Hardened

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid and the characters. All I own is the story! Hehe, thanks! Enjoy 3

-Rin-

I took my headphones off and opened my bedroom door. It was my twin brother, Len. He grinned. "Hey, Rinny, I need to borrow some of your clothes." He said, marching in my room. I snorted, rolling my eyes.

"Jeez, you never would have struck me the type to crossdress!" I giggled. He rolled his cerulean blue eyes and pushed his bangs out of the way. His blonde hair, which was about roughly the same length as mine when it was down, was up in its usual ponytail.

"Yeah, well, I never thought I'd crossdress either. Lost a bet with freakin' Josh. He wants me to crossdress to see if I can actually look like a girl," He cringed. I rolled my eyes, but said nothing. I picked out an orange top, olive green sweatshirt, a black skirt, black knee-high socks, and black flats. I know, I have really bad fashion taste. I handed him the clothes, and gave him the shoes.

"There. Will that be all?" I asked. He thought for a moment.

"I need a white bow and about 4 bobby pins." He said. I opened my mouth, about to ask what he was going to do, but he cut me off. "Don't ask," He said. I took my white bow off of my head, and opened a drawer, and gave him the bow and 4 white bobby pins.

"There. Is that it now?" I asked, deciding to take his advice and not ask what the hell he was doing. Ignorance is bliss, after all. He nodded.

"Yeah, thanks." He said. He leaned forward and hugged me. "I love you, Rin." He said. His actions took me by surprise, but I hugged back. Since when did he get so affectionate? I was used to the playful punches and wrestling and stuff like that, not...hugging.

"Uh, I love you too. Why are you telling me this?" I asked as he pulled away. He shrugged.

"Cause I felt like it," He said, kissing my forehead. "Well, bye, baby sister!" He said, running out of the room and slamming the door. I rolled my eyes. Why was he acting so weird? Was he hiding something? And why did he want to borrow my clothes, along with the bow and bobby pins I usually wore? I sighed, and got ready for bed.

I'll just ask him tomorrow, I thought tiredly as I jumped in bed, pulling the covers up to my chin.

~2 years later~

-Miku-

"Hey, Rin?" I said, snapping my hand in front of her face. She was staring off into space, a sad expression on her face. She blinked.

"Oh, sorry, I was just...thinking." She said, smiling weakly. I frowned. This was probably the 5th time this week. I met her three months ago when I moved to town and we instantly hit it off. Already, we've had countless sleepovers and stayed up all night gossiping and stuff like that. Though I got the feeling that she wasn't telling me something very important, I never asked anymore. I used to at first, but I respected her decision to tell me or not; I didn't want to be that one person who pushed her to tell me every little secret she had.

She got up from her bed and stretched, then cracked her neck. I cringed.

"Ew..." I shuddered. "I don't know how people do that..." She grinned.

"That bothers you?" She mused. "I guess I'll have to remind myself to do that more often around you." I shuddered, my gaze drifting around the room.

I looked over at her mirror, which was nearly covered in photos of different places and celebrities, and noticed a picture buried under all of the other photos. All I could see was Rin laughing.

I got up and walked toward it, and lifted the photo that was nearly on top of it. I blinked. There were 2 pictures. The first one was of Rin holding a boy bridal style. His cheeks were stained scarlet, but his mouth was still stretched into a grin. His blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, and his lovely blue eyes shone brightly. He was cute, I'll admit, with that boyish look and goofy smile. He looked like the type of guy that everyone loved- the sweet, funny, popular kind of guy.

The other picture was of the same boy trying to carry Rin. He had a look of determination and effort on his face, and in the picture, he was on his knee, only lifting Rin a few inches off the ground. Rin looked triumphant, with her arms crossed and a smug smirk taking place on her face. I wondered who he was. He looked a lot like Rin, but she didn't mention any family in this area. Her mother abandoned her when she was 14, and her father was dead. Other than them, I didn't hear about any other relatives.

"Hey, Rin," I said, turning around. Rin stopped stretching and looked at me. "Who's that guy in the picture?" I asked. She walked towards me, and glanced at the picture. She studied it for a minute, then her mouth stretched into a sad smile, though it didn't reach her eyes.

"That's..." She said, slowly. "That's my twin brother, Len." Her voice was quite now, which was very unlike her. I decided to push a little further, only this time more cautiously. Maybe they're on bad terms, I thought. No, but she doesn't look angry at all. Just sad. I wonder where he is now?

"Twin, huh? Kinda figured that out. You two look a lot alike. Where is he now?" I asked. Rin leaned against the wall and ran her fingers through her chin-length blonde hair, her sky blue eyes looking down at the floor almost regretfully.

"I...he's...I dunno," She admitted, "he's been gone for two years. Missing." She said. My eyes widened.

"Oh..." I whispered. "I'm...I'm so sorry..." I weakly offered. Damn it. This was why I had little friends. A ghost of a smile played on her lips.

"It's fine, it's fine," She said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Let's not dwell on it; the mood's gone all gloomy and depressing now. Say, have you ever been to-" The was abruptly cut off by her ringtone. The pop-ish sounding music blared loudly (or, at least, it seemed loud in this quiet room) and Rin reached for the phone in her pocket before answering the call.

"Hello?" She said. She frowned. "Yeah, why." There was a pause, and all the color drained from her face. "W-Where? Okay. I'll be there in a few." She said, hanging up and stuffing the phone in her pocket. She fell onto her knees, relief on her face, and tears forming in her eyes.

"Rin? What happened?" I asked, kneeling down. She looked at me, grinning tearfully.

"They found him."