a/n: Here you have it. Rin's death is going to be revealed...

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Chapter Eight: A Soundless Voice

Teto Kasane was not happy. She was a mess, actually.

Yesterday, her brother and his friends had died. Her world was torn apart. Siblings these days never got along, but Ted and Teto did. No one would understand the connection, though.

Since Teto was too young to be living by herself (she was sixteen, whilst Ted was eighteen), she had to move in with her distinct relatives. And it happened to be pure misfortune that they lived in an apartment in downtown, looking over the very bridge her brother had met his death. It couldn't get worse than this, she was positive.

And when Len Kagamine showed up in her lobby, soaking wet from the downpour, she wasn't in the mood to talk.

"What do you want?" She wanted to make her entrance intimidating, like Ted had taught her to. Teto leaned against the doorway, with the kid who she barely knew that had been accused of jacking up the car.

"Nothing. I just need to apologize." The blond male, who was slightly shorter than her, took his dripping coat off and brushed the hair from his face.

"Apologize? So you are openly admitting that you DID kill my brother?!" She advanced forward, her voice dripping venom. "You don't understand what it's like to loose a sibling!"

"Oh, I do."

"Huh?"

Teto tugged on one of her curly pigtails, eyes not leaving Len.

"My sister was a victim of self-harm. She was my twin, and my best friend." His striking blue eyes held her gaze in a collected manner. "It was such an unnecessary death, one that could've been prevented. Like your brother's."

Teto gritted her teeth. She still wasn't sure what Len was offering.

"So the reason why I have come is to apologize, on my sister's behalf. She..I'm so sorry...but she was the one who caused you all this pain. And me, for not being being able to control her." His eyes took on a faraway gaze, ignoring the strange look she was giving him. "Kasane Teto, I have so much to tell you."

She had heard of Len Kagamine, who was a straight A student and computer otaku. So when he told her that his sister...that was dead...was the one who had killed Ted, she didn't know if she could trust her own thoughts. It didn't seem real...it couldn't be.

But when Len sat her down in the lobby couches and told her everything, it seemed possible. It was a story coming straight from his heart, and the emotion in his voice said it all. And Len was a boy of logic and facts. If something like this had shook him, then there is more that meets the eye.

He told her about the Electric Angel, and how in order to keep him safe, she sent Ted, Kaito and Piko off the suspension bridge. And now, he had to get rid of her.

"I'm sorry this had caused pain upon you. It's my fault, not hers, that it had happened." He patted Teto's hand, who had started off in tears again. "I want you to know that I'm going to stop this. Whether I like it or not."

He was close to a complete stranger, yet he had let her in on so much of his life details. In return, she shared some of her own:

Ted and Teto were victims of abuse, and had ran away from home at an early age. They spent their years together at an orphanage, before being adopted by a young couple. They passed, unfortunately, and then lived with the couple's relatives, traveling all over Japan to reach them. Finally, on Ted's eighteenth birthday, they moved out into a home of their own. And they vowed to stay there, until Ted had died of course.

Ted, it turns out, had an injury inflicted upon him by a drunk parent. His right knee sometimes refused to function, which made him horrible in the sports he loved. Thus, when they had first arrived to the orphanage, the kids teased and bullied him about his limp. Because Teto was unable to intervene, since the girls and boys were separated into different ward, Ted himself became a bully. He felt power whenever he had a gang under his control, and he grew up to be sadistic about it. No one knew, however, that Ted showed an entirely different side whenever he was with Teto. It was part of the brother-and-sister relationship they had, which helped them through so much drama.

But she knew more than just that. Ted had also informed her on the lives of his comrades, Piko and Kaito. It turns out that Kaito was a victim of steroid abuse...but not by himself. He wanted to be a teacher or professor one day, but his muscle-building, pro-wrestling family didn't want any of that. He was forced to use steroids...and disobedience meant punishment. Kaito was admitted to many sports competitions, winning them all. But the blue-haired teen was not happy with his life. After his drug usage was discovered, he was kept miles away from home in a recovery program, which have him his crappy mood. Kaito never got a chance to pursue a life that he wanted... and now he'll never.

Piko, unlike the other two, had wonderful parents. But they were arrested when he was six, because they wouldn't hand Piko over to the government, for research. The boy had a strange condition that made his hair white, and had hated it the day he realized that he wasn't like normal kids. He was a smart, swift and well-mannered child. Piko hitchhiked to a different city, and lived on the streets by himself, until he was fifteen. Then he joined Ted and Kaito, becoming corrupted with the life of being a thug. The tall, thin man was often looked down upon for his sarcastic attitude and vulgar remarks. But no one saw the young, innocent tween who had enough intelligence to get by for nine years, but not enough awareness to let himself be taken over by gangs and violence. Ted and Kaito were his first and only friends.

She was gripping Len's sleeve tightly, trying to hold back tears."It pains me to know that Ted hurt so many, and that he deserves to die. But he was meant to be a different person, I swear. I saw it within him, and it had so much potential. But his lust for power, leadership, and bullying became too extreme. He even tried to rape someone once. I understand completely why people despise and fear him. But he was different, a supporter and guardian to me. He...he didn't deserve to die..."

"Nobody does." Len whispered.

Teto gasped as he pulled out Ted's cellphone from his pocket, sliding it across the table to her.

"It was pretty nosy of me, but I managed to use his phone to find you. And looking through it, I believe you when you said he was a devoted brother. I just wish... I was more like one."

He sat up, and walked towards the door. Slipping on his coat, he didn't look back at her. Len opened the lobby door, staring out in the rain before advancing.

"Wait!" Teto yelled across the room. She didn't want him to go. Not just yet.

"How...how did your sister die?"

It's been so long since anyone had asked that question, so long that he had nearly forgotten But as he stared out in the rain, he realized that it was an event that will never leave him. Memories were like stones...cut them, break them, crumble them, melt them...they were still stones.

How could be be so daft? Part of Rin's death was his own fault. Couldn't he tell that something was off about her? And the electric angel, too. She malfunctioned, because he was selfish.

Len's face matched the rain; cold, grey, and sullen. Without looking at the red-haired girl, he spoke, lost in a reverie.

"It was a bitter cold December day. Rin and I had turned thirteen..."

?'s POV:

The second I returned from home, I ran upstairs to find Rin. I didn't get a chance to see her all day, because she was sick from the flu. How unfortunate, I thought. Being sick on our birthday must totally suck!

She has been like this for weeks, just sitting in her bed, propped up by pillows. Sometimes, I try to make her days easier and play the piano for her. I worry though...Rin was getting weaker day by day, to the point where holding a mug of tea was difficult. She hid her pain by smiling, of course.

My sister, she was so perfect. Always happy, always speaking her mind, always cracking jokes. Rin was kind to everyone, and had a smile that would brighten even the sensei's day. She was everything that I, her ignored counterpart, wasn't: Sweet, beautiful, brave, bubbly, popular, and helpful. Always taking initiative. Always trying new things. Always fighting the worst, with her words of wisdom.

So when she was absent from her bed, I was confused. She couldn't have possibly went out for a walk. Maybe she went downstairs for a drink? But the kitchen was empty when I came in. I decided to check the bathroom.

"Rin wouldn't have a reason to leave her bed, unless it was a good one." Like I said, she was perfect. What was there that could possibly bring her down?

I opened the bathroom door, which was unlocked. But what I saw in there hit me like a brick.

"It was in that moment I realized that Rin wasn't so perfect after all."

Rin was in there, alright. But not in the way any other person should. She stood fully-clothed in the bathtub, face pale and tear-stained, as she gasped at my appearance. All the air in my lungs vanished.

Down her arms, down her thigh, and in crosshatches around her collarbone was blood. Deep, pure, flowing blood. In her hand was a razor.

I realize it, now. Why Rin always wore long sleeved clothes, even blistering weather. Why she sometimes yelped in pain when I grabbed her arm. Why she would spend irrelevant amounts of time in the bathroom. It was all because she was doing this.

Right now, what I saw before me was a helpless, wounded creature. One who had hidden so much pain from her brother, that she channeled it through the blood that gushed down her body.

I was deceived, lied to. The only reason why Rin acted so happy was to lie to me. She didn't want me to worry. She didn't think my weak self could handle it, if she let's her secret out.

She didn't trust me. And that hurt more than any wound she makes.

"Rin..." I breathed, disbelievingly. The tears felt like snowflakes against my numb cheeks. "Why?"

"I-I-I-I" Rin stuttered. Even her white linen bow was stained. She was caught, and there was no smiling out of it this time.

I approached her, the shivering girl. I wanted to hug her, but Rin dropped the razor, her bumblebee coloured clothes sticking damply to her skin.

"Why didn't you tell me...? I whispered. My voice had the weak, desperate tone I was known for. I was begging her for an explanation, something to explain the cuts that ran deep.

Her blue eyes filled up with tears. "So you wouldn't know how fucked up I am! So I could be the perfect sister you knew and loved! Does this look perfect to you?" Hacks and gnashes went up and down her arm, her legs, ones that she had made to herself.

"I'm so sorry Len."

With that, she ran out the door. I followed, screaming her name. But it was too late. As Rin ran past the doorway, snatching a blue scarf along the way, she was out of the house and into the snow.

"RINNN!" I cried, my voice breaking. I ran out into the white, the powder-like iciness going up to my knees. I persisted, trudging painfully through the blizzard. I cried as bitter cold snow blew into my eyes, wandering around blindly to find her. My glasses were already clouding up. This wasn't good.

"RINNN!" No, I failed. She's gone, into the snow. I've lost her, because I was weak.

I was nothing without Rin.

"Please come back, Rin. Please come back."

But the more I thought about it, the more hopeless it became. She was wearing nothing but a scarf, while I had recently returned home in snow gear. She's wounded and bloody, not to mention heartbroken. If the snow get's into her cuts, she's done for.

I have to go find her. We are twins, equals. If I lose her, what will happened to me?

"Don't think about that, Len." I scolded myself. "You will find her. And you will take her home."

Wrapping my arms around my body, I trudged through the snow. I clenched my teeth against the cold, knowing that Rin is going through worse.

"I will find her."

But I didn't.

Hours and hours passed. The normal folks yelled at me from their window, demanding me to return home. But nothing will make me change my mind. Twilight came, as it always did, and I still haven't found Rin. I didn't even finish searching the city. Currently, I was in a snow-covered park, one that was unrecognizable in the blankets of white.

"Rin!" That's all I've been saying for the hours. Frostbite ate away my fingers, and toes. It was insane to be out in this type of weather, but I didn't care about the fact that I had a fifty percent chance of dying in this weather. And Rin was a different story.

"...Rin..." Fatigue chopped down my voice, the puffs of air from my mouth forming onto my glasses, thus freezing. The snow reached around me like fingers, prominent and spindly. I kept going, into the unknown. I ended up fighting against the snowstorm, in the middle of a wood.

And I saw her.

"RINNN!" Shock and joy engulfed my frozen body. My sister stood, visible because of the dull, cold colour of blood that tainted the snow. She left a trail, leading up to the one I was looking for. Her back was facing me, and she was far away. Trying to see in the storm was a hell. But my eyes... and my heart...believed what I was seeing.

She turned. But before she could make the rotation, she collapsed.

Collapsed like the tree before it becomes timber, like the butterfly with one wing. Like the meditating crane who lost its balance, like a leaf descending from the canopy of its fiery family.

The fall of death was always beautiful, even though the dancer will never dance again.

"No!"

It was too late; it was always too late.

The snow held her, cuddling her in a chilling embrace. As if she had always meant to be there. As if the mark she left was no more than a snow angel, buried by the flakes falling from the sky once she is gone.

"Rin..."

Her eyes looked up at me, as cold as the snow itself, with a the life drained out of them. Her eyelashes had flurries of snowflakes, like the embroidered edge of dress. They were nothing but glass.

My throat soon became hoarse from screaming too long. As I cradled her porcelain figure, the tears freezing on my face and in my scarf, I realized that I never got a chance say goodbye. Rin had died...on the day that we were born.

The snow piled up on my cries, and I gave up. Rin was never coming back. Her blood had frozen to ice, making her limbs stiff and immobile. When I finally leaned over to close her eyelids, tears dripped out of them.

It was so unfair...I NEEDED her in my life! Without Rin, I was like a stone cast out into the ocean, a raindrop lost in all the others. She guided me, LOVED me, something that I only remembered my parents had did. Rin meant more to me than my parents. Although they had MADE me, she had SHAPED me.

And she was lost to her own wounds...because I was an imperfect brother. Without her, I was nothing but an outcast.

Finally, I lay next to her in the snow, tightly clasping her hand. The blizzard was causing our hands to freeze together...but I might as well be grasping ice.

"Don't..don't leave me.." I begged, uselessly. I knew she was never coming back. No matter how much I'll scream, I am but another soundless voice in the cold emptiness.

Our souls are one, right?

Please God, if You can give my voice to her, I wouldn't feel so alone in this world.

"If I can't hear your voice just one more time...if I can't hear you sing just one last time..."

I squeezed her hand tighter, vowing to stay until the snow covers us both.

"I'll disappear."

Teto didn't speak a word. As Len turned around, he saw that she was in tears as well.

"She did give me her voice..." Len mused. "After everything she went through, she came back as a program to sing for me. An electric angel. In a way, my wish had came true."

He paused, wiping away the tears that streamed down his cheeks. "My heart had been ripped out that day. But when I saw Mini-Rin...and spoke to Reboot, I knew that she was watching over me. But she malfunctioned, causing more harm than good. And I want to move on, to deal with my own problems. To let go, for the first time."

It was hard for him to speak. Len clasped a hand around his mouth, to prevent him from sobbing. But he knew he was strong. He knew that whether Rin was with him or not, he had to finish.

"I woke up in the ER, and Iroha said I nearly died. And I also lost my voice. Because I screamed so loud that night, my vocal cords were damaged. But why didn't anyone say anything about Rin? They showered me with words of comfort and sympathy, but it felt all meaningless, because they ignored my sister. She had went through the real pain. By the time I regained consciousness, Rin's body was taken away and buried, in a spot chosen by my parents. I have no idea where she was.

I couldn't see Rinny. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, and now that she came back to do it for me, everything's out of control."

Teto finally spoke in what seemed like hours. "I'm...I'm so sorry Len."

He remembered that those were the last words that the Rin he knew said to him, before she bolted out of the door to her death.

"It's not your fault.

Rin."

With that word, he left. Teto was left in her pajamas, Len's story forever imprinted in her brain. For once, she had cried over someone else. And Len was nearly a stranger to her.

Teto noticed that where he used to sit was a note. She looked at it, wondering if it was meant for her.

All it showed though, were ones and zeros. Teto was confused, wondering if was a math problem. But when she flipped it over, she could see the translation neatly written in black pen:

"Sometimes, siblings find the strangest ways to connect with their living counterpart. For me, it was the internet.

~ Len K."

Teto smiled, just slightly. She returned to her living place, which housed three cousins or aunts or nieces or whatever ways she was related to them, She collapsed onto her bed, which was in a small, plastered room with no other furniture. There was only one window, which was clouded with vapour. The rain ceased, just slightly.

Teto read the note over and over, reflecting on the story of the electric angel. His sister went through the whole process of converting into bytes and binary code just so that she could offer some company from the other side. And it broke Len's heart, when she turned against him. She was more than an anonymous user, interactive singing program, or a supernatural being herself. Rin was his sister, whether sane or not, and nothing was going to change that.

Something caught Teto's attention from the corner of her eye.

Words were forming on her window, like an invisible finger making letters in the condensation. They were slow, neat, and Teto nearly got a heart attack from what emerged...

"I will always be watching over you, sis."

Teto ran up to the window, making sure it wasn't a daydream formed from Len's story. And she was finally convinced it was real.

Len was right. Siblings were really just parts from the same heart. The redhead looked past the letters, seeing the bridge from Ted had died from. She grinned, as she herself leaned over the same window, the letters forming from her finger as she wrote under his message:

"I know, Teddy. I know."

a/n: It's awesome getting to hear everyone's opinions on this~ I've made more song references than Electric Angel, see if you can catch them all ;)

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