I'M BAAAAAACK! HELLO EVERYONE! SORRY FOR DYING ON YOU! BUT I'M BAAAAAACK! *birds chirp* Aaaand...it's 1:30 in the morning right...
Yeah...school, homework, violin, life, writing blocks...PINTEREST...I know, I suck. Sorry. But yeah, I'm back. Sorry if it's bad though...XD
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Vocaloid or any of the characters. Only the plot is mine.
Chaos, panic, and terror filled the bus now. Everything was blurred by the suffocating smoke that bloomed in the air. He immediately leapt up and leaned over me, shielding my body from the flying pieces of shrapnel. I protested, not wanting him to be hurt because of me. But he didn't listen, and continued to protect me…
Len's eyes snapped open. Groaning, he slowly sat up and looked around. He was sitting on a vast, barren field that stretched so far in every direction his eyes could fathom that all he could see was a huge expanse of grayish brown. Above the boy's head stretched an infinite canopy of cold, gray sky. Where was this place?
He stood up, gasping when he was suddenly painfully reminded of the gaping wound in his stomach. Looking down, he winced, expecting to see a grotesque sight of mangled flesh and blood. However, nothing was there. In fact, Len felt completely fine, except for a hollow feeling in his chest.
Yes…he remembered now. The school bus crashing…his friends dying…rushing to protect the girl he loved…
"RIN!" Len cried.
"Rin, rin, rin…" Echoes of his voice repeated eerily. Glumly, Len sat down again. He had a vague idea of where she was...no. He was absolutely positive of her location. Of her safety, however, he wasn't so sure...
And then, everything was reversed…
Chapter 4: First World
"YOU DARE TO TOUCH MY ANIME MERCHANDISE-"
"Can I have that?"
"YOU DARE TO TELL MY CRUSH ABOUT MY SECRETS-"
"Can I have that?"
"NO ONE LAYS THEIR FILTHY HANDS ON TOKYO GHOUL! EVER-"
"Can I have that?"
"WHAT IF REI THINKS I'M STUPID NOW?!"
"YOU ARE STUPID, NERU! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT ALREADY!"
"Can I have that? Please?
"THANKS TO YOU, MY HEART WILL BREAK-"
"Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase?"
"WHAT HEART? YOU CREASED PAGE 42!"
"PLEASE can I have that?"
"I'LL BE FOREVER ALONE NOW! I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, GUMI!"
"PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP CAN I HAVE THAT-"
"THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TOUCHING MY MANGA, LOSER!"
"CHERRIES AND RAINBOW SPARKLES! CAN I HAVE THAT, IA?"
Leaning over me to reach the teal-haired girl, Luka flicked Miku on the back of the head. "You can't just randomly ask people for food."
Miku pouted. "But she's not eating anything!"
Being the ever-hungry caterpillar that she was, Miku had already gobbled down her breakfast. She sat on my right; Luka on my left. Across from us, Gumi and Neru were now attempting to poison each other with maple syrup. In the background, the babble of cheerful students seeped into the floor of the cafeteria hall and warmed my whole body. The only contrast to this pleasant atmosphere was Ia, who was staring blankly into space, delicious food left untouched.
"Earth to Ia…Earth to Ia…" Miku leaned across the table and vigorously waved her hand in front of the girl's face. I had to flip one of Miku's long pigtails over her shoulder to prevent it from falling into my half-full cereal bowl. (Yes, I was an optimist who always said half-full rather than half-empty).
"Ia!" Miku said, in a voice slightly louder than her already loud voice.
With a start, Ia looked up. "W-What? Sorry, I was…I just dozed off, I think."
Luka, who had just raised a glass of orange juice to her lips, set the glass down again. Leaning forward, she scrutinized the pale girl closely. "Are you alright? You don't feel sick, do you?"
As if the movement cost her a great amount of effort, Ia shook her head slowly. "I'm just…tired. I think I'll go back to the dorms for a while."
"Are you sure? Class is starting soon," I said.
Ia tilted her head and pursed her lips, expression full of dilemma. A cold wave of worry washed all of the warmth from my bones; her face was steadily growing paler by the second. "I think I'll…sit out first period. I'm…I just feel really tired."
As the petite girl rose up and trudged slowly back to our rooms, we stared at each other in shock. Even Neru and Gumi ceased their boisterous bantering and stared after Ia's retreating form.
"She must be really sick, to miss class..." Luka said, brow furrowed.
"She was fine just this morning, though," said Neru, viscously stabbing her pancakes with a fork.
"Unless…" Gumi exchanged a dark look with the other two. Luka, eyes widening, shook her head frantically; for a microsecond, I saw her glance in my direction.
"What do you think is wrong with her?" I asked the group at large. Everyone jumped, as if they had been excluding me in their conversation – which they had. Thanks a lot.
"She's just tired, Rin." Luka said, flashing a reassuring smile that wasn't the slightest bit convincing. "Let's just finish eating and head to class."
There was no sign of Ia for the entire first half of the day. At lunch, Miku and I, exhausted from having our brains crammed with so much tedious schoolwork while worrying about our friend, set off to the dorms to check on her. Miku was skipping and humming at the same time, which, of course, distorted her singing quiet a lot.
"Ia?" I called, opening the bedroom door. All four bunks were tidy and, very disappointingly, empty. There was no sign that anybody had been in the room since morning.
"Do you think she got better, then?" I asked Miku, who had suddenly fallen silent.
"Maybe we should go back to the cafeteria to look for her." I continued.
"Rin."
"Or maybe she's in one of the classrooms, right now?"
"Rin!" My head snapped around to look at my friend so fast that my neck cricked. Miku's face was as pale as Ia's had been at breakfast, but she looked even more terrible; her lips, which had turned ghostly blue, were trembling.
"Miku?"
"We should stop looking for her." The teal-haired girl whispered, so softly that I almost didn't hear her.
Thinking that I did, in fact, mishear her, I leaned forward and said, "What?"
"We should stop looking for her," Miku repeated. Without another word, she turned around and started to head back down to lunch, head hung low.
"Miku!" I called, rushing to catch up with her. "What's wrong with Ia?"
"I don't know."
"But-"
"RIN!" Miku yelled, halting abruptly in the middle of the corridor. The emptiness of the hall caused her voice to echo loudly, despite the muffling flowery carpet that looked so ridiculously cheerful in contrast to our predicament. Harshly reminded of the First World Miku, I flinched and shrank back from my friend.
"I…sorry, I shouldn't have…" My voice trailed off. With a sinking sensation in my stomach, I wondered if the Second World was going to become like the first. Were my new friends going to abandon me? Were they going to torment me? If this came true, where would I run and hide? Could I possibly escape into a new dream, or was it the end for me?
My dark train of thought crashed when Miku burst into tears. Alarmed, I looked up at her, eyes widened in shock. Tears rolled down my characteristically cheerful friend's face and splashed down her front, dampening her school uniform. Her whole body trembled like the way a leaf does as it's blown away by cold winter drafts.
Even as I went to embrace Miku in hopes of comforting her, my vision darkened. Miku's tearstained face swam in front of my eyes, going in and out of focus.
"I-I'm so s-sorry…I m-miss her al-already…" she whispered.
"Don't be silly," I said, having no idea if the solace I gave her was true or not. "Ia's fine. She's probably just in the cafeteria or something-"
"Look who's here again…" a cruel voice resonated in my head, sending shivers down my spine. I knew that I was going back to the First World again.
"I-I wish I could tell you," Miku continued, shaking in my arms. "If o-only y-you knew…"
"Come back for more fun with us?" The nameless voice, now distinct in my ears, had become complemented by other malicious jeers and howls of laughter.
And with that, Miku was gone, and I was alone.
"Wait!" I cried, heart caught in my throat. But my friend's face had completely disappeared. Once again, I was stranded in the First World, subject to more torture from its inhabitants.
A cold, rough wall pressed against my back. Eyes adjusting to the semi-darkness, I realized that a girl with long, flowing silver hair stood in front of me, grinning sadistically. It was Ia.
"L-Leave me alone." I blurted out, and then immediately regretted my rash action when the girl stepped forward threateningly, pulling out a bloodstained dagger. Her casual, yet intimidating stance almost made me believe that she could smell fear, like a wolf. Ia's head was tilted at an unnatural angle, and her eyes widened in delight as I shrank back from her.
"Look at what you've done to me, Rin." She whispered coldly, gesturing at herself with her knife-free hand. "You made me like this."
I shook my head wildly, hoping to wake up from this nightmare. The entire front of Ia's school uniform was stained in what looked suspiciously like blood. As she stepped closer and closer, Ia's neck bent more and more, until I realized that it was broken. Her hands, too, were crimson, and when she opened her mouth to leer at me, blood dribbled out of her mouth and down her chin.
I had nowhere to run.
Bracing myself for the worse, I closed my eyes. One moment, I felt the girl's breath on my face, her nails digging painfully into my arms. Next, a wave of penetrating iciness washed over me, and my knees collapsed. I fell.
I never touched the ground, though; for as soon as the cold vanished, it was replaced by a tingling sensation that calmed my overrun nerves, and a warm hand grabbed my arm and gently pulled me up. Tentatively, I opened my eyes, and found myself gazing into a pair of anxious blue orbs.
"Are you alright, Rin?" Len asked. In his grasp, I tensed slight; he must have sensed it, because he instantly released me and stepped back.
"W-where's Ia? Where's Miku?" I asked, straightening up and quickly taking in my surroundings again. Len and I were standing alone in an empty classroom. Almost subconsciously, my breath began to slow, and my heartrate steadied again.
Seating himself on top of a student desk, Len gazed at me piercingly. "Are you sure you're fine?"
"Yeah." I said, then added in a shyly, "thank you."
The corners of his lips twitched upward.
"So...where are they?" I reiterated.
Looking at my face carefully, as if afraid of my reaction to his next words, Len said, "Miku's looking for Ia."
"Why? What happened? What time is it?"
Len pursed his lips. "School's ended about an hour ago."
My mouth dropped open in horror. "So I missed the rest of my classes? Did I pass out again?" Now that I thought about it, I had no clue what my ventures into the First World looked like to my friends.
Pointing to the desk beside him, Len silently motioned at me to sit down, but in a way that was more friendly than imperious. When I did so - albeit hesitantly - he took a deep breath, as if preparing to give a long speech. "You left the Second World again."
My breath hitched. "You…you know?"
He raised his eyebrows. "About what?"
"About…About the First World."
A series of expressions flitted across the boy's face in a single moment – shock, confusion, and anger. "There is no First World."
"Of course there is. Why else is this place second, then?"
Len fixed me again with that piercing look. "There is no First World. It simply stopped existing, after everything in it disappeared."
I crossed my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Thankfully, Len stopped staring at me, and instead took to observing his shirt's hem, which he was fiddling with. "This world is the only world that's left. If you try to look for any other place…well, let's just say that things wouldn't go well for you."
My cheeks flushed in annoyance. "It's not like I'm doing it on purpose!"
Len frowned, but decided to ignore me. "This is the one world we, and everyone else, live in. It's like a safe haven...it's possible to leave, of course, but, as you probably know, there's really no other place to go."
"No," I said. "You're wrong."Len's frown deepened, but I simply continued. "The First World still exists. It's a terrible, cruel place, but I've still gone there many times. Involuntarily, I might add."
He shook his head. "It just doesn't make sense."
"How so?"
"That you could go back and nobody else can."
"Go back? As in, you've been there before."
Len stopped fiddling with his shirt, and instead decided to gaze at the ceiling. "I came from the First World too, you know."
My eyes widened. The Len sitting beside me, whom I was talking so calmly to…it was impossible that he was the same person that had hurt me so cruelly in the First World. This boy was kind and friendly, that boy manically sadistic. I simply refused to believe that they could be the same person.
Evidently, the ceiling was boring, because Len now turned his attention onto the teacher's tidy desk at the front of the room. I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue speaking, but instead he sighed and narrowed his eyes at the desk as though willing it to come to life and do the speaking for him.
As I looked at the boy, he finally turned and gazed back at me, his deep eyes transfixing me. It was uncanny how they had the ability to make him seem more familiar, yet so mysterious to me.
"Rin?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time you go back to the First World," Len said, those eyes of his doing their strange magic on me again, "I'll come with you."
Yeah, I just thought it would be sweet of him to do that. Sorry if it's OOC or lame or cliché or whatever...it does remind me of Frank and Hazel from Percy Jackson, though...:3 BTW, don't worry, Ia (whose name I switched from IA to Ia because I got too lazy to hold the shift button for two letters) will appear again since she didn't die painfully enough. LOL *gets shot*
Anyway, yeah...no idea when I'll next update. Hopefully soon (Ha, I don't even believe myself) because I'm like, interested in writing fanfiction again? Hopefully?
...Too tired to do the individual review shout outs, 'cuz it is 1:30 after all. So here goes...THANK YOU ALL WHO REVIEWED! (Though not many people reviewed anyway...ahem ahem)
Please review, everyone, and stay tuned for Chapter 5! Thank you!