DISCLAIMER: I'm going to stop doing these. They just make me sad that I actually don't own any part of Vocaloid.

Romeo and Cinderella

Chapter 10: Dinner for Five

A little over a week had passed and the time for the masquerade was slowly nearing. For all that time, I had scarcely left my room. I was still scared of what had happened with Len. Though, I did enter the marketplace once on that day of Friday 30th. This was at the sight of a familiar, beautiful shade of teal hair. As soon as I saw her I put on a warm shawl and rushed outside.

"Miku!" I called. As soon as she saw me she dropped all her groceries and rushed over to pull me into a tight hug. "I haven't seen you in ages," I said quietly.

Sure. We had only met each other a little over a week ago, but we had bonded quite deeply over the short time that we knew each other. I had never really had a friend aside from Luka before, and even then, Luka was more like a sister or a mother. Family.

Miku pulled back and looked at me, beaming. "Rin," she whispered, then said more loudly, "How have you been?"

"Okay, I suppose. I haven't really been out of the manor for over a week. That is, until now." It's amazing how much you start missing fresh air after being in it for a few days. How did I live before?

Miku laughed. "Neither have I," she concurred. "It's very nice to smell the fresh air out here…" She appeared to get lost in thought for a moment. "Hey, Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you care to join me and my family for dinner?" Miku asked me.

My face brightened up. "I would love to!" I exclaimed, clasping my hands excitedly in from of me. Lovely! Now I could tell Luka… and maybe she'd believe me this time.

"Wonderful!" Miku yipped. "Oh, this will just be so much fun."

I smiled at her eagerness. "I should probably let Luka know. So she doesn't tear apart the city looking to slit someone's throat."

Miku giggled: "Of course!"

I rushed inside the manor then to the kitchen (Luka had kitchen duties on Fridays).

"Luka!" I called out.

Her head popped up from a pot of something and she replied: "Yes Rin?"

"I'm joining Miku and her family for dinner this evening," I explained, then added, "and it's actually Miku this time."

"So long as you're not out stargazing again…" Luka laughed to herself then bit it off at my expression.

I put on an angry face while blushing madly. "So that's a yes, right?"

"Yes," Luka affirmed. "One less person to cook for."

I gave her a hug (I felt very clingy today), then went back out into the chilly air to Miku. She picked up her groceries and we started walking to the opposite side of town.

While we were walking to Miku's manor, I told her about the masquerade my father was holding for me in five days. Though I hated the idea of a ball of any sort, I was excited to have someone that I actually cared about present there, and she seemed excited, too.

We arrived at Miku's manor without any trouble—remarkably—and the house already smelled of food. It was not the usual sort of food smells that I was used to from my own dwelling, but it was still appealing. The sun was just beginning to set. It had been mid-afternoon when we left.

"Mm… Smells like eel and katsudon," Miku remarked.

"What is that?" I questioned. I had never had either of those before, much less heard of them.

"I'm sure you know eel the fish." Only in textbooks. "Katsudon is just pork and egg on rice. Not the fanciest of Japanese cuisine, but they're some of my favorites," she explained.

I smiled. "That sounds delicious." I wondered what eel tasted like…

"Come," Miku said, gesturing for me to follow. "We can wait in the Lounge while the food is being prepared."

I followed Miku down the main hallway in between the two giant curved staircases. The hallway was wide and dark. In the faint light I could see several empty golden candle holders high up the walls. There was a dim glow at the end of the hall; that would be where the Lounge was. The doors were closed—which was why the light was so faint. Inside the Lounge sat two people, a man and a woman, bathed in the light of at least fifty candles and a fireplace. Many servants, both sitting and standing, surrounded them. I assumed they were there to serve the wine. A large glass door in the back of the lounge was open so that the heat of the candles and all of the people would not be too overwhelming.

"Mother, father," Miku called while bowing forward. Not quite a man's bow but definitely not a woman's curtsy. "We have company."

The man and woman looked up from their conversations with smiles on their faces. "Hello!" the woman greeted.

"U-uh. Good evening," I returned with a bow—the European kind.

"Come. Sit," Miku's father directed, gesturing to a seat in the side of the room. "We always welcome a friend of Miss Miku's."

I sat awkwardly where he had gestured for me to sit. Miku took her seat next to her family.

"Glad to see that you could make it to dinner," Miku's mother said. "After hearing of the certain… incidents that happened and of your family's hospitality we were simply dying to meet you. After our daughter recovered, of course." Miku twitched at some of her mother's words, but her expression stayed friendly and I could tell she still felt overjoyed that I got to be there now.

A server of the Hatsune family walked in and bowed. "Hatsune-sama, shokuhin no junbi ga dekite iru," she chimed in her own native tongue.

"Iides," Miku's father replied, also not in German. "The food is ready to eat," he then translated, waving off the server.

"Where is Mikuo?" Miku asked.

As if he heard her call, Mikuo walked in. He scanned the room, eyes pausing on me for a moment. "Guests for dinner?" he queried.

"Ah! There you are," Miku chided. "Rin is joining us for dinner tonight."

Mikuo nodded at me. "Pleasure to see you again."

"You as well," I stated back to him. I eyed him, trying to read his body language, but he seemed totally reserved. Only the slightest flicker in his eye implied anything. And it was there and gone so fast I couldn't comprehend what it meant.

"Let's not be kept waiting!" Miku's father exclaimed. "Our meal awaits."

Dinner was a lovely assortment of strange foods that I never expected to enter my mouth. The flavors were new and wonderful—a lovely savory and salty combination. The talk was small and easy. I would have to come back another time, and soon.

The night had come to a close and it was preferably time for me to leave; but by now the sun had completely immersed itself in the black. I had almost made it out the door when Miku's mother stopped me.

"Oh, no. We mustn't have this," she began. "These streets are dangerous at this late hour. I think it would be better if you stayed here for the night. We'll have someone deliver you by morning."

"I—"

"Oh yes," Miku cut in. "That would be the best option. I mean after—umm… Well we have a spare bedroom that you could use and everything. We'll make sure you stay comfortable." I was sure Miku stopped herself about the—err—incident more for her than for me.

"That sounds—"

"Wonderful!" Miku's mother said excitedly. "I'll have the servants get everything prepared for you. Would you like a bath? I know it's not so common in Europe but in our native country it was a big part of everyday life. Miku, you have something Lady Rin can sleep in right? Good! Mikuo, tell the maid to prepare the room…" She continued to ramble on and on.

I waited patiently for a break in her rant to chime in: "A bath would be lovely." Thank heavens my father believed in bathing. I don't know how most people could stand life with little more than one bath per year. If you were wealthy. Trust me, the water wasn't going to come out and bite you.

I took my bath in peace (no rapists here~) and I had to say it was one of the most soothing baths I had ever taken. Given, Miku had to teach me how to bathe in this house. You washed yourself, then got in the bathtub. It was genius. No more losing the baby in the bathwater. If only those medieval morons had figured that out.

So I finished dressing for bed—Miku had lent me a soft, silky robe-like article to sleep in—and headed off to slumber.

.

The sun was warm on my back as I grazed along a path, watering flowers in a garden—my garden. Everything about it was beautiful. However as I continued to walk along the path, the sky began to grow darker little by little. And the flowers grew stranger. They began looking like... hands. I looked down and saw the water I was sprinkling on them was no longer water, but rather scarlet streams of blood. My heart raced. I wanted to stop but I couldn't. My body was no longer being controlled by me. I got to one hand in particular and leaned down to it. It grabbed my wrist. Len's hand. It seemed to be trying to cut off the circulation in my arm. I merely looked down and smiled at it, then wrenched up. Then, I stared at the limp limb hanging from my own and chuckled.

.

My own screaming woke me up. No more than two seconds later, Mikuo was at my door panting, "What's going on? What's wrong?"

He rushed over to me. With a frantic look in my face I grabbed him and pulled him down on me. I clung to him, not letting him get up, much less move.

"Rin! A-are you okay?" Mikuo tried asking me. I answered by holding onto his neck tighter. No, at the time I had no idea what I was doing or who I had in my deathgrip. What mattered was that there was someone there otherwise I might have had a heart attack and died.

It took a few minutes for me to come back to my senses

"M-Mikuo?" I said. "It's you, right?"

"Yes, I'm here," he replied immediately. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. I had a nightmare. I'm so sorry for waking you," I apologized.

He let out a sigh of relief. "No, no. Don't be sorry. I was just worried someone had tried to get you or my sister. It's okay, really."

"I'm sorry," I apologized a second time.

"Well if you're okay now then…" Mikuo began sitting up.

"Wait!" He stopped. "Please don't go."

He paused for a moment. "Wouldn't it be better if—"

"Please?"

"…All right."

I sighed a sigh of gratitude. "Thank you.

.

By the time I woke the next morning the events of the previous night had been all but a blur. I had only been slightly confused about the open door. Guessing I had just forgotten to close it, I got up and readied myself to leave (after closing the conspicuously open door, of course).

After a very clingy goodbye—due to both Miku and her mother—I set off on a long trek through the city to get back home. I realized how stupid I was for not bringing my horse about five steps in, but I saved the sulking for later so as to not slow me down now. After a long two hour journey I got to the familiar Marketplace and I noticed someone, someone in particular. My first initial reaction would be to scream and bolt the opposite direction. My second was to approach him and quite possibly make a scene. My third was to ignore him and walk home. Deciding the third was probably the best option, I tucked my head down and tried avoiding.

Did I mention I'm terrible at that? 'Cause I am.

"Rin." He turned around and grabbed my shoulder just as I was walking past.

I was very hesitant, but I looked back at his blue eyes. They seemed a bit sad, mixed with determination.

Please don't cause a scene, please don't cause a scene, please don't cause a scene.

.

Author's Note: Sorry. I'm like a day off of my usual date. At least I uploaded before two weeks passed this time. ^^; Hehehe—please don't kill me.

So I'd just like to mention that this story now OFFICIALLY has more views than my deviantART profile page. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH OMGEEZUM I LOVE YOU ALL. 3~

Soooooo? How was the chapter? Was it good? I hope it was good. I spent like a week on this thing it better be good. It was good right? Please say it was good~

I wasn't originally planning on it to be a cliffhanger, but when I wrote the end the way it was and already had 2107 words, I just couldn't resist.
Who is this mysterious person? Is it Len? Is it Kaito? Or is it someone new that happens to have blue eyes as well. (I swear at least half the Vocaloids are blond hair blue eyes _)

I bet you want a preview of the next chapter, don't you? Well, err, that's kind of impossible. Because of two reasons. One: I haven't even started it yet. Two: Pffft. Like I'm gonna give you spoilers after such suspense. C'mon people.

Reply to Anonymous:

(BTW sorry about not replying before. DX)

Moose: Thank you so much! The motivation was very much appreciated. *hugz*

[blank]: OMG YOU HELPED ME NOT DIE OF SADNESS. Thank you very much. *hugz*

O: Thank you for the advice. I'm so glad I was able to find chapter nine.

If I didn't reply to you just rat me out here. XD I hope I didn't look over anyone :O

Well since you and your feedback (lol I said foodback the first time instead of feedback) are the fuel in my engine, PLEASE REVIEW! Do it for the miso.

EDIT! So I actually am giving you a preview. Only because it will make you hate me even more. ^^
I couldn't decide what to do next, so I just ran. I don't know if I could have run into any more people than I did, but I managed a decent speed. I wasn't really sure where I was going. It definitely wasn't home. That was for sure.