The Other Side

The Producer

Office sounds filled the air as Sango Hara strolled passed cubicles, a Styrofoam coffee cup in one hand and a stack of files and papers poised between her hip and elbow. It was a good day, a very good day. Today, she chose the feature families for the network's brand new reality TV show, The Other Side. And the best part was that this was her show, her brainchild. And now it was becoming a major production and the main focus of the network.

"Sango!" a frantic voice called as she passed by a doorway. "Sango!"

Turning, she saw a frazzled woman rushing after her, waving papers in the air. Her brown hair was a mess and flying around in every direction and her eyes were wide and darting all over. Taken aback, Sango stared at her as she approached quickly.

"Sango!" the woman repeated as she finally caught up with the young producer and tried to catch her breath.

"Uh… yes?" Sango asked uneasily.

"I… I've been looking for you everywhere…" the woman gasped, leaning on her knees. "Th-they moved the meeting up to two o' clock…"

"What?" Sango glanced down at the watch on her slim wrist. "But… Holy crap! It's almost three!"

Her coffee and files dropped to the floor as she continued to stare wide-eyed and open-mouthed at her watch. She'd missed the meeting… she'd missed her meeting…

"I'm really sorry. I really did look everywhere for you…" the assistant said meekly, staring down at her hands.

"H-how… did this happen…?" she muttered, slumping against a partition and sliding down to the floor to cradle her head in her hands. "This was the most important meeting of my career… of my life…"

"I'm sorry…"

Just then, her cell phone rang. Sango jumped and frantically transferred her folder to trap it between her side and coffee arm while she fished around in her purse of the small cellular device. After a few agonizing moments, she finally grasped the tiny phone off the bottom of her purse and flipped it open, not even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Yeah, hello?" she muttered into the microphone.

"Ms. Hara," her boss's voice slid smoothly out of the speaker, making her pale audibly.

"Mr. Onigumo! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I just heard about the meeting, I didn't know!"

The bodiless voice just chuckled easily. "Come now, Ms. Hara. I'm not calling about that. We found the perfect couples for your show proposition."

"But-but, sir, I was supposed to-"

"Yes, yes, I know," he cut her off with an aggravated sigh. "But since you weren't at the meeting we went ahead and viewed the possible audition tapes. It was a unanimous decision and we're fairly pleased with our choices."

"Well, alright, sir. I would still like to view the tapes myself and confirm the families' compatibility, though."

"Yes, yes, whatever you'd like. But they're the families for the pilot no matter what. I don't care what it takes; make it work."

"Um… yes, all right sir," she said meekly.

"Good. Now hop to it. We want to begin recording as soon as possible."

And with those parting words, the head of the networking company ended the call. Sango numbly shut her cell phone and walked dazedly into her office. This was going to be a long day…

X

"That's my sister," a teenager's voice came from the screen, which showed a laughing young woman dancing around a kitchen with a pudgy cat held aloft. "She's been taking care of me for a while now, ever since our mom died. She's a great sister and she's awesome at what she does to keep us all sane. She married Akitoki Houjo two years ago," the camera swung to show a lanky man with light brown hair puzzling over bills at the kitchen table, not even glancing up at his wife.

The camera cut to a young boy with a dark crop of black hair an looked pale and sickly with dark rings around his eyes who slightly resembled the young woman with the cat. He was sitting on a bed in front of a wall covered in posters and photo clippings. The boy gave a slight smile and glanced at something out of the camera's range.

"Kagome and Akitoki went out their last year of high school and didn't ever really break up. So after a few years, it just developed into a marriage, especially since Akitoki was so happy and our mom was ecstatic. So Kags married the guy to make everybody happy. But I can tell she isn't. I think she knows it too, but she's just to stubborn to admit that it was never going to work and it still isn't going to work. She's too nice to hurt anybody and she just wants to take care of me. And I know that and I can accept that. She thinks it's her duty and won't listen to a word her 'kid brother' says. I just think she needs a break or something, maybe see what she could have had if things were different… if Mom hadn't died and she felt tied down because I needed a family and a male role model who was successful and… healthy."

The boy's eyes were beginning to cloud with tears and he furiously scrubbed them away. With a sigh, he looked back up at the camera with sincere chocolate brown eyes. Throughout his whole little speech, he'd looked so awed and happy talking about his sister. Now, he looked determined and resolved.

"It's even worse now since we just found out I have the same thing that killed our mom. So on top of the usual things she has to do, like running a household as the only girl, she has to deal with my doctors' appointments and medical bills. I don't mean to be a burden and if I wasn't around, I know she'd be much happier financially, but… she needs me… just as much as I need her…

"I just want Kagome to be happy. I mean, she's my sister, and it's my responsibility to take care of her. She hasn't really smiled like she used to in so long..." he developed a far-off look again, staring at something on the opposite wall that no one else could see on the other side of the screen. "If she could just smile like that again, I'd be truly happy and I wouldn't have any regrets."

The next shot was of Kagome once again while she stood at the stove cooking. There was a slight upturn of her lips, but it didn't reach her eyes. She remained oblivious to the camera trained on her face for a few minutes before she turned her head to look at who was behind the camera. Once she noticed the camera, she just stood there for a moment; her head cocked to the side and a quizzical look in her honey brown eyes. Finally, her smile widened a little and she thumbed her nose softly to point at whoever was offscreen, her expression softening a bit to show the sadness in her eyes and on her face.

"I love you, Souta," she said softly before the tape ended on a picture of her from high school standing between three other girls, beaming at the camera like a hundred watt bulb, her arms slung over the shoulders of the two girls on either side of her.

Sango stared at the black screen for a moment. They were perfect… Absolutely perfect. Sniffling, she took out the tape and replaced it with another one. If the first family was this good, then she couldn't imagine how amazing this family would be.

The first shot was of… Kagome? Sango checked the boxes in confusion. She could've sworn she'd changed the tapes…

"Inuyasha, turn off that camera," a rich female voice said in annoyance.

"Aw, c'mon, Kikyou. Say hi to the camera," a deep male voice said from behind the camera. "I'll get your good side, I promise."

That elicited a smirk from the woman who turned back to the vanity mirror to finish getting ready. She fixed an earring in one ear and bent close to the mirror to check her red lipstick in her reflection. Batting her eyelashes, she nodded in satisfaction before stepping away from the mirror and walking off screen.

The next shot was of the same woman and a man with long silver hair standing in front of a quant townhouse with a red door. They had their arms around each other and were grinning at the camera.

"I'm Inuyasha Taisho," the man said with the same voice as earlier in the tape. "And this is my fiancée, Kikyou," here he smiled fondly down at the top of her head.

"Inu works at a newspaper downtown," Kikyou said demurely, lightly patting his chest. "And I work at a law firm as well."

"We've been together for four years and we're ready to start a family right here, but it just seemed right to try something different that will test our love and respect for each other," Inuyasha said, hugging the woman to him even tighter. Kikyou just rolled her eyes and pushed lightly at his chest.

The next shot was of a little redheaded boy with green eyes laying on the floor and staring up at a TV screen. He was laying on his stomach with his feet kicking in the air and his head propped up on his fists. He was the most adorable little boy on the face of the earth!

"Shippou!" Inuyasha called, zooming in for a close up as the little boy looked up with wide eyes.

"Yeah?"

"What're you doing?"

"There's a Star Trek marathon on the Sci-Fi channel," the redhead explained excitedly. "You wanna watch with me?"

Inuyasha chuckled in the background. "No thanks. Tell me what happens with Spock and Captain Kirk, alright?"

Shippou beamed. "You bet!"

The camera switched to Inuyasha by himself. The sounds of the TV in the background and the Star Trek theme song were evident in the other room. The silver-haired young man smiled softly.

"His mom was my best friend growing up. But she's had a drug problem for years and couldn't take care of him. So, I took him in and have been looking after him for years. Suki disappeared two years ago and we just finished the adoption process last May. Shippou's too young to really remember his mom, but he still wonders about her. He's pretty smart for a six-year-old. Kikyou and I are really proud of him, even if he can get really annoying at times. And even though I complain a lot, I really do care about the little runt. He's like my own kid and I'd take him in no matter what. His mom deserves that much, to know that her son is safe and in good hands."

The tape continued for a few minutes but Sango had heard all she needed. These two families were perfect! Sure, they were a bit small and the two woman bore an uncanny resemblance… but they would make a perfect pilot episode for the series. Sango couldn't wait. It was so great, she felt positively giddy over the whole thing. Now all she needed to do was call up the families and set up a day for interviews, paperwork, and initial filming. This was going to be so awesome for her career!

E

Welcome to The Other Side! This has been sitting on my computer for a few months now and it just seemed to be ready for posting. I've got lots of plans for this little baby, so stay tuned! Updates will be really irregular, though. It's what happens when school starts up again and all your time is spent on homework… I need a life outside of school… It's really sad. The same thing goes for all of my other stories. I'm milking this three-day weekend for all it's worth! Bye-bye! – Hope Swings