Chapter 12: Dream Eater's Resolve, Will Murder Provoke You?

"Meiko!" Luka pushed the door open, holding the limp body of Rin in her arms. Meiko and Lily had been chatting while Kaito took care of Misaki in his room when Luka barged in. The two women saw Rin, and were already prepared from Mayu's notice.

"On the bed." Meiko told Luka. Luka laid the girl on the bed gently. Luka closed the door for privacy.

"...She's conscious, but unresponsive..." Lily told Meiko, "It's like she's taken an overdose...How far in was she Luka?"

"Very far...75% complete brainwashing." Luka replied, sounding worried for Rin's safety, "She could have permanent damage...But, not horrible damage. I did hit the button."

"...Good." Meiko nodded, "We just need to wait this out..."

"...I'm going to tell Soprano and Frankenstein she died during it." Luka told them. Meiko nodded. If they believed Rin was dead, it'd be the best scenario for now, "Start holding meetings in Sonika's or Lily's room until Rin's better...so Neru doesn't leak it."

"A course." Lily nodded. Luka left the room. As she walked down the stairs, she saw Neru walking up them to her new room...

'Sora, miageta yoru! Nagereru Kumo! te wo kobashi te, hoshi wo nazoru! Todaka nakute, miokuru kedo! Hoshi wa mawa~tte ku!'
*Knock! Knock!* Len stopped singing once he heard knocking. He took off his glass and headphones.

"Come in..." Len called. Lui and Rinto came in, "What's up?"

"...Kaito sent us to tell you something." Rinto hesitantly said. Len had a very, very bad feeling brewing in his head.

"Ok. Give me the message." Len was however willing to hear it.

"...They tried brainwashing another person." Lui spoke, very hesitant and not saying a name at all. Len looked shocked.

"Who?" He asked. Rinto and Lui averted their gaze away from Len, as if too worried and hesitant to tell him. Len waited impatiently for the reply.

"...Rin." Lui said after a long minute wait. Len's heart sank a little.

"Luka got her off of it before it took complete control..." Rinto added, knowing Len would want the details, "And Rin's conscious, but not responding. We don't know how long she'll be like that."

"...And...Neru's been brainwashed beyond help..." Lui added, knowing this would be sensitive for Len, "...She's now a mole among us."

"...You're lying." Len was naturally in denial. Neru had a strong will. She would never let someone brainwash her, right?

"No, Len. We're not. Mayu eavesdropped." Rinto bluntly said, "We'll even show you. Besides, I'm sure you want to see Rin." Len did a short breath, and agreed.
The boys left the room and with Luka's permission, went to the girls' side. They first went to Rin's old room. Lui knocked on the door.
"Neru, can we see you for a moment?" Lui asked from the door.
"Sure!" Came the reply.
Neru came out of the room, smiling at the three boys. Len couldn't believe it. They were right. The Neru he knew was now gone and dead. She had been replaced by this fake.

"It's good to see you all again..." Neru smiled at mostly Len.

"...You too." Rinto replied, "We just wanted to drop by and say hello. I'm sure you're busy."

"Yeah, maybe we'll talk later? Bye." Neru closed the door. The boys looked at Len. Then, they headed to Meiko's room.

Rin laid on the bed, the same as when she was first laid on it an hour ago. Lily was watching her, as the girls had set up a babysitting schedule for Rin. Len sat beside Rin, holding her hand instinctively. Her hand was warm still, so she was still okay. Len simply wanted to sit beside her no matter what, but he knew he couldn't. This 'Neru' would probably get Rin in trouble.
"Rin...I will be with you every day...you better know it too..."

For the next week, Rin didn't improve, but didn't get worse. Sonika compared her situation to a silent clock: not ticking lively, but not making a horrible sound. Gumi thought it was a horrible comparison, as did Miki and Ring. Len had kept his promise and every day for an hour sat with Rin alone and would hum a song to her. Occasionally, he'd sing a loud, but he always held her hand. He would tell her about the funny things that she had missed, or how Gumi and Mikuo had sex and Kyo gave Mikuo a lecture. Or that was the conversation he told her about how Ring mentioned children to Merli, who had gotten incredibly embarrassed and refused to speak the rest of the day.
And also, on her request which he dared not to decline, he'd spend a half an hour with Neru. She did most of the talking, since Len honestly despised this new Neru. This Neru was not the Neru he knew, and he didn't like that. It fueled his hatred for Soprano and Frankenstein. It truly did.
On the 10th day since Rin's near brainwashing incident and of still being the same, Len had decided to sing her a song he finally finished writing.

"Hey Rin...I finished the song..." Len sat on the bed beside her with his guitar. Luckily, everyone was at the pool so even Neru wouldn't notice he brought it in to the room, "I'll sing where I left off...okay?" She didn't say a word, or move, just breathe. Len forced a smile as he began to play his guitar and sing.

'Yume mita heiko to renzoku ni, Owareru hibi~ Nagametteta! Koba reru, ikusen no senritsu wo! Noko Sazu Kasa~ne~tte~!' He strummed the guitar in a small solo before continuing, without noticing her, Rin's hand twitched, 'Ko wo egaita! Manazashi no sono oku ni! Sekai kumo wo oto nosete! Megurushi wo kaozeru! Ryuusei wo miokutte! Koko ni, aru imi wo shitta StargazeR!' Len began the guitar solo, not noticing, Rin slowly having life being drained back into her eyes. She slowly looked at him, but he didn't notice. He was jamming out like a rock star.
'Kasumu, hikari, tsumuida oto! Ano hi kaketa, kotoba no imi? Sunagu uta wa sora ni tokete! Koe ga~, todaku toki wo matsu...' He took a breath, ready to sing the next line when...

'Dakishimeteru...sono omoi hanasazu ni~...Kotoba kuukan ni hibike, Meguru hiwo...' Rin looked up at him, smiling. Len was silent for a moment, before remembering he had to start singing again.

'Omoootte!' A duet this time, a duet of love, 'Manazashi no sono sakini! Sekai mawari mawaru hi mo "koko" ni iru kizuite! Ryusei ni te wo futte~...koko ni, saku koto wo kimeta...StargazeR~!' Len finished the song with the guitar before quickly setting it down and hugging her tightly.

"Rin! You're okay!" Len was able to control his tears from coming out, but he expressed it by tightly hugging her. Rin hugged him back. She had no idea what had happened between blacking out and now, but that didn't remember. All Rin could remember between that time was the voice of Len and others.

"Len...what happened...?" Rin asked him, "I don't know what happened...All I know is I heard voices the whole time...I heard you, Luka, Meiko, Sonika's weird comparison..."

"It doesn't matter..." Len smiled at her, "You're awake...and okay...That's all that matters."

"Okay? I thought Rin was dead." Len's blood ran cold. Oh shit...

Neru stood at the doorway, an odd look in her eyes. She walked in, locking the door behind her. Neru yanked Len by the shoulder to the ground, and looked at Rin in the eyes, "Len-kun is mine..." Neru handcuffed the poor boy to the dresser, making escape for him impossible. Neru took advantage of Rin's current weak state and tied the girl's hands to the headboard with the sheets. Rin could only struggle due to lack of strength.

"Who the hell are you?!" Rin yelled. She had never met this girl before. Something about her was off. Something that couldn't be fixed.

"I'm Neru...Len-kun...you didn't tell her about me..." Neru sat in his lap. Len leaned his head back to avoid being close to her. Neru seemed annoyed by this, and saw Rin's glare. Neru smiled, and ripped Len's shirt off, tossing the pieces to the ground. This Neru remembered all of Len's sensitive spots, creepily enough.

"...I have a bad feeling..." Len muttered to himself, his muttering stopped when Neru began to rub a spot above his hip bone. Len bit his lip hard, feeling his testosterone wanting to give in. It was one of those moments where he could hear Gumi's reminder of how boys are typically hornier then girls...

"St-stop!" Rin felt rage for this Neru girl. This bitch...she's feeling up Len...! Th-that's not what she should be doing! ...I-I should be...stopping it! Yeah!

"Why...?" Neru had a creepy look on her face as she continued to do the rubbing harder. Len kicked his legs, in an attempt to get Neru off of him. He made little, mostly quiet noises, as it was hard to contain the pleasure he was feeling.

"He's not your boyfriend!" Rin yelled, tugging on the sheets that bound her. She knew if she tugged hard enough, just maybe she could break free. Or get in an even worse situation.

"...You want to try your luck with that...?" Neru place her other hand on Len's zipper to his pants. Len began to struggle more, making more audible, quiet sounds. She had continued the rubbing directly on his hipbone. He began regretting ever telling her some of his spots from when they were dating...And why he even told her such things...

"Get your hands off him!" Rin tugged even harder on the sheets binding her. She wanted to kill this girl so badly...So badly...

"He's my boyfriend, not yours..." Neru undid the zipper and button. Len felt blood dribble down his lip from biting it so hard. He could feel Neru pull down his boxers slowly, as if it were a game.
Like any boy in this situation, Len told himself he could handle this easily. He wouldn't make a loud audible noise that implied he enjoyed her actions, or anything of the sort. However, like any boy in his situation, when Neru began her actions, Len was forced to dig his orange nails into the dresser and the heels of his shoes into the floor.
Fuck, fuck, fuck...This sucks...Well...literally...!

"Stoooop!" Rin finally tugged enough to be released from her bindings and with the rage and newfound strength of a jealous woman, tackled Neru to the floor.
The girls punched, kicked, and rolled around the floor, cussing at the other and violently beating each other. Len used this distraction to get one of his hands free, although scrapped and bloody, and pull up his boxers and re-button and zip his shorts up. He got the other hand free and rummaged through the dresser for any form of weapon. He found one in the dresser.
Rin and Neru ignored him as they duked it out. Finally, Neru knocked Rin's head against the wall, leaving the girl utterly dazed. Neru grabbed an alarm clock, ready to bash Rin's head open. Rin was too dazed to block or comprehend what was going on.

"Put it down!" Neru spun around when she heard. Len had a gun, cocked and aimed at her. He was trembling, eyes wide and pissed, "I WILL SHOOT YOU DEAD IF YOU HURT RIN! YOU AREN'T NERU! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM RIN!"

Longer chapter, finally! Len was singing StargazeR, an original Miku song, but Len has some covers of it. I get the lyrics from .com, if you're curious. Will Matcha have a bigger role? Will Gumi get pregnant? Will Neru die from the hands of her ex-boyfriend? Will school interrupt my fast pace of typing? Probably, but check out the rest next time! ~Kingdom Mitsumi/EvilTreat16 (V.O)