Chapter 12

Several footsteps pattered through the rain. About four or five sets of them to be exact. However the sound was lacking as there had been more before. Another two sets actually. Kaito, though usually slow was the only one who picked up on this. He looked back.

"Aren't they a bit too much behind?" he asked, stopping where he was. Mikuo stopped too and soon the whole group came to a halt.

"Yeah I don't see them. Maybe we should regroup." Mikuo said walking back to stand next to Kaito. Luka pushed her way through them.

"It'll be okay, let's just get out of the rain." Luka shivered after speaking. She looked out into the distance. Heavier clouds were moving in. The way it was raining now would be nothing compared to the rainstorm on it's way.

"But isn't it strange to you?" Kaito asked with much skepticism. "We're not gonna go back for them but it just feels...wrong. Len isn't one to fall behind." Luka huffed and tossed wet hair over her shoulder. Kaito flinched out of fear she'd kick him again, but she didn't. Len was still a light topic to mention among the group.

"Yeah well, he's also not one to follow," Luka criticized wishing to move on.

"I also have a bad feeling...," Mikuo admitted wary apparent in his voice. He narrowed his eyebrows and focused hard ahead.

"He's with Miku so don't worry about him. She knows we're heading back I purposely left her with him after all."

"I thought she was tired," Mikuo said staring quizzically at Luka. She rolled her eyes at him.

"You do know this is Miku we're talking about, right?" Luka said, she rolled her eyes again before a new voice pushed its way into the conversation. Teto stepped forward to join the group but she looked worried.

"Um, don't mean to trouble anyone but...where's Rin?" Quickly everyone glanced around. Rin really wasn't with them. However that left a new problem; Where had she gone?

"She's not here," Luka said, glancing left and right. She walked back up the mountain road for a bit and called out. She didn't receive a response.

"We can't leave now," Kaito said. He started trudging back up the mountain. "We need to go back for Rin." Mikuo caught up to him.

"Maybe she just fell behind," Teto added optimistically. Luka shook her head, shaking Teto's comment off. Though she hated to admit it, Kaito was right for once. They shouldn't have gotten so far behind. Worry raced through Luka but she steadied herself. Miku was with Len. Surely that dolt wouldn't let something bad happen to her.

"We're turning back. You're right Kaito, something is off." Luka walked quickly past Mikuo and Kaito. She didn't get very far because Mikuo grabbed her hand and spun her around. He rested his hands on her shoulders holding her tightly.

"Calm down okay? I'm sure they're alright." There must have been something in her eyes that relayed how she was feeling. She couldn't help but worry about Miku. She'd left her there after all. If anything happened...if she never saw Miku again.

She felt a hot rush of incoming tears and blinked them back. It had been several years since she'd ever cried. Everyone knew her as someone with no weaknesses. There was no way she'd let them find out now.

"Luka?" Mikuo called, his voice pulling her from thought. She brushed Mikuo's hands off her shoulders. She was strong and didn't need his reassurance. She repeated this to herself so she didn't break. She'd be strong, cruel, and harsh all for Miku. She wouldn't let her down.

"Don't put your hands on me Mikuo." She forced him back a little. "Everyone we're going back right now!" she called over her shoulder, striding forward to take the lead. Luka made her slight distance ahead of the group though they still followed close behind. "I...shouldn't have left those two alone."

In another region of the mountain down below in the trees, rain fell relentlessly against the ground. It was slippery and wet. The texture of the mud that of quicksand. Cold rainwater collected in puddles and murky pools where the dirt was deep enough. It still ran soaking downwards into anything that got in its way. Pushing anything that attempted to stop it. Water sloshed against the rocks and dripped off shrubs. Up above on the mountain trail it drifted down curves. Gaining more momentum the further down it travelled. The scene in some retrospects was horrific and trees above faired no different.

"-ke up...," Miku cried patting a cold hand against Len's cheek. "Open your eyes Len, please just open them." But as time drew on she became increasingly skeptical of his survival.

Earlier she'd made the stupidest mistake of accidentally confessing to Len. It hadn't been on purpose, just kinda found its way out of her mouth in all the frustration. If she hadn't said anything, hadn't realized what she'd said and pushed him away; they wouldn't be in this situation.

She'd shoved him back, completely forgetting what side of the path she was on, and that the trail they'd been climbing had said it had no railings. Len had reached for her and she'd been pulled close to him. He'd held on tightly as they fell. Making sure he was the one facing downwards.

They'd been lucky enough to tumble through treetops and that alone had stopped the speed of most of the fall. However that didn't change the fact that due to how he'd been holding her, she'd landed on him.

The fact that he'd ripped through trees and pines, snapping branches. Getting cut, getting scraped and slashed and stabbed by various elements of the forest. That also didn't change the fact that bright red was leaking down the side of his face and she who'd been the cause of it all, hadn't received a single scratch.

She'd done her best picking out slivers and needles. She'd brushed leaves and twigs off him and herself. But she felt useless because no matter what, Len was still bruised and bleeding and unconscious.

"Len wake up, I'll do anything for you so please..." Still he didn't move. There were a lot more things she knew she had to do if someone was injured but her mind was frantic. Nothing useful passed through it but her worry for Len, and even that wasn't very useful.

She stared at him, still there, horrifically motionless.

"St-Stop...Stop messing around Len!" Miku screamed. Hot tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks. Several dripped onto him. But she still received no motion. "Please..., Len if you only do one thing for me ever again...let it be this. Just open your eyes."

He didn't seem as if he needed air but CPR was the only thing that crossed her mind at that moment. In the back of her mind a nagging voice told her it wouldn't work. She'd try anyway. It wouldn't work but she prayed that it would.

Without any hesitation she leant down. Pushing matted hair away from her face. She sucked in air and breathed it into Len. Several tries later he was still paralyzed there. Miku didn't try to hold back her tears anymore, she just let them flow.

Every tear burned as it slid down her cheeks. Len would never wake up again and she hadn't really gotten the chance to be with him. Her hands gripped into fists so tight she bore into her skin. It was painful, but nothing compared to the stinging agony in her chest.

All those years she'd wasted liking him from far away. Alone. Glancing at him every so often as they lived separate lives. She regretted it, every last day she'd waited to tell him. She wanted to look straight at him and say it clearly but that would never happen now.

She couldn't just let go. She hadn't heard his response, hadn't gotten an answer. She placed her hands by his head, leaning over him. If he moved even slightly she needed to see it.

"Len please, yell, insult me, be mean, be rude or obnoxious or whatever but just open your eyes...please...I really need you right now. What am I supposed to do...?" she sobbed, fresh tears spilling onto his face. "I love you..." Then she repeated it again multiple times over and shed further tears.

She'd done this to him. She'd have to tell his family and his friends. Most of all she'd have to tell Rin. The thought of that alone was heartbreaking. Rin was such a fragile girl. So sweet, so innocent. She didn't remember Rin ever being around Len in their childhood, but there were a great deal of things she hadn't known about him. Even back then. Even now. She'd never get the chance to know him, not anymore.

"Air..." Miku's eyes widened, she stared at Len's face. If her mind wasn't playing a cruel joke he'd just spoken. Before she could process anything else she found herself pressed against him. He drew air from her, life from her. His hand cradled the back of her neck, while his other hand wrapped around her, resting on her right shoulder blade. Almost pinning her to him

The rain was still heavy, soaking them both. It had already drenched them. Even though water droplets formed and dripped off Miku, she was no longer cold. Her senses eradicated any thoughts of worry or doubt. Of fear and guilt. Her heart felt like it was beating again and her body flamed. Len was alive, and that was all she needed.