Chapter 5; second to the last chapter. ^w^

"Morning iinchou!" Gumi greeted as Miku walked in through the doors.
"Good Morning"
"Morning" the class chorused.

It's been roughly two months since Luka came back to school. At first it was hard for her to catch up and come to school early. She got in a lot of trouble with Miku and her teachers, especially Kiyoteru. But as time flew by, the class slowly started to warm up to her happy-go-lucky and carefree attitude. They helped her with her studies and they also found out that she could read, speak and write fluent English, Kiyoteru warmed up to her himself. Even Miku isn't the same strict and feared class rep that she used to be. She's approached when it comes to study trouble, but avoided when it comes to everything else. Things have been going great, but there is one thing that's been bugging Miku,

"Are you and Megurine-san going out iinchou?" Gumi asked.
"...hah?"
"Are you and Megurine-san dating?" Miki pushed as they stared at her face.

"W-what on earth makes you think I'm dating LUKA?!" she exclaimed, a little louder than she hoped.

Looking up most of her classmates were chuckling, once Gumi and Miku stopped giggling themselves. Miku's face turned as red as a tomato as she yelled at them to shut up, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"They say that rumor is the reason why nobody confesses to Megurine-san in person" Gumi said,
"What...?" people have been confessing to her?
"They're afraid of the rumor, well, mostly you." Miki added.

Luka did start coming back to school when they got paired in that project, they come to school together and go home together as well, they eat lunch together everyday and the times that Miku has scolded Luka may have looked like lover's quarrels... she can see why the rumors formed. Miku is normally an antisocial, with the delinquent suddenly coming back to school and her spending every moment of every day together... oh gods why.

After class, Kaito dragged Meiko to an ice cream shop, Rin got in trouble and dragged Len with her so she wouldn't be alone in detention, that left Miku and Luka to go home alone.

"Oh geez..."
"What is it?"

Miku looked up from putting her shoes on just in time to see Luka dump a pile of envelopes into the trash.

"Just some garbage" Luka said with a grin.

Now Miku was glad she isn't the type of person to confess via a letter. Writing all her feelings, heart and soul into a letter only to have it dumped in the bin without being opened and then called garbage. Ouch. They walked out the school in awkward silence as the sun started to set.

"Wanna go grab something? My treat." Luka said out of nowhere.
"The last time you said that I ended up paying for the both of us" Miku replied, fuming with a pout.

"Oh come on," Luka said with her wallet in hand "I have it with me this time" she said with a grin.
"F-fine! But I'm ordering as much as I want!"

(-At the Cafe'-)
True to her word, she did order so much Luka's wallet almost came out empty. She ordered a plate of cookies, several cream puffs, two slices of cake and five different cupcakes, plus she's down to her second parfait. She eats so fast the cookies were gone in the blink of an eye, but make no mistake this girl is not a pig when it comes to her manners. She eats fast, but at the same time with grace.

"Oh gods you eat a lot!" Luka exclaimed.
"Hmph," The tealette fumed, then she had to ask something. "How come whenever you have cash it always seems a bit too big of an amount for you to have?"
"Hah?"
"Why is it that whenever you have money, it's always too much."
"You think so?"
"Yes"

Luka scratched the back of her head as she thought of what to say.

"Well, it's the amount that okaa-san and otou-san always send me, sometimes more. Since they're always abroad, it kinda covers all of my expenses."
"All of your- you mean you live alone?"
"What, you didn't know?" Luka raised an eyebrow
"You never really told anyone...that means that you don't have anyone watching you!"
"Yeah it's kinda-"
"Ohh! I knew something was wrong! From now on I'm going to check up on you on a regular basis!"
"WHAT?! I'm fine on my-"
"NO, you're not! You're taking me to your house after our outing tomorrow got it?"
"But-"
"Got it?"
"BAH!"

Luka looked at heaven before she slumped her head next to her ice cream sundae. Miku smiled, satisfied with her win. Luka raised her head and grabbed her spoon to start eating before it melted; strawberry ice cream with chocolate fudge and brownies and cookies and all sorts of other stuff Luka didn't bother naming before she gobbled them up.

"Dear gods, you're a messy eater" Miku whipped her handkerchief out and wiped the bit of ice cream at the side of her lip.
"Ehh..."

"What?"

Miku just realized what she's doing. For a moment Luka caught her eyes and held onto them, it's the first time she has the chance to look at Miku's face in detail. Her eyes tracing over every line, every curve, every little detail that constructed her face, her eyes in particular caught her attention. They have a certain alluring beauty about them that didn't show themselves that often. Luka found that she couldn't look away, her cheeks were flushed until-

"Where did you get this scar?"

"What?"

Miku traced her fingers over a diagonal slash on her forehead that went up to Luka's scalp. It often gets hidden by her bangs so she sometimes forgets that she even has it.

"I have... no idea."

The tealette was sure that she didn't have that when they were kids, she probably got it in her time on the streets. After a while they finally managed to eat everything that Miku ordered and the walk home was filled with an awkward silence.

"See you tomorrow?" Luka said
"Yep, 10 am, and don't be late again!"

(-Train Station-)

Miku made a dash for the train station but just as she passed through the toll gates her train left, now she has several minutes to kill before the next one comes. She sighed then sat down at the waiting area. The next train is due back in about twenty minutes, the only thing worse than a school minute is a minute wherein you are doing absolutely nothing. Believe me, I know.

Miku brought her phone out then started scrolling through the pictures. Since Luka came back to school the camera on her phone finally has some use. Rin pretty much filled up the memory with pictures of every single one of their outings. Eating at cafe's and restaurants, playing at the arcade, watching movies... picnics at their special place. The place where they played all the time when they were kids. The clearing in the middle of the forest with flowers blooming everywhere. Although no one said anything when they took Luka back there, Miku knew that all of them felt a tinge of sadness when Luka didn't recognize the place. Miku had to admit, part of her wanted Luka to remember, but the other wanted her to remain the dark. She switched to the next picture with Luka and Rin battling it out a dancing game at the arcade.

"Oh, so you and Luka-chan have been spending time together again?"

A voice said from behind Miku, she looked behind her. An old man wearing a brown coat and fedora was leaning over her looking at the pictures in her phone. He looked at Miku and a gentle smile plastered itself onto his face. For a second Miku thought the guy was some sort of a Pedophile, then she recognized those sky blue eyes of his.

"Leo ojii-san!"

Leo sat down next to Miku and the two engaged in small talk. Their lives since after the incident, what they're doing at the moment and stuff like that. The old man was a grandfather to the six kids, not just to Lily. Whenever their parents weren't around the old man was always there, he took them to the beach, went to the park together, they even tried to build a club house, which ended up in disaster so they abandoned it.

"Haha, that girl is still rather careless isn't she?" Leo laughed.
"Yes..." Miku smiled a bit "... she hasn't changed at all."

She hasn't changed, her memories have. But neither mentioned it.

"Oh, I have to thank you, Leo ojii-san" Miku said.
"Hm? Why so?"
"You were the one who convinced her to come back, weren't you?"

"Well I don't know about that, maybe." he said.
"... Thank you still." Miku replied with a slight bow.

As they continued their little talk, Leo remembered the day that she ran into Luka. After he saved her from suffering an early death by delivery truck, the two walked around together talking until Leo invited her to eat at a nearby cafe since she was skipping class anyway.

"So, you don't look like you're from around here pops, where are you from?" Luka asked as she sipped on a strawberry smoothie.
"Overseas, I just came to visit for a few months" Leo replied, his teacup in his hand.

"Oh, your kid's family?"
"Yes"

Leo looked at Luka in the eyes and smiled at her. But then the curve of his lips disappeared and for a second he looked like he was about to cry. Luka was afraid that she'd touched a sensitive topic. She didn't expect him to tell her his story.

"My son and his wife died 8 years ago," He said.

Luka almost choked at the smoothie she was sipping on. That was unexpected.

"they followed my granddaughter in sickness who died in an accident. The two of you would be the same age if she were alive today." Leo smiled at Luka before he took a sip of his tea.

Maybe that was the reason why he saved and invited her. It'd be terrible for him if the same incident happened and he had the ability to stop it but didn't. Who knows, he could have seen that Luka has something in common with her granddaughter. As far as she knows she hasn't experienced having someone precious to her disappear just like that.

"I remember how excited she was to go to high school whenever she saw students walking by." Leo said, laughing at the memory.

"It's not that great though" Luka said looking out the window

Leo let out a hearty laugh at Luka's reaction. Suddenly her conscience woke up after all these years. It kept on bugging her about how lucky she was that she'd been able to live and go to school and pretty much do everything that a someone dead couldn't. Aside from that she felt as though the nagging was trying to tell her something else, something important. But she had a bad feeling about whatever it was. After Leo said his goodbyes, Luka scratched the back of her head.

"I am so going to regret this." and off she went to school.

Miku stood up as she could see her train getting close to the station.

"Ah, finally it's here" Leo stood up.

"Thank you for waiting with me 'jii-san." Miku said, bowing.

"It's no trouble at all." He said as Miku stepped into the train.

Before the doors closed, she remembered something that she had to ask the old man.

"Ano-are you coming tomorrow?" she asked.
"Of course, will you?"
"Yeah, with everyone except..."

Leo just raised his hand, understanding who she meant. The train doors closed and Miku was well on her way home. The old man stayed there watching the train leave until Miku couldn't see him anymore.

(-Miku's house, 8pm-)

"Who did you see?" Rin asked, video chatting with Miku.
"Hm? Leo ojii-san, you know, Lily's grandfather?"

Miku replied as she stuck a pocky stick into her mouth. She sat on her computer chair with her legs crossed and a mug of milk in her hand. Miku moved the chair in a way that it rotated from left to right. As usual her headset was set on full blast- which is a bad idea if you're talking to Rin.

"NO WAY!"
"Hyah!"

Miku fell off her seat, yanking the cord off and her milk spilling everywhere.

"Miku-nee?"
"Ahw Geez Rin! Look what you did! I just took a bath as well..."
"Hehe...~" Rin chuckled, twirling her hair with her fingers.

The tealette threw her headset on her bed and walked to her closet on the other side of the room. She grabbed a new shirt then quickly changed into it before she sat back down in front of her her pc. To her surprise, Meiko was online and requesting a conference call with the two of them. Rin already accepted so Miku just played along. Two screens popped up on her screen, one with Meiko and the other with the twins.

"What is it Meiko-nee?" Len asked "It's kinda weird to see you actually using a computer." he said
"Why you- N-nevermind that! Have you guys heard anything about Luka-chan's parents?" She asked.

The twins exchanged glances shrugging.

"Miku-chan?"
"Well, earlier today at the cafe'-"
"OOOHH! You guys went on a date?" Rin suddenly asked.
"W-what- SHUT UP!" Miku exclaimed with her face flushed, almost hitting her screen.
"You were saying Miku-chan?" Meiko pushed.
"Oh, as I was saying; earlier today she told me that her parents were both working abroad."

Meiko could be seen typing and clicking on several things on her computer, then she shook her head.

"That's impossible Miku." she said, dropping the 'chan' in the way she talked.

"What? Did you find something out Meiko-nee?" Rin asked from the other screen.

She nodded her head.

"Earlier today while I was bored to death I decided to search up a few things, then Luka's parents came into mind. I thought that they should know something about why Luka forgot everything. By luck I managed to find them on that...book... book-book-site thing."
"Facebook?" Rin asked.
"Yeah that, anyway I managed to find Luka's father." she said.
"Her father?" Miku asked.
"Yes. I managed to get into contact with him and I found a few things that you guys need to hear."

They nodded their heads in agreement as they listened to what Meiko had to say.

"If you guys remember, Luka and her parent's weren't around on... on her funeral. That's because the day before that, they got into a car accident."

Realization sparked.

"So that's why Luka-nee doesn't remember anything!" Len replied.

Meiko nodded her head.

"And Luka-chan lost her mother in that accident as well."

(-The Next Day-)

Luka woke up several hours too early. Looking at her alarm clock that managed to go off 5 hours than expected, she couldn't go back to sleep. She had thoughts of torturing that thing once she had the energy to do it. The thing about her is that once she wakes up she can't go back to sleep anymore. Luka sighed then decided to go for a jog. After she changed into a hoodie and sweatpants she practically flipped her room upside down looking for her earphones. Then she remembered that Miku still had them. So much for that jog. She decided to go on a stroll instead, it's been a while since she's been out on the streets so early in the morning.

It's still dark outside and some of the street lamps are still on. Luka wandered around from one end of the street to the other wasting time until she had to go back home. She dropped by a park several blocks away from her house for a rest. She didn't expect to see Miku, Rin and Len, Kaito and Meiko, and that old man she met waiting by a bench.

"Hey-"
"So Luka-chan doesn't know?" Leo asked.

Immediately Luka knew that she wasn't supposed to hear, or see this conversation. Are they keeping a secret from her? And how did Leo know her friends? She hid behind a nearby tree, she didn't mean to eavesdrop but she's way too curious to just walk away from something like this. Besides, it looks like they did a lot to make sure that she didn't find out about whatever is happening. Meeting in a park blocks away from her house when there's one near the station, and at this ungodly hour no less.

"Yeah, she's probably still sleeping" Miku's voice. Luka couldn't risk peeping at them so she just listened to them.

"I suppose we should get going then?" Leo asked.
"Good idea pops!" Kaito exclaimed.

Their little group left the park and Luka put a little distance between them before she started to follow them. They headed to the train station and it's kind of a risk to follow them into their train since not many people are around. Luckily, she's wearing a hoodie. She went into a corner then fixed her hair under her hood before she quickly slipped into their train. She took a seat on the left side of the train as they took theirs on the right. They're the only people on the train. With her hood covering her face and her hoodie loose, it did a great job of hiding her... "assets." She could hear them talking.

"I see you all brought flowers..." Leo's voice definitely. That explains the floral scent she got.
"Yeah!" Rin exclaimed in her usual loud voice, Luka was surprised when it dropped "we know that Lily-nee really liked flowers..."

Lily?

Why did the name ring a bell? Wait, did it ring the bell of a flower or a person? Luka glanced at them from the corner of her eye. Although she couldn't make the flowers out she could see that her friends brought two kinds. The twins together with Meiko and Kaito held two bouquets of yellow flowers. Miku and Leo were holding separate bouquets of white.

"... It'd be nice if Luka-nee could come with us." Len suddenly said.

A heavy atmosphere fell upon them and nobody spoke for quite a while.

"If she comes with us... there's a chance that her amnesia could wear off..." Meiko said.

Amnesia?

That could explain the scar on her forehead...Just how much are they hiding from her?

"And if it does wear off... Luka could remember everything and she could get hurt and she could-" Miku stopped herself from talking before she started to panic.
"Which reminds me, how did she get the amnesia?" Kaito asked.

Before Meiko could answer her the train stopped and they agreed to talk about it while they walked since Leo doesn't know as well. Again like before Luka put some distance between them before she started to follow them. Now there was no way that she was going home. They're definitely hiding something from her. How did Leo fit into the picture? Who is Lily? She was in an accident?

Luka can't quite hear what they were saying at the distance she's at. She couldn't exactly risk being seen but she had to know. She started to run towards them, but then stopped when they did. Too preoccupied with following them, Luka didn't realize that the terrain around her changed from city, to meadow. They stood outside an open grass field fenced in by a long, grey brick wall that she couldn't see the end of. The gate had the place's name on top of it; "Flowering Meadows Memorial"

A cemetery?

It isn't like usual Japanese cemeteries that are normally crowded. Lucky memorial's don't charge fees for you to be able to visit someone, Luka doesn't have her wallet with her. The group talked with the guard a bit before they walked in. It kinda looked like they knew him too. Luka ran in after them.

True to it's name, it really is a flowering meadow. All you can see is the green grass dotted with bushes of different flowers. Grey stones stuck out of the ground all over the place; grave stones. Luka could easily be found out here. Most of the grave stones and bushes aren't big enough to hide her. But it didn't take long until they stopped in front of a one. The pinkette stood behind them, like a ghost.

"So... she was in a car accident?" Kaito asked as he placed the bouquet he was holding on the ground.

Meiko nodded her head and they proceeded to lay the flowers they held on the ground one by one.

"And... Luka-chan doesn't remember it, but she lost her mother in that accident." Meiko finished.

A car accident.

Luka could feel a sharp, sinking pain in her chest as random images started flashing in her mind.

A blood stained street.
Her bloodstained hands.
A truck speeding out of control towards her.
People yelling in a panic, trying to reach her.

A long, blonde haired girl, with soft sky blue eyes, and a gentle smile on her beautiful face.

What is this...?

Leo took off his hat and for once Luka could see his sleek white hair. His sky blue eyes stood out more without the shade of the hat. Nobody said anything for a while, until Leo pinched his nose bridge.

"I'm... so glad that she's still alive..." his gloved hand hid his eyes but the tears were cascading down his cheeks. "If... if she'd died the same way that Lily did..."

Nobody said anything as silence took them over again. Luka stepped forward, her feet making the grass rustle.

Everybody flinched at the sound and turned their heads. Their eyes widened at the sight of Luka with her hood off. Her mouth slightly agape and her expression confused. The pictures kept on running circles in her head into a puzzle that she couldn't form.

"L-Luka..." Miku stamerred, nobody else could say anything.

"What are you guys talking about...?" she asked, her voice shaking, stepping forward.

Unlike the first time she met these people, nobody dared to meet Luka's gaze. Not even the normally happy-go-luck Kaito. Luka tried to meet any one of the six pairs of eyes and nobody responded. She could see the looks of sadness and regret in their faces.

"What's all this about an accident?" she asked.

When nobody answered, the questions just kept coming.

"How do you guys know each other? How was I in an accident? How are you so sure my mother is dead! How do you guys know me! Who the heck is Lily?!" Her body froze when she saw the name engraved on the headstone.

Masuda Lily.

A sharp pain ran through her head as everything started to come together. She clutched her head, trying to get her headache in control, she's starting to hyperventilate.

"Luka!"

The pinkette doesn't know who yelled her name, the only thing she can see are her memories as they restored themselves and filled her brain's hard drive with files that were long lost.

Kaito, the big brother who loves ice cream and who's always a little dense and caring.

Meiko, the big sister who doesn't spend a lot of time around technology and often reads books.

Rin, the annoying hyperactive little brat who always got herself hurt.

Len, the proper little boy who always did what was expected and always looked after his twin sister.

Miku, the crybaby who always stuck by your side and never let go.

And Lily. Masuda Lily.

The good girl with proper manners.

The girl who always scolded her when she did something dangerous.

The girl who always tried to get her to wear a dress.

The girl who always wiped her lips when she had food at the corner.

The girl who always slept over.

The girl who always hugged her and held her hand.

The girl who was always there when she was alone.

The girl who loved her.

The girl who she promised to protect.

The girl who died right in front of her.

End.