Dreams
Chapter 25: Gift
She ran across the green field and stopped at the edge of the cliff. As she raised her arms and head up in the air, she felt herself being lifted up and glide across the sky. The heavy chains slowly latched off from her legs and dissolved into thin air.
"No, you're not her. You're not..."
Looking down, she saw a boy fall off the cliff and plunge into the raging waves of the sea. That boy was...
"Len!"
"Please sign here after you've agreed to the conditions," a monotone voice woke Rin up from her daydream, causing her to flinch and stare at the contract blankly.
Rin picked up the paper and asked, "Am I supposed to sign this?"
"Yes."
"What are the conditions?"
Haku, the silvery-white haired woman, crossed her arms and said calmly, "I've just said them. You weren't listening, were you?"
"I'm... sorry." Rin hung her head low. "I was thinking of something else."
"Seriously, you should pay attention to important details." Haku let out sigh and pointed to the paper. "Everything you need to know is found there. I don't want to repeat myself. Get it, Miss Kagamine?"
"Ye... Yes," Rin stuttered in reply and quietly read the document. "Come to think of it, why did I pass?"
"Hmm?" Haku tilted her head a little. "Are you interested to know?"
"Yes, Miss Yowane!"
Haku chuckled and said, "You didn't actually pass but I was the one who wanted you to pass. I told the director that since I'm going to be the manager of the new model, I wanted to choose someone whom I wanted to work with. Call me stubborn but I don't care because I don't want to work with people who has no passion in modeling."
Rin pouted. So, she passed this audition by chance. If not for Haku, there would be no hope for her at all. Haku said that she would not want to work with people with no passion in modeling. Did that mean she had the passion so that was why she was accepted? As she was thinking about this, she began to smile and giggle.
Haku narrowed her eyes at Rin and said in her usual monotone and low voice, "What are you giggling about? Don't get on your high horse too fast, Miss Kagamine."
Rin laughed and clasped her hands together joviously. "Thank you for accepting me even though I'm a noobie in modeling!"
"Yeah, honestly, you've no talent in modeling but I don't mind that." Haku gave her a small smile as she placed her hand on her own chest. "My belief is the same as yours, Miss Kagamine. As a model, bringing smiles to others is important. And you've shown me your greatest smile right before you leave. That never-give-up smile... I like it."
Touched by her words, Rin's eyes watered almost instantly and she quickly wiped her tears away. She was so happy that she wanted to run along the row of private houses and shout for joy. Her long-waited dream was finally fulfilled! After trying so hard to make her dream come true for many years, she could be a model at last!
"Thank you, Miss Yowane!"
"No problem..."
Suddenly, the main door creaked opened, causing Rin and Haku to turn to face a couple in their early fifties who looked shocked and confused. Their eyes lay upon Haku, then they shifted her gaze to Rin.
"Rin... you're back," Rin's mother spoke and smiled. "You've failed, haven't you?"
Rin's father closed his eyes and muttered, "I told you so, young lady. You'll never be a model. But I'm glad that you've returned earlier than what we have bet. Like I said, your studies are..."
"Dad! Mum! I've passed!" Rin interrupted him and held up the contract in front of them. "Miss Yowane, the woman next to me, is going to be my manager."
While the couple's eyes widened in disbelief, Haku stood up and put her hand out to have handshakes with them. But all the two did was gawking at Rin.
Haku moved her outstretched hand closer to Rin's parents and greeted, "Good morning, Mr and Mrs Kagamine. I'm pleased to inform you that your daughter has passed the audition. Congratulations!"
Rin's mother muttered under her breath, "Rin... you... what?"
"That paper..." Her father pointed at the paper which Rin held up in front of them. "Is it a contract?"
"Yes, Mr Kagamine. All Miss Kagamine has to do is to sign the contract," Haku replied with a polite bow. "Would you mind if you could give her some time to read the conditions?"
Rin stared at the faces of her parents and realised that they appeared to age a little even though it was only six weeks. The wrinkles on their forehead and at the side of their eyes were more prominent than before. As expected from them, they probably had been stressing themselves at work. Just then, her father glanced at her and his stare hardened with anger.
"Rin, don't you dare to sign this paper. You're not suited to be a model at all."
"But I want to be one and it has always been my dream!" Rin retorted and took out a pen.
"Rin! Don't you dare to sign it!"
"I dare!"
"Rin..."
"I dare! I dare! I dare!"
"If you sign it..."
"I don't care!" Rin clicked her pen in frustration and was prepared to sign the contract.
"... don't ever think of coming back home."
She stopped and looked up, staring face to face at her father.
She smiled bitterly and spoke in a soft but firm voice, "Don't worry. I won't think of it."
Just when she was about to press the tip of the pen on the paper, her father grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. However, Rin instantly shook and pulled her hand away, and quickly signed the contract. Then, she handed the paper to Haku who was puzzled and lost in the midst of the argument.
"From now on, I will work hard and make you change the way you think of models. They're neither filthy nor useless." Rin turned to face her father, then to her mother who was silently staring at the floor. "They are people who bring smiles to others."
"Thank you, Miss Kagamine." Haku slipped the contract into her folder and bowed to the Kagamine parents. "Rin and I will take our leave first. I need to show her our workplace."
"Do what you want," the man bellowed and walked away. "It doesn't concern me."
Rin's mother finally looked up and followed her husband behind. After a minute of silence in the living room, Haku tapped Rin's shoulder and gestured her to leave. Rin just nodded, picked up her luggage and dragged it out of the house, following Haku behind. The two of them walked along the pavement and stopped right under the bus stop. Haku sat on a bench and looked at Rin who was still standing up.
"We'll take a bus. I hope you don't mind, Miss Kagamine."
Rin shook her head and replied, "I don't mind."
"Your dinner will be prepared at the office so don't worry about having nothing to eat for tonight."
"Thank you, Miss Yowane."
"For heaven's sake, you're strange," Haku blurted in a soft voice.
"What?"
"I can't believe I'm going to deal with a persistent girl who talks back to her parents." Haku chuckled as she brushed her own hair off her face. "What bravery."
"Of course, I'm brave," Rin boasted and sat next to Haku. "Oh my gosh! It feels like a dream to me."
"It's great to hear that. Torturing you later is also a dream to me," Haku added with an evil grin.
"What?"
"You don't know? Being a model isn't as easy as you think it is." Her grin widened and she snickered with her hands covering her mouth. "You'll be packed with trainings, eat biscuits for every three meals, drink milk for supper, have to jog six rounds around the soccer field every morning, and lastly, have to listen my daily naggings which you would hate so much that you would pray to God to save your bleeding ears."
Rin cringed. That pair of red eyes really matched Haku's emerging sadistic personality.
"Just kidding," Haku stated in her famous monotone voice. "Except for the trainings, jogging and the nagging parts. Aren't they fun?"
Rolling her eyes, Rin snapped, "No, they're not!"
-:-:-:-
"I'm sorry, Miss Yowane. The director is not in."
Haku leaned her body forward against the reception counter and exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to introduce Rin Kagamine to him!"
"I'm terribly sorry. He has left early today." The young lady bowed apologetically to both Haku and Rin, and took out a small piece of paper from the drawer. "But he has left a note for you."
Haku snatched the paper and read the note aloud, "Dear Miss Yowane, I'll meet Rin Kagamine the next time when I'm free, probably next week. Before meeting me, I want you to introduce her to the new make-up artist first. Do you know who he is? It is okay if you do not know him yet. You can look for him today. He told me that he would be at the dressing room, waiting for the new model to arrive. That's all for now. Call me if there's any problems. P.S. The reason why I have to leave early is because I've to meet the fashion designer. She's resigning."
"Resigning?" Rin repeated the last word in feign horror and cupped her cheeks. "Oh no!"
"Don't worry. It doesn't really concern you at all," Haku assured as she crumpled the paper and threw it into the paper bin. "Anybody can be your designer as long as he or she is willing to invest his or her designs on you."
"Oh..."
"Now, let's meet the new make-up artist." Haku changed the subject and walked ahead of Rin along the empty hallway. "After that, we'll have our dinner."
Rin nodded in reply and followed Haku to the dressing room. She was excited to know what kind of make-up artist she was going to work with. She had read some stories before that most male make-up artists are quite feminine and could be considered as big sisters as well. As she was wondering about that, she failed to notice that Haku had abruptly stopped walking and accidentally smashed her face on Haku's head. Luckily, the silvery-white haired woman did not move an inch.
"The door is locked," Haku muttered with a sigh and peeled a sticky note which was pasted on the door knob. "Dear Miss Yowane and Newbie Model, you're late so I will take my leave first. See you next time. From your impatient make-up artist."
Rin stole a glance at the paper but before she could read the first word, Haku crushed the paper with a hand and clenched her fists tightly.
"Shall we have dinner first?" Haku growled.
Rin gulped and nodded obediently. As Haku looked really scary when she was angry, Rin made a mental note to herself not to get on her nerves in the future. Haku walked back to the reception counter with Rin following behind like a lost puppy.
"Where's the dinner I ordered for the two of us?" Haku bellowed.
The young lady flinched and her lips immediately formed a straight line.
"Miss Akita took them away..."
Haku's eyes widened and she snapped, "What?"
"Because she said that they're turning cold... so..."
"Enough!"
Rin could see a few visible veins on Haku's forehead and her tightly clenched fists. The next thing she knew, her manager grinned, though it seemed as though she was forcing herself to be calm.
"It's okay. She's going to get it when I see her tomorrow," Haku snarled and smiled again with the side of her mouth twitching continuously. "Rin, let's have dinner outside instead."
Having no other choice, Rin nodded again and tagged behind Haku.
-:-:-:-
"There's a ramen stall here if I'm not wrong," the silvery-white haired woman mumbled to herself as she walked quickly ahead while Rin was slowly dragging her bulky luggage along the familiar vibrant street.
"Don't walk so fast, Miss Yowane," Rin groaned.
Haku turned around and shot Rin a glare. "Shut up. We're going to discuss where you're going to stay too. What a troublesome kid."
Rin winced. Suddenly, something caught her eye. Not something, but someone. That familiar looking person was walking out of a shop with a buddy. After they waved each other goodbye, the two of them went on separate ways. Rin blushed. Why did she always have to meet him out of nowhere? Why did the world has to be so small?
"Miss Kagamine?" Rin heard Haku's voice called out to her but she ignored it.
Instead, Rin pushed her luggage towards Haku and said, "Miss Yowane, please wait for a minute. I've to... check something. Thank you!"
Before Haku could say no, the blonde had ran off, leaving her no choice but to sigh. Rin ran towards the familiar looking person and grabbed his shoulder from behind, startling him terribly. He quickly around and upon seeing her, he gaped.
"Miss Kagamine!"
"Yo, Len Kagamine!" Rin grinned sheepishly. "What a coincidence! What are you doing here?"
Len tugged a red plastic bag behind him and forced a smile in return. "Sho... Shopping. Y... You?"
"Me? I'm going for dinner."
Len gave an awkward nod and looked down. Rin pouted and narrowed her eyes at him. He seemed to be acting suspicious and was obviously hiding something from her.
"Hey Sir..."
"Congrats," Len interrupted her as he looked up again. "I've heard from my mother that you've passed the audition."
He slowly brought the red plastic bag forward and held it in front of Rin. "For you."
Rin stared at the plastic bag blankly, then back at Len.
"Hurry and take it."
"Ye... Yes!" Rin took the plastic bag and peeped inside.
Her eyes widened and she immediately looked at Len again, speechless.
Seeing tears began to form on her lower eyelids, Len patted on her head comfortingly with a smile. A smile which Rin recognised as genuine.
"It's a gift for passing the audition, Miss Kagamine. Work hard and do your best!" He laughed and Rin had to admit that even his laugh was so refreshing.
Feeling all bubbly inside her, she hugged the gift tightly to her chest and mumbled, "Thank you..."
End of Part 1
"Mr Kagamine, your mother doesn't have much time left."
"Haku, stop forcing your dreams on that newbie model! She's going to be hurt, just like you in the past.
Just give up on her and choose someone better!"
"Ah! That orange handphone! Don't tell me... you're Kagamine's girlfriend?"
"Rin Kagamine, because of you, Len broke his promise with me. He's a liar."
"What should I do? Support Miku's love life or help Kaito to get together with Rin?
But... I want to be selfish... just for once."
"Sir, from now on, I want to be someone whom you can rely on. I will make your dreams come true like how you did to mine."
"Because of you, Miss Kagamine, my very first outfit is finally created."
Each and every sentence spoken by seven individuals lies a dramatic twist in the next part of Dreams.
"When a girl hugs you, isn't it normal for you to return the hug?"
"Yes, if only... she's someone I like a lot."
I will be on hiatus for a period of time due to some reasons and will update the second part next year, somewhere around March. I'm sorry for this. Wish you all an early Merry Christmas! :)