SIXTH SEKAI

Chapter Two: Surely That's Gonna Leave a Bruise

The sun that filtered through her windows was bright, so bright she couldn't possibly imagine opening her eyes. Was that creepy email just part of a dream? It was hard to believe. Trying to turn off a blinding computer screen in the middle of the night was not a pain so easily made up.
The wind was blowing hard this morning, it was so loud she could hardly hear herself think. The girl begrudgingly rubbed her eyes and began to arise from her bed. Something was strange though. As she opened her eyes, she saw the brilliant white floor several yards below her approaching her at top speeds. She wasn't in her bed, and it wasn't a dream. She was, in fact, falling.
Falling?!
She scrambled to grab something, anything, but it was no use. This... nothingness was filled to the brim with, well, nothing. She impulsively slapped her hand on her forehead. This day couldn't possibly get any worse, or rather, it couldn't possibly get worse after she hit the ground at maximum velocity. She sighed deeply, crossed her fingers, and braced for impact.

Miku put a finger to her chin. Where was she exactly? She had never been to this place. It was very similar to the Empty SEKAI, yet somehow... Emptier. That said, it didn't have the same sad feeling associated with it. she gazed up at the light pink hue in the sky. Perhaps this was a newly emerging SEKAI? Her heels clacked on the shiny white floor below her as she paced back and forth. She tried to retrace her steps to get some answers. She was practicing with Rin, Len, and An just a few moments before. She went to leave the café, but was instead whisked away to... Wherever this place was. Were Rin and Len also taken here? Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a loud thud behind her. Her head whipped around to see a small figure with pink hair sprawled on the floor behind her.
"Ow..." They muttered. Their arms shook as they attempted to peel themselves off the glassy floor. Miku snapped out of her shock and ran to help this unfortunate individual.
"Are you okay?! Where did you even fall from?! We're practically in a void!" Miku said in a panicked tone. The girl flipped herself over and shakily pointed upwards.
"Sky..." She said weakly. She was very sore, but, miraculously, It didn't seem like she was gravely injured. Miku's eyebrows were knit tightly together as she glanced at the sky that this girl claimed to have come from. The longer she stayed in this godforsaken void, the stranger things became.
"Here, stand up," Miku said, supporting the girl's arm, "Let's find a way to get out of here. Is the song called 'Untitled' still on your phone?"
"Untitled? On my phone? What are you talking about...?" The girl pinched the bridge of her nose and turned to face the woman that saved her.
"Listen, miss, I never-" She stopped. Teal pigtails...? That outfit, that face! Her jaw hit the floor.
"Hatsune Miku?!" The blood drained from her face. She took her arm out of Miku's grasp and quickly backed away.   
"Hatsune Miku..." The girl seemed to be zoning out.
"Uh, yeah, didn't you...?" Miku trailed off. The girl swayed back and forth and then fell flat on her face. Miku deeply inhaled and stared blankly at the sky.
"It's okay, Miku. This is fine. You will get out of here. Crypton gives their hardest battles to their strongest soldiers, right?" Miku attempted to reassure herself to no avail. A quiet sob snapped her out of her thoughts. 
"Wow... Hatsune Miku... Miku... Wow... Actually this is the greatest day of my life..." The girl smiled as tears of joy ran down her face. Miku cringed. 
"Did you hit your head or something when you fell? Come on, get up already," Miku demanded, her patience running thin. The girl was more than happy to obey. 
"Say," Miku started, "I didn't catch your name before."
"Oh! I, uh, I'm..." The girl paused, then furrowed her eyebrows, "That's strange. I can't seem to remember."
"Holy crap! You did hit your head!" Miku exclaimed in shock. The girl shook her head. 
"No, no, if anything I broke my nose, it's all okay. Still, it's weird isn't it?"
Miku looked up and down the girl's figure, just as confused as she was. 
"Well, I don't know if this is it, but your jacket says 'RIKA' on it," Miku stated, pointing to her chest. 
"No, that can't be right," The young teen put a finger to her chin, "Or maybe..? Yes, actually that does sound right."
She stood up straight.
"You can call me Rika," she beamed brightly, "You have no idea how incredible it is to meet you, Miku." 
Suddenly, a bright white light began to fill the void. Rika's shoulders drooped.
"Again?! Ah, for f-"
The light engulfed them, and then they were gone. 

"Home?! Ah! I'm home! Finally!" Miku was on the verge of tears, "Rin! Len! I can't believe I missed you so much!"
"You 'can't believe it'? What's that supposed to mean? Huh?" Rin crossed her arms and pouted. 
"I'm not sure what the fuss is about, you were gone for at most ten minutes," Len said with a wry smile. 
"Yeah, we thought you were still at Meiko's café. What happened?" Rin asked, looking at Miku inquisitively.  
"Ugh, it was horrible, I don't even want to get into it, "Miku began to get into it anyway, "I was in this weird pink place, and there was this girl who didn't know her name, then she decided it was going to be 'Rika' because that's what her shirt said, and she fell from the sky, yadda, yadda, yadda."
"Say, Miku," Len pointed behind the pigtailed teen, "By 'girl-named-Rika', you wouldn't happen to mean that girl, would you?"
Miku whipped her head around to find Rika on her knees, hands folded together, and tears streaming down her face. 
"You again?! How are you even here?!" Miku couldn't possibly contain her shock.
"Wow... Kagamine Rin and Len... I'm so lucky..." Rika said, overjoyed. Miku gave an exhausted sigh. This girl... She was really something. She had a feeling that the next few days would be quite eventful, to say the least.

~~~

I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, actually. Not sure why, but I was really out of it. Hopefully I'll be back in swing while writing the next one, I'll make sure it's not at boring as this one. Hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! 

- Rey