Chapter 14

The rain raged on violently outside. Wind forced trees to arch over and thunder rolled and crackled in the distance. The noise of the rain shattering like icicles against glass, giving the already dire situation an ominous aura. It was getting darker now, and soon enough it would be night.

Len and Miku had taken shelter in a nearby cave. Dark as it was, the cave was dry and free of outside elements. They could rest for a while, dry, before they'd need to travel again. Len had to make sure Miku made it back, at least Miku. She could leave him and get help if such a situation arrived.

"You're not hurt are you?" Len asked Miku, his voice slightly raspy. He was laying on the cave floor, mostly because sitting up was worse than agonizing. It was simply hellish. His lungs blazed with every breath he drew. The scorching pain made him not even want to breathe, but he did.

Arms and legs alike ached and throbbed from various cuts and scrapes. All of which had stopped bleeding ages ago, washed out from the rain. His head throbbed every time he moved it. Even just a slight tilt warped the world infront of him, shooting excruciating pain down his spine.

Frankly he felt like screaming out, but with patience the throbs and the aches would fade. Crawl backwards into him until he was capable of movement, and he'd be able to get them both to safety. So he rested and waited.

Thankfully, he hadn't broken any bones or ribs to his knowledge. Laying on the ground helped lessen the pain of anything that could be broken. Regardless, Miku seemed okay. Her knees tucked in to her chest, head resting on her knees. Which meant he had protected her. He'd done at least one thing right.

"I'm not really the one you should be worrying about Len..." Miku spoke, sounding concerned. She frowned, even now he could hear the worry in her voice.

The reality of everything had already hit him long ago. Fact was according to Miku, he'd almost died, or came as close to death as he would've in his entire lifetime. He already knew and frankly, didn't wanna think about it anymore.

"I was really scared Len...," Miku admitted. She'd already said this about ten times. He knew everything she was gonna say already. Len sighed and listened as she went on. It was getting irritating to listen to her trapped in that repeating trance. Maybe if he replied this time she would be quiet. "I thought you would never wake up again. I thought I lost you Len...there were things I'd never got to tell you. I...I was scared."

"Well, don't be..." Len cut in. "I've been in worse scrapes than this before." Miku frowned and looked down at him.

"Are you trying to sound cool?"

"No, I'm trying to rid you of your fear. It's getting annoying to hear you repeat yourself." Miku drew silent again after that.

Unfortunately Len didn't find himself exactly enjoying the peace and quiet as much as he'd liked to. It bothered him and an irked feeling ran through him before he felt the need to apologize. Before he could though Miku spoke again.

"Say Len, if something did happen to me...if I died, would you be sad? If I suddenly disappeared from your side...how important am I to you?" The questions startled him. He would've joked it off or annoyed her if she hadn't looked so serious. Truth seemed that she was. Her teal eyes rested on him, worrying, waiting. Carefully examining him for any sign of body language.

Len was going to reach up and scratch his head but quickly bailed on the idea. The pain in his head had just started to simmer. He did however roll over slowly to one side to stare at Miku. His blue eyes tore into her gaze easily. Miku flinched not expecting the action. She didn't seem the person to be shaken so easily, but he considered the things that had let up to this.

Miku stared back at Len, something about the way he looked made her want to look away. It had been a while since she'd so openly locked eyes with him. She hadn't meant to flinch, but the sudden appearance of blue in her eyes had startled her.

He looked angry, and irritation was more than evident in his gaze. Then she remembered one of the reasons it had been so long since she'd looked into them.

"Why are you putting me in this situation?" Len started, more harshness than he'd intended in his tone. Miku couldn't tell if he meant it or not. They'd been delinquents since forever. Harshness just kinda found its way into their tone after a while. Sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional; mostly both. You could never really know. Delinquents rarely apologized at all. So if it was unintentional they'd never say. "The answer is obvious isn't it?" Len closed his eyes. Narrowing them for a second before he released his scowl. "If you weren't important to me I would've let you fall, wouldn't I?"

Miku managed a weak smile. She laughed, the first real laugh in a while.

"But I did end up falling." She smiled.

"Between the two of us, I did the most falling here," Len said, cracking an eye open. Miku smiled and shook her head.

"You know I was really worried when you were unconscious Len. I thought you were..." Her voice trailed off at the recollection of it. Len shot her a look of surprise, an eyebrow raised.

"I won't kick the bucket, not before Kaito does. I'll be dammed if he lives longer than me. I've got it all planned out you see. I'll tell him to put on a bulletproof vest and shoot himself in the head."

The comment itself was awful, still Miku laughed. The fact that Len somehow was cracking humor in his condition was amusing. She noticed him half smile...well more of a grimace of pain at the attempt to smile. But nonetheless, a half smile.

"Is this a dream...?" Miku was still smiling but she seemed solemn. A sad smile on her face as she continued. "If it is...I don't want it to end. Say, is it selfish to wish that? To be frozen in one moment forever?" Len stared up a Miku. She was no longer looking at him, just staring at the cave wall. Some small insect was suspended there next to another.

"I think it is," Len answered. This broke Miku's concentration. "It's foolish to wish that, you'll miss even more amazing moments if you spend your life frozen in one." Miku managed a weak smile.

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am." Len turned over. "I'm a genius after all." It felt awkward to have his back to Miku so he shifted returning to his original position. The pain had subsided as movement was no longer agonizing. Miku gazed at Len, just watching him.

"You're a good guy Len. A lot different from how you were before," Miku said, almost in a whisper. Len stared wide eyed at her. He couldn't understand what she meant. He'd changed? Len frowned. Then, realizing he was really scowling, determinedly cleared his expression. He hadn't changed, didn't remember changing. Yet she said he had.

"Is that why you kissed me?" Len asked. Instantly Miku's face flushed bright crimson.

"That wasn't a kiss! It was CPR! CPR!" Len smirked and Miku turned away. "I take it back, you're a jerk...a jerk that can't even tell the difference between cardiopulmonary resuscitation and a kiss." Her voice hushed to a whisper. "Stop being troublesome and just rest for a while...idiot."

"What do you think I've been doing since we got in here?" Miku buried her face into her tucked in knees and said nothing more. Len took this as an invitation to finally, truly get some rest.

But now that there was silence with nothing but the storm outside, sleep was the last thing on his mind. He knew he should probably stay put incase anybody came this way, but if he walked far enough he'd eventually hit the road. The Megurine's was a rather bright and flashy place, especially at night. Very difficult to miss.

Len stood up, slowly as to not trigger any pain.

"What are you doing?" Miku questioned. He held his hand out to her.

"Come on, I'm tired of sitting around and waiting. We can make our own way back. I am a genius after all."