Utilitarianism

Chapter 2
Curiosity

Rin sat alone on her new bed, a feeling of peace coming over her. Her new parents, Lola and Leon, lived in a grand mansion with all the trimmings. Her new bedroom had pure white walls and wooden flooring covered in rugs. The room was large yet cozy, with everything Rin could've asked for. She mourned her mother though, weeping into a pillow comfortably. Her form was curled up into a ball, with a pillow in her arms. If anybody had walked in at that point, it would have been obvious she was depressed.

"Rin?" A voice called from below, the sweet tone belonged to Lola, "Could you come downstairs for a moment? There is someone you need to meet."

Rin looked up from the pillow, confused. She had hoped that her new guardians would let her have some time to herself before she would have to see them again, but she was polite. Wriggling off of the bed, Rin landed on the soft rug below with a thud. She crawled to the door and then finally decided to stand up when she opened it, and closed it again as she left the room. As she walked along the long hallway to get to the grand staircase, she observed the many painting on the wall. They were all brilliantly painted and flawless, to the point which they made Rin smile.

The girl approached the staircase and carefully walked down it to greet her foster parents at the bottom. Standing beside them was a young lady, dressed in a simple maids outfit. She had flowing pink hair down to her waist and baby blue eyes. The woman was very busty and beautiful.

"Hello Rin." The woman said, holding out her hand for Rin to shake it, "My name is Luka, and I will be your tutor and maid."

Rin eyed the woman for a few more seconds before hastily shaking her hand, a grin plastered on her face. Luka's voice was very calming, it was unlike any other tone she had heard before. Rin also heard a slight accent underneath the common one, which she couldn't put her finger on. Anyway, the teenager was very glad that she was only shaking hands with the maid, because hugging her would mean bazoongas in the face. (Which, in case you haven't had such a dreadful experience, is like a living hell for another girl)

"You should know Rin," Lola began, cutting into Rin and Luka's hand-shaking, "Me and Leon work from 6am until 10pm at the studio, so we won't be home very often."

Rin nodded, showing that she understood - Luka would be looking after her most of the time.

"The fact is, we actually have to work now." Lola continued, frowning, "So please be good for Luka."

The blonde girl frowned herself now, a little annoyed. Although, Luka did seem nice and friendly, so she shouldn't be angry. The pink haired woman gave her a friendly smile, ushering her foster parents out of the huge front doors. Once Lola and Leon left the mansion, Luka turned back to Rin.

"So, go ahead and explore, I'll be cooking, okay?" Luka said, smiling before walking before the kitchen From the size of her heels, Rin wondered how Luka didn't fall over.

Explore; what a wonderful ring that word had to it. Exploring was just the sort of thing Rin wanted to do anyway. She guessed that she had hardly seen any of the mansion on just the first level, so it would be fun to find out more about the place she now lived in. She sped down the halls, until she finally came to a dead end. She sighed.

'Well, that was pointless...' Rin thought to herself angrily, 'I'll just go back to my bedroom...'

Rin walked slowly back to the her room, thinking about all the time and effort she spent just to find a dead end. Once she reached her room, she sat in front of the crackling fire place, staring into the flames. She glanced across the walls, looking at the painting that were on them. One in particular caught her eye. A boy; blond, blue-green eyes and young. Who was it? Obviously, Rin didn't know. She wanted to find out, though, so she stood up and took a closer look.

"Ah," Rin muttered as she stood before it, "The skin looks so soft on the painting, if only..."

Rin brought out her hand to touch the canvas, and sort of regretted it. Somehow, the fireplace was gone, revealing a dusty staircase. It was wide, dark and scary. Yet, it was exactly the kind of exploring Rin was hoping for. She rushed down the stairs, reaching the bottom in no time. At the bottom, Rin saw a long, narrow passage.

The girl walked along the dirty passage, grimacing at the dirt that surrounded her. It was a dark passage, but she could faintly see light at the far end - so she continued to walk along. Her footsteps echoed eerily and she shivered. Once she reached the end of the passage, she saw that she had entered a separate room that looked like a dungeon. Panic crossed her mind, but she ignored it and stepped forwards. Her heard stopped as she heard what sounded like a whimper in the corner. She slowly turned to face the direction of the noise - and there he was.

A figure was sitting against the moldy wall, staring at her with wide eyes. His hair was a mess of blond tied up and his skin was covered with dirt-filled cuts. Chains were around his wrists and ankles, but they looked tight. In fact, his whole existence scared the girl completely, yet she didn't back away. She looked at him with a look on her face of complete and utter confusion. Warning bells were ringing in her mind, yet, she couldn't run away from him. Not when he looked so weak. He gave her the same look, but it held more helplessness in it, it brought a tear to her eye.

"I'll help you." The girl whispered, "I'll help you get out."

The boy whimpered again, recoiling away from Rin as she spoke. Rin felt a little hurt, but she realized that from his current state, he didn't have any reason to trust her. She had to gain it and quickly, because all the dust in the air was making her feel a little dizzy.

"Please?" Rin asked, holding out her hand, "Please let me help."

He didn't seem convinced though, and stayed as far back from Rin as possible. The blonde girl had to find a way to help, he looked like he would drop dead any second.

"I'll get these chains off of you, okay?" Rin asked kindly, but she didn't bother waiting for a sign of a response. She took one of the hair clips out of her hair, and jammed it into the locks of each of the steel holds until she had gotten them all off. Each fell to the floor with a thud, each earning Rin more trust from the boy, "Is that better?"

He looked at her skeptically, but soon his lips curled up into a slight smile. Rin gasped happily, excited by a real response from the kid. Sadly, he didn't look in a good position for walking now...considering his ankles were swollen and bruised from the chains. So Rin did something brave and without warming him, scooped him up in her arms. It was a rather amazing moment, he didn't even protest! (It's besides the point that he probably couldn't...)

Once Rin had stepped into her bedroom, somehow, the fireplace returned. Rin set the boy down on her bed and observed him. He was whimpering against, staying as far away from the pillows as possible. Rin wasn't sure what to say, she had just discovered a boy in a secret passage way; what could she say? 'Hi, you looked pretty dead down there so I thought I'd show you how posh and amazing my home is'? No, that wouldn't do.

"Hello? My name is Rin, what's your?" Rin asked, it seemed like a sensible question. The boy had stopped whimpering and looked up at Rin, that was a good sign, right?

"Len." He said, his voice strained and hoarse. Rin looked a little shocked, so he widened his eyes in the same way she did.

"Len? That's a nice name." Rin commented, trying to make the boy less suspicious. It seemed to work as he smiled a little again.

"Rin is...nice." Len replied, copying the girl's words. He scanned Rin's features, hoping that what he had said was correct.

Thoughts ran through Rin's mind about him being dirty and she couldn't shake them away.

"I'll run a bath for you." Rin said, heading towards the door to the bathroom connected to her bedroom, "Wait there."

The shelf of bath substances was something Rin ignored and she set about running a plain bath full of warm water. Considering all the chemicals in the powers and liquids on the shelf and all the cuts on Len's body, she didn't want him to get hurt. Once the bath was ready, Rin called him in.

"I'm expecting you know how to wash yourself in a bath, right?" Rin asked and after receiving a slight nod from Len, she continued, "I'll leave you to it, while I go and find some clothes for you to wear."

Rin exited the room and went downstairs to find Luka, who was humming to herself in the kitchen whilst cooking. She noticed Rin and stopped to look at her.

"Luka, do we own any clothes for - erm - boys?" Rin asked quickly, tapping her foot on the hard floor.

"For boys?" Luka repeated, sounding very confused.

"Yeah, you see, sometimes I just feel better wearing baggy boys clothes for some reason..." Rin muttered, looking downwards at the shiny polished tiles on the floor.

Luka laughed, "I won't ask why, then. But as a matter of fact, we do."

Rin looked up again, grinning herself.

"The room next door to yours is filled with clothes for your average teenage boy, take a look." Luka said, grinning.

"Really? Well thank you, Luka!" Rin said politely, before speeding off to find some suitable clothes for Len.

Rin had a pile of clothes on her hands, one she though would suit Len. She knocked on the bath door and opened it to meet Len with just a towel on.

"Oh! Er - here are some clothes!" Rin exclaimed, throwing the bundle towards him and closing the door. So much for not invading personal privacy, hm?

She heard a quiet 'Thanks' before the sound of clothes being moved. A few moments later, Len came out the bathroom fully dressed. Although it made his cuts, scars and bruises less noticeable, they were still there. He looked a lot happier though and it was difficult to miss the fact that he was rather good looking too. Then, another thought came to Rin's mind. He was so skinny, he just needed to be fed.

"Rin, dinner's ready!" Luka called, taking Rin away from her thoughts, "I made you two portions in case you were extra hungry!"

Rin grinned, Perfect.

After easily convincing Luka to let her eat in her bedroom, she watched amusingly as Len poked his plate of food with a fork. Luka had cooked two simple pizzas, but Len looked as if he had never seen one before.

"This?" He asked in his quiet voice, staring at the food in front of him.

"Pizza." Rin replied, eating a slice of her own as if to prove a point.

Pizza; one amazing food where if the cheese and tomato are balanced right, seems to melt in your mouth. That's what Rin thought, but still not as good as oranges. Len stared at the food with curiosity for a few more seconds before taking a slice and biting it.

"Nice..?" Len commented and Rin nodded, grinning like an idiot.

"Yeah, nice." Rin replied, taking another slice from hers.

So there they were, sitting on Rin's new bed, in her massive new bedroom eating pizza. Luka was a good cook though, so it tasted like it could've come from a fancy sort of restaurant. Both Rin and Len seemed happy while eating and when they were both finished, Rin rushed back downstairs again to return the plates.

"Thank you Luka!" She had said as she set the plates on the side, "You won't come and wake me up tomorrow, right?"

"Nope," Luka had replied, smiling, "Come downstairs whenever and I'll cook you some breakfast."

Rin returned to her room and saw a sleeping figure on her bed. He was curled up into a ball, so his rhythmic breathing was only just audible. Rin pitied him, she knew her new parents, especially Lola, had something to do with him. She also knew that no one could find out about him, not Luka, not Lola, not anyone. The girl glanced at the clock, '6:47' it read, so she still had some time to kill. What could she do though? She didn't have an answer, so like she had always done, she instinctively laid on her bed and fell asleep.

But what Rin Kagamine didn't know, was a lot. She had a large gap in her knowledge by that point. She didn't know how she survived, who the boy really was and what her new parents were - so how could she feel so safe? Although, life couldn't seem so bad when you lived in a grand mansion like she now did...