Work Text:
Snow.
Kanade watches as the small, fluffy white specks drift down from the sky out her window, only illuminated by the dim light of dawn.
She was currently at her desk composing another song in her computer program, only pausing to watch the first snowflakes in awhile descended to Earth. Last time it snowed, it was around New Year’s, and the temperature grew a bit warmer. But now, it was cooler again, and it was snowing once more.
Snow. Mafuyu…
Ever since Mafuyu had confessed to the group about her true self, Kanade dedicated herself to writing a song that would save her, and help her friend finally find her true self.
Kanade had composed many songs desperately, driven by her rather unhealthy savior complex. She often deprived herself of sleep, forgot to eat sometimes, and even didn’t clean her room, which was always in disarray, all set aside in Kanade’s motivations. She even tripped sometimes or knocked down the multitude of various things scattered about in her bedroom.
Well, thank god she had Honami to help her housework.
Honami was very passionate about helping Kanade out, and Kanade was very grateful for her help. Without the kind dusty rose-haired girl’s efforts, Kanade didn’t know what would’ve happened if she continued to neglect herself- probably further ignoring her own health, well… that would’ve been terrible.
Kanade realized she’d been spacing out, lost in her thoughts. She blinked, looking at the snow that had started to form a thin blanket on the ground, and turned back to her computer.
“What time is it…?” Kanade muttered, grabbing her phone to check it.
“11:23 p.m…?”
Wait.
“Today’s date…”
January 25th.
She stared at the words on her screen, trying to remember. Wasn’t Mafuyu’s birthday in January? Trying to remember, Kanade opened her calendar.
It was there. And with that, a sudden realization hit Kanade.
“Um… Mafuyu,” Kanade asked the taller girl, fiddling with her hands. They were both in the empty SEKAI after Ena and Mizuki had left to take care of something important. It felt weird to ask the question in her head, but Kanade decided to go for it anyways.
Mafuyu faced the silver haired girl with empty eyes drained of light. “What is it?”
“If you don’t mind me asking… um… when’s your birthday?”
She blinked. “…January 27th. Any reason… why?”
“Oh, uh, just- just curious. Mine’s February 10th.”
Mafuyu didn’t say anything in response, and Kanade’s expression shifted.
“Is something wrong?”
“No, just thinking…” Mafuyu murmured. “We.. we both have winter birthdays.”
“Oh, that’s true,” Kanade responded.
There was silence between the two of them, and Mafuyu had turned to stare blankly at the ground. Kanade felt awkward, and she proceeded to
look down at her feet.
“Um,” she started, scuffing her foot on the ground, “How are you feeling? Are.. you doing okay?”
“…I don’t know.” Mafuyu responded blankly, as always. “It’s… It’s hard for me to grasp the vibrancy of emotions. They feel heavy, but it also feel empty, like my aquarium…”
Kanade’s heart wrenched at her melancholic tone. Even though she knew it already and heard it plenty times before, it still made her feel tragedy and sympathy for Mafuyu. She’d sworn that she’d help the lyricist with her music, and that someday, she might be able to save her with a song.
Because… well… Kanade cared very much about Mafuyu. Perhaps… even a little much more than she’d originally intended.
She was at a loss for words- she didn’t know what to say now.
“I- I should probably go,” she muttered. “Are you going soon too?”
“No… I’m gonna stay here for a bit longer…”
“O-okay. I’ll see you soon.”
And Kanade left the SEKAI, leaving Mafuyu alone with her thoughts.
“I need to get her something…”
One day later…
“Huh? Seems Mafuyu is gone again,” Mizuki stated.
Kanade stiffened, pausing while putting a note down in her composing program.
“I just logged on,” She clicked the Nightcord program, and she saw that only Mizuki and Ena were online. “Sorry I’m late. I’ve been composing. She’s not here?”
“Yep,” Ena replied, popping the “p”. She sounded like she was drawing something, though Kanade couldn’t see from her camera in the video call. “Isn’t it her birthday again?”
“It’s the 27th,” Mizuki answered, leaning back in their chair, arms stretched out. “Dang, New Year’s felt like a long time ago already… I got a present for her, but I think I’ll give it to her when we meet later. I’ve got some stuff to take care of. I bet she’s in the SEKAI.”
“Mhm,” The brown-haired girl responded. “Kanade, you can go to the SEKAI if you wanna.”
Kanade frowned, reaching for her phone. Something seemed off with them both. “You guys aren’t gonna go see her?”
“I feel like she needs some days to just think about everything. Need to give her some space. Plus, she’s not alone. Miku’s there too, y’know.”
Mizuki hummed in agreement. “Kanade, you can go.” They smirked, tone turning sly. “By yourself, if you want.”
“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean!?” Kanade spluttered, nearly dropping her phone in surprise. She felt her face start to become uncomfortably warm.
“Ha! I knew it!” Mizuki yelled, sitting up and pointing at the camera, at Kanade. “You do care a lot about her, don’t you?”
“It’s not what you think!” Kanade protested, embarrassed.
“She’s in denial,” Ena snickered playfully, still stroking her pen on her drawing tablet. “You’re so obvious, K. Anyone could tell at a glance.”
“Eugh…” Kanade groaned, sweltering. She did feel like she was closer to Mafuyu than anyone else… especially the way that her heart jumped when even just being around her. “We’re just friends, nothing else,” she muttered.
“Friends,” Mizuki repeated, and they narrowed their eyes. “I am highly skeptical of that.”
“I swear, I’m not!” Kanade retorted, then sighed, looking down. She wasn’t going to argue.
Then she thought for a moment, and shot up in her chair.
“Huh... Hey, Mizuki, what’s this ‘important business’ you have to do?”
“Wha-?” Mizuki now sounded genuinely puzzled.
“Ena too, right?” The artist froze in the middle of her pen stroke, and she looked up at the camera.
“It’s none of your business,” She objected, but her voice faltered a bit. “It’s personal. You… don’t need to worry about it.”
“Are you sure?” Kanade raised an eyebrow. “You two have been hanging out an awful lot lately.”
“Whenever Mafuyu and I leave the voice call, I can see that you two are still online. And you always leave the SEKAI first. When we all meet up together as a group, you guys are always there. First, always together. What’s up with that? Isn’t there something between you two??”
“H-hah?!” Ena’s voice hitched, suddenly raising an octave. Mizuki made a choking sound. They both were obviously hiding something, and were now caught off guard. Kanade had to suppress a giggle.
“That’s- I-I told you, it’s none of your business!!”
Kanade breathed out. “Knew it,” she had a slight smug smirk on her face in triumph, knowing she’d won.
Defeated, Mizuki and Ena were now immensely silent, with both of their faces away from the camera and shockingly, extremely red.
“J…just go,” Ena muttered. Her voice was unnaturally quiet, for how assertive the artist could be. Mizuki didn’t say anything in response.
“A-alright,” Kanade gave a small laugh. “I’ll see you guys soon.”
She opened her playlist, her finger clicking on the song. A moment later, instead of the darkness of her room, surrounding her was the bright and empty SEKAI.
I wonder where she is.
Miku was wandering the SEKAI humming to herself as usual, strolling around the empty world with seemingly no end.
It was something she did to keep herself busy when no one was visiting. Otherwise, Miku would just be doing nothing, standing around for who knows how long.
As she marched by a multitude of broken guy towers sticking out of the ground, she heard the sound of weeping close by.
“Hm..?”
And then, Miku recognized it. It was Mafuyu, having another unfortunate breakdown.
Mafuyu. I have to find her , Miku thought. She’s gonna be all alone while she’s in need.
Worried, Miku searched around the towers desperately. Until the weeping sound became clear, and the virtual singer turned to find Mafuyu huddled on the floor.
She was next to a wall of a pyramid with a guyed tower hanging over, casting a shadow under it and creating an alcove. Her legs were brought close to her body in a fetal position with arms covering her face to hide her tears.
Miku went over to her, standing right outside the alcove casted in darkness.
“Mafuyu,” she spoke ruefully. “…You… okay?”
Mafuyu was sniveling. “Mi….Miku…”
“You’ll be alright,” Miku kneeled down next to the purple haired girl and gently stroked her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s my fault…” Mafuyu exhaled slowly. “It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”
The virtual singer stared down at Mafuyu with her solemn heterochromatic eyes.
Whenever Mafuyu released her emotions, Miku always made sure to be there by her side when it happened, just so she wasn’t alone, and didn’t have to be judged by anyone for how she was.
“I want to disappear,” Mafuyu whispered, her voice shaky and small. “I want to disappear, but at the same time, I can’t…”
“Mafuyu…” Miku murmured.
“Kanade,” she continued. “Kanade… she’s desperate. Desperate to save me. She says that it’s enough to keep living if she needs to save me. But she doesn’t need to do all that for me. She doesn’t need to rely on me to keep living. She doesn’t need to sacrifice herself her own health, for that.
“Kanade’s aware, and yet she keeps doing it. Not only her… everyone else too. Why… why ?”
Mafuyu shuddered, and brought her limbs in as tight as possible.
It was a somber, earnest feeling that hanged in the air. Mafuyu occasionally sniffled, breaking the silence, and Miku continued comforting her.
.
.
A little later, Mafuyu’s breathing had calmed, and her body became relaxed, in contrast to her state when Miku had found her.
She was asleep. Miku saw that her face was stained and red from her crying.
She closed her eyes too, still sitting next to the sleeping girl, intending to meditate while keeping Mafuyu company.
“Kanade. She’s doing it…
…because she cares about you more than anything.”
Kanade had finally found Mafuyu, after searching the SEKAI for awhile.
Miku was sitting next to her under the alcove, her expression calm and tranquil, and eyes closed. She looked like she had comforted Mafuyu again, and was now sitting in silence.
Mafuyu, in turn, was asleep next to her on the ground, all in shadows. Even the usual dim light in the empty SEKAI was a bit darker.
As Kanade walked up to them, Miku opened her eyes to meet Kanade.
“…Kanade.”
“Miku, is… Mafuyu okay?”
“She was just in need of support,” Miku replied composedly, as she always was. She was always calm in times of distress. “I found her here, and decided to comfort her.”
Kanade smiled a little. “I’m glad…”
Miku blinked at Kanade, then looked at Mafuyu’s sleeping form, and slowly stood up and stepped aside.
Kanade was confused. “Huh?”
“Now that you’re here,” Miku tilted her head at the silver haired girl in curiosity. “Do… do you want to sit by her? You seem… as if you want to.”
“O-oh, um,” Kanade felt her face burn a little. “Sure, I can.”
Miku nodded. “…Thank you. I’m sure…she’ll appreciate it…”
Miku walked away around the pyramid, out of sight. But Kanade was sure that the vocaloid was somewhere still close to them, playing cat’s cradle.
Kanade returned to Mafuyu’s sleeping form on the ground, admiring her long, curly purple hair that was visible. She wondered why she always tied it up.
I bet it’s really soft…
Suddenly feeling nervous, Kanade inched into the alcove next to Mafuyu, and sat down next to her. She reached out and felt the lyricist’s hair with the tips of her fingers as the girl slept.
“It is,” she murmured out loud, and froze, catching herself off guard.
Wait… what?
Kanade was about to retreat her hand back, then thought as she stared at Mafuyu.
Mafuyu…
She’s… she’s desperate to find herself.
Like me.
I wonder why she was here with Miku just now. It looked like she was having a breakdown of sorts.
Slowly, Kanade instinctively reached for Mafuyu’s hand, and tenderly took it in hers.
At her touch, Mafuyu made a small, indiscernible noise. Kanade flinched slightly when her hand was suddenly encased in a tight grip.
“W-warm…” Mafuyu murmured softly, almost inaudible.
She moved slightly, snuggling against it, and Kanade almost felt like she would explode from how flushed red her face was.
She swallowed. Mafuyu was now up against her, also while absorbing in the heat that radiated off of the silver haired girl. It reminded her of the snow she saw outside her window a few days ago.
Oh, that’s right… I almost forgot.
Gingerly, she pulled out her phone and unlocked it. After scrolling through her files, she found the song she composed the day before, and clicked on it.
The device played back the tune, reverberating in the SEKAI as if it was in a cave. But it felt secure, even in the empty world, and Kanade felt herself relax, her eyelids sagging.
She didn’t remember the last time she slept- she had worked on the song, pulling an all nighter, and by the time she finished, it was already light out. She hadn’t slept since then.
But now, it was finally catching up to her, and Kanade slipped into unconsciousness as the melody resonated.
“Happy… birthday, Mafuyu…”
Mafuyu stirred awake, feeling cozy and warm.
She realized, rather abruptly, that Miku was gone, and she had a soft hand in her grip.
She sat up, rubbing her eye, still doozy and vision blurry. She must’ve fallen asleep while Miku was sitting by her.
But, as she blinked and her vision cleared, she realized that the virtual singer was gone, and in her place,
was Kanade.
She heard a melody being played, and saw that it was coming from Kanade’s phone.
She peered at it. There was no title to it, just a file being played in a loop.
Mafuyu listened to it, recognizing it as one of Kanade’s compositions. She had never heard it before, and assumed that the composer had created it recently.
Unlike all the other songs that Kanade had showed her as a result of her savior complex, this one was different. It carried an air of serenity, familiarity, and it seeped a sudden warmth in her body.
It made her smile, even just a tiny bit.
She turned towards Kanade, who was fast asleep against the wall and head drooping. Mafuyu noticed darkish circles under the shorter girl’s eyes.
She must’ve been overworking herself again, Mafuyu blinked. Kanade…
She thought back to how Kanade neglected her own health often, and her earlier mental collapse about the sacrifices she made for everyone’s sake.
The feeling of it was heavy and dull. It still lingered in the back of her mind, but currently overtaken by Kanade’s music.
She knew it was her birthday. But even with all the gifts she receives at school for her popularity, it made little impact. She still accepted the gifts with good intentions, however, it never dug deep to make something in her shift.
But Kanade’s song, it made her feel more warmth than anything.
Mafuyu quietly moved to sit right next to the silver haired girl, the angel with her blue eyes the color of a vast open sky, clear and bright.
She gently set her head on Kanade’s shoulder, still holding her hand.
Mafuyu was like winter, hence the meaning behind her name- but there was more.
Snow.
It held beauty, a sight to behold when it danced in the air.
It was like Mafuyu’s facade, the one she displayed with a smile when around others, someone who was admired, beautiful, and perfect in every way.
But as breathtaking as the snow and winter was, in truth, it was freezing.
Deadly even.
Winter was deep, cold, and numbing, as Mafuyu’s inner feelings were held.
So cold, she didn’t feel anything.
Her emotions were all locked away, frozen.
Empty.
Only hollowness remained, like the vast landscape of a field covered in snow.
There was nothing- an endless white that stretched on.
But, with Kanade, she was the warm, cozy tenderness that happened when a song resonated deep in people’s hearts.
It made them feel at peace, free of their worries, and made them smile.
And to Mafuyu, Kanade was a compassionate, empathetic melody that played, melting her own frozen mind little by little with its power.
A warm melody in the midst of the harsh winter.
And perhaps, one day, the ice in Mafuyu will be fully melted.
Finally setting her free.
“Thank you,
…Kanade.”