Hello! I'm back with a new story! Surprise! I've actually been writing, believe it or not. And I'm still working on HMMIA, with a whole plan on how it's going to end and everything. I just have to write it all out...

-tears slowly falling down face-

Okay well whatever, here's a spin off story from The Way It Always Was universe. Now you get Rin's story! Enjoy!

ALONE

Rin was frustrated. Life was frustrating. In a single moment it could be wonderful and then dip down to horrible—a single moment. She let her bangs hang down in front of her eyes. Normally she might just brush them to the side, but at the moment, she was glad for the excuse not to have to look at any of the other people on the bus. When it reached her stop, she picked up her bag and exited the vehicle as quickly as she could. She just wanted to be home.

Still not bothering to brush her hair out of her eyes, Rin walked at a brisk pace, wishing everyone might disappear. "Almost there," her mind told her as she drew near to a bridge that crossed over a stream and into her neighborhood. She stared at the ground as she walked, knowing the way home by heart. The thought intrigued her for a moment, and, seeking to test her skills and distract her mind, Rin closed her eyes and adjusted her speed to match the pace she normally walked home at.

She made a guess at where to turn on the bridge, and she knew she was right when she heard the sound of her footsteps change on the new surface. However, her luck ran out not ten seconds later, when she ran straight into a stranger.

"What are you doing?" Rin snapped, not knowing why she said it, but not really caring.

The stranger—a man—stared at her in bewilderment. "I was looking at the stream…" he said, seemingly too scared of this annoyed girl to ask her what she had been doing, running around with her eyes closed.

"What the heck is even wrong with your eyes?" Rin continued on, noticing that they were two different colors and feeling the need to criticize. "Do you wear some sort of weird color contacts or something? And how old are you? Your hair is all white like some 100-year-old man."

"I have a disease that makes them like that," the guy said, wincing at Rin's harsh words. "Waardenburg syndrome. It's also why I couldn't hear you coming. I'm kinda deaf," he said, managing a nervous smile. "But you must have been in a hurry. Don't mind me."

He turned back to the stream and leaned on the railing of the bridge. Rin gave him one last scrutinous gaze before huffing and continuing on towards her home, her eyes now open and observant. However, she met no one else on the road during the final stretch of her walk.

When she reached her house, she halfheartedly opened the door and tossed her bag down on a bench near the entryway. She slipped off her painful shoes and slumped over to the couch, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she collapsed on the cushions. Someone to talk to. That was all she needed.

"What's up, Rin?" she heard a voice on the other end say after she had called the number.

"I had a terrible day," she mumbled.

"And you think I'm the right person to go to for comfort? Did you mean to call Miku?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to you. Can I not just want to talk to you?"

"You can, you can," the voice said. "I'm listening."

"I didn't get fired, or yelled at, or anything like that…" Rin began. "It was just one of those off days, you know? It started with little things, like running out of cereal, and not being able to find matching socks, and nearly being late for the bus on the way to work; then the kids weren't paying attention and I had to grade so many papers that sounded like crap—how can you put so little effort into something?—and by the time I got to the end of it I couldn't take anymore. My whole life revolves around these students now, and they're not giving me any reasons to have faith in future generations."

"Is that it?"

"Well, you wouldn't really get how frustrating it is, since you're not a teacher. But no, that's not it. I'm just…I don't know…I can't…"

"Are you lonely?"

Rin paused sullenly. "I guess," she said quietly. "And not like the type of lonely where I don't talk to anyone or have any friends, but—"

"I know what you mean."

A short silence ensued, and then the voice spoke again. "Do you want Hana to stay with you over the weekend? I'm sure she'd love to, and I wouldn't mind letting her stay with you for a couple of days, if it would make you feel a little less alone."

"You must be feeling really sorry for me, if you're willing to leave your daughter with me for a weekend," Rin managed to feel amused for a moment, but it faded in the next sentence. "No, it would only make me feel worse when she left."

Rin heard a sigh on the other end of the line. "You do like your new job, don't you?"

"Yeah. I mean, on the good days. I really do. At least I feel more useful than when I was working at that stupid convenience store. I feel like I'm contributing to life, and everytime I help someone understand something, it makes me so happy. But then on certain days, it's like they all decide just not to try. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I wish I knew everything now. I feel like I'm too old to be trying to learn a new occupation."

"You're 35. Maybe there are some other, younger teachers, or older teachers with 50 years of experience, but you're perfectly capable of being successful. Don't get too down over it. Put a smile on your face and start fresh tomorrow. We can depend on each other a lot, but there are certain parts of life that you have to succeed at—or get through—on your own."

Rin nodded, though nobody could see her. "Okay. I'll keep trying." She closed her eyes for a moment. "So how are other the women in your life?"

"One is crazy and the other is a puzzle. You can decide which is which."

Rin laughed. "I don't think you'd call your daughter crazy, but you really shouldn't call your wife that either."

"Nah, Miku knows what she is. I deal with it. I've had practice, after all—I lived with you for almost 20 years."

"Oh, be quiet." Rin smiled in spite of herself. "So how is Hana a puzzle? She seems like such a nice, quiet little person. That can't be too puzzling."

"You're a girl. You wouldn't understand it. But 6-year-old girls are puzzling, especially when they start school and begin making friends. You saw her at Christmas. When she does open her mouth to speak, she's either timid or bold, but never in between. And I never know which one it'll be. And the things she says sometimes…"

"Ha, it sounds like she's just like you were when you were a little kid, but with some extra characteristics of a girl. Surprise, surprise. I do see what you mean, if I think about it. She's a mini-Miku with your personality. How cute," Rin teased.

"Yeah," the voice said wryly. "Listen, Rin, I have to go now—it sounds like you feel a little bit better, but I apologize all the same—I hope you have a better day tomorrow. It'll be Saturday. You should go out and do something. I dare you."

Rin made a face, but of course the phone didn't communicate such things. So instead she said, "Okay. I promise."

"Bye, Rin." There was a quick pause. "I love you."

Rin wrinkled her nose. "Eh! Len! You just had to make it all weird. Fine," Rin's voice dropped to a hesitant mumble. "I guess I love you too. Goodbye."

Rin hung up and sighed. Sitting up on the couch, she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees for a moment before getting up and retrieving her laptop from her bag. "Four more months left in the school year. I can do it." She felt a bit better after the call. If anything, Len had been the sole reason she didn't just lay down on her bed and cry. Maybe not. But that was what she had felt like doing before the call. Now she resigned herself to a normal evening. Read some articles online. Grade papers. Eat something. Shower. Read a book. Sleep.

Being naturally curious, Rin could usually spend a long time chasing down rabbit trails online, reading one article after another on some random topic. It was in this way that she had actually accumulated a vast amount of knowledge on some of the oddest subjects, though no one who knew her when she was younger would have predicted it.

Tonight a small thought presented itself in her mind. Quickly she typed in her best guess at the spelling of 'Waardenburg syndrome.' She soon found what she was looking for, and began reading.

"Partial albinism, difficulty hearing, heterochromia," Rin mumbled the words as she read, remembering the man's own description. "Difficulty completely straightening joints and possible decrease in intellectual function. What a weird disease."

She scrolled down complications of the syndrome. "Self-esteem problems," she read aloud, and then suddenly felt bad. She had been pretty rude to the guy about his appearance. She wondered if he was having as bad a day if she was. If so, she really hadn't made it better. Feeling guilty, Rin brushed the thought aside and quickly moved on to an article on heterochromia—and so her evening began.

An hour and a half later, Rin shut her laptop resolutely, now knowing quite a bit more about genetic oddities, and returned to her work of grading papers. However, she didn't make much progress before telling herself that she had the whole weekend and setting the work aside.

A nice shower and a good night's sleep was all she needed, or at least that's what she kept telling herself. Tomorrow would be a fresh day. She could wake up whenever she wanted, get a couple of quick chores done, head out to town and spend the afternoon in a little shopping center popular for its array of restaurants and store, and then go home to deal with work again. No worries for at least 18 hours.

Rin nearly wished she had some friend to ask to go with her, but most of her social life was made up of the small talk she shared with other teachers, and though she did consider them somewhat like friends, she couldn't get over the fact that a lot of them were either a good ten years younger than her or the same age as her but way more advanced in life than she was. At least, that's how it seemed.

Satisfied with her plan, Rin rose from her seat and went to take a shower. She hummed as she did so, not feeling energized enough to sing, but still smiling as she formed a tune under the soothing water.

Singing. That was a nice job. Stressful sometimes, sure, but never a burden. For five years, from the age of fourteen to nineteen, Rin had sung with her brother and several others for a popular company. If only she could return to those days. She had tried to remain that age for so long, and she still did, often treating her brother and his wife the same way she used to when they were younger. Her light and nonchalant manner had never really faded with age, but she did feel less energetic and more likely to shift to a darker mood at any time. The desire to stay a teenager forever often came to her mind, perhaps because she hadn't yet experienced the best moments of being an adult. She was beginning to understand, as she learned to enjoy teaching, but on days like this, when her heart just felt heavy, it was hard to appreciate the occupation.

Rin pulled on some comfortable pajamas after her shower and, after turning off the lights in her room, sat down on the edge of her bed. She stared blankly at the floor for a moment, and then flicked on the lamp next to her bed. Opening a drawer in her nightstand, she pulled out a book she had been reading.

She opened to the currently dog-eared page and lay back in bed, allowing herself to drift into a separate universe. For one moment, her thoughts drifted astray. Her eyes moved mechanically over the page as her mind processed other worries.

"I'm always alone every night," she thought. "Would it be sad to die alone? That's a horrible thought, Rin, what are you thinking? But it is valid…I like people. I'm sociable when I come in contact with them. But I'm always alone. Do I prefer being alone? Ah, wouldn't that be ironic. For my introverted brother to live life with a happy family, and for me, sociable me, to live alone forever."

But then the thought passed, and Rin reset her focus at the top of the page once again.