Snapping my eyes open, I woke up with a jolt.

The bright sky and glass-like floor is no more. I am in an almost complete darkness of my room, with only a dim light seeping through the curtain. I let a moment pass before I reached for my phone to see what time this exactly is—4 a.m. I should have gotten plenty of sleep even by now, but it doesn't feel like I have rested at all. My mind is racing, like I was awake for this whole time, but how could it be? I just woke up—and I saw a dream, after all, a dream where I met that person again.

It was really a dream—he said that too, that it was indeed a dream. But it wasn't just a dream. I felt awake and completely aware, I even realized that it wasn't the kind of dream I usually have. Even until now I'm still having a hard time believing a dream that real, that vivid, but it is what it is; a dream.

That discovery doesn't settle anything as more and more questions pop into my head. How did I get there? Why did I see Miku-san's dream? Who… is that person I met in that dream? He told me not to think about 'who' he is, but his presence brings more question into my head. And also, he seems to know a lot, but it doesn't seem like he's willing to tell me anything about it.

I want to meet him again in that dream, if that means I'll get to know more about what is happening. There's still so much I want to ask; about the dream, about him, about everything, but I don't see myself getting any more sleep after this.


It's Saturday. There's no school today, but Miku-san is coming over to my house to work on the project. We thought that it would be wiser to work on the project while we can so we wouldn't need to worry about it anymore when it's nearing the deadline.

But that being said, I don't think I'm doing this because I want to be done with it. I'm having fun. Even though, I have to admit that it is kind of unusual for me to be having fun in working on a project, I'm really having fun with this that I want to keep on doing this. Or maybe it is because I am paired with Miku-san?

The moment the teacher announced us to be partners, I felt really excited that I could not help but smiling to myself. From all the students in the class that I could end up with, it's Miku-san I am paired with. I was happy, I was glad. No, I really am glad. It's like I was given the chance to get to get closer to her, to know her better.

And to see more of her smile.

Maybe that is selfish of me. Who am I to ask for such thing? But I believe that it's for the better. Even though she might not show it from her face, or say it with words, I'm sure that it's what Miku-san wants as well. She deserves that smile—anybody deserves it. I only want to bring the smile she deserves.

For a moment I was lost on what I was doing, and suddenly I was woken up by the sound of the doorbell. Hastily leaving the kitchen, I headed to the front door. Just as expected, Miku-san is standing behind that door. "Good morning, Rin-san," she timidly greeted.

"Morning, Miku-san. Just come in," I told her, opening the door wider to give her a room to walk past.

"Excuse me."

I watched as she's removing her footwear—she's wearing strapped sandals—while muttering something. "I'm really sorry that we have to do this in the weekend. I'm a bit short of free time during school days, so—"

"Don't say that, Miku-san! There's no need to worry," I said quickly. By the time I said that, she's already done with the changing. "Besides, I'm free during the weekends, so why not."

I walked past her and led her to my room upstairs, while taking in the empty sight of the house. My mother is teaching a piano course in the town, and while my father is usually home during the weekend, he got a sudden call from his office just earlier so he's off today. "Actually we can use the living room since my parents are away, but all the materials are in my room so it's better to just do it there, don't you think so?"

"Wherever is fine with you, Rin-san," she answered quick. "It's your house, after all."

Without saying anything, I turned back to look at her, stopping my movement momentarily. Before, after we decided to work on the project in the weekend, she once again apologized that we can't go to her house. "It's a complicated matter," she told me, so I wholeheartedly offered to do it over my house. It's really just a coincidence that both my parents are away for today.

I resumed my walking, deciding to continue walking to my room as we're nearing already. "Okay then," I said.

The door to my room doesn't have anything fancy adorning it. I pushed the handle down, exposing the inside of it to her. Without stepping a foot in myself, I once again turned my head to her. "Um, please get inside. I'm going to prepare some drink or something… Would tea be fine for you?"

She darted her eyes to me once I said that. "There's no need to!"

Her sudden outburst startled me. "It's okay! I'll feel bad if I don't prepare anything for you."

"Let me help, then," she said at last. "Is that okay?"

Her eyes are on my own. Determination is clear on her face, it's like she's not letting me to say 'no' at all. Seeing that she's insisting so much, I'll feel even worse if I don't let her help. In the end, I decided to give in. "It's just a tea, Miku-san. But if you're insisting that much, I'll feel really bad saying no," I said while laughing lightly.

She broke the eye contact abruptly as she tried to avert her eyes somewhere else, looking completely flustered. "It's… It's not like that! I mean, you said that your parents are away so there's no one who will help you with it, and Rin-san… looks kinda tired so I think I could help…"

"O-oh?" I am at loss for words because I didn't think she would notice my red eyes. It's true that I really couldn't fall back asleep after last night's event, but I probably shouldn't make her worried. "I'm alright, but it's okay if Miku-san wants to help. I really appreciate that."

She looks delighted at my response to her offer. It seems the idea of being able to help me brings a relief to her, for a reason I cannot fully understand. But as long as she's smiling, then it's not a matter for me.


After preparing some drink and snacks, we are back in my room, sitting on the carpet while working on a display board. I'm currently writing down a short explanation about the topic we're discussing. From the corner of my eyes, I can see Miku-san flipping through pages of a novel, marking parts that we can discuss in our project.

"Actually it's somewhat interesting," I said in the middle of writing. "Love is just a word, but it's hard to explain what that word actually means."

Putting her hand between pages to prevent the book from flipping by itself, Miku-san turned her attention to me. "That's right. People might define that word differently, and," she looked back to the book, "express it differently, too."

"Well, looking at those expressions can be a way to understand their thoughts about love. We can't read people's minds, after all."

It became silent. The sounds of my marker scratching the paper and the pages she's flipping are the only ones filling the room. Miku-san continues to flip through the book without saying anything, and at that point I decided to go back to my writing. She seems to be totally engrossed in the book to be having even a simple talk.

She might look like she's hard to work with at the first glance, maybe because she's generally silent and not talkative, but actually she's a really reliable person. Just earlier, I was surprised that she's willing to help me with preparing snacks and drinks, and she's really good at it, too. And during this whole work, she has been really helpful as well, stating out her ideas and whatnot. Although that was as expected as we're working together in a group, I wasn't expecting that much from her.

"I wonder if all of these are really the same thing called love."

Hearing the sudden voice, I stopped my hands and turned my attention to her. I saw her still looking at the book, but the serious look on her face is replaced by a conflicted one. She seemed to notice my glance, however, and she quickly shook her head as she smiled at me. "Never mind."

She closed her book and put it away, then she went to pull a sheet of paper and placed it right in front of her. Before she could proceed to do something else with the paper, I took the chance to ask, "Miku-san is done with the novel?"

"Yup," she nodded. "I think this is enough for now… but we can look for some more data in case we need them later."

Hearing that, I looked back at my writing immediately. "I'm still not done with this. Sorry that I'm taking too long…"

"It's alright! Just take your time, Rin-san!" she quickly replied. "I can do something else while waiting."

She might have said that, but I'd still feel bad anyway so I tried to quicken my pace. I usually have no problem with writing, but having to write in huge letters makes me become extra careful with it.

After one final stroke, I put my marker away as I am done with the writing. I was going to tell Miku-san that I'm done when I saw her already busied with something else. She seems to be drawing on the paper she took before.

"Miku-san, what are you doing?"

"O-oh, this?" She seemed startled by my call. Maybe she was really absorbed into it. "I was thinking that maybe we can give them illustrations. So as we explain, there's a picture they can see."

"That's a nice idea, but I really didn't think you would go that far to make some hand-drawn illustration yourself…" I muttered to myself while taking a better look on her drawing. Her drawing is clearly drawn, and I can see that she's not hesitating from the straight-forward lines drawn on the paper. It's like she's used with it already. "I knew Miku-san is really good at this, after all."

"N-not really… I'm still trying to improve my drawing, so saying that I'm really good at something I'm still learning is—"

"But I really mean it, that's really cool, Miku-san," I told her. "I've never imagined myself being able to draw something like that. Did you learn it by yourself?"

"No, I…"

She stopped on her word. Then slowly she looked away, her eyes are back to the drawing in front of her. The pen she used to draw is on the floor, untouched. She doesn't pick it up to continue her drawing; she only stared at it. While looking at her own drawing, she smiled.

She's smiling, but sadness is clearly reflected in her eyes.

"Someone taught me. Someone… dear to me."

That sad smile says something; I can tell just by a single glance. But I don't need to tell her that I understand, and I don't need to ask her anything about it because I really don't want to upset her even more.

But she said something to me, at last.

"Hey, Miku-san."

She turned her head to me right away. "What is it, Rin-san?"

I stole a glance at her before looking away again. "We're… friends, right?" I asked her. "I was thinking if maybe I could call you Miku-chan."

Through my peripheral vision, I saw her staying still. She's not saying anything; she only continues to look at me without making even the slightest movement. I thought she might not agree with my idea and I want to apologize about that, but then her voice came into my hearing.

"I'd be happy," she said. I turned to see her face brimming with happiness, something she cannot keep to herself. "Then, may I call you… Rin-chan?"

And I just can't keep my happiness to myself as well. "Of course, Miku-chan!"


Next Update: December 1, 2017

Thank you for reading!


HibikiSukai — Aha, I didn't think you'd still be around. Yes, this is a rewrite with some minor changes. Thank you for leaving a review!