Carrying the tray as if it were the most valuable of treasures, Sebastian set the possession in front of the girls with all the skills of a butler trained since birth. The three LoveMe employees peered down hard at the various makeshift envelopes, eyes narrowed in suspicion. They all grasped at their hot pink overalls, bunching the material in their clenched fists. Each was afraid to make the first move. Being called into the President's office never boded well, especially when Takarada smiled so widely.
On a golden platter lay three perfectly folded, crisp new pieces of rice paper. Delicately written on each were four words, a beautiful example of old-fashioned calligraphy. The last word on each were emphasized in a different, beautiful way. The black ink shimmered as if the ink was still wet.
Mission Full Of Love
Mission Full Of Beauty
Mission Full Of Passion
"No need to be shy mademoiselles!" The president clapped his glee then motioned his gloved hand across the small table. He smiled like the king over his reluctant noble subjects. His velvet red robes, lined with royal purple, crowned staff and high heeled boots were as garish as his usual ensembles. What really threw them off today was his full mane of curly, black, French king hair. "I promise you all of them are as equally important, as equally good for your careers, and best of all they're for a good cause!"
Amamiya Chiori and Mogami Kyoko stared at the currently bravest LoveMe girl, Kotonami Kanae. The tall beauty reached her hand out to the table, but hesitated while the three others stared hard, watching her selection. Her delicate fingers shook, as it brushed against the envelope entitled "Mission Full Of Love."
"Oooh…." Lory said captivated, leaning in closer to watch her arm, beaming at her potential selection. "Remember that you cannot trade, or even let your friends know what your mission is."
"…Ah Mo! Forget it!" Kanae shouted. In her haste, she scooped up the "Mission Full Of Beauty" envelope into a closed fist, and ran to the corner of the room to unfold the paper in haste. She had learned pulling off a bandage was better if done quickly; it was the same with Lory's mandatory LoveMe tasks.
The seconds hung in the air like the haze of a late summer's heat.
Her disparaging wail struck deep into bones, as Kanae fell to her knees, reading the parchment three, ten, thirty times with her speed reading abilities. Of course she was the actress who could memorize an entire TV episode script in a few seconds, but humans always tend to reread the things they didn't want to believe.
Kanae turned to the president, who was smiling widely, as if the actress had ran to him and hugged him in glee, rather than screamed out in frustration and terror.
"You want me to let them do WHAT to me? This can't be legal! I won't let them touch me!" Kanae cried out, ripping the paper into a million petal pieces. "Never never never never NEVER!" The floating kindle lit under her fury.
"What?" "Touch you?" The other two girls cried out in disbelief.
"Ah ah ah Kotonami-san…" President Lory tsk'ed at her, clicking his tongue. "You mustn't it give away or I'll have to assign you more."
In dread, the shorter girls both turned to the golden platter. The two differentiating words flashed before their eyes. Although they were two different people, the same thought ran through both of their minds.
Love vs. Passion. Love? Passion? If simply beauty involved touching, who knew what the president's definition of passion would be? And worse of all, the president's idea of love could be anything. An over-the-top anything. Love would be more than touching, it would be more than just a few pink hearts trumpets and red rose petals, it would be passion, beauty, love and…
Both girls dived towards the Passion envelope, immediately knowing the lesser of two evils. Chiori was able to grab it first, for the simple fact that she was sitting closer to the mission statement. She pulled the mission out from underneath Kyoko's frozen marble hand.
"I'm sorry Kyoko…" Chiori murmured, embarrassed at leaving her friend and co-worker to her fate. She turned away from the statue girl, stiff over the table as if chiseled that way. The newest LoveMe girl exited the room at a drag, walking like a wounded soldier leaving the dead behind.
Sadly, in (Lory's Majestic) Entertainment, it was every man for themselves; especially in terms of saving their pride.
"Don't worry Mogami-san!" Lory chuckled, as the red-head actress started dissolving into dust. "You will love your role. I promise! After all, it's LOVE!"
"And that's why I'm here, Yashiro-san." Kyoko finished miserably, holding the cool green tea can her senpai's manager had offered.
"Can't you tell me the mission, Kyoko-chan?" Yashiro asked lightly, as the apple of Ren's eye let out a deep sigh. She sat with her head between her legs in the mostly empty hall, on same the bench where she had found Yashiro and Director Ogata speaking almost a year ago. Yashiro tried to pat her on the back, but it was as hard as stone. "Maybe I can help? Or Ren? He's with the President right now as well."
"I can't tell anyone." Kyoko murmured dejectedly, more to herself than to her audience. "The only thing I can do is tell you is that I'm going to be a princess tonight…and I hope for rain." She dragged herself to her feet, and shuffled away like a sleep deprived zombie.
"Huh?" Yashiro tilted his head, as she made her mysterious departure.
As soon as the enigmatic girl turned the corner, stepping past the glass doors and out of sight, Yashiro's charge arrived. Instead of the usual look of annoyance or dejection however, Ren's face was the picture perfect model for the word confusion. It didn't bode well for Yashiro, who was already bewildered as it was.
"What is it Ren? Did Takarada-san tell you why he had me clear your schedule today?"
In Ren's hand was a folded piece of parchment paper. Yashiro realized immediately that it matched the type of print Kyoko had been holding just moments ago. Gears in the manager's mind went from confusion, to a mild suspicion. Lory had had Yashiro report to him on Ren's love life after the Katsuki audition's success, and had smiled when Yashiro mentioned his suspicions on Ren's emotions for his kohai.
Seeing his attention on the paper, Ren handed the sheet to Yashiro. "It's directions to meet Jerry Woods tonight in Fussa."
"In Fussa? That's not too far from downtown." Yashiro asked in surprise, taking the sheet. "But there's a festival tonight. It'll be swamped. Surely he doesn't want you there today. It'd be a mess!"
"The president simply handed me this, and told me to act my heart out for charity." The handsome actor shrugged. "It just tells me where to meet her, when, and to act like a person named Hikoboshi, but without words." Ren stated simply, reiterating in words what his manager read over. "Only, I don't think I've worked with a Hikoboshi before. Who is Hikoboshi?"
Trying not to break out in an incriminating smile, Yashiro pulled the paper up to his face in order to not give anything away. If Ren saw his "fangirl" smile, the whole situation would be washed away and this chance of a lifetime would be blown. Yashiro took deep breaths to steady himself, and to mentally praise his president. After all that hard work, he would be Ren and Kyoko's bridge of magpies.
"It'd be better if you went undercover, and we head to the festival now. It's only a few hours until sunset, and I think it would be easier to explain it to you if you could see everything. I'll explain the story along the way."
I've been sitting on this story for a while; in fact having a good bit written out. However I wanted to flesh out part two, but I've been procrastinating. I thought putting part one up would force me to do part two. This is a summer story, although a short one, so I want it all up before September. Thank Runadaemon, she convinced me to post this.