this one supposed to be really scary!" Rin wailed to her friend.
"Yah, something about a creepy lolita coming to be your little sister. Sounded good, and it got a whole bunch of reccommendations."
"Noooo!" Rin shook her head desperately.
"Come one, scaredy cat, I'll be here."
Rin cringed and turned back to the TV unwillingly as the film started.
*Len POV
I cringed and turned on my side, my eyes slowly taking in the light. A small whimper managed to escape from my lips as I felt a sudden pain burst sharply in my side. I turned to sit up, but ended up falling back to the floor. I gave up and looked around me at where I was. For a few moments, the bridge towering over me and the water that flowed by my ankles made me confused, but then the memories of the night before came rushing back.
"I heard a noise from above!" deep voices from below me called out to each other, followed by loud footsteps climbing up the stairs by the side of the roof.
I swore underneath my breath and forced myself to stand. Just as the first bodyguard's head appeared over the rooftop, I had jumped off the other side of the roof. But I had misjudged the height. I tucked for a landing far too early, and fell heavily on my side. I gasped and held my side for a few seconds- there was certaintly more than just one broken bone. The noises from above got louder, and I pushed myself from the floor painfully.
Looking around, I found myself in a long alley filled with stray cats and piles of garbage. I muttered underneath my breath in digust, but managed to make my way through the trash and into a street. I paused to catch my breath and gazed wearily acroos the empty street.
"The only way he could have gone is this way!" I whipped aroiund to see two bulky figures clambering through the alley.
"I told, there was nowhere there!" A second voice yelled angrily.
Panicked, I sprinted across the road and began running along the sidewalk, the huge river below me moving the opposite direction. Then I stoppped, my eye caught by a buge bridge stretching from one side of the river to the other. Underneath was a shadowed space, right by the river's edge. With one last glance behind me, I scrambled down the rassy hill to the bridge.
I groaned and flopped back down into the wet grass, another headache racking my head.
"I have to call..."
Just as I finished my thought, a loud ring came from my pocket. I blinked and fished out my yellow cellphone.
'Kaito Shion', the cell read. I smiled and flipped it open.
"Hello?" I asked. "Is it Kaito?"
"Yeah! What's up! Where are you?" His gentle, familiar voice made my head sooth to a throb.
"Well..." I looked around me and winced. "Under a bridge..."
"Great."
"Sorry! While stalking my last assignment, I got a heat flash and my gun hit the floor. Really loud. I kinda fell of the roof and broke something..."
"Len! Why didn't you call me!"
"Sorry, Kaito! I passed out under this bridge thing before I could call you... I lost them, and they never saw me, so it's okay."
"It's not okay, baka!" I flinched away from the phone. "You're hurt! I'll come get you, so give me some sort of clue where you are."
"Umm... there's a river... and... a convienence store?"
I heard him slap him palm to his face.
"You are such a pain..."
"...Sorry."
He sighed and I heard him walking somewhere.
"Well..." I stood up with a whimper and tried to look around the concrete wall of the bridge at the street above. "Um... I can see the tops of some buildings... they're FamilyMart, a 100 yen store, and a Hayate Sushi place. Oh! A street name!"
"Really? And?"
"Um... Stone Bridge."
"Great! I'm coming right now."
He hung up and I sighed, my arm dropping to my side as I leaned heavily against the bridge. Cold seeped into my legs through my feet, now soaked with water. I shivered and pressed my arms harder against my side, hugging my torso desperately. The heat was coming back.
"Len!" I heard an out of breath voice call from the street above. "Leeen!"
I smiled and closed my eyes gratefully. "I'm over here, Kaito!"
The tall bluenette scrambled down the wet hill, relief clearly showing on his face when he spotted Len.
"Troublesome child, come on." Kaito smiled and put a hand on the stone next to Len's head.
"Thanks for coming, Kaito."
He shrugged and carefully lifted Len up into his arms bridal style. LEn squeaked and cringed, but then relaxed into his best friend's chest.
"Let's go home."