I liked my life as it was so far. I liked my home, I liked my friends, I liked my roommate, I liked our dream, I liked working, I liked learning new words, I liked this city, and I liked that I had never grown to truly hate anyone. Gakupo told me that life was soaring by for me and I needed a bigger aspiration than buying a flat. He often suggested finding a man, but he was the only man I knew who respected me. I never resented the wealthy just because they were luckier than me, and I did not resent my circumstances as I saw many others in my position do. My field of perception only stretched as far as four months and fourteen days. Beyond that was emptiness.
That night waiting in front of the gate of the garden was exciting and terrifying, emotions I did not often experience to an extreme degree. The last time I felt like this was the night my parents died, so weariness overtook me quickly. Gakupo sat on the other side of the gate, back against the bars, and kept me company while I waited for Rin Kagamine's servant to arrive.
"Do you have a sack?" he asked.
"Why would I need a sack?" I replied, allowing myself the bemusement.
"To shovel in as much food as possible, girl! You don't get to hog the bountiful feast to yourself."
"How do you know there will even be food? It'll probably just be alcohol."
"Get that too, then. You're to young for it anyway."
"Excuse me!" I objected. "When you live on the streets, any age is the proper age to drink."
"That's the most feisty thing I've ever heard you say! This party is already doing you some good."
"Sh, sh! I think they're coming."
In the ailing light, a woman in a lady's maid outfit walked briskly down the sidewalk. Her hot pink hair was pulled in curly pigtails, and her small stature suited her cute face well. When she passed the gate she stopped, double-checked the addresses of the buildings adjacent, then finally spotted the sign that said "Property of the Snake and thee Rabbit."
Her eyes wandered hesitantly to my squatting, hooded form and whispered, "Are you Mayu?"
Pushing myself to my feet, the best greeting I could come up with was a little bow and a stuttering "yes."
"My Lady is waiting for you at the House," she said. "We do not have ample time to get you ready, and we're obviously going to need every second. Come, now."
Without another word, she grabbed my hand and pulled me along. It usually took me fifteen minutes at a fast pace to reach the center of the city where the Kagamine House stood. On more than one occasion I stopped the maid and explained short cuts that would take us there quicker. She did not seem happy receiving advice from the likes of me but followed along anyway.
The Kagamine House was more of a castle than a house. It stood like a watchtower, shadowing the whole city. The maid, constantly looking over her shoulder in the sea of pedestrians, took me to the back of the building to the servant's entrance. So far, this was nothing I was not used to.
You could not see the orange sky in the servants' hall since not one window provided light for the room. I got a glimpse of the kitchen and a peek at the bedrooms, but this woman was highly adamant on making sure I was not seen. When a footman turned into the hallway, she hid me in a closet until he passed. I felt no shame because even servants did not wish to be seen with me, only determination to work harder and gain their respect. Not tonight, though. Tonight was a night to enjoy myself.
After three sets of stairs, I realized how out of shape I was. Why did I tell Gakupo I did not need my ration that morning? The maid halted her fast pace and waited for me to catch my breath but not for long. She reminded me to keep my hood drawn, and we climbed the final staircase.
The grandiose hallway before me was wider than my whole home and taller than the sky. I could feel the coolness of the marble below my feet through the worn soles of my shoes, and paintings of many successful and important dead people peered down at me with their little oil frowns of disapproval. The maid gave me little time to gawk and pushed me forward to a room at the end of the hall.
Rin's bedroom was other-worldly. A king-sized bed with posts and curtains, love chairs with rose patterns, a silver vanity with a glistening mirror. I shivered when I looked at my full appearance; it had been so long. Rin sat poised on a tete-a-tete in the corner, already fully dressed in an opulent turquoise gown and jewelry to accent her beauty in all the right places. The maid bowed and I felt inclined to do so as well.
"Mayu, I am glad you came," Rin said. "The party starts in an hour, so we will need to rush. My maid, Teto, will attend to you."
"Oh, thank you. I know you told me yesterday, but I have to ask again. Why are you doing this?" I lifted myself from my bow and turned down my hood.
"I don't know why, but I really like you, Mayu Hidari. I feel like I've met you before somewhere before, and if you must know, I made a bet with my soon-to-be sister-in-law," she replied.
"What sort of bet?" I asked.
"She said she would be able to tell if someone was of lower class just by a single glance, even if they were pampered and trained and unrecognizable. My opinion differed."
"She sounds like a lovely person." The sarcasm was heavy in my tone.
Rin laughed. "Your first rule for tonight: do not speak your mind, ever."
"Got it."
"Okay, Teto. Spruce her up!"
Along the way, Rin asked me many questions. If I knew how to dance, if I had any form of education, if I ever lived in a proper house. No, no, and no. She seemed disappointed but The torture of having the nest that I called my hair being washed and yanked and torn made most things fuzzy. Somewhere in the pampering process, Teto gasped and dropped her comb.
"What? What is it?" Rin asked, getting up from her perch where she watched my pain.
"Look at these ends!" she whispered, pulling at my locks and holding them to the light.
I strained my neck to see what she was looking at and marveled when I saw green, purple, yellow, pink, and blue shining at the tips of my hair like a rainbow. A memory tugged at my sleeve, sometime long ago.
"Why didn't you tell me you had such pretty hair?" Rin demanded, examining it like a jewel at a museum.
"I-I forgot all about it. It's been such a long time..."
The dress they picked for me was blood red with black bows along the puffed skirt that reached the floor. Teto, having loosened up considerably during this hour, covered my eyes in front of a full body mirror and revealed to me a girl I did not recognize.