I think my reviewers died or something. Oh well, I'm not going to hold up the story or anything, no worries :) *Five minutes later, after I post the story* JAY KAY. I just stopped getting emails about it..apparently...sorry about that...

Even though I'm sure you don't lose sleep over whether I'll post a chapter or not xD

Miku ran through a different set of hallways after Gumi, unaware of whether her companions were following her or not. Gumi led them to her own room, where Rin was lying on a bed.

"Well no wonder she won't talk, she's asleep," said SeeU from behind Miku.

Gumi looked distressed. "I think she's tired, but I wouldn't know. She wouldn't say anything to me, or even Len." Miku noticed Len standing on the other side of the bed.

"Do robots ever just...stop working?" Piko asked. Miku turned around and saw that the two boys had followed them.

"That's horrible!" Gumi and SeeU said at the same time. Miku bit her lip.

"What if that happened to Rin though," she said quietly. Len looked over at Miku in horror. "Well, you can't ignore possibilities," she reasoned.

"But...that would never..." SeeU had become a little more serious.

"Why are we gathered around her while she's asleep? If she's tired, let her sleep, we'll try to get her to talk tomorrow. It's really late right now, and she had a long day," Miku said.

"But what if she doesn't wake up?" SeeU asked, her eyes wide. Len walked over to SeeU.

"She will wake up," he said forcefully, before leaving the room.

"I'm going to go to bed," Miku said. "We should leave Rin alone right now."

SeeU stared at Miku as she started to leave.

"Wait!" Piko called after her. "Don't you think it would be nice to take Rin back to her room?"

Miku stopped walking and turned around. "I don't know if Len could handle it. He looked pretty upset after we suggested that Rin might stop working." Miku looked at Gumi. "I don't know how good of a friend you are with Rin, but do you mind if we take her back to her room?" she asked.

"You can take her back. Len brought her to me when she stopped talking because my room was closest to where they were. Len was holding her wrist, and she had a blank expression. Len sat her down on the bed and started talking to her, begging her to say something, when her eyes started drooping and she just fell asleep. Len told me to go get you, Miku."

"So who should carry her?" SeeU asked. "I'm not judging or anything, but it'd probably take two people to carry her comfortably."

"Well you and I can carry her," Miku said to SeeU. "It's best that way." She looked back at Piko and Makoto. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this. I promise I'll remember our game. As soon as this gets cleared up, I'll teach you guys Go Fish, OK? I was starting to like you two, anyway," she said with a small smile.

Miku leaned down and wrapped Rin's arms around her neck before lifting up Rin's torso gently while SeeU held up her waist and legs. The two made their way back to Rin and Len's room, slowly and steadily so as not to wake Rin.

SeeU tapped at the door with her foot, and it took a moment before it was answered by Len.

Miku stared at Len. "Are you...crying?" she asked quietly. Len said nothing, but stepped aside so that the two girls could enter. They laid Rin down on her bed, and Miku glanced back at Len, who was watching them.

"What if Rin is broken..." he said, staring blankly at Rin.

Miku was caught in the same trance as Len. She had never seen him look so hurt and empty. "Len!" she chided. "She's not! She'll wake up, and she'll be normal. She was tired, that's all. She'll...Len!" Miku ran over to Len, who had leaned against a wall and sunk down to the ground, tears rushing down his face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," he said weakly. "I feel like I caused this in some way. I want to believe everything's fine, but my mind starts imagining a future without Rin and I just...can't...stand it..."

Miku bent down and hugged Len, remembering the time he had done the same for her when she was mad at everything. She wondered if Len felt the same way.

"You can still be Older Sister," he had said. Well, now she was going to be. She was going to be a great Older Sister. She found some sort of hidden strength within herself and somehow managed to lift Len off the ground and carry him the short distance to the bed. She laid him down and wiped his tears away.

"Please rest," she said quietly. "Go to sleep, and I'll come back in the morning to help Rin, OK?" Len closed his eyes, and Miku started to leave, motioning for SeeU to follow.

Once they were out of the room, SeeU smiled. "That was so sweet," she said sincerely.

"But don't get the wrong idea or anything, it's not like we're-"

"No, I don't think that at all," SeeU interrupted. "You make a sweet Older sister," she said, as she glanced at Miku's expression. They walked in silence until they got back to their room. Miku immediately lay in bed and closed her eyes, her mind flashing images from the many experiences of the long day she had just been through.

When she woke up in the late morning, Miku tried to remember what she was supposed to do. She saw SeeU standing at the door, waving at Miku to get up. Miku jumped out of bed and followed SeeU out the door without a word. They walked quickly to Rin and Len's room.

SeeU finally broke the silence as they neared the room. "Do you think that maybe Len's getting emotional because he has some sort of connection with Rin where he can feel her emotions?" she asked.

"Don't be silly. That kind of thing is made up," Miku said, brushing the thought aside.

"But what if Rin's really depressed or something, and that's why she won't talk, and Len's feeling that depression, but he expresses it differently? Or what if Len's sadness is making Rin feel even more de-"

"Just stop! You're not making it any better by coming up with hopeless reasons," Miku said, in a quiet tone, as they stood in front of the door. She knocked softly, hoping Len was awake, since it was fairly late into the morning. To her relief, Len opened the door.

"You OK?" she asked cautiously. "Do you feel better now, that you've gotten some sleep?" Len nodded.

"Rin's awake," he said, giving no signs of whether that was a good or bad thing. Miku went past Len and saw Rin sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard. SeeU went up to Miku and leaned close.

"See, I told you they're connected," she whispered. "Rin's emotionless, Len's emotionless."

Miku ignored SeeU. "Rin why won't you talk? You love to talk," she started. Rin's expression didn't change.

"I don't want to talk to you as if you can't hear me," Miku continued. "I really want to know you can hear me. Please, do something to let me know you can understand what I'm saying," she pleaded. "Anything at all?"

The room went quiet. Miku stared at Rin, waiting for her to acknowledge the presence of her friends. Rin blinked.

Miku gave a sigh of relief and hugged Rin. She pulled back again. "Is it that you can't talk, or that you don't want to talk?" Rin's expression turned sad, but then she looked almost angry. SeeU tapped Miku on the back, and Miku followed SeeU's gaze to Len, who was glaring out the window. He closed his eyes and turned his face further from Miku and SeeU.

"Do you think he saw us?" SeeU whispered in a voice that was barely audible. Miku nodded.

"I think it was just a coicidence, though," Miku said, in the same quiet voice. She looked back at Rin, who was watching the two girls converse.

"Are you going to get better, Rin?" SeeU asked. Rin looked at Len, then back at SeeU. Getting no real response, SeeU tried again. "Will you at least walk around, so that we know that you're not...that you're OK?"

Rin got up and twirled around in a circle. Miku slightly laughed, trying to smile, even though Rin still hadn't said anything. "Rin," Miku tried, "We only have six more days until the concert. You have to talk by then, OK?"

"The concert? Is that what you're worried about?" Miku and SeeU spun around to look at Len. "Rin isn't able to do what she loves, and you're just worried the concert will get cancelled, aren't you?" he shouted.

Miku had never seen Len get so worked up about something before. She glanced at Rin, who also looked a bit scared. Rin's gaze met Miku's, but she still didn't give any sign of what she wanted Miku to do. Miku turned to SeeU in desperation.

"Where's Haku and Kaito? Aren't they usually good at helping this type of thing?" Miku asked.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them since before the speech," SeeU replied, looking thoughtful.

"I saw them in the crowd, but I guess they just went back to their rooms like normal. Do you want to split up, in case they're in their own rooms?"

"Sure," SeeU said, and they made their way out of the room, feeling sorry for Len, who was now pacing back and forth silently. "I'll go get Kaito, and you can go get Haku."

Miku glanced back as she started to leave, and saw Rin staring worriedly at Len. Miku sighed, hoping things wouldn't get any worse.

SeeU went to the room next door and Miku sprinted to Haku's room. To her surprise, Haku was indeed in the room, and Kaito wasn't with her.

"Wow, this is a first," Miku said, smiling in spite of the reason she had come. "You're not with Kaito?" Seeing Haku's expression, Miku's smile dropped. "Ah...did something happen?"

"Never mind that. You ran here, did you not? You look pretty tired, so what were you in such a hurry to tell me?" Haku asked, looking almost irritated.

"Have you heard about Rin?"

Haku shook her head. "I've been...busy...since yesterday."

"Well, she just stopped talking. I don't think she can, because why would she want to be quiet? I don't know if she's going to stop working or something. Len's really worried, and he looks really stressed out. SeeU thinks that they're emotionally connected so Rin won't talk until Len's fine, but I don't think that's it. I was hoping you would know how to fix it," Miku explained.

"And you asked Kaito, didn't you?" Haku said, tilting her head.

"Yeah, SeeU's working on that right now," Miku confirmed.

"Hm. I think he'd rather talk to you right now," Haku said, looking bitterly amused.

Miku was taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Go find out. I'll wait until you get back. Rin will be fine until then," Haku assured her.

Miku left the room, her head spinning. "What in the world was going on?" she wondered. She took her time going to Kaito's room, worrying about what had happened to Haku.

She knocked on Kaito's door, and he opened it with a small frown.

"Ah, hi," Miku greeted. "Did SeeU already leave?"

"Yeah."

Miku shifted uncomfortably. Obviously Kaito was affected by whatever had happened between him and Haku. "So...you know about Rin then?"

Kaito nodded.

"Do you think you could do anything about it?" Miku asked desperately.

"I don't know. Probably not. I mean, think about it. What could I possibly do?"

Miku was surprised once again. Wasn't Kaito usually the cheerful, joking one?

"O-OK...I'll go now then," she stammered. She backed out of the door and entered her own room. SeeU was lying on her bed, her arms resting behind her head.

"Kaito was acting really strangely," Miku said as she closed the door and walked into the room.

"True," SeeU said, "But it's to be expected, isn't it. Everybody's acting strangely. Doesn't it make sense to you?"

Miku looked at SeeU. "What, are you trying to be logical? How does this make sense at all?"

SeeU looked at Miku seriously. "Your closest friends are losing what you like best about them, aren't they?"

Ooo, dramatic...

Not really. And about the length of this thing, I'm guessing I might get in 22 chapters or so (even though that's a really annoying number.) Just so you know this is almost over. For real, this time.