The next few months of training seemed to go by more quickly than any of us had anticipated. While it was the most rigorous training any of us had ever been through, we all emerged a highly motivated, tight-knit team of soldiers and androids. Shadow team had undoubtably become the most deadly fighting force in the special operations field as well. Our average clearing time for a building was 15.8 seconds thanks to our superior training, combat chips, and support from our android assistants. We had all become proficient on many other weapon systems other than our own as well. I could now effectively engage and hit a target at more than a mile with a sniper rifle, and Rogers could lob a 40mm grenade down a pickle barrel at 400 meters. We truly had exceeded every expectation of Kagamine and his scientists. In the midst of all of this success however, I found that Rin and I had grown much closer as well. It was extremely rare that she and I were not together as we now loved each other's company more than ever. We also noticed the same happening to Miku and Howard, as well as Rogers and Teto. Things were finally starting to add up, and I knew that it was now or never. It was time to tell Rin how I really felt about her. We had been through so much together in the past several months, and I knew that nothing could ever tear us apart. It was shortly after we had returned from a week long field training exercise that Dr. Kagamine announced that the team and I were ready for our augmentations. We were to have them done the next day in fact, and we would be on mandatory bed-rest for the next few days after, so I knew it was time to make my move. It was the afternoon before the procedure, and I was about to go and look for Rin, when I got a knock on my door. Sure enough, it was Rin herself. "Hey, I know it's been a long time, but remember that day on the range when I said I wanted to talk to you about something? Well, I think I'm ready to say what I need to say. Wanna take a walk with me?" she asked. I smiled as I got up to follow her. "I sure do. Matter of fact, I was just about to come find you to talk as well." I said. I saw her smile get even bigger in anticipation as I said this. "So what is it you wanted to tell me?" I asked. She took a deep breath and said, "John, you and I have been through a lot together over the past few months, and it's made me realize that I've had a much deeper and stronger connection to you than the neuro-connection." I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What I guess I'm trying to say is that I….I…I lo…Ouch!" she squealed suddenly. I turned quickly to see one of Kagamine's lab assistants named Budakai Yamato slap Rin on the butt and then flip her skirt up. Rin shrunk down in embarrassment at this, but I had had enough. I had seen this happen several times before, but had been advised to let it be and let Rin handle it by herself. But this was the last straw! "Good little robot! Now let me see some more of that ass!" Yamato ordered. This was the sort of behavior that had left Rin feeling so low about herself, and feel more like a worthless machine than a real human. Finally I exploded, and shouted, "YAMATO! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?" "Whoah! Relax Corporal! She's just a robot it's not like she…" "NOT LIKE WHAT!? LIKE SHE HAS FEELINGS!? IS THAT IT!?" I yelled as I grabbed him by the shirt collar. "Well of course she doesn't! She's just a machine! All fake! Not even a beating heart!" he said laughing. I saw Rin sink down to her knees and begin to cry upon hearing this as she was very sensitive about having a real heart. But that was it for me. I reared back my first and punched Yamato hard across the jaw. He collapsed onto the floor with a thud, then I jerked him to his feet again and said in his face, "RIN IS AN ANDROID! NOT SOME SIMPLE FUCKING "ROBOT" AS YOU DESCRIBED HER! SHE'S A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN THAT, AND PROBABLY A BETTER SCIENTIST THAN YOU'LL EVER BE!" I was referring to the work she and the other two androids had done in the science lab with Dr. Kagamine in the past two months. In fact it was Rin herself who had in-geniously modified my armor so that I could move just as freely in it as I could if I wasn't wearing it at all. "Now I believe you owe my assistant an apology." I said regaining my composure. "I…uh…I'm.." Yamato stuttered. "NOW!" I yelled. "My apologies Ms. Rin. That will not happen again!" With that I saw Rin wipe her eyes, and slowly rise to her feet and nod her head re-assuringly. "Now if you EVER try anything like that again to Rin or Miku or Teto, I'll get the whole team together, and we'll beat you to a pulp!" I warned Yamato. "Now get out of my sight before I break the other side of your face!" I said as he ran off. I then turned to Rin who was still pulling herself together. I could only guess that she, Miku, and Teto had been forced to endure that sort of treatment prior to the arrival of my team and I. Frankly, I couldn't blame them for how sensitive they were to being treated like a machine instead of a real human. Though they didn't realize it, they had been human before, and I could certainly see how it would sting being treated as anything different. I was disgusted by the very thought of all this. I then wrapped my arms tightly around Rin as she buried her head into my chest. "I'm sorry about that." I said. "I told that bastard to quit messing with you, but he obviously doesn't like to listen to anything but a fist in his face." Rin slowly lifted her head and smiled up at me. "I love you." She said quietly. Had I really heard right!? "Say again?" I asked awestruck. "I love you." She repeated with a brighter smile. "That's what I've been wanting to tell you." She said. My God, I had heard right! "What was it you wanted to tell me?" Rin asked. I smiled and replied, "That I love you too." She shed a single tear of joy and pressed her lips against mine. Then there in that moment, everything seemed to disappear except me and her. Nothing else mattered except the fact that we were together, and meant to be. Android and human, human and android, it didn't matter. We were meant to be with each other and nothing would ever separate us. We had a connection to each other both mentally and emotionally that no-one could ever comprehend but us, and it was for this reason that we were meant to be together. "My heart's pounding…" I said finally speaking my mind. Rin winced at this statement, but still looked lovingly at me with those bright beautiful blue eyes I'd come to love. I somehow knew right away what to say. "Always remember your Kokoro is closer than you think Rin, but never forget that you'll always have mine too." She again shed a tear of happiness and kissed me softly. "Heart or not, I've never felt so alive and real. You make me feel like a real girl, and so full of life. I love you so much." She said lovingly. "I love you too Rin." I said. And that was how we spent the rest of the day, pouring out our feelings for one another that we had kept hidden away for far too long. It was a sweet release for us both, and from that day forward, there was a new bond between us that we knew could never be broken….