"Are you sure you're fine, dear?" Len's obaa-san held Len's hands at the table as they ate dessert after lunch.
"Baa-san, it's okay. I'm fine. See? I'm eating so much of your cookies I have no room for them left in my stomach." Len joked as he patted his belly.
"Now, dear. He's fine enough to be joking like that. Let him be. Maybe he's just tired yesterday."
Len flashed a smile to his obaa-san, agreeing to what his ojii-san just said. Len's obaa-san just shook her head in reply.
"Well, if you both say so."
"Oh, baa-san. I'm going out with Kagamine later to buy some stuff. He couldn't make it yesterday after what happened."
Len almost splurted the cookies he ate and was about to protest that he didn't need anybody to help him shop when he realised what Fukase was getting at.
"Just get home early before evening. You know right today's christmas eve?" Len's ojii-san spoke.
"Will do, jii-san."
Len and Fukase went outside after they took their wallets and coats. The snow fell heavily. There were slight gusts of wind, making the air outside chiller than before.
"What are you planning to do actually?" Len asked as they walked, their boots crunching in the snow.
"I'm just curious about this girl you talked about― I know you are too. The clinics are closing early for christmas eve right about... now. I'm sure we could see the doctor and the girl coming out of the clinic then. You with me or not?"
"I... guess. I mean, it's worth a shot."
"Let's wait by the bench near the entrance and pretend to talk or something."
Len followed Fukase's lead. To be honest, he was afraid of knowing the truth. He was scared he'd be disappointed if it wasn't as he expected. He wouldn't even know what to do if it was what he expected. Len was balancing feebly in the middle of an equal-weighted balance.
By the time they were at the clinic, nurses were alroudy pouring out, greeting their friends a merry christmas before they left. Len was nervous, he suddenly doubted this was the right thing do.
"Fu, I'm not so sure if this is a good idea..."
"I know you'd die of curiosity if we just leave your suspicions like that, and I know you're scared of the truth too. But we're already here, so there's no use turning back now."
"Yeah, but―"
Len stopped talking and patted Fukase's shoulder, pointing in the direction behind Fukase where he saw Mitsuru and the doctor coming out without a word. After the doctor left a few metres away. They decided to trail them from behind.
"Come on, Kagamine," Fukase whispered.
They walked slowly and pretended to talk like normal whilst following the doctor and the girl from behind. They kept turning around the corners both Fukase and Len got tired when Fukase started to speak.
"How far are they going?" He panted.
They turned around a corner again, but this time, the doctor and the girl were not in sight.
"What the heck...?" Len stopped in his tracks.
"What the― where the heck did they go? Don't tell me they noticed us and ran very fast."
"That's not even possible! Look at this road. It's just an empty street! There's no way we couldn't see them hiding or running in a road this empty!"
"You know what. It doesn't matter. I saw her face. Let's just buy jii-san and baa-san's gifts first before we figure this out."
It was just too weird to be true. Something was off. Len felt something else was involved, and he felt no better than before. He felt as if he was digging his own grave if he involved himself in this too much. Glancing at the road for the last time, he followed Fukase to the department store in the opposite direction.
The department store was filled a hectic, bustling flood of people doing last-minute shopping before christmas eve tonight as it closes in a few hours. Both of them went to the electrical section after Fukase forced Len's brains out to think of what his grandparents said they always wanted: a new room heater for the now almost broken 10-year-old heater. Fukase became Len's tail as he scuttled behind Len who was circling the room heaters in display. All of them were good enough, but Len was not sure which one to choose. He finally stopped in front of a heater that matches his budget.
"Hmmm I think this one's perfect. What do you think?" Len asked Fukase, but ended up with no response.
"Are you liste... ning...?"
Len turned around to face Fukase but faltered when he saw Fukase frozen in place, his arms folded.
"This is not the time to be playing jokes, Fu."
Len reached for his cheeks to pinch them, but he wasn't able to get hold of his skin, as if Fukase was made out of plastic. "What the...?"
Len came to his senses and looked around. The background music stopped. The air felt stagnant. Everything around him stopped moving. The time stopped, rather. He could even see a dust particle stopping mid-air. A familiar voice started him, chills ran down his spine. He turned around in panic to see a familiar face a few metres away from him.
"Were you happy? Being able to see the one you loved again?"
It was the girl from before. The girl that looked like Miku. The striking resemblance made Len lose his breath nothing came out of him when he wanted to speak. The girl 100% looked like Miku, but then it occured to Len. If it were her, she wouldn't have said 'the one you loved'. Plus, no dead person could come back alive.
"W―who are you?" Len finally spoke.
The girl walked closer to Len with light steps, a sinister smile curved on her face. She stopped at a safe distance, Len letting out an inaudible sigh of relief as his eyes were still fixed on her face. Then, a flash of red light came from her sharp gaze it made Len fall on his back after realizing what it was. That girl was no person. She was a demon.
"W―what do you want from m―me?" Len was scared. He didn't want to be involved in any of this. Every demon's intentions were purely evil.
"Hahaha! Clever, aren't you?" The girl let out a laugh and spoke with a mature voice this time. Looks like it finally used her own voice. She paced back and forth in front of Len, her hands behind her back when she finally stopped. "Let's make a deal."
"I―I don't want to be making deals with the l―likes of you!" Len meant it to be an insult, but it came out in a whimper instead.
"Very well. I didn't want to take it this far, but―" with the snap of her fingers, a man wearing a neat tuxedo materialized beside Fukase. "―it looks like you leave me no choice. Kill him."
Len's eyes went wide in panic as the man closed in on Fukase with some sort of knife. "STOP!"
An evil smile came from the girl she laughed at the poor sight of Len.
"What do you want from me?!" Tears ran down his face in fear.
"Like I said. A deal. The girl's life for your soul. Or you could give me your friend's life instead." She pointed towards Fukase where the man would readily kill him in the blink of an eye. "So, which is it going to be, Kagamine Len?" The girl curled her lips.
The fact that she's using Miku's body to bargain with him made Len sick. Everything about her was sick. There was no win-win option for Len. Giving his soul to a demon was a bad call. He knew better what he'd end up with. The demon made him go into a situation where it knew what he'd choose in the end, and it's having fun seeing him suffer. Looks like not taking his soul was not an option to them too, given the circumstances. His soul was important to them, for whatever it was.
"Why me? Can't you use sombebody else's? Why aren't you after her family?"
"I'm afraid I don't have to explain myself to a weak person who's begging for their life like you. Let's face it, Kagamine Len. You want the girl to live. You don't want this boy to die too. Time is running, Kagamine Len. Lengthy deals aren't what I'm here for. So. What will it be?"
"Y―you demon... How could you..."
"Tick tock."
"Fine! I'll give you my soul! Would you just shut the fuck up and leave!!"
"That's what I wanted to hear."
The girl came closer to Len and bent down as she leaned in to give him a kiss, sealing the deal. He lost his conciousness the moment the girl released him, seeing her back as she left with what little consciousness he had left.
