They met at auditions.
They were immediately chosen as the best.
Angels of dancing.
No doubt her, with her gently swishing blond hair with that white ribbon intricately woven into it. He couldn't help himself. She was so much younger, but he constantly looked at her. Constantly wanted her. Self restraint was going to slap him one day and say, "I TOLD YOU SO."
And him, with his long purple hair floating gracefully at his side as he took her arm and lifted one leg up, pointing her perfect toes to the sky. She couldn't help but watch him helplessly. He was such a beautiful person, for a man. Purple eyes conveyed a mysterious past, but no other emotion. He barely met her cerulean eyes, but she felt a thrill whenever she danced with her back to his chest. He was so strong, and he gave her a sense of protection.
Rin remembered it clearly. When someone had spilled water on the set, he'd gone to get paper towels. Just then, some one had shoved her across the water. She'd slipped and almost cracked her head on the stone floor below the stage. She never saw who did it, but suddenly he was there. He grabbed her arms and pulled her back, into him, breathless.
"Don't worry," he'd said in that soothingly deep voice. "I'll protect you."
And there was a need, because someone on the dance team wanted to do away with Rin. As long as he was there, she avoided death, but she was constantly on her toes. Someone wanted to lead, and that someone wanted the lead dancer out of the way. And someone wanted to dance with him.
But he would only dance with her.
Whenever she was sick, and stayed above the stage in her room, he came to visit her. He brought her meals. He brought her medicine. He updated her. But he would not dance. Not without Rin.
And it drove him crazy. Because he wanted her, he wanted to make those ivory cheeks go rose with her blush. He wanted to make her laugh that pretty bell-chime laugh. He wanted those soft pink lips against his. He was going to find out who was causing her misery, and he was going to end them. Wherever he was, whatever the scene, he always had his katana. And not the piece of styrofoam junk the director made him use, but his real shining steel blade katana. Only Rin knew that, and she never told.
There was only a week before the performance, and the two were rehearsing with their team again.
"All right, everyone!" The director called. "Places for the hero and heroine's dance."
Because God forbid he remembered Rin's three letter name, he though dryly. He took her small hand in his large one. The 'snow' fell from above. He led her to center stage and dipped her back. She raised her leg, hooking it around his neck, and he twirled in that position. Five minutes later, he raised her into the air by her waist and she spread her arms like a bird spreading her wings. She slid beneath him and he turned to clasp her hands. He met her eyes and then he swept her into his hold by her legs. The music ended.
Applause scattered along the cast and the director grunted his approval. Pride shone in his eyes. He was proud of them. They were a fantastic pair.
He led her off the stage, and the villain took place. He took her to the side and she looked away, her eyes fearful.
"Don't worry. I'll catch them at the performance."
"But we can't stop the performance!"
"Your life matters more than this performance."
Tears flickered on her eyelashes, and he produced a silk handkerchief.
"Thank you."
He bowed slightly and took out his katana for the scene between him and the villain. He really was her knight with a shining katana. Rin managed to smile. Little did he know that she said thank you for many things, not just the handkerchief. Rin folded the silk cloth and kept it in her bag.
And outside, jealousy torn eyes captured every graceful move of hers.
The scene between him and the villain was over, and he slid his sword into its sheath. He'd been yelled at for using his real weapon again, and he came outside. She was nowhere in sight. Worry rose in his heart and he looked searchingly for her. Then, he was tapped from behind.
"Come! It's the scene where she's stabbed!"
"But...Where is she?"
"Already on stage. Really, get it together." The director snorted in impatience, and he noted with relief that his beautiful white angel was, indeed, on-stage. She smiled at him tentatively and he nodded, striding on stage. The villain and his assistant were already in their stances. There was a rubber blade lying by the assistant's foot. After the hero stabbed the villain, the assistant would throw the rubber blade at the heroine, killing her.
Hey, it was a tragedy.
And the hero would hold her in his arms.
Actually, that was the part he was looking forward to. Holding her fragile, delicate body in his arms as he cried fake tears of sadness. But really, the cuddling was what he wanted.
They played it out perfectly, and even the director sniffled a few times as he held Rin.
Again, smattered applause was heard, and then Rin got up and bowed. Then him. Then the villain and the assistant.
The curtains suddenly fell, almost crushing Rin. He raced forward, pulling her inside. Rin let out a shriek of fear and surprise and grabbed the front of his shirt.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" The director roared, kicking a vase on the floor. "WHO TRIED TO KILL MY LEAD DANCER? I WANT AN ANSWER!"
A few people snickered at the rhyme, but then fell silent. A few faces were grim.
"THOSE CURTAINS DON'T FALL ON THEIR OWN! SPEAK, PEOPLE!" The midget man stomped over to the curtains and peered upwards. Sure enough, a support beam was broken in two. The split was clean, as though done by an axe. Rin was crying into his shirt, and he gave a discreet look over their team to see who looked guilty or unhappy that their plan was foiled.
"Dismissed," said the director. His face was white, his lips tight. "And when I get my hands on the vandal who tried to kill my lead dancer, I'll have their throat. Good job today." He rested a hand on Rin's shoulder and stomped away, probably to hide behind a plant and jump out randomly to question the cast.
He took her arm and led her upstairs. She heard his velvety voice telling her to get some sleep. Nodding obediently, she wandered into her room.
"Good night."
"Sleep tight," he answered immediately, closing the door and locking it from the outside with a key he had. Only the director had the set of keys, and the purple-haired man went through a lot to copy the one key that belonged to Rin. The reason wasn't that he was a stalker, but because he didn't want Rin leaving her room if she was caught up with some gang.
He went to his own room a flight upstairs and walked into his room.
The performance was going to end in a real death if he didn't find the lowlife trying to kill Rin. He sighed and clicked his door shut, picking a Coke up from a table. After draining the drink, he sat down... And began to think.
A WEEK LATER~ THE PERFORMANCE
The day of the performance had come and he still hadn't found Rin's hater. He hated himself for this very fact and he was in a particularly foul mood that morning.
"PLACES, EVERYONE!"
Miku, with her piping sweet voice, went outside to narrate the opening scene. Peering out from behind the curtain, Rin saw a huge mass of people direct their eyes to the pretty turquoise girl on stage. She swallowed and pulled back, looking up at him. He squeezed her hand and she nodded. Then, as Miku came inside, Rin started the performance. She spread the curtains that went up behind her.
He thought she looked especially gorgeous today, with her white dress that flared mid-thigh. Short cap sleeves were accentuated with tight strands of pearls that swung along her chest and dress. A small velvet white choker was around her neck, and her hair was put up with a few more freshwater pearls and a white lily was pinned behind her ear. Her golden hair betrayed a few strands that had escaped from the updo.
Rin spun and twirled on the stage, her legs moving faster and faster until she was barely a blur on stage. She leapt along the polished wood floor, her shoes barely making a noise. The music faded behind her as he stepped outside. Immediately, a hundred eyes focused on him. Rin stopped dancing and he walked up to her, offering his hand.
She smiled, and they began dancing together.
The villain came onstage, a wicked sneer playing on his lips. Kaito came up to Rin, dragging her from him. He pulled out his sword and played strikes around Kaito until Kaito fell to the ground. After he took Rin and danced her off stage, Kaito stood weakly and walked off stage, plotting his revenge. The audience clapped slightly, their faces captivated.
Next scene. Luka and Meiko, Rin's friends, warned her of Kaito coming to the village and asking for her. After a dangerously close encounter to Kaito, Rin packed up her stuff and ran away from her village. She ran to him.
He stood from his work, staring at her wordlessly. She was crying and she begged him to do away with Kaito and end her misery. He obliged, telling her to stay with him for the day. After some intimate, heated, dancing, the two went out to find Kaito.
Next scene. He was becoming bored as he looked around for any threats to his angel. Nothing was happening, and he wondered whether his purpose really was just to protect the girl. He led her through the forest with his katana and she clung to him. They shared a secret little smile and he leaned to kiss her. The audience oohed and aahed supportively. Just then, Kaito and his assistant came out of nowhere. Rin screamed, filling the air with her voice. The audience gasped. He pulled out his katana and fought viciously with Kaito. Kaito cast a quick, withering, glance at the real weapon and let out a hoarse yell as he fell backwards, 'blood' spurting out of him.
Suddenly, as he turned to wait for the end scene, alarm rose in him. Rin's eyes were closed as she waited for the rubber knife.
But it wasn't rubber. He'd realized that the assistant, who looked unknowing, was aiming a real silver blade at Rin. And whether he'd known or not, if he threw that knife, Rin was going to get badly hurt. Truly, someone wanted to kill Rin, so he assumed it couldn't be the villain's assistant. The assistant was a male, and the killer wanted Rin's part.
He raced across the floor. There were gasps. He saw the director's shocked face. As the blade hurtled towards Rin, time seemed to stop.
And he leapt, almost perfectly, in the knife's path. The metal scraped his shoulder and he winced in pain. Rin stared at him in shock, then turned to see the knife on the floor. Her mind raced, and she quickly played over the part.
"Oh..." She blurted out. "You saved my life."
"Because I love you," he said carefully. "I love you." he said one more time to assure himself.
The assistant stood, then staggered as he fell down.
He noticed the director glaring lividly at him, but he didn't care. The dancers hesitantly flocked the stage, doing the final dance with the hero and heroine shining on center stage.
The applause was deafening.
The director's angry face turned to one of beaming joy as he stepped out and bowed deeply, sucking in the applause. People stood up everywhere, yelling out ovations.
As the curtain dropped, the director turned to him.
"You messed it up!" He roared, his eyes sparking with anger. "Both of you!"
He was about to strike him, but Rin was in the way immediately, ready to accept blows from the director for him. The director looked at Rin's miniscule form and raised his eyebrow.
Rin wordlessly pointed at the knife.
The director went to pick it up.
"It's just rubber." He dangled the hilt between his fingers. "You played it too well."
Rin stepped forward, took the knife, and whipped the silver across her palm. Crimson blood glittered on the cut. Her lover stepped forward, mouth open.
The director's smirk vanished. "Hahh...Ah...Hah..." He took the knife and looked at it. "Th-Th-This is a real knife..."
Rin dropped the metal and took his arm, wrapping it around herself. He tightened his grip.
"S-So...s-someone replaced th-the rubber knife with this one?" The director asked the purple haired man.
He nodded, casting his eyes over the concerned cluster of people. "Someone is guilty. Someone's wanted to kill her since the beginning."
"Well." The director licked his lips, casting a malevolent look at the cast. "No one leaves until I get an answer."
There was silence. Finally, a green haired girl parted way. Tears flickered in her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Rin."
"G-Gumi?" Rin's mouth opened and she stared wordlessly at the pretty girl.
"I love him. Terribly. And I just meant to hurt you, not really..." She broke off in a sob. "I didn't want to k-kill you..."
"Gumi," he spoke. "What you did was dangerous. You didn't mean to kill her. But you nearly did. Had that knife been off center, you would have hit Rin in the heart. And she would have died."
"I wanted to dance with you," Gumi cried. "I wanted to be in your arms."
He looked away. One heart traded, another broken.
"Please...Just go." The director said. "Please. Out." He sadly looked up at her with drooping brown eyes. "I did crazy things for love, once, too. But this is too much. Really."
Gumi nodded, bending to scoop up her ballet flats. As she padded by Rin and her hero she looked up at them.
He pulled Rin closer and both of them stared at her.
"Good luck, guys." She smiled, staying strong for herself. And he liked that about her.
He nodded slightly. "Bye, Gumi."
"Toodles."
"Bye, Gumi." Rin spoke up, shy about facing the green-haired pixie after being threatened and attempted to be killed for weeks and weeks.
"I'm really sorry."
"Go." the Director barked, wandering aimlessly to his room with a dazed look on his face. Gumi hurried out, tears falling behind her. Rin restlessly squirmed and escaped out of his grasp. She rubbed her eyes and hugged him tightly. Ironically.
"Why did you get away from me just to turn and hug me?" He blinked stupidly.
"Because I can, Gaypo."
"I'm not gay!" He flustered, outraged.
"You're not?"
"No! I'm... In love with you!" he recalled.
"FINALLY." The cast chorused.
"I'm really that blind?" he mumbled.
"YES." yelled the cast simultaneously. He scowled, fondly reaching to tousle her hair.
"You are a handful."
"Yes, but I love you so it's okay." Rin beamed up at him. "Gakupo."
"Yes," Gakupo said absentmindedly. "I love you too."
A SAPPY END FOR A SAPPY STORY, PEOPLE! R&R!