She stared at me, eyes wide, feet rooted to the ground. But rather than a pure confusion, she's showing a horrified expression as a response to my answer.

"Then what about you, the real you in the real world?" she asked. "If you don't wake up, then how do you…"

Although it sounded like she's holding back, her voice is audibly cracking, to the point where she can no longer say a thing. Her unbelieving eyes are still on me, mixed with hints of concern—a really honest expression.

… What's with that face?

We just happen to cross path in this dream. Nothing more. We didn't even know each other before—we were complete strangers.

Then why is she looking at me with such heartbroken eyes?


Miku-chan isn't coming today, too.

I can only wonder about her whereabouts and her well-being. Ever since she received that phone call, she hasn't contacted me even once. She hasn't been showing up at school, either. Although, according to our homeroom teacher (I suppose Miku-chan had contacted her), she still has things she needs to take care of, but not hearing the news from the person herself worries me.

It must be a really important thing to take care of. After all, this is the third day already. But I can only wonder—there's no way to figure it out unless Miku-chan spills them out herself. To think that it was just last Sunday when we went together to the amusement park, this situation bothers me to no end.

It really isn't just that. I can't stop thinking about Len as well, since I found out about his situation. But before I could hear any other words from him, I found myself back in my room already. My chest felt really tight, weighed by the thoughts brought over from the dreams, knowing that he… doesn't wake up from his dreams.

If I think back to it, it all makes sense. Why he walks through the dreams of many people, why he created a dream for himself, or why he even draws pictures 'to kill time', it's all because he doesn't wake up. Len had said it before that he's been there for a long time, but I always thought it simply meant that he had known the dream world much longer than I. Rather than that, it's actually one continuous dream that goes for a long time.

But more importantly, with his dream self staying in that other world, what would possibly happen with his real self? Is he going to stay not awakened from his dreams? What about his life, or the people close to him, then?

While I'm still engrossed in my thoughts, I suddenly heard a voice calling me in a sing-song melody, "Kagamine-chan!"

I broke my gaze from the textbook laid on my desk and turned to the source of the call. Megurine-chan is standing next to my desk, leaning down slightly while putting her hands on her back. "You seem so deep in your thoughts, Kagamine-chan. You even still have that book opened. The self-study session is over, you know."

"It… is?" I questioned hesitantly. She was quickly proven true after I looked around the class, finding everyone already putting their books away. It really is over; the self-study session.

I don't think I even studied anything at all even though I kept on looking down to my book. What Megurine-chan said is right, I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't even pay attention to the book. I guess this is not the first time this kind of thing happens, huh.

"Yeah, it is," she answered lightly, confirming it once again. "Anyway, since it's break time, let's get out for some lunch."

I blinked hearing her call. "Sure," I answered, looking into her bright blue eyes.


"It's pretty unusual for you, Megurine-chan," I started up a conversation. "You're usually with your friends eating lunch at the cafeteria, so hearing you asking me to have lunch together is a bit surprising."

While all the students in our class generally get along well, we certainly have our own circle of friends we're more comfortable with. Megurine-chan and I are just like that; while we're on a friendly term, we rarely ever sit together during lunch or the kinds. I guess we just don't have many things in common to become that close.

"Eh, it's not a matter. Besides, aren't you my friend, too?" she flashed a toothy grin before turning her attention back to the empty hallway. Her eyes softened as she went on, "So I guess there's nothing wrong if we have lunch together—in the courtyard."

"I guess there won't be that many people. It's really starting to get colder," I remarked.

Megurine-chan simply nodded in agreement, keeping the pace on as we're nearing the courtyard. Before we fall into an inevitable silence, suddenly she started again, "You just can't help but thinking about Hatsune-chan, right?"

I looked at her, wondering why she asked such question. But considering that she has asked me to come with her, she probably had meant to bring up that topic. "Of course. It's been three days with no news, after all," I told her. "At least the teacher finally gave us some news on her earlier…"

"She's not telling you anything about it?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing at all. I tried to send her a message, but I got no reply as well."

"I thought she would at least say something to you," Megurine-chan heaved a sigh. "It's just odd, you know. Wasn't she with us last Sunday? It didn't seem like something was wrong."

"That's what I'm thinking," I said.

We happened to pass by the locker before reaching the courtyard. I thought I saw a glimpse of a person in our row, wondering who it might be in the middle of the day. I was beyond surprised when I recognized the figure. "Miku-chan!"

She turned to me with her shoes still in her hand, her locker is left open. "Rin… chan," she uttered before finally releasing her grip on the shoes, making it hit the floor with a soft thud. "Ah, and Megurine-san, too—"

I walked over to her side in a hurried motion. And without waiting for anything else, I asked, "Where have you been, Miku-chan? You didn't tell me anything at all about what happened. Is everything alright?"

"It's…" she answered quick before averting her eyes, looking visibly tense at the question. "It's alright. It's nothing you should worry about."

I somehow don't feel satisfied at all with that answer, and looking at her unreadable expression just makes me feel uneasy. "You're sure about that? Why didn't you answer my message, then? Not hearing anything from you just makes me…"

I was interrupted by a soft laugh from behind. Soon after, Megurine-chan joined in the conversation. "Kagamine-chan is just worried sick of you, Hatsune-chan," she said. "Although, I think it's not only Kagamine-chan who's worried about you."

Miku-chan's eyes widened a bit. "What do you mean?"

"We are all worried, Hatsune-chan." And Megurine-chan smiled at her. "After we all hung out together last Sunday, we could only wonder about your whereabouts."

"I… see," Miku-chan slowly said, her eyes casted down once again. "Sorry about that. And… thank you for worrying about me. I'm really okay, though, so there's no need to be worried."

Still, not knowing the exact thing that's bothering her makes me feel rather concerned. I know that it might be none of my business, but I have no choice but to feel this way.

While trying to shake the thought off, I turned to both of them and said, "Megurine-chan and I were just going to have lunch together. Mind to join us, Miku-chan?"

"Sure," she said, although her voice sounds hollow somehow.


"Sorry that we didn't do this earlier," Miku-chan started a conversation while we're walking home together. "I was the one who asked, but I cancelled it right before we could go. I'm really sorry, Rin-chan."

"It's alright," I told her while shaking my head. "Rather than that, I'm glad that I get to see you today. The teacher said you won't come today as well, so seeing you today is a huge surprise for me."

"Ah, yeah," she shifted her gaze to the ground. "That's what I said to the teacher, but it turned out that I can leave sooner so I went to the school right away."

"I see," I said, nodding absentmindedly to myself after hearing no more words coming out from her mouth. I don't actually mean my words, but I have no idea about what else to say.

Maybe I should ask her, after all, about what the phone call is about. At this rate, she would just make me worry more than I already am.

But before I could open my mouth, I heard her voice. "Rin-chan," she suddenly called my name. "I'll tell you about it."

That makes me turn my head towards her. "About what?"

"About it. About… everything," she sounded rather hesitant with her words. "Just not now. But I certainly will, when I think I'm ready to."

It took a moment for me to process her words, but hearing those from her is giving me a reassuring feeling. I'm really glad that Miku-chan said that; I feel really happy knowing that she is willing to tell me the thing that has been bothering her, and that she starts having trust on me.

"It's okay, I'll be waiting until you're ready," I said. "And thank you, Miku-chan, for trusting me." Then I smiled at her.


And when I passed through the door, I am once again met with the exact same place like before, which is a small, square room with a door on every side of it. Not only the shape of the room seems same, even the inside is exactly the same with a dimly lit chandelier hanging on the ceiling, old paintings on the wall, and damp wooden floor.

I've tried to go through the door on my right. I've also tried the ones on my left, on my back, and in front of me as well. And it's not only once, but for times already. Nevertheless, every single of them leads to this very same place. Maybe it's not the same place, but there's no way of telling it since it looks exactly the same.

I keep going in a circle. It's almost like there's no way out. But, it can't be, right? There must be a way out from this place… but how?

I start to feel anxious about this. What if there's really no way out? What if I'm trapped here forever, in a small, eerie room by myself? I can hear the thump of my heart drumming in my ears already. No, I can't stay here forever.

I decided to keep on going. I passed through countless of doors, but ending up at the same place again and again no matter what. I don't want to believe this, so I keep going on this desperate search of an exit; but there's none. There's really no way out of here, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Only then I start to feel terribly frightened. It is truly terrifying. My hands are trembling. I want to cry.

But then I heard a cracking sound. I immediately turned my head to see what it is, and I found a crack on the wall. That crack wasn't there; I am sure of it. Then I started walking towards it, reaching my hand to see what's over there.

To my surprise, the entirety of the wall started cracking. Quickly I pulled my hand back, staying away while watching the wall crumbling down. I felt relieved at the sight, but that was just a moment before I realized that the whole place is crumbling down into a nothingness.

I can feel myself losing balance when the floor I was stepping on disappeared, and suddenly I found myself on the brink of falling down. I tried to reach onto something to prevent myself from falling into the nothingness, but everything has disappeared. I am once again overwhelmed with fear as I feel myself starting to fall…

But just a moment before I could actually fall down, I can feel a hand grabbing my own. My heart is still pounding erratically, but I could manage to look up to see who's over there. Although, the familiar blond with a pair of blue eyes should not surprise me anymore.

"Len?"


Next Update: April 21, 2018

Thank you for reading!


TheRubyMoon — Thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy more of the cliffhangers!