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HarmonianTraveller
Haha, of course! Right on it~ Thanks!

Mikuo awoke.

Tempted by the source of light draining into the cell, he sat up, blinking in the dusky sunlight. He stretched, scratching the back of his ears as he sat up. Out of the window he could barely make out the small wisps of fog and clouds curl around the untouched tips of the mountain, where layers of hills rolled, basking under the sunlight. The light that found it difficult to reach their cell.

The strips of sunlight from the window was pointing towards the other end of the cell, and he crawled over towards it groggily, lying under the light. For a few quiet minutes, he could relax under the sunlight, before it moved again. He sat up, looking agitated as he made his way towards the light. But once again the sunlight refused to hold its position, and let itself filter over the long teal hair instead.

Mikuo looked at it. Miku's hair, although dull and dirty, seemed to shimmer brilliantly in the sunlight. He squinted, bending down and sniffed it. He retracted immediately, keeping his hands away from her hair. The scent that wafted through it, through her, seemed all too familiar, in a way he didn't like. And it confused and angered him at the same time, and deep down, trying to refuse it, it scared him. He shot a look at Miku. She was still curled up on the ledge, sleeping blissfully, unaware.

He stood up and looked down at her pale face, caked with dirt and other sediments. When awake, she seemed fierce and hostile, but in her sleep, she seemed so innocent and soft, like a worried child lost amongst the crowd. Somehow he was tempted to do something. But what? The girl, the only one left of his species that angered him so much... His features softened. Looking around him, he leaned down and placed a hand on her forehead, which felt nice even though she didn't appear to be sick. Miku stirred, and he retracted his hand immediately. Seeing she continued to sleep, he moved his hand away from her pale skin and let his fingers comb through her long teal hair. He brushed against one of her ears, definitely one that belonged to a Kin.

She made a muffled noise, and at once her eyes snapped open. "Y-You-!?" She gasped and jumped upwards, swatting his hand away before crouching on the ledge. Mikuo stumbled backwards, holding his arm over his face. "Why the hell are you watching me!?"

"I-I-I'm not!" He spluttered, hissing at her, moving back to his bed on the cold floor. "Damn it. Pest."

She peered at him from a distance, before a strange smile crept over her face. "Oh my." She giggled. "Are you blushing?"

Mikuo's eyes widened, and he placed a hand over his face, which was indeed warming up. "I... N-NO!" He turned around, slapping his hands over his cheeks, which were starting to burn up even more. Why? And it wasn't just his face either, somewhere inside him was the same burning feeling, the same as yesterday, only this time it was making him feel nervous. "I-I am n-not! Shut up!"

"Hmf. You're funny." She jumped down from her ledge, standing directly behind him. She grabbed his head, forcing him to turn to face her. "And indeed you are. Now isn't that a lovely shade of red?"

"I-I said SH-SHUT UP!" He exclaimed, pushing her away.

"Oh, c'mon, kitty." Pulling herself towards him, she grabbed his shirt by the collar and pinned him against the wall before he could squirm away. Mikuo craned his head backwards, trying to stay as far from her as possible, clawing at her arms, but she refused to let go. She wouldn't budge. She simply stood her ground, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered in awe how strong she was. He shook his head and started thrashing again. Why would he think that? She was a girl. She was weak.

And just then, she looked upwards, finally catching his gaze. Mikuo fell still. Her fiery eyes pierced through his, and he suddenly found it impossible to look away. Why? She was looking him in the eye, that was it. But her eyes. They seemed to be looking further than just the outer part of his eyes, she seemed to be looking much, much deeper than that. Something started to churn at the back of his mind, and he started to grow nervous. What was she doing? All in that moment, she seemed to search into the depths of what was behind his eyes, before she released him.

"Wh-What..." She gasped, stumbling backwards and looking up at him in shock, but he bent his head downwards. "What the... What was that?"

He crouched on the ground, trying to calm down the blurry images churning in the inside of his flustered mind ((Get it pffft)). He shook his head. "What did... What did you do to me?" The pictures slowly starting to re-arrange themselves, pictures he had thought he'd forgotten. "Why... Why am I remembering this?" His head snapped upwards, glaring at her. "What did you do!?"

"I didn't do anything!" She spat at him, slinking away. "You were the one who- Ah-" All of a sudden her face blanked, and she flopped forward, falling to the ground with a soft thud.

Mikuo's ears flicked upwards, and he looked at her in shock. Miku lay still, not moving a muscle. He frowned and crawled towards her, poking her shoulder, but she made no movement. He lifted his hand. Why did she faint? It was her fault, but could that have possibly taken up her energy? He breathed out. Why did he feel bad about this? "Miku..." He nudged her arm, but she didn't respond. "Miku, are..." He growled to himself. He was going to regret this. "Are you okay..? Wake up..."

And yet the female lay silently on the ground, and he started to get nervous. He pushed the feeling away, but guilt gnawed at him. Was this really his fault? More questions were constructing in his mind, and he nudged her again. "M-Miku..." He circled around her, trying to think of what to do. Call the guards? No. They wouldn't do anything. At the most, they'd probably laugh. If they did decide to take action, they'd probably just kick her or pour cold water on her. And if she didn't wake up and they blamed him... No. He wasn't going to let the guards get involved in this.

He sat down unhappily, trying to think. What had she done? She had his back against the wall, and her eyes... When he had looked into her eyes, they seemed dark and far away, as though she wasn't looking at him... But deeper. He shivered. That wasn't right. But why? Why? Why? He growled again, a little softly, and folded his arms. The longer she held his gaze, the faster the foggy images in the deepest corner of his mind began to emerge. They were pouring back, until she released his gaze and they tumbled away, although they were clearer now.

What had she done? Bring forgotten memories back? He scoffed. That was impossible. Kins couldn't do that. It wasn't in their ability. He hadn't heard of any 'monster' capable of bringing back memories. He looked down at the girl lying in front of him, still, looking dead. He sighed, and rolled her over. Her face looked strained and pale, like it had been earlier. But now she didn't look like a lost child anymore. She looked like a child suffering from a horrible nightmare. Slowly, he pressed his palm against her forehead again, which to his surprise, was flaring up. Was she sick now?

"Hmmmf." He held her by the waist and pulled her back to his makeshift bed, rather grudgingly. He felt bad about this, but why? He hated all the questions forming, and dropped her onto the straw. She didn't awaken. He knelt by her side. Something was prickling him. And it wasn't a thing. It was the same feeling, the same feeling he had been getting ever since they met, pinching and biting him, burning from the inside. And when he looked at her, he itched even more. He looked away. Why? All the questions were starting to bother him. The feeling didn't involve wanting to throw her off a cliff, although the day before he gladly would have. He looked back at her face, and his eyes softened.

"I can't believe this." He huffed. He looked around the cell before his eyes fell on a ragged piece of cloth. He grabbed it before crawling back to her side, and leaning downwards slightly. He could still hear her breathing, her heart beating steadily. But she seemed as if she was trapped far away, clutched in a nightmare. Still regretting everything, he lay the cloth over her and scuttled away slightly, watching her. He curled up. Maybe just a little more sleep...

...

Miku awoke.

At first her furious mind struggled to take control, before she began to relax. Looking down, she saw the blanket over her. What the...? She turned. Mikuo lay next to her, fast asleep. It was still early, so there would be another hour or so until the guards came to drag them away to work. But... Why was she on his bed? Under this piece of cloth? She kicked it off and stretched, shaking her head. Her eyes hurt for some reason, and her throat ached. "Ugh... Wh..." She turned to the boy, still sleeping.

Curiously, she moved herself over to him. He seemed blissfully unaware that she was awake, and more relaxed than the agitated figure she had seen trying to fall asleep the other night. She looked at the cloth she was still holding in her hands. Did a guard really drape this over her? Or... Her eyes widened, and she crept backwards, knocking over the buckets at the corner of the cell. Her eyes flicked back to him.

He didn't make a sound. And why was she on his bed, anyway? She leaned down, trying to get a closer look at his face. He seemed perfectly fine, a tired little boy, exhausted after a hard day at work. Her ears pricked backwards. She didn't like it. She didn't like this feeling. She didn't know what it was, and it bit at her until she scurried away from him, slumping in a corner of the cell, as far away from him as possible.

Stupid feelings.

...

"Miku? You look exhausted. Are you feeling alright?" The Kin said nothing and flopped down onto the wet sand. Gakuko glided towards her smoothly, her long skirt swishing around her thin legs. Miku curled up into a ball, hiding her head between her knees so that all Gakuko could see were messy teal twin tails. The tails bobbed slightly, and a muffled noise came from underneath them.

Luka pushed herself onto the sand and bent downwards to look at her face, but Miku turned round, her hair falling over her shoulder. "Something isn't right... Miku, dear, are you okay? It doesn't seem like it."

"Hmm... Are you going to tell us what's wrong?" Gakuko patted the girl's head, and the tails bobbed again. "Oh, where's a Baku when you need one? You'd better at least look like you're doing work, or the guards going to come over. And we don't want that to happen, do we?" Miku looked up, and Gakuko pulled back in surprise.

Miku looked at the purple-haired lady, her blood-shot eyes sunken. She seemed horribly ill, upset and angered at the same time. "Miku!" Luka exclaimed. "What's the matter with you? From what I know, that couldn't have been caused by lack of sleep."

Miku shook her head, putting a hand on her forehead. "I... I don't know..." She croaked, her voice brittle and gravelly. "I just... My eyes.. Hurt. I don't know why. I didn't do anything."

"Well, I don't know if this might work, but I think I have some jars of Horoma around..." Luka proceeded to swim away before Gakuko waded into the murky water quickly and grabbed her arm.

"No. That's no use. I don't know if this will work either, but..." Luka stared at Gakuko blankly. She continued, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Look. There's something wrong with the girl - not just now. But before this... Yesterday. She's not just a Kin, Luka. She's something much more. More powerful. I don't know what, but there's something going on about her. I'm going to try and get her to tell me what happened."

Luka tilted her head before shooting a glance at the girl, curling herself up into a ball again. "I know you're a Siren, but... Will this really work? I'm sure you're a good one, but.. We both know the Siren's powers don't work on females that well."

Gakuko held up a finger. "Nobody said impossible." And before Luka could stop her, she pulled her long skirt out of the water and seated herself in front of Miku. "Alright, I'm going to need you to look into my eyes... Just for a moment. Okay? We'll be able to figure out what's wrong..."

"No. And you don't want to."

"Please, Miku. It won't hurt. Luka's there, and... You'll be fine." Miku shook her head, and Gakuko grabbed her chin, forcing her head upwards. "Sorry, girl. But I need to find out what's- Ah-" Her eyes caught Miku's, and she released her head, falling backwards. "A-Aaahh..."

Luka jumped to her side immediately. "Gakuko? What's the matter?" She took the Siren's arm.

"I-I'm fine..." Gakuko huffed, rubbing her arms as though she was cold. "I just... Remembered something unpleasant. From a long time ago. I... I don't know why."

Luka frowned, and turned to face Miku, but the Kin shook her head. "Strange... Gakuko... What was that 'unpleasant' memory?"

The Siren gave Luka a weak smile, fiddling with a strand of her long purple hair. "Oh... It's just something I did from a long time ago. You know, the usual Siren things. Sailors, singing, a charming smile... And then drowning. And stuff. You know. Although... That one incident was a little more... Or a little less pleasing than the others. It was a long time ago, and I forgot what happened exactly. Somehow it makes me feel ashamed, but..." Her eyes widened, her voice lowering. "I... Remembered."

Luka turned back to Miku, who was now lying on the ground, sulking. "Huh. You're right. There's just something about that girl... I suppose she's a little feisty. But I don't think there's anything really to be worried about."

"Hm. I suppose you're right." Gakuko nodded, standing up and trudging into the water, her feet brushing against the weeds and twigs at the bottom of the pool. "Now, about yesterday."

"Yes..." The Lumiere pushed away several vines that were clinging to a tree, revealing another drawer filled with more jars. "I managed to get the ingredients to the Fumupor, but it'll take a while before I can get everything to combine together. In the meantime, there's always Upelkechen..." Discussing silently with Gakuko, the Kin, seated far away tried to push a boy out of her mind as she attempted to focus on their conversation.

I wanted to write more, but I think that's about it.

Ooh I know what's going on. Ahahaha.

Also, Upelkechen - it's a thing. I forgot how to spell it, though. If I'm right, it's the cake from Alice in Wonderland. If I'm not, then I just spelled it wrong.