Whatever demon possessed me into thinking that this would ever be ONE chapter is a cruel, cruel creature. I should have known that it would take upwards of ten chapters to let the story run its course...

Anyway, shorter chapter this time, I'm sorry q.q Enjoy anyway~!

"God damnit, Len, get the hell up!" a pause. "LEN?" More pounding on the door. More screaming.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Len mumbled as he shuffled to his front door. In his current state, a place somewhere between awareness and slumber, he didn't stop to think about putting his robe on and realized when he saw Kaito's face that he was only in his low-slung sweats. Since it was three in the morning, Len chose to disregard his overexposure.

"This had damn well better be worth getting me up, Kaito," he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Karakuri is being moved back to maximum security," Kaito replied. "She killed a night nurse."

Len's eyes widened as he fully awakened. "What?" He grabbed Kaito's tie and pulled him through the door before slamming it behind them.

"Tell me everything," he demanded. Kaito shrugged.

"Most of it's on tape. You can come see for yourself."

Len glowered. "I want to hear what they are going to be saying."

Kaito shrugged. "Last known bed check was at midnight. The next one was half an hour ago. The midnight nurse was found dead by the nurse on the next shift. She was dead in Rin's room, and Rin was reported asleep in her bed, covered in blood."

"I thought you said it was on camera. You're sitting here telling me this like you didn't actually see it," Len murmured skeptically.

"When she attacked the nurse, something got thrown toward the camera and the video blacks out right as she jumps her. We don't know exactly how she was killed yet."

Len sighed and eased himself down on the couch, resting his head in his hands. We were so close…

Kaito seated himself beside Len.

"Why do you care so much about her, anyway, Len?" he murmured, no suspicion evident in his voice. "If I remember correctly, she tried to kill you," he added sarcastically.

Len bit his lip. "It's nothing but stupid."

"I might cut you some slack if you tell me."

"You make any mention of this and I'll be forced to kill you, just so you know."

Kaito chuckled, increasing Len's irritation. "Don't worry, I don't blab."

Len sighed and let his head fall forward. He ruffled his hair as he carefully selected each word.

"She…she looks a lot like a girl I used to know."

Kaito's silence and the sensation of his watchful eyes urged Len onwards.

"…when I was seven, my mother got sick and died. A few weeks later, my father killed himself. After that, I was sent to a foster family. The husband was a well-off lawyer and the wife was a wedding planner. They…they had a daughter my age."

Kaito chuckled. "Ahh, young love."

"I'm not finished."

"My bad. Go on."

Len still experienced an acute rush of pain whenever he thought of his childhood. "I was happy with them. I never thought I'd be happy without my mother, but it was okay…mostly because I had a crush on their daughter." He chuckled, embarrassed. "A big one." Another sigh escaped his lips as he set into the darkest events of his past, not even thinking to code his response to protect Rin. "By the time I was twelve, I'd taken to calling my foster parents Mom and Dad. Mom was about to have a baby…and…one night, Dad came home like he always did, but he'd only been home for a few minutes when there was someone breaking in the back door. She killed mom and dad…tried to kill me – that's how I lost my eye – and kidnapped the daughter…they said they found her body in another city almost a year later." He paused. "Hatsune's assassin looks like a carbon copy of Rin…and the thought of anything happening to Rin again…is completely unthinkable."

"I didn't know our big, bad, lieutenant could be so sentimental," Kaito breathed, half in sincerity and half to lighten the mood. Len glowered at him.

"Just because I'm military doesn't mean I'm heartless," he growled. Kaito raised his hands.

"I never did!" he covered, eyes wide at Len's aggressive response. "I've just never heard you talk about anyone like that before."

"I don't do it often," Len replied wringing his hands. Several seconds of silence passed before Kaito stood and pulled Len to his feet.

"Come on. General Megurine wants you to look over the tape and explain some things to her." He lowered his voice. "And you'd better talk fast. I heard her discussing execution with the other higher-ups before I left."