Romeo and Cinderella

Chapter 12: The Tailor Shoppe

A lot can happen in one day. I would know from firsthand experience. There was the day I was mugged, the day I met Miku, the day I started hallucinating, and yesterday—the day I found out I had been sleeping with my brother.

But today was a new day. It was a day that I hoped would not last forever, a normal day. I had been well rested, I didn't have anything big on my mind, there was no tutoring on Saturday—especially not New Year's Eve; life was good.

Of course, that wasn't going to be how things worked at all. There were a lot of loose ends I would have to tie up. I needed to make some big decisions, and I couldn't do that alone. I spent my morning looking out the window, searching for a familiar look, a familiar face, a familiar head of teal hair. I bet you know what I'm going to say next.

In moments I was out the door. "Miku!" She looked up at the sound of my voice and shot a smile at me. "I need to talk to you about something," I said to her as I got to a normal speaking distance.

"Sure, Rin. What is it?" Miku asked me.

I looked around. The Marketplace was very busy at that time. "Let's go to a quieter place," I suggested.

She nodded and began following me. Just east of the Marketplace were two adjacent fountains. Though there were usually people there, at least there would be places to sit and talk rather than yell over the noise of hagglers trying to rip off their customers.

"So what is it you need to tell me?" Miku asked with huge eyes. She looked like her curiosity was going to make her burst.

"It's about Len," I began.

She perked up even more, obviously oblivious to any negative energy. Her excitement pulsed off of her in waves. "That's the guy you snuck off with, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I replied. "And he's… well, I think he's my brother." Miku's excitement vanished in an instant and was replaced with frozen horror.

"Oh, dear. That isn't good at all," Miku observed quietly. "What are you going to do?"

I sighed, holding back my frustration. "I don't know. That's my problem. I can't even begin to think of what the right thing is."

Miku gave me an intent stare. Her face was motionless determination as she thought of what advice to give me.

She finally spoke out: "You know what I said to you that morning about a week ago?" She paused but didn't give me the chance to answer. "I said that you should follow your heart. No matter what; follow it. It always knows the right thing to do. More than logic does. What does your heart say, right now?"

I broke out, "I don't know! I can't hear what my heart is telling me!" My frustration heightened. I threw my hands up as I spoke.

She lurched her body over me and grabbed my arms. "Then you aren't listening!" she yelled back.

Instinct put my head down. "It says… it says…" I didn't know. I couldn't hear anything. I felt tears at the edges of my eye as I looked up, and felt something suddenly screaming at me. "It says I should go talk to him." Miku followed my eyes to the blond I had placed my gaze upon.

"Go," she said, ushering me toward him as he walked through the clearing, not noticing either of us.

"Len!" I called, stopping him before he made it all the way past. Wiping the tears away from my eyes, I could tell seeing my face automatically made him nervous. I tried to keep the look on my face positive so he'd relax. It almost worked sort of.

Instead of stopping when I got close to him, I decided a tackle hug would be more suitable. Though it probably made the situation more awkward, it did make the tension in the air go down.

"Rin!" he yelped as I crashed into him, making him stumble a bit. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"Surprise gifts are the best kind, aren't they?" I stated joyfully. I knew exactly what I needed to say.

"I suppose so. When they're gifts this lovely," Len rebounded. "So…did… you make up your mind?" he asked. It was obvious he had stayed up all night thinking about it. The dark circles under his eyes proved my point even more.

I shot him a meek smile. "Yeah. I want you to be exactly who you are."

Len furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?" So he definitely wasn't a mind reader after all. Drat.

"Be my brother," I clarified for him.

He grinned at me. "I thought I already was." Len pulled me into another hug. I squeezed him tightly and looked back at the shining Miku. Len apparently felt me move and followed the direction I had looked to. "Who is that?"

I pulled back from him. "That's my friend, Miku. I met her a little over a week ago."

"Is that so… wait." Len shot his head back to me. "Is she the one you—"

"Yes. That's her," I interrupted, as if he would finish that sentence on his own.

"Poor girl," he commented. "I really feel for her." I looked at him somewhat strangely. "No, really. My mother was raped around this age."

I jumped at his blunt usage of the word. I almost reminded him that he had enlightened me of that fun fact before, except that he hadn't.

"I was pretty young when she told me about it—maybe eleven or twelve—because she sometimes would act strange around me. So, naturally, I asked her why. She told me that I looked a lot like the man who had violated her some years ago. That had always seemed to haunt her," Len explained.

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed. Then it clicked, like the last piece of the puzzle falling into place. Just like the instance with Luka in my dream. I had been hallucinating the memories of people I had connections with. And now someone else's memoirs of a dead man were haunting me.

"Ah, Rin? Are you there?" Len waved his hand in front of my face and I snapped my head back toward him. "You spaced out for a second there."

"I did? Oh, sorry," I apologized. It also explained why I didn't notice that that particular incident a week and a half ago wasn't real. There was so much resemblance to Len and to me that there would be no way for me to recognize the hallucination was not real. "Len?" I began asking. "Would you happen to know if there is an old, abandoned barnyard south of the city?"

He seemed a bit taken aback by the seemingly random question but he put on a pondering face and answered me anyway: "I believe there was, but it was burned down quite a few years ago. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," I replied vaguely. My point stood. "And Len?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," I said, and I made a promise to myself. I would always love my brother. Forever.

.

"Nee, Rin," Miku was saying. It appeared that she had gotten herself so worked up about something she wasn't even speaking German anymore. "Rin-chan ga kamen butō-kai no Len-sama o itta no ka?" And that entire statement she said quite possibly all at the same time. It was like a simultaneously stated sentence, you could say.

"German, please," I chimed.

"Eh?" She asked. "Ah! Gomenosai! Er—Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even realize—sorry!"

Len and I laughed. For lack of anything better to do, Miku had led us on a tour through the city. Of course, there wasn't anything remotely interesting about it, but the conversation was nice.

"What I meant to say was did you tell Len about the masquerade yet?" Miku clarified.

"Oh," I said. I looked over at Len. "I don't suppose I have."

"Masquerade?" Len queried.

I sighed. "Yes. My parents are holding a huge ball for me in honor of—" I shuddered "—my wedding." I suppressed a gag. "Yes, it's going to be absolutely ridiculous and terrible and ridiculously terrible. Would you like to go?"

Len smiled. I could feel him chuckling inside. "Sure. A masquerade sounds just delightful."

"Especially when you put it like that," Miku added sarcastically, then an idea smacked her right in the face. Really. I could practically see it come over to hit her. Miku's eyes grew wide and energy pulsated off of her like a heat wave. "Let's go somewhere!" she announced to the world.

Len leaned toward me and whispered, "Does she always act like this?"

"More often than not," I murmured back.

"No really!" Miku went on. "There's a tailor in town that I know. Let's get dresses! Doesn't that sound like fun, Rin?" I wondered absently if she had gotten enough sleep the night before.

"I don't have any money with me, Miku," I replied. "Besides, I don't know if Len would enjoy that very much." I turned my head to look up at Len who was smiling.

"Sounds like fun," Len said.

I stared at him for a few moments. "Srsly?" I asked, slurring the word into one syllable.

"Sure," Len continued. "I know the tailor that Miku is talking about. Miki I think is her name." I flinched a bit at the name. I knew I had heard it before; I just had no idea what from.

"So what are we waiting for?" Miku exclaimed. "Let's go!"

Miku didn't hesitate in hauling Len and me all the way across the West City. We eventually made it to a narrow alleyway on the northern end of town lined with small, empty shops. The tailor shop lied toward the middle and to the right of the alleyway, indicated by a sign with "Schneider Geschäft" painted on it in script letters.

A bell rang as Miku pushed open the door. "Hello?" someone called at the sound. A lady with rose red hair stepped out from a back room and smiled at Miku and Len as our trio pooled in. "Welcome! How may I help you three?

"Gutentag, Miss Miki," Len greeted. Miki blushed a bit in his presence. I didn't blame her. "I presume you've been doing well?"

"Quite," Miki answered.

Just then Miku burst into her excited plan: "We've come for your assistance! Our lovely Lady Rin is holding a masquerade in one week and she, as well as I, needs a dress for the occassion. I thought you would be the best person to come to."

"You though correctly," Miki boasted. She dove right into the matter. "What styles would you two be looking for for the occassion?"

I looked back subcontiously at Len. He didn't seem bored. Though I feared his expression could be lying. What could be going though that mind of his...

"...And all made of silk and satin," Miku was saying. "What about you, Rin?" she asked me.

"Oh. Um... I'm not really sure. I don't usually get to tell my tailor what I want." I laughed nervously.

"That's not a problem," Miki chimed. "I can just get some measurements and come up with something stunning for you. Come over here." Miki motioned me to a slightly raised platform. "Arms out." I obeyed. "So what colors do you think would suit you the best?" she questioned as she took out strands of cloth to measure me with.

"Er. I'm not exactly sure," I admitted somewhat embarassed.

"Gold and black," Len told Miki. I looked over at him with puzzled face. He made brief eye contact with me then went back to Miki. "They match her best. And they're your favorite colors, are they not?" I slowly moved my head up and down as a yes.

Miki ran her eyes over me then nodded. "I see. Now, are you a fan of lace?"

I smiled smally. "Very much so. And ribbon."

"Ah. An eye for detail, I see." During all of this, Miki had been pulling strings around my waist and bust and writing their measures on a sheet of paper. "Any preferred material?"

"Comfortable."

Miki grinned. "I can do that. Well, that's all I need. Stop by in a few days for a fitting," she instructed. Miku and I nodded.

"I'll make sure she doesn't forget," Miku assured.

We were about to step out when I stopped. "Wait. When will you need your pay?" I asked her.

"Don't worry about that," Miku said. "I have you covered."

We all waved goodbye and headed out into the late afternoon air. By the look of the sky, it was going to snow tonight. What a wonderful way for the new year to begin.

.

Author's Note: That was fast right? Eh. Not as quick as I'd hoped, but I was writing and knew every which word to say then right smack dab in the middle I was cursed with writer's block. I had very little miso soup for my tofu. I feared I could never think of something to put on paper (well on digital paper) until I was blessed with a great rain. A rain made of miso soup. Sure I got all sticky and smelled like Asians for a couple days, but it was worth it to actually finish a chapter in a week.

Now I have no clue when the next chapter will be up, but I do believe I'm finally getting to where I'm supposed to be in this story. You see, I was supposed to be at this point in chapter 7… Anyways, I hope it was good. Trying to mend up all the problems that I start. Rest assured, there are still many more to go through.

So I guess you want a preview of next chapter…... Well I hate to break it to you but that doesn't exist yet. I think it might be a little more exciting and a little more horrific that what I've had going for me lately. That's good right? And I wouldn't advise you to relax about Rin's innocent relationships…

I have no clue how much longer this story is going to go. I'm just now starting to write things that were supposed to have happened in chapter six. That could mean anything. But I can tell you some things that are to come~ I know I'll fit in a bit of Cantarella, From a Place You're Not There, Synchronicity, and Daughter of White. There may also be some Circle You Circle You and/or Dark Woods Circus. And hopefully many unexpected twists and turns. You guys like that right?

Sooooo… Another "If you read" game. This time…. Quote your favorite kid's show. And be sure to say what it's from~

You guys rock. Just thought I'd let you know.