Chapter 3
"Does anyone know where Nobara-san went?" The teacher asked.
Everyone looked at each other, and shook their heads. Right after the response the class had given, the doors were opened by a girl that looked about the same age as Miku, and had long cherry red hair and matching cherry red eyes. Her name was Miki Utatane, Piko's sister.
"Utatane-san, is there something you need?" The teacher asked.
"Um, does Anika Nobara go to this class?" She asked.
"Yes, except she seems to be absent."
"The principal asked me to tell you that she left early for a doctor's appointment." Miki said.
"Oh, well in that case, I guess I can let her off the hook. Thank you for informing me Utatane-san, you may return to your class."
Miki nodded and left.
Len looked surprised, and peered at Anika's desk.
XxxxxXxxxxx
At the principal's office, the principal sat in her chair with a vacant and blank look in her eyes. Suddenly, the light went back into her eyes and she looked around confused.
"What was I...?" She mumbled to herself, not noticing a girl with pigtails standing inside a mirror.
'Gomenasai.' She mouthed and disappeared.
XxxxxXxxxxx
An hour later
The school bell rung, telling everyone school was over.
"Stand," The class president commanded. Everyone did as they were told. "Bow," again every student obeyed.
"Sayonara!" The students exclaimed happily and left the building.
Half an hour later
Len was the only one at the front gates getting more impatient by the minute. He took out his phone and texted,
'Where are you guys? It's been almost half an hour and Meiko made us promise to walk home together to avoid any more disappearances. You know how she is if we break one of her promises! I can't wait all day you know!'
He sent the message. In less than a minute he got a reply. It would take a complete idiot to not know it was from Neru, the champion of all texting.
'Sry! Looking 4 Piko's sister. Probably B down in 10 min.'
"Well they sure are taking their time." Len thought.
He sighed, and decided to wait just a little bit longer for the sake of his own life, and the others, and stare at the deserted building across the street since he had nothing else better to do. What he didn't expect, was to see Anika there staring at the sakura covered trees with her same emotionless expression. He was about to call out her name when she looked at him for a minute. A person passed in front of Anika while Len kept staring, and expecting her to keep on staring or see her walk away, instead, she vanished without a trace like the time during lunch.
Still confused, Len looked from right to left. If she walked away he would have seen her. It was already surprising enough no fan girls came up to him yet. He then heard the same voice inside his head.
'Be careful. They will be after you now that the jewel is complete.' It warned, making Len look around some more.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Well it's about time you-" Len didn't finish his sentence when he realized it wasn't Neru and Teto, but Miki.
The shadows of her bangs covered her eyes but Len ignored that.
"Oh, Miki-senpai! Neru-chan, Teto-chan, and Piko-kun are all looking for you!" Len said.
Miki said nothing but slowly let go of Len's shoulder and took out a bat that she was hiding behind her back. Len's eyes widened with fear, wondering what she was going to do with it.
"S-Sen...pai?" Len asked shaking in fear.
Then, as quick as lightning, Miki raised the bat and struck it down onto Len's head causing his world to slowly go black. The blow made his phone drop out of his pocket and onto the grassy lawn. Fortunately, it was not seen by Miki or Len.
"Senpai...w-why?" He asked.
The only response he got was a dark chuckle that sounded a little too childish, then darkness.
XxxxxXxxxxx
"Where are they?" Meiko asked, irritated.
She was expecting the young VOCALOIDS home at around 4:00 pm which was the time that their classes are over and they get back home.
"They should've been home at least half an hour ago!" She added.
Everyone else shrugged. Meiko let out a frustrated growl.
"Alright that settles it! Kaito, go to the school and drag them back here. I'm going to punish them for breaking a promise!" She commanded, cracking her knuckles.
Kaito looked up from his supreme sundae.
"But Mei-chan! You only made them promise to walk home together after school!" Kaito protested, he wanted to finish his sundae.
Meiko glared at him while she aimed a flamethrower she got out of nowhere at Kaito's ice cream.
"Go or the ice cream gets it."
Kaito's eyes widened,
"Alright, Alright! Just don't hurt my precious ice cream!" Kaito said running to the door.
Tei pouted,
"Why can't I go look for them and Len-Len?" She complained.
"Because, we can't trust you when it came to Len." Luka answered before Meiko.
Tei glared at her and was about to take out her butcher knife only that it wasn't there. Luka held it up.
"A no is a no, Tei." She said firmly.
Tei angrily stomped to her room.
XxxxxXxxxxx
Len slowly started to wake up. His vision was still a bit blurry and he had a terrible headache. As soon as he was fully awake, he began to look around only to find himself on the roof of the school. He then realized his hands and feet were tied to...a glass cross which made him very confused. He also felt a piece of cloth tied tightly around his mouth.
"I see that you're finally awake." A voice said causing Len to have a mini heart attack.
He turned his head to the source of the voice. It was Miki. Len gave a frightened look that seemed to say 'Please untie me! Why are you doing this Miki?'. Miki let out another dark chuckle,
"Sorry Len-nii, but I can't have you running away or attracting any attention now can I?" Something was wrong and Len knew it.
Miki was always kind and sweet to him and the other VOCALOIDS. It was very strange for her to act like this. He then noticed something strange about Miki's eyes. There was a blank and vacant look in them, same for something that looked like a black button in each eye. Her shadow also looked more like a nine year olds shadow with pigtails and her voice sounded nothing like the real Miki's.
Realization struck him like lightning.
"No, it can't be!" He thought and started struggling to get loose from the ropes that were keeping him tied to the cross.
As expected, it was futile.
"Damn, for a nine year old, she really knows how to tie a knot!" He thought.
Yuki, knowing he figured it out, smiled,
"Wow Len-nii, you're smarter than I thought! Yes you guessed right, I'm controlling this girl's body. I did it when she was looking at herself in the mirror. Isn't that great? And for the first time in my life, too!" She said flashing her same psychotic smile.
Len gasped and glared at her. His eyes looked as if they were shouting at her,
'Get out of her body, Yuki and tell me why you're here!' But that only made her smile more.
"Fufufu~ I just love how your expressions are so readable! It makes things a lot easier. Oh and I came here for something so I can't get out of her body just yet." She replied and walked over to Len and fished for the chain around his neck causing him to blush a bit.
"Wh-what are you doing?" He wanted to ask if it weren't for the gag.
It didn't take long for him to find out that she was going to steal the charm.
"Stop! Don't take it, its Nobara-san's!" He said in his mind.
When Yuki got the golden chain, her eyes widened when she saw that the charm wasn't there. Her expression soon turned into an angry one. A hatchet formed in her hand and using the back side of it, she slammed it onto Len's head causing Len to cry out in pain. Blood dripped down his forehead.
"Where is the charm? Where is it?" Yuki accidentally shouted.
Len gave her a confused expression, clearly confused at why the charm wasn't there. But, Yuki thought he didn't know what she meant, causing her to whack him harder with the back side of the hatchet earning a louder but muffled cry of pain from Len. A few tears escaped his eyes.
"You know what I mean. Now where is the Jewel of Mirrored Lives?" She said lowering her voice.
XxxxxXxxxxx
"Argh! Where is he?" Neru said in a frustrated tone.
They had gone to the school gates where Len was waiting for them only to find that he was gone. They were out at the front gate waiting to see if he was going to come back.
"Why don't you try calling him, Neru? Maybe he went to look for us." Piko suggested.
"Good idea." Neru said as she took out her phone and dialed Len's phone number.
Pretty soon, they heard a familiar noise causing them to look around.
"Isn't that Len's ringtone?" Teto asked.
"Yeah, it is!" Neru answered.
Piko started to walk to the source of the noise.
"Guys, I found Len's phone!" Piko called from the corner of the school lawn.
The two VOCALOIDS ran over to see Len's cell phone.
"Do you think something happened to Len while we were gone?" Neru asked horrified.
"No, he probably dropped his phone by accident." Piko said but he didn't sound too sure.
Len never lost anything but bets.
"Yeah he probably-" Teto's eyes widened a bit as she looked around.
"Teto, what's wrong?" Neru asked.
"D-Did you hear that?" Teto replied.
"Hear what?" asked Piko who was starting to worry.
"Something that sounded like a whacking noise, then somebody cry out in pain, though it sounded muffled. I also heard someone shout, 'Where is the charm? Where is it?'"
Teto then started to look around more.
"Th-there it is again! Except it was a little bit louder. The person who cried out in pain sounded like..." Teto's eyes widened.
"Who? Who did it sound like?" Piko asked.
"It sounded like...Len!" Teto replied.
Both Piko and Neru's eyes widened.
"Wait! There's more! The other person is saying something but I can't hear clearly..." Teto continued and put her hand to her ear to hear better.
"You know...where...Lives?" Teto said. "That's all I got from that but I can't seem to recognize who the other person's voice is but one thing's for sure, she's definitely a girl." Teto concluded.
"Where is it coming from?" Neru asked.
"It seems to be coming from the...roof." Teto answered.
They all looked at each other.
"Alright, Teto, can you use your wings to fly us up to the roof?" Neru asked.
Teto sadly shook her head,
"No, my wings got injured when I accidentally crash-landed last week." She answered.
"Well guess we have to do the old fashion way, come on!" Piko said and started running to the staircase.
The two VOCALOIDS followed.
XxxxxXxxxxx
"You know what I mean. Now where is the Jewel of Mirrored Lives?" Yuki said lowering her voice.
It was then Len remembered what Anika said.
'It's also impossible to drop but if the charm's gone but the chain turns to a gold color, that cat has nothing to worry about but if it's gone and the chain turns black, that means the cat's screwed and has to find it immediately.' And the chain was a gold color, but where did the charm go?
He snapped out of his thoughts when Yuki pointed the hatchet at Len's neck.
"I'll take off the gag so you can answer my questions but if you call for help or anything like that, I cut your head off, understand?" She asked in a low menacing voice.
Len answered by nodding his head. Yuki smiled and slid the piece of cloth down to his neck making Len let out a sigh of relief.
"Now Len, I will ask again, where is the Jewel of Mirrored Lives?" Yuki said dropping the hatchet to her side.
Len looked at her with a frightened expression.
"I-I don't know." He answered.
Yuki frowned.
"Humph! You're so mean, Len-nii, why do you lie to me? It doesn't matter; I know what will make you tell the truth!" Yuki said with an evil smile as she snapped her fingers and a mirror appeared in front of Len.
At first, it looked like an ordinary mirror but then his reflection changed its form into a girl with shoulder length blonde hair and a big white bow. She had bruises and wounds all over her and was breathing hard and about to slip into unconsciousness. Of course the girl was none other than...
"Rin!" Len said eyes wide.
Part of him was happy to see his sister not a rag doll, but another part was horrified at her condition.
"But that's impossible, if it's her, I would feel her presence!" He thought, even though the image looked so real.
Rin looked up with her eyes almost as big as Len's,
"L-Len!" She yelled in a strained voice, tears running down her face.
"Now are you going to tell me or not?" Yuki asked.
Len looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"I don't know." He said.
Yuki frowned again.
"Tell me where it is or I'll kill your stupid sister." Yuki said.
Len's eyes widened and Rin looked at him with desperation in her eyes.
"Len! Don't tell her wear whatever you're talking about is! Don't worry about me!" She said.
Yuki smiled evilly.
"So what's it going to be Len-nii, you're going to tell me, or you watch helplessly as I kill your sister." Len looked at her with desperation in his eyes.
"Even if I wanted to tell you, I don't know!" He answered.
Yuki sighed.
"I guess that's how it's going to be. Oh, and just in case her screaming attracts any attention..." She began mumbling a spell.
The next thing Len knew, the whole area was dead silent. There were no birds chirping or any cars going down the road. What really freaked him out was that two birds that were flying over them were now just hanging in midair, not moving an inch.
XxxxxXxxxxx
"Damn it, what the hell is wrong with this door?" Piko said.
It had taken them about 2 minutes to get to the only staircase that led to the roof, only to find that every time they touched the doorknob, it would burn their hands.
Teto looked spaced out and was staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, Teto, you got any suggestions?" Piko asked.
No response.
"Teto? Earth to T-" Neru started to say
"Shhh. Do you hear that?" Teto asked.
They all stayed silent. Very faintly, they heard a cracking noise.
"What's that noise?" Teto wondered out loud.
"Well only one way to find out, and that's to get to the roof." Piko replied.
"Try kicking the door down. Maybe it's just stuck." Neru suggested.
Teto looked at her as if Neru was crazy. Piko nodded and was about to kick the door,
"W-wait! I don't think that's such a g-" Too late, Piko's foot made contact with the door, earning an electric shock.
He let out a scream and fell to the ground.
"Piko! Are you okay?" Neru asked, alarmed.
"Yeah, what was that?" Piko said.
Teto looked surprised.
"Y-You mean you both can't see it?" She asked.
The two looked at Teto with a confused expression.
"See what?" They both asked.
"That giant lock and a blue barrier surrounding it. It also seems to be blocking the door." Teto answered.
The two looked at her like the way the other VOCALOIDS looked at Len. They were about to say she must be seeing things when another voice interrupted.
"I can see Kasane-san could see the barrier. In case you're wondering why only she can see the barrier, it's because she's a chimera." They all turned around to the source of the voice to see a short girl with pink hair tied into pigtails and an emotionless expression.
"Nobara-san, when did you get here?" Piko asked.
The two VOCALOIDS had a 'You know her?' look on their faces. Piko nodded and said,
"This is Anika Nobara; she transferred into our school from Hokkaido. Anika, this is Neru Akita from 11th grade and Teto Kasane from 9th grade." Anika nodded and bowed,
"It's nice to meet you, Akita-san, Kasane-san." She said.
They all looked at her and smiled.
"So you're that newbie everyone's been talking about! Oh, and just call me Neru!"
"Call me Teto!"
"And just call me Piko." Anika smiled a half smile,
"Then call me Anika." She said.
Her expression turned stern again.
"There is no time for being warm and fuzzy now. The demon is getting desperate to obtain the Jewel of Mirrored lives." She said firmly.
They all looked at her with a confused expression.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, the who is getting desperate to obtain the what now?" Piko asked.
Anika sighed.
"There. Is. A. Demon. That. Is. After. A. Charm. That. Len. Has." Anika said slowly and simply. "And she's getting desperate too." Anika added looking out the window.
The trio also looked out and gasped. Everything outside had come to a stop. A bird that took off, a little grade-schooler that was about to fall, everything.
"Wh-what happened? It's like time stopped." Neru said quietly.
"That's exactly what happened. Right now we're the only ones besides Len and the demon who aren't frozen in time. Oh, and this happened when you were trying to get the door opened." Anika replied.
The three friends stared at her in shock.
"As I said, the demon's getting desperate to get a specific charm that Len has. It takes a great amount of energy to make a time barrier that big. It also has a short time limit so she only uses it when she has to. What she doesn't know, is that you three are still moving." Anika said and turned walking to the door.
"I'll open the door for you." She said simply and put her hand on the invisible lock.
She closed her eyes and concentrated her energy. Suddenly her eyes shot open and she turned her hand. Everyone watched in amazement as the lock and chains became visible to everyone's eyes before it shattered. The door opened automatically.
"We may proceed now." She said with a bored expression until an eerie slithering and hissing noise stopped them.
"W-What's that noise?" Teto asked.
Nobody answered but noticed Anika's hands turn to fists and the shadows of her bangs cover her eyes."
"Tch, he came back for more huh? He's really starting to get on my nerves..." they heard her mumble.
She then turned to the VOCALOIDS.
"You go ahead; I got something that I need to take care of." She said to them.
"Wait, what if the door to the roof is like this one?" Piko asked remembering how he got shocked.
"Don't worry, the demon's pretty naive, besides, I don't sense another barrier." She answered.
"And, what kind of demon are we facing against?" Neru asked.
The hissing noise grew louder.
"No time to explain, but I will tell you this. If you heard Len talk about his vision then you know exactly what kind of demon." Anika answered making the others a little more confused.
Then they saw a vein pop on her forehead.
"God damn it! Never mind what I said, JUST GO! If you don't, it'll be too late for Len!" Anika commanded and ran down the hallway.
"Wait, Anika!" Piko called and ran after her but stopped at the doorway.
Anika had completely vanished.
"She's gone..." Teto said.
Suddenly they heard a loud cracking noise and a bloodcurdling scream. Neru recognized the scream almost immediately,
"LEN!" She yelled and ran up the stairs as fast as she could the others close behind her, not noticing that the hissing noise had stopped.
XxxxxXxxxxx
*4 minutes ago*
Len kept staring at the birds as if they were going to move any second. Yuki, (who was still in Miki's body) noticing this, and smiled.
"Looks like you're still confused at what happened. Let me explain. I simply froze time. I would've done this when I knocked you unconscious but it takes too much energy to freeze time. It also has a time limit for about 10 minutes so I can't do it unless for emergencies. Right now, everything is frozen in time except for what's inside this school and us." She explained. "But if I had that charm, my powers would be limitless and no one will be able to defeat me!" Yuki exclaimed.
She turned to Len with a stern look.
"So, where is it?" Len looked at her with a frustrated look.
"I already told you, I don't know." He replied.
Yuki glared at him,
"LIES! I KNOW YOU HAVE IT AND YOU DO TOO! I CAN SENSE THAT YOU'RE HOLDING IT!" She yelled causing Len to flinch at her harshness.
After a few seconds, Yuki cooled down, and spoke in a calm and low voice.
"Look, Len, I'm giving you one last chance to tell me where you're hiding it or I might kill onee-san here."
"I told you once; I'm telling you again, I don't know where it is. If I did, I will never give it to you, but please, spare Rin. You can do anything to me, but don't hurt Rin!" He begged.
Yuki smiled maliciously.
"If that's the way you want, then alright. But I won't kill you just yet. I'd rather break you first!" She turned around and walked about 2 meters away from him with her hatchet.
Keeping her back turned, she secretly turned it into a whip without Len noticing.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Len asked nervously.
Yuki chuckled darkly
"I mean THIS!" As quick as a flash, Yuki turned around and lashed her whip lightly at Len's shoulder earning a small scream from him.
Some blood came out from the wound and a few tears escaped his eyes.
"LEN!" Rin screamed.
The small nine year old girl started giggling psychotically
"Wow Len-kun, your scream sounds so pure! It's music to my ears! This is fun! I want to do it more! And maybe hear you scream some more. Breaking you will be so easy!" Len glared at her,
"Yuki let Rin go!" Len said, even though he already knew it was already pretty obvious she wouldn't.
"Sorry Len, but I can't let Rin go, but since I'm such a nice person, she doesn't have to watch you get tortured! How does that sound?" Yuki said.
Len nodded his head. She snapped her fingers and the mirror started to fade away,
"Len, LEN!" Rin yelled as the mirror faded but before it disappeared Len gave a 'Don't worry, I'll be fine!' look.
Although he wasn't too sure himself.
"Screaming won't do anything but amuse her and want more. I can't lose to her even if I really don't know where the charm is. I can't break. For Rin." He concluded
"Oh and just to let you know, that was a little warning. So, you ready to talk? This really is your last chance now." Yuki warned playfully.
Len smiled at her.
"Sorry Yuki but you only took me by surprise that time, but no matter what I won't break." Yuki once again, grinned maliciously.
"Alright if you say so, just to let you know that this time, I'm not holding back. I'm really excited to hear that scream of yours!" She said and lashed her whip harder at Len's stomach.
Len did the best he could to hold back a scream. The pain was intense. Yuki looked disappointed.
"You're actually not screaming? Aw, this won't be much fun now! But I know you'll scream eventually Len-kun! Fufufu~" She said as she lashed her whip harder at Len's right leg.
He squeezed his eyes shut and tried with all his might, to hold back another scream.
"It doesn't hurt..." He said repeatedly in his mind holding back tears.
Yuki growled in frustration as she lashed her whip at him harder and harder at any place she can. Stomach, arms, legs, torso, and sometimes his forehead. Each blow got harder and faster. It went on for a minute, but to Len, it felt like a whole hour of agony and pain. Yuki laughed psychotically as she lashed the whip faster and harder at Len yet he still refused to scream.
The sweat that touched his wounds would only made them a hundred times more painful.
"I can't do this anymore...it hurts..." He said in his mind as Yuki made a fresh wound at the base of his neck.
By now he was too worn out to speak. One lashed at the side of his face, only a centimeter away from his left eye. He felt blood leak out.
"Please...stop..." He pleaded inside his head, wondering how he thought he would have endured it.
The only thing that made him endure it all was the reason he did this. Still, he was about to break but he didn't want to show it to Yuki. The torture went for another agonizing minute. During that time, Yuki made sure to keep him alive as she lashed her leather whip at the blonde VOCALOID. By now he had so many wounds you could barely see his skin.
His eyes looked lifeless and glazed over. He was also breathing heavily.
"I could do this forever! Fufufu~" Yuki exclaimed as her whip bit into some untouched flesh on Len's side.
Len clenched his restrained fists tighter and bit his lip to hold back another scream which at this point, was almost impossible.
"Why isn't it over yet? It hurts..." Len mentally asked himself over and over again.
All of a sudden, the pain stopped coming. Len, thinking it was finally over sighed a breath of relief and about to sink into unconsciousness when the leather whip came down onto his torso and cut deeper than any of the other wounds he got, delivering overwhelming and unbearable pain throughout his entire body. His lifeless eyes shot open and became as wide as dinner plates as a bloodcurdling scream escaped his throat and rang through the entire frozen sky.