The Perfect Duet

Chapter 2
Through the Mirror

It had taken three people to put Rin's first costume on for the rehearsal. She must have stood for at least an hour as layers of skirts were placed around her waist and bows attached to her and glimmering jewels placed in her hair. She glanced over to the mirror and could hardly recognize herself. She wore a deep scarlet and black dress lined with gold at the hem of the skirt and at the bust. Her hair was knotted into an elaborate hair ornament that she never would have imagined to wear in her entire life. She was to play the wife of a noble in this opera—well, she surely looked the part.

When Rin's three attendants were finished dressing her in her costume, she left her quarters and descended the stairs until she had reached the backstage where the bustling crowd of chorus members and dancers mingled with each other. She thought she was not making herself noticed, but was quickly proven wrong when all eyes turned toward her after she had stepped off the stairs. The loud voices turned to murmurs and whispers and all eyes were on her. Rin pretended not to notice and looked down at her dress and pretended to fix something.

"Rin? Is that you?"

It was such a familiar voice that called her. Rin looked up immediately toward the crowd and saw a girl with long , impeccably straight turquoise hair pushing her way through. There was a broad smile on her face and when she met Rin's eyes, memories suddenly rushed into her mind. Rin smiled and walked toward her.

"Miku!"

Miku Hatsune fell into Rin's arms after pushing her way through the last few people at the front of the crowd, who had begun to go about their own ways again. She parted from Rin and smiled brightly once again, bouncing up and down on her feet with excitement.

"It has been so long since I've seen you!"

"I did not know you were singing in the opera house!" Rin's smile was just as bright, "But I suppose I'm not surprised—you were talented even back then."

When Rin looked upon Miku's bright smile, all at once she reminisced of their childhood. Before Rin's father died, the two played together often and attended the same school. They played together often and, for a time, had the same tutor for singing. Frequently, usually on warm mornings, they would lay in the grass together under a large maple tree and dream of many things—the future, love, but mostly they dreamed together of singing at the Vocaloid Opera House. They would dream of how they would sing together on the beautiful and elaborate stage with thousands of faces looking at them in awe of their voices ringing throughout the hall. And now as Rin and Miku faced each other, their dreams had become more than just childish rambling.

"So what part are you singing? It must be a major roll with that elaborate costume of yours." Miku eyed Rin's costume with wide eyes.

"I'm singing the lead soprano part—the diva."

Miku suddenly stopped and stared into Rin's eyes with a drastic change in expression. At first Rin thought it was jealousy, but she quickly disregarded that thought—Miku was like a sister to her, she'd be nothing but proud of her. Her eyes were saying something else. Was it concern? Worry? Fear?

"What's wrong, Miku?"

Miku quickly gained her composure and shook her head, "Nothing—if it's you singing the part of the diva, I'm sure it will be the best this opera house has seen." Her smile was bright once more.

Rin flushed, "Thank you!"

"Rin! There you are!"

Rin turned to find the opera house managers approaching her, but this time with a third person. He was a tall man, with eyes as blue as the sea before a storm and hair rivaling it with a similar shade. He had a handsome face, and Rin noticed that when he approached, Miku seemed to flush and she looked off somewhere in the distance away from the three men that walked toward them.

"I'd like to introduce you to our leading tenor, Kaito."

"Pleased to meet you," Rin curtsied as he approached.

"The pleasure is mine." He took her hand in his and kissed it.

"You two will be working together quite often as the lead rolls in all of our plays, so I hope you two will get along well. Now if you please, rehearsal is going to start any moment now."

"Right away," Kaito replied in a smooth voice. However, before he walked from them, he turned and held his hand toward Miku, who seemed to be staring at something intensely interesting on the ground, "And good day to you, Miku."

Bright and red, Miku quickly shot her head upward and stared into Kaito's eyes before gently lifting a shaking hand into his palm. His lips touched her pale knuckles and grew even brighter. Rin didn't think she was capable of turning more red. Looking at both of them with piercing eyes, Kaito turned and walked toward the stage. Once he was out of sight, Rin turned toward Miku and sneered.

"Do you know him?" She chuckled?

"It's n-nothing... it's time to start rehearsal now!" Miku giggled and quickly trotted away.

Rin had never been more nervous in a rehearsal in her entire life. Usually when she performed in front of her tutor, she sung with confidence, but here she dreaded making even the slightest mistake. Fortunately for her, she had kept her composure and had made only the tiniest mistakes. But what she was truly nervous about was the aria in the third act. After going through the first two acts and making several costume changes, Rin now found herself in a dress as white as the morning light touching the snow. Beautiful jewels adorned her hair and a pair of wings was the final touch to have her appear more angelic.

She stepped forward to the front of the stage as the backstage workers moved the props around, creating a suitable set. Clutching the score, Rin eyed the maestro who seemed to be glancing at the workers, waiting for them to finish. Once he was satisfied, he nodded toward Rin and raised his baton.

"From the beginning of the aria, then."

All eyes from off-stage were on her—for this was the first time they would hear their diva singing a solo of her own. They watched with great anticipation and with a bit of uneasiness. The maestro brought his baton and left hand up, preparing the silence before the music, then gracefully lifted it up. The moment the tip of the baton tapped an imaginary point, beautiful colors of sound rose into the air and Rin lifted her eyes upward. Now it was her place to enter...

Once again Rin's voice rang through the hall as if the tone of angels had descended from Heaven. Those were weren't paying much attention now were completely engaged and those who were eagerly waiting for her to sing drew in even closer. And from the corner just beyond off-stage, Kaito, who had thought that Rin was just as the other divas before, quickly turned to face her. There was something in her voice that caught him—that ensnared him to his soul. He slowly walked toward her, gently pushing his way through the crowd until he made his way to the front. Kaito stared at her, now completely enchanted by her. Everything in his entire being began to desire her and yearn for her as his heart flew in his chest. Rin was most definitely not like the divas from before—this diva he had fallen in love with.

At the night of the performance, the crowd that filled the house was just as mesmerized as the cast members, who were once again listening from off stage. And as Rin sang, she could hardly hold back the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. At last she was here, at last her fantasy had unfolded and she wondered if she was making her father proud in Heaven.

And a gaze from above was indeed looking down on her. He was concealed as the shadows one would merely pass by without notice and he was as silent as the light of a new moon. However his heart and soul rang out as brilliantly as the tone of Rin's voice. Up above in the catwalk, the boy stared down at the angel he was entranced with. Now that he could hear her voice clearly, his heart beat at the sound of her voice even more. In his head, melodies and songs swirled all around and drifted together. She was so close to him now... and how he longed to speak with her—to sing with her. Perhaps she was the one... And gently he reached out toward her, imagining that he was stroking her beautiful golden hair.

When Rin reached the last phrase and finished singing the final note, the entire house erupted in an applause and immediately stood on their feet. A smile spread across Rin's face when she heard the clapping and cheering and bowed her head deeply as she curtsied. Glancing off stage, Rin could see Miku hopping up and down in excitement, quickly rapping her hands together. Turning toward the audience once more, Rin bowed one last time as the scarlet curtains closed on her.

"Bravo..." The boy had whispered from above.

The next thing Rin knew, she had heard the sudden sound of glasses clashing together. The performance had finished with great success and all the cast had gathered backstage to celebrate. A loud "hurrah" sounded in the air as one of the cast members stood up on an empty crate and boisterously cried,

"To our new diva, Rin Kagamine!"

Another cheer rang through the air and the crowd now bustled in loud murmurs of conversation. Rin could not find a moment of silence as all those who passed her congratulated her on receiving the part and for executing such a wonderful performance. However when a warm embrace took hold of her, she immediately recognized it.

"Miku!" She turned around to find the smile of the glistening turquoise two-tail.

"Rin, that was beautiful! I can understand why you were the one to be selected to be the diva!" There was a slight hint of relief in her eyes.

Rin wanted to ask her what was wrong at first, but the atmosphere around her made the impression on her that there was nothing wrong and she merely replied with a smile. Suddenly she sensed a second presence looming over her and suddenly Miku grew stiff. Looking behind her, Rin found Kaito staring down at her with an odd gaze which had slowly progressed to this appearance throughout the week.

"You sung so well." He said rather calmly, "It was such a pleasure performing with you."

"No, the pleasure is mine." Rin flushed—all these compliments were getting to her head.

The next remark she did not expect.

"Would you mind dining with me tonight?" He said with now a slightly crooked smile on his face.

Rin immediately looked back at Miku, who was standing behind her rather shocked as well. Turning toward Kaito, to Miku, and then back at Kaito again, Rin smiled.

"Would you mind if Miku came as well? She is my childhood friend after all—I would be very happy if she was to accompany us."

For a very brief moment, Kaito frowned, but it was so quick, neither Rin nor Miku could register it. He softly put a smile across his face once again, "I do not mind at all." He stepped back, beginning to turn away as he said, "Then I shall allow you two to change your attire. I will meet you at the front of the opera house with my carriage waiting."

Rin nodded and when Kaito had gone out of their sight, she turned toward Miku and smiled broadly. She narrowed her eyes, turning that smile into a sneer, watching Miku blush, "You had better thank me later."

To that, Miku shoved Rin.

When Rin had entered her room, she found that her room was filled with far more flowers than she recalled. Every flat surface was topped with flowers of all different kinds—roses, both white and red, and forget me nots. Did the cast members put all these here? It was awfully quick considering that they were still below celebrating... She traced her fingers over one of the pedals of the roses and was amazed with how soft it was—it almost seemed each of the flowers all around in her room had hidden feelings of some sort.

Then quickly recalling the time, Rin rushed over to her wardrobe to change into an evening dress that was easier to move around in. Since she had came to live here, she had been given many dresses by some of the other tailoresses who had worked here, who had described her wardrobe as "pitiful for a diva." She decided that for tonight she would wear a white, layered (though not as many layers as her first costume) dress. After dressing and looking at herself in the mirror, she decided something was missing. After thinking for a moment, it dawned on her what it was. Taking a white ribbon, she wrapped it around her hair and tied a bow at the top of her hair. Smiling in satisfaction, she went to look for the perfect shoes...

But something had taken her by surprise.

The light that had illuminated her room suddenly disappeared when the candles surrounding her hushed. Rin looked back and saw the now cold candles with only a thin trail of smoke rising from them. All at once, a twinge of fear tugged at her heart and she turned immediately toward the door. Clutching the doorknob, she attempted to turn it, but it had refused to twist. Observing the doorknob a little closer, she saw that there was no lock on the inside to free herself. What truly frightened her was a strange sense of foreboding—as if someone was watching her from the shadows. She truly froze when a boy's voice carried through the air as a wolf's howl in the night.

"Bravo, bravo, beautiful angel..."

Rin began to tremble and shake, her breaths uneven and shallow. Her heart pounded beneath her chest as chills rushed down her spine. What surprised her the most was that the shaking that plagued her body was that of awe and admiration. There was something in this voice that struck the deepest parts of her soul and strummed the most delicate chords of her heart. Turning and gazing around the room, she replied,

"Who is this that calls me with a voice so admirable?"

"I am the one to complete your soul, and you are the other half to my whole—I am your reflection, and you are my own."

"Rin?" Miku's voice echoed from beyond the door, "Why is the door locked? Is there someone in there with you?"

Rin didn't respond. Something about this boy's words ensnared her entire being and brought her to a completely different reality. When she did not call back to Miku, the knocking on her door became louder and more frantic. But as she listened more and more to the boy's voice, the quieter the frantic calls and the pounding became.

"Where are you?"

"Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside."

Rin turned her body away from the door and slowly turned her head towards the mirror. As she did, beyond her reflection, came another figure. It was a boy that looked about her age, clothed in a black cloak lined with golden lining and embroidered with introcate details. His hair was a golden blonde similar to hers and his eyes were blue like the swirling twilight just after a sunset. His face was hard and handsome, seemingly delicately carved by angels. At the sight of him, Rin's heart fluttered and she slowly walked toward the mirror where he remained. As she approached, he held out his hand.

"Come and join me in the shadows..."

Rin was before him now, staring at his outstretched, gloved hand. There was a part of her that had told her to turn back and call back to Miku's voice, which was now completely silent to her, but nearly every part of her being screamed at her to accept his hand. Almost unconsciously, Rin reached her delicate fingers and with their tips, touched his palm. And so gently, the boy curled his hand around hers and began to pull her in towards him, and before Rin could realize it, she had entered a world of endless, beautiful night.