Chapter 9

By the time Rin stopped running, she found herself in the girl's bathroom in the building all the way across the campus from where her class was. She locked herself in the largest stall in the corner of the bathroom and stood in front of the sink as she continued to cry. She doubted Luka would be able to find her in here, so she didn't worry too much about trying to keep her voice down.

"Damn it... why the hell would I dream about that?!" she cursed as she buried her face in her hands.

It wasn't that she didn't want to remember the good times she'd had with Miku, it was more like she couldn't handle it when she did. Thinking about how things were, how things still should be, it made it hard to breathe. It was enough to make Rin's chest feel heavy just by thinking of the frail girl in the hospital, but thinking about how that girl had once been so strong and free-spirited was unbearable. How could someone like that now be so helpless and weak? It wasn't fair; Miku didn't deserve any of this.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

The sudden voice caused Rin to jump and whirl around, wondering who could be speaking to her. Though, she had locked the door when she entered the stall, so there couldn't be anyone behind her, and she didn't see any feet from beneath the gap in the door. Tentatively, she unlocked the stall door and pushed it open just enough to peer through the crack. There was no one out there. Rin scrunched up her face in confusion at this. Though, now that she thought about it, the voice of the person who had spoken to her definitely belonged to a boy, and there was no reason for a boy to be in the girls' restroom, so why...?

"I'm not out there, you know. Turn back around."

Rin jumped again as the voice spoke to her once more, and, slowly, she shut and locked the stall door again before turning around. There, in the mirror, was the same mysterious boy as the one from that time in her bathroom at home. Rin let out a small scream and backed away until her body was pressed against the door. The boy in the mirror sighed softly and shook his head.

"Are you going to do that every time you see me?" he asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Why wouldn't I?! Not only is my reflection completely different from me, but now it's talking too!" Rin exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm not completely different from you. I still look like you, it's just that I'm a boy and you're not," he pointed out matter-of-factly.

Rin fully took in the image of the boy before her and found that he, indeed, did look surprisingly similar to herself. They had the same short blonde hair (except for his was held up in a small ponytail, while hers was down with a few white clips holding her bangs in place), the same bright blue eyes, and the same almost unhealthily pale skin tone (that Rin more or less developed from becoming a complete shut-in over the past year, though even before that she had always been a little on the pale side). Along with that, their facial structure was also practically the same, with Rin's being just a tad bit more feminine. I guess he really is my reflection after all, Rin thought in wonder.

The boy let out a small, amused chuckle. "Looks like you've calmed down a bit. You've stopped crying, too."

"Huh?" Rin was confused, until she realized that sometime during this whole event she had actually stopped crying.

Her cheeks were still wet with leftover tears, and her eyes still felt puffy and slightly uncomfortable, but the painful ache and heaviness in her chest was gone. Though, thinking about it now was causing it to reappear a bit.

"So, why were you crying earlier?" the boy repeated his question from before.

"If you're my reflection, then doesn't that also mean you're essentially me? And that means you should know why already," Rin retorted curtly, narrowing her eyes at the mirror.

He tilted his head slightly. "Who ever said I was you? Just because I'm your reflection and look like you, that doesn't mean I am you. I only have your appearance, not your feelings."

"Even if that's true, why should I explain anything to you?" Rin questioned suspiciously.

The boy shrugged and seemed to lean back a little in the mirror. "No reason, I just thought you might want someone to talk to, that's all."

Rin was silent for a moment after he said this. She hadn't actually talked to anyone about how she felt ever since Miku's hospitalization, not that they couldn't guess already with her nearly constant crying. She figured that even though she was horrible at opening up to and confiding in people, she could at least put her trust in her reflection. After all, who was he going to tell? So, with a sense of lingering reluctance, Rin walked over to the toilet, put the lid down, and sat down on it for a makeshift chair. She may have worked up the courage to spill her guts to someone (albeit, someone who probably didn't even exist), but she was still a long ways away from working up the courage to look at the person while she told them these things. Another few seconds of silence passed by, before Rin took a deep breath and opened her mouth to begin.

"A little over a year ago, my best friend, Miku, was hospitalized with some kind of terminal illness. We'd been the closest friends ever since pre-school, so it really hit me hard when I learned that she's going to die soon. It's just... Miku is, er... was... the kind of person that everyone looked to whenever they needed help or support. She's always been the kindest, most caring person anyone could ever meet. If she saw someone being bullied, she'd stand up for them right then and there without a second thought. Or if a kid dropped their ice cream and started crying, she'd buy them a new one and tell them jokes until they felt better. She was that kind of person. That person that's so selflessly kind and thoughtful that you can't believe they actually exist. Hell, even I sometimes questioned whether she was real or not! But now..."

Rin paused for a moment, feeling a lump form in her throat and constrict her words. Still, she decided to push on despite this. Honestly, it was more like since she had finally started unloading her feelings and thoughts, she couldn't stop.

"Now, she can't even support herself anymore. I know she feels bad about burdening all of us like this, I can see it in her eyes when I visit her, but really she's the only one that thinks she's a burden. All I want is for her to get better, I don't care how long it takes, just as long as I know she'll be able to survive and go back to her old, strong self again. But all I've heard is 'she won't make it' or 'it's only a matter of time before she dies'. Isn't that just awful? Huh, isn't it?"

Rin's voice was rising in volume now as angry tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She couldn't see what expression the boy in the mirror was making, but she heard him give a thoughtful hum.

"Aren't you just denying the inevitable, then?" he asked.

Rin blinked in surprise, before her eyes narrowed into a vicious glare sent in the mirror's direction. "What the hell? I thought you'd at least be on my side!"

"If you wanted me to say something like 'yeah, how dare they tell you she's going to die', then I'm sorry, but I won't do that. Unlike other people, I'm not going to lie to you," he said calmly.

Once again, an expression of surprise found its way onto Rin's face, and she fell silent. She couldn't think of a way to respond to that, so she settled with not saying anything for a few minutes. Then, feebly, as if she were merely a child again, she spoke up.

"You know, I don't mind being lied to, as long as it's less painful than the truth..." Rin mumbled.

"I think most people would agree with you on that," the boy in the mirror said solemnly.

Silence enveloped the two once again as Rin sat there, staring at the floor with a contemplating look on her face. As this happened, without a sound, a figure slipped out of the restroom and headed back to their class, a small frown plastered on their face.

A/N: Wow, this story already has over 20 reviews! Okay, just let me say, thank you all soooo much for all of the support you have given me! My reviewers hear this all the time and are probably getting sick of it tbh, but I'm just so very grateful to every single one of you. Even the people who only read the story and nothing more, I still can't thank you enough! Because of you, all of you, I look forward to updating this story just as much a you all (hopefully) look forward to the updates! I could go on forever with how much I love you guys, but I'm not going to because I'd just annoy everyone *laughs nervously*. So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and please tell me what you think of everything so far!

Have a great day/night/whatever~