Reader's P.O.V.

We entered the kitchen with peeling wallpaper and a couple of dingy lamps in lieu of actual electrical wiring.

"Welcome back, Len!" a woman with dark pinkish-red hair waved at us from the stove in the corner. Kagamine coolly sauntered up to her and she wrapped her arms around him, giving him an exaggerated kiss on the top of his head. Len shoved his hands in his pocket and laughed, "Yeah, and I brought a new friend."

The woman looked past Kagamine to see me standing awkwardly in the background. Her smile was one to rival my aunt's... soft and welcoming. "Hello, I'm Miki," she greeted warmly and held her hand out. I gently took her hand, yet her hold was surprisingly firm.

"I'm [_____]." I smiled shyly. My eyes glanced around the room. I was usually awkward around others. As I looked around, my eyes landed on a gun snug in her pocket.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Miki smiled back and continued cooking. Her whole demeanor was comforting like a sister or mother figure.

"She's family to me," Kagamine muttered as he nudged his head at Miki. His cheeks were pale pink like peonies. He turned his back from the kitchen, and led me down the hall. We passed an open doorway from an empty dining room.

"Are you all close-knit?"

"A couple of the members see this merely as business, but at the end of the day: we're all family. Despite what a couple of them say, they're my closest friends. If anything I'd have to estimate our percentage of "close-knit" would be around 95."

Kagamine led me down a couple more dark halls, passing rooms closed off with decorations and posters, and whatnot. From the outside, the building seemed so much smaller and now that I'm in here, boy was I mistaken. We continued out to a small foyer and beyond the open doorway to the left was the distinct shouting of someone losing a game and someone else cursing.

Kagamine knocked on the doorway, smiling smugly as everyone snapped their heads in our direction.

"Hey, Len! You're back!"

Everyone's attention immediately left Kagamine and fixated on me. I fidgeted anxiously, unsure of what to do. Was it too late to back out? Too many eyes were on me... What shocked me more is that I recognized a couple of them.

"Hello," I sheepishly chuckled, waving my hand. They just stared at me like blank-eyed goats.

"The hell, Boss?!" a flaxen haired male yelled, "You said we couldn't bring people into the base! What gives-"

A knife was thrown, settling snug and deep into the wall beside his head.

"Don't talk to him like that. It's not our fault you've got your privileges revoked," a girl with pink hair interjected. Whilst all of them seemed to know what they were doing, I was freaking out. They just tossed their weapons wherever! But her throw was very precise... I collected myself and slightly bowed my head, "Hi, I'm [_____]."

"Welcome aboard, kid!"

Whoa... That voice! I know that voice!

I turned to my right and in the corner, Ms. Sakane waved around a beer can. The girl with the pink hair on the opposite side of the room introduced herself as Momo. The blond loudmouth speaking out introduced himself as Leon.

A few of the familiar faces there definitely shocked me. Miku and her iconic twin-tail hairstyle. She attended the same middle school with us. Then I met Piko, a white-haired boy who wore black pants and a white shirt, a girl named Defoko, and another girl named Ia.

Another face made me do a double-take, "Miss Kasane?!"

"[_____]! When did you get here?" she asked me, her eyes full of worry. She was too busy with her face in papers to look up till a moment ago.

"I brought her here... I'm thinkin' of leaving an open spot for her. She might join us if she really wants to." Kagamine lightly elbowed my upper arm with a cheeky grin. Those words had my head swimming. Joining a gang? Me?! It seemed like such an impossible thought... first of all, what if I do if something happened and it ended up on my record? Also, what good would I do anyone? I'm just a normal person! Being in a gang seemed like a lot of work. Illegal work.

I wanted to pull Kagamine off to the side to talk with him about his words thrown so carelessly, but a blonde girl who kinda looked like him hopped into my line of vision before I could talk to him.

"Hi, [_____]! I'm Rin! I've seen you around the school before, but it was always out of the corner of my eye. I began to think there was a ghost haunting the place, but I'm glad you're not. It's nice to meet you!"

I smiled kindly at her. Rin's bubbly personality settled the majority of my nerves going haywire. A scoff of disgust came from another girl who stormed out. I'd just turned to see her leave when another one of my teachers walked in.

"Professor Kamui? Is that you too?!" I cried.

He stared at me for what felt like a weird and awkward eternity before sprinting back where he came from.

"Who's Kamui?" Piko piped, "That's Gakupo!"

Sakane groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, waving her other hand at Piko to resume what he was doing. She walked over to us and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me away from prying ears.

"Even if you don't chose to join us, [_____], you're always welcome here. This is our safe spot. Bee-tee-dubs, just be careful around Neru; it's nothing against you personally, she's just feisty. And a bit of the jealous type." Sakane whispered to me, adding a wink.

"What do you mean? It's not like I'm doing anything."

She laughed a little, "The "Boss" doesn't just let anyone into our posse let alone our base. Neru, the "unfriendly" girl who just walked out and the boss are an item, she's a little jelly. Plus, you're a cute kid."

I was taken aback, but I regained my composure. Miss Kasane sighed and pushed Miss Sakane away from me.

"Give her a break, Meiko. I doubt anything will happen," Miss Kasane turned her attention on me, "But you are welcome here always, [_____]. I hope everything goes well for you."

She smiled warmly at me and nodded her head behind me. Kagamine was about to tap my shoulder when I turned around. He ushered me to the center of the room, "I want you all to accept her as any other member. We talked about this last night, but if anyone gets to her, you're going to answer to me, you understand? She's not an official member unless she wants to be, but she's free to come and go whenever. If you're in her vicinity, guard her."

Everyone nodded in understanding and then Kagamine sat me down and explained everything about the gangs. He told me how they were fighting for territory, constantly expanding to run the city from the underground.

When I arrived home, about a billion things were running through my mind. I just befriended a gang leader and found out my classmates and teachers are even a part of this gang. They take territories and have quite a reputation for being so new. I think I was just having a hard time wrapping my head around all of the thoughts. A position was open for me if I wanted it. Kagamine was even providing gang protection!

Sometime amidst my thoughts, my aunt had dragged me along on a shopping trip. I grimaced a bit when I realized I was in the car. I wanted to chill out in my room, but she took me along anyway. Did I say yes? Not that I really minded, it was fun to hang out with her. Besides, Aunt Ann wanted to look for a new outfit. My uncle likes to take my aunt out on date nights. In the middle of shopping for her, she began to look at clothes for me.

"How about this?" she asked, holding up a white shirt with pink polka dots and lime green rectangles.

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head, "No way."

I found something cute and cheap every now and again, but my aunt's definition of cute clothes was in different taste from me. I at least picked a couple of things I liked and my aunt picked out some nice dancing shoes.

"Okay, next store. Where else should we go?" Aunt Ann asked me as she paid. I carried my bags and on my way out, I saw Neru just sneering at me. I hadn't even realized she was at the mall, but having such a cold glare made me a little uncomfortable and more wary of my surroundings. No matter what though, I just had to refuse to acknowledge her. She didn't even know me and was ready to hate me? Maybe I'd get a chance to sit down and talk with her sometime... now wasn't the time, however.