Dreams

Chapter 23: Waiting

Another week had passed smoothly. Rin was always seen pacing around the taxi stand outside a particular pub as if waiting for someone. She would stay there till dusk and would leave soon after. Nobody knew where she had gone after that because she would return very late at night. Even Meiko did not know what had happened to her but all she knew that Rin would return back with a sad look.

"Rin... is that you?" a familiar voice called out to the spaced out lady who was sitting on a bench in the void deck.

She looked up and saw Len's mother walking towards her. She was stunned at first but she immediately stood up and bowed to her politely.

"Dear, it's really you! How have you been?" Len's mother pulled her into a hug and patted her back gently. "I missed you, Dear."

Rin bit her lips as she slowly wrapped her hands around the woman's waist. She would never thought that she would meet Len's mother again even by coming here every night. It might sound stupid, but she actually came here for a purpose.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

Len's mother released her and said with a sad look, "Feeling lonely without you."

Rin smiled weakly at her and whispered, "How's he?"

"Do you mean Len?" Len's mother chuckled. "He's doing fine, except that..."

She paused and looked down. Feeling something was not right, Rin tilted her own head to have a better look at her face. Len's mother looked troubled. Was there something wrong?

"... I think my son is working too much. He has been coming home later than usual and the first thing he always does when he steps into the house is to sleep."

"Maybe he has found a girlfriend so that's why he hangs out with her every night."

Ouch...

Even though she was the one who said it, the thought of Len having a girlfriend hurt her. She lowered her head and looked at her chest. Why did it always hurt whenever she thought of Len? Len had already made himself clear. She was annoying and taking his space away. Staying with him was like a nuisance to him, nothing better than a pest, she thought to herself. Still, she wanted to see him, hear his voice and punch the living hell out of his mouth which kept making that fake smile, be it for a second or a minute.

That man was not good at all, always made her feel like she was riding on a roller coaster, yet deep inside her, she wanted to be with him again.

"It's impossible," Len's mother stated. "With that attitude of his, which girl would like him?"

"That's not true..." Rin laughed.

"Hmm... there was a girl who used to like him and would follow him around," Len's mother thought aloud. "But that was many years ago. He used to talk a lot about her but never again after entering middle school because she left him. I think because he was constantly being dishonest with himself, she left him."

"What do you mean?"

"I think he liked her. Though he kept saying that he didn't like her and even said that she was annoying, he still cared for her. It was so obvious that he was denying. Sometimes, when he called someone annoying, he didn't really mean it. He was just embarassed."

She felt another pang of sadness in her chest. So, Len actually had liked a girl before. Well, what could she have expected? He was so hot and had a sexy voice. Any girl would fall for him.

"Don't tell him that I told you a little about his past. He would kill me if he knows about it." Len's mother winked at her with a toothy grin. "By the way, what are you doing here? Are you... looking for Len?"

Rin shook her head and answered, "Not really. I'm actually here to ask if there's any call from ALICE Studio, but... I didn't feel like going up to your apartment."

"Eh? Is it because of Len?"

Rin blushed and looked down.

"I'm... I'm sorry. There was no call from the studio," Len's mother continued after realising she had hit right on the spot.

Rin quickly looked up and assured with a weak laugh, "Ah! It's okay! I was just asking."

After saying that, Rin was crestfallen. She knew she would never make it. If she did, the call would have been made by the end of the week before. But it did not turn out that way. Well, she had to accept the fact that she had failed.

"Mum..."

Rin looked up upon hearing a familiar voice called out from behind her. Turning around, she saw the guy whom she had always wanted to meet since the day she left his apartment heading towards her direction and she immediately looked away to avoid his curious gaze.

"Miss Kagamine?"

"Len, you're early tonight," Len's mother greeted him as soon as he stood next to her.

"Yeah, I need a short break from work. From tomorrow onwards, I'll be back home later than usual," Len said wearily.

"Wait! Why?" his mother snapped. "You're already coming home very late almost everyday, yet you'll be back home even later than that?"

"It's work."

"But..."

"What is Miss Kagamine doing here?" Len interrupted her as he glanced at Rin who was still looking away, admiring nothing but the bench.

Feeling annoyed that her son was being rude, she replied grumpily, "She's here to ask whether we've received a call from the studio."

Rin lowered her head even further, knowing that she had indeed disappointed Len who had helped her a lot. After a moment of silence, Rin slowly looked at Len through the corner of her eyes and caught him staring down on the ground, looking somewhat upset.

"I'll be heading back first. The two of you can catch up with each other here." Len's mother patted his back and smiled at Rin. "Goodbye, Dear."

Rin bowed to her and stuttered, "G... Goo... Goodnight!"

When she had walked away, Len sat on the bench and looked at Rin who was still lowering her head.

"How's your stay with Meiko?" he spoke, startling Rin for some reason.

"Qu... Quite good."

He smiled. "It's good to hear that."

There was silence. Rin began to play with the scrape of her slingbag aimlessly to pass the awkward time with Len. Why couldn't he say something? It had been so long since they had last met, or so she thought. There should be at least something to talk about, other than asking her how she was. That man...

He was really reserved.

"You... you've a girlfriend, right?" she mumbled as she turned to face her back at him, hoping that he would not see how anxious she looked.

He remained silent which made her even anxious and curious to know if he really had one. If he had a girlfriend, how would she react? Not that she wanted to know who that girl was, she was just curious if he really had one since his mother said that he had been coming home late every night.

"Hm."

She frowned and grunted, "What do you mean by that? Yes or no?"

"Do you want to know?" His voice sounded mischievous and, nevertheless, sexy. "Turn around and I'll show you how she looks like."

"I... I don't want to know."

He chuckled. "What a pity. It's fine with me though. It's not that I want you to know either."

She breathed in deeply, trying hard to control her urge to slap him across his face. He was just pulling her tail, she convinced herself as she slowly turned to look at him. For a moment, she thought he had changed a little. Not only did he look skinner than before, he looked more handsome than the time they had last met. She did not know one could change a lot within a month.

"So, you're interested to know," he lowered his voice as he smiled cheekily at her. "I'll show you then."

Her face flushed with a mix of embarrassment, anger, and even excitement. Did she ever mention how much she hated that cheeky smile of his as well?

He brought his hand upwards, tucked his short tousled hair behind his ears and removed something red off his face. When he did that, he did not looked as handsome as which she had just mentally claimed he was earlier.

"My girlfriend." He brought the red thing towards her and gave her a devilish smile. "Isn't she pretty?"

Her face nearly fell. Since when he could smile like that? And that red thing was none other than...

"Wow... what a nice pair of spectacles you've there," Rin muttered dully. "It really suits your cheeky personality. No wonder that's your girlfriend."

He laughed and said, "Thank you, Miss Kagamine. With this girlfriend of mine, I know I look even hotter than before."

"Egoistic devil."

"Don't deny it."

"Narcissist."

"Thank you."

"No biggie, dude."

Len stifled a laugh while Rin pouted as she felt so insulted by his little joke. Just when she thought he had a girlfriend, he actually showed her his pair of red spectacles which she had never seen him wearing before.

"When did you get that girlfriend of yours?"

"Oh, do you mean this?" He pointed at his spectacles and she nodded. "Last year."

"I didn't know that."

"Because I don't show her off to others," he proclaimed.

Len's mother was right. Len could never find a girlfriend with this childish and cheeky attitude. He sounded as if he had no life; calling his spectacles his wife was not funny at all. Rin sat next to him and crossed her arms in an irritated manner. Well, who wouldn't be irritated by his stupid joke?

"I'm sorry..."

Rin turned to look at him as she furrowed her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry," he repeated his words solemnly, causing Rin to stare hard at him in a questionable way. "You've tried so hard, yet you couldn't make it through. I'm sorry."

Her gaze softened. Who knew that he would be concerned about her audition? When he had said this, her initial anger subsided and was replaced with a mix of happiness and sadness. He cared for her, had high expectations of her and fought for her dream, but she had wasted his efforts.

She smiled and spoke in a soft voice, "I'm supposed to be the one who should say sorry to you. After all you had helped me, I'm still as useless as always. I'm thinking... I should return home and listen to my parents..."

"Miss..."

"I shouldn't burden you and Meiko," Rin continued in a quivering voice as she buried her face into her palms to hide the fact that she was about to cry. "I'm sorry."

"You... you were never a burden to me."

She felt his warm arms wrap around her small frame and pull her closer to him, allowing her to snuggle against his chest. To be so close to Len, it had to be a dream for Rin. To be embraced by him, it was something which she had always dreamt of.

His warmth, his voice, his everything... For her to fantasise about him all the time, these qualities of his were not good at all.

Her hand gripped onto his shirt while she shifted her head a little and pressed her ear against his chest. For some unknown reason, hearing his breathing and heartbeat slowly calmed her down.

If only he could never let her go...

"This is not the end yet, Miss Kagamine. I do believe in you."

Hi! I'm sorry for updating this chapter one week late! It was a hectic week for me last week, so is this week, but I managed to find the time to update this story today. Thank goodness! Anyway, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 22. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- B.L
- MizuneMinamiki
- justanothernaah
- Silverpudding9
- YellowFluffiesForever22
- Hatsune Miku
- natsumikan159
- rockstar297
- Gruesome Deaths

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

Preview of the next chapter:

Chapter 24: Passed

Rin hurled her luggage out of the boot of the cab and slammed the boot shut. She was finally home after six weeks of being away trying to fulfill her dream. She bet that her parents would be laughing at how stupid she was to chase the air, like what her father had scolded her, and ignore their so-called advices. From here, she then believed the quote -parents are always right- which she would always disagree since young.

As she dragged her luggage along the pavement, she noticed someone standing outside her residence while talking on her handphone. Curious, Rin paced up a little and clumsily pulled her bulky luggage towards the person. Judging by the person's formal wear, it must be her parents' client or colleague. Checking her watch on the other free hand, she guessed that her parents were already home for dinner but still, it was slightly earlier than she thought they would be home.

"I see. Thank you, Ma'am." The woman put down the handphone and pressed the doorbell. "Geez... No one is in, huh..."

The woman looked a little familiar to Rin; she had silvery-white long hair tied in a ponytail, was tall and petite. Had she seen her before?

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