Chapter 8

"Rin~ Come on, it's this way!"

Rin pushed a bundle of leaves out of the way and ducked underneath a low-hanging branch, following the sight of her teal-haired friend's back with her eyes the best she could.

"Where are we going anyway, Miku?" she asked, frowning slightly as she swatted a bug away from her face.

Miku looked over her shoulder at Rin with a grin and a mischievous glint in her eyes. "It's a secret, silly~ If I told you, it wouldn't be any fun."

"You know I'm impatient," Rin whined.

Miku chuckled softly. "Just follow me. It's not that much farther, so just put up with it for a little longer, okay?"

"Alright..." Rin agreed a bit reluctantly.

She had been following Miku for probably over fifteen minutes now. It was a very sudden thing, one moment they were in the living room of the teal-haired girl's house, the next Miku was dragging Rin by the hand into the forest in her backyard. They seemed to be following some sort of rough trail that looked more used by animals than humans, and Rin couldn't help but feel a little nervous about being out here like this. What if something bad happened? No one would ever find them all the way out here. Still, Rin trusted Miku more than anyone else in the world and would follow the girl to the ends of the earth. Honestly, they might as well have been doing just that.

After a few more minutes of making their way through thick brush, they came upon a clearing. Warm spring sunlight poured over the light green grass, a sharp contrast to the dim forest they had previously been walking in. Wildflowers of various hues dotted the ground in clumps, and across the clearing were bushes that looked to be full of blueberries.

"What is this place...?" Rin breathed in awe.

Miku spun around and giggled lightheartedly, before coming to a stop in front of Rin and spreading her arms out wide. "Welcome to my secret hideout!" She then placed a finger to her lips with a mischievous grin and winked at Rin. "But it's a secret, so don't go telling people about it, alright? It's for our eyes only~"

"Wow! It's so pretty! How did you find it?!" Rin exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement and child-like curiosity.

"I followed a bunny here," Miku replied proudly, as if she had achieved something great.

"A bunny?" Rin repeated, tilting her confusedly.

Miku nodded. "Mmhm! Bunnies are cute, so when I saw it, I wanted to go after it! And, eventually, I ended up here."

"Whoa..." Rin looked around the clearing again, grinning from ear to ear. "Maybe I should chase bunnies from now on."

"Rin, it's not a good idea to run off on your own, you know," Miku stated.

"Huh? But isn't that what you did?" Rin asked, confused.

"I'm older, so it's okay for me to do stuff like that," Miku said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, don't go starting that again," Rin pouted and puffed out her cheeks like a little kid.

Miku chuckled at Rin's expression and ruffled the younger girl's hair affectionately, earning quite a bit of protest from Rin. "Oh, you know I'm just teasing you, Rinny~ The real reason is I don't want you getting hurt if you go off by yourself, alright?"

"I'm not a little kid, you know. I can take care of myself just fine!" Rin argued.

"Yes, yes, Rinny's a big girl now, how could I forget?" Miku said with a small laugh.

"Hey! You sound like you're mocking me or something!" Rin exclaimed.

Miku ignored her friend's protests and walked over to a small bunch of light pink and white flowers. She kneeled down and began picking some of them while humming faintly to herself. Rin stood off to the side for a moment, still a little upset at being treated like a little kid, but she soon grew curious as to what her friend was doing. Rin walked over to where Miku was and looked down at the flowers in the teal-haired girl's hands.

"Whatcha doin'?" Rin asked.

"You'll see," Miku replied simply.

Rin pouted slightly again; she hated waiting. Still, she sat down beside Miku and watched silently anyway. It seemed that Miku was tying the flowers together in a way Rin didn't quite understand, but she found it kind of interesting. She really wanted to know what Miku was doing.

"Okay, Rin, sit still for a moment," Miku said after a few minutes.

Rin did as she was told and watched as Miku placed the ring of woven flowers onto the blonde girl's head. Confused, Rin reached up to gently touch the flowers, which had very soft petals.

"What's this for?" Rin questioned.

"It's a flower crown, silly. It looks really good on you too," Miku smiled brightly at her friend.

Rin returned the smile with a small giggle. "You think so?"

Miku nodded. "Yep!"

Just then, they heard a rustling in the bushes to their right. They both turned around quickly to see what it was, and found a deer staring at them with large, brown eyes. The two girls stared back at it in awe, sitting in stunned silence, before the creature eventually looked away and began grazing. Miku and Rin exchanged glances, then grinned broadly.

"How cool is this?" Rin whispered excitedly.

"The coolest! Even I haven't seen that before, and I've been here tons of times!" Miku whispered back, just as excited.

Rin looked back over at the deer. "Wow... it's really pretty..."

"I think it's a sign," Miku started.

Rin sent her a puzzled look. "A sign? Of what?"

"Of our friendship. Something like this has never happened before, but when I brought you, it did. That's got to be a sign of something," Miku replied.

Rin hummed thoughtfully and leaned back, using her hands to prop herself up. They were both silent for a moment before Miku spoke again.

"Hey, Rin, let's make a promise," she started.

"For what?" Rin asked, curious.

"To be together forever," Miku answered.

Rin chuckled softly. "Miku, we don't need to make a promise for that! Of course we're gonna be together forever!"

"I know, I know, but just stick out your pinky anyway," Miku stated.

Rin extended her pinky finger toward Miku, and the teal-haired girl linked Rin's finger with her own.

"Now, it's a promise," Miku said with a smile.

Rin smiled as well. "It's a promise."

"-in. Rin. Hey, Rin!"

Rin's eyes fluttered open slowly to see IA leaning over and shaking her awake. A scowl immediately found its way onto the blonde's face at the sight of her pink-haired classmate.

"What do you want?" Rin asked coldly, though she still sounded a bit groggy having just woken up.

"Well, for one, you were sleeping in class, so I woke you up before Ms. Luka could notice and scold you again," IA started. Then, after pausing for a moment, she continued. "Also, you were crying in your sleep..."

"Huh?" Rin sat up in surprise and touched her cheek.

Sure enough, it was all wet, and there were a few small puddles on her desk where he face had been. Now that Rin thought about it, her eyes kind of stung too. She had no clue why she had been crying, but then she remembered the dream she had been having during her nap. "We'll be together forever" she had said. Obviously "forever" wasn't as long as she had thought.

"Damn it..." Rin muttered to herself as new tears started falling.

IA looked at her with a mixture of confusion and a hint of concern, but for once Rin was hardly aware of the girl's existence. She covered her mouth with her hands to try and stifle the sobs, but that was hard to do with how hard she was crying. Of course, this attracted the attention of her fellow peers and teacher, and soon enough all eyes were on her as hushed whispers went around the room.

"Hey, what's wrong?" a girl sitting at the desk in front of Rin asked gently as she turned around and touched Rin's arm in a reassuring way.

"Don't touch me!" Rin shouted, jumping up and sending a harsh glare at the girl, knocking her chair over in the process.

The girl flinched and let out a scared squeak at this. Silence filled the whole room for a minute, before even more hushed whispers started up again. I hate this, Rin thought to herself, covering her mouth with her hand again. I hate this so much. I feel sick. What should I do? What can I do? In a sort of panic, Rin ran out of the classroom as fast as she could. She could hear Luka calling for her to come back, but she didn't listen of course. She figured Luka would probably come chasing after her like she did with IA that time a few days ago, so Rin only began running faster. She needed to find a place where she could be alone, if at least for a few minutes, no matter where it was. She felt like she was suffocating, and it was just as terrifying as it was painful. I hate this, she repeated again. I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!

A/N: Like I said, here's an early chapter for you all! When I first wrote this one, I was feeling kind of bummed, so that's why poor Rin is all upset... I don't really know if I made this clear or not, but just in case you didn't know, Rin's dream was actually a memory of one of the times she had spent with Miku when they were younger. I'd say she was about nine or so when the event took place, that's why she was so adamant about not being called a little kid (because really, aren't we all that way when we're around that age?). I'm sorry if the ending seemed a little rushed, but I promise the next chapter will make up for it. Please continue telling me what you think and giving me support, you all are the best :)

Have a wonderful day/night/whatever~