~~I fail miserably in this, I can't update daily...

Well, in case anyone's waiting (uh I'm an optimist, but can't help it, I doubt it), sorry~

Enjoy the next chapter... I'm sleepy...

Chapter 10

I really forgot my main purpose of going to Miku's house, right? My mind is too full of things. Miku sure has a lot of mystery and things I never know before.

The real purpose: to ask her opinion of love.

Going straight to the point, I stare back at her and ask bluntly, "Miku-chan… What do you think love is?"

Probably isn't a good idea. She whips her head to give me a surprised look and she pauses her drawing. And all of that happens too fast, "What…?" She asks, her face red.

I don't even realize that I have my mouth hung open, getting a reaction I do not expect. "W-what's wrong?"

She quickly looks away from me, "I-I really didn't think you'll ask something l-like that, R-Rin-chan…" She stutters.

I am sure, feeling bad for throwing a question like that to her. From what I can see now, there's no way she would give a straight answer to the question.

Try to think before saying… Is what I say to myself.

Like an 'awkward-moment-breaker', the house bell suddenly rings. Miku quickly runs away to the door, mumbling a "I'll get it." I can barely hear and disappears from the room just like that.

I am left alone in the room, so I decide to look around though at the end, my gaze lands on Miku's sketchbook. She left it open anyway, so I move closer to it and start to flip the pages open.

Everything looks so… Great. And for me, wishing to be able to draw that good is too… Not saying impossible, but it's going to be really hard. I'm not talented in drawing anyway, no need to force myself to do it.

Then suddenly I hear Miku exclaims loudly—it sounds more like a growl, though, "What do you want?"

"M-Miku-chan? What's wrong with you? You've changed…" The other voice says, though I can only hear it faintly.

I dash to the front door, and find Miku glaring at the one who just rang the bell, a boy around our age with blue hair and scarf wrapped around his neck…

And I can see his gaze ends up on me, but he doesn't say a word either to Miku or me.

Miku doesn't give him any reply, so he takes the chance to speak, "We haven't seen each other for a pretty long time, eh?" He tries to chill the raging Miku down by bringing up a light topic.

Somehow Miku's gaze softens, and she looks away, "Y-yeah. Why don't you come in and have a seat… You don't mind my friend being here, right?"

"No, not at all…" He says with a slight laugh, giving that friendly impression.

I slowly walk back to the living room and sit on the couch, then start to stare at nothing in particular. Then Miku and the boy—I suppose he's her friend or something—enter the room shortly after I do.

After everyone is seated, Miku starts the conversation. "So… Kaito-kun, this is my friend, Kagamine Rin."

Instantly, he has that confused and surprised look before getting back to his previous face and says, "Nice to meet you Kagamine-chan! I'm Shion Kaito, Miku-chan's friend from junior high, I guess."

...I guess, he said?

"I mean, Miku-chan 'disappeared' shortly before the graduation. I just find it out lately that you didn't move away…" He explains, the latter part is directed to Miku. "I thought both of you moved away somewhere far since in your message you said he got hospitalized… Actually your house is still here."

Miku gives him a slight glare and answers sternly, "That's right."

He sighs, "But I found it hard to track you, since I don't think my mails reach you—did you change your email address? When I can't call you at all, Miku-chan, it always the mailbox I get directed to when I try to call L—"

Again, Miku quickly looks at his direction and gives him a glare. This time, a harder one. I think that Kaito person gets the meaning of her glare and stops talking in instance.

"Okay okay." He says after that while waving his hands, "How are you?"

"I'm fine!" Miku snaps, a bit louder than before. She seems to be hiding something from him and me.

But what? From the way she snapped, it implies that there's something… Wait, her ex-schoolmate? Does that also mean a friend of her friend she often talks about?

Maybe that's why?

"Okay, if you insist so." He says in a weird calm voice, "Then what about him? Since he's not around…"

"Still there." She answers. "The reason… It's not what you think." Miku says. "And what really happened to him is not what you think as well. I thought the left unanswered mails, and missed calls can explain, right?"

He looks at Miku with a look of disbelief, "What do you mean?"

She just smiles—a forced smile, "Maybe if you go to the hospital you can see him. I don't recommend it, though… He… Won't see you anyway."

Me, who have been listening to their whole conversation—I'm not eavesdropping, they're talking when I'm physically visible here—get confused as well with Miku's words that make people think to get the real meaning behind it.

After some awkward minutes engulfed in silence, he stands up, saying that he has to go and leaves the house after Miku lets him.

"And Kaito-kun, I changed my number and address, I'll mail them later." She says at last. "Let's keep in touch again, I'll get over with this."

And I sit still on the couch, not moving even an inch. When Miku comes back after closing the door, the looks at me with an emotionless look.

"And from your look," She suddenly talks, "You probably thought my friend who got into the accident is dead."

Honestly I was, until that awkward talk. I start to think there's another possibility though I don't say anything—I just nod slowly.

"Sorry, maybe my story is a bit unclear." She apologizes. "But to think that I made it sounds like he's dead—maybe because I feel he had died. Though, no, he's still alive."

I really wasn't expecting this until five minutes ago, for real. But she said she feels that he had died…

A fear of losing?

"Barely alive, I mean." She continues with a whisper-like voice. "In a coma."