During the night, Len was still awake in his bed, reflecting on recent events. After their conversation, he had the following reflection:

Rin is quite the strict about putting in good effort. I don't know if I can keep this up. If I slip up now, she might really beat me up. She knocked me down last time without exerting any effort.

Do I really need to start a career in music? If I have Rin, won't her money take care of everything? She seems to be doing fine. If I just focus on staying with her, won't we be happy together? After all, aren't genuine relationships what everyone wants?

Too risky. If she suspects I'm using her, it's all over. With someone as rich as her, love is never guaranteed until you're married. I don't "have Rin" either.

I force myself to continue sometimes. It gets to a point where it means everything to just make progress. Time is ticking, Rin is watching, and I'm giving it all I've got. It's not always my best, but it is genuine effort. Powering through in the face of exhaustion is difficult. If only it weren't so hard to continue, to just enjoy it. Has it really stopped being as fun? What have I gotten out of it? A lot actually, but that doesn't always translate into desire. I have an obligation. Giving everything is hard without a clear meaning behind the desire. I know Rin meant well when she said that last part, but threats don't create genuine desire. Training really does suck. She must have had it worse. It means I should be grateful and push through it, but nothing can replace pure desire. But if I don't have this pure desire, do I even deserve what Rin is giving me?

If I try my hardest, will my best even be good enough? Once it's out in the open for Rin to judge, I feel so scared and nervous. What if she laughs? If my best isn't good enough, haven't I failed?

I guess I should talk to her sooner rather than later. Come to think of it, she hasn't told me why she started singing.

"You're too afraid of making mistakes. Why are you so ashamed? Is it embarrassing?"

"I'm afraid it won't be good enough for you."

"That's silly. If you're so afraid of making mistakes, you can't relax and enjoy singing. Your ability should be enough to get through it."

"But the pressure..."

"Pressure is there to tell you action is necessary, not to drive your actions. I asked you to give me your best. You can't do that if you're too busy being nervous. Tell me, is it your desire to perform badly?"

"No..."

"Stop being nervous and start focusing. Did you forget you're taking lessons, having nothing to worry about except getting better, and being trained by the best? If you were already perfect, there would be no point in having these lessons. If you can't relax, you can't do well. Got it?"

But that was just a dream. Rin would probably say something like that, but asking that question tells her I haven't been trying my hardest. But that isn't true, is it?

With that, Len rolled over and fell asleep, content.


One day was long enough of a visit, though they looked forward to seeing each other again. The inevitable parting was quick and painless, which made everything easier. As the car pulled away, the drive back to Rin's seemed as lively as before.

The girls were talkative, but not overly so. The silences were usually brief, but breaking this one had a purpose.

"Len, you're being awfully quiet. Is something wrong?" Miku took notice of Len's apparent desire to be left alone over the entire trip so far, since they were already halfway home. Rin tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to herself. Miku simply nodded, leaving the topic alone.

As they got to Rin's house, Len confirmed that he wanted to be alone. After the formalities of their inevitable departure, he went to his room.

Intent on not thinking about recent events, he got ready for bed. It was quite early, just a bit before four in the afternoon. Peace and quiet followed as sleep consumed him.

It was broken by a whisper that seemed to come far earlier than normal. He had been asleep for... ten, twenty minutes perhaps?

"Len!" It was Rin's voice. "We need to talk." Could it wait? Not a chance; Rin would only ask when the time was right. When Len wanted to be alone, Rin would only disturb him if it were important.

Once got to the living room, he noticed Miku and Gumi were still there. Before he could ask what was going on, Rin motioned to where they were sitting.

As they gathered and sat on the orange living room furniture, arranged in a circle, Rin broke the silence.

"It's time we shared a bit of our stories with you."

Len was only able to nod, overwhelmed by the feeling of being so grateful that silence is better than trying to find words to say. His only thoughts were about the coming revelations.


"This was never supposed to happen. Singing was my enemy. I was the worst singer of us three for years. Miku and Gumi were miles ahead." Rin said sheepishly, her head bowed slightly.

"It was a few months before Rin stopped feeling bad about her singing voice." Gumi's demeanor was similar; she didn't seem to take pride from Rin's earlier struggles. "You could see in her eyes; she forced herself to smile while her eyes showed sadness."

"I was close with Rin as well, but she warned me to keep our contact secret. That's why I couldn't say anything." Miku had concealed her friendship with Rin, extremely careful not to reveal anything to Len. Unless Rin has a close eye on you, if someone finds out you're close to her, your safety is compromised.

Gumi and Miku had known Rin and revealed nothing. They could have left him behind and worked with Rin, getting rich in the process. Both agreed to hold off on launching their careers to train him, if even a little.

The young female blonde wasn't called to singing by natural talent. Her skill was a little above average, one could say, but she was only a "decent" singer. Ten years old isn't the age most kids make up their minds for a career path they will stick with. You see, Rin was struggling through the learning process. No matter how many times she practiced the song her choir was going to perform, she would make a mistake.

"How long has it been?" she groaned, as the clock read 7 p.m. It was a Saturday, and she had been practicing for the past four hours, making it nine so far today. "It's only a two minute song. Why is this so hard?"

A soprano, she was the least skilled in her group. One might think she were a natural singer by how pleasant her singing voice was, but in reality, she was terrible at singing for the longest time. Why, then, did she now take up singing? Enter Gumi.

The green haired girl had been singing for two years when she noted how nice Rin's voice sounded. Gumi's talent was seemingly natural; she was even the top soprano at Rin's school. The two had been best friends for a while now, but Gumi was Rin's own mentor. Rin was only practicing alone because Gumi was out of town.

Couldn't she just wait until Gumi got back? Rin enjoyed singing because of the feeling of accomplishment she felt, but that didn't mean she was spared from constantly practicing the basics, albeit in the form of songs. It was a challenge, but it felt great to finally get there. No one was forcing her to sing.

The final soprano at their elementary school was Miku. Her path was very similar to Gumi's; she was also naturally good at singing.

How did Rin get so much better than they were?

Rin was persistent. It didn't matter if she messed up on the phrase a hundred times before, she was going to get it right and not get it wrong again. Even when her body told her how long it had been, though she would take the necessary breaks, she would keep trying. It wasn't going well this time.

It was just too hard. She knew what the sheet music said, having stared at the same phrase for three hours. It just wouldn't come out right. It started with her missing a note, the next she was late, then added an extra note. She ran out of breath, followed by missing a note again. Every time it came out wrong, she knew. Try again. Give up for now. Keep trying. Give up again.

Giving up wasn't what Gumi or Miku would want. It's still wrong...

Eventually, she got it right. A few repetitions and she was done. Then more repetition and the song was perfect.


When her friends were so much more skilled, she was determined to reach their level. It was this determination that allowed the inevitable "click" to come about. All she had to do now was write about something. This proved to be simple enough. With the lyrics and melody finished, it would be enough, she hoped.

Her musical skill was soon good enough. It's not like she couldn't spend years working on it while doing the other aspects of being a singer, like writing and making songs.


She turned to Len. "Len, you're a late bloomer. It's the same journey as before, except you're older now. The struggles are the same. This part isn't what musicians really do, but it's a great way to start. We all put the effort in, and we're all successful because of it. The concert and recordings simulated how kids feel about performances as well. Remember, the student's job is to put forth effort. It's the teacher's job to maximize that effort. I'm here to guide you along that journey."

"Before we get ahead of ourselves, Miku and Gumi are here to help me shape you into the singer of your future." Rin gave him a wide grin. "Things are going to become much harder now."


The ninth chapter is drafted and should be up in about seven days. The story is "Romance/Drama" for a reason. Keep this in mind.

As a side note, notifications to this story go directly to my phone. The response time on my end is not as quick. Balance between time between updates and the quality of those updates is a difficult thing to manage. Thank you for your continued support.

IvyValentine1: I haven't gone into much detail about Gumi, but putting her as a major character was not a mistake. I can promise that she will be a fixture; it wouldn't be right to focus on Rin and Len. Thanks for your kind words!