20 Day Escape (Len Kagamine)

20 Day Escape: Day 8

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Day 8:

When I have trouble sleeping, it's usually because my brain is on high alert. We were in the hotel room, and Len was fast asleep on the other side of the bed, but all I could do is stare at the ceiling being illuminated by the city lights outside. It was well past midnight, and my eyes refused to close for even a moment.

I was nervous about Misaki coming with Neru. I was nervous about Kenmochi not being willing to speak with me. I was nervous about him calling my father. Worried about what my father would do to me, worried about what he'd do to Len. I was worried about where my heart was taking me, wondering if I was destroying a bright future I had...

But I knew I had to do this, for all the Vocaloids. It wasn't just Len, I think he was just the last straw. And though I wanted nothing more than to secure a real future for Len and Rin, this was so much bigger than them.

Spending every night worrying about what will happen to me because of what I've done is pointless, all I can do is keep moving forward.

Yesterday can harbor my history, and tomorrow will shelter my dreams.

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Checking out of the hotel the next day went seamlessly, and I stepped out towards my rental car with a fire burning new in my heart. Staying up late also brought me new confidence.

But when I reached out for the handle to my door, I couldn't help but notice a figure out of the corner of my eye. When I drew my head up to look at him, I nearly choked on the air I was breathing.

"Daisuke?" It came out as a whisper, but still loud enough for Len to hear, causing him to look up at my childhood friend as well.

"Nami... It's been a while." Just about a year, actually, but you know... Who's counting?

"W-... What are you doing here?" I was tempted to hug him. I was tempted to punch him. I was tempted to sit down and cry, but also tempted to run over and scream at him. He left town without a single goodbye, left town without fixing things between us after my... rather awkward confession. He left Misaki and I in the god damned dust.

"I could ask you the same thing." He crosses his arms and furrows his brow. "Nami... your dad called me."

I had already had enough.

"Listen here, you evasive, elusive little weasel," I stick my finger out at him as my shoulders tense. "You left your place in my life a year ago, without a fucking word, you can't just run back in here trying to pretend like you still give a shit." I let out an angry huff. "You have no IDEA what kind of things my father has been doing to run his industry, what kind of sick bullshit he's been pulling behind everyone's backs. He is not to be trusted, and I'm going to make damn sure he falls from his throne."

"I've been working for your father for the past year."

I almost ask him to repeat it. But I don't really need him to, do I? Because it really isn't that surprising, the more I think about it, that my father would be so manipulative. So twisted.

"Why?" I look up at Daisuke, my blue eyes throwing daggers into his dark brown ones. "Why did you say yes? Why did you have to leave without saying goodbye? Why'd you have to leave to work for my father?" I stomp my foot down, feeling close to tears. "Why!?"

Daisuke takes a deep breath, standing up a bit more straight. "He asked me not to tell you. Not to call you, not to see you. He said it'd be easier to make you work along side him. He said he needed me elsewhere."

"Why were you needed elsewhere?" I chew the inside of my lip, knowing his next words would be my breaking point no matter what they were.

"I'm not supposed to say, Nami." Daisuke answers, and I can tell there's not a drop of remorse in his whole body.

"Tell me, you son of a bitch." I take a step towards him, every memory of our past that has haunted me since the day he left just burned in my soul, and I wanted nothing more than to watch him hurt.

"Hajime..." He sighed. "Needed someone to dismantle a vocaloid to figure out how it's memory core worked... since Kenmochi wouldn't tell him."

"You..." I felt my chest heave. I wanted to throw up. "You dismantled a Vocaloid?"

"Oh shut up, Nami, it's not like it's murder. It's a fucking robot."

He earned the punch in the jaw that I gave him.

"What the fuck?!" He cried, now angry and his intent shining through. "Listen Nami, whether you like it or not, I'm here to return that Vocaloid, so give it up, you can't win a fight with me!" I punch him again, causing him to grab onto my fist. We struggle for a few minutes and it isn't until I hear the engine roar that I know I need to get the hell out of the way.

I leap, and the Audi flies forward, stopping only inches from Daisuke. I throw myself into the passenger seat and Len expertly throws the car into reverse, donuts around, and escapes to the main road leading to the highway.

"What. the fuck." Len says, shifting gears with a malicious look on his face. "THAT GUY? YOU LOVED THAT GUY?" He's screaming, actually screaming. "He dismantled a Vocaloid. He dismantled a fucking vocaloid!" Len's speeding, really speeding, not that I blame him much, but I worry we'll get pulled over. I let him go until we're on the highway and I'm sure we're not being followed. "How did he even FIND us?" Len growls, and I place my hand on top of his.

"I think... my dad's probably tracking my credit card. One last stop at an atm, and it's cash only from here on out." I let out a stressed sigh, running my hand through my hair. "Daisuke... he used to be different. So different. But to be honest, I think I brought out a really bad side of him towards the end of high school. I..." I groan in agony, did I really have to tell him this? "I sort of ruined our friendship by confessing my feelings for him, and got really angry at him when he didn't reciprocate and was actually a giant jerk about it. I thought... for the longest time that maybe that's why he left without a word, because I was a bitch and he really didn't like me, but the way he tried so hard to keep me as a friend way back then... I don't know, I just thought it meant something." I look over at the speedometer, Len has finally slowed down. "If I had known back then, what my father was doing, I would've forgiven him in a heartbeat. If I had known he was also going to start working for this monster of a man, I would've talked him out of it... or at least, tried to. The way he talks about Vocaloids... He sounds just like my father."

"Clearly they're made for each other." Len spits, his words dripping with venom. It was fair though, I understood why he was angry. This was manslaughter, no way around it. My father manipulated everyone in my world, including me, including my best friends, and he would pay for it. I'd make sure of it.

"The only good news in all of this, is that Kenmochi denied my father access to information on memory drives, which means he was against my father wiping Vocaloid memories. Our chances of having him on our side are greater." I take a deep breath "Besides which, when he finds out one has been murdered, the blood on my father's hands-- I know he'll work to put an end to all of this."

"Now we've got both your old best friends coming after us. Are you sure we're going to make it, Nami?" Len looks over, his blue eyes now full of concern. I'd never give up. Not while his eyes still begged for freedom.

"I'd die before letting them take you, Len. I'm in this til the end, forget all the other people. You're the only person that's managed to make a vital impact in my life. You're the only one who listens, the only one who's willing to help, and the one who needs my help the most. And I.." I freeze, my mouth agape with the recognition that I couldn't deny it anymore. "I need you." I finish quietly. I did this to him, I gave him this life of despair, and I would be the one to fix it. It will never be too late to be what I could've been.

Yesterday is nothing but history.

"I'm with you, til the end of this, however it may end." Len squeezes my hand lightly before releasing it to put it back up on the steering wheel. "Let's put on some music and get the hell out of here."

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