Nandaba Naota stumbled through the thick, lazy, haze of nothing that had settled over Mabase. Stumbled. Staggered. At one point, he even had to crawl, he was so goddamn tired.

But why should I be? I've been sleeping ever since she left.

It was three in the morning. A cursed hour in a cursed town, and he still continued on. No stopping, because it'd be too tempting to never start again and the fog would overtake him then and there. He couldn't let that happen.

I can't wait for her if it takes me...

After what could have easily been a few minutes or a few days, he reached a hauntingly familiar place- The vending machine on the bridge. Thoughts of Mamimi and checking for her presence stirred in the back of his mind, but he shook them out of his head. That wasn't important.

However, he didn't know what exactly was important at that point. Only what wasn't. The vending machine wasn't important. The bridge wasn't important. The river wasn't important. The railing wasn't important. There was nothing here. Nothing to be done. The only possible action he could take was to buy something from the vending machine, but he didn't even have to reach into his pockets to know he didn't have a cent on him.

Naota wasn't entirely sure what he was doing there, only that he should be there. He was supposed to be. There was something important, but what?

He looked to the sky as if expecting to find an answer.

He blinked and tears sprang to his eyes as the sky, as if sympathetic to his plight, sent his answer hurtling towards him on a bright yellow vespa, laughing madly and swinging a bass guitar.

Haruko…

His answer jumped off of her vespa and was now falling towards him, her bass poised, ready to whack him across the head and pull forth a thousand new miracles from the gaping hole it would leave, and he was ready. He had been ready for years. Nothing could've possibly moved him from that spot on the bridge.

…I love you…

Bass guitar hit flesh in a brilliant fireworks display of sound. Naota felt the impact, saw her smile, knew the portal was open and he could live again, they could live again and he'd never have to be alone anymore…

But he felt no pain. No pain at all.

There was a sudden, intense stab of realization. The fog closed in.

…no…

Vision growing hazy, he reached out and wrapped his arms around Haruko. She had once towered over him, but to his horror she had grown smaller. Just a moment ago things had been just like before… He tried to yell her name, but no sound would come out.

…No!

The fog swirled around them enticingly. He hung on to her and an insane quivering voice in the back of his mind prayed that somehow, some way, the girl from the sky would stay with him, but soon he only grasped air and there was no longer a girl from the sky in his arms. All that was left was the memory of her smile and the spicy scent of her presence, but he knew that neither of those were the real thing, and soon he wouldn't even have the memory and the scent to cling to because he would soon-

NO!

-wake-

PLEASE!

-up.

"No," he whispered into his pillow as consciousness slowly brought him back into his bed, back into his apartment, back into his reality where nothing amazing ever happened.

Eh...that could've been a little better...eh well. Yeah, this'll be a fun little side project while I work on Instant Music...Haru/Nao is a nice pairing to write about...plenty of room to improvise in almost any direction, y'know? Oh well. Hope you enjoy, I understand if you didn't, either way please review!