ReACT
Chapter 4: Last ReACTion
Rin slowly opened her eyes when the sun's rays hit her face. She rubbed her eyes for her vision was still blurry. She looked to her side to find what time it was.
1:45 pm.
"I slept that long?" she thought, turning to the other side to see if Len was still there.
She quickly got up as soon as she realized that Len had left.
"Where'd he go?" she exclaimed, running out of his room.
She ran downstairs to check if he was watching TV in the living room, but found no one, however, she did find a note on the coffee table.
"I'm going to the hospital to visit Miku. I'll be back before you know it. Len," she read, ragingly crushing the paper after.
"Why? Why do you want her?"
"I wonder what she's doing right now," Len muttered, looking out the train's window.
He left the house to ride the train an hour after rush hour. Len was able to sit down for there were barely any people inside the train.
"What am I talking about? Of course, she'd be sitting down on her bed looking out the window like always," he awkwardly smiled, scratching his head.
He reached inside his pocket to find the small box containing the necklace.
"This time, I'll make sure that you accept this," he determinedly said.
"Why? What's so good about her?" Rin thought, sitting down on Len's bed.
"Is it because she has a teal hair?" she said, stroking her blonde hair.
"Is it because she has smooth skin?" this time, she stroked her arm.
"Or is it because," she said, touching her neck.
"She's lifeless?" she continued, noticing the picture of her and Len.
Rin grabbed the picture and stood up. She headed for the kitchen and walked there quietly.
"I'll be lifeless for you, Len. I'll do anything for you to notice me," Rin said, opening the kitchen drawer full of knives.
"Hmm?" Len said, noticing a flower shop full of blooming flowers outside.
It was rare to find fresh, beautiful flowers outside flower shops for the winter's cold weather is harsh on them.
"Maybe she likes flowers," he smiled, going in.
Len spent an hour looking for the right bouquet. With the help of the friendly shop owner, he chose a bouquet of flowers full of pink daisies and white roses. They were so fragrant and beautifully arranged that he held onto it as careful as he could. He made sure nothing touched it for he didn't want it to get ruined. Len checked on his watch as he walked to the hospital.
It was already 3:45 in the afternoon. Since he didn't take the taxi, the train took him to a longer route, but he was thankful that he took the train for he was able to buy the bouquet of flowers for Miku. He walked a little faster, the bouquet of flowers still carefully held with the box containing the necklace.
"Miku-san, I'll make sure you'll be able to smile again."
"Hmm?" Miku thought, looking out the window.
She saw Len walking with the bouquet of flowers and the boxed necklace, heading to the hospital. Then, she looked at the taxi that was stopping to park in front of the hospital, the person inside being Rin.
"No. I don't want this to happen again," she muttered, a tear streaming down her face as she watched Len walked into the hospital while Rin paid the taxi driver.
She quickly picked up the photo of her and Kaito and Luka and headed out of her room, loudly shutting the door.
"Is it okay to visit Miss Miku Hatsune?" Len asked the nurse in the front desk.
"Relationship with her?" she asked, pulling out a chart from the drawer underneath the desk.
"Friend."
"Here, sign your name and you may visit her."
Len quickly signed his name on the chart and left it on the table since the nurse had to take a phone call. He quickly headed to Miku's room on the second floor after putting down the pen.
Only a few feet behind him was Rin. She grabbed the chart that Len left and signed her name on it, too. She took the stairs, instead, for she couldn't wait for the next elevator.
"Miku-san?" Len called out, finding Miku's room empty.
He looked all over the room to find clues on where she went. He saw that the bed was a little wrinkled, guessing that Miku was once sitting down on it.
Then, he noticed that the picture that he once saw on the nightstand was gone. He also noticed that the walls had orange-yellowish rays of light shining on them. He remembered that since it was the middle of winter, the sun sets earlier than normal times.
"I have to find her," he worriedly proclaimed, placing the bouquet of flowers and the necklace on Miku's bed.
"Len," Rin called, meeting him outside in the hallways.
"I don't have time for you, Rin. I have to find Miku," Len said, running away from her.
Rin clenched her fist, anger and jealousy filling her chest. She placed her hands inside her trench coat's pocket and felt the cold surface of the knife she carried with her. Then, she slowly walked to the direction where Len went off to.
"Miku-san! Miku-san!" Len called out, looking for her all over the place.
"Are you looking for a girl with teal-colored pigtails?" a stranger asked, stopping Len from yelling.
"Umm, yes. Have you seen her?" Len asked, catching his breath from all the running and yelling he'd been doing for half an hour now.
"Check the rooftop."
"Oh, okay. Thanks," he said, running to the stairs leading to the rooftop.
"Say hi to her for me, okay?" the pink-haired stranger smiled as she watched Len ran up the stairs.
"Miku-san!" he called out, finally finding her.
"What are you…doing here?" Len asked, gasping for air.
"Leave me alone, please," Miku cried out as she looked out the scenery while holding the picture she carried close to her heart.
"No! I don't want to leave you!" Len yelled back, his words full of emotions.
Miku turned around after hearing what he said, her eyes a little watery.
"Why? Why can't you?" Miku asked, slowly walking to Len.
"Because," he said, his face turning red.
Miku saw the door slowly open and took a peek on who it was while Len still thought of what he was to say. Miku felt a bad feeling inside her as she saw the person's face.
It was Rin.
"Because I love you."
With what Len said just now, Rin and Miku's face showed shock and sadness, but felt two different kinds of feelings.
Then, Rin smiled at Miku as she pulled out the knife she had been carrying.
"Stop!" Miku yelled, seeing the orange ray of light reflect off of the knife that Rin placed near her neck.
Rin stopped when she heard Miku's yell. She stopped to look at Miku's crying face, feeling the cold blade on her neck.
"You can't! Actually, I-I can't. I don't want this to happen again," Miku yelled, tightly holding onto the picture she carried.
"What do you mean?" Len asked, walking closer to Miku.
Miku took the bandage off of her neck and revealed the still-fresh wound she created.
"About a month ago, I tried to kill myself. I had two best friends," Miku said, showing Len the picture.
"We all made promises to each other that we'd all be best friends forever. Then, we started growing up and it seemed that we had all forgotten about those promises. So, we broke them without even knowing," Miku narrated, remembering the promises she made with Luka and Kaito.
"I promised my pink-haired best friend that we'd be best friends forever, but I broke it for I fell in love with him," she said, pointing at Kaito's face.
"Then, he promised me that we'd be together forever, but I didn't know that what he meant was that we'd be friends forever. So, I kept my feelings for him, but when I found out that he actually loves my pink-haired best friend, I lost control of myself," Miku continued as she remembered that stormy night when she found Kaito and Luka making love.
"When I lost myself…I hurt them…I hurt my precious friends," she cried, remembering how she stabbed Luka and Kaito after finding out about their relationship.
"After I ran away, I realized that it wasn't their fault at all…It was my entire fault. I thought that they betrayed me, but I betrayed myself. I fooled myself into thinking that he was in love with me…I fooled myself into thinking that we would stay the way we were, but I realized that everything was meant to change," Miku cried, her eyes still overflowing with tears.
"Then, I tried to commit suicide," the lifeless girl said, finishing her revelation while she recalled that night when she hid behind the dorm after she stabbed Luka and Kaito.
She remembered how the knife's blade cut her neck, spilling blood everywhere as the rain poured harder after she ran away from Kaito's blood-filled room. After that, she couldn't remember who found her and who took her to the hospital.
"Miku," Len muttered, taking a small step closer to her.
"Look, I don't want history to repeat itself. I don't want anybody else to feel what I've felt and to do what I've done," Miku continued, interrupting Len from trying to walk closer to her.
"Your sister needs you more than I do. I know about her weak heart."
Rin was surprised to find out that Miku was paying attention to the nurses around her when she was still being treated in the hospital. She slowly moved the knife away from her neck, tears starting to stream out her blue eyes.
"I can recover, Len-kun. I know I shouldn't ask for anymore promises, but I want you to promise me to stay beside her…Stay beside Rin-san," Miku said, wiping her tears away.
"I know how much Rin-san loves you, Len-kun," Miku said, reminiscing those times when she would wake up in the middle of the night to hear Rin screaming Len's name and how she would always comfort Rin without her knowing.
After hearing this, Rin was so moved of what Miku said that she dropped the knife and ran to Miku and hugged her so tight.
"Hatsune-san! I'm really sorry! I'm so sorry!" Rin cried out as her tears drenched her face.
"It's okay to call me 'Miku', Rin-san," Miku said, showing a smile.
"You smiled," Len said, surprised about what he just saw.
Miku kept on smiling and looked at Len, her face finally lightening up.
"You smiled! You finally smiled!" Len exclaimed, hugging Miku and Rin.
"Kaito, you'll always be inside my heart…and Luka-chan, you'll always be my best friend," Miku thought, looking at the setting sun with Len and Rin.
The three shared a good laugh after finally experiencing a seemingly happy ending as the sun said its goodbye.
Epilogue:
After Miku was finally discharged from the hospital, she returned back home to spend the rest of the summer with her family. She explained to them what happened and why she didn't come home for two and a half months. Miku decided to go to the school where Rin and Len go to even if she had to take the train everyday for the school would be an hour away.
It was revealed that the pink-haired girl that told Len where Miku went to was Luka, who easily recovered from the wound Miku created. Luka and Kaito were both discharged on the same day that Miku was discharged, but Kaito, who was still recovering, was on a wheelchair pushed by his girlfriend, Luka.
They all continued their daily lives while treasuring what happened in the past. Their experiences helped them through their life and made them stronger and better people than they were.
Author's note:
Hey, readers! I hope you liked the sequel to my story, Acute. Both were written in my perception of the songs "Acute" and "ReACT". Those who have watched the videos probably noticed some different things in my stories, but once again, they were written in my perception. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading them. Please keep on reading my other stories. Thank you! ^.^
~Mayumi Selnia