Chapter Nine:

Outcast

The sounds of frantic voices woke Rin from her peaceful slumber. She stepped outside, a black shawl the only thing covering her arms, which were left bare by her milky-white nightgown. People seemed to be frantically running around in search of something, lanterns in hand. Upon seeing Kaito and Mieko, Rin approached them, hoping they would know something about what was happening. They seemd to be in a heated discussion. Rin lightly touched her hand to Mieko's arm.

"Mieko, what exactly is going on?" Rin asked, concern written over her features. She looked back and forth between Kaito and Mieko. Kaito seemed to be frozen in place, so she turned to Mieko for answers. "Where's Miku?" she asked, noticing their little group wasn't complete.

Kaito finally spoke up, tearing his eyes away from Rin, "Miku has gone missing... She was seen leaving her room and then she just disappeared... I'm afraid... We have to fear the worst." Kaito didn't look back at Rin, dreading the hurt look in her eyes. Mieko hung her head low, somehow she felt responsible for what had happened.

"I'm going to go look for her!" Rin declared before running off in the direction away from the village.

"Rin!" Mieko called, hoping she would stop. She didn't want to lose another person she was responsible for. It would tear her up more than she already was. Kaito clenched his hand into a fist. Again, he had been too cowardly to stop her.

Rin ran and called out Miku's name until she was far outside the village. It was dangerous to be so close to the woods at night and she had nothing to protect herself with, not even a lantern to light her path. But she wouldn't give up, even if Miku were dead, she couldn't just leave her. Not like before, not like with Luka... Rin didn't know if she believed in God, but in that moment she prayed for what she didn't know. A sign to find Miku? What if she were dead? What could she do then?

A soft wind blew, moving the pile of dead leaves around her. She watched them blow away, feeling as though she had lost all hope. It was then that she saw the pale skin that she remembered so dearly. Without a second thought, Rin began digging through the muddy, leafy mess, uncovering her little by little. Miku, it was Miku! Her pale skin even paler, taking on a blue tint and her beautiful emerald eyes that Rin knew would never open again. She wept over the empty shell that was once her kind, dim-witted friend.

It wasn't long before the villagers had found her, swinging their lanterns. That had heard Rin's cries and followed the sound straight to them. The search party shouted to the bring the others there. Rin refused to move until a grief stricken Mieko shoved her aside to hold the cold body of Miku Hatsune. Rin's eyes didn't leave Miku's expressionless face. Why couldn't she at least have died happy?

It was then that Mieko turned to her and shouted something that pierced Rin's heart, "This is all your fault!" Rin gasped in surprise, surely Mieko hadn't meant that! "All this strange stuff has been happening around you! What are you some kind of witch?"

"I had nothing to do with it!" Rin screeched back,standing to her feet, resisting the urge to strike Mieko.

"Oh, yeah? Then explain this to me... Why is it you gaze out at the forest every night? Why is it that you look so different from everyone else, even your own blood? Why is it that you possess a rose the color of death that cannot die? Why was it you that found Miku when over half the village was out looking for her?" Mieko yelled back at Rin, knowing that Rin couldn't answer any of these things. Whispers rippled through the people gathered around them, watching the scene.

"Mieko..." A woman said, placing her hands on Mieko's shoulders only to have them pushed away.

"No! I have been holding my tongue for too long! She's not normal! How are you sure she's even human? She doesn't belong in this world!" Mieko shouted out to the crowd. She turned back to Rin and yelled, "Why don't you just disappear into those precious woods of yours?"

Rin felt like screaming, like her heart had just been ripped out. She was hurting with sorrow, with guilt, and with fury. She didn't bother looking to the crowd for any mercy, she knew that all she'd see was helpless pity. Mieko's words had been the final straw that made her break. "Then maybe I will!" She screamed before running as fast as she could away from the others.

"Rin! No!" Kaito yelled, but he was too late again. Too late in getting there, too late to deny Mieko's words, and too late to save Rin.

Rin kept running and running with no clear thought as to where she was running to. All she knew was that she had to keep running, running away from that world that had so openly rejected her. She didn't belong there anymore, everything she had there was gone. There was a terrible hurting in Rin's chest, probably from the whole where Mieko had torn it shreds. The trees tore at Rin's nightgown and hair. Trees? Oh, that's right, she had run into the woods. She was alone now. Rin's feet couldn't carry her anymore and she collapsed on the dirty forest floor. She felt empty. What was the point of running anymore? She'd just lie here and let the darkness consume her.