[_____]'s P.O.V.

I glanced up at Len with a surprised expression and he broke into a light chuckle.

"Liver poisoning or something like that. His drinking ultimately led him to the grave and I know he's in hell for all the trouble he caused."

I nodded my head, swallowing back a lump. He wiped my tears and grabbed my hand, "Let's go back to base and tell everyone the good news though. You got your memories back."

I nodded and tugged him along in the opposite direction accidentally. "It's actually this way, but at least we'll be taking the scenic route," he laughed gently. We walked together, hand-in-hand for the most part through the forest after the river split off to the far left. Both Len and I recited memes or vines as we made our way back to base.

"Oh, how about you sing with me? I have a song I wanna sing but it's a duet!"

"Oh, I don't sing," I said, shaking my head.

"What? That's BS, I've heard you sing. C'mon, sing with me?" he pleaded. I laughed at how cute he was being and flopped my head around.

"What song?"

"Anna Blue's "Say Something" featuring Damien Dawn."

"I don't believe I've heard it before," I told him.

"Oh, I have it on my phone. Let's listen to it as we walk."

He played the song and I had to admit it was good. I was shook! By the time we made it to the base, we were jamming out to a few other songs on a playlist, but I did happen to have the one he showed me stuck in my head. When we busted through the living room doors, I was unsettled by how empty it was. The room was completely vacant... that was unusual and it made my stomach churn.

"Wait, Len, where's everybody?" I questioned. I was on edge due to remembering the attack on both me and Kamui. Could they have taken the gang? It feels impossible, but it wasn't too farfetched assuming they were a bigger threat than I'd originally realized.

Len glanced at me as I balled my fists and twisted my fingers nervously. He placed his hands on my shoulders and maintained eye contact with me.

"Take a breather, [_____]. They're probably outside catching up on their routines or doing runs. We had to keep low profile mostly and modify everything when you lost your memory. Even if it was for a week and a half." he explained. I nodded my head in understanding, the fear settling as I mulled over the information slowly. Len grasped my hand with a big smile and lightly tugged, "C'mon, we still gotta go tell them the good news together!"

My heart practically skipped a beat, so I nodded and followed him out towards the back. There was a worn path, vague with moss and leaves, branches, and what have you covering a greater length of the path, but it led down to a small clearing where mostly everyone had gathered.

Gumi and her flawless aim certainly caught my attention immediately. She and her pistol were great partners at shooting the cans strung up from the tree branches. Kamui was watching over everyone due to his injuries keeping him benched, but I could see him eyeing the katanas. I bet he missed the feeling. Momo was practicing her kickboxing with Leon, but something deep inside me knew that wasn't really practicing. She probably had yet another valid excuse to attack him and he just kept dodging. What a coward. Miku and Ia were working on their own martial arts through Miki and Meiko. Piko was in the far back doing his own thing with Teto. Maybe it was yoga? I'm not sure, but it looked like they were falling asleep. I'm glad both he and Ia came back in time. Everyone here was hard at work and I couldn't help but feel useless... I surely held them back for a while, huh? And I wasn't even an official gang member!

"Guys!" len shouted, calling the attention of the crew, "Announcement!" His hand had slipped from mine which made me feel even emptier. I couldn't help the chill settling in my bones-I would have kicked myself for falling into a funk like this, I thought I could handle these thoughts! They flooded into my brain encompassing me to a more shriveled version of myself.

Everybody gathered around, excitedly as they watched me with nervous expressions.

"Guys, [_____] has her memory back! It's going to sound dumb, but just pretend we were all abducted by aliens. It'll be a little farfetched, but they'll drop it soon enough. That's how weird our town is. I'll fill in the rest of the story soon enough, but at least we'll have a story to stick to." Len ordered.

"Yeah!" they all saluted to him. I smiled meekly and glanced at everyone in the gang. Everyone had an expression of relief and as I looked at everyone's faces, I realized I hadn't seen Neru since she slapped me... did she leave the gang? Not even within these few days when I couldn't recall anything, she never showed up. I was pulled out of my thoughts as Meiko locked me underneath her arm, snatching Len into the same hold.

"What took you both so long? A "detour"?" she grinned salaciously. My cheeks felt hot when I understood what Sakane meant. I pinched my arm and attempted to get rid of such a thought as Len flailed to no avail, calling out a shocked "No!"

He finally broke out and crossed his arms, shaking his head in embarrassment.

"We walked around for a while and talked. I had to make sure nothing else happened to [_____], it's been stressful for all of us and I didn't want her to go into shock."

I smiled at that and found Sakane squeezing me to her side. When I looked up at her, she kept a smug grin and winked at me. I couldn't quite tell what she meant by that, but I couldn't blatantly ask with everyone else around. Len grabbed my hand and helped me out of her hold.

"Well, I'm gonna walk her home," Len said, "You guys can leave if you want to now, but remember that the aliens snatched us."

"Ah yes. And then the leprechauns danced in circles while the unicorns threw a party and we raved for the past week and half. We were served shrooms and a pink kale juice." Gumi sarcastically added. Len shook his head, waved his hand over his shoulder, and ushered me into the base. We went to the kitchen and picked up a green tea before heading out. The coolness was welcomed along my tongue as he walked me home.

"I wanted to take this time to ask you about joining our gang. You don't have to and there's absolutely no pressure on your side, but the offer stands. I can't say the shit other gangs pull will be any nicer, but the silent recognition and fame is something else." he laughed. I mulled his words over and couldn't help but imagine the life I'd live as a gang member.

*****

It was 5:00 in the evening when I was greeted by my crying aunt Ann at the front door. She immediately called my uncle and he rushed home, sweeping me up into a tight embrace.

"Sorry I made you both freak out. This is going to sound mad, but I was taken aboard a ship and I was living amongst aliens!" I explained. My aunt and uncle were crying and upset, but were nonetheless relieved I was relatively unharmed. The markings and bruises on my body had mostly healed up and disappeared like nothing had happened.

"She's in such shock that she imagined aliens, Ann." my uncle pouted, kissing the top of my head. I hugged them both back as they continued to hold me tightly.

I was seated at the kitchen table and fed quite a lot. Not that I'd lost much weight. The base was often stocked with food from the members chipping in. For only being twenty, Miki knew what she was doing in the kitchen. Either way, my family was enjoying my company... I really did scare my poor aunt Ann and uncle Yohio.

Yuuma's P.O.V.

Something was wrong. [_____] was missing along with Kagamine and faculty members... What the hell was going on? Did she join his gang?

I texted Kaito and told him to meet me outside. I greeted [_____] when I got downstairs. She was on her way up. Considering she'd been gone for a while, she didn't look bad, so yet another tragic accident was unlikely. Aliens taking her however? Can't say that she didn't suffer brain damage... I hopped out the front door and fist-bumped Kaito. He was outside, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"Sup, hoe?" he greeted me, "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Let's go to your house, first." I whispered. So we walked across to his house.

"Now, what was it?" he asked impatiently as he closed the door behind him. His parents weren't home judging by the cars not being in the driveway. I plopped onto his couch and looked down at my phone.

"[_____]'s back. But don't you think it's suspicious?" I questioned.

"What is?! I'm frustrated here!"

"Dumbass! My cousin was missing for, like, almost two weeks! But so did Kagamine and a few others. Something tells me those who went
missing are parts of Kagamine's crew. For being a loud-mouthed big shot, the kid knows how to keep his rings tight and his people low profile. His controlled areas are practically loyal to him-its insane.

Before [_____] went missing, I snatched her phone and found a billion new contacts, but our guys couldn't properly track who the numbers belonged to. Anytime I sent a message to the numbers, nobody responded and the messages would automatically delete. The only one that was direct was Len's. Was he anticipating that I'd take her phone? Is that why he suddenly befriended [____]?"

Kaito nodded along, "It seems plausible, but what's he playing at?"

"That's what I'd like to find out..."

"How much longer are you gonna go on about this? I'd like to catch up with my girl if you're gonna keep analyzing all this shit."

"Just leave. I need to go back home and gather my notes. See ya later, bitch."

Len's P.O.V.

I fought with myself. Both Rin and I were at Miki's and we'd just finished dinner when I found myself wandering the streets of the plaza. Few people were still out at this hour and many were couples taking strolls. I fought with myself about going to visit [_____]. Was it too soon? I wanted to walk and talk with her again, but how stingy of me... I spent enough time with her this past week, she must be tired of dealing with me. None of my attraction to her was a rebound from Neru, but [_____] was a welcomed distraction. She seems like a cinnamon roll, but could actually kill me and I'd let her. I just want things to be better for her. Maybe it's the guilt? I'm not sure, but I found myself thinking about her constantly. She's striking!

As I wandered about, floating on the thoughts of [____], I overheard snippets of a conversation, but that's not what surprised me. It was the voices. I ducked behind a tree, my chest tightened and my stomach felt sick.

Neru.

I pulled up my hood from my jacket and pretended to be on my phone, but once we passed each other, I turned and saw her holding onto the arm of some other guy... not just any guy though.

Kaito Shion.

What the fuck was going on?