Diamond Rose

Chapter 4

Hopeful Blooms

One of Miku's earliest memories was watching her mother perform. Tomoko Kawaguchi was quite well-known some time ago. She had been four years old, a chilly February and her mother, at 27, was nearing the end of her career. Tomoko, went by the stage name of Chito K. and had a loyal fandom since her debut album hit no. 2 on the Oricon charts. Tomoko had only been 18 then. Miku had been carried by her father at one of Tomoko's last concerts. Tokyo Dome was filled and there wasn't a single spare seat left. Just watching her mother had made her want to be like her. Tomoko's brilliance was infectious, her smile was radiant, her voice strong. At four, Miku had been entranced.

And then, at nine, her world came crashing down. Tomoko Kawaguchi, 31 could not be revived after the car accident. It had shaken the media for an entire month, especially since there had been two vehicles from rival TV stations following the car. The three people left in the family attended the funeral, their father, Hayate had shed many tears, Miku stood silent, while she kept her brother in her embrace as his crying howls filled the cold air. Miku's five year old brother, Ayumu Kawaguchi, had been left without a mother, their father, busy as ever with managing another drama, could only trust Miku to play both the mother and the sister, taking care of Ayumu. For a long time, she had left that dream in the dirt, even quitting the talent agency she had been training in, until they were cleaning the house and found a large stack of magazines and photos in a drawer. It contained pictures of their mother, Tomoko, and added to the collection of photos that they would change everyday.

Ayumu had studied his twelve-year old sister when they found them, "Onee-chan?"

She looked at him, "Yeah?"

"Don't you want to be like mum?" As it turned out, eight year olds knew more than they let on.

Miku stared at him a bit before answering, "Yeah. I used to."

Now she was standing behind that glass, the music playing behind her, the lyrics in front of her.

Painful memories

Sink deeply in the depths of my heart

The pain of loneliness

That no one else knows

Why do I always

Lose the most precious things?

The neverending rain

Sings of sadness again

They cut the music. Allen was the one standing there, earphones now around his neck. He wasn't glaring, rather the look in his eyes mirrored the ones of Lavi's. Worry. Allen didn't need to talk to get the question across. And to answer, Miku shook her head and forced her tears away. And then placed her blue eyes onto the actual lyrics. And as always, she could do justice to Allen's works.

That day, you believed in

the wind that blows from the future.

Tomorrow will dance even higher for us...

Time goes by,

Even though time passes, there are things that never change.

Because I can't reach it, because I want to find it,

I go to search for the wings of dreams,

Stay by my side, forever...

Allen breathed a sigh of relief as she sang, Lavi joining in later. His voice, he noted, didn't go with Miku's like the way he had hoped, but at least they were getting the job done … not that badly either. But as the song went on, he realized that Miku had stopped looking at the lyrics. She was still singing the write words, with the right notes. It really seemed as though she was taking up the footsteps Tomoko Kawaguchi was taking. But Miku was the only person in the room who knew this. There was a new joy in her voice as she realized what she could do. It was a small accomplishment, and the editing team would have to most definitely pull an all-nighter to get their job done.

Meanwhile, Lenalee was sitting in a conference room. They were planning the advertisement, shots, colour, contrast. The different messages were fired across the room, and the Chinese stylist remained silent, just watching until one of the questions, went to her. "Lee-san? I'm wondering, what type of style were you going to go for with Kawaguchi and Bookman?"

Lenalee glanced down at the huge notebook, 6 centimeters think in her lap. "I have plenty of ideas. Which one I go with depends on what you want."

The red-haired (clearly not natural) responded with a slightly strange look, as though sizing up an opponent, yet they were in no way enemies. They came from different dimensions in the entertainment biz, were different ages, and of different nationalities. A few seconds later of this silence, she spoke, "That's fabulous, Lee-san." She moved swiftly to an empty seat beside Lenalee, "I've worked with a multitude of stylists before, some from Europe, or America, Korean too, and of course many of your colleagues, but I haven't come across any stylist so flexible."

Lenalee was amused by this, "So I'm something special, eh?" She laughed a little and stuck out her hand. It was a friendly gesture, "I think I will enjoy working with you."

She shook her hand and at the same time, spoke, "You don't know my name, do you?"

The Chinese stylist shook her head, "I overheard some people speaking to you and heard the name Taguchi, but that was all."

"Aiko, Taguchi Aiko, pleased to meet you!"

It was very simple this meeting in the middle of a conference room, that was quickly interrupted by budget and camera angles.

Lavi sat on the rooftop of the hotel he was staying at. It was midnight, and the lights of Tokyo were lively, interesting, fascinating to behold. But that wasn't why he was there. Normally, when he was on the roof, it was because he was drunk, hungover, needed a break from a wild party or just sleepy. But today, he was here for a different reason. He wasn't quite aware of the fact that his being here was vastly different from the previous times, but he was aware that he was spending an unusually large amount of time considering what to do with Kawaguchi Miku. Obviously he couldn't just downright sleep with her, mainly because he was working with her on a daily basis, no holidays and he could tell that she was capable of being extremely nasty. Even worse, was that he didn't know if he would stop thinking about her after he did so. There were other possibilities. Like seriously dating her, or downright demanding never to spend time with her again.

Whatever the answer was, 5 minutes later, he gave up on attempting finding one. And silently, hands deep in his pockets, he walked back to his hotel room, collapsed on the bed, completely ignorant of whatever the next day was to bring.

"Miku. Get. Up,"

Three words that reached her stirring conscience can have a lot of impact sometimes. Depending on whom it was saying it. She laid there, eyes stirring behind closed eyelids. And a moment later, they flicked open, blinked slowly, as if they were made out of a fragile crystal and she began to rise. Turning into, a more tarnished, stronger, yet brilliant gem as she rubbed her eyes, wishing away the sleep that had settled there not too long ago. "Mornin' Ayumu."

Ayumu was now a healthy bright-eyed 13 year old. His school uniform hung from his thin frame in a slightly odd manner, but it looked good enough. Black hair hung in his blue eyes which had often searched his sister's for answers when he was younger. "Dad left already. Breakfast's downstairs on the table." He had thrown open Miku's curtains earlier. That was why the room was so bright.

Miku nodded as she draped a dressing gown over her shoulders, despite the baby blue alarm clock sitting on her desk, she questioned her younger brother, "What's the time?" She had recalled a 10:45 am meeting, and something like an informal meeting before that …

"It's only eight-thirty."

"Good. That means I can sleep in."

"No you can't."

"Why not?"

"Your producer's on hold right now. She wants to talk to you."

"Eh, Ayu-chan, you tell me that now?"

Life's an endless tunnel,

A kaleidoscope,

A colourful whirl,

Of everything in this world,

The tunnel's always gonna end,

But enjoy the rainbows,

While you're still traveling,

This kaleidoscopic tunnel …