Dreams
"The new model used to be a cheerleader. It's stated on ALICE Studio website."
Len turned his head to the side and looked at a group of young girls standing next to him, feeling a little puzzled.
"She's a Law student."
"Why would a Law student want to become a model?"
Her dream is to become a model because she wants to make people smile.
"I've seen her photo on the website. She doesn't look as pretty as Luka Megurine."
"You're saying that she's plain."
"Wait! How did she even pass the audition then?"
She passed because of her passion.
Len turned his head back to the front and adjusted his hood over his forehead.
Be yourself, Rin Kagamine. Make them smile like you said you would. That's your passion.
Chapter 38: Game of Honesty
Feeling confused, Haku paced around the empty space at the backstage as she rubbed her chin and kept clicking her tongue at every few seconds. She had no idea how that make-up artist, Dell Honne, ended up working with ALICE Studio and could not believe that she would be working with him. He was the one whom she did not want to see the most, more like she could not look at him in the eye anymore. She was a failure who did not fulfill her dream and promise. He was the only one who seemed to be doing very well; she had to admit that holding those brushes looked somewhat cool on him even though he was a guy.
That was the difference between them. A big whole difference in their worlds.
It was too bad that she had to stand before him as Rin's manager when she was supposed to be the one sitting in front of the mirror allowing him to touch her face.
"Miss Yowane!" Rin's excited voice startled her. "When is the show starting?"
Haku cleared her throat and answered, "It has started, slow-poke."
Rin pulled the curtain a little and stole a glimpse at the audience before pulling the curtain back in place. She turned around and looked at Haku with wide eyes which seemed to be screaming for help. Her face paled and she instinctively bit her lower lip.
Haku shook her head with a sigh and said assuringly, "Calm down, Rin. As long as you follow the script, everything will be fine."
"But... so many audience..."
"They are blocks. Wooden blocks."
"I know they aren't!" Rin muttered nervously as she pulled the curtains slightly again and looked at the loud cheering audience.
"Just treat them as blocks!"
Rin shook her head and exclaimed in a soft and raspy voice, "Even blocks scare me!"
"Rin." Haku forcefully pulled the curtain close and stared hard at Rin into her eyes. "Will that young man come?"
"Who?"
"Mr Len Kagamine."
Rin's eyebrows raised in curiosity. Why must Haku mention his gorgeous name when she was already so panicky? Yes, his name made her feel more nervous than before because she knew he would definitely come to see her debut.
"I think so," Rin replied, still unsure why Haku was so interested in whether Len would be coming or not.
"Great." Her manager's eyes lit up and pulled Rin close. "Let's play hide and seek. Len must be there among the audience so scan the audience for him. Your eyes should only focus on him. Think of nothing else but him... and the script too."
Rin blushed and wanted to retort but was tongue-tied. She had no idea what Haku was blabbering about. Thinking of Len only made the matter worse!
"No, no, please."
"Let's welcome Rin Kagamine on stage!"
Rin froze on the spot.
"Go! I know you can do it, Rin. Don't be afraid." Haku turned Rin's body around and gave her a gentle push towards the curtains. "The two of us have been anticipating this for weeks so please... please make this a memorable day for yourself."
Rin turned her head and looked at Haku, shaking her head unconvincingly.
"And just to let you know, Miss Kagamine is a model, not a comedian! Even she's a comedian, she can never be as lovely as us, yeah?"
Roars of cheers echoed in the convention hall.
"Fighting!" Haku said with a small smile and pushed Rin forward forcefully till she vanished behind the curtains.
Rin stumbled on stage and scanned the audience. She did not expect herself to be greeted by so many people, both young and old. She could see children who were as young as five years old standing on the seats and waving their hands in the air, older adults who were clapping away looking clueless as to who she was, and young adults who were shouting her name continuously. Rin slowly straightened herself as she awed at her audience. Was this how standing on stage supposed to feel like? She knew the audience here were not her fans yet- they were fans of Tete and Tata- but still, this was so bizarre.
Just then, her eyes landed on someone in a blue sweater with a hood over his head sitting at the last row. She had no idea how she would take notice of him since he was so far away but she just did anyway. She did not know how she knew who that person was despite how tiny he was from afar. There was definitely something wrong with her, she knew it.
Be yourself...
His voice seemed to echo in her head again and again, calming her down in the process. Each step she took towards the comedians felt lighter and lighter than before. The cheers were slowly fading and blocked out by her ears, and her only focus was that particular audience. Haku might be right after all. Seeing and thinking of him would calm her down.
Tata handed the microphone to Rin and prompted her to start her introduction with a wink. She held the microphone tightly and inhaled deeply, mentally telling herself to finish this performance once and for all and do it right.
"Hi everyone, I'm Rin Kagamine!" Rin put on a cheerful smile and inhaled again. "I'm a Law student but an awful noob at it. Really. I failed four assignments so far."
The audience laughed but Rin ignored them. Screw that script, Rin mentally shouted in her head. Yeah, like how she screwed her examinations.
"Errr... Miss Kagamine... about you being a cheerleader..." Tata spoke hesitantly, giving Rin a look which seemed to tell her to pull herself together. "When did you take part in this exciting sport?"
Rin's eyes widened and casually laughed his question off. "Me? In cheerleading? I'm wearing this outfit today because it was made by a special someone."
Special someone? Rin bit her lower lips as she felt her cheeks become warmer. She said it herself, yet she was so embarrassed by it.
Tete looked a little lost by the fact that Rin was not following the script at all. He tried to cover up and bring her back to their original plan.
"Oh, come on! We all know that you're a cheerleader..."
"I'm not that spontaneous, Tete. I'm someone who always watches TV and falls in love with magazines models."
Suddenly, the audience became very quiet. Even the comedians stared at her with wide surprised eyes. Rin turned her head to the side and noticed Haku 'face-palming' while the backstage helpers looked confused.
Tata cleared his throat and grinned at his audience as if nothing had happened while Tete quickly regained his momentum and began clapping away.
"Wow... wow... let's give Miss Kagamine a round of applause. Nice try in humoring your audience, newbie model!" Tete said and smiled at Rin.
The audience clapped their hands as told.
Feeling a little insulted by his words, Rin returned the smile and said, "Perhaps I should say more about myself. I don't follow rules and orders. So, nice try in trying to blend into... my little game of honesty."
This time she could hear Haku's loud gasp coming from the side of the stage. The comedians were lost for words as they stared blankly at Rin. She knew she was wrong for not following the script but she hated lies. She wanted people to like her for who she was. They had the right to know who exactly Rin was. Fans or not, she wanted their trust and respect, and accept her as a 'human-model', not as a flawless idol.
"So..." Rin clasped her hands together and looked at the comedians with anticipation. "Shall we start the actual show now?"
-:-:-:-
"Stupid," Len mumbled to himself after Rin revealed her bad side to her audience.
That was indeed a bad way to gain fans.
Okay, he knew he was the culprit who told her to be herself. But he did not mean it that way! Why did Rin always take things so literally?
And another thing- he knew that no one would know who had made her that outfit but it was so embarrassing to tell the whole world that her special someone had made it. Okay, not the whole world, but still...!
Len gently patted his stomach and groaned. He hated this weird feeling which seemed to be brewing inside. No, wait. It seemed as if his insides were tying knots. No, no, giants butterflies were fluttering clumsily inside. Hold on, it must be time to answer his nature call...
"Gosh! Make up your mind!" Len shouted, earning a few stares around him. "S... Sorry..."
Len hung his head low and sighed. This was way too embarrassing.
"Ah! It's you! The cab driver!"
Len lifted his head up a little and stared at a girl with short dark green hair sitting next to him. She waved to him with a beam on her face. Narrowing his eyes, he studied her face as he tried to recall who she was and wondered if he ever knew her. Probably a passenger, but that was strange! What kind of passenger would remember him? No, Rin was the exceptional.
"Does a girl in tight bunny suit interest you?" the girl spoke in a cheeky tone.
"Huh?" Despite how shocked he was, Len felt like he had heard this random question before.
"What about girls who show off their cleavages and... thighs?"
Len raised his hand up and held it in front of the girl's face. "Okay, you're random. Very random. And do I even know you?"
"We've met each other once before," she replied. "In your cab."
Len nodded in realisation. Still, he could not remember who she was.
He looked at her apologetically and said, "Really? Oh, I forgot. You see, I've many passengers everyday and I tend not to remember them unless... they made a scene in my cab."
The girl giggled and whispered, "Do you think I should make this girl wear something revealing to attract guys?"
"Who?"
"For Sensuous."
Suddenly, something clicked at the back of his head. "Ahh... I think I remember now."
"It's me!" the girl chirped excitedly and took his hands. "Thanks to you, my group's project scored distinction."
Len just laughed weakly as the girl shook his hands up and down vigorously.
"Con... Congratulations."
"You're welcome, Mr... How should I address you?"
Len arched his eyebrow. "Len Kagamine?"
"Oh, oh! Hi, Kagamine! You look young so can I call you that?"
"Sure..."
"I'm Gumi Megpoid."
"Hi, Megpoid."
This girl was talking so fast that he was trying very hard to catch up with her. She returned her gaze back to the front and silence finally returned between the two of them. Len heaved a sigh of relief and continued to watch Rin who seemed to be doing pretty well on stage even though she had made a few 'interesting' statements about herself earlier.
"I wonder, who's her special someone?" the girl with dark green hair muttered in admiration and then looked at Len. "The outfit design is pretty but the outfit itself... do you think it is lacking in certain areas?"
Her question perked his interest. He looked at the girl again and nodded in agreement. He could not tell her that he was the one who made that outfit and an honest feedback from a stranger would be good as well.
"What areas do you think it's lacking?" he queried.
"Hmmm... the materials used?"
"Materials?"
"Yeah, sportswear are usually made from dry-fit, rubber-plastic kind of material... Get what I mean?"
Len's eyes widened and asked, "You can tell what kind of material was used for her outfit from here? This far? You've pretty sharp eyes."
"It's obvious. The texture is different. You can tell the texture just by looking at the light reflection on her outfit," she explained. "And... you can actually tell that this is hand-sewn."
Len choked on his own saliva and coughed loudly. She was wrong. He had used a sewing machine.
"What if this isn't hand-sewn? What if he used... erm... a sewing machine?"
"Then, it means that the person doesn't know how to operate the sewing machine," the girl answered quickly with a giggle.
Len felt like surrendering himself for being a bad operator. "So, how can you tell that it is hand-sewn... from afar?"
"It's easy. I'm experienced in tailoring, using both hands and machinery."
"Oh, and I forgot that you've sharp eyes," Len said teasingly and in a rather sarcastic tone.
The girl giggled and nudged his arm. Len just chuckled and looked ahead of him, wondering how well Rin had done so far.
"The designer should have added princess cuts," the girl continued her critics. "So that her body shape will be well-defined."
"Is that all?" Len muttered absent-mindedly as his attention still focused on the scene on stage.
"Yes, I guess."
"Thank you for your feedback."
"Thank you?"
Shocked, Len immediately turned to look at her while his mental voice screamed 'oh shit' in alarm over and over again in his head.
Hi everyone, thank you for reading up to Chapter 38. I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 37. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D
Here are the reviewers:
- Lalala
-Guest
-Amazon Huntress
-evartsarielle
-Ji
-Snow Queen Stya
Next, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story.
Preview of the next chapter:
Chapter 39: Going Crazy
'Sorry that I didn't attend your debut. But don't worry. I watched the broadcast version. ;)
-Len Kagamine'
"That liar!" Rin yelled at her innocent handphone. "I knew you came!"
Suddenly, another incoming text message appeared on the screen.
'Just kidding. Hahahaha!
P.S. It's strange. Why do I have this feeling that you're yelling at your handphone?
-Len Kagamine'
Rin gasped as she immediately slammed her handphone down against her lap and her cheeks became beet red. It was strange for her as well. Why did she have a feeling that Len was grinning evilly at his messages sent to her?
"I have always been watching you..."
Author's random notes:
1) For the next few months, I may update a week later than usual (this is a monthly update, by the way). Maybe. I have finally started my internship as a local teacher since two weeks ago and all my hobbies have been put to a stop, same goes for my story writing. Working life is so tiring, I admit. I can finally emphatise with those people who study and work at the same time. Every time I came home from work, I would turn on my computer and began typing out my school assignments despite how heavy my eyelids were. There were times when I had to go back to school for tutorials or assignment consultations, forgoing my precious nights which I wanted to reserve for my assignments. All I can say (speaking from the viewpoint of a student-teacher), treasure and enjoy your days as a student! Once working life starts, things will get so stressful and free time will be so 'sacred'.
2) I think I did not make myself clear previously. Part Two of this story will end at Chapter 50. Like the last time in 2014, I will have a few months break to properly write out Part Three which will continue from Chapter 51 to 75. This is the longest story I have ever written so far ever since I joined Fanfiction . net, but I can assure my readers that I am working very hard not to disappoint all of you with the drama and romance.
As most of you should have known by now (as of this chapter), the romance in this story is so slow but is definitely progressing as each character develops. I am not a fan of fast romances and 'love-at-first-sight' theory. Maybe the 'love-at-first-sight' theory does exist, but that's crush or infatuation, not love, in my opinion. Therefore, I am sorry if some of you are looking forward to have Len and Rin getting together very soon or in the previous chapters. They will get together... only after they have come to accept each other's flaws, understand each other's past and survived all the dramas together. Hahaha ^ ^
Till then, we shall anticipate. :)