Neru took another slurp of the leek and lentil soup in front of her without a word. On the opposite side of the table was Miku, sitting with her head in her hands intensely staring at her cousin. Neru swallowed the food in her mouth, and then brought another spoonful up to her mouth, blew on it, then put it into her mouth, and then proceeded to repeat the same action, in complete silence.

…

…

…

…

"So…"

"Miku…"

"I'm sorry, I know you asked me not to bombard you with questions, but I can't help it! You disappeared two years ago without a word, no warning, no indication, you didn't even leave me a note explaining why you had gone!"

"Look!" Neru gritted "I…I just had some stuff to do, OKAY?" She stood up from the table and walked over to the middle of the room. Her hand over her face in an 'I'm not in a good mood' way. Miku looked down at the table and gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry…" she raised her head and stared at her cousin. "Neru… could you please tell me where you went?" Neru dropped her hand from her face, turned towards her cousin, then, after a while, gave a small smile.

"I went travelling!" She chirped "Seoul, Hong Kong, Ha Nôi, I even managed to get to Sydney!"

"Really? What was it like?" Neru shrugged her shoulders.

"Meh, kinda boring to be honest." She walked over and started to get a couple of cups out.

"…So, you went travelling…"

"Yeah!"

"Without me…" Neru's actions slowed considerably.

"Yeah…" she slowly walked towards the coffee machine, gripping her short yellow tie before pressing the button with it. Miku stood up, her tone slightly angry.

"We were going to go to the top level of the Mount Fuji Shopping Tower!"

"Yes, I know we-"

"Together!"

"YES I… know, I know."

"We were going to become superstar idols, and travel the world! So why did you break your promise with me?"

"THAT'S MY BUSINESS! ALRIGHT? IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU IT'S MINE AND MINE ALONE!" Neru turned away from Miku, her hand once more over her face "I shouldn't have come back here…"

"Neru…you're not in any trouble, are you?" Neru turned quickly.

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no, I'm not in any trouble Miku."

"Really?" Miku replied doubtfully.

"Hey, hey, hey." Neru responded stepping over to her cousin, kneeling down and grabbing her shoulders "Cross my heart…" she said doing the action "And if I lie, turned into a Kunekune is how I'll die."

Miku gave a small smile at the childhood recital before Neru stood up and the two of them embraced in a hug. "So, how long are you here for then?"

"Oh, I'm afraid this is just a fleeting visit."

"But you will stay the night? Won't you~?"

"Why is it you're older than me, but you're so immature…"

"Please~?"

Neru smiled as she patted Miku on the shoulder "I'll think about it…okay…?" Miku beamed with happiness, before she had a thought.

"Hey! Wait right here for a second, there's something I want to show you." Miku said cheerily as she rushed past Neru and into her room, searching her draws furiously until she found a small round piece of metal with an equally small chain attached to it. Miku rushed back into the room, only to find that Neru had disappeared. Miku's smile faded away as she lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes as she clenched the object tighter in her hand. "Sayonara, Neru…Thank you for coming to see me…~"