Since I'm going through this irritating phase that I tend to hit every once and I while, I cut the chapter short. (My phase is that I get trapped with the same details over and over and over again, which you can probably tell in the constant description of eyes and voice (and the SAME FREAKING phrases and words used to describe them), because that's practically all there is.) And if I don't post this now, I'll forget, so...

(P.S I did try to fix it a bit, so it might not be as bad as it was when I first wrote that)

Last Chapter.

Unconsciously, the white-haired boy placed his hands on her bare shoulders to steady the shaking girl, talking loudly in an attempt to be heard over her distressed cries. "What? What is it? Are you okay?"

Miki's wobbly legs led her farther back, pushing against him until they were stumbling farther away from the river with unsteady footsteps. One of her hands was held up to her mouth, her fingers pressed to her own quivering lips, and she slowly lifted a shaking finger to point at the shore directly in front of where she had been sleeping.

His gaze followed her finger, resting on something pink that had washed up overnight. Water swirled around it, tugging at the mess of pink that was clumped together with mild traces of red. Then, Piko took a step away from Miki, releasing her from the loose grip he'd been holding on her, and he padded forward until he could kneel in front of it. Tears came to his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"Y-Yuuma...?"

:::::

"Listen to me," Len growled, his breath hot against her skin.

She squirmed in his hold and tried to look at him through the corners of her eyes. "Go to hell-ah!" Len silenced her quickly with a simultaneous tug of her hair and twist of her arm.

"Listen to me," he repeated venomously. "You're not in a position to be arguing with me. So you're going to do as I say."

"I knew we couldn't trust you," the blonde girl snarled at him. She bit down on her lip when his fingers buried deep into her skin, tightening around her wrist with bone-crushing strength.

"You don't have anything to be afraid of. I'm not going to hurt you, Rin, unless you do something to provoke it. Our teams are going to pair up, and we're going to become one great big, happy family."

"Damn it, why are you in on that whole 'teaming up' thing? Don't you know it's a ridiculous idea?"

Len chuckled. "I say it because you and I will make a great duo to lead these fools. Our goal is to survive, as Luka said. You know very well that we're the only two capable of leading them to success."

Rin panted, still breathless from their fight just a minute before. Her body shook slightly with her ragged breaths. She tried to turn to him to meet his gaze, but such a movement only hurt her neck; she fixed her gaze on something ahead of herself. "And why did you have to hold me down to tell me that? If it involved my control over my team, I would've listened."

Chapter Eight.

"What happened to you...Yuuma?" Piko mumbled distractedly. He scratched at his chin with his ragged nails as he crouched down to his knees, his bare legs sticking in the thick mud left by the water as it lapped at the riverbank. The white-haired boy reached forward to comb his fingers through his dead comrade's pink locks sympathetically, his pain-filled gaze traveling over what he could see of the kid's body in search of wounds other than the bullet hole in his forehead.

"Eww! Don't touch it!" Miki shrieked, and her hands flew up to the sides of her face, nails burying into her cheeks deep enough to leave marks. She stumbled backward over her own feet until her bare back hit the trunk of the tree, and she slowly sank down into a sitting position, the rough bark leaving long scratches on her skin. Her lips trembled as incoherent mumbles left her mouth, barely reaching Piko's ears.

"He was my partner, Miki!" the snowy-haired teen snapped, fisting Yuuma's hair as he shot her a glare over his shoulder. He turned back to his decreased teammate, his voice and expression softening. He sounded as though he couldn't believe any of it, like he was in some kind of nightmare. "And now...he's dead."

Miki whimpered and quickly turned away so she wouldn't have to look at the corpse any longer. Hot tears slipped from the corners of her eyes, and her body shook with the sobs she was trying to contain. She hated to see someone dead, and no doubt Piko could already tell that was her weakness. For so long, if Rin killed someone in front of her, she'd try to block it out, or if she had to shoot someone, she'd aim, turn away, and then fire her gun. But now, she'd awoken to see a battered dead body, a clean hole through his forehead and a blue-ish tint to his sickly white skin.

She'd gotten by before, but now, things would never feel the same, she knew it. It would haunt her until her death.

"Miki...?" It was surprising to her that Piko's quiet, saddened voice could be heard above the rushing of the river. When she glanced towards him, she could only see his unclothed back - faint red marks dotting it from where he'd leaned against the tree the whole night - his gaze still on his dead teammate, but he continued anyways, as though he knew that she was looking. "I swear to God, Miki, if your friends did this, I will kill every last one of them, the little shits."

Her crimson eyes widened; she could detect the malice that threaded his voice, and that alone was threatening enough, but when he turned to meet her gaze, that was when she felt the true terror through her veins. Both of his differently-colored eyes glittered with ferocity, hatred, vexation - every negative feeling in the book, and for the time being, it would all be directed at her.

She buried her face into her knees, gritting her teeth together as she tried to convince herself that none of it was really happening - that it was all some crazy, messed up dream. But her desperation for it to not be real was ground into dust when he went on, his words barely coming out in a throaty growl.

"If they're responsible for this, they'll all die." He stood up then, both hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white, and the faint traces of blood that had been lingering in Yuuma's hair now stained his skin. Piko advanced, his footsteps pounding on the ground in frustration and anger - and Miki winced as he neared. But the white-haired boy passed by without so much as looking at her. He snatched his shirt from where it hung on one of the branches, and Miki could hear the faint sound of the cloth ripping from the force.

The redhead rose to her feet as well, and the moment cool air hit her back, she felt the scratches left by the tree stinging her skin, and she could feel drops of blood oozing downward. She refused to wince at the mild pain, however, as she, too, tugged her clothes down from where they'd been dying overnight and began to put them on. In that moment, she was thrown into the cruel reality that she had just allowed that dirty whore of a man to see her with only her undergarments.

Miki narrowed her eyes at her feet after she managed to get her shirt over her head, and she awkwardly fiddled with the hem of it until she heard Piko's curt voice cut through the air like a knife.

"Let's go."

Unprepared, Miki hurriedly reached for her shorts and struggled to yank them up over her hips. She opened her mouth to protest, fingers fumbling with the buttons, but she could already hear the boy stalking away from her. It wouldn't do much use to call after him because he didn't so much as slow don when he didn't catch the sound of her footsteps following; why should he care, anyway, when one of the people closest to him turned up dead without warning?

After a few moments, Miki padded after him, but at a much slower pace. The tension that thickened the air was suffocating, almost to the point of driving the redhead girl to insanity. She wouldn't be able to handle it if Piko kept on like that - plodding back the way they'd been the day before, head hanging, his arms folded tightly across his chest. He faced the sun with ferocity gleaming in his eyes - that much, Miki was almost certain of, though she couldn't see his expression.

Or maybe, she pondered, he's crying silently?

"Piko...?" she whispered once she managed to get within a few feet of the boy.

He didn't answer.

"Piko..." Her voice was just as quiet, only a soft mumbled, but the way his fixed pace faltered slightly told her that he heard. She sped up a little bit, matching him step by step when she came up next to him, and it was then that she murmured his name again, desperate to get his full attention in as gentle a manner as possible. When he still refused to respond, she looked toward her twiddling thumbs and said, "I'm really sorry...about your friend."

The white-haired boy stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening slightly, but he didn't shift his gaze to look at her. Any other person would simply say those words just to make one think that they cared. Miki, on the other hand, sounded completely genuine. Her voice had cracked, strained by the thoughts of something that was clearly haunting her. And it made him wonder - despite the current agony that weighed in his heart - exactly what made her care so much about him, even if he was an enemy?

What was that poor girl hididng?

"It's okay," he told her, heaving a sigh. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. You can't expect to live forever...not in a world like this." And he began walking again.

::::::

"Alright, girls. And Oliver." Rin clapped her hands together as her stern cerulean gaze traveled along the line of her friends from left to right and back again, ignoring the blond kid's outburst when she singled him out. They were standing in the forest just outside of the underground bunker with the early morning sunlight shining down on their backs, ready to discuss an important matter that the cruel blonde-haired leader had brought up the night before, not long after Oliver and Iroha brought Miku - the last member of the boys' team who acted primarily as a medic, as she was no good in combat - back with Kiyoteru.

"We have an important matter to discuss at dawn tomorrow," Rin had said in a whisper so that only her friend could hear. Her super-secret tone and sly glances this way and that had seemed suspicious, but thankfully, the boys didn't pay much attention. "Rei, I'll have to trust you to stay in the bunker and make sure those dumbasses don't try anything, and Rui can fill you in later."

And there they were, all waiting to hear what the blonde had to say. Luka, though, stared ahead with hope shining in her sapphire eyes; Rin absolutely hated that the pinkette was about to be so pleased by the news that she'd allow their gangs to merge as one. After all, Luka had been quite desperate for that kind of turnout. But either way, there were still a bunch of tests to come for the boys - they wouldn't trusted so easily.

"The boys will be joining us," Rin announced monotonously. Both of her hands were poised on her hips, her lips set in a half-smirk that dared any of them (namely Rui) to disagree, while at the same time it warned Luka against celebrating so soon.

"That's great!" Iroha exclaimed, careful not to get too loud. She brought her fists up to her mouth in excitement, wide amber eyes twinkling like stars. "I think they'll be nice to have around, especially since they lost two people last night. They might like the extra help."

"Who knows?" All eyes shifted to Rui as she crossed her arms and shrugged carelessly. "They might not even be up for it."

"Len and I discussed it yesterday." Rin scowled at the memory. It was an embarrassing moment she had finally been forced to look weak and pathetic, and that was something she would never enjoy thinking back to. In the time that Len's group stayed, though, she would be sure to make the sorry bastard pay. She was stronger than him, anyway, as long as he didn't catch her off guard. Nasty cuts and bruises would be in that boy's near future, Rin promised herself.

"So, do the boys know this?" Luka asked; the pinkette was clearly thinking of Kiyoteru, who had been as supportive of the idea as she.

"No doubt Len already told them," the blonde girl stated simply, puffing out a sigh. "But there's a catch to all-"

"We can kill them if they piss us off?" Rui interjected, lifting her hand as though asking for permission to speak - even though she'd already taken it.

"Rui..." growled Rin through gritted teeth. "...shut up. No, I want you all to be on the lookout for possible treachery. Make them learn our ways, and if they can't, kill them and say you crossed paths with a Vocaloid."

"Sounds a lot like something Master would do," Luka murmured, gaze fixed on the ground, "or, rather, the things he's already done."

"Don't compare me to Master," Rin spat, bringing a clenched fist down onto her free palm, a small 'clap' sound echoing off the trees that were surrounding them. She narrowed her eyes at the pinkette, and then she shifted her gaze to Rui, a challenge flickering across her face. "I'm trying to do what's best for all of us, and this just happens to be it. We can't show our weak side to the boys, or else they'll think they can get away with anything."

"Mm...she has a point." Iroha tapped her chin with her fingertip, her gaze angled upward toward the sky.

Oliver nodded in agreement with the girl, his bushy golden-blond hair bouncing with the movement. He stepped forward, turning to look at the salmon-haired girl with his usual, bright smile. "Yea. They can't think they'll be able to stay here without pulling their own weight."

"See?" Rin nodded at Oliver. "Even he agrees. Everyone can go back in...make sure they didn't kill Rei. Luka."

The pinkette blinked, lifting her gaze to meet Rin's. Her expression didn't betray her thoughts to the cruel leader; she seemed to be completely emotionless. She didn't so much as fidget under the curious stares of their other teammates.

"I'd like to talk to you alone," Rin said firmly, and the moment she got her words out, the others began to shuffle towards the hatch that led to the underground bunker. She watched them stumble away with faint amusement etched into her facial features, and once the wooden door shut with a soft th-thump, Rin glared daggers at her pink-haired friend. "You trust them too easily," the blonde pointed out, crossing her arms and moving forward to stand directly in front of Luka, and leaves crunched beneath her feet to cut through the silence that had stretched on for a few moments.

"You need to take risks if you want to get somewhere in life," Luka told her leader confidently, brushing some of her feathery rose-colored locks from her eyes.

"Sometimes, those risks will cost your life." Rin swiveled on her heel, lifting her arms above her head and stretching them out until she heard a satisfying 'pop.' She let out a relieved sigh and went on quietly. "If it endangers us, Luka, I'm not up for the risk."

"They're in the same situation as we are. They just want to survive, like we established yesterday. We'll all support each other; after all, we all have the same goal in the end, right?"

Rin made a quick advance on Luka, reaching forward and grabbing a fistful of the taller girl's shirt to yank her down to her level. "Listen, dumbass," she snarled, pressing her nose forcefully to her friend's. Their gazes met, gentle sapphire clashing with harsh cerulean, and neither would so much as blink as Rin ground out, "I don't want you to get too close to these boys. We can't trust them yet, and knowing what kind of person Len is, he's got plans to overrun us. Destroy us and take our shelter..."

"They wouldn't," Luka insisted with a shake of her head. "Kiyoteru would never-"

"Wrong!" Rin howled, releasing her friend fiercely before jabbing an index finger toward the girl. "You don't know him well enough to make assumptions about what kind of person he is! It could be an act!"

"I don't think so..." Luka shook her head, ignoring the angered blonde and using a tone that she hoped wouldn't irritate her anymore. She wasn't worried in the least about the possibility of the boys secretly plotting to harm them, and that was mostly because Kiyoteru always had a sincere look in his eyes, an earnest tone of voice, a genuine grin upon his chapped lips. "Trust me once, Rin. Please."

Rin frowned.

As I said...I QUIT. I need a break from writing for a little while, I think. Or maybe it's just this story. I dunno. I need to try to get these same phrases out of my head when I write ugh.

.::Review Replies::.

YellowFluffiesForever22: Oh Gawd no. For that to happen, this would have to be a Piko/Len fic. /shot I actually...don't remember what I was talking about. O.O Oops. XD Hint: The someone who's not who they seem to be hasn't been introduced yet. D: I didn't realize this story involved solving...If it does, then I haven't noticed XD

Honeycloud of RiverClan: Oh yea, totally. /shot. Um omg that's a perfect conversation XDDD Gakupo's hair is pretty sweet. :D

Guest: Thanks!

cristal12997: Oh, that's fine! (: I'll try to make sure to add more Rin and Len since that's what most you guys want (:

Lukia Kagamine: Thanksss! Hehehehe.

HelloKitty55443: Thanks! Yea, her personality accidently got a little bit out of hand XD

Guest: Maybe some time she will...if Luka can knock some sense into her. :3

DaniChibari: *sniff* That's the last of it, I swear! *hands tissue* So I've converted you to this ship, you say? :3 Yessssss! (Hopefully the next chapter wil be more satisfying and I can add more detail that's not completely overused like in this one XD)

AliasStars: Way to catch me when I decide to hit a sucky a phase here. XD Thanks, thanks, thanks for everything!:D It made me smile a LOT. Gumi and Dell are already here, but they don't have very many parts. Just kinda...a background ship that no one thinks much about XD (I'll try not to neglect any of them, but that'll hopefully be easier when they all finally get over their hatred for each other XD) Thanks again!

The defender of pokespe: Thanks!

Comments?

(:Mizune