Dreams

Chapter 34: Distorted Perception

"Who's she?" the woman asked in curiosity.

"A student," he replied with a smile as he stared affectionately at the woman beside him.

Meiko rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. What was with him? Acting so lovey dovey with the woman with sunglasses was so unlike him.

"Good evening," the woman greeted Meiko with a grin, flashing her pearl white teeth.

She really looked like a superstar, Meiko thought as she admired the woman's beauty. She cleared her throat and tugged her hair behind her ear nonchalantly. Well, wasn't it normal for people, especially women, to try to look like their idols? So, it was not surprising at all! Meiko nodded to herself with a smug.

"Hi! I'm Meiko Sakine. Nice to meet you," she introduced herself and paused for a moment as she scanned the woman's body from head to toe. "Are you Professor Hiyama's girlfriend?"

Kiyoteru's eyes widened. Just when he was about to say something about her rudeness, the woman giggled and replied.

"Yes. Nice to meet you, Sakine. I'm..."

"You said you've to leave now. Let's go," Kiyoteru interrupted coolly and put his hand on the woman's waist, then he eyed at Meiko coldly. "See you again after the holidays, Miss Sakine."

Meiko inhaled deeply, trying hard to keep her cool. What was with his attitude? How could he continue to look down on her even when they were off campus? She really hated him.

As she saw the couple walked past her and towards the exit, the war in her stomach returned.

"Argh... he looks like a black cat... so unlucky," she groaned and rushed to the restroom once more.

-:-:-:-

Len jolted awake upon hearing a clanking sound coming from the foyer. He lazily sat up and looked around his dark room. He rubbed his eyes grogily and stepped out of bed. Who could it be so early in the morning?

As he headed towards the foyer, he saw no one around, except for a sticky note pasted on the front door. He reached for it, turned on the little orange lamp next to the shoe rack, and read the neatly written words on the note.

'Len, I shall head out first. Take care, my dear. Oh, and I just saw the outfit. Nice one, son! Make the newbie model happy!'

"Huh? Seriously?" He turned off the lamp and walked back into his room. "Does she always take a stroll so early in the morning? When will she come back? I thought I said I'd accompany her to the hospital today."

Len lay on his bed again and closed his eyes. He was so tired. After all these crazy days trying to make a cheerleader outfit, he felt that he should deserve a rest. It was finally Friday, the day he promised he would take leave from work, accompany his mother to have her medical check-up, complete the making of the cheerleader outfit and meet up with Rin. It was going to be a long day...

He opened his eyes again and sat up instantly. Something kept bugging him at the back of his mind. Well, it was just this once; it had been days since his mother started taking strolls. He stumbled out of bed again and grabbed his old white shirt which was lying crumpled on his desk next to the neatly folded cheerleader outfit. He wore it over his thin vest and rushed out of his house. Still in his pair of baggy shorts which was used for sleeping, he entered his cab and drove off, heading towards the nearby park.

Something, perhaps his intuition or an angel, told him that his mother was not taking strolls at all, and he hoped that this was not true. Not at all.

-:-:-:-

"Thanks, Meiko! I owe you one!" Rin chirped happily as she lifted Meiko's old high school uniform up high and let it unfold by itself.

It had been many months since she last worn her high school uniform and seeing it made her feel like a high school student again. She placed the skirt below her waist and bit her lips anxiously. The skirt was way too short for her. She remembered her skirt would always fall below her knees like some old-fashioned kid because her mother would monitor the length of her skirt and she would not want her school discipline masters or mistress to call her parents frequently. But the length of Meiko's skirt was enough to cover half of her thighs. Maybe Meiko was slightly shorter...

"In case my innocent friend is wondering why my skirt is so short, I'm not short," Meiko rebutted aloud, as if she had read Rin's mind. "It's called fashion."

Rin stifled a laugh and said teasingly, "I didn't say anything, my friend."

"There are invisible words written on your pretty face! I can see them," she retorted and pouted. "And isn't it obvious that I'm taller than you?"

"I didn't say anything about you being shorter than me... You said it yourself."

"Truth is written on your face." Meiko lightly pinched Rin's cheeks which seemed less chubby as before and she gasped in surprise. "Gosh! Rin! Have you been eating right?"

Rin immediately pushed her hand away from her face and cupped her own cheeks. Her eyebrows slowly knitted together as she came to realise that her cheeks were no longer bouncy and tender.

Rin gulped nervously and said in shaky voice, "Meiko, tomorrow is my debut."

"I know."

"And I haven't been looking at the mirror..."

"Well, why not?"

"Meiko, it's all Ms Yowane's fault. I don't even have time for meals and all I have been eating are biscuits and fruits," Rin ranted and pulled her cheeks downwards, making her lower eyelids sink. "Why did she pack my daily schedule with trainings?"

Meiko sighed as she shook her head sympathetically. She wrapped her arms around her friend and patted her head gently as if she was soothing a sad puppy.

"Things will get better after tomorrow. All these trainings are for your own good," Meiko comforted.

Rin removed her hands from her cheeks and smiled. It was her choice to be a model and she did not regret her decision no matter how tired and hungry she was everyday. The last time she checked her weight was a week ago and she only lost a kilogram. Sadly, according to the staff in ALICE Studio, losing a kilogram meant that she was not even trying her best to lose weight. Though she believed that she was not fat enough to lose anymore weight, she dared not try to rebut those snobbish staffs whose behaviours were so obvious that she could tell that they were against her as a new model without having anyone, including Haku, telling her.

Because of her debut, every second of her trainings was gold and she had never once missed her trainings. Believe it or not, she even practiced doing splits in the bathroom when taking a shower, training her vocals on the bed before going to sleep, and memorising the order of the staged variety show, as well as her lines, wherever she went.

"Do you know, Rin, your plus point was your chubby cheeks?" Meiko said softly and patted her head again. "My poor Rin... please don't be anorexic."

"Who said I will?" Rin retorted and bloated her cheeks with her eyes closed. "Mmmm... Mmmm..."

Meiko laughed and tightened her hug. "I will support you tomorrow. Don't worry too much. You can do it!"

"Mmm..."

"Will Len support be there to support you as well?"

Rin's bloated cheeks deflated almost instantly when she heard Len's name. By seeing her response, Meiko knew that something, obviously bad, had happened between the two of them. She let go of Rin and stared at her with a look of concern in the hope to prompt an answer out of her mouth but all Rin did was remaining silent as she stared blankly at the high school uniform.

After a brief moment of silence, Meiko gave up waiting for an answer so she asked, "Say, did Len say something wrong to you?"

Rin inhaled deeply and looked away.

"Len... He... He doesn't mean what he says all the time. It's just his temper. Don't take his words too hard," Meiko tried to assure her but deep in her heart, she felt like going up to Len and calling him to apologise for whatever things he had said that hurt Rin.

"It's not like this," Rin mumbled and looked at her, giving her an angry stare. "I'm sick of his attitude. His selfishness... every word he says... I hate all of them."

"Honestly, what did he say to you? Something about modelling? Or something about his childhood friend?"

"Forget about him. I'm heading back soon. Thanks for lending me your uniform," Rin said with a forced smile and put the uniform into her bag.

"Rin..."

"See you tomorrow!" she interrupted and left Meiko's house quickly.

Just right after she walked into the elevator, her handphone played a melodious ringtone with Len's name blinking on the screen. Staring at the screen in surprise, she pressed her trembling thumb against the 'reject' button and held her breath. As strange as it might sound, she was waiting for him... to call her again.

She knew she was crazy. She was angry with him and had even rejected his call yet she wanted him to call her again. She wanted him to apologise sincerely for being such a jerk yet she wished he had a very good reason for being like that. Gosh, Miku's blabbers on shoujo related books and shows were starting to distort her perception of reality.

After a few seconds, her handphone rang again. Without further ado, she picked up the call and waited for his voice that she had missed to sound through the speaker.

"Rin..." came a soft and feminine voice, unfortunately.

Rin's face fell. It was Haku's voice.

She cleared her throat and asked, "Yes? What happened?"

"Where are you?"

"I've just left my friend's house. Why?"

"Rin, you... Why didn't you tell me about the clothes?"

"What do you mean? I told you that I was going to borrow a high school uniform from my friend."

"I know, but..."

The elevator opened at the ground floor and Rin stepped out of it. "What is it?"

"Just come back to the agency and you will know."

Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 34.

Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 33. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D

Here are the reviewers:

- mirrors02
- Ama Zon
- Sychronicity girl
- YuiHeartsOreos
- aquathyst
- Mimi02
- xxPockyStraw21xx

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

Preview of the next chapter:

Chapter 35: Friday Afternoon

"It's not that I don't trust you and Rin Kagamine. You know, everyone has been talking about it," he answered calmly.

"About what?" Haku spat. "Rin Kagamine is not talented enough? She's not pretty? She is a fluke? Oh, come on! What do those people know? Rin has been trying her best in everything she does. If I were to compare her with Luka Megurine, Rin is just as hardworking as her. There's no lying to it."

"The reason why she's a hot topic among the staff here is because of you."

Haku's eyes widened and she bit her lips.

"Ms Yowane," the director lowered his voice as he softened his gaze on her and gave her a weak smile. "Your eyes... are not like mine. And please... stop forcing your dreams upon her."

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