HAIIIIIIII! Middie here, ready to show you another of my slightly-cliché-but-not-enough-to-give-you-a-toothache-chappies! Now, I know even though my sense of humor is not very knee-slappin', this story was meant to be a little humorous. I know that whenever I read something funny, I'll laugh out loud and end up looking like a orangutan on crack, according to some random bystander who feels awkward around everyone. Not to be a hater, but… Anyway, I hope that happens to you. Not the orangutan on crack part, but the laugh out loud part. Agh, you know what? I'm a mess, just read on.
Oh, last but not least, I dedicate this chapter to Damn You Len, the first person to review on Welcome to Celestia; and my extremely nice supporter. You all should learn from him/her, he/she is absolutely awesome. But anyhow, ON WITH DA STORY!
A few minutes after Len left (he walked out, muttering about fetching something along the lines of Atsuke); Rin sat down at the foot of her bed and watched the sun rise in Celestia. The window was bewitched into letting breezes pass through it, and she silently drank in the wind as it passed into the White Room (her nickname for the hospice was self-explanatory). And in the purplish-red sunlight, she turned her arms over each other, inspecting the mesmerizing longhand that marred her deathly pale skin.
Intricate swirls looped over each other, almost hypnotizing. Stretching from the tip of her fingers to the toes, more than once she'd see the same pattern before it twisted into another one. It was certain the writing was a message of sorts. A beautiful but horrifying reminder of her night before.
Gingerly placing one foot over the other, Rin tiptoed to the giant window, finding a strange comfort in the silence. Sitting down a few centimeters from the glass, she let curiosity consume her. What if…? She pressed her fingers to the glass, and it became cool and liquid-like. A little push and they passed through completely, creating a ripple effect across the entire wall of glass. Wow.
Rin stared at her reflection in the liquid glass, trying to remember something, anything; about herself. Pale, silver-blue eyes stared back at her. Her eyes looked like fractured glass. Rin blinked and her reflection blinked. But now, her reflection had black hair and ghoulish eye-liner, the same calligraphy etched into its blood red irises. Rin's reflection smiled as she watched in shock, revealing a row of sharp white canines, smiling wider and wider until-
The door opened and Rin's reflection disappeared.
"OMIGOSH! Are you Rin?! You're so cute!" A girl with teal twin tails rushed into the White Room and practically lunged at Rin, whose face could mirror a deer caught in headlights.
Len shuffled in after the hyperactive teal-ette looking mortally embarrassed his hands in his pockets. "Don't worry," his grinned nervously at Rin; currently trying to dodge the girl as she tried to hug her to death, and still recuperating from her 'incident' with her reflection. "Miku won't suffocate you." He threw an uncertain glance in Miku's direction. "Most of the time."
"Well, that's reassuring," Almost like she was treating a crazy bull, Rin juked Miku out with a pillow sheet before brushing invisible dust off her doll-like dress like nothing happened ( A/N: Like they do with bulls in the rodeos! Or whatever, I have no idea). She carefully regarded the girl next to her before thrusting out her hand. "Nice to meet you. My name is Rin."
Miku screamed into her own palm before throwing her arms around an unsuspecting Rin. "You're so cuteeee when you act serious!" Rin felt her lungs collapsing like little vitamin tablets. Miku pulled back, beaming. "I hereby decree by MML, Miku Miku Law, you are officially my best friend!"
Rin panted, glancing at Len. The jerk was smirking at her. Smirking! She had just been mauled by a (kinda sorta) rabid fan girl with enough brute to body slam an elephant and send it flying. And this guy-who-had-a-death-wish-from-a-certain-girl-who-just-got-(kinda sorta)-mauled was smirking.
Oh, it was on. Until Miku started ranting about who-even-wanted-to-know.
"Okay, so best friends have nicknames right? Oh, I know! How about Rinny? RINNY IT IS." Miku announced the last part with a strangely sober expression, like a soldier who just smelled a fart.
Len smirked.
"We could go to the mall and buy matching clothes!"
Len smirked.
"Or you could work at Luka's Diner with me!"
Len smirked.
"Or…" Miku unleashed the mother of all gasps, clapping her hands like a retarded seal. "WE COULD WEAR MATCHING LEEK OUTFITS!" Len burst into laughter.
That. Was. It. Rin glared at him, bloody murder written across her. "Smirk one more time and I'll wipe it off your face, pal." Her choice of words startled even her, but she hid her astonishment.
Len had the nerve to grin lop-sidedly, the ghost of a laugh still on his face. "I'd like to see you try, Rinny." Rin's glare upgraded from shooting daggers to catapulting katana-throwing monkeys.
Miku had apparently stopped her fantasy rant and was staring inquisitively at the two. "What's wrong?"
Rin mentally face palmed and Len's signature smirk reappeared. "Aaaaaaaanywayyyyyy….." Miku turned to Rin. "All your equipment will be accounted for and you're gonna need to get a Celestia uniform, so…. Let's go shopping! I know a great place!"
"And… here's my cue," Len turned on his heel and waltzed out. Or at least he tried to.
"And… you're coming with us," Miku pulled him back from his loose red tie. "Just to let your poor unfortunate soul know, Rin is broke and she needs an outfit."
Rin watched in mild amusement as Len's smirk fell off its hinges and was replaced with a horror-filled expression. "You'll never take me alive!" Len cried as he made a desperate leap for the door. But Miku was much quicker. With almost most inhuman speed, she flipped Len over her shoulder, slamming him into a conveniently placed chair. He looked at the girls in despair. "Why me?"
Miku gave a demented laugh which made Rin step back a little. "Because you're loaded, and Rin needs dough."
"Don't you have money?" Len asked, frowning.
Miku had unraveled his tie completely and was holding it above her like it was a spoil of war, leaving his shirt unbuttoned at the low collar. "I have to use my money for important investments."
Len rolled his eyes. "Riiight, 'cause buying enough leeks to feed a small country are 'important investments'." He made quotations with his fingers.
"Quiet, you!" Miku snapped a Len, who grumbled; running a hand through his darker golden hair. Then, Miku's murderous disappeared as fast as it came, and she smiled brightly at Rin. "Now that our finances are covered, let's go SHOPPING!"
Rin and Len gulped simultaneously as Miku grabbed each of their arms and raced out the door, her long teal hair bellowing out behind her.
Miku ran relatively slowly at first; but soon she was speeding up to an inhuman, record-breaking sprint. Rin felt her pale blonde painfully whiplash around her face, and her skin metaphorically separating itself from her skull. Through bleary eyes, she could make out the shape of Len's body and a blur of greens and greys as street life whizzed past. It was like they were being blended into a yogurt parfait. With orange slices on top. Mmmmm. Dammit, now she was hungry.
Rin turned to Len, who was experiencing the same feeling as her. "Is this fatal?" she croaked out, hoping the wind would carry her query over to him.
Len seemed to have gotten the message, because he shrugged. "Depends on her mood." He answered. Rin didn't know what to make of that, so she just squeezed her tearful eyes shut and curled into a ball, hugging herself with her free hand.
After what felt like hours, Rin could feel Miku slowing to a more human speed. Rin unlatched herself before Miku completely stopped, and walked a few steps before doubling over to clutch her violently churning insides. She made a sound between a cough, gag, and wretch (something she didn't think humans could even produce) and miserably tried to sooth the knotted, poor excuse for her stomach.
Len squatted down beside her, his expression unreadable. After a few moments, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a crystal vial, looking at a tiny inscription on its side before handing it to her. "Try this." He stood up and turned to walk away, grinning. "Hope it helps your insides get in the right place." Rin glared at his back before resting her gaze on the curious vial. As much as a jerk Len could be, he did have a soft side. She searched for the tiny inscription, only to see it disappear somehow.
'Great,' she thought, tipping her head back to drink the potion. 'I can say good-bye to not drinking from strangers.' Just as she tasted the substance, a sense of cool worked its way from her heart, spreading to the tip of her fingers. Just like before, her stomach unknotted itself and her head-clouds cleared. She would definitely have to get more of this from Len.
Feeling much better, Rin lifted herself to her feet and looked for Miku and Len. Well, mostly Miku. So she could interrogate (and possibly yell at) the crazy teal-ette. She didn't have to look far; for she spotted Len standing off to her left, engaged in conversation with the leek-lover herself.
"Hey Miku?" she walked to the girl.
Miku, oblivious to the scary aura surrounding Rin. "Yes, Rinny?"
"While you were, I don't know, enjoying yourself," Rin hissed, her voice running low. "Did you ever stop to think of the people potentially dying in your grip?"
Len whistled. "You seem to be taking this well, Rinny." His cool demeanor was not helping Rin's mood.
"Right, right," she stepped forward and he stepped back. "Because, obviously Lenny over here would be fine with having his insides as a stew right after he goes to the hospital and gets mauled by a bear in a girl's body."
"Whoa," Len raised his forearms in front of him. "No need for the poisonous tone."
Miku, on the other hand, was utterly confused. "Wait, who's calling me a bear?"
"Uh, anyway…" Rin quickly changed the topic nervously, looking around. "Where are we?"
She was in some kind of Greek temple, with tall, white marble pillars leading up to the arched ceiling. But the similarities ended there. Long flights of stairs spiraled up into little shops, suspended in midair and clustered near the ceiling; and splayed out in front of them at ground level was a massive food court. Bouquets of all types of flowers; roses, daisies, and hyacinths grew out of ionic-style flower boxes outside of shop windows. Sunlight streamed through tall windows adorned with gold crowning and the whole building was washed in a white, imperial gleam.
The most interesting part of the temple was the population it held. People with all kinds of hair and eye colors chatted and laughed in groups of two's and three's. One similarity among all the shopping parties was a human half the size of the others; each housing a pair of glittering, multicolored wings. (A/N: Think… Tinker Bell!*sigh*nah, too lame)
"This is the main shopping district in Celestia; the Magisterial Market," Miku dramatically gestured to the enormous shopping center.
"Try saying that five times fast," Len grinned, stepping up beside Miku. "I don't know why there are so many people here; nothing could better than shopping."
"After this, we're going to the café to stuff our faces!" Miku declared, sporting an awful British accent.
Len raised an eyebrow. "I stand corrected."
Miku, again, completely ignored him, and took out a type of wrist-watch; fiddling with it for a few seconds until its holographic illuminated her face. Eyebrows knit, Miku swiped down on what looked like a list of contacts.
"Let's see…" she murmured under her breath as she scrolled down. "Sage…Sage…Sage!" Miku tapped the holographic screen and smiled.
In almost no time, a girl about six years old materialized in front of Rin in a flurry of sparkles. She had mahogany (A/N: you know, that dark-brown-almost-black color) hair and beautiful eyes that changed color every few seconds. She wore a silky gown made of closely knit grass; embroidered with what looked like black peppercorn kernels, intertwined with their stems. Sporting a crown of herbs, the little girl had a pair of over-sized shimmering wings.
Sage bowed down clumsily, smiling brightly. It turned out her smile was over-sized as well. "Yuki of Sage, at your service."
Miku's signature crazy beam returned, and she waved at Sage. "Hey Sage! How's pixie life?"
Sage gasped, her smile growing even wider. "Miku-nee!" she flew into Miku's outstretched arms.
Rin instantly 'aw'ed at the embrace, along with a few bystanders. She couldn't help it, this pixie was too cute.
Miku pointed to Rin, and then to Len. "That's Rin, my best friend; and Len, who's like a very annoying brother." This earned an angry protest from the blond of the male gender.
Rin smiled at Sage, who was shyly averting her gaze. "Hi, Sage! It's nice to meet you!"
Len awkwardly raised a hand. "Uhh…hi." Rin noticed he had his tie on again, loose as ever.
Sage furrowed her eyebrows, her contemplative expression not fitting her youthful face. "Rin-nee…..Len-nii…." She suddenly popped back to smile before bowing low again. "Nice to meet you, Rinny! Lenny!"
Miku laughed and snorted, patting the innocent pixie on the head. "I love your nicknames, Yuki-chan!"
Yuki's eyes swirled from silver to blue to magenta, before she turned to Miku. "Miku-nee, what would you like to shop for today?"
Miku's teal eyes flashed mischievously. "I'd like to…"
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN.
Yeah, you don't need to tell me this is a crappy cliffhanger. I already know. *defeated sigh*
It's because this chapter is simply too long to be on one page, and I don't want to overwhelm you because we're not even half way through. Anyway, I have a question for all you Voca-learned souls. I don't know what eye color Yuki, the real Vocaloid character, has. I asked my sources and got a bunch of different colors. Should Yuki have color changing eyes as a trait of pixie or should she have her regular eye color? THAT is da question. Anyway, if you know Yuki's real eye color, please tell me in the reviews below. Okay, thanks in advance~~~
Teaser for da next chappie: Enter… Luka! And her quote:
Luka rolled her eyes and promptly dumped her tuna stew over his head. "Have your fun, BUTTFACE." Guess who she's talking to, GUESS! GUESS! If you said Gakupo, ding ding ding! If not, virtual hugs for you; it's not the end of the world.
Vocaloid Fact of da Day: Sweet Ann sings the jingle for Helvetica Standard in the anime Nichijou. Speaking of which…
Anime of da Day: Nichijou! It's basically high school chibi girls doing hilarious things. Leave a comment if you think Nichijou is da best anime! (I will take your vote into deep consideration)
Okay guys, I gots to go, so…
Stay cool but don't freeze and BAI BAI FOR NOW!
