Hey guys!
Chapter 17 is here, I promised I would update every day this week ;3
This chapter is centered mainly on IA, even a little flashback at the end~!
Well enough of this, :3
Thanks to reviewers as always, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
~Tiruneko ;3
X~17~X
"Miku, come on wake up now." A cold hand taps on Miku's cheek. She moves slightly, but stays asleep. "Come on leek head. Get up." The voice says again, irritated.
Miku sits up very slowly, rubbing her eyes and glancing around.
"Where…?" She mumbles incoherently.
No answer comes. A hand moves Miku into a sitting position and leans her up against something. A wet and soggy thing touches her forehead and a cold liquid trickles down her face. Her eyes strain to see in the bright light.
"I-" She begins.
"Hush." The voice says, wiping the cold rag against her face again.
"Len…" Miku whimpers.
"He's fine. Just way out of it." The voice replies, rubbing at a clot of hardened blood on Miku's cheek. Rin hovers over her, a wet cloth in her hands. Her face shows frustration and exasperation. Her bangs dangle in her face.
Light streams through the car windows, stinging Miku's eyes. A form lies next to her, and behind Rin is IA.
IA puts a chip on her tongue and realizes Miku has caught her eye. She reaches out a chip to the disheveled teal haired girl.
"She can't eat right now." Rin says, taking the chip and eating it herself. "Hand me one of the water bottles IA."
"'Kay!" She cries happily, digging in the backpack and pulling out a water bottle. She thrusts it into Rin's hands.
"Len…?" Miku asks, blinking once and clearing the fog in her eyes. She looks around her, every which direction. Miku sees IA's face, Rin's irritated expression, but no Len. A noise escapes a silhouetted form beside her. Turning her head she feels something snap in the back of her neck. She yelps but still reaches out to the form. "Len!" She almost screams, her hands gripping his shoulders desperately.
"Hey!" Rin yells, grabbing Miku by the wrists and tugging her hands away from him. "Don't touch him, he's still really unstable and hasn't finished healing yet."
The teal haired girl struggles in Rin's grip, muttering Len, Len, over and over.
"Stop." Rin growls, pushing Miku a little forcefully up against the side of the car. Her red shaking eyes don't leave Len's form.
With a grunt Rin takes Miku's chin in her hands, moving her face to look her in the eyes.
Miku stares at Rin, panic flooding into her veins. "I'm going to break every bone in your body, and kill you one hundred times over, until you are a dead shell of a person, tortured by crippling amounts of pain every day." His words flood into her head.
"NO!" She screams, flailing and scrambling away from Rin, pressing herself up against the very back of the car.
Rin stares at her in bewilderment.
IA drops her bag of chips, and crawls over to where Miku shakes. IA sits up right in front of Miku, as the girl sweats and quivers. Her small, pale hand reaches out, and grips Miku's hands in her own. She doesn't break eye contact. A small frown is on her face. She pulls Miku forward a little bit until they're eye to eye. Without warning IA jumps on top of Miku, curling her small arms around Miku's waist. She puts her head on top of the girl's bloody shoulder.
"Rinny is the good guy. She's not the bad guy." IA whispers gently.
Miku sniffles and tears begin to stream out of her eyes and land on IA's head. She sobs and screams, gripping only onto the shoulders of a seven year old.
"They-they-they we're going to- he-he-he was going to-!" She sputters, then just chokes on her own sobs.
IA laughs, only gripping Miku harder.
"Lenny wouldn't let them hurt you, see?" IA replies softly.
Miku nods, tears rolling off of her nose and spilling out onto IA's face.
"But it… this buzzing in my ears won't go away!" She cries louder.
"It will." IA says, lifting her head to make eye contact with Miku.
Rin watches them and utters a dry sigh. Ever since she was young she was bad at comforting people. It wasn't something that ever came easy to her. Whenever she tried to comfort Len in the past, or let alone someone else, she always made it worse.
All I'm good for is fighting. She thinks angrily, climbing back up into the front seat of the car and starting to drive again.
"I-I did this to him. I-I-I!" Miku sobs, clinging to IA like a life preserver.
"No. Lenny did it. He wanted to catch you, or he wouldn't have ran over like that. He just went, woosh and flew off after you!" IA says with a smile and a laugh.
The sobbing girl pushes tears out of her eyes as the car lurches out onto the road.
"But, he won't wake up now, will he?" She cries.
"I think… he will."
Curled up in the front seat a little while later, staring out the window, IA drifts into a light sleep. Her hands curled under her face, her legs tucked under her chest, her head leaning against the glass of the window, warmed by the afternoon sun.
"Come on!" A voice cries eagerly, grabbing the three year old by the hands. They had played and played until exhaustion, and finally caught each other.
A boy with silver, almost white hair, tugs IA up the side of the very tall hill.
With the rising sun catching her hair, she dug her feet into the grass mumbling some excuse.
"Don't be such a fraidy cat!" That boy cried, pulling her behind him.
The more they ran the lighter their footsteps became. The boy let go of her hands, picking up the ball and tossing it to her. IA throws her hands over her head as the ball rolls past her.
She mumbled some cowardly excuse.
"Fine we can play tag again!" The boy with green and blue eyes cheered, suddenly chasing after the little girl on their small legs.
"No, no!" She cries covering her face and running to the edge of the hill.
Only it wasn't a hill.
The boy follows. Without warning IA breaks, curling into a ball and rolling away from the top of the hill, she tumbled down and heard him scream. He had continued to run.
As fast as her little legs let her, she had scrambled to the edge of the cliff and looked off to see the boy floating and spinning in the air. His hand outstretched for hers.
But she was too afraid to look. Instead she turned to run. But she had slipped anyways.
Their tangled screams carry to the present, snapping IA awake.
"You okay?" Rin asks, glancing into the passenger's seat.
IA nods, pressing her hand against the warm glass.
Her small lips open to whisper something to the sky.
"Huh?" Rin asks, turning to IA.
"Nothing." She says with a smile and a nod, staring out the window at the road and the glaring sun.
Fan Favorite Character Count:
Vote for your fav characters via PM or review!
Miku: 5
Meiko: 2
Rin: 6
Len: 2
IA: 5
Luka: 0 (poor tuna!)
Team Luka Vs Meiko
Support the cat fight! X3
Team Luka: 5 votes
Team Meiko: 3 votes
Team "Rocket": 3 votes
"Dream Team": 1 vote
Team "Destroy Lilly": 2 votes
Team "Pancake" (because I love pancakes): 2 votes
(Fan teams in "")