A/N: Just a one-shot this time. Inspiration from this came from the song ARiA. It's basically just my interpretation since I can't find the translation for it besides the Chinese one... And no, I'm not wasting half an hour trying to interpret a 5-minute video.
Disclaimer: Vocaloid is not mine and neither is the song. Anything else used and/or mentioned is also not mine. There are a few fragments of the song and PV, at least, what I managed to translated from the song.
-Whose tears? Whose pain?-
Sparkling tears flowed down the dirty windowpane and onto the sill, where a few flowerpots sat. The wilted plants clambered for the single drop of moisture.
Anyone or anything who looked in – or even bothered to look in – would only see a girl with teal hair sitting in a chair, looking through the dirty window.
Miku lived in a small shelter – if you can even call it that – on the outskirts of the big city. Every night, she would watch longingly at the lights coming there, wishing that she was in the middle of everything. If she ever got there, she would never look back at the moldy, wooden building that was her current home.
But could she ever get there?
Miku got up from the chair, wiping her eyes. Enough with the self-pity.
She headed toward the mat that she slept on. Under the few piled-up scraps of cloth that she made a pillow out of, she pulled out a book. Out loud, she read the title. The Complete Collection of Fairy Tales.
She wasn't exactly sure how she could read. She didn't remember her parents too clearly, only knowing that they died in some kind of experimental surgery. Her world was one where technology measured how wealthy you were. Miku knew that she had been middle-class in the city but after her parents died, she was left with nothing.
She was only five years old, and the world seemed like it had already ended for her.
She flipped open the book to her favorite story.
Cinderella.
The pages were worn from use. Miku admired Cinderella's optimism and strength. How she went from rags to riches in almost a single night. How she could endure all the cruelty that she received from her stepmother and stepsisters.
But real life doesn't work that way. In this city, you were rich if you had the best and most original-looking face. She stared into the dusty mirror she picked up from the ground, seeing only her flawless face and bright, aqua eyes staring back.
When she had taken a walk into the city this morning, she had seen even more different styles than the last time. This time, people walked around with eyes that were surgically re-sized to the size of an anime character's eyes. There were also many walking around with tattoos that shifted into hypnotizing patterns.
You were rich if you didn't even have to leave your bed for anything.
Miku knew the most rich had robots do everything for them including going to the bathroom and even doing their jobs! Today, there were even more robots than people.
I'll always be the one on the outside looking in.
She gently opened the door that was falling off its hinges and left the building she called home, heading toward the crumbling, stone structure that was nearby.
The stone building would have been beautiful if it had been taken care of instead of just left there for Mother Nature to erode and weather. Weeds and wild grasses grew in place of the once-lush gardens around the building. What were once stone arches are now just crumbling pillars, eroded by wind and time.
The stone inscription still remained intact though, just a bit hard to read due to years of erosion.
If there's still hope, then there's still a way.
The creator of Miracles
ARiA.
Kneeling in front of the inscription, Miku began to pray to this ARiA. She did this every night since it was the only hope that she had left.
All I want is to be cared for. All I want is a friend. A companion. I'm tired of being alone everyday. Please just grant that one wish.
Miku looked up, just in time to see a shooting star pass by.
-For a chance to be with you, miracles in unison.-
Rin was flying.
Literally.
No, she didn't sprout wings, although that was quite possible now. She was using one of those new high-tech float-boards that came out just a day ago. They used some kind of high power motor to keep it afloat and you could go up to heights of about 1000 miles up in the air or something. Rin wasn't exactly sure nor did she care.
Not that she ever cared for anything.
Life was boring and repetitive. Sure, she was rich, which meant that she had an automatic ticket into the highest parts of society.
But she didn't want that.
She didn't want to fit in. She didn't want the stupid cosmetic surgeries that would give her scar tissue in the later years of her life. It was all stupid.
And by thinking it was stupid, she was an outcast.
Rin climbed higher and higher. She stopped when the board's electronic voice warned her that going any higher would be dangerous. Looking down, she saw that she had climbed higher than the skyscrapers. Rin turned in the air, looking down at the huge city in awe.
Wow, it's so much different from up here. You can't see the ugly trends that are going on from this high.
She floated slowly across the sky. People looking up from the ground would only see her as a small speck in the sky.
Rin didn't pay attention to where she was going. After a while, she had reached the outskirts of the city, where all the high-rise buildings and where most of the roads had ended.
I've never seen this place before... She noticed the small shelter whose windows still had some kind of flickering glow, like a candle. Does someone live here?
Rin slowly descended until she hovered only inches above the ground. Heading toward the flickering, she opened the creaky door. Without a sound, she floated inside, being careful not to disrupt anything in the neat, yet dusty room.
She saw something moving out of the corner of her eye.
The book.
When she had come in, the slight air movement from that must have flipped a few of the thin, worn out pages of the book.
Whoa! These are considered antiques now!
Rin got off her board, causing it to turn off automatically. She walked over to the book, taking off her gloves. Gingerly, the turned the page of the book to where the story began.
It was titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Rin sat down on the dusty ground and began to read, despite the bad lighting. She was so absorbed she didn't hear the resident of the shelter coming in and asking, "Hello? Is anyone there?"
-The heart-filling hug...-
Miku made her way back to her "house." As she was coming up the path, she noticed that the door was hanging askew, the breeze blowing it back and forth.
A visitor? No way! Who would actually come to a place like this, far from the city?
She quietly tip-toed toward the creaking door, determined not to make a sound. Peeking in, she saw that there was a person. A blond girl, about her age or maybe a little younger, reading.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Miku called out, knowing that there was someone in there. She just didn't want to frighten the girl, who would probably be Miku's only visitor.
The girl jumped, and whirled around. When she saw it was only Miku, she relaxed slightly.
"Oh! Umm...hi. I'm Rin. Sorry for intruding and stuff. I was just floating around with my board and I just saw this place and let myself in...and yeah."
"I'm Miku," she started, "and this is my home." She gestured to the four dilapidated walls and the leaky roof.
Rin's eyes widened in surprise. "How can you live in such a place? Doesn't it get lonely? Don't you get bored? What do you do for food? And water?"
"Well, you get a lot of pity from people in the city and I get free food. And in public buildings, there's usually a water fountain. It does get lonely and I don't think it gets too boring. When you're bored, you always manage to find something to do, even if it's staring at the wall or reading," Miku replied, shrugging as if it was normal.
"Wow," Rin whispered to herself. "Wow."
Rin walked around, exploring every corner of the room. Miku didn't really mind; she actually found it quite entertaining to see her that shocked at how she lived. To Miku, it wasn't really hard. The hardest part was just going into the city and knowing how much she missed out.
And knowing how much she missed out, she frowned in confusion at the sight of Rin's clear face.
"Doesn't everyone have those plastic surgeries done to their face now?" Miku blurted out without meaning to.
"Oh, those," Rin said absentmindedly, a frown crossing her face. "They're stupid. Before you're 20, your whole face will be scar tissue. It's disgusting, really."
"Oh, I see. I just thought it was kind of strange since you look like you're rich," Miku said, gesturing to the float-board on the ground and her high-quality clothing.
"I am, but it's not something I want. I didn't choose to be rich just like you didn't choose to be here."
"I see...but you look like you want something badly," Miku noted, recognizing the look on her own face.
Rin sighed and sat on the hard ground. "Everyone wants something, even if they think they have everything. Like my parents, for example. They have all the money they need and don't even need to do any work. They just sit around looking pretty, just like every other rich person. To me though, I want more out of life. Even with all the money in the world, I don't think I'd be able to get what I want."
Miku was surprised. In her mind, she thought that with money, she would have happiness. "What is it that you want?"
Rin looked up, staring at Miku straight in the eye.
"A friend."
-Raising my head, I found your warmth.-
A/N: Ah...ARiA's such a good song. I could listen to it over and over without getting tired. (^0^)