The World Went Silent

Chapter 2

Why was she alive? Haku sighed to herself. There was always pain, and more pain, in her life. By now it had become less of a sharp pang, and more of a dull kind of pain that she hardly noticed anymore. The green-haired bartender slid another glass of alcohol to me, not bothering to talk. That was how it always was. Haku sipped the drink, feeling the sharp taste on her tongue. She always drank it, every day, hoping she would find less pain in confusion. But all it ever did was depress her more. Depressing, like the color of her hair.

"There she is," one of the beautiful women whispered to her friend. "White hair…. Unheard of in the land of green!" The group of women giggled, the bartender with the sunglasses and orange outfit smirking slightly. The white-haired girl sighed, looking down at her now empty cup. Everyone laughed. Her life was meaningless. Why was she alive?

Haku stood up and walked out of the bar, her long maiden's dress brushing the ground. She was tired of being ridiculed, made fun of, because her hair was white in a land where everyone had beautiful green hair. But she could feel no anger towards them. After all, she was the one who was ugly. Unique. Hopeless.

She had made her way to a secluded area of the forest that surrounded the castle. As far as Haku knew, nobody came here except for her. That was for the best. It was the only place she wasn't made fun of. But it was an incredibly lonely existence. The white-haired girl leaned against one of the trees, hugging herself as she trembled. It would be so easy to end her own life, to take one of the knives from her kitchen and drive it through her chest. To rid the world of the ugly white-haired woman named Yowane Haku.

"Kyaa!" She heard a feminine yelp and Haku froze. There was someone here! She felt a pang in her chest as she whipped around, seeing a teenage girl no older than sixteen kneeling on the ground holding what looked to be a twisted foot. Haku recognized her right away. She was Hatsune Miku… the most beautiful girl in the land. She had a sweet smile and beautiful looks. What else could one ask for?

"Are… are you alright?" Haku asked, kneeling down beside the girl. Miku gave her a weak smile.

"Oh… I'm okay," she said in her sweet, angelic voice. She really was the most beautiful girl in the land. Haku shouldn't be talking to her. But she couldn't very well leave Miku injured! Especially when she was so inferior to her.

"Let me help you," Haku said gently, running off to the well by the castle. It was the fastest she had ever run before, but it was worth it. She quickly pulled off her sash and soaked it with water, before returning to Miku. The green-haired girl was still kneeling on the ground, in the dirt where her dress would likely get dirty. Haku knelt beside her and wrapped the twisted ankle in her sash, before helping the younger girl to her feet.

"You should wash your dress," Haku informed her. "You look very beautiful when it's clean."

"I'll be fine," Miku reassured her, leaning onto Haku for support. "Thank you. You didn't need to use your pretty sash to help me…" Haku blinked. Miku, Hatsune Miku, called her sash pretty? Was this some sort of dream, or twisted nightmare? "Miss? I didn't… get your name."

Name? That was even more surprising. Nobody asked for her name, everyone knew her as the white-haired girl. "Yo… Yowane Haku." She then quickly changed the subject. "We should get you somewhere where you can rest. My hut is not too far from here…" Then without saying anything else, Haku started helping the girl towards her small place of residence.