Uninstall

chapter 16

Neru was waiting on the steps, ready for Haku's return. Her brother's message was still racing through her mind. The nerve that Haku had!

"What are we doing here?" Miku asked, sitting next to Neru.

She had followed Neru here without so much as a second thought. After all, Neru had turned up uninvited and then just stormed off in the middle of eating dinner Miku just had to know what was going on. Neru didn't answer her though, and Miku thought it best to not press the matter just yet.

"So... Kaito mentioned you were pretty into Len's song."

"Who was the girl who sang after him?"

Neru had almost forgotten about the mysterious boy at karaoke. She wanted to hear more of his music, but right now there were slightly more important things to focus on.

"Oh, Rin-chan? She's really fun, we should all hang out soon!"

"Yeah..."

A car was pulling into the driveway. Miku watched intently as Neru stood up. The blonde calmly walked over to the car, too calmly. She opened the passenger side door and pulled a white haired girl out of the seat.

It all happened so fast. Neru threw the girl to the ground and raised a fist. The girl cowered, shielding her face with her arms. Miku still couldn't see who it was. Before Neru's fist made impact, a man grabbed her into a tight embrace.

He also had white hair and held Neru in such a way that she couldn't move her arms. She struggled against him. He was too strong. The girl stood ujp and Miku recognized her as the school's favorite punching bag: Yowane Haku. Which would make the man... Hone Dell.

With nothing left to lose, Neru began spewing hatred. She was practically foaming at the mouth, only getting angrier each second she couldn't escape. "You're useless," she spat.

"Let's just calm down," Dell said firmly, "We can talk about this."

"Go to hell, traitor. I never should have agreed to get involved with either of you."

"Neru, please just let me explain!"

"Only my friends call me Neru. You didn't really think I'd be friends with a loser like you, did you Yowane-san?"

"I-I..."

"You're such a useless loser," Neru replied with a cruel laugh.

She didn't care what she said anymore. They betrayed her. They gave her hope and then tore it away. Justice had to be served; Neru was going to hurt them. The only meaning to anything anymore was Benzene.

Tears were welling in both girls' eyes and Haku ran into the house, barely processing that Hatsune Miku was on her porch. Dell let Neru go once the front door was shut, and the only thing he could say was, "I'm sorry."

"Fuck off. Let's get out of here Miku-chan. We've wasted enough time with these idiots."

Miku obliged and the two girls left. Dell leaned against his car and pulled a cigarette pack out from his pocket. He knew that Neru would hate him, but it was just as hard as he imagined it would be.

Dell lit a cigarette. And then another. Half the pack was gone before he went inside to check on Haku. He would forever live to regret this choice.

The whole house was silent. Eerily so. Dell called out to his sister. No response. Perhaps she had gone to bed? Each step Dell took made the floorboards squeak.

He opened her bedroom door; she wasn't in there. There were only two rooms left to check, his room and the bathroom. Neither room had the lights on. Dell's room had it's door closed and he moved towards it to check.

As he passed by the bathroom, he noticed that the door was slightly open. His hand touched the door and pushed it gently. What he saw made his stomach drop to the floor.

Haku was collapsed on the floor, wrapped in the scarf she had forgotten to return to Akaito. An empty pill bottle was clutched in her hand. Shit. How long had she been like this?

He knelt beside her. She wasn't breathing but still had a faint pulse. Very faint. Shit. How much time did she have left? Not long by the looks of it. How could Dell have been so stupid? Why did he let this happen? God dammit, he had only been smoking. He was such a disappointment.

With shaky fingers, he called for an ambulance. He held his sister in his arms, as he awaited for help. It was the only thing he could do other than pray.