Author's Note: Hello, beautiful peoples!
Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe that I am finally posting the second book in my Juliet and Cinderella trilogy! TuT I had hoped to post it much sooner, but life has been and continues to be busy. So, so busy. Nonetheless, I am so freaking glad to be back in this world with these characters! We really need more Rinku content out there, and now that the KaiMi subplot we knew was never going to be end game is out of the way, I am more than happy to fully contribute to the cause. Even more, ace rep baby! :D
I won't keep you all much longer. Thank you so much for reading and adoring Blood Rose! Now it is my hope you all enjoy Cerulean Butterfly just as much, if not more! Happy reading!
- Fantastical
What have I gotten myself into?
With her teammate Hio by her side, Meiko stalked out of the hovercraft and laid eyes on the shack. They were meeting in a shack in the woods. This was how most horror dramas started.
"That . . . looks very cozy," Hio tried, but it was clear even he didn't believe what he was saying. The shack didn't look as if anyone had used it in the past decade or two. Maybe three. The boards were falling off the walls, most of the windows were cracked or gone altogether, and the porch steps had collapsed long ago.
Cozy my armpit. Meiko simply muttered, "At least everyone else isn't going to be locked away like us as we plan our next move. It doesn't even appear there's enough room for us to so much as stand in that shack, and that's not including Tonio's crew."
"Speaking of which," Hio began looking up at the sky, "they should be here any minute now."
"Which means there's no time to dawdle, you two," Big Al said as he walked up to them, Rinto and Luki on his heels. "Come on, we should be ready to welcome them. After everything they've been through, it might be nice to see some smiling faces."
"'After everything they've been through'?" Meiko snorted. "What about everything we've been thro—"
"Not now, Sakine. All of us have been through some bad stuff lately; give them a chance to unwind, then we can debate over who had it worse. Understand?"
Returning Big Al's grin, Meiko stated, "Understood, sir."
"Good, now let's move."
Meiko and Hio joined in alongside Big Al, Rinto, and Luki. Eyes on the pinket, Meiko studied their newest addition. He caught her looking, but Meiko didn't turn away. Luki smiled at her. It was a little too natural for Meiko to smile back.
"I have a feeling things are about to get very interesting," he told her, his hands shoved into his coat pockets to keep them from the biting winter air.
This was when Meiko heard something in the sky. She looked up to see a hovercraft preparing to land a few hundred feet out before its crew would walk the rest of the way here, with Meiko's group meeting them halfway. These people came from the Equinox Continent, and Meiko could not forget a single detail she heard from the news that morning.
Nodding, Meiko agreed with Luki. "Very interesting indeed."
"You remember what you were told about Tonio and his crew, don't you?" Luki asked in a way that didn't hide he was testing her. Hands shoved deeper into his coat pockets, he strolled forward. A sideways glance was the only indication he awaited Meiko's response.
Meiko kept her response short. "Of course."
"Care to repeat any of it?"
"No."
"And why not?"
"Because it seems you are the one who doesn't remember and are trying to use me as a reminder under the guise of testing me," Meiko answered.
Luki laughed and said nothing more, and Meiko allowed herself to study him yet again. Her team had just broken Luki out of one of the highest security prisons in the continent, and although she knew it was for the information he held, Meiko hadn't the slightest clue what that same information could have been. The time would come for Luki to reveal to her team and Tonio's what he knew, but that time would not come until some trust could be established between the two teams.
At least, Meiko decided, we saved such a pretty head from rolling across an execution platform.
The two stepped into the shack just as Big Al was explaining, "—an underground tunnel where we can hunker down until we can determine our next move."
"Won't there be, uhhh," Hio rubbed the back of his neck, "rats and spiders down there?"
Big Al blinked his golden eyes as he beheld the blond boy. Shaking his head, he muttered something along the lines, "never realized I would have to be the father of some of these kids," and locked eyes with Meiko.
"Sakine," he began, "there is only one other girl on Tonio's team. Campos Ona, or something like that. I hope you two get along, because she's going to be your new roommate."
Not particularly fond of having to share a room with some stranger, Meiko forced herself to nod.
Campos Ona. Meiko knew the name. One of the former students of the now closing Cinderella Academy on the Equinox Continent. Brown-skinned, multilingual, and rather cold to even those counted amongst her friends. Meiko heard the reports from a little known Kasane Teto, a fellow Alice who spent the past three years spying the school. However, none of those things mattered to Meiko. The only thing she cared about was the tattoo on Ona's wrist.
While a cerulean butterfly was tattooed onto her left wrist, forever marking Meiko an Alice, this Campos Ona had a silver crown on her wrist.
Meiko may have not been fond over having to share a room with another woman, but she was less fond of having to share her room with a Cinderella.
Meiko only half paid attention as Big Al delegated tasks. The shack in which they were now residing, which had not been lived in for ages, needed to be cleaned out. Alongside this, it was close to time to meet with Opera Tonio and the others. That alone was going to be a mission in and of itself. With how long it took for Meiko to be accepted into her team, she couldn't help but wonder how quickly the others would adopt these new people as their fellow teammates.
"Sakine," Big Al finally finished, his large, meaty finger pointed at her, "with me."
While Hio groaned and Rinto and Luki both accepted their tasks – get a head start cleaning up the shack – with a nod, Meiko rose a brow. Big Al wanted Meiko to go with him to meet the others. The Alice was not sure if this was an honor or just a way for Big Al to keep an eye on Meiko lest she do something stupid in his absence.
"Why me?" Meiko asked, her tone making her words sound like a challenge. Hearing herself, Meiko bit her lower lip. It was going to take her a while to learn to show respect to her higher ups.
Big Al, however, didn't take her question as a challenge. He answered, "Since you make the best first impressions, it would be foolish to leave you behind as we prepare Tonio's crew for what the team will be like."
"Did you really just say that I make the best first impressions when I literally stabbed you in the arm the day we met?"
"You showed everyone the kind of woman you are to deal with, and you haven't disappointed me yet. What better introduction could we possibly hope to give to the others?"
He's got a point. Meiko shrugged a shoulder and asked when they would be leaving. Beckoning her to follow, Big Al answered that it would be now.
"They will be landing in a clearing a short walk from here," Big Al explained as they walked out of the shack and into the woods. "We want to brief them on the situation so they know what we're coming out of and why we can't meet in our previously set location."
"That," Meiko mused, "and we want to give the boys a chance to make the shack look somewhat livable, right?"
"Exactly, Meiko, but tell nobody I confirmed that."
"Sir, yes, sir."
After well more than a few minutes, Meiko needed to ask Big Al what his definition of a short walk was, because she was starting to be sure his definition didn't match hers. The snow coated her jacket, the cold soaking into her clothes, onto her skin, and into her bones. The darkness from six months of night did not make the situation any more enjoyable. Part of Meiko wished for her bed in her old home. The rest of her sneered at the desire and reminded her that this, as hard as Meiko knew it was going to be, was far better than what she had left behind.
It was just as Meiko was about to open her mouth that the hovercraft came into sight. Her jaw slammed shut. She expected one of those fancy hovercrafts with the lobbies and a couple of rooms with beds, the exact kinds of hovercrafts rich people used. If not that, then perhaps a military hovercraft like the ones she and the others rode. This wasn't that kind of hovercraft either.
Instead, what lay before Meiko and Big Al was a standard passenger hovercraft. An older model too, based on the look of it. Not so old that it appeared it was slowly creeping towards the day it would simply give up and fall out of the sky, but definitely out of date by more than a few years or so.
The lights from the hovercraft gave light to this otherwise dark world. These new additions looked like fellow people and not figures in the night. She caught one of these new people looking at his wrist as if checking the time. Morning would be coming very soon. Meiko hoped these people weren't too used to the sunlight, because it was going to be many months before the sun rose again.
"Tonio, my brother!" Big Al greeted, arms open wide.
Meiko's attention shifted from the group of people huddled in a circle in front of the hovercraft's entrance to the large, smiling man by her side.
"Al, my dearest friend!" returned the man Meiko assumed was Opera Tonio. She watched as the two grown men embraced, patting each other on the back and crying as they went on about how they were overjoyed to see each other again.
The man Big Al hugged was much shorter than Big Al, but he still appeared tall and lean. His dark brown hair and beard lacked the gray streaked across like Big Al's despite the two being the same age. When they pulled away, Meiko got a look at his face and saw tears continued to stream from this man's gray eyes.
"We must discontinue waiting too long between meetings," the man, Tonio, said. "We're family, for crying out loud! We really should be seeing each other every Christmas."
"Yes," Big Al agreed, "but unfortunately your wife is not a fan of dealing with us commoners. Is it true she still refuses to talk to your daughter for marrying my son?"
"Alas, it is as you say, but worry not. Avanna wants nothing to do with Prima just as much as Prima wants nothing to do with her and Oliver. But enough of that. You and I can discuss life later as we drink away our problems. Now, then."
Tonio turned his attention towards Meiko, smiled, bowed, and offered his hand. Meiko didn't take it, instead choosing to stare at his upwards palm then back at his face.
Still smiling, Tonio stood upright and said, "You must be the new recruit I have heard so much about. Have to say, I'm really impressed you stabbed old Al here the day you met. Most women don't stab him until they have known him for at least a week."
"What can I say other than I don't mess around?" Meiko tilted her head, the closest she would get herself to acknowledge this man's status not just in their aligned forces but also in society. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"The pleasure is all mine." Tonio turned around and waved the others forward. "What are you all waiting around for? An invitation? Well, here it is! Come over here and meet your new friends."
As the others approached, Meiko counted and evaluated each individual. Five. That was all this Opera Tonio had to offer. Five additional people. Four men, and one woman.
Meiko's eyes were immediately drawn to the woman, Campos Ona, the Cinderella with whom she would be rooming. The lanky, brown-skinned woman glared at Meiko just as fiercely as Meiko knew she was glaring at her. Instead of a frilly ballgown or a fancy evening dress, this Cinderella wore skin tight dark trousers, boots that went up to her knees, and a thick puffer coat that had to have been designed for a man's practical use and not a woman's fashion use.
"Like what you see?" was how Ona greeted Meiko. "Because I'm a dinner first kind of girl."
"I'm sorry," Meiko returned, "but you're not my type."
"Even if it meant keeping warm?"
"I know, my standards are too high."
Ona grinned like a wicked sinner. "Don't hook up with people prettier than you, I see."
Smirking, Meiko decided to like Ona. The Cinderella's returned smirk indicated she felt the same way. So far, meeting the others was off to a great start.
Eyes torn away from Ona, Meiko surveyed the men. There were two brunets and a blond. The older brunet wore glasses and had a tablet in his hands, and it appeared he was either working on some formula or hacking into a network as he talked to Big Al and Tonio. As for the other two, they stood close together and occasionally communicated in sign language. Meiko tried to figure out what they were talking about, but there were enough differences between Winter Sign Language and Equinox Sign Language for Meiko to barely understand enough signs to piece the conversation together.
Then her eyes landed on the last person in Opera Tonio's group. He was taller than the others, but he wasn't very toned either. This man looked like the kind of person who spent his childhood locked indoors instead of outside playing with rocks and sticks with the other kids in his neighborhood.
His shaggy midnight locks were disheveled as if the man had spent the past half hour running his fingers through his hair. The footsteps in the snow indicating there had been pacing implied that was exactly what happened. This man also held his arms tightly over his body, his form trembling as his teeth chattered so loudly Meiko could hear it from a few feet away. The poor dear looked miserable. It was so funny a sight, Meiko couldn't stop the corners of her lips from rising a little.
It was at this exact moment the man caught her watching him. His sapphire eyes narrowed as his gaze locked onto hers. It might have been a little discomforting if he wasn't shaking like a leaf where he stood.
"What's so funny?" he snarled, his words barely decipherable over his uncontrolled shivering.
"Oh, nothing really," Meiko replied in a sickly sweet tone. "Just a man shaking so much I can't tell if he has his boots set to vibrate."
"It isn't my fault it's ice cold out here. Literally."
"Colder than the goddess's tit, I agree, but man up why don't you."
The man's face darkened to a deep shade of crimson. Meiko was about to laugh, but Big Al's large hand falling onto her shoulder silenced her. Looking first at Big Al then back at the man, Meiko bit her tongue and said nothing more.
"We are currently in the process of restoring our old hideout," Big Al was saying to Tonio. "It would be a much better place to sleep than that hovercraft, I suppose."
"Are we sure about that?" Meiko asked, a small frown forming on her face. "That rinky dink shack doesn't look like anyone has lived in it since long before my Mom's first period."
It surprised Meiko when Tonio was the one who answered, "That's the point, my dear. A fancy hideout would draw attention. An aged, possibly falling apart log cabin would draw less. I'm sure the underground portion is in much better shape than you would expect. I mean, it looked decent enough to me when I used it to hide away from my wife for a few weeks last summer."
Brows furrowed, Meiko turned her attention back to Big Al to say, "If that's the case, then why did you lead the rest of us to believe otherwise?"
Chuckling, Big Al merely replied, "It's a lot of fun to see you kids squirm. There isn't a whole lot to laugh at, so don't be surprised when I take any opportunity to mess with you all any way I can."
With a small huff, Meiko shook off Big Al's touch. It might have been easier accepting contact from this man, but it still took a lot of Meiko's self-control to not stab him in the arm again. Part of Meiko wondered how long it would be before one of the new people asked Big Al why he still had a large bandage above his elbow.
Moments later, Big Al waved the newcomers forward and began to lead them to the shack. Meiko hugged herself, the cold biting into her now that she was moving again. The others engaged themselves with hushed conversation, paying little to no attention besides where they were going. One was missing from the group. Curious how that other guy was doing, Meiko shifted her gaze towards him.
The man walked with stiff legs, as if his knees couldn't bend. He pulled his coat closer as if it would do any good to help him keep warm. Curse words began and died on his lips, almost as if this man was too prim and proper to speak such foul language.
"You'll get used to it," Meiko said, intending to be reassuring but her words managing to sound harsh as she slowed her pace to walk alongside him.
"That," the man replied, his own words sharp, "or I'll freeze to death first."
"Don't be such a sissy."
"Are you always such a lady?"
Not missing the sarcasm in this man's tone, Meiko held her nose in the air as she stated, "I'm no lady."
"That much is obvious."
"I beg your pardon."
"My apologies, ma'am. Was I not supposed to agree with you?"
"My, my," Meiko tore her eyes away from the man, "I have never met such a gentleman before."
"You are not exactly the most elegant being either."
Biting back her response, Meiko tensed her body and began to march forward. Being friendly was never her specialty, not when she never mastered the art of thinking before she spoke. She didn't make it three steps before her wrist was grabbed from behind.
"Look, I'm—"
The man didn't get to finish. Reacting on pure instinct alone, Meiko loosed the blade tucked in her sleeve and held it in her hand. Her arm moved to strike this man and insert her weapon into his body, but she was held back by an outside force.
When Meiko noticed Big Al holding her wrist back, Meiko dropped her blade to the snowy ground and apologized. Too ashamed to look Big Al in the eyes, Meiko stared at the trees behind him. After Big Al finally dropped her arm, Meiko rubbed her wrist before muttering another apology to the man, scooping up her blade, and walking away.
"Don't touch Meiko, Lord Shion," she could hear Big Al saying. "Trust me, I learned that one the hard way."
Meiko clenched her jaw and continued marching forward. The others slowed to see what happened, and soon Meiko passed them. She slowed only enough for Big Al to resume leading the way so she wouldn't get lost, and Meiko did not look back once.
After knowing these new teammates for no more than ten minutes, Meiko had already created a strained relationship between them and herself.
This is all my fault.
Rin pressed her back against the wall and tried her best to keep her knees from giving out beneath her and sending her to the ground. Closing her eyes, Rin forced herself to take a deep breath and to not barge into the room. A lowly Juliet such as herself did not deserve to so much as think about stepping foot into a room of such high-class members of society without first being beckoned.
"—return with such a nasty thing?!" Mrs. Hatsune, Miku's mom, was shouting. "Did your father and I not teach you throughout your whole life to avoid such misfortune? My darling, Miku, you should know better!"
"But you don't even know Rin!" Miku argued, but she didn't get any further before her mother began shouting again.
"You named it? For the love of the goddess, Miku, you should know better than to name these things. How many times has that happened with the stray cats you would bring home throughout the years? Once you named it, you grew attached to it, which only succeeded in making it more difficult for your father and I to make you get rid of it."
"Rin isn't a pet, and I didn't name her!"
"Don't try to argue with me, young lady. And let's not forget all that weight you packed on!"
Rin's eyes flew open and she sucked in a breath just as Miku audibly gasped. They knew this was coming. Miku had shared with Rin her anxiety over her mother's reaction at seeing all the weight Miku had gained during the school year, and now that moment had finally arrived.
"Look at you!" Even without being able to see what happened on the other side of the door, Rin knew Mrs. Hatsune was waving her hand over Miku's body. "You're twice the size you were when you left. I thought you had gained some semblance of self-control years ago. For shame, Miku. It looks as if you're going to have to be put on a strict diet until you are again presentable to the public. Oh, just one look at you and it's no wonder you didn't return home with a ring on your finger."
"Breaking the engagement was my idea!" Miku snapped, then the room went deafly quiet.
It was still odd for Rin to know that Miku had ended her engagement with Lord Shion. On the one hand, Rin was glad to never have to see that man again. On the other, Rin could see just how much the decision hurt Miku and how Rin occasionally caught Miku pulling up his contact information only for her finger to hang over the Call button before putting the information away again. The selfish part of Rin was glad she no longer had to compete with Lord Shion for Miku's affections. The part of Rin that truly loved Miku hated herself for finding even the smallest bit of joy in the Cinderella's pain.
Pushing herself away from the wall, and away from the conversation happening inside the room, Rin meandered away in hopes of taking her mind off this whole mess.
It didn't work.
Now trapped in the realm of her own thoughts, Rin curled her fingers into fists so that her nails could puncture her palms. Even the slightest bit of pain might help distract from the mental and emotional spiral Rin had recently found herself in. Not even the recent change of scenery – she and Miku had arrived to Miku's home only the night before – helped any.
Ms. Yuzuki had joined Gumi and Nero on the list of names of those Rin knew who had passed far too young. Worst yet, Ms. Yuzuki's death was Rin's fault. Although she was not the one who sent the arrow flying through Ms. Yuzuki's heart, Rin was still the one who helped the Thorns infiltrate the school. The blood of all who died that day was on Rin's hands. No longer was Rin deemed as someone worth dying for, but someone who sent multiple people to their graves.
If Nero could see me now, if he could have known that this is what I would do, Rin thought, her vision blurring with each step forward as a lump grew in her throat, he would wish he never jumped in after me.
Coming across a closet, Rin looked around to assure herself that she was alone before stepping inside. With the door shut, Rin huddled in the corner with the hanging coats as some sort of protective barrier. Knees tucked to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs, Rin tilted her chin into her chest and began to cry.
Minutes passed, then hours. Soon Rin began to wonder if she spent the whole night sitting in the corner of a small coat closet. Rin wanted to get up and get out, but she found that she had been sitting for so long her joints were locked in place.
Rin's head jerked upwards when she heard the closet door slam shut. Afraid of being caught, Rin scooted deeper into the closet. The shuffling feet sent Rin's heart skyrocketing as she descended deeper into the closet lest she be found.
"Rin."
Now Rin's heart stopped altogether.
"Rin," the voice called again.
"No," Rin whispered before shaking her head. "No. No! NO!"
"There you are," sang the sweet voice of Ms. Yuzuki as she pulled the coats back, exposing Rin.
A scream built up in Rin, but she bit it back. Ms. Yuzuki stared at Rin with her lifeless, glassy eyes. Red blossomed from her heart and all over the front of her dress, the tip of the arrow that pierced her sticking out of her chest and pointing at the guilty Rin.
"I see you, Rin," Ms. Yuzuki said, stepping forward.
"No!" Rin cried as she began crawling backwards. "Stay away! STAY AWAY!"
Ms. Yuzuki laughed as Rin, still seated on the floor, tried to frantically scoot away. The blood from her bosom began to flow again, darkening her dress and dripping to the floor. When Rin was as far against the wall as she could get and could go no further away from Ms. Yuzuki, the undead Cinderella laughed as she towered over the Juliet responsible for her death.
"I will always be a part of you!" She crackled. "I shall haunt you until the end of your days!"
"No!" Rin tried to cover herself from the blood falling to her face, but it was too late. Ms. Yuzuki's hot blood fell onto Rin's forehead and trailed down her cheeks.
Screaming, Rin crawled away from under Ms. Yuzuki's bleeding corpse. When she was far enough away, she turned around to witness the still laughing Ms. Yuzuki make eye contact with her just before the Cinderella bled so profusely that her whole body became the blood that gushed from her wound. Rin watched in horror until there was nothing left of Ms. Yuzuki save her pile of blood and the arrow that killed her.
Feeling as if she was going to throw up, Rin pushed herself to shaky feet and began to back away slowly. Unable to tear her eyes away from the pool of scarlet, Rin didn't realize there was another person in the closet with her until she collided with them. Another cry tore from Rin, but when she turned around and saw who it was she bumped into, she almost began to shed tears of joy.
"Gumi!" Rin exclaimed, her body shaking as if her legs didn't remember how to stand.
Green eyes locked onto Rin's, Gumi showed Rin her familiar mischievous smile. Gumi was alive and whole. Showing her crooked yellow teeth, Gumi simply greeted, "We meet again, Rin."
"Oh, Gumi!" Rin threw herself at her friend. Hugging the fellow Juliet tightly, Rin sobbed, "I knew it was only a bad dream. I knew you would show up again. I missed you so much, Gumi! I really, really missed you."
"Then how come you never visited my grave?"
Blood turning to ice, Rin slowly pulled away from the hug. Gumi still wore her mischievous smile, but something about it was now unsettling to Rin. Heart stopping, Rin slowly backed away from Gumi, her hands trembling in midair.
Rin didn't know what to say. The lump in her throat made speaking almost impossible. When Rin opened her mouth, all she could manage was, "Gumi?"
"You will forget about me, too," Gumi said, her tone taking on a slightly demonic quality.
"No." Rin shook her head slowly at first, but then the motion grew to be quick and jerky. "No! NO! I would never forget you, Gumi! I could never, ever forget you!"
"You will forget me," Gumi prophesized, "just as you have forgotten Nero."
Losing the ability to breathe, Rin stood stone still as she processed Gumi's words. But I haven't forgotten Nero, she wanted to say. Yet Rin didn't believe she could speak those words, not when she hadn't so much as thought about Nero and how she still missed him in the past few months.
Nero was the only person Rin ever loved who truly loved her in return, and now she was letting his memory slip away in favor of a Cinderella who owned Rin.
As if she could read Rin's thoughts, Gumi giggled. It was a very unnerving sound. "You really are the most pathetic of creatures, huh?"
Before Rin could think of a response – any response – Gumi's head rolled off her shoulders, hit the floor with a wet thud, and began rolling towards Rin.
It was as if Rin's shoes were fill with lead. It was as if Rin's eyes were pinned open and she was physically forced to watch the scene before her. Rin wanted to run away and avoid seeing anymore, but she couldn't do anything to keep herself from watching Gumi's disembodied head roll closer and closer to her. When Gumi's head bumped into Rin's feet, Rin could barely breathe as she stared at the pale and lifeless face.
Then Gumi's eyes flew open, she again grinned at Rin, and she said, "I died for love. What will you die for, Kagamine Rin?"
Rin started shrieking. Tightly closing her eyes, Rin cried out as she kicked and thrashed. She wanted this to end. It had to end. This eternal torment could not be her life.
"Rin! Rin! RIN!"
Eyes opening again, Rin sucked in a sharp breath and held it as she took in her surroundings. She was still in the closet, sitting in the corner like she was before Ms. Yuzuki found her. Yet instead of either the pierced Ms. Yuzuki or the headless Gumi, it was Miku who joined Rin in her hideout.
Miku, with her beautiful blue orbs locked onto Rin, who furrowed her brows and pursed her lips as she beheld the Juliet before her. Hand on Rin's shoulder, Miku gave the Juliet a slight squeeze as if to let Rin know that she was there and that this was real. Then she slowly traveled her hand from Rin's shoulder to cup the Juliet's cheek, and Rin couldn't help but lean into the touch.
"Are you all right?" Miku asked, her melodious voice like music to Rin's ears. "You were screaming. I'm sure it was just a nightmare, but Rin . . . are you all right?"
Eyes filling with tears, Rin opened her mouth to answer, but a sob came out instead. Miku pulled Rin into a hug, and Rin was quick to return it. Unable to speak, Rin allowed herself to cry into Miku's shoulder until the tears were all spent.
"I just can't believe she's gone. . . ." Inside Miku's screen, Luka dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and took a deep breath. "First Gumi, now Gakuko. Why do things like this happen? Why do people have to die? How could such bright lights in this dark world be snuffed out so easily?"
Not having answers to Luka's questions, Miku sunk lower in her chair. Shaking her head, all Miku could say was, "The memorial service is this weekend."
"Will you be going?"
"Of course. I want to offer Gakuko's family my condolences, and . . . I want to say goodbye. Even if she's gone and won't know if I say goodbye or not, I still want to say it anyway. For closure."
Luka nodded as if she understood, which she proved that she did when she said, "I never got to say goodbye to Gumi. Or at least nothing more than eye contact on that stage shortly before—" Luka cut herself off, still unable to speak the words.
Powerless to stop herself, Miku's eyes traveled in Rin's direction, who sat in the chair in a corner of Miku's room. There was a book in Rin's hands, but the lack of page turning shortly after Miku called Luka told Miku enough. Rin had a nightmare so bad that Miku found her screaming in a coat closet, but Miku could not get Rin to tell her anything about it.
The two sat inside of Miku's room. Her rose pink walls surrounded them, and her large windows let in the Artemis sunlight. Miku's bed had a dark purple quilt, and the chair in which Rin sat was a similar shade. The vanity and desk were the softest shade of cream. Inside Miku's closet was a dress every shade of every color in the rainbow.
This had been Miku's room since her birth. Now it felt as if it belonged to a stranger. Miku couldn't get comfortable, whether she was painting by the window or trying to sleep in her bed.
Yet whatever discomfort Miku felt, it was clear to her Rin felt it tenfold.
"Gakuko lived in the Diane District," Miku mumbled. "If you want, we can meet halfway and travel the rest of the way together."
Luka nodded. "I would much rather not be alone, either."
Again, the silence stretched between the Cinderellas. Miku never knew what to do during somber conversations. Neither she nor Luka clearly wanted to keep discussing their friend's sudden and early death, but switching to a lighthearted topic would be both forced and disrespectful of Gakuko's memory.
"I think Gakuko sent me her short story compilation shortly before . . . you know, the, erm, the fundraiser." Luka scratched the back of her neck and avoided looking at Miku. "I was thinking about printing it out and, I don't know, bringing it with me to her service. I think if she could see us, Gakuko would want to know that even though she's no longer here, she won't be forgotten. Her legacy lives on in her writing, you know?"
Sinking in her chair, Miku muttered, "I didn't even know until the day of the fundraiser that Gakuko was a writer."
The frown on Luka's face made Miku's heart sink. "She talked about her writing often, Miku. You must have been too preoccupied with Lord Shion to notice."
Although Miku believed Luka didn't intend for the comment to sting, it still did. Luka was right. Throughout nearly the entire schoolyear, Miku became one of those foolish girls who almost always daydreamed about the boy she liked. There was so much Miku had missed out on or not noticed altogether. Some of it happened right next to Miku, and she was too oblivious to catch on until it was too late.
"I love her."
Rin had said those words. Taking the blast for Miku, and probably believing that she was going to die in Miku's place, Rin had confessed words of love. Even though it had been nearly two weeks since the incident, Miku still couldn't stop thinking about it.
"I love her." What does she mean? How . . . how does Rin love me?
It should have been an easy answer. Miku should have no reason to doubt that Rin meant as a friend, but Miku wasn't sure that was what Rin meant at all. Miku wasn't sure that was what she wanted Rin to mean.
Neither Miku nor Rin brought up the confession since it happened. Instead of asking the one question that would answer everything, Miku kept it to herself and allowed her inner turmoil to continue. If Rin had no plans to talk about it, then Miku wouldn't pressure it out of her.
"Miku? Miku?!"
"Huh, what?" As if dazed, Miku blinked a few times and focused on Luka's image on the screen. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
Shaking her head, Luka replied, "I can see you are a little spacey today. Are you okay? I heard you and Lord Shion ended your relationship. With that and Gakuko's passing happening so close together . . . Miku, how are you feeling?"
Miku rested a hand on her soft belly. Although she hadn't been binging like before, Miku still had moments in which she didn't know what else to do save eat. However, what she sought was not a distraction from the stress and worries of life but instead the confusion of her heart alongside the mourning of a friend.
That was why Miku didn't believe she lied when she answered, "I'm not okay, but I'm doing better than I thought I would be doing. Is that terrible? To be doing all right enough when a beloved friend has been taken away far too soon?"
"I mean, it's either learn to carry the pain or be immobilized by it." Luka shrugged. "I should go. Mother insists I join her for her friend's tea party this afternoon. She wants to try to set me up with a vineyard owner's son."
"Do your parents not know that you prefer other women?"
"Miku, are you insane? I already brought such shame and disgrace on our family by being with Gumi. If they knew that it wasn't just some fling for pleasure and that I actually loved—"
Watching as Luka held her tongue and looked away, Miku bit her finger as she searched desperately for the words to say. She couldn't find any. There was nothing Miku could offer Luka to help lessen the pain.
"Nobody else can know that I desire other women," Luka said, monotone, as she continued to stare at something and nothing at the same time. "I shall bring no more shame to the Megurine name. I will find a man I like enough, marry him, maybe have children, and then spend the rest of my life unhappy. There are no other options for people like me, Miku."
Before Miku could attempt to say anything to reply, Luka wished her a farewell and hung up. Miku stared at a blank screen for a moment. Taking a deep breath, Miku pushed herself away from her desk and looked towards Rin.
The blonde looked up at Miku, a small frown on her lips. Her attention then returned to her book. Rin was still on that same page.
"I love her."
Feeling an ache in her chest, Miku wondered if Rin would ever say those words again. More than that, Miku wondered if given the chance, she would return them.