Chapter Twenty-Seven

Len greeted him with a sad smile, his body covered in heavy bandages. His left side of his face was also heavy, but Kaito understood why that may have been the case. Kamui-san had only let on that it was bad, considering he'd seen what had happened. However, Kaito understood why Len didn't want people seeing him. "Don't look good, do I?" Len laughed weakly then winced, clutching his chest. "I suppose I shouldn't laugh about it…"

Kaito took a seat beside the bed, smiling softly. "Probably not," he agreed before linking his fingers with Len. A moment's hesitation, and Len gripped his hand tightly. "I'm just glad it wasn't any worse."

Nodding, Len touched the bandages on his face. "The doctors told me that I should be able to see out of my eye… but he didn't sound convincing. I guess a scar on my chest and my eye is better than… well, my life. It sounds like I lost a lot of blood, and to be honest, I'm surprised I'm even alive." His face clouded. "I'm scared, Kaito. What if I'm forced to move far away? I don't…want to have to make friends again. I don't want Rin to have to make friends again either. I couldn't stand that."

"Don't think too much about it, Len. I don't think they'd make you move too far away," Kaito tried to reassure. To be honest, he worried too, but he would do his best not to give that away. "Plus, even if you did, I'd come visit you all the time. Hell, I'll move nearby if it made you feel better. I won't let you go on alone."

A surprised look filled Len's face before a weak smile brushed his lips. His eyes sparkled with near tears, but he didn't cry. Len was a lot stronger now than he ever was. "Thanks…"

Kaito grinned at him. He decided to change the topics, taking Len's mind off the pressing matters and help him calm down. Time passed relatively quickly and soon the time for Len to meet his foster parents came upon them. Len didn't look too pleased about it, but he didn't say it.

Just as Kaito was about to reassure him, a suited woman stepped in the door, offering a formal yet kind smile. She introduced herself as Kimura, someone who worked with the foster system and was dealing with Len's and Rin situation. Kaito watched them both cautiously for a while before she explained that the family who was going to take them in was here to meet Len. "Ok…" Len tried his best not to give away his nerves, but it was clear nothing escaped Minami's ears.

"This family has had a long, positive relation with the foster system, Kagamine-kun. They had retired from it, but were willing to take Rin and you in. I'm sure you'll be happy with them." She went quiet for a moment, almost guessing the issue that Len was really worried about. "You won't need to change schools; so, you can stay with your friends."

Len merely nodded, as if almost too choked up to speak. Kaito decided to speak up instead. "Is it alright if I stay with Len? I won't get in the way."

Kimura-san gave it a moment's thought, briefly looking at Len for some sign that Kaito was needed before offering a kind smile. "I don't see a problem with it; I can imagine why you are here in the first place, so I'll just inform the family that you're here."

Kaito thanked Kimura-san as she left and looked at Len who sighed. "I guess there's nothing I can really do, right? I can't argue anymore with them…"

Kaito bit back his comment. He couldn't give Len false hope by saying his family would take them in. He didn't think they could cope with Rin and Len to be honest. He just hoped who ever it was, they would be someone who accepted-

"Oh goodness, you really are hurt; aren't you my dear?"

It was a voice neither of them expected. A nicely dressed woman stepped into the room and approached them. Kaito couldn't help but stare at her. The woman didn't look young, her face showing age of a woman almost fifty. Her body oozed with a kindness only a true mother could offer. This woman was… "Minami…san…"

Minami…

This woman was Aiko's mother, someone who Kaito thought highly of. In fact, he'd only seen her a few hours ago before she left on a errand. At first, Kaito thought she might be coming by to check up on Len, but he knew better. The Minami family had been part of the foster system for years, and if the family who was going to take Len in had come out of retirement…

"Kagamine-kun, how are you feeling?"

It took Len a moment to get over the shock. "I'm… doing better than I was." Maybe he didn't understand what it meant if Minami-san was here. "Um…"

"You're probably wondering what brought me down here," she chuckled softly. "Aiko was very worried about you, so I couldn't sit by and let my daughter's friend suffer like this." Her words were so kind that Kaito felt as if he was going to cry. "Kagamine-kun… why don't you and your sister come live with us from now on?"

For a moment, Len's face was blank from shock before he began to cry. Kaito decided to leave the two of them, knowing that as long as Minami-san was there, Len would be okay. Instead, he stepped out and decided to make a phone call.

"Did you know?"

Aiko smiled to herself when the call came through. She wasn't surprised, honestly; though her mother hadn't given anything away. "I knew mum received the request. I didn't know she was going to take it though. I'm glad really, that mum's there with Len."

"So… you get to be Rin's big sister from now on."

She liked the sound of that. "Yep," she laughed softly. "Kaito… we'll take care of them. you don't need to worry about it."

Kaito mumbled something, and the call ended. Aiko sat there in her room alone for a moment longer before she dashed out the room to tell everyone else the good news.

The days to follow were chaotic to say the least; however, Len was released from hospital and slowly settled into his new life with the Minami family. He returned to school in time to finish up for Christmas that loomed in the horizon. Just as Hibiki promised, he and Kaito had gone down and got the bangles and gifted them to everyone. Christmas was filled with warmth as they shared it together with their friends. Miku had managed to get time off to be with them as well, which made Len very happy. However, there was one conversation Kaito was dreading; one that Miku and Len had set up for him. He wasn't sure whether he was looking forward to New Years anymore.