Dreams
"Your first debut is finally over! What do you think about your performance earlier?"
Haku smiled at Neru happily and exclaimed, "Great!"
The blonde just laughed. "Though it was a crazy way to make your debut?"
"Yeah. But it was fun."
It had been a year, Dell. My first debut has finally happened. Are you watching me? No, it isn't possible. You're still in France. I miss you...
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" the driver suddenly shouted as he pressed the accelerator and turned his sterling wheel to his right.
Haku and Neru, who were sitting at the back seats, looked ahead of them and were horrified to see a car at the left junction speeding towards their car. It was so fast and Haku knew that no matter how hard her driver might try to avoid it by speeding his car up, that car would still beat them. Haku closed her eyes in fear, hoping that a miracle would happen just like Dell.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself lying on something hard and staring into a dark empty space. Within the dark space, there were voices around her and something she heard made her break into tears.
"I'm sorry, Miss Akita. Miss Yowane has lost her eyesight."
Chapter 44: Abandonment
"Just come in," Haku whispered hoarsely and gestured Neru to enter her apartment. "Rin, I'm home. I've invited Miss Akita over... erm... Rin?"
There was silence. Even Rin's room was left open as if no one was inside.
Neru stepped into her apartment and asked, "She's not in?"
"She didn't tell me that she has gone out," Haku replied irritably. "I will talk to her when she gets home."
"Aww... Give her a break, Mummy Haku!" Neru teased as she poked Haku's arm with a toothy grin.
Haku's mouth twitched and she pincer-gripped Neru's finger which was poking her irritably. "I still haven't killed you for stealing my packed dinner..."
"Ah... How can I forget that you have an amazing power of holding grudges?"
"You remember it now. Good job," Haku remarked sarcastically.
"Thank you." Neru smiled and did a curtsy, which earned her a light punch right on top of her head. "Ouch! It's pain, you know!"
Haku rolled her eyes and walked out of her apartment, ignoring the blonde.
"Hurry up and get out from my house, or else I'll lock you up in there," she said with a straight face, holding up her keys in midair.
Neru clicked her tongue as she dragged her feet out of the apartment. Haku had always been like this, acting so evil and having an incredibly sharp tougue. She wondered how Rin managed to put up with her. That reminded her... Haku was not that evil and sharp-tongued when she was younger. She was more cheerful and innocent before but everything about her had changed drastically right after an accident that took away her eyesight. She became dull and less outspoken than before. If that accident hadn't happened... would she still be the same?
"So, since Rin isn't around, we shall have lunch outside," Haku suggested.
Neru brightened and nodded. "Alright! Let's have some fun at the mean time!"
"Where?"
"Not telling you yet. The two of us will spend girls' time together." Neru wrapped her arms around Haku's left arm and grinned. "My treat."
Haku smirked. "Okay. Your payback for stealing my dinner."
"Geez! You're seriously on that?" Neru relaxed her shoulders and groaned. "Fine then. My payback."
-:-:-:-
"So... why karaoke?" Haku turned to look at Neru with a disinterested look on her face. "I thought we're going somewhere to eat."
"This place has food. Come on, go in," Neru prompted as she pulled Haku into the Karaoke Box.
"But I'm not in the mood..."
Neru immediately cut in, "Girls' time, my friend. Girls' time."
Haku frowned. "But still..."
Ignoring her, Neru placed her hand on the counter with a few money notes underneath her palm and spoke to the counter lady, "I would like to book a room for 3 hours. Please."
"Sure. Hold on a second," the lady answered and ran though the booking list. "Room 16 for you two, yeah?"
"Okay. Thank you, Ma'am." Neru smiled and walked away to look for her room while pulling Haku behind her again.
When they entered the room, Neru finally let go of Haku's hand and slumped against the couch. Haku stared at how Neru enjoying herself on the soft couch as she bounced her legs up and down like a little kid. Furthermore, Neru was wearing a skirt. Haku shook her head with a sigh.
"What are you? A kid? And where's the food?"
"Food! Oh yeah!" Neru threw her limbs up in the air and held them there, stretching her back. "What do you want to eat? I will order for you."
Haku shrugged and said in a low voice, "I don't know what to eat when there's no menu."
"I will be your menu then!" Neru immediately put down their limbs and sat up. "I recommend fish and chips. Nuggets are nice too. Oh, and salmon sushis!"
Haku's eyes lit up and said, "Salmon sushis then."
"You just want to burn a hole in my pocket, right?" Neru grumbled and raised both hands in midair. "Fine, my karma for stealing your dinner."
"If I were your elementary school teacher. I would give you a cookie bonus for remembering that."
"Sometimes, I wonder where you got that mouth from."
"My parents, obviously."
"Yeah, right," Neru blurted and stood up. "Coming back to our lunch topic, do you want any drink?"
"Yes, please. I hope there's coffee... Iced coffee, if there is," Haku answered with a small smile.
"Of course, there is."
"Okay. Get me one."
"Sure, sure. I will order them now. Wait here, alright?"
Neru took out her purse and left the room. Bored, Haku grabbed the remote control and sat on the couch. It had been three years since she had last gone to karaoke. As she browsed through the song list, a feeling of nostalgia came to her. She remembered those days when she and Dell would visit a nearby karaoke centre and sing their hearts out whenever their mentor pissed them off. They would curse through the microphones and in the middle of any mellow song they had selected to suit their angsty mood. Internship programme would never be fun without Dell...
"Rin! Rin! Rin! Rin!"
Rin?
Haku looked towards the door. Did she just hear someone next door shouting Rin's name? She shrugged. She guessed it was those people were probably referring to another person since there was more than one Rin in the world.
"Thanks, guys! I shall sing..."
Haku looked at the door again. That person's voice sounded exactly like Rin's!
"Lalalalala... lalalala..."
Haku smacked her forehead with her palm. This was definitely not Rin. This 'Rin' person could not sing. Why was it every note she sang was out of tune?! She did not think that Rin was a bad singer. Hopefully.
"Let Meiko join in!"
"Yay!"
"No, don't. She's drunk."
Those people next door were definitely noisy. Were the walls even sound-proofed?
"I'm back!" Neru suddenly burst into the room with a tray of food and drinks in her hands.
"You're fast," Haku said and waved the remote control towards her. "I want to sing first before eating."
"Sure, sure."
Neru placed the tray on the table and sat next to Haku. They browsed through the song list and finally settled on a song. It was a lively song for duets and being an enthusiastic person, Neru took off her heels and stood on the couch. She jumped at each beat which caused Haku to bounce on the coach. Finally, the song ended and Neru plopped down and rested on the couch, panting heavily.
"I'm hungry," the blonde mumbled and grabbed a sushi. "Eat, Haku. We're going to sing more songs later."
"Somehow, the bouncing effect made me lose my appetite." Haku took a sip of her iced coffee and rubbed her tummy. "I think I lose some weight too."
Neru snorted. "You should thank me for giving you free weight-loss therapy."
"As if."
Neru gave her a small smile and spoke, "The filming period is coming to an end soon. By then, I will be very busy with Luka's daily schedule."
"So?"
"This might be my last girls' outing with you... until her next movie filming if there is."
"You should be with her even during the filming session."
Neru laughed. "She can manage it herself. And it is not everyday I abandon her."
"Yeah, right."
"Really!" Neru pouted and crossed her arms. "I was your manager before so you should know me well."
"That's why I say 'yeah, right'," Haku stated.
"You sounded unconvinced!"
Haku looked at her with a sad smile and said softly, "Because ALICE Studio... everyone abandoned me."
Neru fell silent as she stared hard at Haku's emotionless eyes. She did not want to abandon her that time. She knew she had not thought of doing so too.
"No matter what, I will never abandon Rin. Even if ALICE Studio abandons her, I won't leave her alone. Even if she cannot live up to our expectations, I will nurture her to the type of model who will be favoured by many people."
"I'm sorry. I'm very sorry for that time," Neru spoke softly and hung her head low. "Your eyes... Nobody had any hope in your recovery. So, we made you quit. If only we were patient..."
"But the scars on my eyes will be a burden for you guys, right? If I were to stay on, I would have to leave someday too. A model has to have flawless skin," Haku interjected with another smile. "In the end, you got a wonderful girl model. Isn't that good?"
Neru continued to look down, saying nothing to rebut her statements. Even though she did not want Haku to leave the modelling career, she was still one of the culprits who signed the paper of dismissal and chose the second best candidate of the audition who was actually Luka Megurine.
Suddenly, they heard the shattering sound of a glass coming from next door, followed by a loud slamming of the door. They heard shoutings and rapid footsteps outside their room.
"Hatsune! Hatsune!"
Haku and Neru stared at each other in shock, wondering what had happened that caused so much noise outside. Both of them stood up and headed towards the door.
"You open," Neru whispered and pointed at the door knob.
Haku shook her head. "No, you open."
"Hurry up and open it!"
"Argh! Fine!"
Haku opened the door slowly and glanced outside. She saw a familiar looking blonde came out of another room which was a few rooms away from her and started chasing a girl with long twintails who was running towards the exit. The blonde ran past Haku in hurry, paying no attention to whoever was looking at her as her sole target was that girl with twintails.
"Rin?" Haku called out.
The blonde immediately slowed down her running and turned to look at her. Her eyes widened at the sight of Haku and she opened her mouth slightly as if trying to say something.
"What are you doing here?" Haku asked her in an angry tone.
"Miss Yowane... I... I..." Rin stammered and looked at her friend who had already ran out of the exit door. "I'm sorry, Miss Yowane!"
Haku knitted her eyebrows together and demanded, "Tell me what's going on here!"
"I was hanging out with my friends here... but now..." Rin pointed at exit in the hope that Haku could understand her. "I will talk to you later, okay?"
Before Haku could say anymore, Rin started chasing her friend Miku again and soon disappeared from her view.
Neru popped her head from behind the door and scanned the corridor. "Was that Rin Kagamine?"
"Yes."
"What's she doing here?"
"I don't know. She was with her friends... and now, she is playing catch. Something bad must have happened." Haku shook her head and sighed heavily. "That stupid girl..."
Hi, everyone! I'm back with another chapter. It was a hectic week, causing me to be sleep-deprived. Yawns~ Projects and assignments are such killers. Zzz...
Anyway, I have been to karaoke once last year and I somewhat enjoyed it. The worse part of the session was that I did not know how to sing most of the songs my friends had selected. Argh... And I sang the classics/oldies solo (because not many of my friends can sing them). It was so awkward. Haha (^_^")
Now, back to the routine...
Special thanks to the reviewers:
- mirrors02
- Kagamine Hana
- TheHerobrine
- SnowQueenStya
- Guest
Next, I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. You have made my day!
Preview of the next chapter:
Chapter 45: Simply
"Oh yes, the director spoke about you during the meeting earlier."
"Really?" Rin did not know what to feel because she hoped that the director would say good things about her performance but at the same time, she knew she would be reprimanded for doing the performance her own way without permission. "What... did he say?"
"He fired you."
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