Diamond Rose

Chapter 25

Neko to Usagi

Lavi kept staring at the brown bundle, sleeping in the basket, surrounded by blankets. It was true that it probably was a foolish way to travel, but he was fairly sure that the cat wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. Besides, he'd just charm the cat – it worked on women, surely it would work on cats. Okay, so maybe his logic was off.

He glanced at the clock. 5:55 AM, Time to get moving.

Miku closed the door behind her as she stepped out. Her hastily-combed hair was suppressed by a cap – a fuzzy scarf had been thrown around her neck. It was cold in mornings, and at the same time, it made her feel comforted. This routine, she was used to it. Nothing would go wrong.

She was reassuring herself.

Ayumu woke early. He stared at the ceiling, replaying the events of yesterday. It was a weekend, so in a way, he was fortunate to have an entire day to dwell on it – but at the same time, he didn't want to.

"You're asking why I scouted you?"

"Yes. My name doesn't normally pop up in your circles. I can guess."

"You are the legendary Chito K.'s son. We were going to want to snatch you up one day. If it wasn't us, it'd be someone else."

"Aren't you betting too much on my family?"

"Ayumu, are you doubting your abilities?"

"I'm not musically talented."

"You underestimate the range of our scouts. We visited your school once. An open day. Don't you remember performing?"

"I sang one verse in my friend's band and played seven chords."

"That was quite enough for us to determine your worth."

That left a foul taste on Ayumu's mouth for some reason.

"You don't have the brilliance of your mother, and your sister can easily best you, I grant you that. But Flight Records, we always try to give to the public what they want." Here, she gestured to him, "I don't deny that you have the looks and girls will be falling head-over-heels for you if you debuted."

"I don't care about them."

"Ah. Then what if I said that Miku might suddenly lose a lot of job offers, and her project funding would be dropped."

"You're blackmailing me."

The smirk on her features was really unnerving him now. "Mhm."

"Has my father been contacted regarding this?"

"Yes, he has. He will go along with your decision."

"You told him that same-"

"Yes. Now, your decision?"

"I-I'll think about it."

Then there was that smirk again.

Ayumu squeezed his eyes shut, mind whirling in confusion. He didn't want this. He didn't want to live like Miku – a life of cameras and less sleep. Why couldn't he be normal? He had been trying so hard to be normal for so long. He was getting dragged into the storm.

Lavi was feeling very worried. Keeping the cat secret was proving extremely difficult. He had asked one of the recording staff to take care of it – out of Miku's sight. Right now, he was sure it was being fed. Miku was being distracted in front of him.

"Morning, Lavi." Damn, the smile was irresistible.

Being the gentlemanly playboy that he was, he returned the gesture, "Good morning to you as well."

Miku took a sip from her cup of steaming hot chocolate before replying, "You look really relaxed."

"Mmm. Is that a bad thing?"

She shrugged, gulping down the last of her drink, "I don't care how you feel as long as we pull off a decent performance today. Besides, we should have an accomplished feeling right now."

Lavi lifted one eyebrow, curious. "Why is that?" He had a feeling that he already knew the answer.

Miku rolled her eyes, throwing her arms up in the air, "Look, we finished recording an album! Don't you feel –"

"Yes, I do." There was a light-hearted glow about his smile, and his green eye had an almost cocky glint to it. But it wasn't the obnoxious, negative type of cocky; it was the adorable, funny type. "It's the first time I've ever-"

"Gotcha." She was grinning hugely, the sense of accomplishment she felt was incredible and she was ridiculously happy that he shared that emotion. Miku wondered if all her idols felt like this at the final recording session. Every single one of the ten tracks had taken hours to perfect, and suddenly, every single moment was totally worth it. Every frustrating note, every melody that didn't feel right on the first go. All that hard work. All those water bottles. All so worthwhile in the end. She leaned back, looking at the stark white ceiling, her voice coming out quiet, "My dream came true. An album. Our debut album. My debut album."

Lavi watched her from across the table, smiling. It was taking so much effort to restrain from standing up, going to her side and embracing her. That happiness that emanated from her was utterly infectious, as was her smile. He didn't dare disrupt that smile though – literally and figuratively. He just wanted to treasure that smile. Before he ran out of time and wouldn't be able to see it anymore. He seemed to have so much and so little of it – time. "I hope my voice was up to scratch." A light chuckle from him followed the statement.

Miku straightened up to sit properly in the chair, and looked at him, straight on. The blue eyes seemed to have a certain type of intensity to them. A smile stayed on her features as she spoke – complimented him, in fact. "Lavi. You were fantastic. I can name people better, but for your first time as a professional singer. You are awesome, really amazing." She took a break before adding, almost as an afterthough, "I hope I helped you get there."

Was it his eyes playing tricks, or did Lavi actually see Miku blush a little? He didn't mention it, instead replying, "Yes, you did. You were amazing." After that though, he mentally punched himself so he wouldn't say something like, you're so amazing, I just want to take you up in my arms and never let go or something like, I think you're the best thing that ever happened to me and I love you. He figured that it was better to stop and refrain from venturing into that territory. For one, he didn't know how Miku felt about him – and he wasn't aware of any personal goals and rules Miku had set for herself. In fact, although there wasn't proof that they existed, he felt that Miku definitely had them. That feeling was quite a strong one too.

Back in reality, Miku shook her head, "Nah, I'm not amazing."

"Miku, you undermine yourself." Lavi smiled at her, almost lazily. "You put so much effort into singing, you take everything that they throw at you in training sessions seriously, you even bothered to help me when there were like, ten staff members there to do it. You're amazing, Miku."

"Thank you." And right in front of his eyes, her whole face was flushed pink – a vibrant hue at that.

"Oh my god. You should look at yourself, you are so red-"

"Do, NOT poke fun." While her tone was fairly deadly, it was also coupled with humor. So Lavi was quite sure he was safe from a potential death.

"You're cute, Miku."

It appeared that that statement just intensified the colour on her normally-pale cheeks.

And before Lavi could pull the brakes, Miku stepped out of her seat and went to his side. It wasn't a mere hug that followed, and nor was it a playful slap on the head. Instead, Lavi was suddenly caught up in what he had been refraining from doing for a long while – kissing her. Only now, she was kissing him. Was there a difference?

Lavi didn't care though. He gently pulled her closer, one hand in her hair, supporting her head, while the other was around her slim waist – encaging her, refusing to allow her to leave. This was it, this absolute heaven that he had been yearning for. Perfect. He didn't care about his surroundings – all the remaining staff (total:six) could have been staring and taking photos for all he cared. And what drove him further was that Miku was returning his kisses – hesitantly at first, as though she was bewildered that she had even initiated it. But now, it was mutual, this utter want for one another. What they hadn't tried before but had gotten close to – what aided their awkwardness in the first place –

"No." Lavi had withdrawn, and Miku had frozen – ironically, on his lap, "We can't do this."

And as though woken from a dream that she shouldn't have been having, Miku hit herself weakly on the head before nodding once. "It's not going to work."

"It's not going to work."

The cat and the rabbit,

Running in circles,

Catching sight of one another,

Losing one another,

And desperately running again,

A painful, endless cycle ...

A/N – A quick update! It's been a chapter full of conflict –sigh- Lavi is doing his best to be careful –refraining, and then Miku went and screwed it up! XD I had a kind of warped fun writing this chapter – Ayumu is growing quite complex, and if you were wondering, will be introduced to more Noah.

I'm personally rooting for Miku and Lavi to come to their senses and realise that being together should be okay – what am I saying, I'm the one writing this XD I hope you've enjoyed! And remember to review! I love getting feedback =]

I also made a date screw up T.T It's supposed to be October [gahhhh]