Username: AzuraX
Name: Lin / Len
Nick Name: None
Age: 15
Gender: Lin is really a female but she cross-dresses daily.
Talent: Lin is surprising good at creating sweets and singing.
Appearance: Female:
Male:
Personality: Lin is stubborn, brave, constantly pumped up when it comes to a challenge, very childish, and fun. But she is normally really cold to boys since she hates their guts out. She can act very tomboyish and almost never wears anything to do with girls.
Likes: Lin loves a challenge and she really loves sweets. But she hides the fact she has anything to do with sugars.
Dislikes: Lin hates girly girls, and really hates guys.
Bio: Lin is a stubborn girl who has little faith in men, at all. Even when she was little she disliked them because of their constant bullying and careless actions. She found men repulsive and bad mannered ever since her father left without a word. Lin used to live with her mother but she decided to go out on her own after she began high school. The bad thing though, is Lin got into a giant mix up. By cursed fate Lin was put in an all boys school. But in order to be able to live on her own and keep her job she must do this. So Lin makes a plan and she attends the all boys school as a boy going by the name "Len". But this is only the beginning of Lin's troubles. Her job is working a night job in a butler cosplay were she also has to play a male role. In a sense her hate is very ironic because of the way her life is going.

Username: twotickets
Name: Ayumu
Nickname: Ayo
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Talent: Drawing, public speaking
Likes: Anything visually appealing, getting people's attention
Dislikes: Anything difficult or contrary
Bio: Ayumu is probably the most popular guy in his school. He's handsome and rich, and he gets decent grades. He's really arrogant, though, and he's never had to work hard for anything. He is careless, selfish, and inconsistent in the way he treats people. He can be a bit of a bully sometimes, but he doesn't do his own dirty work; his minions do it for him. His parents are distant but do their best to protect family honor. Ayumu will inherit the family business.
Appearance:


**
Name: Daisuke
Nickname: Dai
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Talent: Math, science, computers.
Likes: Strength, courage.
Dislikes: Trying to be popular or changing oneself to be like others.
Bio: Daisuke is a sweet and caring gay guy who is looking for the love of his life. His family is close and supportive, and he has a complicated relationship with his older brother. He's smart and gets really good grades; he doesn't have to work for a living, but his family is not very rich. They are hoping he will get into a good school on scholarship. Daisuke wants to be a businessman, but he's not sure what business yet.
Appearance:

Lin, or much rather "Len" at this point now stood tall in a boys uniform. Complaining softly to herself, she looked at the enterance to a highschool. Not only just a highschool though, an all boys highschool. She hung her head in dread as she stood there. How horrible it was to spend a total of eight hours with men. She hate every moment, no she hated every second! It was sure to drive her insane. But once again she collected herself and pushed past the doors. No doubt that this would be a day to remember. Not because this was her highschool debut, but rather the day that marked the beginning of endless torment. It was surely a punishment, but she didn't hesitate. She couldn't stop now that it had begun.

Ayumu slid out of the backseat of his car and nodded once to the driver. He gave the hem of his uniform blazer a tug, though it wasn't out of place, and slung his satchel over his shoulder.

His confident stride into the school building was interrupted by a white-haired nerd in glasses. The kid was clearly new to this school.

"Move," Ayumu said.

"What?" The kid responded. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to run into you. I'm Daisuke."

Ayumu raised one eyebrow at the kid's friendly grin and pointedly ignored his outstretched hand. "Are you."

Daisuke frowned, looking confused. He wasn't a complete idiot, though, because a second later, he'd bowed respectfully and backed a few steps out of Ayumu's way.

"I apologize."

Ayumu couldn't quite suppress the half-smile that tugged at his mouth as he walked away. Sometimes it was good to be king.

Sighing once again, Lin barely forced herself inside the school. But she knew that this was bad for her. She closed her eyes, and then like magic she became "Len" instead. It wasn't much of a change, but it helped. Her mind set switched and suddenly the horrifying place was more of a boring place.

It was easy from there. Len had a habit of playing the cold card, as an excuse to avoid males. She made her Len self seem mysterious and anti-social simply because she found it fun. That was the daily school life for her, a constant game. The best part was that she was fond of fighting. Guys would challenge her and as a result they would secretly be beat up by a girl.

Chuckling softly Len happily entered the classroom. As usual her enemies glared at her and she teasingly waved to them. "Calm down guys, don't want to wet your pants in the morning do you?" Ah, her favorite part. Harassing boys was the thrill of her mornings.

She smirked evilly and once again sat at her seat. But the teacher shook his head and pointed to a different seat. Len's mouth dropped as she saw that her seat was... by the king. Urgh, of all people, this was the worst. Len slowly shuffled to her new seat and growled lowly.

"Look mister popular. Speak to me even once and I'll mess up that pretty face of yours real good. I've been in a enough fights to know how to make you cry. Disgusting piece of dirt.... Seriously you must be ashamed of yourself." Len had a bad mouth, probably even worse than Lin's. But she couldn't help it. She was totally disgusted by the so called high and mighty king of high school.

{Why is Len in a classroom with someone two years older than her? Ayumu isn't the brightest of students, but he's not a failure, and there's no way his teachers would fail him, even if he were.}

Ayumu raised his eyebrows at the insolence of this blue-haired boy. He couldn't believe they'd saddled him with yet another dangerously impudent desk-mate.

"Sensei," he said, keeping his eyes on the audacious punk. "You appear to have assigned me a moron as my desk-mate. Change it, please."

The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off a headache. Consulting the records, he nodded toward the back of the classroom. "Daisuke, switch places with Len."

Ayumu didn't turn as whomever it was shuffled his things together and moved forward. He did not even move when the boy tripped, sending his things flying, and everyone else laughed.

The boy took what felt like days to gather up his things and trudge the rest of the way to his new desk. His blue eyes flicked up to meet Ayumu's once, briefly, before looking down again.

Ayumu refused to sigh when he recognized the boy as the one who'd collided with him earlier-- the new kid. He hoped he wasn't always so clumsy.

Len rolled his eyes and glared at the so called 'prince'. Before she stood up she smirked darkly. "I didn't know you were such a big wuss. Gonna go crying to your mommy? Tsk, grow a pair of balls man."

Without another word Len left, stepping on Daisuki to get over to the boy's old desk. He liked it much better now though. There was no way Len would cope sitting next to someone like Ayuma. Still feeling disgusted Len took a seat.

As always, class was horribly long. It seemed like hours before the lunch bell rang. Only half way through the day, what a pain. Len completely hated it. She got out her usual packed lunch and went to the roof top. She liked it the most up there because no one would mess with her up there. Sitting in her normal spot in the shade she ate leftovers from last night.

Ayumu acted like he hadn't heard the idiot's words, but they itched uncomfortably just below his skin for the rest of the morning. He may have been overly harsh with Daisuke as a result; by the end of class, Daisuke was clearly trying hard not to cry.

Hey, it wasn't Ayumu's fault Daisuke couldn't take constructive criticism.

**

Daisuke sniffed a little and blinked hard as Ayumu once again tore apart his work. He knew he'd done the assignment correctly, but Ayumu corrected him with so much authority that Daisuke's own confidence was starting to waver.

"But-- I don't understand--" Daisuke tried, feebly, just before the bell rang.

"No, of course you don't," Ayumu responded, and then he was gone.

Once Len was finished relaxing she left the roof. She always hated to leave the roof. It was her favorite place. She walked to the edge and looked down. She was at least four floors above ground at the moment. But it wasn't Scary. Somehow she just enjoyed it. It was like a giant breath of fresh air for her.

Closing her eyes, she took everything in one last time. But when she began to head back to class she had a mis-step. Before she knew it she was falling backwards towards the ground. The last thing she remembered was seeing a gray sky and a scream that peirced through the air. Then darkness. She didn't even know if she had hit the ground. No.. it couldn't be the ground.. a body? Then she completely blacked out.

Ayumu walked outside after lunch, glad to be away from all the fawning backstabbers for a minute. Everyone wanted a piece of him. It had its perks, for sure, but sometimes it was frustrating.

A scream from somewhere caught his attention, and he looked up just in time to see that rude guy from class earlier collide with a student from above.

Drawn against his will, he ran over to them. He arrived at the same time as the white-haired kid, also from that class. He could never escape them.

The blue-haired, annoying boy looked okay. He was passed out, but the boy underneath him had taken most of the impact of the fall. There was no way he was walking away from a four-story fall, and he'd probably broken a few bones and possibly ruptured a spleen, but he'd survive.

The boy underneath him was not so lucky, and Ayumu swore when he saw who it was.

**

Daisuke saw the blue-haired boy he'd replaced earlier in class lose his footing and fall from the roof. Pushing his questions about why the boy was on the roof in the first place aside, he ran over as quickly as he could, nearly colliding again with Ayumu in his haste.

Daisuke let Ayumu take care of the blue-haired boy; he looked less injured. He focused his attention on the kid with the sandy blond hair underneath. Daisuke didn't know much about injuries, but he was pretty sure he knew more than Ayumu, and the kid looked bad-- very bad. His legs were both twisted at odd angles, and his face looked gray. He was unconscious, and his breathing was shallow and rapid.

"Somebody call for help!" Daisuke shouted, looking around. "You-- Ayumu. Use your cell phone!"

**

For once, Ayumu didn't take issue with someone giving him orders. Taking a deep breath, he called the emergency services and coolly explained what had happened and where.

Then he called another number.

**

Daisuke busied himself monitoring vital signs. The blond kid seemed to be growing worse. At least the blue-haired boy was stable.

"I need to talk to my father. It's urgent," he heard Ayumu say. "Well, call him out of his meeting! It's Masahiko. It's my brother."

Len didn't know what in the world was going on at all. Voices faded in and out of the darkness. She couldn't feel a thing at all though. It was as if she had gone numb. Then there was a gentle buzz along with sirens. The last thing she felt was someone lifting her up. But it was barely noticeable at all.

When Len awoke again she was in a hospital room. At first she felt panick but then her memories rushed back to her. She clutched the bed as she sat up slowly. She found that her right arm and right leg were both in a cast. She could also see that she was hooked up to a line. Very gently she roamed her bandaged left hand over the bed side until she found the button to call in a nurse. She pressed the button and waited.

After a few moments a perky nurse came in. She smiled at Len gently and lifted her clip board. "It was more than surprising to find out you are really a girl, miss Lin. Don't worry though. We know you go to a all boys school but we can always fix that for you."

Len shook her head, her blue hair swaying. "Please don't. I can barely afford even that school but... It's the only place I have. I can't pay the hospitail bill right now either. Look... I will be able to but... my job. It pays a lot so please just keep my gender a serect. I will work as long as I need." Len looked at the nurse and away. "When will I be able to go back?"

The nurse nodded gently in understanding. "Alright then. You should be able to back in a week. You've been out for some time, almost three days. But you really are lucky. That boy broke your fall. But as for him ... He might take much longer to heal."

Len nodded gently and sighed. "I know I fell on someone, and I plan to repay him." Those were the last words she spoke to the nurse, and for the rest of the week she got used to being in two casts.

After all her time in the hospital Len finally returned to school. She had been given promission to use a electric wheel chair to get around. Smirking, she drove through the halls happily each day. After a few weeks Len was completely back to normal and right away she headed to her job.

As for Len's job, it was almost a forbidden topic. She never had spoke to anyone about it. Sighing she shifted in her butler uniform as she awaited customers. The thing was... she worked at a romance café. Honestly every moment was toture. Men and women would come in and out, and sometimes teenagers. But this is the job she had agreed to, suffer or enjoy.

Ayumu hadn't cried in years-- perhaps ever. But sitting in the chair next to the kid's hospital bed, listening to the monitors hum, he wanted to.

He rarely thought about his half-brother. The kid was several years younger than him, a product of his father's marriage to the stepmother who wasn't old enough to be his stepmother by a long shot. At first, Ayumu had ignored him based on principle.

Ayumu was pretty sure the kid idolized him; he'd been pretty excited when he'd discovered that his middle school was right next to Ayumu's, and for some reason, he always tried to find Ayumu at lunch, no matter how often or how brutally Ayumu discouraged him.

Things were much quieter, without the kid. Nobody spoke at dinner, nobody bothered Ayumu during lunch. His minions even gave him extra space. He'd wanted all of those things for years, had done his best to achieve that bubble. Now that he had it, he found he missed the one person who never seemed to care about respecting his boundaries.

He missed having someone around who actually wanted to spend time with him, no matter how withdrawn or harsh he was. He-- he missed the hugs.

Looking around carefully to make sure no one was watching, he slid his hand under his brother's and held it for a very long time.

*****

Daisuke hated the feeling of being caught in a weird triangle. He'd stumbled upon the accident, and before that, he'd stumbled into annoying the richest boy in school and into being his deskmate instead of that blue-haired guy, Len.

Now, even weeks after the incident, he was torn between offering Len the assistance he probably needed (and no one else offered) and showing solidarity for his deskman.

In the end, he settled for trying to convince the other guys in his class to help Len out a bit, but that had been a spectacular failure. Somehow, they'd all found out he was gay, and apparently that was the wrong thing to be in this school. He was getting really tired of finding sex toys, excrement, and dirty underwear in his locker.

He was just grateful Ayumu never said anything. Funny-- he never thought he'd be glad to be so thoroughly ignored.

For Len, work was much better than school. At school everyone was scared, but here no one knew. Len could become anyone she wanted in this place. He served customers with a smile and held manners. She got her female customers to sway and really enjoyed it. This place was her own little heaven of females. All females, and no guys. That was unless there was something he wanted to get. But it was rare to meet a guy who would honestly say they like sweets.

The afternoons were always wonderful. Not only did she see lots of girls, she got to go home afterwards. That's what she looked forward to most, becoming Lin again. She left the store after it closed for the night and walked home, pulling off her wig. She let her real hair flow out and smiled softly. Lin loved to be herself, even if all the guys in her school didn't even notice she was a girl.

It was sort of strange though. Ever since she had encountered the king she had began to think more. What if someone knew Len was a girl? She wouldn't be surprised if someone used it as black mail. But somehow she felt she wanted someone to find out.

There was a strength about Len that Daisuke liked. He never asked for help with anything, even though the accident had put him behind. Even though the school hadn't been designed with wheelchairs in mind. Even though he always had a ton of books and school supplies to carry.

Not that most people would have helped Len even if he'd asked; everyone knew what he'd done to Ayumu's little brother (Ayumu had a little brother! Who knew?!), and nobody wanted to risk offending the king.

Mostly, Ayumu kept to himself and encouraged everyone else to do the same, but when he was angry-- well. Daisuke had heard stories. Scholarships suddenly revoked, records suddenly lost, humiliating tasks assigned. One kid beaten so badly he'd spent quite a while in the hospital. It didn't happen often, and no one could ever trace it to any one kid, but everyone knew it was Ayumu.

Daisuke shuddered, closed his locker, and locked it. No matter how much he liked Len, he couldn't risk talking to him-- not when Ayumu was his deskmate.

**

Ayumu walked home from school that afternoon. He didn't know why; he just waved his driver away at the end of the day and took off. He supposed he was tired of sitting. Or perhaps he just needed fresh air. A break from stuffy people.

He thought about going to see his brother. Even after all these weeks, Masahiko still hadn't woken up, and Ayumu was worried. His family could, of course, continue to pay his medical expenses for as long as he needed and never miss the money. But Ayumu was pretty sure that if the kid was all right in the head, he'd have woken up already.

He didn't want to see the kid today. Instead, he turned down a street he'd never set foot on before and walked until he was tired. He was just taking out his cell phone to call his driver when he saw a flash of curly green hair.

Quickening his pace without really meaning to, he caught up with the girl and looked into her face. She was gorgeous.

"Hello," he said.

Lin sighed softly to herself as she walked alone. Why was she having weird thoughts? There was no way she could let anyone find out about her. She had even trained herself to seem manly. All that work would go to waste if anyone ever found out. In a way though, she still had her old mind set. But she pushed it back down under along with her thoughts.

She had walked a long way before she hear a rather familiar voice. She began to walk quicker, hoping he hadn't been calling her. But then she was stopped to turned to face him. For some reason his touch made her feel strange. She was never really ever able to admit it, but he was.... not really, okay maybe a little, handsome.

Snapping herself from her thoughts, she suddenly glared at him. She couldn't let him find out no matter what. She thought quickly before she responded to him, looking confused now. When she spoke she talked in her higher pitch, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Um... I'm sorry but do I know you? I... I don't have to time to really talk right now." She glanced away, acting shy. "If it's money you want, I don't have any sir. Or are you a pervert? Please just let me go..." She continued her act, slowly breaking free from him. She didn't have the time to be messing with him. Plus if he found out she was Len, he would kill her.

Ayumu was pretty sure he'd heard that voice before, but he couldn't place it. Still, he was sure he'd have remembered a girl this gorgeous.

"No, I guess you don't. Sorry." He was shocked at the girl's instant escalation of the situation. "I didn't mean to--"

He let go of the arm he didn't remember grabbing as if he'd been burned. "I gave the wrong impression. I just wanted to meet you."

He tried to soften the hard lines of his face, just a little. "Once I saw you, I just couldn't walk away."

It had sounded much less like a cheap come-on in his head; there, it was the simple truth. Even now, he should walk away, but he just couldn't. Something about this girl-- this half-crazed, gorgeous girl-- attracted him like no one had before. He wanted to find out what it was.

**

Daisuke had extra homework to do that night-- his, and Ayumu's. Technically, Ayumu hadn't asked him to do it, but he had left it on Daisuke's desk. He was pretty sure that's how things like this started.

After about an hour of practice, Daisuke figured he'd mastered Ayumu's cramped, impatient handwriting. Actually writing the homework was easier the second time around; he had no idea whether what he wrote about Hamlet was anything like Ayumu's thoughts on the subject (if he had any thoughts on the subject), but it sounded like the sort of thing a guy like Ayumu would say. Daisuke figured Ayumu and Hamlet actually had a lot in common.

Except, of course, Ayumu probably had no qualms about murder. With a shudder he halfway enjoyed (he always had been a sucker for dramatic hyperbole), Daisuke stuffed Ayumu's homework into an extra folder and put it next to his in his backpack.

Lin glanced back at him as he explained things. She felt completely disgusted by the way he spoke to her. But then she thought about it. This could be her only chance to get back at him. She hated Ayuma so much that the thought was extremely tempting.

"I guess I don't mind but we should properly meet first. I don't even know your name after all. But I should warn you, my twin brother is a bit over protective of me. I can't let him see you around me, got it?" She looked at him, acting worried.

"My brother is so troublesome. Always fighting and making enemies. It would be nice if he could have a friend. He's told me a million times he won't let me even be friends with someone till he approves of it. I doubt you know him though, he goes to that all boys school and his name is Len."

She looked away and smirked evily. "To get his sort of approval, you'd probably have to treat him like a god. He'd work you to the bone too. That's just how Len is. He might even call you his servant and torture you a bit. I'm sorry that my brother is so awful." She turned back to him, acting sad. "Ah, by the way my name is Lin."

Ayumu's eyebrows rose. "Sorry for troubling you, miss. Have a nice day."

He turned and walked back in the direction he'd come. What had he been thinking? And, more importantly, where did that jerk who'd put his brother in intensive care manage to get such a beautiful sister? Who did he think he was, that he'd demand to be treated like a god?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. What kind of jerk would keep his own sister from living her own life? "Probably the same kind of jerk who hurls himself at innocent boys," Ayumu said aloud. Some passersby looked at him worriedly and crossed to the other side of the street.

Ayumu had gone walking in the hopes that it would clear his head, but he only felt more confused and conflicted than ever. He wanted to see that girl again, but from the sound of it, that would cost more than he was willing to pay.

He clenched a fist and looked around for something that would be satisfying to punch. He hated Len at that moment more than he'd ever hated anything in his life.

**

Once his homework was finished, Daisuke found himself ... restless. Even with doing Ayumu's work as well as his, he'd finished everything in good time, and he didn't feel like going home yet. He called his mother.

"Hey, Mom, what's for dinner?"

"Rice and ... and something. I haven't decided yet. When will you be home?"

Daisuke winced. "Uh, I think I'll eat out tonight. So don't expect me until late."

"Trouble with your homework?"

"No, of course not."

"Ah-- a girl?"

"Mom!"

"Oh, right. A boy?"

"No, Mom."

"Then what--"

"I just feel a little restless. Don't worry. I'm fine."

"If this is about that-- what was his name? Aymimi?"

"Ayumu. And no." Apparently Ayumu was Lord Voldemort or something-- you say his name and he appears. "Mom, I've gotta go."

Ayumu looked extremely angry about something. Daisuke wondered if it was about his homework. "Hey, Ayumu! Hey!"

The older boy turned, saw who it was, and scowled even deeper.

"I've got your homework for you!" Daisuke ran up to him, dodging cars. "I did my best on it."

Ayumu seemed ... confused. He took the folder of papers without question, though, and Daisuke counted that as a good sign.

"If it's wrong, I'll do it again." Daisuke tried. "I'll make it just like you want it. Just don't-- don't be mad at me anymore."

"I'm not mad--" Ayumu stopped. "Thank you. I'll let you know."

Daisuke bowed and backed away. Ayumu stared after him, folder in hand.

Lin sighed in relief as Ayumu left her. It was always a bother for her, even though she wouldn't say it. Hopefully he wouldn't bother her again. She was already in trouble with him anyways. Speaking of which, it reminded her of something she had to do.

Before Lin went home she stopped by the home care place, as she did every day. She walked inside and took out a little paper bag and handed to the nurse. By now, she didn't even need to say who to give it to. But today it was a bit different.

"Make sure to tell him that there is chocolate this time. I know he doesn't really like them but he'll know why once he opens it up. Thank you, by the way." Lin spoke softly and left. Little did they know she had also left a letter. The funny thing was, that was the first time.

The one she was sending it to had no idea who was sending it. Lin had wanted it to stay that way too. But just once, she knew she had to do this. She left the home with no regrets. This was the last time he would get anything from her, because once he was better he wouldn't need her anymore.

It had all started on a big mix up. Until that day, Len wasn't noticed by anyone at all. Or at least not by Ayumu of all people. No one saw Len as a troublemaker, but then the worst of things happened. It was a dark day when the black clouds barely held back the rain. That was the day she met that boy, Ayumu's brother.

She didn't even realize who the boy was. The fact he noticed her was probably the worst turn of events for her. She had tried to ignore him, she really did. But then it just sort of happened. She didn't want any of it either, it was a simple mistake. The boy slipped and she couldn't save him from a car, but when she tried to shield the boy Lin revealed herself in the process.

She had to hide it, those were her only thoughts. But it was too late now. There was no way to save herself, but she put her wig back on anyways. Lucky for her, the boy had passed out. The car left them quickly, not caring that they hit. The worst part was that she was on top of the boy. So when Ayumu came onto the scene it looked like she had beat him up instead. It was at that moment that everything went wrong. He saw things differently then what was true. Even though she was bleeding, Ayumu only saw his brother. There was no time for her at all, so she ran. Lin ran as far as she could.

It only took a day for the rumors to spread. Everyone began to accuse her of hurting the boy. But it hadn't mattered to her. Ayumu's brother couldn't talk, or even walk. She couldn't blame Ayumu for hating her. She couldn't entirely save him, so she had no right to look at Ayumu. She decided that day she would make herself the enemy. That was fine by her after all.

"We're going to pull the plug on Masahiko," Ayumu's father announced that night. Ayumu had been reading through Daisuke's work and considering what to do about it for about two hours.

He'd been expecting this, honestly, but it still made him flinch. "Why?"

"The boy is not responding to treatments. There's been no increase in brain waves. Your mother--"

"Your wife."

His father continued as though Ayumu had not spoken. "And I believe that we need to let him go. It was not an easy decision."

Ayumu wanted to say, If it was so hard, then why are you talking about it like you'd discuss the weather? He didn't. "I understand. When?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, after work. You'll have plenty of time to say your goodbyes."

Ayumu did not reply. His father stood motionless in his doorway for a long time, then turned and left. Ayumu didn't notice.

**

Daisuke had nightmares that night. All he could remember when he woke up were shadowy figures and blue hair that somehow pulled him out ...

Blue hair? Ah, yes, Len. Daisuke wished he could get to know Len better. He understood how rough things were for Ayumu right now, but he also had to admit ... he kind of deserved them. And since when did anyone else get to dictate whom Daisuke liked?

Tomorrow, he'd talk to Len, whatever the cost. If Len could stand up to Ayumu, then so could he.

Later that night, Lin got a call. She answered the phone and talked to a doctor from the place she had stopped earlier. "Tomorrow? But they can't... They said to? Don't be stupid! I know I couldn't exactly save him but I won't let him die!!! So what if it's not helping? Damn it... I won't let this mistake ruin everything... Hold on, get me an appointment before anything happens.I think I know what might help. He shares my blood type right? Okay good. Thank you doctor... I know, goodbye."

The next day, Len did not come to school. She was nowhere to be found. Instead Len was at the hospital. She stayed in a room, watching as they took blood out of her. It was the least she could do. She knew her rare type of blood could possibly save the boy before it was too late. After it was done she got up even though she had been told not to move an inch from her bed.

Len used the last of her strength to force herself into that room. There the boy, Ayumu's brother, was being given donated blood all from Len. She weakly sat down in the visitor chair that was in the shadows of the room. She didn't want anyone to see how pale she was at the moment.

"Do you think it will save him doctor? I know how small the chance is.. But I won't let them do anything till I've tried. They can't just... Do this..." Len angrily pulled off her wig. "Damn it... This stupid thing... I just want to burn it.' She growled lowly and put it back on. Sighing softly, she curled up and waited. She would make them see that it wasn't too late.

Ayumu chose not to go to the hospital that day. He'd already said everything he needed to say to his brother a thousand times, and his brother had never heard him yet. In truth, Ayumu didn't think he could bear watching them give up on him. Better, then, to stay away, to try not to think about it.

He turned in the homework Daisuke had done for him. It was good work, after all, and he'd hate to waste it. Plus, he hadn't exactly been able to concentrate.

**

Len wasn't at school that day, and Daisuke had to admit he was disappointed. Had Ayumu done something to him? Daisuke wanted to be strong enough to ask, but he just couldn't.

Instead, he used every time he glanced at Len's empty place to remind himself of what a coward he was. By the time the school day ended, he ached all over.

Len remained stubbornly in the hospital room, weakly standing up as Ayumu's father came in. She remained standing even though all her blood loss made her feel more than ready to faint. But this was one thing she had to do.

Slowly, Len got on her knees and bowed. "Please sir, please give him more time. I have the same blood type as this boy so please... Give me a chance to do something. I don't want to see him go yet. I have supported your family all this time... So please."

Len started to shake, getting up again only to fall against the wall. She looked paler than before but she hadn't given in just yet. "If you don't believe me, I can prove it. I'm the one who sent those paper bags to your family. Today I wrote a letter saying my good byes but... I don't want that... I couldn't leave after all.... Even if your son isn't on the best terms with me..."

She bowed her head low, her whole body shaking. She felt like she was losing something. But what was it? She had never really known the family at all. But now she wanted very badly for them to be alright. Ayumu seemed to constantly come into her mind ever since they had first met. It was almost as if she was... No, that was silly.

Ayumu had barely gotten back to his room when he got a phone call from his father.

"Get over here."

The line went dead before Ayumu could ask for details. Going on a hunch, he called his driver and headed to the hospital.

Masahiko's room was crowded, and it took some time for Ayumu to push his way forward. His father was standing at the foot of the bed, looking enraged.

"Why did you not tell me about this?" he demanded.

"About what?" Ayumu was losing control over the nausea that he'd been fighting with all day. "Is it-- is it done?"

"No, it isn't done," his father spat. "Because some friend of yours is standing in the way! Ayumu, you know as well as I do that nothing can be done. I don't want to see this happen any more than you do, but it would be best to cut our losses now than to torment ourselves with false hope."

Ayumu was lost. "What ... friend?" As far as he knew, he had none.

**

Daisuke went straight home from school and pulled out a video game. He wished he'd made more of an effort to get to know Len, to make sure he was okay. He hoped he hadn't missed his chance.

He played long after he should have gone to bed, never quitting until his brain was as numb as his chest.

Len stayed where she was stubbornly. It was all she could do to keep herself from fainting. Every moment she stood her mind fuzzed out. For a moment everything was completely dark and before she knew it she had fallen onto the ground. But as soon as she hit the floor she snapped back and stood again.

Using what she had left she made her way over to Ayumu's brother. She looked at him sadly, shaking gently. "It looks like I might not be able to save you at all. Heh, I'm so useless... I can't even save one person... Not even one. I thought for sure this might help but it... My blood isn't enough. I knew it was slim..." She slid down the wall as tears began to form. "Please wake up. I'll do anything, just wake up."