Dreams

"Looking back isn't going to do you any good."

"But what about you? You can't break our promise just like that!"

"Think about it realistically. What was in the past is the past, what's present is the present. Things change, so do we."

"But promises don't change... Len."

Chapter 18: When Things Changes

Len was adjusting his tie when Rin suddenly burst into his bedroom. Len turned around with a wicked grin, preparing to lecture her on how to knock the door before coming into someone else's bedroom, especially a guy's room. But in the end, he stood still and stared at the lady before him with wide eyes. Rin blushed at his intense stare and began rubbing her thighs together.

"So... how do I look?"

"What are you doing in that dress?" Ignoring her question, he pointed at the purple dress she was wearing. "If I'm not wrong, it's Mum's."

"Yes, it's your mother's dress and she is lending it to me," Rin replied and did a twirl. "So, how do I look?"

"Okay."

"Just... okay?" Rin sounded very disappointed and she hung her head low. "Just okay... I see..."

Her voice turned into a menacing one which made Len shudder on the spot. Did he say anything wrong? He was sure that he did not say anything horrible to her. Or was it? Anyway, he could not just say that she was resembling the girl who had worn a purple dress in his dream the night before. Thinking about the dream made him shudder again.

"I see... I look so ugly..."

Len knitted his eyebrows together and retorted, "I didn't say that! You look fine. Okay means fine, Miss Kagamine."

She looked up with watery eyes and sniffed hard. "Fine? Just fine? That means... I can't attract the judges' attention and I can just fail... and... and... die?"

"Huh?" Len stared at her in disbelief. "Aren't you thinking too much?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I should be the one saying this to you," Len shot back and continued to adjust his tie. "Besides, don't you have school today? You've to get ready for school, instead of fooling around in that dress."

"Nope. My lecturer is sick today," Rin replied angrily. "And I'm not fooling around! Today is my audition, for goodness sake!"

"So?"

"So, you should at least say something about my attire!" Rin yelled with a fist waving in the air.

Len gawked at her and then shook his head, saying, "I'm off to work. Good luck for your audition."

Just when he was about to leave the room, Rin ran towards him and shouted, "H... H... Hey! I'm not done with you yet!"

"What now?" he grunted.

She puffed up her reddened cheeks and looked away. "What do you think I should perform for this audition?"

Len quietly stared at her for a moment before he gave her a gentle smile and answered, "Just be yourself and be confident. I'm sure you can do it."

After saying that, Len left the room. His words rang through her ears, filling her chest with warmth. Like an oil, his words were making her more pumped up than before, more excited for this audition, more determined than the ones which Gakupo had used to encourage her, and making her heart beat faster than before. She wondered why his words had to be so beautiful to her ears though Gakupo had used the same words as him while encouraging her. Something had been wrong with her since she had met this cab driver.

She shook her head and pouted. No matter what, he should have commented something about her dress and since he used to be into fashion designing, he should be able to say a suitable word or two, instead of saying 'okay' or 'fine'. To a lady, these two words means 'you look normal, just lack of appeal, but I'm not telling you that straight in your face'.

"Right... thanks for your encouragement and your very fine comment."

-:-:-:-

"Tonight will be the first night whereby some people will gather together for the most waited modelling audition organised by ALICE Studio. It's only the first day of the audition. But who will emerge at the end of the audition?"

"We will see about that."

"Luka, what are your expectations for the people who will be auditioning tonight?"

"Hmm... Since I'll be present there tonight, I hope to see talented people who will difinitely impress me till they have me at the edge of my seat."

"Wow! It seems that Luka has high expectation for them!"

"Of course, I do."

"What are your final advices to those excited people out there?"

"Well, of course, be yourselves and enjoy the process. Being relax is the uttermost importance in modelling. So, good luck!"

"My daughter is participating in this audition because she's a huge fan of Luka Megurine," a man in his early fifties suddenly spoke.

Len took a small sip of the coffee and smacked his lips. "Good luck to your daughter, Sir."

"No, that's not it," the man muttered and hid his face behind his large slightly wrinkled palms. "I want her to study hard and go into a local university, not into a world of useless modelling."

Len deliberately turned off the old radio and nodded in response to the man's words. The man went on and on about how incompetent she was in her studies, doing nothing but chatting with her friends over the telephone.

"I don't want her to end up like me." The man sighed. "I mean, which father wants to see his own child becoming someone who is not successful in life?"

Which father?

Len looked down and thought about the question. His father had always encouraged him to pursue his dreams. One of which was becoming a fashion designer. If his father were to see him doing something low like a cab diver, what would his father feel? Would he be disappointed? Or would he be proud that his son had given up everything to support the family? He did not know what his father might be thinking even if he was looking after him in heaven.

Well, what could he do even if he pondered about this? Things changed, so did he. Not all dreams come true for all, but he did believe that there were other unexpected things kept in store for him. The thought of wondering what was going to happen next made his life somewhat interesting. Maybe just for him since he did not really have any personal goals in life anymore. Not at all, except for making sure that his mother was still fine and healthy.

"Oops... sorry. I didn't mean to say that," the man said, looking apologetically at Len. "I mean..."

"It's okay," Len assured with a smile. "Looking back isn't going to do me any good, and I've kind of gotten use with my current lifestyle."

As the man furrowed his brows in pity, Len stood up from the seat, bowed to him and headed towards his cab.

-:-:-:-

As promised, Len arrived at an old seafood store to meet his childhood friend for dinner. Not exactly dinner, but it was more like a talk about a certain someone. He kind of knew it that this would eventually happen. If only he had left her alone...

"Len."

Len turned his head around and saw Kaito occupying an empty table. He waved to Kaito and walked over to the table.

"Hi Kaito, it has been awhile," Len greeted as he sat at the opposite side of his friend.

Kaito nodded and raised his hand to call for a waiter. Almost instantly, a young waitress arrived at their table, getting ready to receive their orders.

"One plate of fried salmon with rice and a glass of soda water," Kaito said and then looked at Len. "What do you want?"

Len flinched and began to look for a menu which he thought the waitress would have provided them. But he could not find one. What kind of service was that?

Much to his dismay and desperation, he hesitantly answered, "Rice with miso soup."

The waitress blinked a few times and wrote down his order whereas Kaito gawked at him.

"Is that even enough to fill your stomach? Do you want to order more? Don't worry. It's my treat."

"Thanks, Kaito. But you don't have to pay for my share..."

Kaito shook his head and interrupted him, "That's not good, Len. We hadn't been hanging out with each other a lot lately. So, it's my treat today."

"You don't have to do it. I'll feel quite bad," Len furrowed his eyebrows as he said that.

"You don't have to. We're friends, aren't we?" Kaito smiled gently and looked at the blushing waitress. "I'm sorry, Miss. Change of orders, two plates of fried salmons with rice and two bowls of miso soup. Thank you."

"Ye... Yes!" she stuttered and scurried into the kitchen.

Unknown to the two young men, they appeared as an intimate pair in the eyes of the waitress. The two of them remained silent as awkwardness filled the air. Len knew what Kaito was going to ask him but he pretended not to know a thing. Well, being ignorant might sometimes be a good thing.

"So... how is your preparation for your exams?" Len spoke.

"Quite good. Three more chapters to go and I'm ready," Kaito said confidently and patted his chest. "I really hope I can score distinctions for every subject this semester. Get good grades, get a stable job, and..."

Kaito paused and looked down.

"About Kagamine..." he added softly, still looking down on the wooden table. "I mean the female Kagamine."

Len gulped. What was he afraid of? It was not like he did anything bad to Rin. But why did he feel like avoiding this topic? He bit his lower lip hard and convinced himself that there was nothing to be afraid of. He had to face it, even though he knew he definitely did nothing.

"I like her." Kaito pressed his palm on his right eye as he continued to look down, avoiding Len's gaze. "And... recently... I don't know why I have this feeling... that..."

Kaito paused again and clicked his tongue. There was another silence between them. The waitress returned with their orders and after sensing the cold air around them, she hurriedly ran back into the kitchen.

"Len," Kaito spoke again, but this time he sounded serious. "What is your relationship with Rin Kagamine?"

It was Len's turn to look down as he knew it would come to this in the end.

-:-:-:-

"Kamui! Where the hell are you?" Rin grunted as she walked along the empty corridor. "That crazy fanboy... rushing off on his own to look for his idol... As if I don't want to see her too!"

She continued to grumble as she stepped into a room. The room was filled with many modelling audition participants, around fifteen people to be exact, and they were staring hard at Rin, making her feel uncomfortable. She instantly lowered her head and walked towards an empty corner. She stood there quietly until Gakupo burst in panting heavily as if he had run a marathon before coming here. Upon seeing Rin at the other side of the room, he ignored the intense stare from the other participants and headed towards Rin.

"Kagamine!"

"Kamui, where were you?" Rin crossed her arms, feeling annoyed.

"Kagamine... kill me now!"

"Why? What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Gakupo put his hands on her shoulders and whispered into her ears, "I've just seen the numbers outside the staffroom."

"What numbers?"

"I'm the first one to be auditioned and you..." Gakupo's grips tightened around her shoulders. "... are the eleventh."

"Fir... First?" Rin gasped. "That's... scary!"

"That's why, Kagamine, kill me now! Or... let's exchange!"

Rin frowned and hissed, "No way, young man! I'm quite happy to be the eleventh person."

"Whereas I'm not!"

"Think about it this way," Rin said. "You'll be the first to see Luka Megurine in person."

Gakupo withdrew his hands and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... you're right."

Rin smiled as she lightly punched his shoulder and looked at the other participants. Strangely, these people were giving them a condescending look which frightened her. She checked her dress and hair but they looked fine. So, what was wrong?

"Don't you think this purple dress looks old-fashioned? At this day and age, who would wear this?"

"So ugly."

Rin heard their murmers and went to check herself on a wall mirror. No matter how she looked at herself, she thought she looked normal. Furthermore, Len and his mother said that she was looking fine in the dress.

"She's going to fail and make a fool out of herself in front of Luka Megurine..."

Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 18.

Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 17. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- DarkestThingInTheLight
- YellowFluffiesForever22
- Mitsu
- justanothernaah
- seraphim. 159
- Gruesome Deaths
- Guest

Lastly, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story.

Preview of the next chapter:

Chapter 19: Audition

"Miss Kagamine, you have left the question about your talents blank," the silvery-white haired judge pointed out. "So, do you have any special talents?"

"I... don't know," Rin replied.

"So, you've no talent at all."

"I..."

"If you've no talent, how are you going to show us what you actually got?"

Rin hung her head again. She knew that this audition was going to be a failure and there was no hope in getting through it. Maybe it was time to buck up her studies and listen to her parents.

"What does being a model mean to you?"

Rin looked up upon hearing that question.

"There must be some sort of inspiration, other than posing, to make you reconsider your future job option," the silvery-white haired judge continued.

Before Rin could open her mouth to say a word or two, a loud tapping sound was heard, startling Rin. She looked at one of the judges who kept tapping the tip of his pen against the table, and he looked back at her.

"People who has no talent don't really have any inspiration, do they?" he mocked and laughed at his own question. "Well, that's obvious."

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