Seems like our rising star has hit a bump on her path to fame. How will she handle this new information?
Due to the Contract: The Promise That Was To Be kept
Miku's P.O.V
"You knew about this?" I asked my mother.
"Well, yeah. Mr. Masuda explained it all." She replied without taking a break from chopping the leaks she was preparing. I had decided to go home the next day after finding out that what Rin told me was actually true. Also my father promised to come home for dinner.
"You knew I wasn't listening. Besides, forbidding dating? That's just…unheard of!" I argued.
"It's not that bad. You could focus more on work and school." She answered. "I told your father and even he was fine with it. He was happy about it."
"Of course he would be."
"Look, Mama! I made the table all nice for dad." Lil Mi announced with a smile. My mother smiled back.
"I'm sure he'll be very happy."
I walked in the living room and noticed an old magazine that featured the Vocaloids, from before I was one. I turned on a page and saw Kaito and let out a sigh. Why does something so stupid, like no dating, be a part of my contract? Why not 'drink and drive,' or 'get bad grades?' You know, stuff I already don't do? And how could the other Vocaloids hold out for so long?
It was getting late and we were all waiting for my dad to come home at the dinner table. I was losing faith every passing second.
"He's not coming." I said.
"Yes he is." Lil-Mi disagreed.
"No, he's not."
"But he promised." She said sadly.
"Well, he broke it."
"No, he's coming."
"Lil-Mi, I really-"
"No! Dad promised he'd come! He promised…" she argued, wiping a tear. I stood and walked away from the table. Instead of heading to my room, I went to the phone and called my father's work desk number. It rang a few times before he answered.
"Hello?" He sounded tired.
"Hello, Father." I said.
"Oh, hi Miku! You said Father…am I in trouble?" he asked.
"Um, let me see if I can refresh your memory. You were supposed to come home for dinner with us! You promised."
"Oh…Oh! I'm really sorry, Miku! I got tied up with work and-"
"Yeah, yeah save it. You made Mina cry, Dad, so tomorrow night you're taking us all out for dinner."
"Tomorrow? But I'll have to-"
"Tomorrow night, 7 o' clock, at Haku's." And with that I hung up the phone. I walked over to the table where my mother was comforting Lil-Mi.
"Hey, Lil-Mi, I got good news!" I said with a smile.
"Daddy's coming?" she sniffed.
"No, well not tonight. But tomorrow he's taking us to Haku's!"
"Really?" she sniffed again. I nodded. "Yay!" she threw her hands up in the air.
"So can we eat now?" my mom asked.
The next morning I headed back to the Crypton building.
"Hey, Miku! How'd dinner with your dad go?" Rin asked while she peeled an orange.
"It didn't. Were going out to eat tonight." I answered.
"Tonight?" she asked again.
"Yeah…why is something happening?"
"Um…" she trailed off.
"Hey Miku, Rin!" Kaito called as he came into the kitchen where we were.
"Hey, Kaito!" We both said.
"Aren't you two and Len recording a song together?" He asked.
"Yep." We both said again."
"And you're singing it in the concert?"
"Yep!" Rin answered alone.
"…What concert?"
"The one we're rehearsing for tonight…" he trailed off.
"Am I missing something?" I asked.
"Oh, right…Miku you weren't here yesterday and we discussed about the next concert."
"Wait, rehearsal…what are you talking about?" I asked them.
"The one that's tonight…after your recording session." Kaito answered.
"How long do these rehearsals usually take?"
"A few hours."
"And the recordings…"
"A few hours. Maybe more."
"That's a lot of hours."
My dad took the night off for us and now there's a chance I might not even make it to the dinner. The only thing to do is to get the recording done in one go and finish the rehearsal in time. I spent the next two hours learning the new song. When my headphones started beeping, I had to go straight to the studio. As I was leaving, I met up with Rin and Len in the hallway.
"Alright, let's go!" I said aloud as I headed to the elevator.
"Miku! Wait-up!" I heard Len's voice call. He and Rin were walking towards me as I had gotten ahead of them.
"Miku you memorized the song already? Since you were at home with dinner I would think you wouldn't have enough time." Len said.
"No problem! I learn songs quickly and I practiced beforehand." I said that with so much confidence, but when we were in the studio, I ended up apologizing for my off-timing and lyric mix-ups. I wish I could just ask if we could finish later but how would that make me look?
We finally finished at around 5. Only 2 more hours left. Now we were on the way to the concert hall for rehearsals. I thought that I'd be on edge about this but instead I was pumped! I haven't felt this energized in a long time!
We walked inside the concert hall and to the outdoor stage. Waiting for us was a girl with hot pink hair twisted into two twisty pigtails. Her eyes were the same color as her hair. Maybe she wears contacts?
"Yay! Teto's our choreographer today!" Rin shouted and ran to the girl.
"Great." Luka said sarcastically.
Teto…that name's familiar somehow. When we reached her and Rin, she smiled brightly.
"Hey Len, Kaito! And Lu-Lu!" she said.
"Don't call me that." Luka said sharply. Teto ignored her and looked at me.
"And what do we have here? A sorta new face." she said.
"Sorta?" I repeated.
"I remember you, Miku! We were in the same elementary school, back in Tokyo."
"Oh yeah! Think I remember you." I recalled. How could I forget her bright pink hair?
"Yeah! When everyone else took the Middle School entrance exams, I came here to Sapporo to audition for this magnet school for dance."
"You sure took a risk. I mean, what if you didn't get accepted? Then you wouldn't get into middle school." Kaito chimed in.
"I know it was, but I've been dancing my whole life. I had to follow my dream and it really paid off." She said and smiled again.
"Are you guys finished taking a trip down memory lane? We have a concert to rehearse for." Luka said.
"Geez, who put a bee in your undies?" Teto teased before walking to the center of the stage. "Let's start with Miku first."
"Huh?" slipped out of my mouth.
"You only have one finished song to rehearse for, so you'll be done quicker. Besides, I need to see what you need to practice on." She said. We left into the bathrooms to change into clothes to practice in. After Teto put us through a routine of stretches, I was left alone with her on the stage while the others sat in the seats. I felt the pressure and my heart began pounding.
"Okay, Miku! Let's get started. Ready?" she asked. I nodded nervously. She laughed. "I'll go through it first so you'll have an idea of what it'll look it during the performance. She waved her hand and the music started. The lights shut off and I couldn't see a thing. A spotlight shined on Teto, who was now on center stage. She was lip-syncing my voice with her lips as danced, every move precise yet flowing together at the same time. I watched intently until the song ended. Rin started clapping and yelling,
"Yay, Teto-chan! Woo!" she shouted. Teto smiled and took a quick bow.
"Kay, Miku! Your turn. Think you can do it?"
"I'll try…"
Honestly, I had no problem when it came to actually performing the moves, but Teto's constant yelling "Stay on beat!" and "Sharpen your movements…No too stiff!" and the fact that everyone is watching isn't helping. Yet2 she still walked me through every step.
"That was good!" Teto commented.
"It was?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, I mean for a beginner. You're good at remembering the steps, but you think too much when you perform. You're going to have to feel the movement because your main focus will be on getting the lyrics right." She said. "Well, we can work on that later. Rin, you're up!" Rin skipped happily to the center. Her hair was now in two little pigtails.
"Ooh, can I do 'Tear' first?" she asked. Teto nodded and signaled for the song to start. I hurried off to the side of the stage and watched.
Rin's dance started off with simple movements of her arms before they got complex with spins and twirls. She looked like a little ballerina.
"Did I do good Teto?" she asked when the song ended.
"Yes! Notacable improvement." She said.
"Yay! I knew practicing was a good idea."
"Okay, Len, get up here too. I wanna see 'Links to Render'." Len came to the stage. I headed down towards the seats and Kaito patted the seat beside him.
"Those two are really good dancers." I said.
"Yeah, but you did good too." He said.
"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "Thanks! I thought I did bad. I was so nervous to dance in front of you… guys, I mean."
"Well, at least you did better than me." He said and laughed at something.
"How? Did you fall off the stage?"
"Yeah…I did." He admitted.
"Oh…well sorry." I said between giggles. Soon we both started laughing.
"Hey, what's funny?" Rin asked from the stage.
"Rin! Pay attention!" Len called out, but they just ended up colliding into each other and falling on the floor.
"Ouch, Len! Watch where you're goin'!" Rin yelled.
"I was watching! You were the one who stopped dancing in the middle of the song!" he yelled back.
"Don't you yell at me! Teto, Len yelled at me!" Rin whined.
"You're always yelling, Rin! You yelled first!" Len argued.
"I'm going to do more than yell at the both of you if you don't be quiet and finish rehearsal!" Teto threatened. They got up from the floor and stood straight.
"So unprofessional." Luka stated. She was sitting a few seats down pushing buttons on her cell phone.
"Okay!" they both said.
"Just tell Len to watch out." Rin said. He shot her an angry look and she stuck out her tongue. The music started up again.
"Anyway," Kaito started again, "I'm glad I fell off the stage. Well, not that it felt good, because it didn't, but it sort of broke the ice more with me and the group." He turned his gaze to Luka who glared at us before resuming to whatever she was doing on her cell phone. "For the most part."
"Has she always been like that?" I asked in a slightly lower voice.
"She was always a little uptight, I guess, but she has become more distant ever since…" he trailed off.
"Ever since…I showed up?" I suggested. He nodded. "I see…"
"I'm sure she'll warm up to you eventually…probably." I resettled in my seat and watched the rest of the twins' performance. When they finished they came to sit by us. Rin sat beside me, and Len beside her.
"Luka~it's your turn!" Teto sang from the stage. Luka closed her phone with a loud clap and walked to the stage.
"Good thing your dancing is better than your singing." Luka insulted. Teto just laughed.
"You're so fun Luka. I hope you've been practicing." She retorted.
"Just start the music."
Teto laughed again which only made Luka only more annoyed. She waved and 'Just Be Friends' started playing. Luka sang when she danced. I listened intently as I watched her step each graceful step, although, the word 'graceful' seemed like an understatement. It sounds like I'm over exaggerating, but she was that good. My dancing probably seemed like that of a fish out of water compared to hers. I'm pretty sure Teto can help me there. Ugh, there's that pressure feeling again.
"Psst! Miku!" a voice whispered in my ear causing me to jump. Only because it tickled, not because it scared me. It was Rin. "Wanna go get some ice cream?" she asked.
"I want some ice cream!" Kaito whined. I looked back at the stage and Luka shot him a look.
"Sorry, Kaito, but you haven't rehearsed yet." Rin reminded him. He frowned and faced the stage. I had to laugh at that. It was cute! Rin laughed too. "Don't worry, I'll try to remember to bring you some back. Anyway, Miku, c'mon!"
And just like that, we were at the ice cream parlor a few blocks away.
"Ahhh mmm!" Rin said as she ate another spoonful of her orange dream ice cream. Then she hummed and kicked her feet so wildly that it shook the table. "It's sooo good! Isn't this ice cream the best, Miku?"
"Yeah! It's pretty good." I agreed.
"I still can't believe they put that leek-gunk on it. Doesn't it taste, you know, disgusting?" she asked.
"Actually, it's the opposite. I love leeks! Wanna try some?"
"Ew, no! I mean, no thanks…" we shared a laugh and then I looked more about my surroundings. My eyes stopped on a clock.
"Hey, Rin, how long do these rehearsals usually last?"
"Um…I would say about 2…maybe 4 hours?" she said.
"4 hours?" I asked in disbelief. "Great…"
"Why? Do you have some place to be?" she asked and stirred her dessert, pulled the spoon out and watched some of it drip back into the cup.
"I do. I was supposed to meet my parents and sister for dinner but with all these rehearsals and recordings, I don't think I'll be able to."
"I see…well maybe Teto will let you out early. She won't like it, but you're new, so she won't mind much!"
"I don't want to be an inconvenience or anything…" I don't think she heard me. She stood exited the booth. I just got up and followed her out of the parlor. Before I did, I checked the clock. I'd promised to be at dinner in 30 minutes. We headed back towards the way we came before Rin stopped suddenly.
"Oh! We forgot Kaito's ice cream!" she said loudly. That's when some people looked. And some person shouted,
"Is that Rin Kagamine?"
And another shouted,
"That is! And there's the new Vocaloid!"
"…Oops." She squeaked.
"You've done it now…" I said. Now fans surrounded us, taking pictures and making us sign autographs. I had to admit, it was pretty amazing! All these people knew my name, and were so excited to see me! There was no feeling like it. While Rin was taking a picture with a fan, her phone started ringing.
"Hi, Len! Huh? They're looking for us? Are we in trouble? … Then I'm not coming back!" She closed her phone.
"What'd they say?" I asked nervously.
"Hold on a sec." she said. I stood there for a bit, wondering why she said that. That's when I saw Len jogging from the direction of the auditorium to us. How'd he get here so fast?
"I'll fix this, just watch." Rin said. She cleared her throat, and took a deep breath before bursting into tears. Len ran faster.
"Rin! What's wrong?" he asked, catching his breath.
"Its…It's no fair! All I wanted is to take Miku for some ice cream! I didn't want to get in trouble! This is what I get for being nice…" She wiped her tears and Len wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.
"Don't cry, Rin! Don't worry; I'll fix this right now! So stop crying, okay?" he asked. Rin sniffed and nodded. He smiled before walking off, dialing away on his cell phone. I looked back over to Rin. She smiled and winked at me before looking sad again. I have to say, she's a good actor.
"Wait Rin, what about the dinner?" I whispered.
"Oh, right!" she put on another pouty face and went over to Len. He nodded at what she said and she came back over to me. "Told you I could fix it!" Even though Len did all the work, I just shook my head at Rin. Len came to us with a half smile, but a slightly frustrated look on his face.
"Well, I cleared it up with Teto and she gave you two the rest of the night off-" he started.
"Yay!" Rin shouted and raised her hands in the air. "C'mon, Len, let's go see a movie!"
"But what about Miku?"
"She has a dinner to go to! You should go before you're late, yeah?" Rin asked me.
"Oh, right." I said. The two went off one way and I another.
I arrived at the restaurant about 20 minutes after than I agreed to be. Luckily, it wasn't hard to find my family. I just had to look for teal hair and follow my sister's voice.
"Big sis! Big sis! Over here!" Ah, there it was. I made my way to the table.
"Here I am!" I announced.
"There you are, Miku! I was just about to call you." My mom said.
"I thought you weren't gonna show up." My dad said.
"But you did! dad, you owe me a dollar." Lil Mi said.
"I can't believe you bet on me" I said as I sat down in the booth.
"It doesn't matter, we're all together, now. Well, almost all of us." Lil Mi pointed out.
"So, Miku, what all did you do today?" My mother asked. I didn't look over the fact that she changed the subject, but I knew why.
"Well, I recorded a new song and was at rehearsal most of the day, but me and Rin left early for ice cream."
"Sounds fun! So are you getting along with everyone?"
"I guess so, I mean me and Rin get along great, and so do me and Kaito, and Len too. Luka…not so much." I explained.
"Well, it's only been a few days. I'm sure you'll all be good friends soon." My dad stated.
"I hope so."
I got back to the Crypton building pretty late, but Rin and Len were on the couch watching TV.
"Hey there, Miku!" They both said.
"Hi, guys…what are you doing up so late?" I asked.
"Seeing who can stay up the longest." Len stated.
Wanna stay up with us?" Rin asked.
"Nah, I'm really tired. I'm going straight to bed."
"Boo!" Rin said and turned back to the TV.
"Night, Miku!" Len said and faced the television as well. I headed down the hallway and Luka was standing by her room door, which was across from mine.
"Oh, hi, Luka!" I said shyly. She just looked at me, and took a sip from the cup I just noticed she was holding.
"Don't take this lightly." She said, and went into her room and closed the door.
A wave of guilt washed over me before I headed inside my room. Why does Luka seem to hate me?
END!
This one was a bit long...A few foreshadowing hints were dropped in this chapter…did you catch them? If not, don't fear, read on~