(A/N: Inspiration struck as I went to get chocolate pastries from the store nearby during rainy weather. And since only two authors on this site have written about this pairing (Check their one-shots, they're awesome), I decided to add something too. Yup, I ship Zatsune and Rin. So here you go and remember – I don't own Vocaloid or any Fanloids.)
When I was young, people told me to never trust strangers. And of course, I didn't listen to them. If I never trusted strangers, then how could I make friends? If my parents or grandparents' friends never trusted strangers too then how did they meet my relatives? How come the humans even talk to each other if we mustn't trust strangers? – That used to be my logic. Now, as I'm older, thankfully NOT from a personal experience, I fully understand why adult don't want their children to talk to strangers, but that's a story for another time.
I didn't listen to elders, thinking that they speak because they have nothing more interesting to do. Typical child's logic, eh? So yeah, when they told me to cover my waist, because 'if I don't, I could catch a cold' wasn't a thing I really listened to, until we were told the real reason why we should cover our waists and keep them from getting cold in Biology class. I didn't listen to my mom when she scolded me for chewing my nails. Nor did I listen to my dad when he said that one should never climb a tree with hands full of oranges. Ouch, I learned my lesson for not listening to the last advice, but that's also a story for another time.
But the lesson that I've underestimated the most was "Don't judge the book by its cover." A simple, cliché lesson that every child hears and then says that the book seems boring not only because of the cover, but also because of the lack of colorful pictures inside. Well, each child takes that lesson literally, right? Nevermind if I'm wrong, I didn't listen to this advice either.
"If an apple is green, then it'll be sour and not tasty." "If there are clouds outside, it will get cold and it will rain, so it's better not to go in the kindergarten today." – Yes, more of the good old child's logic. But, hey, I shouldn't be blamed. Many, many people haven't taken this advice either. If they did, then they wouldn't have pinched my cheek and calling me "a good little girl" back then. When I, my twin brother Len and my parents went out for a walk during my childhood, other people, 'strangers' that my parents seemed to know for some weird reason, they would always come and call us "little angels".
Little angels… hahaha… yeah, right. Alright, maybe Len was a nice and quiet kid that just played with the wood cubes in the corner or silently munched on his banana, embarrassed when someone called him cute. And our identical appearance – pale faces, cerulean eyes, fair blond hair, soft skin… yup, definitely the description of a perfect little cherub.
But older people judged my appearance wrong. I was the nightmare of the caretakers in the kindergarten. I was the one who spilled her food on the floor just for a good show. I was the one who always suggested games that include running, jumping and definitely lots of shouting or taking as much toys like planes, cars and trucks as we could. I was the one who went to the boys' restroom to scare them. I was the one to always fall from the swing sets first, just to get up, and unlike the other kids, who would start crying immediately, I just dusted myself and kept running around, enjoying my time at the playground. And I was definitely the twin who gave my parents (and I still give them) lots of headaches. But for the people unaware of my innocent naughtiness back then, I was still a little angel.
And I suppose that unlike them, I've learned. I've learned that judging someone from afar just because you don't know them is sometimes a big mistake, and a common one by that. But thanks to my current life which I really truly cherish, I now know what this little cliché advice given to so many generations means.
It all started when a close friend of mine, Miku Hatsune, decided to introduce me and Len to her cousin, who annoyingly to me by the time, really looked like her and had the same name. Only the family name was different, so our little clique decided to just use a curtailment of her family name Zatsune. The curtailment? Zat. Simple and easy to pronounce and remember.
At first, though, I didn't like her. Here's where I made my biggest mistake – I judged her by her looks. No, Zat wasn't ugly and I will never say she's ugly, simply because this girl holds the most beauty one could ever collect, both on the inside and out, though it took the stupid me awhile to realize that. Then what, you'd ask, made me want to avoid her at first and caused my irritation to rise? My misjudgment, of course. Her raven black hair tied in ponytails, whose length forced them to cover a small part of her face, as if she wanted to hide it. Her eyes, a beautiful shade of crimson pierced through darkness, as if she was wearing lenses just to terrify the heck out of everyone.
And just for the record – NO. She's not wearing lenses. Her actually beautiful crimson eye color is natural. However, back then, her rather dark appearance made me think of her as if she was the same on the inside. Dark, mysterious, as if she wants to drag attention to her, yet act cold and harshly reject anyone who tries to speak to her. As if on the inside, she is a sadistic, rotten bitch, who just mutters under her breath how she hates people for no apparent reason. But she wasn't. She isn't.
It was wrong from me to think like that about her just because of her raven hair. So, according to my previous (and rude) logic, every unusual-looking person out there is meant to be avoided, ignored and it's for the best not to speak to them. Wrong. A person is a person no matter what. Nobody deserves to be all alone, even if they claim that they want that. Nobody deserves to get to the point where the emotional and mental pain is so much, that replacing it with physical is the only way to avoid it. And unlike my expectations in the beginning, Zat wanted neither of these. Loneliness definitely wasn't her piece of cake, even tho it looked like it at first sight. Going through pain was something she swore she didn't do and it actually took me awhile to make sure she wasn't just keeping a façade. I checked her wrists. No cuts, no scars. How did I check her wrists to see if she had cut or just for any scar as a sign for previous cutting without making her feel offended or uncomfortable in case she actually did self-harm? I used an excuse. But what kind of excuse, that's a story for another time.
Misjudgment was my biggest mistake, yet, the chance to get to know her I got when I sat next to her during music class changed me. If I didn't sit next to her, maybe I wouldn't have realized that Zat is actually a very kind person, willing to find common interests with other people and speaking politely, yet freely. That just because she was born with features, worn by the stereotypical depressive, lonely character it didn't mean she really wanted to look like one.
Sitting by her and slowly getting to know her. It made me realize my harsh ignorance. It made me realize who she really was, how nobody is guilty for the way they look. It made me feel like a jerk. A meanie. A bully. A bad child.
For a shorter amount of time than expected, we became friends, soon started hanging out during lunch, after school, then study together and eventually – doki-doki, a feeling that used to appear when I saw cute boys around the school overwhelmed my heart again. Just seeing her made me excited on the inside, her smile made me smile. When I realized my crush, I felt scared. Yes, I'll admit – not weirded out, not irritated either. Just plain frightened. Had I known at the time that she'd feel the same way, I would've confessed it all much sooner. She is my precious gem, my happiness and my desired future. Confessing to her was awkward and full of blushing, stuttering and finger twisting, but that's also a story for another time.
Have people told you that other people, dressed in dark can't be emotional and they aren't romantic at all? Wrong. Heck, VERY wrong. On our first date I saw how fun-loving my current girlfriend actually is, how determined she is and her skills in being romantic without doing anything romantic. Ah, where did we go on out first date? First, we went at the supermarket. Yes, at the supermarket. Not at the movies, as most couples usually do. We went at the supermarket, took as much bottles of mineral water as we could and while nobody was looking, we stuffed them in the freezer, full of ice cream. Afterwards, we took a few ice cream boxes and placed them in the snack section, right behind all the potato chips bags. But we also opened the boxes, then placed the covers back but didn't close them again. Imagine how fun it would be to spot an ice cream box behind a bunch of chips, pick it up and have melted ice cream all over you. Then, we took cereal boxes and put them behind the jars of pickles. Eventually, we ordered from the bakery section a few warm breads and placed them in different places – by the sauce section, clothes section, sanitary section and other places. Eventually, we left the supermarket only with a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of ketchup and a box of chocolates to share.
The shampoo? We secretly poured it in all the fountains in town and ran away sneering like idiots. The ketchup? We sprayed the ketchup on random windows and door handles. Yup, stuff that kids from kindergarten would do. Afterwards, the fact that "someone" had "littered" the fountains in our town was on the local news. They still hadn't caught the culprit, though an old lady almost caught us once while we poured it. But how we dealt with her is also a story for another time.
The point is that this rule about "judging a book by its cover" is actually something more than just something that old people talk, because they have nothing else to do. This line made me discover my best friend, crush and first love. The one I have the most fun times with and the one who reminds me why the heck I still go to school and stay awake in the afternoons and evenings instead of falling in hibernation.
Judging me by my appearance now, I may look loud, talkative and hyper, right? Well… true. Very true. And I've been sitting here for too long, telling you a life lesson instead of getting ready! I have a date with Zatsune tonight! We'll take a couple of paper knives and scare the heck out of people with…
Wait. Nevermind. What will happen on the date is also a story for another time.