Chapter 13

In the days following Meiko's conversation with SeeU, she tried avoiding contact with the blonde-haired girl as best she could. As for Kaito, he never brought up whatever happened between them on that same day, so Meiko didn't ask. Whatever it was, though, it must've been something important, for Kaito always seemed to be thinking of something whenever they hung out.

"Hey, let's go somewhere," Kaito suddenly said while they were sitting in his living room watching a TV show neither was very interested in.

"Go where?" Meiko asked curiously.

"Hmm... I have an idea," Kaito replied as he stood up, walked over to where his coat was hanging, and put it on. He picked up Meiko's coat from where it was hanging not too far away and tossed it to her. "Come with me."

Meiko didn't have a chance to ask for an explanation, for Kaito had already opened the front door and was heading outside. Meiko quickly slipped on her coat and followed him, shutting the apartment door behind her.

"Where are we going?" Meiko questioned once she caught up to her dark blue-haired friend.

"You'll see," was Kaito's only response.

It was late in the evening, with the sun barely visible over the horizon, so the temperature had dropped considerably. Meiko shivered slightly as she and Kaito walked along the city's sidewalks, heading in a direction that sparked a faint sense of familiarity in Meiko. She still wasn't entirely sure where they were heading, but she had the feeling that they had gone to this place before. Once they had finally arrived at their destination, the sun had completely vanished from the sky and the glow of stars was beginning to shine. Meiko looked around curiously at her surroundings, trying to figure out why Kaito had brought her here. They were in an old park that seemed a little neglected, with some visible rust on the nearby swings and the grass longer than the typical length. A small pond not too far away had many weed-like plants sprouting in it, along with a bottle or too floating across the surface. Even still, under the dim light of a flickering street lamp, it looked like a pleasant little park.

"Do you remember this place?" Kaito asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the area.

After looking around a bit more, recognition dawned on Meiko's face and she turned her gaze to Kaito in surprise. "This is where we first met, isn't it?"

Kaito nodded. "Yeah. It's not as pretty as it was back then, but it's still nice in its own way."

Meiko hesitated for a moment, before slowly saying, "Kaito, why did you bring me here?"

Kaito looked back at her briefly, then returned his gaze to the small pond that looked like a black pool in the dim lighting. "Before I answer that, I want you to remember exactly how we met. Tell me everything you remember."

Meiko thought this request was a little strange, especially since Kaito had never been very interested in dwelling on the past, but she began to tell him whatever she could think of from that time anyway.

"It was the summer before we started middle school, I think... I came to this park with my parents, which I did a lot back then since I got lonely as an only child. For a while, I just ran around on my own and did whatever, but then I noticed you sitting all by yourself. I think you were sitting under a tree. When I went over and asked you why you were all alone, you said you were watching your sister and her friend while your parents went to get you all something to drink. I didn't have anything better to do, and I thought you looked lonely, so I decided I'd sit with you until they came back. We ended up talking and becoming friends after that, and that's really all I know," Meiko recalled.

Kaito gave a thoughtful hum. "And then we ended up going to the same middle school, right?"

"Yeah, we had our first class of the day together," Meiko replied then gave a small laugh. "I remember how relieved I was to see a familiar face. I even chose to sit right next to you, remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember," Kaito answered with a small smile.

"The teacher got mad at us all the time because we were always talking to each other," Meiko continued, looking back on it fondly. Though, the smile on her face slowly fell away as she once again wondered why Kaito had brought her here. "Kaito, will you tell me why we're here now? It's not that remembering old times isn't good, it's actually pretty nice to think about when we were kids, but I don't think that's the real reason you brought me here."

Kaito was silent for a minute, then he sighed and turned to look at Meiko. "I brought you here, Meiko, because I thought it would remind you of how long we've known each other. And it did."

"Why would you want to remind me of that?" Meiko asked confusedly.

"Because I thought that would prove just how much trust we should have in each other. We should be able to share everything with each other, everything from a soda to our deepest, most innermost thoughts and feelings. I thought we did, too, up until a few days ago," Kaito began.

"What do you mean?" Meiko questioned. She couldn't think of anything she was hiding from him, except... Her eyes widened as she realized what he might be refering to. "Kaito, are you talking about...?"

"I know you've started drinking again," Kaito said, knowing what Meiko wanted to ask without her even finishing her sentence. He paused briefly, glancing at Meiko to see her scared expression, before looking away and continuing. "But what I don't know is why. You didn't tell me that night, so I'm hoping you can tell me now."

"I..." Meiko started in a small voice.

This was bad, he was the last person she wanted to know about that. She wanted to look strong and reliable since Kaito needed her now more than ever, but now he knew the truth.

"I realize that you probably don't remember what I said to you that night, so I'll give you a short reminder. I don't believe that the Meiko I know would give up such ideals just like that and return to her old ways. You're such a strong person, Meiko, and I know that I wouldn't be anywhere without you. That's why I want you to tell me why you've started drinking again, so I can help you," Kaito stated.

"...I'm not..." Meiko got out barely above a whisper.

"Huh?" Kaito looked at her in confusion.

"I'm not as strong as you think I am. In fact, I'm hardly strong at all. All this pressure to keep you happy after Miku's illness developed, all this faith you have in me to be someone you can rely on, I just couldn't deal with it, so I..." Meiko rambled before her voice trembled and faded out. "So I thought, 'Hey, if alcohol helped me with my problems before, why not now?'"

"Meiko..." Kaito wasn't sure what else to say. He was stunned by what Meiko had told him.

"I'm sorry, I know it's wrong, but it was the only thing I could think of. I just didn't want to let you down, because you're my best friend and I know you need me right now," Meiko choked out as tears started to form in her eyes. "And now everything's so much worse. I've disappointed you, Miku's going to die soon-"

"What?" Kaito cut her off abruptly.

Meiko's eyes widened as she realized her mistake, and she quickly tried to backtrack. "What I meant was, um, Miku is... she is..."

Damn it, why can't I think of a single thing to say? Meiko wondered as panic began to well up inside her. Things were bad enough as is, but if Kaito found out now what SeeU had shared with her, it was going to get a lot worse. Meiko wished at that moment she could just crawl in a hole and die.

"Meiko, don't lie to me. I'm sick of that," Kaito said, his face suddenly taking on a very serious look.

Meiko stared at him for a few seconds, then she sighed and averted her gaze. "The other day I met SeeU at a cafe, and she told me something. She told me... well, she told me Miku doesn't have much longer to live."

Kaito looked as if he had just been stabbed in the chest, but Meiko forced herself to keep going anyway.

"Apparently, the results of the latest test Miku took said that she's going to lose her ability to speak, and then she'll die anytime between one to six months. I didn't want you to have to find out this way, but I suppose you had to know eventually..." Meiko explained in a soft voice.

"And there's nothing that can be done?" Kaito questioned. His voice sounded so fragile, almost like it could break at any moment.

Meiko shook her head slowly. "I'm so, so sorry..." She brought her hands to her eyes to try to wipe away the tears, but all she managed to do was make them fall faster.

Kaito looked like her was in a daze for a minute, before his expression hardened into one of anger. "What do you mean there's nothing that can be done?! They're doctors, aren't they?! It's their job to cure people!"

"Kaito..." Meiko stared at him, stunned by his sudden outburst.

"They can't just give up and say she's going to die! I bet they haven't even tried everything yet!" Kaito yelled.

"They're doing the best they can-"

"That's not true! If they were doing their best Miku would be cured by now! But no, she's still locked up in that damn hospital when she should be home!" Kaito continued to rant.

"Kaito-"

"Stop trying to lie to me, Meiko! You want to tell me that there really isn't anything to be done, right? You want to convince me to give up, right? There's no way in hell I'm going to-"

"Kaito, that's enough!" Meiko shouted, finally getting Kaito to stop.

Kaito blinked in surprise, having never seen or heard Meiko so distraught before.

"You need to stop this, Kaito. I understand that you care about Miku, and so do I, but you have to realize that this is how things are. You knew from the start that she wasn't going to make it, that's why it's called a terminal illness, yet you didn't want to believe that. And that's okay, because no one wants to believe that someone they love is going to die. But it's time for you to face the truth now. It's time for you to accept the fact that Miku can't be saved," Meiko stated, wanting desperately for Kaito to finally understand.

Though, as she said all of this, SeeU's words from the other day rang through her mind. She's probably come to terms with the fact that she won't get better by now, and most of the time when patients realize this they feel like death isn't such a bad thing. It ends the suffering for both them and their loved ones, even if it ends up breaking a few people sometimes. SeeU had told her pretty much the exact same things Meiko was telling Kaito now, and yet Meiko had gotten mad at her for saying such a thing. Meiko supposed that even she didn't want to accept the fact that Miku's life was finally coming to an end.

"I was in denial too, you know," Meiko continued softly. "I thought that if I pretended there was some chance of Miku being cured it would happen, and we could all go back to being happy and carefree like we used to be. I thought maybe I'd get to see you smile again, and we could tell stupid jokes while eating ice cream in the summer like we'd done for years. Wishful thinking, I know, but for a while I actually believed that. I guess I'm only just coming to terms with things myself now."

"I won't believe it," Kaito insisted, but his voice was trembling and his head was lowered so that Meiko couldn't see his face.

Meiko smiled softly, a smile void of amusement and actual joy, showing only pitying sympathy. "Even though I don't believe any of that anymore, I still want us to be able to laugh and eat ice cream like that. Even if it's a world with one less person in it, I've got a new belief that we can still be happy and enjoy things like we used to. Don't you believe that, too?"

"...How can you just talk about Miku dying like it's nothing? Don't you care about her at all?" Kaito asked with rage surfacing in his voice once more.

"Of course I care about Miku. I care about her enough to see now that death will finally bring her some relief. After suffering for over a year, I'm sure she's glad to have it end soon," Meiko replied gently.

"Miku would never want to die! She loves life too much for that!" Kaito shouted.

"Miku doesn't want to die, she just wants this agony to stop. For you, for me, for everyone, including herself. I'm certain she wants all of it to just be over," Meiko persisted.

"But..." Kaito trailed off.

Meiko walked over to him and brought him into a comforting hug, taking Kaito by surprise.

"I know it'll be really hard for a long time, but I think we'll be okay. We've got SeeU with us again to drag us on fun excursions even when we don't feel like it, we've got each other to rely on like we have for years. Somehow, I think we'll manage to get through everything just fine," Meiko said reassuringly.

Kaito, unable to stand it anymore, broke down in tears as the realization finally set in. Miku, his precious little sister, would no longer be with him soon. The thought was unbearable, but it was the truth. Meiko tightened the embrace and felt herself be brought close to tears. Don't worry, Kaito, she thought, I promise I'll always be here for you.

A/N: MERRY (LATE) CHRISTMAS/HAPPY NEW YEAR! I finally found some motivation and wrote up this chapter for you all as a gift :) It kinda turned out a little sadder than I originally planned, but my wonderful proofreader said it was good so here ya go. This is also my longest chapter so far, so I think (I hope) this makes up for my lack of updates. I'm really trying, I swear, but school and lack of inspiration makes updating kind of a challenge ;n; I think I say the same things every time I post a new chapter. Oh well...

Please let me know what you think, and have an awesome day/night/whatever!