Ongoing Cycle

60

[Y/N] had said days, but it had been weeks since the last time she left her bedroom. Curling in the corner of her bed and the curtains drawn in, making the room pitch black, she laid there. At this point she was pretty much dead, as she was barely moving and barely living. The only times she went outside of this room was to eat, use the bathroom, or shower. Other than that, she wouldn't even go to school. Her foundation...the building blocks of who she was...of being a confident, top student was falling apart. Without her parents, she just didn't give a shit about education anymore.

Miku had called her countless of times, but she would shut her phone off. Kuro would check in with her every single day, but she would barely give him a response. Her thoughts were consuming her, eating her alive. If it hurt this bad to lose parents who she had hated, then how much would it hurt if she lost someone she truly loved? What if she lost Kuro or Miku? So she came up with the best solution: isolate herself from the world.

Her plan didn't go too well. Today, as she did her normal daily routine of laying dead, the door slammed open and she painfully shied away at the brightness. Standing there at her doorway was Miku, who looked terrifyingly angry.

"This has gone long enough," she demanded, taking large strides toward her. She yanked the blanket away, leaving [Y/N] to tumble down onto the floor. "You're coming with me."

"L-leave me alone," she muttered, her voice raspy from barely talking.

"Hell no. I want to see you get your act together," her friend snarled. "You've grieved for long enough. Those bastard parents of yours didn't deserve you grieving for them in the first place."

"How'd you even get in?" she asked, grasping her head. She was beginning to feel really dizzy.

The dark head shrugged. "The door was left unlock. I think Kuro must've gone somewhere, because he's not home."

A hand firmly held out in front of her and she slowly grabbed onto it. With great force, Miku pulled her up from the floor and there she stood on her two feet. Before she could protest some more, her friend led her out of the bedroom. The girl kept on walking and would not loosen her grip on her wrist as they headed to the front door of the house.

The sunlight beaming in the sky, her breath hitched a little. It was actually warm outside. The sky a light blue with flutters of clouds floating, it was proof that spring was here. A gentle breeze swayed the trees and birds flew in the sky, singing melodies to their friends. She could barely recognize the view. Had she been stuck inside for that long already?

She inhaled a deep breath of fresh air and felt a little better already. She looked over at Miku to see that her friend was analyzing her. Miku grew red for being caught staring. She clapped her hands together in determination. "Okay, lets go to a coffee shop and talk," she suggested.

[Y/N] instantly felt light-headed at the thought of going to a public space. With people milling about in a tight closed area, she could already imagine how trapped she'd feel. Other people was the last thing she'd want to deal with. She had practically seen no one in the last month. "Can we...go somewhere more private?" she said to Miku. She paused and had an idea. "I know a place we can go instead."

To her surprise, Miku easily agreed. "Okay. Lead the way."

She went right into the woods and immediately her dark-haired friend gave her a doubtful look. Thankfully though, she did not say anything and followed right behind her. Maybe Miku felt pity for her, so she chose not to burst her bubble.

A few minutes of silence filled between them and [Y/N] gazed at the changed scenery. Green leaves were budding on the edges of the bare branches and flowers were slowly blooming. Just looking at them calmed her. Maybe her friend was right; maybe this talk was needed. Her paranoia of losing people was beginning to drive her mad.

They reached their destination and [Y/N] dropped her jaw. She knew that no matter how many times she would go here, the lake would never fail to take her breath away. With the ice already melted away, the water returned to its original form. The blue liquid sparkled in the sun and the ripples created by fish underneath was done beautifully. She glanced at Miku to see the girl just as amazed as she was. "Oh! This is gorgeous! It looks like something out of an art piece!" she exclaimed.

"Indeed," she said softly, padding over to a tree. She gracefully placed herself onto the ground and leaned against the stabled bark.

"Do you mind if I explore a little before we start talking?" Miku asked her sheepishly.

She didn't blame her for wanting to do so. After all, the girl was quite adventurous and daring. If she saw someplace as interesting as this, she would no doubt want to look around a little. [Y/N] nodded encouragingly, which got her to grin excitedly.

Her friend wasted no time, darting away towards the meadow that looked so peaceful. She watched the energetic girl and her heart squeezed a little. She wondered if she could ever feel as carefree again. The sight of Miku running around reminded her of their childhood. It made her wish they could go back to the days where the two girls would spend hours outside together, catching bugs, moths, and toads.

Sighing loudly and closing her eyes to rest a little, she listened into the wonderful sound of nature.

It didn't take long until such peace was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream though.