Dreams
"Mummy, look here! Look here!" she shouted at the top of her lungs as she tottered towards her parent's bedroom. "How do I look like?"
She swirled around, making her dress flutter against the wind, and did a cute pose in front of her parents.
"Rin, what are you doing?" her mother bellowed upon seeing her at the doorstep. "Return back to your room and do your homework!"
"I have finished my homework, Mummy."
"Then, do your revision now. I'm sure that your father and I did tell you not to waste any precious time," the woman chided as she grabbed her poor child's arm and dragged her back to her room.
"I want to be like her, Mummy!" she exclaimed loudly and shook her mother's sleeve.
"Who?"
As she pointed at a young model on the cover page of a magazine, her eyes sparkled brilliantly and squealed, "That model..."
Before she could say anymore, a hand just flew across her small delicate face, leaving a light hand print on it and a permanent scar in her heart.
Chapter 8: Too Late
Rin was stirred from her sleep when she heard a thud coming from the front of the lecture theatre. She rubbed her dry eyes and stared at her lecturer picking up a book on the floor.
"I'm sorry, guys. This book is heavy," he apologised with a weak laugh. "Anyway, all of you are dismissed. Please do remember that the final submission of your reports is tomorrow. See you at the next lecture again!"
The lecturer smiled sheepishly and walked out of the theatre.
Rin checked her watch and her eyes enlarged within a second or two. She could not believe it. She had slept throughout the lecture for more than an hour! Not that she cared about her studies, she was afraid that if her father found out that she did not take any notes for the whole lecture, she could just hang herself in her bedroom.
She was serious because her father was not someone whom anyone could deal with.
Groaning at her possible 'death', she packed her bag and walked out of the lecture theatre. It was another boring day whereby she could not do and think up of anything to irritate the lecturers, especially the discipline mistress and the principal. Ever since the smoking incident, her parents were keeping a close eye on her, fearing that she might attempt to play truant. Unfortunately for Rin, that was her plan.
"Kagamine, are you going back home now?"
Rin jumped a little and turned around, only to see Kaito in his smart casual attire. She stopped walking and waved to him in return.
"Of course, I am. What about you?" she replied with a smile.
"Gr... Great!" He clasped his hands together and blushed. "Let's... g... go home together... if yo... you want."
Rin raised her right eyebrow and nodded slowly. Kaito was sure insistent in going home with her.
"Are we riding on your bicycle?" she asked and he shook his head. "Then, let's wait for Meiko too. The three of us can walk home together."
"Wh... what?" Kaito gaped and stared at her in bewilderment as she walked ahead of him with her arms outstretched in the air.
-:-:-:-
Meiko stepped out of her classroom and caught of sight of Rin leaning against the wall with Kaito standing next to her. She skipped towards them and suddenly jumped in front of Rin, trying to give her a small fright.
Unfortunately, Rin's response was neutral as she slowly looked at Meiko with a tired look and greeted, "Hi Meiko, let's go home together."
"Aww... Rin must have been waiting for me for quite some time," Meiko sang and hugged Rin. "Kaito too!"
Kaito gave her uninterested look and shrugged.
"Let's go home together," Rin repeated again and let out a yawn. "I am feeling very sleepy today."
"But you left Kaito's house early last night," Meiko stated in feign anger. "Did your parents give you some sort of tirade for the whole of last night?"
"No, they didn't. They came back home late too. I... actually... happened to bump onto the other Kagamine on the way back home last night. You see, we chatted a little and... he took me home." Rin's face turned slightly red as she gently scratched her cheek shyly.
"What? You spent your whole night with Len!" Meiko shrieked.
Rin blushed heavier and shook her head vigorously. "Please don't anyhow say stupid things! You'll give others the wrong idea! He's a cab driver so it is obvious that I took a cab home."
"What did you guys chat about?" Kaito questioned in curiosity.
"Orange pudding."
"What?" He tilted his head.
Rin gulped and corrected, "Our dreams."
There was silence. She saw how his brows knitted together and Meiko's eyes staring intently at her. Had she said anything wrong? She doubted so though. Len should have told her the truth about his dream and she had even seen his passion with her own eyes.
"What's wrong?" her voice quivered at the thought of Len having another dream which he did not share with her.
Meiko snapped out of her stance and cleared her throat. "Did Len say anything else, other than his dream?"
"Nope," she replied. "He only talked a little about the reason behind his unfulfilled dream, and also how lucky I am to continue my education."
There was another silence.
Suddenly, she felt a strong push behind her back, causing her to stumble a few steps forward. She groaned and turned around with a slight glare, only to see a girl with two long pigtails grinning cheekily at her.
"Mi... Miku!" Rin practically shouted in surprise and her gaze immediately softened. "What a great way to greet your junior!"
"Of course," Miku snickered and crossed her arms. "Did you have a heart attack, Dear? Just kidding. So, where are you guys going? I'm going home by the way. Would you like to walk home with me?"
Kaito began to look slightly annoyed but he managed to look away before anyone could catch him having that expression. However, Rin saw it first but she did not think so much about it. It must have been a rough day for Kaito, she understood.
"Well then," Meiko spoke loudly, breaking the silence as she grabbed Rin's hand. "Rin and I have some things to do now. Why don't Kaito walk home with you, Miku? I hope that should be fine. Goodbye!"
Before Rin could react, Meiko quickly dragged her away, leaving Miku blushing and Kaito staring blankly at them.
-:-:-:-
She kicked the sandy ground backwards, letting herself swing forward and backward continuously. The gentle breeze brushed against her cheeks and her short feather-like hair fluttered together with it.
She missed those times when they used to be together. He would be behind her pushing her back as she swung back and forth. He would be standing on the wooden plank, trying to impress her with his stupid stunts like doing a back-flip which had resulted him landing up in a hospital instead.
Those times were fun and nostalgic.
"Why did you do that?" a voice interrupted her. "I purposely told him to wait for you."
"I'm sorry... That girl..." She paused and exhaled deeply. "I want to help her, that's all."
"But... why?"
Meiko stopped swinging and rested. She looked down at her shoes and smiled.
"Miku likes him. But knowing that stupid man, he is too dense to realise that."
"What about you, Meiko? Why did you want to help her? You have been trying so hard, yet he has failed to notice you."
Her head hung even lower as she battled with her tears. Rin was right. She had been trying so hard since young but nearly gave up after the long and fruitless chase for him. He, Kaito Shion, would never see her as someone else other than a friend no matter what she did.
"I like Miku too. She is our senior and has done many things for us. I know she likes him," Meiko muttered and closed her eyes as a drop of tear rolled down her cheek. "And I want to see her happy."
"Meiko..."
"Rin," she interrupted and looked at her with a smile. "Thank you."
Rin sat still and quietly stared at her friend next to her swinging away. Chasing Kaito was Meiko's dream. But why did she give it up to someone else instead? Didn't she like him? If she were to be in Meiko's shoes, she would have chased that dream, no matter how difficult it was, until she achieved it.
That lost and sad look on her friend's face reminded her of someone whom she deemed as annoyingly mysterious. Both had lost hope in fulfilling their dreams.
"About Len."
Rin flinched. Speaking of the devil, why did Meiko suddenly brought his name up? Did she read her mind a second ago?
"How was he? I hope he was fine, especially after telling you about his dream of the past," Meiko continued with a sheepish grin. "He is a poor guy but is a very reliable person. We've known each other since young too so I know quite a lot of him."
"He was still very fine."
"Oh, that's great to hear that. You know, he can be quite skeptical sometimes. So, I'm also afraid that you might feel offended by him when you told him about your dream."
"He was... cool with it, I guess."
"Real... really?" Meiko was taken aback and bit her lips. "I see."
Meiko chuckled loudly and stood up from the swing. Regaining her usual cheery composure, she wrapped her arm around Rin's neck and beamed.
"So, tell me, how's Len to you by the way? If I am not wrong, your reaction towards him was far from normal in the karaoke room that day," she teased with a twinkle in her left eye. "Isn't he such a cutie? When he was young, everyone kept on mistaking him for a girl. Frankly, I even teased him back on those days."
Rin pretended to smile and nodded slightly at every sentence Meiko spoke. What did she think of him?
Well, he was one of the kind who could enamour girls with his husky voice which she found annoying yet enchanting.
Or rather, 'sexy' was probably the best word to describe him.
Rin shook her head and blushed furiously. Why was she thinking of this type of naughty thing, especially that guy? This was so wrong!
"In my opinion, he is not reasonable and logical," Rin grumbled and pouted. "But I can say that I can relate his lost dream to mine."
Meiko could only nod silently as she listened. Did Len really become that bad after three years working as a cab driver? It might be true that he would meet uneducated cab drivers everyday but she knew that he would not downgrade himself to their level. He was, in fact, very intelligent. There was no way he would become irrational.
"Hey, Meiko," Rin interrupted her thoughts. "Why did you like Kaito?"
"What? Kaito again?" Meiko sighed and shook her head tiredly. "Seriously, I don't know that either..."
She paused and looked at how Rin was staring at her with narrowed eyes. Sighing again, Meiko removed her arm from Rin's shoulder and crossed them.
"It had been so long since we were still little... and my feelings for him... just built up like that." She took in a deep breath and smiled weakly. "Even without me noticing it until... it was too late."
Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 8.
Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 7. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D
Here are the reviewers:
- MizuneMinamiki
- seraphim. 159
- Lynn 'Ne'-chan
- Gruesome Deaths
- YellowFluffiesForever22
Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story.
Here are some common questions which are being asked by some of you or you might be currently thinking right now:
1) Why does Len hate it when topics about fashion is involved?
Maybe it is because he knew he could never be a fashion designer.
2) Is Rin a tsundere?
Yes, she is! But I'm not sure if she belongs to type A or B.
3) How does Len's voice sound like?
It is up to you to decide how beautiful or sexy it sounds. :D
4) Is there a possibility that Luka/Rin is Len's childhood friend?
Well, why not?
Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.
Before you leave this page, don't forget to leave a review! Thank you! ;)