Two Faced Killer

Chapter 12: Confusion

"I've got a test on Thursday."

Len rolled his eyes and kept walking, stuffing his hands in his pockets so that he wouldn't end up impulsively slapping the small blond girl across the face. She skipped alongside him, mumbling something stupid and wholly unnecessary every two seconds.

"Do you think we'll get a good grade?" She asked.

"I guess," Len replied, looking down at his shoes.

"We should finish it this weekend," Rin said.

"We've got till Thursday."

"I already told you, I've got a test that day! I need to study a bit every day! I'm not as smart as you, you know...you finish your homework so fast...I'm glad the teacher paired us up, Len."

Len scoffed. "You're so weird," he said, looking up. They were at his home. Slowly, he sauntered up the steps and unlocked the door. He walked right in and let the door swing shut in the girl's face. She yelped and pushed it open, storming in and letting out an angry huff.

"What was that for?" She crossed her arms and Len shrugged. Rin was quite the entertainer, in his eyes.

"I don't know," he said. "Get over here."

As he led the blonde down his halls, he smiled to himself, glad that he had cleaned up and moved anything potentially suspicious aside. There was a small room in the house that was practically empty, and the agent decided that it would be best to use that area. He glanced back at the girl, who was tracing her slender ivory fingers along the hall's wallpaper.

"I like your walls," she commented. Len grinned, amused.

"Do you, now?" He replied.

"Mmhm," Rin nodded. "Say, Len, where are we going?"

"There's a little room that we could use," he said cooly. "It's empty and it'd be nice if we wanted to work on a large piece of poster paper or something."

"Okay," Rin said. The girl wasn't as annoying as usual, Len noted. Either that, or he was getting used to her behaviour.

They arrived at a door and Len pulled it open. They walked in and the agent flicked the lights on. Rin looked around before tossing her bag to the ground and plopping down in one corner.

"What's our topic?" She asked. Len shrugged indifferently, leaning against the wall. He looked to his left, where there was a small window. The last of the day's sunlight spilled through it, soaking a patch of the polished wooden floor.

"Whatever you want it to be," he said.

"You're not very enthusiastic, are you?" She mumbled as she flipped through her textbook.

"This is all a pain," Len said.

"I'll choose a topic, then," Rin said. "Let's do something medieval."

Len sat down beside her and absentmindedly helped, daydreaming about killing the Cause, waiting for K to show up. Suddenly, he felt something pointed press against his cheek. His blank eyes flickered over to Rin and he blinked.

"You're spaced out," the girl remarked, pulling her finger away from Len. "But you looked very cute, you know."

"Did I?" Len mumbled, glancing at his wristwatch. Where the hell was K?

"You still do," Rin said. "Did you speak to Neru?"

"She's sick," Len answered. "Say...Rin, could you tell me about Neru?"

"Huh?" Rin's eyes widened and the cogs in Len's mind began to turn.

"How long have you known her?" Len smiled a little and leaned towards Rin.

"Not very long, actually," Rin looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Maybe...three years?"

Len nodded. If there were multiple Causes, which Len was starting to think was true, then Cryptin could have been chasing one after the other without even knowing it, all while Neru was planted into this particular neighbourhood to become the next goose for Crypton to chase.

"Was she...different before?" Len asked. Suddenly, Rin's stomach grumbled and she blushed.

"I'm sorry, I'm just...," she slapped her cheeks comically. "I usually have a snack or something after school, but..."

"I'll get you something," Len said quickly, getting to his feet and hurrying out of the room. He had to keep Rin talking. Whatever she told him could be examined in conjunction with his own information on Neru as well as what Anon and Kanon had given him.

Len scampered into the kitchen and started pulling cupboards open, grabbing boxes of cookies and bags of chips. He set the things down on the counter and opened the refrigerator, scanning its contents. That was when he heard wild laughter.

The agent slammed the fridge shut and left the snacks on the counter. He hurried down the hall as the laughing grew louder. It was the laughter of more than one person. Two people. Len stormed into the room and gaped at the sight.

Rin was lying on the floor, laughing like crazy. She had her arms wrapped around her stomach as she laughed and laughed. A middle-aged man loomed over her, barely able to stand still as he laughed along with her, his bangs falling all over the mask that covered his eyes.

"L-Len!" Rin stifled her laughter and sat up straight. Len's face was twisted and contorted with confusion. "You never told me you had such an entertaining friend!"

"What?" Len mumbled, looking at K, who was grinning uncontrollably, still crackling with laughter spontaneously. He raked a hand through his dark blue hair and looked at Len.

"And you never told me you had met such an amusing girl!" K exclaimed. Len scowled. These two were going to drive him crazy. "She's so funny, I just...I might just..."

K gently pulled his mask off of his face, revealing his vivacious, ocean blue eyes. He was laughing so hard that there were tears by the corners of his eyes, and he swiftly wiped them away. His hair curtained his eyes and he laughed once more, glancing down at the blond girl before approaching Len.

"Ooh, his eyes are so pretty!" Rin gushed before she started laughing again. K grabbed Len's arm and pulled him out of the room. "Take your time, you two! I'll be waiting~!"

"What the hell did you do to her?" Len asked, his voice low as he led K to his room. K shook his head.

"I didn't do anything," K answered. "She's crazy!"

Len sighed. "Tell me something I don't know."

"That's why I'm here, Kagamine," K went on, a grim expression taking over his smile. "We...we couldn't trace the caller. We tried everything. It was useless."

Len nodded slowly. The Cause, one of them, at least, if there were indeed multiple Causes, was in the school. He decided to keep the theory to himself for now; K didn't know about him and Leslie yet, anyway.

"But there is one thing," K raised a finger in the air. "This is the first time in our records that the Cause has ever contacted any of our agents."

"That excludes Oliver, I'm sure," Len mumbled. "How does the Cause know that we call it...that? You know, that we call it 'the Cause' and not something else?"

K shook his head. "It's complicated, but it knows. Word gets around, Len," he patted the agent's shoulder. "Watch your back, kid."

"I'm watching it," Len said sharply. K exhaled and put his mask back on. This was one of the few times that Len had gotten to see the man's face.

"I need to go," K said. "We're working on a few other things back at Crypton as well. You just make sure you stay alive, alright?"

"Yeah," Len nodded. For once, he wasn't so angry with K.

But he was still very, very puzzled.