A whole hour and a half later, the blond stepped out of the cab with his bare hands kept in his deep pockets. Looking around with his blue eyes half-opened, he gulped. He stood there, jaw dropping, admiring the quiet little town he never had seen before. It was colder in here, ten degrees lower from the city - and nicer and quieter and prettier. However, this place's temperature seriously dropped too low that he actually expected to snow in this place on the Christmas day if it would continue to go down.

Len shivered when the wind blew, and he fumbled reaching up to tug his turtleneck sweater higher until it hid his chin and dry lips. He had glanced at his hand, it was whiter than usual - bloodless as though it never had been alive. Yes, he was not fond of winter season that much since living with a broken heater left enough memories for him.

It was already half past one in the afternoon, and the sun was glaring with no intensity at him. The cobblestones pavement glistened against the faint sunlight threatened to be hindered by the huge gray clouds piling up from the east. Len noticed that the wind, though blowing softly, was rather incessant. He found it odd, for normally a windy weather wasn't a thing of this city. Ignoring the somewhat frosty air - which was utterly impossible to ignore when his hands were bare - he continued to walk down this path, clueless wherever it may lead him to.

It was like a ghost town inhabited by a winter spirit. It was too silent but he preferred such silence over the hustle and bustle of a stressful city life. He didn't mind the vast moor stretching from his left, so long as the houses on the other side were occupied by humans. The road - which seemed to bring him nowhere - was made of cobblestones and that made such town appealing. Well, admittedly he kind of hated going into this place unknown to him. He cursed Rei in his mind twice every minute when the ride to this place took him half an hour. Who would have thought that there was a town this far from the downtown, anyway? Nevertheless he thought that this place was pretty pleasant, aesthetic and worth his 'canvas'.

Len halted and looked back, checking whether a local was somewhere within the fifty-meter radius, only to see the old rusty victorian lampposts standing still on their places. The wind whizzed again, tousling his golden fringe and biting his face. The tips of his untied hair tickled his nose and the side of his face, and albeit he wanted to swat them away, he wouldn't. Len didn't want to bring out his hands from his pockets to pull his hair in a tie. He was way too cold.

The blond artist sighed and resumed his walk, hoping to meet at least one local who might bring him to the mysterious girlfriend of the asshole boyfriend. The cluster of gray clouds, slowly but surely, began blocking the sun. At least one-fourth of the sun was now covered, making few light rays to peek from the clouds. Straight ahead of this road, Len saw the horizon. 'Weird, weird town. Rei's too stupid to ask me out for this commission,' thought Len as he huffed.

When he first saw the addrress, the blond artist thought that this place was near Rin's house. Kagamine Rin was his cousin, ten years younger than him (that would make the girl sixteen), who lived near the highlands. Len never thought that the address Rei handed him was on the highlands. The blond had not set foot on this place ever since his mother carried him in her womb. Nonetheless he liked challenges so this wasn't a big deal at all. But all of his inconveniences aside, he deemed this place beautiful and serene. It was not populous and polluted like the city square, and there were no skyscrapers to block the sky. This was a good place to make art.

Len saw the skyline ahead of him as though it was some artist's creation. The thick gray clouds were warped in a thin line, dark shades of grayness drew an unintentional contour. It only meant one thing, that was for sure...this was a town located on a slope. After a few more listless steps, Len stood atop the steep cobblestoned streets sloping down the hillside. Cable wires stretched parallel with tram rails; stores painted in pastel colors stood above the waterfront. There was a tiny river flowing beneath the small arching bridge, rustling low murmurs as the water ran. It was an old medieval town situated far from the heart of modern city life, and Len realized how fool he was for missing out this little paradise.

Instinctively he ran down the sloping street, letting the wintry air to numb his face. There were few people walking across the alleyways, so few that if he missed them he would never find the 'model' he was asked to draw. One of them must know who on earth was this person, wherever the Crescent Acadame was. As he scurried along the street, the blond could clearly see the tiled roofs of the houses and their smoking chimneys. Most of the roofs were fading red, sickly pale against the gray skies.

Kagamine Len had been long fascinated with landscapes reeking of antiquity. The places that could make him feel as though he had synesthesia - like smelling its oldness and hearing its beauty and all other sorts of overlapping senses - inspired Len to make an art more than what his eyes could see. His arts were more than imitations of beauty and reality. His hands could paint thousands of words a picture was said to convey and illustrate feelings which were never said. The canvas he stained with colors of various shades could capture hearts, he was told once. But whoever said such thing to him, he couldn't recall anymore, for it was a compliment never told to him in person. His brush and paint and talent were for the production beauty beyond what eyes could perceive, and it was proven long ago when he anonymously drew a girl for someone, to help him win her heart.

He, who liked baroque architecture that much, worked up his legs as he continued to run down hill. The cold air began to fill up his lungs and dry his throat, but he was too busy admiring the little town to shut close his gaping mouth. The wrought-iron balconies studded with plantboxes all came to view, semi-dead branches seemed to wave him hello. The rustling water grew louder as Len stood on the bridge, and everything seemed nearer and more beautiful up close. He panted as he turned around once more to stare at the slope he went running down. It was steep and, well, uphill and the houses were standing next to each other. It reminded him of a typical Italian alleyway. And right that moment, he haf forgotten how dead this place seemed to him when he first stepped out of the cab. It was still quiet and no souls were out, but this town was certainly beautiful.

"I want to paint this town," he murmured to himself, biting his lower lip afterwards. "Yeah, I'll surely go back in here once I'm done with the commissioned work." The blond continued to walk now, though in reality he was really dawdling. Amid his contemplative tour, a sudden vibration in his jeans' pocket made him jump.

Rei was calling. Len's lips curved into a scowl as he stared at the screen, still reluctant whether he would answer the call or not. Well, he had to since Rei was paying him here...and the raven-butthead promised to fix the heater. Fair enough.

"Hey," Len went forward, still searching for a single soul he could bother. "Man, you never told me that this place exists in our city. I could have spent my whole life here!" - "Yeah, I won't paint this town. Yet. I'm on my way to the Academy. On earth is that? Alright, thanks." - "And my heater! Get it done! You promised to pay for it, you little buttshit. Get it done!"

Len sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He put his phone back in his pockets, and after a split-second or so, a man went out of a pastry shop. Without any second thoughts, the blond set forth to another jog, screaming to get the attention of the young man.

"Sir, excuse me," Len fell into steps next to the said man whose hair was dark as Rei's. When the man glanced at him, the blond smiled and continued. "I'm looking for Crescent Academy. This is the first time I've been into this place and I can't find my way there."

Had Len tried searching for the academy instead of pondering as he walked, he could have made his half-true declaration truthful. He actually spent his time gawking and thinking (and cursing Rei).

The man smiled at him as he pushed his spectacles up. "Well, yes. In fact, I work there. What's your business? We can ride the tram - but it won't be here after a few more minutes. You wouldn't mind waiting?"

"Oh, I don't. Thank you so much," Len smiled. "I'm here for a commissioned work. Anyway, you got a pretty place here,"

"I see. Photography? You must have seen this town from published travelogues."

The two of them stood alongside the railways, calmly waiting for the tram.

Len shrugged. "No. I'm an artist. Need to paint someone,"

"That's romantic."

"Probably," Len sighed. The ground underneath his feet somewhat trembled - or was it the railways? - and an old tram appeared from the skyline. He bet it had wooden benches inside, it's kind of vintage. "By the way, what's your name, sir?"

"Hiyama Kiyoteru. I'm an English teacher in Crescent Academy," he smiled.

Len's really lucky today. He pulled out a folded note from his coat's pocket and handed it to the man. "I'm afraid I'm asking too much, but do you happen to know this person?"

Kiyoteru took the note and smiled.

Half an hour later, Len was yelling on phone. He was asking who the heck was the boyfriend and if he was a homo. The blond artist had nothing agaisnt the minority, of course. But well, he was kind of uncomfortable with a bizarre theme. When the blond arrived in his destination, he quickly went to find the person Rei tasked him to draw. M. Hatsune of Music Department. What he saw was kind of pleasant, for the person had teal hair and it reminded him of Miku.

"Rei! Is this 'M. Hatsune' - Mikuo? Just what kind of relationship I am trying to mend!?"

"Man, calm your horses. That's her brother. So you don't really know who's your subject, huh?"

white Angel 246: we'll see her point of view soon. i want to deepen len's character first before showing miku. yaaaay. sorry for making you wait, lol. i want to stick with my plan.

allechant: cries. what a challenge. i'll do my best but i won't show it soon. lol.

tigernius: i meant the Golden Raven thing, lol. oh thanks! i'm not confident of my descriptions, believe me so it would take me a couple of drafts before i can make a full description of his creative process.

tysm for reviewing!

as usual, review if that's your thing. i'm sorry because this update sounds rushed...well, i'm so tempted to write this chapter longer but i have to cut it short because this isn't a full length ff thing. im keeping the chapters short, more than 1k words but less than 2k. tysm!

-ivan.