I literally have no excuse for this nonsense. I can barely remember what I wrote in this chapter, though I don't think it was good. Anyway, one more chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, you brilliant, brilliant people!

Onward!

/

He's just said good-bye to Sonika, who became his ex just last week. He couldn't find it in himself to break off their friendship, though, and adds another ex-girlfriend to the ranks of people he can stand. If this is going to become a thing, Piko isn't too sure he'll ever make a relationship last.

But he's glad Sonika enjoys being friends, too. Her house, which is where he's walking home from, is comfortable, and her roommates like him well enough. It's just another failure to add to a long list that seems to be getting far too long to manage anymore.

But before he even makes it halfway to his apartment, his phone buzzes in his pocket and he answers as soon as he sees Rin's name on the screen.

"Hello?" he asks. There's no answer, save for heavy breathing. "Rin, is that you?"

"Yeah," she replies, though it's weak and pained.

"Did something happen?" Piko feels his own voice become urgent. It's late and he's ready to get home, but if Rin's called him knowing he has work in the morning, it must be something important. "Rin, talk to me."

"It's… I… can you come over? Please," she sniffs on the other end of the line and Piko knows she's been crying. It's heartbreaking to hear and Piko can't imagine seeing such a thing.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Give me ten minutes," he replies. He's at least twenty-five minutes away, but he knows he can make it.

/

Ten minutes and thirty-eight seconds later, Piko is knocking on the door of the Kagamine household. He's been here quite a few times in the last few years and knows it well. Their mother had passed away some time ago, not long before Len's graduation, and Piko had found himself consoling both Kagamine children in the place of their father. He couldn't cook or clean worth shit, but it was a good thing they could afford to pay someone to do that. Instead, he did the things Miku would've done; he watched movies with the pair. He played games, both electronical and otherwise. He was there. It was an event that brought him so much closer to Rin and gave him a far better look into the lives of the Kagamines. It was probably a huge part of why their father thought so highly of him. God knows why else the man would.

Rin answers the door. Her face is tinted red, her eyes puffy and bloodshot. It's all slight and barely noticeable, but Piko notices everything that has to do with Rin.

"Hey," he greets as she moves in to hug him. She's shorter than him, just short enough for his chin to rest on the top of her bent head. It's nice to have her so close, but the wet spot spreading over his shoulder as she begins to cry again reminds him of why he's there.

"What happened?" he asks after pulling apart. His fingers trace the tears on her face to wipe them away. Her skin is hot to the touch.

"Gumo and I broke up," she tells him softly around her tears. She pulls him inside before continuing, closing the door and allowing him to lead her to the living room.

"That's… really sudden," he says, mildly confused and more than a bit angry. He had thought, up 'til now, that things were going great for the couple. Gumo hadn't mentioned anything. After all, Piko had reluctantly become something like a friend to the other boy. Wouldn't he have mentioned something to Piko if things were turning sour with Rin?

"Not really," Rin manages to say. "I expected it. After he told me his ex was moving back soon. He talked about her a lot." This is enough to reduce her to tears again. "He was just… so nice. It was the first relationship I had ever been in." She falls back against him and Piko has to lean into the couch. It's so strange, comforting his long-term crush after her break-up. But he has no intention to do anything. Not until he's sure she's fine. Because Rin will be fine, no matter how long it takes.

"It was silly to think my first relationship would last," Rin sobs in his chest. "Statistically-"

"Statistics don't matter," Piko interrupts, running his hand carefully through her short, blond hair. Her usual hairband (sometimes hairbow) has been abandon and her hair is a bit of a mess. "You really like him. It's natural to… to think about being together forever. It's hard to imagine being apart." It almost makes him choke to say that. God forbid she stayed with Gumo forever.

"Y-yeah," she replies softly. Rin has curled up against him, head resting on his chest as his arms encircle her protectively. "It hurts."

"I know," he tells her. "It always hurts." He has had girlfriends in the past, after all. He also knows what it's like to be rejected by someone you love. It's the feeling that bloomed up when Rin first told him she had a boyfriend.

Don't be so damned selfish, he orders himself. You make sure Rin's going to be okay and you leave her alone. She's not ready for any sort of confession.

And she really wasn't. After ten minutes of silence, she had worn herself out completely and Piko figured she'd fall asleep soon. After a while, she had relaxed with her head in his lap and was close to nodding off. Subconsciously, he had started stroking her hair some time ago and figures she didn't mind since she has yet to say anything. Soon enough, she does drift off, and Piko does his best to get up without waking her.

He sighs and heads off to the kitchen. He's glad no one's home as he pulls out a beer from the fridge. Just before opening it, he decides against the alcohol and makes a pot of coffee. It's getting late and the sun set before he even walked over here, but damn anyone who says he can't have some coffee. Piko's stressed and tired, but doubts he'll be able to sleep and resorts to inhaling three cups of black coffee before yanking a blanket out of one of the linen closets upstairs and throwing it over Rin. He's glad she's fallen asleep. No doubt she will still be a mess upon awaking, but a few hours of sleep should do her good.

Piko turns to reading (a pastime he rarely enjoys) one of the many books on the shelves in the living room to pass the time. It was one he had read before and thus does not have to focus especially hard, nor does he have to worry about finishing it. Rin will probably wake up after a bit of a nap and he'll have to be able to focus back on her.

This is the correct assumption to make, he discovers. Not two hours later (and eleven chapters in. He prefers to read slowly), Rin wakes up with bleary, bloodshot eyes. It's hard to tell, but Piko thinks she probably feels a bit better.

"You okay?" he asks in a soft voice, moving to sit beside her on the couch as she sits up limply.

"Better," she confirms. "Headache."

It's unlike Rin to use such simple words and sentences. She's quite a chatterbox most of the time. It hurts Piko to see her like this. It's almost as though he's been personally wounded.

"How about you go to bed?" Piko suggests. "I'll bring you some tea and pain meds for the headache. We'll watch a bad movie. Or you can go back to sleep." Rin, being the rich girl she is, has a bed equal to four of his own. It can fit six different people without them even bumping elbows. Besides that, she also has a large TV in her room where she spends time watching anime and other TV shows and positively abysmal movies. Piko really doesn't understand her taste in entertainment.

Rin smiles sleepily. "Okay," she agreed. "Thanks, Piko."

"No problem," he accepts. "Go on. I'll make the tea."

Rin nods and stands, her blanket hanging off her shoulders and her hands gripping the cloth gently. She is still in jeans and a blouse, which Piko can't imagine was comfortable. Hopefully she'll think to change before he gets to her room.

Piko does as he said he would. The tea is placed on a tray (two mugs, one with sugar and one without), accompanied by the chocolate chip cookies Piko knows Rin made the day before. Chocolate can fix any sort of problem, especially the emotional sort.

Piko makes sure to knock and wait for a response. Inside, Rin's buried in pillows and blankets. In fact, she's made a bit of a fort, huddled under a mass of soft, cuddly stuffed animals. Piko smirks. It's a very Rin-like thing to do.

"There you go," he offers out the tray to Rin, whose head is just visible poking out of her fort.

"Okay," she says. "Come on. You promised bad movies."

Rin's version of a bad movie is a '90s horror movie that can't even be considered bad. "Atrocious" is a far more accurate description. But she relaxes a bit and Piko tucks himself into the fort with her, sipping tea and stealing crumbs off her cookie in a teasing way. She doesn't seem to mind, though; in fact, Piko sees her smile as he chomps down on the cookie that had been in her hand a moment before.

And eventually, Rin falls asleep again. It's somewhere into the third movie (the title of which has escaped Piko's mind), and Piko gets up as quietly as possible, turns off the television, and sneaks out of the room to the guest room down the hall. He's tired and doesn't want weird questions to arise if he's found sleeping in Rin's room. So he tucks himself under the blankets and eventually dozes off.