Chapter 16

Kaito was sitting in his living room when a knock on the door caught his attention. He knew who it was even before the door opened, but he decided to ask who was there anyway.

"It's me. Can I come in?" Meiko's familiar voice answered.

Kaito gave her permission, and the door opened to reveal his brown-haired friend. Meiko entered the apartment, shut the door behind her, and sat down on the couch beside Kaito.

"How are you feeling?" Meiko asked gently.

It had been two days since that night in the park, and Meiko had decided to give Kaito some space during that time. She figured it was best to let him think about things on his own so that he could fully come to terms with all of it.

Kaito shrugged airily. "As fine as I can be, I guess."

Meiko smiled faintly. "That's good to hear. I was worried you wouldn't handle all of this too well, but it turns out you're coping pretty well." Then, she added jokingly, "I guess you aren't a crybaby anymore, huh?"

Kaito rolled his eyes, but a small smile had found its way onto his face. "Oh, shut up. Quit teasing me about that already."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," Meiko laughed. She paused for a moment to let her laughter subside, then she asked, "So, have you gone to see Miku recently?"

"Not since the day you told me about her dying soon," Kaito replied, veering his gaze to the small coffee table in his living room. "It's weird, for some reason I'm kind of afraid to go see her. It's like... I don't know, it's like I'm not sure what I'd say to her even if I went."

"I think that's probably pretty normal, honestly. I mean, I wouldn't know what to say either," Meiko pointed out with a small, reassuring smile.

Kaito sighed. "I guess. Still, I'm not really sure what to do. I know I can't mope about here forever, but that's honestly all I feel like doing."

"Hmm..." Meiko hummed thoughtfully before getting an idea. "Hey, why don't we go see Miku right now? Visiting hours are still going on, aren't they?"

Kaito blinked in mild surprise at the suggestion. "Yeah, they are, but don't you hate hospitals? I thought that was the reason why you never go in to see Miku."

"Well, that's true, but I think I can stand it long enough to go with you. After all, what kind of friend would I be if I wasn't there with you for moral support?" Meiko responded with a slightly sheepish smile.

"Not a very good one, I guess," Kaito replied, a faint trace of amusement in his voice.

Meiko may have been a brash and sometimes even selfish kid, but she had grown into a rather mature and caring adult. Kaito tried to remember if she had been this way before Miku's illness developed, but it was hard to tell. After all, they were just at the beginning of adulthood even now, what with Meiko being twenty-one and Kaito being a few months younger at twenty years old. Honestly, before Miku was hospitalized they were both still acting like kids.

"So, let's get going. If we don't hurry, it won't be visiting hours anymore," Meiko stated as she got up from the couch.

"Alright then," Kaito agreed, standing up as well.

They exited Kaito's appartment and headed off toward the hospital, which was in reasonable walking distance. Autumn had passed by in a blur, bringing the oncoming winter on cool breezes and cloudy skies. Kaito wondered just how cold it would get this year, but it was still too early to tell. He figured that as soon as November came around, winter would begin to truly show. Kaito glanced over at Meiko as they approached the doors leading into the hospital and saw that she looked a little apprehensive. As soon as Meiko noticed his gaze, though, she hid her apprehension with a smile. Another brave front, obviously. They made their way up to Miku's room, and, taking a moment to ready himself, Kaito opened the door. The familiar image of Miku's figure outlined by pale afternoon sunlight streaming through the window entered Kaito's vision, causing him to hesitate in the doorway. That long teal hair, those blue eyes that used to be so bright, why was it so painful to look at all of a sudden?

"Hmm? Who is it?" Miku asked, her voice as sweet and lilted as always.

"I-It's me, Kaito," Kaito replied, having to clear his throat in the middle of speaking to keep his voice steady.

A smile immediately spread across Miku's face at this. "Kaito! You didn't visit me yesterday or the day before that, so I was getting worried. Usually you come to see me every day."

"Yeah... Yeah, I know. Sorry about that," Kaito sighed.

He walked into the room fully with Meiko following after him. Miku noticed the extra set of footsteps and looked over in the direction they came from.

"Who's with you, Kaito?" Miku questioned curiously.

"Meiko. You remember her, right?" Kaito responded.

"Of course I remember Meiko! I haven't been here that long!" Miku exclaimed with a laugh. "But wow, I haven't seen you in a while Meiko. How have you been? Still looking after my brother?"

Meiko chuckled. "I've been good. And yes, I'm still looking after him."

"That's good. We both know Kaito can be pretty helpless on his own sometimes," Miku commented.

"Hey, don't you start teasing me too!" Kaito said in exasperation.

Miku giggled; it was times like these that she missed the most. Pointless, meaningless sibling mockery and annoyance that amounted to nothing. Even with how stupid it was, Miku loved it all the same.

"You know, Miku, your brother's actually been surprisingly strong recently," Meiko started.

Miku looked up at her and blinked. "Really?"

Meiko nodded. "Yep. It's a shocker, I know, but he's been taking some really bad news considerably well."

"Bad news...?" Miku echoed, tilting her head in confusion.

Kaito exchanged looks with Meiko, before he sighed and sat down on the edge of Miku's bed. "Meiko told me about the results of your latest test... about the fact that you don't have much longer to live."

Miku's eyes widened at this, but Kaito continued before she could speak.

"That's the reason why I didn't visit you for a few days. I was just trying to wrap my head around everything, and I think I'm still trying to understand it. A world without you in it... god, I can't even imagine that," Kaito shook his head toward the end and fell silent.

Miku didn't say anything for a moment, then she smiled faintly, almost sadly. "I meant to tell you myself, but I guess Meiko beat me to it, huh?"

"It was sort of an accident. Sorry," Meiko apologized sheepishly.

"No, it's fine. I honestly wasn't even sure how I was going to tell him anyway. It's not exactly a topic you can just easily bring up in a conversation," Miku laughed dryly, devoid of humor.

There was a strange expression on her face, a mixture of relief and sadness. Kaito wasn't sure why she had such an expression, but he thought maybe it was because talking about the deadline on her life made it seem much more real than before.

"I guess you're right about that," Meiko agreed with a soft sigh.

This was also one of the reasons Kaito didn't want to visit Miku after hearing about the news. The room had such an awkward, depressing atmosphere, it was almost maddening. He realized that he was sick of these sadness-filled visits. Kaito just wanted his last few months with his little sister to be happy, so he could look back on the time with more good memories than bad.

"Alright, enough of this," Kaito suddenly said, drawing the attention of his two female companions.

"Huh?" Miku blinked in confusion.

"I'm tired of these sad conversations. If we can't change what happens to you in the future, then we might as well change our attitudes. There's no use moping about it," Kaito stated plainly.

Meiko and Miku stared at him in surprise for a moment, then they both broke into amused smiles.

"Well, would you look at that? Kaito's turned into an optimist," Meiko commented with a grin.

Miku laughed softly. "Wow, you just keep surprising me today, Kaito!"

Kaito huffed indifferently. "Cut it out, you two."

"Okay, sorry," Miku apologized, though she was still smiling. "But you're right, you know. About changing our attitudes."

"Well, there really isn't much for you to change, Miku. You've been really optimistic this whole time," Kaito pointed out.

Miku's smile faltered slightly, but fixed itself so quickly it was almost impossible to notice. "Yeah, I guess that's true, huh?"

Kaito shook his head in bewilderment. "Seriously, it's unbelievable how after all this time you've remained so cheerful, Miku. I almost envy you."

"It's just what I do. After all, I still have to look after you as your loving little sister," Miku laughed a bit sheepishly.

"Hey, who's the adult here?" Kaito said, exasperation beginning to show in his voice.

Miku merely chuckled again in response. Suddenly, a look of rememberance formed on Meiko's face, and she turned her gaze to Kaito.

"Oh, I just remembered that there's something I need to do," Meiko started as she began to walk over to the door. She paused in the doorway to send the two siblings a small smile. "It won't take me long, but if you finish up here before I'm done then wait for me in the lobby, okay, Kaito?"

"Sure, but where are you going?" Kaito asked.

"I need to go apologize to someone," Meiko replied vaguely then exited the room with a wave.

The door shut softly behind her, leaving Kaito and Miku to exchange puzzled gazes before continuing their pleasant conversation.

A/N: Does this qualify as a happy chapter? I really hope so, because I wanted to write a nice, happy scene between these three (especially since we've never had any interaction between Miku and Meiko before), but it's kind of hard to turn a hospital visit into a fun time. Anyway, the updates for this story are looking a little more consistent now, but I don't want to say I have a schedule because I know I'd end up ignoring it eventually. You can probably expect another chapter to be posted sometime around the end of this month (I think I posted three chapters last month, and that sounds like a reasonable number).

As always, please tell me what you think of this chapter or the story so far, and have a wonderful day/night/whatever~