Work Text:
"So, what do you think?"
Kanade looks at Mafuyu, hope and determination in her eyes. Ena and Mizuki hold their breaths.
Slowly, Mafuyu's face breaks into a smile.
"I love it," she says, and Kanade begins to cry.
Miku watches as they all hug each other. She's happy. She's definitely happy.
Still, though… There's something heavy in her heart.
That day, she waves goodbye to Kanade and her friends, knowing that this is most likely the last time she will do so.
///
“They haven’t come today either, huh.”
“Mhm…”
Luka and Miku are sitting together, drawing on the ground with some crayons Ena left behind on her last visit. It’s been about a month now, and they’ve run out of green, so Miku’s trees are purple instead. Luka’s begun to draw Meiko and Rin sitting next to Miku’s forest.
Neither of them says it out loud, but it won’t be long until they’ve run out of crayons altogether.
“Miku?”
Luka’s voice takes her out of her own thoughts, and Miku realizes she’s been staring at nothing for several minutes.
“Ah… Luka. Sorry. I got lost in thought…”
Luka chuckles, which makes Miku frown a bit. She’s never been able to truly understand what goes on in Luka’s head, but it feels like Luka reads her like an open book. It’s somewhat unnerving.
“It’s not good to keep thinking about it,” Luka tells her, smiling slightly. “Let’s just finish our drawing so Meiko and Rin can come and see.”
Miku stares at her purple trees. Luka’s right, but…
“I can’t help it… I can’t help thinking, that maybe… they’ve just been busy.”
Luka says nothing to that, her smile stuck in place.
They both know deep down that access to the Sekai is impossible now.
“Besides… Rin will definitely say it looks nothing like her, like last time…”
Miku’s attempt to change the subject seems to work on Luka, who pretends to pout.
“That Rin… she’s too spoilt on Ena’s drawings, so she won’t recognize anything below her level. I don’t stand a chance with such powerful competition!” Luka then gives an exaggerated sigh, before dropping her yellow crayon and lying on the ground.
Miku resumes coloring the leaves of her trees. She does so for a while, and just as she’s starting to forget Luka’s presence, the other girl speaks up.
“That song… it was pretty amazing, don’t you think? For it to move Mafuyu so deeply… Kanade’s songwriting has improved quite a lot.”
When Miku turns around to look at Luka, she sees her smiling with pride, the way a parent would when hearing their child got the best grade in their class.
“Yes…” she answers. “It was a beautiful tune… So beautiful, it could save even Mafuyu, who had lost all hope...”
Luka’s smile seems to waver for a split second, but it happens so quickly that Miku wonders if she imagined it.
“Yeah. She was smiling so bright right then, there’s no doubt in my mind about it.”
The two sit together in silence again, the only sound filling the empty void that is their Sekai being the distant singing voice of Rin accompanied by Meiko’s harmonies. Miku remembers a time when Mafuyu’s cries were all she could hear, and the loneliness was unbearable for them both. Between Mafuyu’s friends being allowed in the Sekai and the other singers appearing one by one, things had become more lively as time went on. Miku doesn’t know how to feel, knowing those times are over.
“We knew this would happen. From the very beginning, right? So, why are you so upset?”
Miku turns to Luka at those words. Though that ever sly smile still sits on her face, there’s a pained expression over it. Miku doesn’t know whether Luka was speaking to her, or herself. Perhaps a bit of both.
“I’m going to miss them...”
“...” Luka bites her lower lip.
“I just wish… I got to see them smile more.”
Luka chuckles at that. Unlike earlier, it rings hollow and bitter.
“It’s quite unfair, don’t you think? That we only get to exist so long as they suffer. As soon as their problems are resolved… as soon as they find happiness… we are no longer needed.”
“Luka…”
“Hey, Miku.” Luka sits up, and there are tears in her eyes. “Do you think if I feel sad enough, I’ll get my own Sekai, too?”
She tries to laugh, but it sounds more like choking. Miku just stares in shock, as the mysterious and carefully composed Luka she’s come to know crumbles on herself, and she feels tears welling up in her eyes too.
She opens her arms, and Luka barely hesitates to accept the offer, before burying her face into Miku’s shoulder and tightening her arms around her small frame.
“We… we should feel proud,” Miku sniffles, “that because of us, they were able to find their happiness. Even if… we never see each other again… and they forget about us... that part will never change...”
She feels Luka’s fingers dig into her sides.
“So… knowing that our existence made others happy… we should feel happy in return…”
“I know that.” Luka struggles to say, her throat tight. “I know. I just wish I got to share that happiness with them. To experience even more fun times with them… I wanted to help Kanade write more music. I wanted Mizuki to tell me more about fashion in the real world. Ena could have taught me how to draw better, and Mafuyu could have smiled so many more times… and I’ll never get to see it. None of us will.”
Miku says nothing, and she keeps holding Luka, as much to comfort her as to comfort herself.
“Luka… I’m sorry…” Miku starts apologizing softly. “I was so caught up in my own worries… I didn’t realize this was hurting you just as much. You always seem so… unaffected… by everything. I shouldn’t have assumed…”
“It’s fine.” Luka’s voice is barely a whisper. “Can we get back to drawing? Please.”
Miku nods, and lets go of Luka. She does her best not to scrutinize her face, not to notice the way her eyes are red and her nose is running, and she picks her purple crayon up again, as Luka does the same with her yellow one.
Miku realizes something, while Luka focuses on coloring Rin’s hair properly. Luka’s been drawing a lot recently, and all of her drawings have included Rin in some way, despite the girl’s rejection of each of them due to Luka’s lack of skill. Miku thought Luka was simply teasing Rin, as she tends to do with people, but, maybe…
“Oh.”
Miku looks at Luka at the sound.
“I’m out of yellow.”
It’s no wonder, considering how many times she’s colored Rin’s hair these past few weeks.
“There’s no way Rin will want to even glance at this now,” Luka continues. “Oh well.”
Miku frowns.
“You should… still show her.”
Luka eyebrows raise in surprise.
“I think it’ll make her happy, even if she denies it…” Miku finishes, clenching her fists.
“... Maybe.”
“Let’s go find her, Luka. And Meiko, too.”
Miku gets up and holds out her hand to Luka, all shaky determination. Something has started to shift inside of her the more she and Luka talk, and there’s a sense of urgency rising in her heart that tells her they don’t have much time left. Luka must be starting to feel it as well, since she nods and takes Miku’s hand, the two of them leaving in search of their two companions.
///
It isn’t difficult to find them. They follow the sound of their voices through the Sekai, eventually stumbling upon the two of them huddled together, sharing a pair of earphones, singing along to a familiar melody.
“A Future Written As Regret…” Miku breathes out as Meiko notices them and stops singing. Rin notices them in turn, and the two take out their earbuds.
“Miku. Luka.” Meiko greets simply.
“Hey.” Luka greets back.
There’s a brief moment where no one says anything, until Rin breaks the silence.
“You guys have felt it too, haven’t you.”
Miku gulps, and Luka smiles tightly. Meiko just rolls her eyes..
“Of course they have. Otherwise they wouldn’t have come to get us.”
“Actually,” Luka says in an overly cheerful tone, “I came here for Rin. I have something to show her.”
Meiko sighs. “Is it another one of your drawings?”
“Probably.” Rin deadpans. “Let’s hurry then.”
///
By the time they get back to the drawing, the Sekai has started to feel smaller. They can’t see as far in the horizon anymore, and Miku worries that the drawing will be gone altogether, but it still sits there, waiting for them.
“Miku and I worked hard on this,” Luka says with pretend pride, “so you better enjoy it while it lasts.”
Miku expects Rin to dismiss the drawing like every other time, but the girl just looks at it, as if she’s seeing one of Luka’s scribbles for the first time. Then, after some time, she walks up to it, and picks up a pink crayon.
“It’s missing some important people.” She just says, and begins to draw.
Luka catches on quickly, and she joins her, picking up a purple crayon. Miku looks at Meiko questioningly, and the woman sighs, but nods and follows their lead, as does Miku.
Working together, the four of them finish rather quickly. By the end, along with the drawings of Meiko and Rin are six other people, smiles on their faces. It’s messy, their artstyles clashing with each other and the coloring done in a rush, but clearly in front of them are their doubles, along with the members of Niigo, all surrounded by a forest of purple trees
“This looks better,” Rin mumbles, smiling shyly. “Thank you for trying to comfort me all these times, Luka. Your drawings are more akin to a child’s than what Ena could do, but… thank you.”
She blushes at her own words as Luka reaches out to ruffle her hair. Meiko is still looking at the drawing.
“What’s wrong, Meiko?” Miku asks.
“... I missed some red on Mizuki’s hairtie.”
Meiko takes the red crayon and fills it in carefully. Miku holds back on commenting that all of the drawings have coloring issues. Mizuki is the only one with near perfect accuracy, having been drawn by Meiko. Miku smiles softly.
“... You really care a lot about Mizuki.”
Meiko hums absentmindedly. “I guess I do.”
Despite the uninterested tone of voice, Miku doesn’t miss the way her mouth curves up slightly.
She looks back and sees that Rin is now batting her hand at Luka, forbidding her from touching her hair, while Luka smirks at her. Miku observes them fondly as they begin to bicker.
Then, Meiko tugs on her sleeve.
“Miku. I finished the red.”
When she looks at Meiko’s face, her eyes are shiny with unshed tears.
“It was our last crayon.”
Miku immediately feels it.
The others must too, because suddenly she can’t hear Luka and Rin talking anymore. She looks, panicked, at her friends who are equally afraid of what is about to occur.
“So… this was it, huh…”
Miku looks at their drawings, corpses of used crayons all around them.
“Those crayons… they were all that was keeping us here… our only memento…”
She turns back to the others, her heart pounding. She can feel the Sekai disappearing faster and faster, closing in on them and their drawing, the last testament to their friendship with the members of Niigo and each other.
“Everyone…” Miku begins to speak, willing her voice not to waver. “Thank you for being my friend. I had… a lot of fun, spending every day with all of you. Wherever we will go now, I hope… we meet again, one day.”
Meiko’s eyes finally begin shedding tears. Rin sniffles loudly, and Luka sobs. Miku herself feels heavy tears rolling down her cheeks.
Despite that, in these last moments, they are smiling. Despite their fear, despite their sadness, despite everything, they are smiling.
They did it. They saved all four of them.
And now, it is time to rest.
“Goodbye, everyone.”
///
“Ooh, Ena, this looks nice!”
“Huh? Stop looking over my shoulder while I’m drawing!”
“But, you’ll show us your drawing anyways, right? So it’s not a big deal if I take a peek now~!”
“It definitely is!”
“I think the waiter is glaring at us. You two should try to keep it down.”
“Mizuki’s the one who started it, so don’t scold me, Mafuyu!”
“I’m not the one who’s yelling in the middle of a restaurant~”
“But you’re the one making me yell!”
“That drawing looks nice, Ena.”
“K-Kanade! It’s not done, so it doesn’t look that great, but… I’m glad you like it.”
“Hey, how come Kanade got a totally different reaction out of you!”
“I agree with her, though. Ena’s drawing… there’s something comforting about it. It’s hard to describe.”
“... Oh. Um, thank you, Mafuyu.”
“I’m only saying the truth.”
“Mhm, I definitely see it! It’s weird, it feels like I’ve seen it somewhere before. Something about it is so familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s a happy feeling though! Kinda like nostalgia.”
“Yes, I feel the same as you, Mizuki. This is quite the piece. I can’t wait to see it fully done. Though, I have a question.”
“Oh? Sure, what is it, Kanade?”
“What inspired you to color the trees purple?”