"So...Rin Kagamine, huh?"

I looked up from the textbook, my eyes burning from the large quantities of information and complexity they'd absorbed, which my brain unfortunately had not. I blinked, rubbing them with the back of my hand and setting my pencil down. Because of finals creeping closer and peering at me evilly around the corner, I found myself in a state of panic and disarray amidst waves of unprocessed knowledge, which would likely be on the final: a vocabulary test of 95 words and a stressay- a surprise essay written within 40-50 minutes, though my teacher decided to be generous and give us the time we had left after our vocabulary quiz- about an unknown prompt regarding a piece of literature we read within that semester. 

Of course, my dumbass often spent time in class sleeping or gazing out the window and thinking about pointless things.

"What about her?" I muttered, leaning back in the chair and rubbing my temples. Luka raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. 

"She's Len's sister?" She asked, a frown shaping her glossy lips and her azure eyes sparkling with uncertainty. Despite the unpleasant look on her face, she was more beautiful than ever; this was why people liked her so much. Whether it be crystalline tears rolling down rosy cheeks and her mouth set in a grimace, or her lips frozen into a fearsome snarl and her eyebrows furrowed with bloodlust scorching within her eyes, she was always beautiful. It was often hard to believe that such a beautiful person was capable of upbringing such ugly thoughts and ideals- like ones that favored setting aside outcasts to bolster reputation, or sabotaging the enemy to win, or cheating your way through life. 

But Luka wasn't a completely rotten apple. I'd seen the gentler and more favorable side to her. I've seen her stroke animals with a tender hand which looks as if it'd never seen violence, with eyes that were lost in a forest of beautiful daydreams and poignant thoughts. I've seen her donate mounds of clothes to Goodwill and other charities without a second thought, and I've seen her smile and laugh and play with children with a bubble of gentleness and ease surrounding her effortlessly. 

Still, I wondered if, somehow it was a facade. But every time I wondered this, her eyes told me that it wasn't so. 

"Yeah," I sighed as I stretched my arms above my head, "why?" Luka put her chin on her palm and gazed at me with curious eyes. 

"Well...what do you mean why?" She asked. I frowned.

"I mean...why? As in, why are you asking...?" I offered. Her gaze went from curious to calculating; it made me squirm in my seat. 

"If you think that I think Rin isn't a good person, you're wrong." She said finally. "All because her good-for-nothing brother isn't doesn't mean that she's the same. I'm not stupid enough to not see that. But I have to wonder...do you think she knows?" 

I frowned. "I doubt it. Don't think anyone has the guts to do it. It's kind of fucked up, isn't it?" I mused. 

"What is?" Asked Luka. "People not telling her? Because yeah, I agree." I waved my hand in dismissal. 

"No, I mean..." I trailed off and paused. Uncertainty and doubt rode through my blood into my heart, enabling it to pump faster than usual. I clasped my hands together on my lap and looked down at them. 

"You mean...?" Luka prompted. I didn't look up. 

"The way he's being treated." 

She was quiet for a long time. She was quiet for so long that I feared she'd left, somehow, without a sound echoing throughout the house, with silent footsteps trailing away from my presence which surely upset her. Then, she finally spoke. 

"No. It's not. He deserves it." She snapped. The edge in her voice was as sharp as a blade. I flinched in fear that it'd cut me. "Why do you feel bad all the sudden? You know what he did. He doesn't deserve sympathy."

I looked up with spark of defiance smoldering within my eyes. "But we don't know, Luka. How can we be sure? They never proved it-"

"-and that's why he deserves to rot like the vermin he is!" Luka cut off, incorrectly finishing my sentence. She glared at me, this time with suspicion. "The police couldn't prove it. But you and I, and everyone else know that it was him. That it should've been him instead of her. Don't you know it, too? Or are you falling for his charm, like sweet Gumi?" 

I flinched again and my startled eyes made way to her face, shadowed by solemnity once she uttered that name. She seemed to deflate and sink further back into her seat. I saw her clench her teeth, and I knew she hit a sensitive spot of her own. She sighed and put her face in her hands. Maybe it was out of exasperation. Maybe it was because she didn't want me to see her face. Maybe she didn't want to see me all.

"Miku. Please..." Her voice cracked. She shuddered as if it were a horrible thing. "Don't fall for his charm, too. I can't..." She trailed off into silence. I swallowed the lump in my throat, which had formed as a result of the nervousness I felt during the situation. I exhaled shakily, then nodded.

"A-Alright. I won't."

...

The trek from my home to Luka's was cold, to say the least.

Then I fainted. 

I remembered walking along the sidewalk, the crunch of the snow under my shoes as I traveled farther from the familiar home which I spent most of my day at. I was thinking, about a lot of things: finals, Luka's desperation to keep me from Len's "charm," (non-existent charm, to me) and Len himself. 

Luka wasn't right about what she said. But she wasn't wrong. 

While Len wasn't directly guilty, the student body mostly believed that he wasn't innocent, either. This lead to the spread of rumors. But it also led to the intense hatred they felt, as if it were a passion, toward him. I never quite believed the rumors; but I also couldn't completely deny that there may have been a shred of truth within them.

Len Kagamine is complicated. 

He's a fragile and delicate flower, free of toxins and venom and deception. His arms are petite and skinny, and incapable of taking another life. His snark and sass and edge, which masked an odd sense of kindness towards me, made me feel as I were floating among gentle waters. It completely baffled me at how he was able to... somewhat gloss over our previously toxic and deadly relationship. But maybe it was because of his sister. 

I realized that thinking of him made me dizzy. I stopped to regain control of my feelings, to stop myself from "falling for his charm." 

But it wasn't the good sort of dizzy you'd feel when your crush spared a few words of encouragement for you, nor the type of dizzy you'd feel when you think about him and how good he looked that day. 

Dark spots began to float through the air, and the dizziness only increased. Cold, freezing sweat began to drip from my skin suddenly, and I felt a strange buzz reverberate throughout my body. My phone dinged. 

My hands shook terribly when I picked it up. With blurry and flawed vision, I successfully entered my password after about 5 tries. The text was from Len.

Len: loser, im at the market. rin said u wanted to try some weird kinda ice cream or whtever 

Len: do u know what shes talking about or is she on crack

I shakily typed in my message.

Miku: hlpe. lincln street. 

Miku: ppwase help 

Len: what the fuck

Len: bet ur getting kidnapped caus u look 12 lmfao

Len: dude

Len: mikuuu

Len: ???

Len: w8 aru shittign me rn???? 

Len: fffuck im comign 

I put the phone in my pocket and stumbled forward, toward the market. I could see the lights from the fast food chains across the street. They were almost blinding. 

Before I could inch forward, I found myself falling forwards. My hands darted out in front of me to ease the fall. The freezing cold snow and concrete numbed my skin. 

If I was hurt, I couldn't tell; I could only feel the tingle racing throughout my body, feel the cold clawing into my face and neck, and watch as the dark blots in my vision took dominance and turned my world dark, robbing me of sight and consciousness. 

...

When I awoke, it was to the feeling of bouncing up and down rapidly and something warm over me and hearing someone panting heavily. I brought my bleary gaze to the figure who, while carrying me, sprinted desperately to an unknown destination. 

"Miku!" Len gasped. He coughed and flicked his head to the side in an attempt to get the hair away from his eyes. He hoisted me up with a wince, as if I were a heavy sack he'd been carrying for hours. "What's wrong?" 

"Low blood sugar." I muttered. I noticed the thick dark red jacket, which radiated the warmth only a human could generate, draped over me, and Len wearing only a long-sleeved shirt. "Your jacket..."

"This is the only- only time I'll say it," He wheezed. He coughed again, hoisted me up, and clenched his jaw. I found enough strength within me to put my arms on his shoulders"But- worry about yourself, stupid."

I nodded weakly and rested my head against his shoulder, wanting nothing more to curl up and banish the weakness and pure helplessness I felt in that moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, and after a minute or so of Len wheezing, grunting, and panting, we halted. 

"Rin!" He hollered, winded. He kicked a door impatiently. "Rin! Open the door!" Inside the house- presumably Len's- were hurried footsteps prior to the sound of an opening door. I clutched Len's shirt, almost scared of anything and everything around me except for him.

"Len? What the hell is this?" Rin seemed to be surprised. I don't blame her though; if Len showed up at my house with Rin in his arms, I'd be in shock. More concerned, really, and scared. 

But Len wasted no time in pushing past her and into the house, where the light seemed to blind me, and the warmth  did nothing to relieve the chill in my bones. 

"Low blood sugar," He replied. He stopped then turned. "Shit, shit, shit. What do I do? What does that even mean?" He whisper-yelled. He propped me up again to re-adjust his hold on me. 

"I-I don't know, I'm not a freakin' nurse Len! Do I look like one to you? Oh, God, is she okay?"

"Obviously fucking not Rin, look at her! She's about to cry or something, I know it!" I slapped Len's back weakly. 

"Shut up, twink." I whispered feebly. He scoffed.

"So you can call me a twink now, huh? You have enough energy to call me a twink? Are you shitting me right now? Listen, you big baby, I just ran a fucking mile carrying your fatass-" 

"Len?" An unfamiliar yet mature voice called out. There was silence before the person spoke again. 

"What the hell is going on here...in my house?"