The pain of a thousand knives to the heart…
A fire burns bright, but it will die.
The stars dim. The sun will lose its light.
These days of warmth won't last for long.
Let me pretend they'll be forever.
A pair of lovers sit side by side on a bench facing the sea. The girl turns her head to face the boy, her intricate features filled with loving affection. He gazes out to the ocean, gentle azure eyes unfocused and distant. They share a moment of silence, the peaceful quiet enveloping them. Both are deep in thought, unaware that the topic of their musing is standing quietly behind them.
"Rin! Rin, sis, come on! I want to show you something." 7-year-old Len, bright and bubbly and full of excitement, grasps his sister's hand and pulls her along as he runs. Rin laughs delightedly as the wind caresses her cheek, barely keeping up as her twin speeds up.
They arrive at a small clearing, and Rin spots no difference with the rest of the spaces in the woods until she sees the vast, glittering expanse stretched out before them. She gasps and rushes to the edge of the water, crouching down and cupping the clear liquid in her palms.
The morning sun casts halos of light over the ocean, reflecting echoes of blue and green around the clearing. Rin raises her head, and her wondering expression makes Len laugh.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Len… Can this place be ours? We're twins, right? So we should have a special place to ourselves." Rin tilts her head, short blonde locks spilling from their neat bob. "Just for us! Not anyone else, as long as we're siblings and best friends. It's ours now!" She proclaims childishly.
Bitter distaste in her blue orbs, Rin turns from the sickeningly sweet couple. Away from the girl who had taken away her everything. Her brother's attention, his affection, his love.
And now the only place she and her brother could call "theirs".
Miku sighs contently, a smile curving her lips, oblivious to the sorrow-turned-hate of her love's twin sister. Rin grits her teeth and spins around, disappearing into the thick greenery.
The rosy sun, splashes of gold across its surface, moves slowly across the sapphire sky. The horizon of mountains rise up to shield the light from view, and when the last remnants of the rays give way to the night, Rin watches the couple walk together over the darkened grass and into the forest, a twisted smile on her lips and a cold glint, a silent and grim acceptance, in her icy eyes.
The thin, fine silver strands of web, woven carefully around the two branches, entangle a small, brilliant-green-blue butterfly as the yellow spider makes its way towards the trapped insect, patient and smug. After all, she has already caught her prey, and no matter how the ebony-edged wings flutter, it is but futile struggles.
Rin wears the same expression as the venomous arachnid as she forms blood-red characters on the blank sheet. The evil words almost seem to move, blotting out the pristine white of the paper.
In the end, it will not matter what she chooses to do. She has stolen away my brother, and now I will take away hers.
Glossy sea-green eyes widen in shock and horror, fixated on the crimson characters as if in a nightmare. Miku shakes her head in denial, pupils quivering and dilated in fear and sadness. Her lips move silently to form words. No. This isn't possible. Rin would never…
Dearest Hatsune-chan,
It causes me great pain to tell you this, but I'm afraid you must end your relationship with Len.
After all, you would hate for your lovely brother Mikuo's life-sustaining tubes to be, ah, accidentally removed, am I correct? I'm sure the Kagamine Hospital's staff won't mind their boss's daughter wanting to check on a patient.
Len must not know about this. It would trouble him so, and by the time he can get to the hospital, the tubes will have been removed already.
Tell Len that you never loved him, and it was all a lie. Your brother shall be immediately moved to the top of the list for available lung operations. He need not die unnecessarily, but if you refuse to cooperate…
Don't worry, his funeral will be just lovely. The Kagamine Hospital will pay for the accident.
I give you three days to inform Len of your unworthy misleading.
Mikuo's safety and health awaits.
Kagamine Rin
Miku's eyes search the page for any signs of it all being a joke. But Rin would never joke about Mikuo's rapidly failing health, and the signature is undoubtedly hers. There is nothing funny about this. Not at all.
No. Rin is serious. Frighteningly so. And she is fully prepared to stain her hands with Mikuo's blood.
Miku feels suddenly sick. I know what I have to do.
Len… I'm sorry. But my brother's life is more important than my happiness. You can hate me, despise me, loathe me all you want. But Mikuo cannot die for me.
Decision made, Miku leaves the room in a few long strides, her back to the condemning note.
As the door closes behind her, the note from Rin catches a spark from the flickering candle and ignites, shrivelling away into ashes, the bright orange flame dying quickly, leaving no evidence that the message ever existed. Miku does not return.
"...Miku?" The sound of a metal ring clattering against the floor.
"Len! Oh, Len, this isn't what it looks like!"
"...I thought you loved me, Miku…"
"Please… I can explain, I swear!"
"No. No, I don't want to hear it. Save it."
"Len…"
"Don't look at me. Don't act like you know me.
Miku… don't ever love me again."
The door slams, and the girl with twin pigtails smiles. It's not a happy smile. She bends down and picks up the jeweled band.
"Oh, Len, I could never stop loving you."
"Hello? This is Hatsune Miku."
"Miss Hatsune. This is the Kagamine Hospital speaking. Are you the sister of Hatsune Mikuo?"
"…"
"…"
No… no! "What has happened? Mikuo… he's alright, yes? Nii-chan's allowed out now, right?"
"Miss Hatsune… we regretfully inform you that there has been an accident regarding your brother. We are preparing for surgery right now. Please do not panic. However, the chances of survival are less than two percent to none."
"The life-sustaining tubes were removed, weren't they? Answer me!"
"What are you implying, Miss Hatsune?" The voice is cold enough to freeze fire. Miku's eyes dim as if something inside has died. It is not a trick of the darkening candlelight barely illuminating her pale face.
"The only one besides our most trusted doctors to visit your brother was Miss Kagamine Rin."
The line goes dead, the woman's last words echoing in Miku's mind.
The only one besides our most trusted doctors to visit your brother was Miss Kagamine Rin.
Miku feels a sharp, throbbing pain in her chest and falls to her knees, clutching at her heart. The world blurs around her, and the blackness hovering on the edge of her sight spreads around Miku, slowly but surely blocking out the last speck of light.
Len… Len!
Where are you, Len? Len… I love you…
Rin… what have you done?
"Len! Brother! Did you hear?" Rin's worried voice, thick with concern and love, rings through the room. The door is flung open abruptly. Len does not look up from his position on the bed.
"What is it, Rin?" The dead, listless sound can barely be recognised as the same one that used to be filled with happiness. Len rolls over to face his sister, eyes fixed to the small, empty, velvet box in his cupped, reverent hand.
Rin sighed and made her way to her twin's bedside. "Len… it's Miku. She… did not take the news of her brother well… and…"
Len remained silent for a moment.
"How does this involve me? Hatsune-san and I are strangers. These are her affairs, not mine."
"You won't want to hear it no matter what I say, will you?" Rin looks close to tears. Len finally lifts his gaze to her, dull blue-grey eyes unfocused.
"Rin… you're too kind to people we don't know. I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Really."
"I just want you to know… I'll always be here for you, no matter how many others leave you. Always." Rin smiles softly at Len. His expression softens. "I know, Rin. Love you."
The small, self-satisfied smirk that appears on Rin's lips as she closes the door behind her only grows wider when she finishes her sentence.
"…and unfortunately, dear Hatsune-chan has passed away due to her overwhelming grief…"
… is nothing compared to what I feel.
Swallowed by darkness and shadows,
Can't you see my fallen tears?
Can't you hear my endless pain?
Can't you feel my shattered heart?
Isn't this what you wanted?
Doesn't it make you satisfied?
Splintered, cracked, broken beyond repair
…Aren't you happy now?
~owari~