Premiere
"Can I please have your autograph?"
Momoka Kibitsu could not count the number of times that she had heard these words. Over the past twenty years, her fame in the entertainment industry escalated higher than she could have ever dreamed. There was probably no one in Japan who hadn't heard of her. Even whilst she was nearing her forties, she was still regarded as, and she would quote, one of the most 'beautiful and talented' women in her field.
No matter how renowned she had become, though, she always made time to interact with her fans. The one who had asked her for an autograph this time was a young girl.
"Of course you can," said Momoka with a smile.
The girl looked young, and Momoka recognised that she was wearing a limited edition headband that Momoka's company had given out as a prize. In those kind of contests, fans usually sent multiple entries in order to increase their chances of getting the prize, and Momo could tell that this fan in particular was one of her more dedicated ones. She took note of the fans' face as she signed the top of her headband – there was nothing like the jump that her heart made when she spotted returning fans at another one of her events.
"T-thank you!" gushed the girl. She looked like she had everything in the world right now. She fit perfectly in the backdrop of the cherry blossoms trees in the backdrop, her blossoming youth radiating so wonderfully. Momoka used to be like that, a long time ago.
That was the last thing Momoka had time to sign this time around, however. Her manager urged her into the building and the security guards barred the way inside from the fans that had managed to locate the back entrance to the building. She recalled a similar situation like this where a fan did manage to get in from the back, though she would hope that this wouldn't be a repeat event this time.
Entering the dressing room, she was immediately greeted by the yell of her make-up artist, reprimanding her for being late once again. Most people would never even raise their voice at Momoka, but that excluded her make-up artist. They had worked together for as long as her career had been.
"Now Momo-chan," he started, "Unlike me, you never look like you age." He grumbled slightly here, "but because of your role I'm going to give you a more mature look. The prep time will take a little longer than usual, so bear with me."
It took her an hour to get her make-up down and put on her costume for the show. Her stylist nodded approvingly as she stepped out of the changing cubicle. "Perfect."
She looked down at her clothes. A blue pencil skirt and a blazer of the shame shade over a white a blouse. The finishing touch was the red scarf around her neck. It wasn't something she had worn in role before but it made her feel nostalgic all the same.
It seemed to have gotten to her make-up artist too because he dropped his strict demeanour and hugged her, wailing. "I can't believe it's been twenty years!"
"I know," she said, rubbing his back soothingly. "I can't believe it either."
xxxxx
"What should I do?" The spotlight was on a girl, with long blond hair, wearing a blue high school uniform. "I've run out of leads…"
The audience could not see Momoka at this point. She was standing just off stage now, and was waiting for her cue to enter the scene. It had been a long time since she got sweaty palms before a performance and she tried to calm her breathing.
The girl paced the stage, a pensive look on her face and her arms crossed. "Don't tell me…I've gotta give up."
Show time.
"Give up? That's crap! Are those the words I'm hearing from my student?"
Momoka – no – the original Yankee Detective strode onstage to the wild cheers of the crowd.
The new Yankee Detective gasped. "Master!"
Before getting onstage, Momoka could not pretend that she hadn't been anxious. She confided in her husband about her nervousness. While Switch had tried to reassure her that she would be fine, she could not help but worry that she would not be able to get back into the role. After all, even though she had started the Yankee Detective franchise off twenty years ago, she had retired from being the detective five years after. The one she was acting with was the newest face of the Yankee Detective – the fifth in the series. The franchise's popularity was at its highest, with the premiere for the twentieth anniversary stage show special sold out within an hour. What if she couldn't live up to the expectations of the new fans? She certainly didn't want to be cast off as an actress cast back just for her name or an oldie only good in the spring of her youth.
All thoughts of that vanished once she had got into her role. It was as if she had never stopped acting as the Yankee Detective. It helped that her character had aged too and was now a veteran guiding the younger generation. Perhaps Momoka could be so bold to say that she was doing the same.
The audience certainly thought so; at the end of the show, they gave both leads a standing ovation, chanting both of their names until they couldn't shout anymore.
As an actress, Momoka bowed and thanked them, but once she was backstage, she couldn't help the tears from falling as her manager and make-up artist congratulated her for her performance.
xxxxx
"Aunt Hana! There she is! She signed my headband just now!"
Leaving the building, she was welcomed by more of her own fans and those of the franchise. Somehow able to hear that over the other clamouring fans, she tried to search for the speaker. She was met with not just one, but two familiar faces.
She did not want to start crying again, especially in front of her fans, so she rushed to the car quickly.
"What's wrong, dear?" Her husband noticed her demeanour immediately after she had sat down.
"Oh, nothing's wrong," she told him. "These are happy tears, you know?" She looked out the window and caught one last glimpse of the two faces before the car left. "I recognised one of my new fans' relatives – she was there at the special first screening of the original first episode of Yankee Detective."
It warmed her heart to know that even after all these years, she had fans that were still around. Fans that may stick around for the rest of her career.
"Is that meant to be special?" Switch said. "I'll remind you that I was there at that premiere too. In fact, I was also there at there at the second and third special screenings. Additionally, I have collected all of the possible Yankee Detective merchandise. Special mentions go to the limited addition badge that she had swiped from episode twenty one, as well as – "
"Haha, okay, I get it, Switch." Her husband sure did hate to lose, especially when it came to being an otaku and her fan. She searched for Switch's hand with her own and squeezed it.
With her number one fan by her side, and with the many other dedicated ones out there, her heart could rest easy, knowing that she could continue a successful career for many springs to come.
A/N: Tadaa! After failing to finish last year's Twelve Shots of Summer challenge, I'm here to try and conquer it this time in the Second Raid. The prompt for this week was 'Reunion'. Actually, like last year I wanted to have my titles relate to the numbers 1-12, so I came up with the title 'Premiere' first and then decided what I wanted to write. Momoka getting reunited with her former role is another kind of 'reunion' so I'll assume I managed to fit the prompt –shot-. Thanks for reading~
- Dina
(8/7/2015)