I know the fact that he, for some reason, doesn't wake up from his dreams. But having the him acting all calm and unbothered like this… bothers me very much. With my eyebrows knitted, I asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"That's not a problem for me. I won't go anywhere."

"But if something happens, then you'll…" I trailed off. "Are you okay with this?"

Len raised an eyebrow to me. "With the threat? Well, I'll do what I can do. Of course I won't do anything weird, I know my limits, so—"

"No," I cut him, "with not waking up."

A silence passed between the two of us. For a moment, Len has that surprised look before he quickly looked away, landing his eyes on his sketchbook. He pulled a forlorn smile and said, "If you ask something like that, I don't know what to answer. Really."

That's certainly not what I'm expecting to hear. But I keep my mouth shut, waiting for him to continue.

"It's not like I don't wanna wake up. I don't think it would matter either way, waking up or not." He turned away once again, this time to stare at the picture frames he put up not long ago. "It's just, it's been a long time since I fell into this dream without waking up, to the point that I can't remember anything anymore about my life before coming to this place, except for my own name."

My breath hitched as my mind went blank for a moment. Unable to believe what he just said so indifferently, I looked at him right into the eyes and uttered, "That can't be true, right?"

He looked back at me, seeming to feel my stare on him. His expression doesn't change at all, but his eyes say something about my surprise, almost as if he's feeling sorry about it. "I'm sure it wouldn't turn this way if I remembered at least something."

I am left speechless by his words. A part of me still refuses to believe what he just said, but at the same time I have absolutely no reason not to believe it. Actually it's not about the 'unbelievable' part, but imagining such thing happening…

I said nothing, but even that doesn't go unnoticed by him. "You don't have to be that concerned about it," he replied. "As I said it, I can't remember anything. It's not as bad as what it seems."

It's true that maybe it doesn't bother him as much. Maybe it's me who's overthinking. Maybe I don't know how it feels to be in his place, maybe it really is not that bad; he doesn't remember anything, after all. But just thinking of him, staying in this place by himself, not even knowing the self he was once before, having no place to return, nor a place to go…

Like a helpless, lost child robbed of everything in an unknown place.

That's just horrible. It's not 'as bad as what it seems'; it's much worse. The worst of it all is probably the fact that nothing about it matters to him, as if he's even robbed of himself, of his feelings.

"Rin."

I snapped up to him, the sudden call brought me out of my thoughts. Driven with emotions, I let the words out right away, "It's not alright."

He looked quite taken aback by my sudden outburst, but said nothing. Seeing his reaction makes me realize my actions, and I quickly tried to hold back my emotions from pouring out. It went to no avail as I feel my hands trembling.

"This isn't fine. You can't stay this way," with an audibly cracking voice, I squeezed the words out. "Isn't that a horrible thing? Staying here all alone by yourself, having no recollection of anything. That's just…"

"I suppose, you would feel that way," he said.

"And you… you're not waking up," I went on. "Those ones dear to you, those who you leave over that other side, they're probably keep waiting for you."

"I suppose that is true as well."

"That's why, I…" My words lumped in my throat. I can't seem to say anything else. "I…"

A warm hand touched my chin, lifting my face up. I don't know what kind of face I'm making right now, I don't know if it's something I should show at all, but I am met with his downcast gaze before I knew it.

"Don't make that face," he said, plastering a forced smile. "I don't like seeing that face, so please don't."

But I can't hold my tears back anymore.

"Are you alright, Rin-chan?"

Miku-chan's call makes me turn my head to her. Seeing that worried look on her face, I can only give her a small smile. "I'm alright, Miku-chan," I said. "Haven't I told you so yesterday? I'm completely okay, really."

And again, she doesn't look that convinced with my words—it's like she couldn't get over yesterday's events. "Your eyes are red, though."

"Oh," I averted my gaze away, not expecting her to pay so much attention to my eyes. "No, it's just, something got into my eyes earlier so I rubbed them. It's not a good thing but sometimes you just can't help it."

That's not it. I lied. What actually happened is I woke up crying.

"Sure," she replied, but I can't tell whether that was an honest answer or not, maybe she just decided to go along regardless. There's nothing else coming out from her as her expression hardens, eyes fixed on something distant—it's that faraway look again.

I thought she wasn't going to say anything else, so I was a bit startled when her voice came back into my hearing. "Rin-chan," she began, "you can tell me if there's something bothering you."

Hearing those words causes my heart to thump hard. I know a part of it is a pang of guilt, while the rest comes from my genuine surprise. I didn't think she would say something like that, but it makes me happy nevertheless.

"I will, Miku-chan. Thanks."

And we continued our walk to the cafeteria in silence, amidst the buzz of lunch break joy. Miku-chan seems to have her mind occupied on something, while I simply can't think of a topic to talk about. And even if I do, I'd be reluctant to say it when she's showing such a troubled face like this. The thing is, she has been putting that face since yesterday, after her mysterious absence. There's no smile on her face, just that hard and faraway look, like she's waiting for something inevitable to happen.

And even so, she took the trouble to say those words despite of her own problems.

I wonder if she sees through my lie. I know that I shouldn't lie and leave her in the dark, making her worry over nothing. Maybe I should tell her about those dreams, about Len, but…

I held my sigh before it could escape my mouth and be heard by Miku-chan. If anything, I'm afraid that it will bother her. At the, I fastened my pace, tried to reach the cafeteria table soon in hope that there'll be a new topic we can talk about once we got there. Thankfully there are some empty seats in the middle of the cafeteria that we can sit on.

We took our lunch out and started eating right away—my meal is a simple one with rice, fried prawns, and salad—without initiating any kind of conversation. Once in a while I steal glances at the girl in front of me, finding her eyes fixated to the table. Sure, Miku-chan doesn't act aloof and distant anymore, but those eyes remind me of those times back then.

From the corner of my eyes, I suddenly saw a figure standing close by. Only then Miku-chan broke her gaze and turned her head towards the figure. "Megurine-san…"

It is Megurine-chan, standing with her arms crossed over her chest. With her eyes narrowed and eyebrows knitted, an annoyance is clearly shown on her face; and she didn't say even a single word. "Is… Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," came her blunt answer. "I'm just pissed off."

And no words were exchanged after that. I simply can tell that both Miku-chan and I don't have the courage to ask anything beyond that. Megurine-chan is generally cheerful and friendly, so I've never expected anything like this. Of course, who dared to speak after that is Megurine-chan herself. "Uh, I'm sorry. It's not about you two, you know, but it's just, ugh."

She seated herself next to me before I could even ask her to. At least I can still offer her one more thing. "Mind to tell us about it, then? Maybe it'll make you feel better."

"Well, it's nothing much, but say, a guy decided to mess up with me," she spoke out. "Like, sheesh. I don't even know what to say anymore."

I blinked hearing her. She didn't say much, but somehow I can get it from her words that she's not happy for the thing that had happened. I can't say much about it, though.

"I know that Megurine-chan is pretty and all," I finally spoke, "but that doesn't justify anything, does it?"

I can feel Megurine-chan throwing a glance at me. "You think so?" she asked with a small smile. "Well, it's obvious that you think so. It's common sense!"

Okay, whatever that had happened certainly doesn't make her happy even just a little bit. I start to think that a guy was trying to hit on her, but I can't make sure of it since asking it straight away to her seems to be too risky. After all, I don't want to make her feel even worse.

Miku-chan is glancing uncomfortably, almost like she's trying to find a distraction. She's unexpectedly silent during the whole talk—I wonder if there's something in her mind. But before I could ask, Megurine-chan has started talking again, "Huh. Sometimes there are just things that can't be helped, after all. Sorry that you have to hear all of that."

"It's alright! We didn't do much, really, but I hope you're feeling better with that," I told her.

"I certainly do!" she grinned at me. "Sometimes you just have to let it out and that's it. Thank you so much, Kagamine-chan, Hatsune-chan."

That caught Miku-chan's attention, it seems. "Sure. You're welcome, Megurine-san," she said quietly while turning to look at Megurine-chan.

"The same goes to you, Hatsune-chan," Megurine-chan smiled at her.

That makes Miku-chan widen her eyes. "Huh?"

"Sometimes you just have to let it out," she continued. "Don't keep everything to yourself. You have a wonderful friend, after all, she'll certainly listen to you no matter what. Right?" Then she threw her gaze to me.

Megurine-chan's words surprised me. I didn't think she would say those things about me, but I nodded nevertheless. "Of course. I'd be happy to if it makes you feel better."

"Well, maybe I'm not as reliable as Kagamine-chan, but I'll be there if you need someone to hear you out. Consider it as a return for hearing me out just now."

I noticed the subtle change in Miku-chan's face before her hard look melted away. She gave a small smile after that, then muttered, "Yeah."

It's not only me, but Megurine-chan as well. Miku-chan has wonderful friends for sure.

Next Update: May 11, 2018

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KnightLawn — Thank you!