MoNoChRoMaDdiCt here with another chapter of Proof of Life!

Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows :3

So~ this chapter is dedicated to: cami-rin-chan

Review Replies at the bottom

Rated: T, Mystery/Hurt-Comfort + Romance

Rin x Len x ?

Feel free to give constructive criticism it has been a while since I've written I probably need to improve.

Disclaimer: I do not own Vocaloid, its characters or songs or anything but the story idea. I also do not own any of the songs or lyrics referenced within this fanfic.

Enjoy~

Chapter 4: Black Board

Voices bounce off the walls in the small, yet slightly crowded room. Different conversations mingling with each other and creating a sound almost like a song. Words flowing together; a tuneless melody. A scratching like sound mixes with the voices. Yet it doesn't collaborate with the rest of the noise in the classroom.

"Make the letters bigger!"

A voice rises above the crowd, loud and commanding. A few giggles follow after and the scratching continues. Chairs squeak, scraping across the linoleum flooring as other student's get up to see what's going on. Gathering with the crowd that has already assembled there.

"Yes! Yes! Just like that!"

"Just wait till she sees it"

A chorus of laughter, eyes flickering towards the clock set above them. Class will begin soon. A few more sounds resound in the room, as the amount of children in the front of the room increases. This continues, more scratching is added along with protests as some of the people are shoved. Trembling hands trying to draw more.

Everyone wants to add something in.

Distracted by their games the children fail to notice the sound of a door being opened. It's not nearly loud enough to be heard over the hassle. A girl enters, her head down and shoulders hunched. A school bag hangs loosely off of one hand, like it could fall at the slightest of movements.

Soft, newly trimmed, blonde hair brushes across her ears as she walks towards a desk and pulls out the chair. Dropping the bag onto the floor by it, she casts a glance upwards at the people collected at the front of the room.

A slight curiosity flickers across her features for a moment before they settle again into a neutral gaze. Still the wonderment hasn't vanished. As she ponders over getting up and seeing what they are all doing, one of them looks back spotting her.

"She's here!"

The voice cuts through the racket instantly silencing it. Head after head turn her way, making the girl at the desk blink in confusion. Then in almost a marching fashion the children start to back away, dispersing towards the far ends of the classroom.

As she stares ahead, words are visible in front of her and her curiosity wins out. Getting to her feet again, she slowly moves forward, all eyes fall on her watching her every move. Her focus however, is on the sight before her.

Underneath the neat handwritten words. "Grade 5 Classroom Etiquette" Something new has been added.

Among the clutter of scribbles and illegibility. Like painting on a canvas, white bold font stands out.

.

.

.

Smack in the center of the blackboard

.

.

.

KILLER

Chapter 4

It was Red vs Blue, a battle raging on. Neither side giving any sign of defeat both holding on strong. Stares piercing into one another, weapons raised at the ready. Although the colors clashed, they never collided. Would there be a stalemate or would One come out victorious? It seemed to be decided.

Until Rin blinked.

Breaking the staring contest between Haku and her, Rin turned her focus on the uniform she had just put on before coming down the stairs and running into the Loch-ness monster of mornings. Haku, wielding a spatula turned away from the counter the two females had been staring, or glaring at each other over.

"Fix your collar."

She muttered, voice reeking of weariness, as if she hadn't slept in months. Without bothering to check if Rin had followed the order she returned her attention back to the stove. In response, Rin completely ignored the woman's words as if they were air and did nothing to smooth the creases in her uniform.

It was big on her, not too overly sized but still not a perfect fit either. Rin had seen the uniform on another girl the day before, but as she observed the one she wore, she felt they were different somehow.

'Gumi's...seems, darker'

Rin thought to herself wondering if she should ask Len if he could remember...then again, she could just find out at school. Rin highly doubted someone would give her a faulty uniform. Unless the culprit was standing in the room with her. Tearing her eyes from her sleeves, Rin looked up at Haku making a smug grin like she figured out some master plan.

As if sensing the intensity of Rin's look, the woman turned and gave her an annoyed look of her own.

"I told you to fix your clothes, Rin."

With a twitch Rin retorted.

"Don't say my name like you're allowed to call me by it."

"What? I named you!"

"Dad named me."

Rin replied flatly making it Haku's turn to twitch.

"I won't have you going around my house dressed like that."

"Great~ I'll just leave."

Rin turned away reaching across the table for some fruit to take for breakfast.

"Is that what you're eating?"

Haku's voice rang out her tone shocked. Rin's blue eyes met Haku's red ones again. "Yes, fruit is healthy and full of vitamins, something you obviously don't seem to care about" she eyed Haku's silvery hair. The woman wasn't even THAT old yet. Amazement shot across Haku's face and she moved forward closer to Rin, who stepped back alarmed.

"I forbid you from leaving without eating!"

She seemed more awake, nostrils flaring as her anger grew, the spatula she held seemed to glint as she held it above her. Eyes widening Rin, stepped back again, passing the entrance to the kitchen her breakfast closed in a fist.

"Forbid? Hah, you lost that right years ago! Don't even think that my coming to this house means you can control me!" Grabbing her new school bag from the table, causing a mountain of newspapers to fall, Rin turned to leave then paused.

"Hate to disappoint you." Rin said in a way that wasn't sorry at all. "But I'm only here, until Dad finishes his job, after that it'll be back to normal for the both of us. So quit pretending to be who you aren't and stop trying to tell me who I should be!"

The door slammed loudly as Rin stepped outside a burst of cool air greeting her. Still fairly early for school she began down the road grumbling to herself releasing her anger on the poor innocent fruit she held.

"As if she has any right to say that!"

Rip, rip, rip.

"Trying to play the part of a perfect mother. Tch! It's probably all for Dad's sake!"

Munch, munch, munch.

Her grumbling continued until her small breakfast had been completely devoured, because of Haku she had only managed to grab just one. Still upset, her movements mimicking stomping she looked up to see another figure moving along with her at a slightly slower pace.

Len in his transparent form walked beside her his strange colored eyes pointed towards the road they walked on. He seemed distracted. Looking away Rin started walking faster. There wasn't any reason to, she just couldn't help it.

Len's eyes looked almost soulless reminding her of the conversation on the phone the night before.

With a loud clack the phone hit the floor. Len looked up at the sound from his place in the living room. Rin's eyes had widened to an almost alarming size hand still held half-open by her ear.

"Hello? Rin? Are you still there?"

The muffled voice of Meiko came from the phone on the kitchen floor. Still Rin made no move to retrieve the device. Her mouth slightly agape, she blinked pupils expanding again.

'Suicide? Len, impossible! He's much too kind to kill himself!'

"Rin?"

Len's concerned voice came closer, as he appeared in the room with her having vanished from the other half-a-second before. Yet still she was trapped in her trance.

'But, he can't remember anything that happened in his life. What if...what if he wasn't this way before.'

Len looked at the phone hearing the voice of an unfamiliar woman coming from it. Yet he didn't pick it up.

'But Suicide! How am I supposed to explain to him that he-'

Attempting to get a response from Rin, Len figured it was something about the phone. Should he hang it up or hand it back to her? Unsure, Len tried to reach for the phone, only for it to shoot out of his reach and hit against a chair leg snapping shut before he could touch it.

'Was his life horrible?! Was he bullied, abused, hated by everyone?' Rin's thoughts ran rampant as she tried to make sense of what she had been told. 'What if looking into it only makes things worse for him, what if he-'

"Rin watch out."

Len's voice snapped her out of her flashback making her realize that she was about to hit a wall.

"Aiieee!"

With a yelp Rin leaped back and looked around heart beat racing from the suddenness of it all.

"T-Thanks Len..." she breathed in and out catching her breath and looked to what the wall belonged to. A sign raised high above read.

"Welcome to Shou High"

she had arrived.

"-and if you touch me I'll run you over with a road-roller!"

Dusting chalk off her shoulder, Rin moved from the board, and walked down the aisle to her new chair. With her stunning introduction she had successfully scared the entire class, and stopped the chance of any future unwanted advances from the boy's she had overheard talking about the 'New blonde'(1).

Hiding a satisfied smirk behind her hand, Rin rested her chin on her palm and stared forward now prepared for the next few months in nearly every teenagers hell. It soon became apparent that her suspicions were true when the dark haired teacher going by 'Avanna', resumed their lesson which happened to be something Rin had already studied and passed.

'Just my luck, this school is behind. Ugh what am I even doing here? Dad I hope you're happy.'

Opening a notebook to a random page, Rin didn't bother to take notes wishing the time would move faster so she could go to another class, that she had probably surpassed. In this, her mind started to wander, pencil scratching over the paper monotonously. The thoughts in her head, going round and round until she really didn't even know how she even began thinking at that moment.

'I wonder what class Gumi-chan is in. Can I even call her that?' Pondering over their small meeting it seemed like they were friends, but Gumi hadn't called her by anything endearing. 'Of course, that would be weird with someone you just met!' Nibbling on her pencil end, Rin continued to write on her notebook quickly filling in the negative space on her page with gray.

Unaware of the words she was absentmindedly forming she continued to try making sense of her rapid thoughts. 'But Gumi's a year older, will I be able to find her at all? It shouldn't be too hard right? I mean, this town isn't all that big, there can't be that many students in the school right?' her eraser was suffering terribly as she made a face, pausing in her writing.

Just as she did she felt something warm on her ear, and turned her head finding herself face to face with a wide-toothed grin. Nearly letting out an embarrassing and girly scream, Rin jumped in her seat dropping and fumbling for her pencil as the owner of the smile watched with some sort of eerie delight. Ignoring the fallen utensil Rin shot the girl a glare, which was given a cheeky look in response.

"You looking to kill someone?"

The girl asked, making Rin's eyes widen for a moment.

KILLER!

The words echoed inside Rin's mind still lingering even after all these years. She shook her head and gave a short and nervous-sounding laugh, it being the only response left that she could think of.

"W-What are you talking about?"

The grin never left the girl's face as she leaned over the chair further making Rin focus on her features. Her long hair was the sort of bright-red that couldn't possibly be natural, reminding her of Gumi's green hair extensions. A piece of it was sticking up in a curl at the top of her head looking like she was in major need of a hairbrush.

She was flopped over her own desk, sitting directly behind Rin's making the blonde uncomfortable and scoot further back in her chair, well as far as it would allow her.

"What are you doing?!"

Still giving no answer the red-head grabbed Rin's notebook. Sliding back into place and held it up, pointing a cherry-manicured finger at the words Rin had written there. It appeared to be a list of some kind. Having not even been looking at what she wrote, Rin didn't know what the strange girl was trying to make a point out of.

Sighing she leaned forward to look at it. 'I have terrible penmanship' she noted as she attempted to read it. However the girl had flipped it around and started reading off the paper in a high-pitched voice.

"Hanging,

Cutting

Strangulation

Drowning

Starvation

Medieval Torture Devices?" she blinked. "Seems like quite the list you've compiled, I fear for your enemies."

Rin looked at her confused, and grabbed the notebook looking at it. "What? I'm not trying to kill anyone." she shook her head closing her notebook and turning back around noticing that the class seemed to be on some sort of break, just how long was she spacing out for?

With a high-pitched giggle the red haired maiden leaped out of her seat and circled around, leaning against Rin's desk with her hands curled over the edges. "Oh, so you must be a mystery writer!" she exclaimed cheerfully making Rin respond with a dull "What?"

"There are two kinds of folks who sit around thinking about how to kill people: psychopaths and mystery writers"(2) The girl chirped. "If you aren't a killer, then you're a writer! It's scientific fact!" she grinned again. Rin pushed back her chair, and stood up. "Look I'm not a writer or a killer, but I will be if you don't stop bothering me!" she huffed annoyed and a little freaked out by the girl.

"Oooo~ Sounds dramatic! I like you. I'm Miki by the way Furukawa Miki, you can call me Miki-chan!" the red-head happily said obviously immune to Rin's glare. "Also, class isn't over yet. Ava just gives us some time to chat with our friends before the bell rings." Looking around Rin took notice that the students were all talking with others but no one had left the room. With another sigh she fell back into her seat only to have Miki circle around to the other side of the desk.

"You look really~ familiar by the way. It's almost like seeing a ghost!" Rin's hand slipped out from under her chin and covered her mouth eyes wide at the accuracy of the girl's words, and because she had bitten her tongue. 'What the? Does she know me or something? Could she be from my old school? Impossible I never told anyone about my ability!'

Seeing Rin's response Miki's expression turned into one of concern. "Rinnie-chu? Are you okay?" all silliness gone her reddish-brown eyes peered into Rin's blue ones for a moment. They looked soft and almost motherly in a way that made Rin's heart clench.

"Len.."

'Huh?'

Rin backed away again, breaking their eye contact and gazed around the room. Miki said far too many things, that were right on the mark that it made Rin wonder what kind of person she was. Her search came up with no results as the other blonde was a no show in the classroom. Where had Len gone? She was sort of avoiding him, well letting him have his space since the previous night. It wasn't until that moment that Rin really noticed he wasn't there. 'Well then, at least I don't have to worry about him following me everywhere. It's not like we're close friends anyways. Why am I even worried?'

Another class had just ended and Rin found herself wandering the hall. Finally free of Miki, whom she couldn't seem to scare off, Rin was suddenly aware of the stares she was getting. 'What is wrong with them? Do I have something in my hair? Is my skirt not long enough?' She found herself getting self-conscious and considering becoming a Yankee if people continued to whisper about her.

Why couldn't people just let her live in her own little bubble and get on with their own lives?! How she wished the three months would end! Fed up with the stares she smacked her bag against a wall, and glared at a nearby group of girls who jumped at the sound.

"Maybe we were wrong, they don't seem alike!"

A girl squeaked before they all ran off down the opposite end of the hall. Finding herself at long last as silence fell, Rin smirked. It faltered as her stomach gave a lurch and a loud grumble she was thankful to be alone for. Still she couldn't help but for her eyes to cover every corner as a blush dusted her cheeks.

"Ugh, One orange wasn't enough."

Rin grumbled placing a hand against her fighting stomach and looked around in a search for food. It was lucky it was lunch time. As she wandered towards where she believed the cafeteria was located, Rin remembered Haku telling her to eat something more. Biting on her lip, Rin shook her head. She would never admit Haku being right about something.

As she turned a corner, the roar of chatter greeted her, to her and her stomach's delight she had found the cafeteria. Entering through the large doors she wasted no time grabbing a meal ticket and going into the line. It seemed to take her forever to get through it, making her hunger pains worse. 'Just a little more! Hold on I'm going to feed you' Rin coaxed.

After a few minutes she had finally made her way through and piled her tray up with probably more than she could eat, she appeared to have entered at the worst time possible and made a mental note to rush out of her class in the future. Free of the line she carried her tray and scanned the cafeteria heart dropping in defeat.

There didn't seem to be any open tables. In order to eat Rin would have to ask some stranger if she could sit with them. Which was not only embarrassing, but defeated the purpose of her introduction. For a moment she considered dumping the tray and leaving the cafeteria, but her pleading stomach would never allow it. Not to mention, her wallet.

'Wasting food is a terrible thing.'

She reminded herself and looked around like an animal desperate to be petted. 'Maybe I can sneak out and eat somewhere else.' She nodded to herself and turned around the door way seemed clear, and if she got caught she could always explain that she didn't know. 'Haha, benefits of being the new kid.' Rin was about to take a step towards the door when she heard a voice behind her.

"Rin-san!"

Turning her head back she caught sight of her green-haired savior. Waving from a table near the far left window, Gumi gestured for her to come sit down. Rin looked around, but saw no one else that she could be addressing and almost pointed at herself as another girl stood up, blazing red hair, flaring around her shoulders. "Rinnie-chu! I saved you a seat, get your non-writer butt over here!"

Feeling her face heat up at the strange nickname, Rin stared at the group with a confused expression. Another person was standing behind Gumi staring right at her with his blue-green eyes seemingly calling her as well.

Rin abandoned all pretense and walked over to meet the girls and Len. "Took you forever~ If you're like that with deadlines, it's no wonder why you aren't a writer" Miki remarked grabbing Rin's arm and forcing her to sit, while her tray was placed on the table by a twin tailed girl with teal colored locks.

"This is the girl I was telling you about," Miki touched Rin's shoulder making her flinch. "The one who looks like Len." If Rin had been drinking something she would have spit it out instead her eyes widened and she looked up at the boy who turned to meet her gaze and gave a small smile.

"I mean just think of it, if Len was a girl he would look like her dontcha think?" she leaned over the table nearly knocking over another girl's cup which was luckily lifted a millisecond before Miki moved. 'What the? Does she know Len too? Are- we're these girls all his friends?'

Gumi cleared her throat her mouth in a tight line. "Anyways, Miki I think Rin-san would rather know who she is sitting with rather than whom she resembles." she had a slight red-tint to her cheeks, making Rin think of how embarrassing it was to mistake a person for someone else. Gumi must be thinking of that. The stares she was getting in the hall were starting to make sense. She was in a small school and looked like a dead person, it was no wonder.

"Ahahaha~ Silly me~ Okay! Introductions are in order!" she jumped up bumping the table making everyone lift their trays a little just in case, it seemed to be something they were used to as Rin hurriedly rushed to make sure nothing fell off hers. Waving a hand to the girl sitting gracefully to her right, Miki grinned. "This here is Aoki-Dokie!"

"Aoki Lapis actually, Aoki is my surname please feel free to call me Lapis."

The girl spoke in a calm and poised voice, which was so different from Miki's chipper tone that it surprised Rin they were friends. Looking over the girl, Rin saw Lapis too bore strangely colored hair, her's being a technicolor-ed mix of blues and purples.

"I'm in my third year, along with Lily. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She smiled and took a sip of her tea and Rin stuttered a 'pleased to meet you' back before Miki skipped around the table grabbing the arm of the next girl, the one who had rescued Rin's tray. "And here I present the famous idol Miku-Miku!" Miki cheered making the twin-tailed girl giggle.

"Miku Hatsune. I'm not an actual idol, I just sing a bit at small events and such." she blushed and gave a small wave. "I'm the same year as Miki! I hope we can be good friends Rin-chan." Rin nodded feeling like she had heard the name somewhere and hurriedly ate some of her food, to prevent an awkward silence from filling the air.

"You already know me." Gumi said before Miki could move over to her making the red-head pout and move to the next girl. To Rin's surprise her hair was completely natural colored. Straight and blonde, her hair was longer than Miki's some of it hanging loosely in her face like she just didn't give a care.

It was probably the case, because as she spoke Rin became aware that she wasn't the chatty type, and seemed a bit brash. "Lily." she grunted eyes boring through Rin. Rin took a sip of her drink swallowing a little harsher than she would normally.

"Don't worry about Li-li here, she's just moody because her phone broke" Miki informed Rin and Lily shot the red-head a glare. "Oh that reminds me! Rin you have a phone right? Why not exchange numbers?!" Not really sure about the idea, Rin shrugged and took out her phone anyways and Miki gasped.

"WE FOUND THE MISSING COLOR!"

Blinking, more than one pair of eyes looked up at the girl. Ignoring this, Miki shot around the table and grabbed Rin's arm which was holding her orange phone. "I'm red. Len's yellow, Gumi is green, Miku is blue, Lapis is Indigo and Lily was violet..." she sent Lily an apologetic look before continuing. "And Rin is orange! We have the whole rainbow now!" she exclaimed excitedly still holding onto Rin's arm who was sending desperate and confused looks across the table. She had barely touched her food, and Miki was preventing her from eating.

Recognition spread over the girls faces and surprisingly all of them exchanged smiles as if Rin's appearance was some sort of gift from Kami-sama. Still confused Rin looked at all of them. "What?" even Len seemed to be showing some sign of knowing.

"Oh, It's just a silly thing we've been doing to you know rebel against the norms of society. It's also why we all have colored hair, except Lily-chan, her job won't allow it." Miku explained with a smile. "We all got phones to match our favorite color and the only one we were missing is orange. So it seems like you completed our circle Rin-chan."

"Oh, well... I just like the color orange." she rubbed the back of her head as Miki released her hand. "It's not something silly, Len doesn't think it's silly at all! We have to take a stand in this world of color-blind human beings!" She huffed.

For a moment the table went silent before Gumi cleared her throat again. "Miki sit down, I think Rin-san would like a chance to eat before the bell rings." with a deflated look Miki flopped back onto her stool and Rin sighed in relief inwardly thanking Gumi as she was finally free to eat.

"Better hurry, you got like two minutes."

Lily commented getting up from her seat and walking off, Lapis bowed her head and followed after a moment. "What?!" Looking at the time Rin saw that indeed their 30 minute lunch was about to end, and she was still starving. Grabbing her fork Rin started eating hurriedly, but as neatly as she could.

When she had finished her food Miki handed her back the phone. "All the contacts have been added! Don't worry about texting me first, I already sent you a message!" she told her grabbing her cherry-shaped purse. "What class do you have next Rinnie-chu?"

Raising an eyebrow, but ignoring the nickname, Rin picked up her own bag and pulled out a piece of paper which was immediately grabbed by Miki. "Aww tart! It's science!" she pouted "Science! With who!?" Miku snatched the paper and grinned widely. "Ah! You're with me, I'll show you the way come on!" Handing the paper back to Rin she stood up grabbing her empty tray and threw it away.

Following suit, Rin stood up with her tray hearing the bell ring as she did. Miki waved goodbye and sped off to her class leaving Gumi alone at the table. Looking back over her shoulder Rin saw Len was still there. He watched as Gumi gathered her items, which were all black and stared at an empty chair at the table for a second before walking off.

Staring at Len, Rin wondered where he had been all day. As Gumi left, Len walked through the table and followed after slowly. 'Has he been with Gumi-chan all day?' Rin found herself thinking as she watched the two vanish into another hall.

"Rin-chan are you coming?"

Miku's voice called. "A-Ah, Yeah!" she tore her eyes away from the hallway a slight frown on her face. "He can do what he wants it doesn't matter to me" she mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, just thinking aloud."

"PAH!"

Water droplets dotted across the shiny white surface of the sink as Rin lifted her head shaking out any traces that had gotten into her hair. Turning off the water with one hand she rubbed her eyes with the other.

"Calm down Rin, you're going to be fine."

She sighed pulling at her hair to fix her white clips back onto her bangs. Taking a few breaths she turned around staring at the tiled floor. "It's not like it's the first friends you've ever had. They're just a bit... uhm eccentric yeah that works! Especially that Miki." she shook her head wondering why she acted so gosh-darn weird half the time.

Whether it was the overly optimistic Miku or the bizarre Miki, Rin couldn't seem to escape the girls, Len's friends. Too accustomed to being alone she found it strange to suddenly have so much attention. It was only a matter of time before they found her again, and she had managed to slip into the bathroom unnoticed as the two were chatting about a song they liked.

Having only come in there to hide, Rin had decided to wash her face and clear her mind. She really wasn't used to having friends at all. With a sigh she looked at the door wondering if she could escape, hiding in a bathroom wasn't exactly her favorite pastime. Rin flipped around turning back to the sink to check her bow and screamed.

Her reflection's eyes widened and stepped away from the mirror as Rin stumbled back. Her hands flew to her chest where her heart was beating at a mile per a second.

"L-Len what the heck! This is a girls bathroom didn't you notice the sign? What are you doing in here? Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean you can just go peeping on people! Ugh!"

Len blinked giving her his usual blank stare. "I heard you talking to yourself and followed your voice." he spoke softly and calmly no ulterior motive present. "I only got here just as you screamed, are you alright Rin-san?"

Blinking three times, Rin stepped back grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser and started patting her hands and face dry. "Yeah, but why exactly are you here?" she inquired.

"You seem very quiet since last night, and I was wondering if you were feeling okay."

Rin's eyes widened and her cheeks warmed slightly. "Y-y-you were wondering about...me?" she spoke as if astonished and Len nodded. "If you need to talk to someone about something, you can tell me. I'm here to listen." he gave a half-smile again and Rin shook her hands a few times biting on her lip her face getting hotter.

"A-Ah, there's nothing wrong!" She began but Len's innocent eyes made her feel guilty. Without knowing what she was saying, she averted her eyes to a spot on the ceiling which she really hoped wasn't a bug. "Well actually, I guess there is something wrong, you see I-" looking up she saw Len a little closer to her before.

"You?"

He asked blinking again. Rin quickly looked away gulping slightly. 'I can't tell him what I heard on the phone last night, what if he takes it the wrong way!' taking a breath she changed her mind. "I just, I'm not really good at making friends." she admitted lamely. "Friends?" Len asked. "But you seemed to do well with Miki and the others." he noticed.

"A-Ah well, I'm not really used to the attention. I never had many friends when I was younger especially not ones so...enthusiastic." Len made a sound like a laugh. "I'm sure you'll do just fine with them, they're nice people and they really like you."

Looking up Rin sent him a weird look. Did he remember them too like he did Gumi? Thinking of Gumi made her frown slightly. "I'm not so sure about that..." Rin continued. "I'm better off alone and anyways having friends is just a hassle, I'd rather kill myself than have to suffer through losing one."

A rush of cold shot through her shoulders making her gasp. Len, with sudden stern expression was holding her, making her arms feel like they were going through a blizzard. Although he couldn't get a grip on her the message was received.

"No! Don't ever say that. Death is never an answer to ones problems."

He told her firmly his eyes almost shinning as he looked directly into hers. The shock wearing off, Rin took a quick step back releasing her body from the icy feeling. 'Is he a hypocrite? Telling me not to kill myself when he did?'

But he seemed so sure of it, like it was a strong, long-time belief. How could someone like that be suicidal? 'Unless the police woman was wrong.' she thought. Len still had the same look, as if waiting for Rin to take back her statement. "I-I was kidding, I wouldn't really kill myself!" she explained.

"Thank goodness." Len sighed, his gaze softening drastically as he stepped away from her.

Rin started rubbing her shoulders, even through the fabric of her blazer she was still shivering from Len's ghostly touch. "A-a-anyways, I didn't see you around school. Did you go somewhere else all day?" Rin asked desperate for a change of subject.

"I did. After we got to school, I found something familiar and followed it. I think it was my old classroom, but I'm not sure. It was different than I can remember, somehow." He responded looking down at his feet.

'So he wasn't with Gumi all day?'

"So did yo-"

The door opened and a girl entered. Grabbing her bag Rin quickly ducked by the girl and ran out before the door could fully close receiving a confused stare from the girl. Outside the room, Rin stood against the wall as Len materialized beside her with a questioning look.

"So, what did you find in your class that was different?" Rin resumed the conversation and Len frowned slightly. "The students were the same, the teacher as well. Nothing psychically seemed any different, and I don't think I'm mistaken. But, it's strange because even though they're the same, it's like they aren't."
Len tried to explain, confusing Rin. "It's like a light they once had in their eyes has died." He looked up giving Rin the same broken look he wore in the graveyard.

"Why is everyone so sad?"

His words were lingering in her head as they stood outside of the school, as the day had ended. Why were people sad? Of course she knew the reason, it was obvious. The school was small, and if the whole town knew Len, his classmates knew him better. To have one of your students suddenly taken from your lives, looking at their empty seat as you entered the classroom, having to get used to calling role while omitting that name. Accidentally passing an extra paper to that row. It was no wonder why Len's old classroom was so lifeless.

A light hadn't died. Len had.

It was still a mystery to Rin, about how exactly that had happened though. Every time she was sure of something, another thing would happen that completely threw her off. For example, Len just really didn't seem like a suicidal person. Not only that but his behavior when she mentioned it was so...strong, she just.. just couldn't see it happening.

'But then why would the police say it was suicide?'

"LENNY!"

A cheerful voice called out to her left. Before she could turn or move she was nearly knocked over by a running hug from Miki. "W-w-what are you talking about! I'm a girl!" Miki giggled. "I know~ You two just look sooo alike it's like twins! "T-Twins?! That's crazy, why are you even suggesting something so strange!" she twitched, trying to pull herself free of Miki's grip. "Ahaha you're soo cute. Like a little Tsundere. I should call you Tsundrinnie! I was kidding anyways Len doesn't have any siblings. Well Lily is his cousin but still, he's an only child!" She dropped her arms and Rin jumped away bracing for another attack.

Seeing that she was safe...for the moment, Rin dropped her arms and looked at Len before putting her attention back on Miki. "Uh, If you don't mind my asking. What is- was Len like?" Her eyes flicked over to Len who looked at them in curiosity. Maybe he had forgotten that too. "Personality wise? Hmm~ Len was a sweetheart" Miki smiled softly reminiscing. "The type of guy you'd want to take home to meet your parents. He was so selfless always more concerned about everyone than himself. He didn't seem to stress over anything either. He was always so optimistic and bright, like a star. He loved the world soo much, always lending a helping hand. You would have loved him Rin-chan, everyone did. You just can't help it."

Miki smiled sadly eyes glossing over as she spoke. 'Selfless, optimistic... you don't see those qualities in a person who kills them self.' Rin thought. "What was his home life like?" Miki looked at her perhaps wondering why all the questions, and shrugged. "His home life? Ah~ for that I'm not sure. Gumi's the only one who has been to his house but she never mentioned anything out of the ordinary, except that his mother makes a lot of fish. You'd have to ask her if you want to know more."

Just as Rin was about to inquire further the green-haired girl appeared and Miki went silent. "Oh hey Gumi-chan just in time, I was just asking Rinnie-chu over here if she prefers guys who wear boxers or briefs." Miki waved at Rin. Rin's face shot up in flames. "W-w-w-what are you talking about! That's not what we were talking about at all!" She shot at the red-head, looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"What pattern do you think is better something plaid? Or perhaps fruit related!? You like orange what if they were orange?"

"What does that have to do with anything! I never said I wanted a color!"

"Oh!" Miki faked shock. "So Rin-san would prefer none at all? How scandalous." she wiggled her eyebrows

"I didn't say that either!"

Rin began abusing Miki with her bag. "AH! Okay, I was kidding! Don't mess up my hair!"
Miki cried out in laughter, her hands over her head to protect the curled strand as she ran in a circle. Rin chased after her, her face almost as red as the other girl's hair.

Gumi watched them with a soft smile. Len, standing next to her was staring at Rin with amusement as she repeatedly whacked Miki's side with her school bag.

"Ah ha"

Stopping Rin looked over at Len, who was attempting to hide a grin behind his hand. Their eyes met holding for a few seconds before Miki grabbed Rin's bag from her loosened grip. "MWAHAHAHA! Revenge!" She cried and started running in circles again Rin in hot pursuit.

Just then, Len dropped his hand eyes widening slightly as he looked towards the school grounds. They were nearly empty now. His gaze lingered on the side of the school building where he had thought he heard something a moment before. Shrugging he turned back to the three girls.

'Maybe it was the wind.'

Rin lay across her bed, legs bent at the knee and crossed over each other. A box of flavored pocky sat on one side of her, while on the other her phone screen lit up with another message from. 'Miki the Red Warrior of Justice!' a contact name, Rin hadn't bothered to change after the red-haired girl added it to her phone earlier that day. The pencil dangled between two of her fingers as she stared lazily at the book in front of her, which was mostly full of doodles.

Sure, the homework wasn't hard, the school was behind her OTHER school, by about a month; but she still found the work terribly boring. Her notebook was opened to a blank page where faint marks of the previous page's etching could still be seen. Lost in thoughts again, she was just letting her life pass by without a word.

Behind her at her desk chair Len sat. He watched as she would jot something down randomly, tap the pencil end against her teeth, pick up her phone almost laugh and put it back down then repeat the cycle. Turning towards the window he looked out at the street below where lamps had just turned on. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked back at Rin who had turned a few pages in her book; probably out of, causing the notebook to slip to the floor.

Unable to help himself, Len jumped up to try and grab it, and stopped remembering the way the phone had reacted to the touch of his fingers. It snapped Rin from her trance though, and she leaned down to catch it giving Len a small smile as if in thanks for his efforts. Rin placed her notebook, now on a page full of writing atop her bedspread again.

Her eyes skimmed over the writing and recognized it as what she had been jotting down absentmindedly in class. As she thought about it, she realized she must have been thinking about Len, suicide and death in general at that time. 'No wonder Miki accused me of being a mystery writer'. She snapped up, sitting and looking over at Len who peered at her confused.

"Hey Len."

"Yes?"

"You sure have a lot of friends, huh?"

Len blinked, thinking of the girls Rin had met at the table. Although, at first he didn't remember them it didn't take long for him to realize they were someone important. He nodded, "I guess?" not seeing her point and wondering whether she still had something to talk about. "Well, I mean, not only Miki-chan, Gumi-chan and the others. You were probably good friends with people in your class too. A lot of people seem to know you around the school is all." She pushed a piece of her hair behind an ear and looked at him again.

He thought for a moment. Smiling faces, words like 'Thanks Len-kun', filled his head. Perhaps Rin was right, maybe he did have a lot of friends or at least people he was friendly to. "So" Rin went on, "you were pretty happy huh? You lived a good life right?" Her cerulean orbs settled on him so softly that for a moment, Len could only stare at them, finding them suddenly mesmerizing. "Happy...?" he muttered and looked away thinking.

Although he didn't know clearly, he didn't feel like anything was amiss either. "Yeah, I think so." it didn't seem like a lie. Rin picked up her notebook again, placing it on her lap and put a big X mark over the former list she had written.

'I thought so...'

With a sigh of relief she looked up again. "Then Len, I'd like to ask something."

"Ah, go ahead?"

"You asked me to find out how you died. Well," she thought of the phone conversation that seemed so distant now, that way of thinking was so black and white, there must have been more to the story that she'd have to find out. "In order to do that, I need your permission to get close to your old life. The people, the places, anything. Is that okay Len?" She looked serious, so serious that Len didn't know what to say for a moment. "I will do everything that I can to solve the mystery." she promised.

Blinking a few times Len nodded, he didn't really know why, but Rin seemed to be trustworthy, although she was usually a little curt and closed off, as Len had observed she seemed really certain about it. It made him feel sort of elated, but a ghost shouldn't feel anything right?

Her hand moved across her notebook, and Len couldn't actually see what she was writing from his current position.

Friends

'Gumi, Miki, Miku, Lily, Lapis...there could be others.' Rin wrote down all their names followed by a question mark.

Classmates

'They were depressed by Len's absence, so it's possible they were close to him and might know something.'

…

She paused in her writing thinking over the events of that day.

"His home life? Ah~ for that I'm not sure. Gumi's the only one who has been to his house but she never mentioned anything out of the ordinary, except that his mother makes a lot of fish. You'd have to ask her if you want to know more."

Looking at Len's curious expression she nodded and leaned over to jot down one more word.

...

Mother.

Black Board is by Papiyon-P I used many references to this song as well as an English adaption for the lyrics by nano.

Characters introduced in this chapter: Avanna, Miki, Miku, Aoki Lapis, Lily.

Previously: Gumi, Meiko, Haku, Rin, Len, Len's mom (Does anyone know who she is?).
Oh and Rin's father is Yohio, not that it matters. x3

I suddenly wanted to keep track.

Footnotes

(1)You know those classroom introduction scenes you see so often when there is a new student? Yeah those, I HATE them. 'Hi I'm _, Please take care of me'...Ugh Just die! I really hate writing that! I think I did that in TTB, so go ahead and kill me for it. This was, I guess you could say, the best I could do to explain Rin's class-life. This is probably the longest footnote I've ever written. :P

(2) Quote from the TV show Castle.

Review Replies

cami-rin-chan-Ah, I would never make something with Len and Miku together in any fashion. I Really HATE Len with her. Thank you for reviewing! I'm happy you have been reading it. It's original? I was worried that people were bored of it actually. So thanks. Which song? Black cat? That's a good one.

LuNaLoVeComiCs- Ah yes it was funny huh? I tried. This story will get darker as time goes on, though not quite as dark as TTB so any bit of comedy is a good thing. I'm happy you are interested in this! What will happen next will be revealed soon, I'm not one for spoilers, so for your other question you'll have to keep reading. Thanks for the review!

Lady Japan- Yes, suicide. Did it shock you as much as it did Rin? You think Ghost Len is cute? XD Thanks. I tried to make him really innocent. (at least for now). So you thought it was Miku too orz. No, I don't hate her, I just hate the pairing with her and Len. So of course I would use Gumi. A hint would be the cover photo, all those pics of the green haired girl are Gumi XD I wonder if anyone noticed. Here is the update! Thanks so much for the review!

Question of the Chapter: Do you think Meiko lied to Rin about Len's death ruling?

Constructive criticism is welcome!

Reviews are much appreciated!

~ MoNoChRoMaDdiCt