Len's rest day of unpacking and relaxing came to an end fairly quickly. While Rin said he had the day off, the eight hours he spent watching TV were not to his benefit. This became clear to him as he went to bed, quite tired from his off day.

"The off days are meant to keep you prepared to put everything into training. Didn't I tell you not to tire yourself out?" Rin chided as the lesson began at the inconvenient time: midnight.

Who begins a lesson at midnight? I get that she's so much more successful and I shouldn't even be thinking about this, but isn't this a little early to start?

"I know what you're thinking, but I said today wouldn't be easy. You probably already guessed from the running that singers need great stamina during long tours and recording sessions, so this is meant to help you prepare. If you fall asleep on me, you will be punished severely. Let's begin..."

Rin wasn't so cruel as to make every session start so early. Instead the early morning sessions were only once every two months, scheduled ahead of time. Normal sessions began at 11. Of course, the special sessions wouldn't be special without a mile sprint. The lessons were quite productive, but the mile sprints and breakfast usually ended up like this:

"I need a new trainer," Len said to no one in particular, running the mile sprint in the early morning, just before dawn.

"Did you say something?" Rin called from beside him.

"I said, I need a new trainer."

"Well, I need a better student. Someone who won't place a banana peel outside my room. I tripped three times already!"

"Serves you right, making me look at that awful orange wall color all over the house. Even my bedroom."

"Let me guess, you want to paint it yellow? What a silly idea."

"I hate you."

"Actually, I can arrange that for you, but since you hate me, I guess that won't happen."

"I unhate you."

"That's not even a word!"

"Stop wearing orange scented perfume, it's making me nauseous."

"Stop checking me out. Seriously, smelling my perfume? You creep!"

"Anyone could tell you that orange scent is bad. I might have to throw it out for you."

"How dare you! At least my fruit isn't a symbol for something dirty!"

"It is, but you don't have any of them."

"What do you- oh you are so dead!"

Len tripped over Rin's leg about 50 feet from the finish line. Hitting his face into the hard track was unpleasant, but he brushed it off. Rin stopped beside him and extended her hand.

"You're offering me a hand? I gladly accept. You really wanted to hold hands, didn't you."

"I should push you back on the ground!"

"How cruel. I knew I needed a new trainer."

As they walked inside, another truce was declared. Two days later, Len's room was painted yellow, much to Rin's disgust. Bickering aside, Len had no regrets about his decision to leave his family for Rin. He really shouldn't have told her that.

"Normally, people wait until after marriage to move in with a girl," Rin cooed.

"Are you implying I'd actually want to marry you?" Len retorted.

"I have money, fame, and any guy would happily marry me, including you."

"You're delusional. You might want to get that checked."

He really really shouldn't have told her that.

"Aren't you supposed to meet my parents first?" Rin teased.

"I really should stop telling you my secrets."

"I order you to tell me all of your secrets."

"Not happening."

"You moved in with the richest and cutest girl without a romantic relationship? Are you, you know, gay?"

"I should ask you the same thing."

If anything, he really really should not have said that.

"Yes, I am. I'll have to decline your offer of marriage. Sorry!"

Len nearly tripped. "Really? I would never have guessed."

"No, you idiot! Why would you ask such a thing?"

"You asked me first!"

Unsurprisingly, another truce was called. Their bickering happened so often, Kaiko scolded them regularly. Moving on to the actual lessons...

A lot of sessions were like his classes in school, only now Len had headphones that acted as an instant playback recorder (so he could hear himself the same way other people would did, instantly) and the worksheets were replaced with sheet music. It wasn't exactly that bad since he had an hour for breaks at his choosing. Singing for four hours a day was tiring, but having to stand on stage the whole time was nerve-wracking, even if the audience was just Rin. Every day of training was exhausting.

Well, having Rin in the audience was even worse than a full stadium of people. Things were going great, but it was only two weeks in and he was still messing up on the fundamentals. One time, Kaiko was his audience while Rin went to the bathroom, and Len's singing sounded worse the moment she walked out.

A few minutes later, Len felt a tap on the back of his neck. In his surprise, he nearly face first onto the black, masonite stage floor, his hands taking the brunt of the fall.

"I caught you slacking," she said devilishly. "Are you sure you'd want to sing like that during a real concert?"

Len's reaction was immediate. He knew his voiced changed when she left, but it was probably a lack of confidence or just a way to cope with the intensity of training. He shook his head rapidly and held his head down.

"Sit in the audience for a second and pay attention," she ordered calmly.

A minute later, an angelic voice filled the nearly empty auditorium as Rin began to sing Kokoro. There was no lack of confidence whatsoever, her stage presence showed that she loved singing, and her technical skill was impeccable. For the entire song, Len basically fell in love with her voice, noting all the things she did right as a performer. Once she finished, Len didn't know how to react. Clearly, Rin's skill was exceptional, but he had just witnessed her perform live, sitting in the front row, just for him. Ten minutes later, Rin decided that training had to continue. There were about two hours left.


It's easier said than done, he thought.

Here he was, on stage in the auditorium. His audience was comprised of thousands of empty seats and Rin.

If I had to choose between Rin or a packed house without her, I'd be less nervous with the packed house.

The stage equipment was state-of-the-art and both Rin and Len had earpieces on. Additionally, all of his singing was automatically recorded for playback. For better or worse, he'd have to sing in front of her- here, on stage, with no voice to hide behind, all of his mistakes being recorded- and face her criticism. That wasn't bad. The hard part was what came after.

Len was a decent singer. His singing was pleasant to the ear and he could hit most notes in his range easily, in addition to having a great feel for rhythms. If it were just a performance, he could pull it off, or at least have the excuse that he was still in training.

"Today, you'll begin recording a cover of you-know-who's signature song," Rin stated proudly. "I wrote the changed lyrics down."

"Sounds easy enough," Len said cheerfully.

"Aren't you nervous? Oh, I almost forgot. It's going to be sent to my record label along with my new song. On top of that, I'm also releasing your cover on all of my social media accounts."

Make an excuse... I'm not ready for this! Len shuddered at the thought of millions of Rin's fans hearing his recording.

"I'm basically recording a lot of takes and keeping the good ones, right?" he asked, a bit shocked at the prospect of having to record a song in a day.

"Yes, and you have a week to finish it," Rin chimed.

It had only been two weeks since they started training. Now, she wanted him to release a cover of World is Mine, to be seen by tens of millions of fans.

The shock set in after a few minutes.


Well, she's done it again! Rin Kagamine tops the charts with her third straight single: here is Abstract Nonsense.

As the song played, Len stopped the homework he was doing and listened: listened like it was the only thing that mattered, listened because he found himself in heaven with every passing second, listened and found himself wanting more as the song concluded. Most importantly, he dreamed of being as good as her, as he loved music deeply and singing and writing because it brought him joy.

For the next two years, this ambition was his life. He wrote manuscripts of songs, tuning his voice, spending countless hours trying to improve and create; he had written lyrics for over 200 songs and recorded at least a whole month of recordings that he didn't immediately delete for being bad. Shortly after he began his efforts, Gumi trained him. It must have been bittersweet luck when Gumi's career took off a week into training, and she could not find the time to continue. Finally, he found Miku, who also coached him. Miku's fame was sudden and came later, leaving him without a mentor. Then came that fateful day.

"Hi, I'm Rin Kagamine!"

All of my training, all of my effort, it all comes down to what she will do with me. Please, if there is a God in heaven, keep Rin smiling every day. Because if she gets mad, it's probably my fault and I'm totally screwed. I know she can make me successful, but I need her to want to keep training me. Without her, I have no future. She took me into this heaven, and I'd give everything to stay here. Is there even a way to repay her?

"Give it your all..."


"Rin, please, I need more training," he begged. This wasn't talking in front of a class, or even performing for a packed stadium. Millions of people would be hearing his recording, and he was definitely not confident.

"What is the problem?" Rin replied immediately, curious.

"I don't think I'm ready to do something this big," Len said apprehensively.

Rin was about a foot away, facing Len. She reached her hand forward and assumed a fighting stance, presumably about to slap Len. Inwardly, he wanted to back away, hold her back, anything that would spare him from the inevitable onslaught. He stood steadfast, knowing that running would make it worse. In other words, Rin was going to clobber him, he knew it was coming, but he couldn't show any defiance.

"I agreed to be your teacher. Me, the best singer in the world. Are you doubting my judgement?" Rin replied sternly. Len began to tremble, unsure of his fate. It was without question that he would have to accept whatever punishment she gave, but his loyalty was no cure for his fear of the impending doom. Realizing how serious Rin was, he assumed a dogeza and waited for the inevitable.

"One attempt," she replied. "Do not fail."

So it began, Len having to perform once, with music. He gave it everything he had, then waited for Rin's next move.

"Tell me, how did you do?" This Rin was very scary. Where could he run? Was he good enough? He didn't know anymore.

"I don't know," he admitted, still trembling.

Len received a blow to the chest, falling backwards onto the hard stage floor.

"Well? Answer me."

"I-I did o-ok...?"

Another blow to the chest.

"Make up your mind."

"I gave it my best and let everyone know how good I am."

Rin's fist came towards his chest again, but stopped before reaching him.

"Was that so hard?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I will not tolerate laziness or lack of effort. Your punishment is not over. If I catch you slacking again, it will not end well. Also, you can't have any bananas until tomorrow."

No bananas...

Perhaps this was a good time for another dogeza?