~~I'm tired, though it's not that late... Closing my eyes would be good...

I'm not expecting to update today, it's Christmas... I'll update in Tuesday, but I haven't finished the 38th chapter, and I feel like drawing for the Kagamines' birthday... But the fanfic... Eh... *confused*

Wanna sleep...

"No, it's not possible."

Miku looked at him, ignoring the cold feeling that sent chills down her spine.

Before she could even react more, Len continued, "I don't remember anything about being a ruler and you're expecting me to come back? Do you think I will be able to rule the... The 'world' again?"

Miku broke the eye-to-eye connection, then looked away, "S-sorry, I just have to do the orders. No one is expecting you to lose your memory, I am really sorry about that." She said, "But it's not changing the fact that you're still the ruler—"

"You'll do just fine." Neru added suddenly, making Miku stop then looked at her with wide eyes. "It doesn't matter if you lose your memory, you're still the same Len. Nothing will change that fact."

Just for this time, Miku ignored Neru who called Len by his first name again. She wondered, how could something like that came out from the Akita Neru's mouth?

"So you do care about him after all..." Miku muttered under her breath.

"Shut up, will you?" Neru hissed.

"So..." Miku began, "If Kagamine-sama said so, then..." She didn't continue her words. Len wondered what she was going to say next...

She continued, "But we're running out of time. Being on this earth shortened our lifespan. From what I know the maximum limit is 2 months. We've been here for more than 2 months, but we're still here, not disappearing. I think if we don't act fast, we can disappear whenever possible..." She said it calmly, but her eyes didn't say so.

Despite the noisiness in the café, Miku felt that only silence that greeted her.

Chapter 37

Bringing the photo album with her, Rin ran to Gumi's house in a rush. She didn't even bother to call or send a message to Gumi first. What she had to do was talk to Gumi in person.

Rin got an extra source of energy and she fastened her already fast run when Gumi's house finally in the range of her view. She reached Gumi's house in less than 10 seconds after it. When her house was finally right in front of her, Rin take a deep breath, which turned out to be shaky because she was panting. Then she pressed the bell once, then waited...

With a smile on her face.

About a minuter after that, the door opened, revealing a green haired... Boy. Then Rin dug her head, trying to figure it out who the boy was, he examined her from head to toe.

Not finding any information from her head, Rin decided to go straight to the point, "Excuse me... I am Gumi's friend..."

"Oh..." He said. His voice sounded just like Gumi, except his was more masculine, "Come in." And he let her in. Rin stepped into her house, putting off the shoes and followed him to the living room. "Just take a seat, I will call that girl down." He said, leaving Rin alone in the living room.

She used that time to think, 'Who's that person? Gumi's someone? He looks just like Gumi... Her sibling? Cousin? Who? I've never seen him before...'

Then Gumi came to the living room. When her eyes spotted Rin, she smiled happily, "Rin! Never thought you'll come here..." And she joined Rin on the coach.

"Ah, that's because I found this and I want to show this to you...!" Rin said excitedly while showing the photo album she brought in her hands.

"What is that?" Gumi asked while reaching the album, but Rin pulled it away from her.

"Wait." Rin said, "That person who opened the door for me, who is he?"

"Him?" Gumi said, "Oh, he's my brother..."

"..."

"...what's wrong?"

"You never tell me that you have a brother!" Rin said hysterically while pointing at her friend with a fake hurt look, "We've been friends for 15 years of my life, and you're hiding a secret!"

Gumi could only sweat-drop seeing her friend's act, "I'm not hiding a secret. I just don't have the chance to mention him... I don't even think about it... Why should I remember my brother anyway... He's not that important..." She decreased her voice in the last part.

"Don't think I can't hear you, Gumi!" She heard her brother yelled at her from nowhere.

"I'm just kidding, Miya!" She yelled back.

"Then, how can I've never seen him before?" Rin asked.

"Well, he lived with my grandparents until we moved away, and now here I am, back with him." Gumi explained.

"Why were the two of you got separated?" Rin asked again.

Gumi shrugged, "I don't know. Now I have answered your questions then tell me, what is that."

"This?" Rin pointed at the album. Gumi nodded. "Obviously a photo album, Gumi."

"Rin, I'm serious."

"Okay..." Rin said and she put the album on her lap, then she opened it, "Our childish-self from 10 years ago."

Gumi looked at the picture, and she saw a petit her. "It's... Embarrassing." She shortly said.

"What makes you embarrassed?" Rin asked with a grin on her face.

"Nothing." Gumi answered, "Seeing my innocent face back then makes me embarrassed..."

But the album made Gumi thought. If Rin had the album, means she had at least one picture of Len. Then...

"And not only that...!" Rin said enthusiastically, as she said that she flipped the page, revealing a picture of three of them. Herself, Rin, and Len.

Gumi widened her eyes without saying anything. 'She really has it...'

"Len was our friend, right?" Rin said, still in a cheerful tone, "I really didn't expect it because... Well, I forgot that he was our friend, how mean was I... But does he remember that?"

Still in shock, Gumi answered, "He does. Though he knew you don't remember him... So he didn't say anything to you about that, right?"

"Now you mention it..." She said. "No wonder the two of you are close... Because you had been his friend."

Gumi just nodded. With Rin remembering Len, did that mean that she knew he had... Died?

"But I wonder what happened..." Rin said, "Where did he go? I don't think I saw him in elementary school... And in junior high as well... I just met him now, in senior high... Did he moved away somewhere?" She said.

'But if he did, how could he end up in my house with a memory loss?'

Gumi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and started to explain, "Rin... Don't you remember what happened to him?"

Rin shook her head, "No."

"Then, who he really was? His connection to you?"

"My friend?"

'She still hasn't remember.' Gumi thought, 'But, want or not, I have to tell her the truth...'

She gripped the nearest pillow with her left hand.

'Okay, now or never...'

"Rin..." Gumi started by calling her name, "Do you want to know what happened to him?"

"...yeah, an accident, isn't it?" Rin said calmly.

Gumi really wasn't expecting that, "From where did you know that?"

"He told me he ever had an accident..." She said. She thought that was what made him lost his memory, but somehow, she also said no. The accident was something that supposed to happen long time ago, and she found Len recently.

'So he told her...' Gumi thought. Then she said, "And what happened after that?"

"He didn't tell me what, and I didn't bother to ask... I don't know that we know each other at that time."

"The two of you used to know each other really well, actually..." Gumi said, "He was your brother."

"What?" Rin yelled instantly.

Gumi narrowed her eyes, "That isn't the main point of our conversation, let's talk about it later."

"Oh, sorry..." Rin said. 'What again? First he was my friend, then he was my brother... With past tense?'

"Okay, let's get back to the topic. And, what happened after that was..."

"He lost his memory?" Rin cut her and asked.

"N-no. I honestly had no idea how did he lose his memory."

Rin titled her head, "Then what?"

Gumi hesitated to answer Rin's question. That fast? She had to retell her the truth that fast?

'But she had discovered it before, all I have to do is remind her. But is it okay? Rin forgets what made her broken is a good thing... And I'm going to change that? But...'

'But now he's here, then it's okay to tell her?'

Despite hesitating to tell the truth, she blurted out the words from her mouth unconsciously.

"He died."

The way Len kept looking down with his bangs covered his eyes, made Miku worried already. Perhaps telling that wasn't a good idea?

"Kagamine-sa—"

He suddenly looked up and gave her a forced grin, "Would you give me a moment to think?"

"A-ah yes, of course, sorry Kagamine-sama." She said and looked away.

He felt a wave of relief when Miku had stopped takling and let him has a moment to think. 'What... What should I do now? I can't leave Rin alone... But if I don't, I will disappear... But I don't want to be separated from her, I...'

"And what would you like to order?" The waitress finally came after what they could count as half an hour, though she was giving them a chance to talk, but 30 minutes?

Both Miku and Len made a mental note not to come to that café again, while Neru kept typing something to someone peacefully with her phone, she didn't care about the waitress' existence.

"Um, me..." Miku looked down at the menu the waitress just put on the table, "Kagamine-sama can choose first."

"No, ladies first." Len said. From where did he got that phrase?

"Mineral water," Neru said withut looking away from her phone.

"Then I will order mineral water as well..." Miku said. "Then Kagamine-sama..."

Before ordering a beverage, he shot a somewhat-glare to Miku for calling him like that, "Mineral water..."

"So, 3 mineral water." The waitress repeated, "Please wait a moment while we prepare your orders." And the waitress left the table and mumbled to herself, "I hate those people who only order mineral water... It's something you can get easily on the market, no need to come here, at least order something more valuable..."

Back to the table, the three of them waited for the orders to come in an awkward silence nobody bothered to break.

"How's life going?" Len suddenly asked and startled Miku successfully.

"What do you mean?" She asked back.

"Never mind." He quickly replied to end the conversation.

"...I do have something to ask, though." Miku said after he ended up the conversation, and she started another, "It's nothing concerning the Afterworld... About my brother. You go to the same school as him if I'm not mistaken..."

When Miku mentioned 'her brother'—just a 'her brother', no mention of name at all, but enough to make Len felt a little part of him froze. Miku's brother was okay for him—actually he could view him as his acquaintance, but he remembered what Rin had told him (at a rather random time) that he should be careful with Miku's brother. Then she talked about he was being a gay, then he was a pedophile... Things like that.

"Don't get too close to him. He might... Get interested in you... He's a gay, right? So the 'already cute you' will become his next victim because his crush had unfortunately has a girlfriend! Then, your cute look is something people can not resist, including the male population... I think I would fall for you because of your cuteness even if I'm a guy..."

Recalling her words, he did realize that what had made him froze wasn't Miku's brother himself, or the fact that he was a gay, or/and pedo-whatever, but Rin, the one who said that.

"I do." He answered, "Is there something you need from that?"

"..." Miku opened her mouth but didn't say anything... At least for a minute, "I was just wondering, whether he's okay or not... I mean, I was his sister, I'm supposed to look for him."

"...like that?"

"Of course, like that. That's what siblings do." She said with a little smile, "What about Rin-san? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," he said, "She still hasn't remembered me... Though I think that's the best."

"Why?"

"She..." He paused, "She changed after she knew that I was dead and after that our parents..."

"Oh, I feel sorry for her..." Miku spoke since Len didn't continue his words. "...and Kagamine-sama, your mother is—"

Miku stopped talking instantly when she saw Len pulled out his phone from his pocket when he felt it vibrating. A call.

"Um, hello?"

"Ah, Len," the voice from the other line said, "I... I'm sorry..."

"Gumi?" He asked, "What's wrong?"

He heard a sigh, "Rin, she... She found out."

Not getting the meaning, Len asked back, "Found what?"

"No, actually it is my fault...!" Gumi said half-yelling, "S-she found out that you are..."

Both confused and panicked, Len asked, "She... She what?"

"She found out an album with our childhood picture, then she started asking things about you," she paused for a while to catch her breath, "Then it went on, until..."

There was a pause. A bad timing to pause.

"Until," she continued again, "Until she finally realized that Kagamine Len, the person whose grave she always sees everytime she visits her parents, was her brother who had died..." She trailed off.

"Why..." He said after a long silence after her last words, "Why did you tell her?"

He could hear her breath from the other line. He waited for her answer.

"Because I—"

And he hung up.

Miku, who had been 'listening' the conversation (1-way conversation), looked at him with concern.

"Kagamine-sama, is everything okay?"

He closed his phone, then looked at the teal-haired girl in front of him, "Seems that I have to go."

"Oh... Okay." She said with no enthusiasm, "Thank you for coming and hear my explanation... Kagamine-sama. Sorry for taking your break."

"It's okay." He said as he stood up.

Then Miku added, "About going back, it's up to your decision but... Honestly, I think no one in the Afterworld wants you to disappear just like that and chooses another ruler."

He looked at her for a moment, straight into her eyes.

"Don't be selfish and only think about yourself... Think of your people as well..." Miku forced those words to come out from her mouth, though she was feeling really scared to say that.

Then he smiled, "I will."

And left.

"He left." Miku said to particularly no one, but Neru replied her by a meaningless grunt. Miku remembered clearly his smile. The usual smile he gave to everyone back then in Afterworld.

A smile just curled up on her face, "He really still hasn't changed, Kagamine-sama..."

Again, walking in the crowd with a fast pace, Len headed back home. Because Gumi said...

First he just knew that he was going to disappear, and then Rin found out that he was... Dead.

The voice sighed before speaking, 'Things are getting hard, hm?'

'But I don't believe in her.' Len said to the voice.

'Who? Hatsune Miku?' He asked, 'Why? You sound convinced with her explanations.'

'Not that one, the last part.'

'Uh-huh?'

'She said no one wants me to disappear, but I,' he paused, 'feel like no one's going to care about that. I wonder why...'

Omake

Though Neru was busy with her phone, she was hearing the whole conversation of Miku and Len. Not only that, she did notice Miku's movement, mostly her eyes which followed the waiters' movement.

She thought that moment would just last for a moment. And when it actually lasted longer than what she had expected, she had to open her mouth and spoke, "What the hell are you doing, Miku?"

"Watching the waiters," Miku said without diverting her attention, "Working too often on the café makes me want to do the same thing like what they're doing right now. Being the one who got served is strange..."

Len commented, "…after you said that, I realize it does…"

Neru sighed and turning back her whole attention to the phone, though not before she gave a last comment to that topic, "Whatever..."