Miku's POV
For some reason, Rin smells like bubblegum today.
"Is there something you want to tell me?"
We were in the dark then, hidden away in the farthest seats of the entire auditorium. The lights had been dimmed to just short of a sting in my eyes.
When she grinned at me I saw her radiance shine through her make-up.
I said my piece as quick as possible. "No." Her lashes fluttered closed and her mouth parted for laughter. She snorted along the trail of chuckles.
"That is so mean," she giggled. Her shoes were propped up on the chair in front of us. "Len waited for you to tell him something." She cranked her neck to view over the lingering audience and found her brother talking with my mother. They enjoyed each other's company and spoke with so much excitement that it was nothing short of endearing. Even I couldn't deny its cute nature.
"I was going to ask him to talk to my father," I replied pathetically. "I told you he stood up to him the wrong way."
"But you gave up?" She blinked, leisurely stretching over her long legs so that she could touch her toes.
I nodded. Father didn't approve of the idea in the slightest, but he still showed up. Him and Ruko. And when they tried to hug me I almost didn't recoil immediately. But the twins pushed me into their arms and I was suffocated by the smell of stress and relief: coffee.
I didn't like the idea of being a loving family, because I wanted to stay aloof. Rin told me I was a selfish hug-monster so I should go cuddle with people more often. Her comments didn't have to make sense at this point; my m- Ruko took the excuse and squeezed me. She sobbed into my hair that she was so proud. Father rubbed my cheek awkwardly.
"Now Ruko's taken with him," I pointed. out Rin nodded, her bow bobbing.
"Your Dad looks like you," she said cheerfully. She tapped out a beat with one of her feet.
I said, "I hear that a lot."
Her eyebrows brow shot up into her fringe. "But you really look like your mom, too."
"I hear that just the same."
"So much resemblance in the family, then!"
"You look a lot like your mom," I answered, "and her mother before her."
"And her mother before her," she continued, flapping her hand. "Great Grandmother. Never met her but she looks just like me."
I thoughtfully watched Ruko laugh at something Len was saying, and then tried not to laugh when Father started lecturing the blond. Jealous much, Father?
"Did your grandma look just like you?"
Rin snorted again. "Funny thing, Miku-chan, people oughtta say Len looks just like her. Everything cute about him is 'coz of Granny."
I tried to think about their grandmother some more. I kept drawing up blanks and thinking over those fantastically green eyes. The ones that her, and all her mothers before her, bore for generations. I knew that there was warmth they all held in resemblance to one another when they smiled. It was like a family crest. There was no denying similarities - the oval face, the bloom of colors and smiles. The more I think about it, the more I love them.
Len still looked like a less graceful crack of a grin when compared to the ladies, though. Rarely did his more mature smile break through sheepish simpers. It was so easy to think of him and his boyish laughing - and there, his rebellious remarks to Father. Father, who jabbed him in the chest sharply. Father, who earned a retort full of indignant blushing.
"He-eeeeey," Rin called, "He's easier to check out close up."
I spluttered when she booted me out of my seat in her brother's direction. She whistled loudly, probably relying on most of the wind in her tiny chest. Her legs rested in the way of my seat, and then she winked.
Len turned in my direction and waved me over, half because he was happy and half because he was flustered.
When I did manage to shuffle over he gently grabbed my shoulder to pull me to Ruko. I was consequently yanked by my Father instead.
"Don't be unreasonable," I groan, waiting for him to look squarely at me. When he does, he looks somewhat anxious.
"I'm going to leave soon," he said, "you all have a choice to drive home with me or walk. Tell your friends...they can come too if they want."
I blinked. Well.
Ruko beamed at him. "Way to go, Teal Boy," she whispered. I did not know that father could blush.
"Five minutes," he told us, then he slipped off. Presumably to get the car.
...So in about three seconds of silence Len manages to blurt that the song I sang was lovely. I thought for a second about the possible correspondence I might make.
"Okay," I replied, earning an unhelpful pinch from Ruko. I shrugged her off.
"When did you first write it?" I jolt. The comment was more precise and painful than just a pinch, and he realized it before I could ask what he meant.
"I know that no matter how amazing you are, it's impossible to learn without some form of instruction. You were rusty, so it was a while ago, right?"
"Tell me why you care," I demanded.
"What made you use this one instead of Fly Me to the Moon?"
"I barely learned that song the other day," I muttered, but he only shook his head and smiled knowingly. That smile got me so riled up. I know as well as he does that I sang it perfectly fine yesterday, with or without months of practice. Even if my Engrish made it a little off.
He laughed. "I'll let you off the hook for now."
Suddenly he stiffened up and inclined his head in my direction. "Principal," he greeted with urgency. I shuddered at the memory of his very pathetic comb-over, and prepared myself to turn around and face the worst possible scenario. It was for this reason that I was completely unprepared to face him for the best.
He grinned ridiculously. As in all the wrinkles in his face puffed away to make room for huge teeth. I was startled by the terrifying size of them and immediately stepped back.
"Hatsune Miku," he said, "I know now that you really do want to stay in this school. You promised you'd never sing that song again! But today, you proved you could overcome personal issues just for a performance."
Len coughed behind me. I could hear his suspicion loud and clear.
"I know that I'm a terrible student," I muttered, staring down at my feet. "But there are some things here that truly matter to me. Give me a second chance, please..."
The face dropped back and his teeth were hidden. "You say that, but I believe very much that no student is truly terrible until they run around the halls in lingerie."
I felt another burst of cold rush across my skin. "I can still remember the lace," I said lowly.
"That being said, we will give you one last chance to prove yourself: get at least a score of 86 on all your tests. And rehearse diligently-"
"I still believe this is not for the best," warned his lackey, they woman. She still looked solemn and older than her age. None had noticed her gracing us with her presence; "Ah, Yuri-san. I was just about to list the conditions of her second chance."
"I think you mean third," she said pointedly. I watched her carefully as she moved towards me.
"Well, third," he conceded. "But we agree that I'm giving her one, no?"
Her lips went taut. "Its a horrific mistake," she insisted. One careless gesture stuffed disrespect down my throat. Her eyes roamed up and down my form, and they were scalding.
"Majority's opinion is in her favor. If we want to keep the image of this school, we must accommodate Majority."
"Who constitutes Majority, you or the people?" Luka's sudden appearance made Len scream, "WHOA!"
"I think you should sit this one out, Megurine-chan," the Principal urged softly. "It's you two against me and the rest of the people who made this happen. I'm afraid that you can't win." His face conformed more to his natural age, making him look rigid and vaguely constipated once again.
She begins to protest and their attention turns to her. Len, fidgeting, went to stand a bit behind Ruko so that there was a barrier between him and Luka's intense aura. I think he was avoiding her line of sight, but he might as well have been shielding Ruko. She begins to sweat bullets and her gaze falters constantly. We'd had to meet with Megurine and her family once before. Because I was a shame to my family. But she held fast in her place, her feet fixed to the floor and her head still held up.
I knew that...it took many, many sacrifices to be around Megurine for longer than five minutes. While in the midst of her argument I chose to be brave and forward;
"I thank you very much for the third chance." I bowed so low that I almost got whiplash. "Would it be alright to leave now?"
He held his hand up to silence the two shrews, effectively so. He nods to us once, with the strain of positive and negative emotions clear in his doughy old face. We were free to go. Megurine shot me a violent, stormy glare, but I ignored her and dragged my party away. They came peacefully with an inch of their sleeves in my hands.
As I walked, ignoring the eyes on my back, I instinctively went to fetch Rin. I decided we were all leaving together. Partially because we were friends, and partially because I wanted Megurine to be stewing with rage when I left. I completely resent her.
"Don't be scared," I mumbled. It was for them, and it was accepted, I noticed with satisfaction. I didn't feel a thing.
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Two Days Later
I pushed him back softly, my fingers brushing his collarbone. Where did the scarf go? He was splashed with goosebumps the second I made contact. I forced myself to linger and maintain an image.
"Isn't it the very last thing you wanted?" "I" retorted quietly. I refused to face him properly. In a way it invited him, prodded his curiosity with a sharp stick and here I was facing the consequences. If "I" wanted to say something, I already painted myself into a corner. Because I was too passive aggressive for my own good. I bit my lip.
He agreed, "saved the best for last." Lightly, his hand takes to my cheek. I notice that he's warm, and the way he looks at me is the way he looks at Rin.
I absolutely hate everything about it. But I don't recoil, because I can't. Too much is at stake if I mess up this scene.
I try to look at him, but at the same time I'm just imagining someone else in his place. Like a bucket of KFC chicken or something. I figured I was allowed to, if it helped the scene pass along easier. He closed his eyes and leaned closer to me, calling my stage name - "Michaela."
It was so breathy and stuffy I wanted to die. But I lean forward too, feeling the sharp pain of indignance beating my chest so much that I shake. When I open my eyes I'm so disappointed that it's not chicken in front of me. It's Shion Kaito.
"Aaaaaaand SCENE!" As soon as the director called it out. "Good rehearsal! Take five everyone!" I peeled Shion away from me and race-walked in the opposite direction. Hopefully wherever I went there would be a water fountain to soothe my dry throat.
The director liked to yell even when someone was right next to him. A timid intern handed him a Styrofoam cup, which he snatched up and gulped greedily. "GREAT!" He screeched, making the girl bolt away as he went on to converse with teens in maid costumes. Even though he was loud he wasn't mean, so I figured it could be worse.
I realized that I was not leaving any time soon and picked the darkest corner of the entire room to hide in. I skimmed over the script a few times, wondering if I really had to get so close to him in pretty much every scene.
A good thing about the characters we played, Michaela and Kyle, was that they had a lot of unresolved tension between them. The bad thing was that we had a completely different type of tension. I was running out of things to replace him with in my head, I'd gone through all the food I could think of. And now there was nothing I could pretend to like him for.
He probably had the same issue, but he manages well to be a desperate brooding twit through it all. Kyle literally drugs me, and then I'm rescued by Leonard, and then Kyle tries to do it AGAIN but apparently I'm still in love with him. I've seen all kinds of things put into my food by all kinds of idiots. This is all kinds of ridiculous and I feel sick. How unrealistic!
"I'm so tired," I mumbled, rubbing my temples and everything in between. I knew that I only had one part left to do, yet I wondered if it was too late to quit. Maybe not. What did I decide to do this for? I hate acting, I despise Shion, I loathe the stage...so what possessed me to -
The microphone keens as someone yanks it off the stand. "TESTING, TESTING, ONE TWO THREE, PETER PIPER PICKED A PECK OF PICKLED PEPPERS - ER, PETER PETER PUMPKIN-EATER HAD A WIFE BUT COULDN'T KEEP 'ER!" I jumped up from my seat and watched Rin spin in a graceful circle on stage. "WILL HATSUNE MIKU-CHAN PUH-LEEEEASE REPORT TO THE STAIRCASE FOR AN IMPORTANT APPOINTMENT? EXPERIENCED SOCIALITES WILL BE WAITING ON HER THERE." She twined the cord around her finger. She had acid green nails, which somehow matched and attacked the olive in her eyes. They were strong enough to bite into flesh and successfully come away with something.
Silence. She glanced around with her eyes all sly and twinkling. The green seemed to halt in my direction. The nails, and the stare. And then, it really doesn't.
I figured it was something unimportant - that and teen apathy - so I tried to ignore the bombastic presence and a voice of absolute steel.
Before the tiny intern could shoo her away, she raised an eyebrow. "MIKU-CHAN, WE'RE LIKE, REALLY PERSISTENT. G-TO-THE-O, AND GODSPEED!" Then she dropped the mic, blew a kiss, and hopped off stage. I watched her walk all the way out, and then chose to rise. On my way out the director and I shared some mutually curt nods. He seemed to carry an unending supply of air in his chest. "TAKE TEN!" He screamed, making the intern once again drop the mic and reach out wildly to catch it. I think she fell off stage.
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"Namine?"
"Hatsune-chan," she greeted with an almost flirtatious wink. Her eyebrows and winged eyeliner were so strong I thought they could lift weights. She had her hair in a side ponytail for the day, and wore dark burgundy short-shorts that left little to imagine about her legs. Someone's school jacket - obviously a boy's - had been put on her. The front was button up almost to her chin.
She sat next to Neru, who was skulking and scowling at the ground. I knew she left cheer-practice it a bad mood because she was wringing pom-poms with a vengeance. They did warn me she had her bad moods. It was nothing I minded.
"Hi," Len said with a half awkward wave. He was on Neru's left, chin in hand and elbows on knees. His goofy grin flashed. His jacket was missing.
"Why did you call me here?" I demanded immediately. "I have approximately six minutes before they resume rehearsal." I held up the script to emphasize my point.
"Well," Rin giggled, "we didn't really have anything, y'know, -Super-Duper-Uber- important to discuss."
"I know."
"But we know that super stressful situations are not good for you. So! I gathered us all here to hang out for ten minutes." She's so proud of herself. Not just slick pride, either, it's her genuine friendliness.
I didn't ask how she knew it stressed me. Instead, I plopped onto a step and let Rin start up about this person named Utatane Piko, where I made the mistake of asking "Who's she?" I knew that I'd heard it somewhere.
"UTATANE PIKO-SAMA!" Ritsu squealed. "He's so beautiful and cool and calm, and his voice is powerful, and He's so unique~~!"
"What does he sound like?" I asked. I really should have asked what he looked like. For some reason I recalled green and blue, and my flannel shirt, and a pretzel. It had something to do with running into someone.
"Neru, be a dear and play some of his hits," Rin urged. But the other blonde wouldn't budge. She stayed gruff and quiet.
"Neru?" I said, waving a hand in front of her face, which seemed to fade slowly to black. I don't think she's breathing. I put down the stack of papers and try some snapping, which people have done to me, usually with results.
"Neru-san, please remain calm. Whatever's, uh, whatever's got you in a bad mood can't be that-" Len awkwardly patted her shoulder and received an aggressive shove as thanks. He recoiled and stood up. "D-don't push me, we're on the stairs!" His brow knit together. Furious blush covered his face, most likely in indignation.
"You'd think," Ritsu deadpanned, "she was scolded by her parents." Neru's he ad snapped up and three the Pom-Poms down the stairs. Their shining streams fluttered in a tangled mess at the bottom step.
"Rin drank my coffee," she snapped. "And I was so tired all day!"
"I already offered a thousand times to buy you a new one," Rin sighed, her smile fading.
"Well it's too late for that!"
"Then it's too late to get angry now," Len reminded her. She glared menacingly at him, but he held his spot with a firm stance. "Just show her Utane Piko." He blinked, curiosity brimming in his cerulean pools, and picked up the Cantarella script. He half-heartedly lifted the first page.
"Utatane," Ritsu corrected with zeal.
Grumbling heavily, Neru pulled her phone from her pocket and lifted it so that its bright glow stained my vision. A concert scene faded from black and showed me a slender, almost petite person with chin-length hair as silver-white as Haku's. I suppose they wore clothes that were stylish, for whatever people liked these days, but I didn't care. As the song started the camera got closer. He looked serious - his blue and green eyes were heavily focused.
I jolted when he began to sing. I undoubtedly met him in the mall and I had almost forgotten all about him? Ravenous fan girls threw their hands around and screamed when he smirked. It was obviously fake, but he stole someone's heart. Gross. Had it happened to me, I would ask him to kindly return it.
"No wonder he was being chased," I murmured.
"Eh? Yeah, he's chased all over the place! Poor guy can't really step outside." Ritsu sighed sadly, leaning her back on the wall.
"It's a thousand times worse than even Len's girl problems," Rin assured. The boy flinched.
Neru laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Excuse you," he said defensively, suddenly touchy, "my problems with ladies are not for comical reference." Crisply, he folded the script back up. Then he slapped it onto the ground.
I snorted. "Problems with what ladies? Every female seems to adore you."
"Have you even read the entire script?" He retorted hotly, his ears so crimson they may as well have been burned off. Everyone around me flickered with confusion.
"Why this all of the sudden?"
The exasperation, or more appropriately 'angst,' rolled off of him in waves. "Because I - you just - read the rest of it while I go die in a corner I'll see you in a thousand years - excuse me goodbye." He said all of this while race-walking down the stairs. He almost tripped on a Pom Pom but took advantage of the speed gravity offered. It was then that we lost him.
Ritsu said casually, "Ya know, one time Rin tried to set up a blind date for me and Kagamine-kun, because she thought I liked him."
Rin shrugged and blushed faintly, the closest she ever came to being sheepish. "When Ritsu told me they...weren't each other's type, Len-kun was soooooo flustered!" I nodded and flipped through my script to the second half, which I'd only gone through a couple of times. There was never anything weird or off-setting, other than the pervy vibes that Kyle gave off, so why...
"But I almost wish I'd accepted. He's so sweet, he gave me his jacket because he though I'd catch a cold~ oh, you should've seen his nervous face." While they continued giggling about Len's idea of common courtesy, something caught my eye. I choked.
Neru glanced up, still peeved. "What?" She demanded.
I couldn't believe how easy the words came out, and with the disgust that they did I should've vomited. Shuddering, running out of time, I gagged, "I have to kiss Shion Kaito?!"
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tl;dr: these kids should just kiss already.
~Every Reviewer
~Kagrandmine
~Their Friends
~Their Mothers
~Len's entire family tbh
~The Author
~A Potato
...~Len Kagamine