Surprisingly, Len found the shop rather quickly. It was only a few turns away, coupled with some lengthy walking in straight lines. The map Lily had drawn was rather crude, but it got to the point, the start and end points clearly labeled along with landmarks to make sure Len was on the right track. Soon enough, he found himself staring at the familiar store, Miku's turquoise hair visible even outside from behind the window where she stood, neatening the shelves.

Len absentmindedly clutched the map in his hand, crumbling it into a wad of paper. What was he getting anxious for now? He'd already been anticipating this moment of truth since that talk earlier with Rin this afternoon. Asking someone who was now his friend and maybe used to be his girlfriend about what happened in the past, it couldn't be so hard, could it?

He took a deep breath and entered the store, a rush of cool air smacking him in the face.

"Oh, hello there, Len," Miku called out, waving him over. "You're here pretty early. Shouldn't you still be at work?"

"Oh, well, I asked for an early leave," Len answered, moving over to see what Miku had been organizing.

"Leaks?" Len asked, bewildered as he raised an eyebrow at Miku, who blushed a little bit, a sheepish smile on her face. "Why do you have leek-flavored cookies?"

"My mom used to make them for me when I was a kid because she liked them so much, so I've developed a kind of affection for them too," Miku explained, the smile blooming into something more sincere, a sort of longing on her face. "I keep them here as a tribute to her."

"A tribute?" Len asked, trying to distract his attention away from Miku's happy smile, the way her lips tilted up slightly and how the dimples formed in her cheeks.

Miku's expression softened a bit as she held one of the boxes in her hand. She replied, "My mom passed away last year, so I've been running this shop for her."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Len murmured, glancing towards the cookie boxes on the shelves. He hadn't meant to intrude on Miku's privacy, and he seemed to have stirred a nostalgic, sad memory in Miku.

Suddenly, Miku cheered up and set the cookie box back on the shelves. She turned to Len with a bright smile and remarked, "Sorry, I've ruined the atmosphere, haven't I? Did you come here to talk about something, Len?"

"Oh, yeah, right, about that," Len snapped back to the present, remembering the real reason he was hear, not that it made him any more excited. He hesitated for a split second before starting, "Well, this is about something that happened last year too."

"Oh?" Len thought he heard a strange tension in Miku's voice, a emotion that hadn't been there before. It was almost like she knew what Len was talking about without him even mentioning it, and that alone was enough to confirm Len's suspicions that there was something wrong here.

"Well," Len continued. "I, I was talking to Rin this morning, and…she told me about the accident last year, the one I don't remember."

"I see," was the only reply Len received, Miku's expression completely blank. "So she told you everything?"

"Y-yes," Len managed to force out, slightly unnerved by Miku's emotionless face. "Well, most of it. Just the part about me getting into some kind of accident and then her telling you to stay away because…she thought it was your fault even though we were dating at the time."

He said that last part in a hurried whisper, feeling way too awkward himself to boldly state the fact in front of Miku. What was there to be embarrassed about? He wasn't quite so sure himself.

"Then is there anything else you wanted from me?" Miku asked, her voice still hollow and emotionless.

Len gulped. He had wanted to get straight to the point, but no matter ho he thought about it, this had to come first.

"Well, I came here wondering if you could explain to me what really happened because Rin didn't know the details, and neither do I remember the accident, but before that…" Len took in a deep breath and bowed down before Miku, his body almost parallel to the ground. His eyes shut tight, he shouted out in the most steady voice he could muster, "I-I wanted to first apologize. First for my sister, what she did was wrong, and I hope you won't hold it against Rin."

"What?" came Miku's startled voice, stammering a reply. "I, of course, I don't hold anything against Rin. It's not all her fault but why are you—?"

Len cut in before she could finish, everything coming out in a rush. "Also, I'm sorry for being completely ignorant of the situation and disregarding your feelings even though we'd been dating at the time."

Len couldn't see Miku's face, his eyes still closed. Still, he thought he heard a hint of surprise in Miku's voice as she stated, "What are you apologizing about that for? It wasn't your fault you forgot everything."

"No, it is my fault!" Len argued back, still bowing. "I shouldn't have believed what everyone had told me. If I'd been more attentive, I could've learned about everything long before this, and I would've been able to fix all of this."

"What do you want to fix?" Miku's voice came out slow and hesitant, a quiver at the end. Len risked a glance up at her. Her expression, it was tense, almost afraid looking, her eyes staring down at him, wide and glossy.

Len bowed his head back down. Did he have the right to ask this? This hadn't been what he'd meant to talk about when he first came here, but in the end, he guessed it all came down to this. He took in a deep breath and asked, "Will you be my girlfriend again, Miku?"

The silence was killing him, but he wasn't brave enough to look up at Miku to see what expression she had on her face. Finally, with a shaky breath, Miku replied, "If you're feeling obligated to do this just because of me and what happened in the past, you don't have to—"

"You're wrong!" Len's voice rang out loud and clear in the shop as he suddenly straightened up grabbing Miku by the shoulders. They just stood there staring at each other, fiery cerulean again shocked turquoise.

"Uh, Len?" Miku timidly stammered, nervously glancing over at Len's hands. They were gripping her shoulders tightly, though not to the point of being painful.

Len suddenly realized what he'd done. He immediately let go, backing off with a flustered look on his face. He stammered, "I, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Miku reassured him, adjusting the straps on her dress. She glanced back at him and asked, "But what was I wrong about?"

For a split second, Len couldn't remember what they'd just been talking about. And then he remembered he'd just technically confessed to the girl he might like and then… was that a rejection? No, it'd sounded more like Miku hadn't wanted to have him do that just because he might be taking her feelings into consideration. Len gulped and explained, "I'm sorry, it's just, this isn't about some obligation I'm feeling. I…I still don't know if I've been unconsciously in love with you all this time, but this has nothing to do with the fact that we used to be a couple. This is how about how I feel now, how ever since I met you again in this town, I get all flustered but extremely happy whenever I see you. You were a stranger to me when I met you again, but despite that, I was still comfortable talking to you and these past few days have definitely been some of the best days in my life, especially when I find myself with you. So please, will you let me be your boyfriend again, Miku?"

Miku's face had slowly flushed bright red as Len's confession went on, her eyes starting to dart around the store. There was a long pause before Miku finally responded. She bit her lip and glanced down, tugging at the edge of her shirt. She mumbled, "I…I'm glad that you still think this way, especially since we only just met again a few days ago, but, I'm sorry. I can't accept your request."

Those last words hit Len hard, and yet, for some reason, he didn't feel completely downtrodden, crushed. He mustered a small smile and replied, "Is that so?"

"You don't feel hurt?" Miku asked, looking surprised.

Len let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, of course I am, a lot really, but I guess I sort of expected it. I mean, it's been a year, and I probably wasn't the best boyfriend ever to you, especially after what happened. So, I think I'll be happy with what I have now. I got to hear your response to my confession, and if you don't think of me that way anymore, or if there's someone else you like, as long as you're happy, I'll be happy too, I guess."

Miku's bangs had fallen over her eyes by the time Len had finished talking. He suddenly felt a little guilty, wondering if he'd somehow hurt Miku's feelings, seeing how her hands couldn't seem to stop shaking. He lowered his head too and mumbled, "I'm sorry, I must have troubled you, haven't I?"

"Yes, yes you have!" Miku suddenly burst out, her eyes brimming with tears that rolled off her cheeks and splattered onto the floor. Len's eyes widened with shock and he immediately stepped forward to see what was wrong, only to be pushed away by Miku. Letting out a sob, she cried, "Why do you always have to be so nice, Len? You should be hating me for this, for rejecting you even after all the horrible stuff that's happened to you! Then you won't have to come any closer to me. You won't have to get hurt again!"

"Miku," Len started, pushing forward again to clasp his hands around her shoulders. "Miku, please, don't cry, you haven't done anything wrong. What happened before is over now, I'm not going to get hurt again. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it's not your fault. It isn't your—"

"No, it is my fault! You got hurt because of me. You almost died!" Miku shouted back, clenching her fingers around Len's wrists and wrenching her off him as he let out a cry of pain. She turned her narrowed eyes towards Len, willing him to go away, to not come near her. She'd been too naive to think that maybe, just maybe she could at least still be friends with Len, but no, even this was impossible. She had to push Len farther away this time, far faraway so that he'd never be close to her again, so that he wouldn't get hurt again.

"Miku, you shouldn't blame yourself for everything."

"I'm not! It's better for both of us if you stay away from me!"

"And let those people come kidnap you again? As your boyfriend, did you expect me to sit back and watch those people take you away? Love is about taking risks and facing danger together. You can't keep running away every time something bad happens, Miku!"

"I can deal with family issues myself, Len!" Miku shouted back, eyes flaring. "I don't need you to help me with—wait, what?"

"What?" Len asked, confused as Miku gave him equally baffled stare.

"I…I thought you said you didn't remember anything that happened last year," she replied, her expression slowly regaining that fierce edge.

"I don't!" Len defended himself.

"Then how do you remember that I was almost kidnapped?" Miku demanded, storming over to glare at Len accusingly. Len was suddenly struck by a strange vision, a flash of light as a boy's face overlapped with Miku's, that same expression on a similar face with turquoise hair cut neat and short. Who was that? But the face disappeared again when Len blinked, Miku's face still glaring up at him.

Len cleared his mind and stammered, "Kidnapping? What? Who said anything about…"

He suddenly remembered the words he'd just said in a burst of anger. He had mentioned something about Miku getting kidnapped. But just where had that come from…? Len struggled to remember. This was important. He'd never been too keen on regaining memories that he couldn't remember, but if this would help him understand what Miku was feeling at the moment, it mattered. He had to remember whatever that accident was. He had to.

Miku's anger immediately diminished when she saw the look of pure confusion on Len's face. At first, she'd been angry for thinking that Len might've been lying about not remembering the incident while trying to get on Miku's good side again, but Len would never do that. She was stupid for even considering the idea. Did this mean Len was getting his memories back?

A flash of white suddenly cut through Len's vision. He let out a yelp of surprise, leaping backwards and crashing into the shelves of leek cookies, sending boxes flying everywhere. He immediately started apologizing, with Miku trying to reassure him that it was okay, asking him what was wrong, but Len wasn't listening. He was too busy trying to put the boxes back on the shelves, his head ringing with furious shouting and screaming, the green cookies boxes flashing red and turquoise before him.

"Len!" someone shouted. Was that Miku? He deliriously turned to face her, but her pale, petite face was lost in a blur. Why did she look like a boy? Miku? Miku…o? Mikuo? Who was Mikuo? Len couldn't focus. There was too much noise. He suddenly felt nauseous, the thudding of something stiff and hard pounding down on something.

"Len! What's wrong? Are you okay?" He couldn't tell who was calling out to him. A clear vision suddenly appeared in his head. Miku's face. She looked terrified, hands over her mouth as her entire body frame trembled, her pupils constricting to just a dot. She was in danger, Len could feel it. He stumbled towards the person in front of him. Grabbing them by the shoulder, his ragged voice gasped, "Please, you have to help Miku. My girlfriend, she's…in danger…"

Whatever the person said in response was lost in the sudden silence that enveloped Len as he fell backwards and hit the ground with thud.

A/N: This is a terrible chapter, isn't it? It is, isn't it…? Anyways... feel free to criticize/tell me about anything that you think could be better. I don't know why but I really struggled with this chapter… so yeah... I suppose I shall move on with life… Maybe I'll have an epiphany one day and redo this… I'm sorry for my inefficiency... Q^Q

And as always, thanks for reading. I will now proceed to attempt to survive till the weekend...