A/N – Beethoven's Symphony Number 3 – Eroica.
As someone who went straight from reading fanfiction to reading Nodame Cantabile, I can completely relate to Kyouko in this.
Admit it – How many of you read Eroica as Erotica?
Eroica/Erotica
It had been six months since Kyouko graduated the Love Me section and started dating Ren. Finally they were to star as joint leads in a film together: Nodame Cantabile. The parts fit the two actors well and they were looking forward to working together. Kyouko would play Noda Megumi, an eccentric pianist with an abundance of natural talent, and Ren would play Chiaki Shinichi, a pianist prodigy, who arrogantly believed that only perfection is acceptable.
When Yashiro handed them their offered roles with a gleam in his eyes, both Ren and Kyouko were nervous. However, upon seeing the similarities between themselves and the characters, they grinned at each other, not needing to voice the reasons behind their amusement.
"Oh, and Kyouko?" Yashiro inquired. "The president said you would need these if you accept the amendments to that Box R scene." He handed her a portion of the president's erotic manga. Kyouko blushed bright red as she nearly melted with embarrassment.
"I thought the scenes were going to be tactful? That old man can't force you to do any explicit scenes." Ren objected, carefully hiding his fury.
Kyouko sighed. "They are, but the president said that if I did not know what I was supposed to be implying under the sheets, then I would never be able to act it satisfactorily."
Ren sighed too, knowing that he was right. The two of them had not gotten farther than kissing, cuddling and falling asleep lying next to each other. Kyouko was not ready yet, and he was not going to push her. Ever since she had acknowledged her feelings for him, he had felt much more sure of himself. While still strongly physically attracted to her, he now had the confidence to be patient. Besides, Kyouko's innocence was one of her best points, and he was not planning on taking that away from her any time soon.
Ren knew that allowing her to read the mangas would change things between them. She would probably think that he wanted her to do those things with him. That is not to say that he didn't, exactly, but there were so many more important emotions which made that desire null and void.
After several failed attempts at reading the mangas however, an ashamed Kyouko returned the books to Lory explaining her predicament. She, as Kyouko was not comfortable reading the content, and Setsu struggled reading Kanji. Natsu was supposed to know it already and would not be interested.
Although Ren was smugly pleased with the result, Lory was not going to let the issue go. Poor Yashiro had to withstand Ren's glares as he handed Kyouko the English translated erotic mangas. They all had 'Erotica' in large print across them. Even Setsu blushed upon seeing them.
What made it much harder for Kyouko, was that Setsu pictured each scene in the manga as if the characters were herself and her big brother. Kyouko had to try very hard to separate Setsu's fantasies from her own so that her mind did not render Ren naked every time she saw him.
Thankfully for her, although Setsu had imagined the full manga scenes, she, as Kyouko, still could not imagine much farther than undressing. Although she trusted Ren and did believe that he loved her, she was unable to imagine herself as sexy. Without being able to believe that she was desirable in that way, her fantasies ground to a halt, and she was able to keep her composure.
Noda, however had no such control and drooled every time she saw Chiaki. Luckily, although Kyouko noticed that she was letting some of her own feelings interfere in her acting, the strange behaviour suited the character.
Kyouko however, did not feel fully satisfied with her performance, and felt frustrated that she still was not Ren's equal. Of course Ren was using his own feelings in his acting too, but he was not about to admit that. Noda's character was too similar to Kyouko for him not to fall for her all over through Chiaki.
The director was extremely happy with the progress, even though they were struggling to find times when both Ren and Kyouko were free. The standard of acting was excellent. No-one would be able to tell from watching the film that Ren and Murasame were still silently battling each other for Kyouko's attention. Murasame had reacted to finding out the truth about the Heel siblings by declaring war on Ren's acting. He was determined to prove himself, even if it meant playing Masumi Okuyama, a homosexual and camp percussionist who had a massive crush on Chiaki.
Kyouko finished the manga series and returned the books to Lory. Watching her expressions, he could tell that she understood what was needed of her for the Box R bed scene. He had also been watching her acting change as she progressed through reading the series. She had matured emotionally. Lory grinned to himself. He could just hear the wedding bells ringing and the children playing.
Although she now knew how to act the scene, Kyouko was still extremely nervous: what if no-one believed in her acting? Just because Ren apparently found her attractive did not mean that others would, and she was concerned that even Natsu did not have enough sex appeal needed for the story to make sense. She obsessed over it, and broke one of the first rules that Ren had taught her about acting: do not let what happens in one job affect another.
Kyouko had her Box R shoot in the afternoon, but was spending the morning on the Nodame Cantabile set.
Chiaki passed out the music to the orchestra: Beethoven's symphony no.3 'Eroica'. Noda was supposed to sound out the French title of the piece, which was a cue for Chiaki to explain the meaning of the piece. Kyouko, worrying about how she would do that afternoon, had inappropriate mangas on her mind.
"Be-eth-ob-en-su si-mu-fo-ni no thu-ree, 'Erotica'" She looked up at Chiaki curiously when he snorted. Ren was trying very hard not to laugh, but the director did not call 'cut', so he responded as Chiaki would.
"No, Nodame, not Erotica, but Erioca. It is french for 'Heroic'. It was originally written for Nelson, but Beethoven changed the title when he heard news that Nelson was not the hero he had once thought."
Ren could not help a blush forming on his cheeks as he mumbled under his breath about how he should not be surprised that a pervert would know that English word, but not others.
Kyouko wanted to die from embarrassment, but she would not let herself break character: after all, Ren did not, and she would not lose to his acting again.
Murasame was also determined to keep in character.
"Ah, but sex can be heroic too! Heroic sex is when two muscular heroes have sex." He nodded in agreement with himself, then launched himself at Ren "Just like you and me!"
Ren was so focused on Kyouko, that he was not prepared to be jumped on, and responded with true surprise, falling backwards off the conductors platform and yelling incoherent oaths at Murasame.
"Cut!"
Kyouko flinched and ran over to Ren in horror, apologising the whole time she inspected him for injuries. Murasame jumped off Ren in mild shock at the suggestive position they had ended up in. The three of them walked over to the director and bowed. Ren quickly placed his hand over Kyouko's mouth, knowing that she would over do the apology.
"Sorry for not following the script, director." Murasame chipped in, while Kyouko and Ren had a silent argument.
"We are sorry, too director." Ren added.
"Hmm, I did not expect you to know such a word, Kyouko-chan. You always seemed innocent to me." The director was more amused rather than angry. They were, after all, ahead of schedule due to the superb standard of these three's work. Besides, he was pretty sure he could use the footage for behind the scenes fan service clips, if not for the actual drama.
Kyouko blushed bright red, but could not respond because Ren still had her mouth covered.
"Ah, please forgive her director. The president has been making her read Erotic manga as research for Box Aooww! You bit me!" he exclaimed in shock.
Kyouko was beet red, and shaking with embarrassment. She bowed low to the director, knowing Ren was still within reach to stop her performing a dogenza or seppuku, which was what she felt she deserved. "I am sorry for my unprofessionalism of letting another job's research affect my work here."
By this point, most of the cast had found out what 'Erotica' meant and were giggling and snickering amongst themselves.
Knowing that he would not get anything done until they calmed down, the director let them go home early. Ren insisted upon taking Kyouko to the Box R set. He could see how ashamed she was, and he knew that she would need cheering up before she could act out the scene which was the cause of the issues in the first place. Of course he also wanted to make sure the male actor she was working with knew that Kyouko was off limits.
Although Kyouko arrived early, they started filming almost straight away. One of the other actresses was unwell, so the schedule had been rearranged since this scene only needed the two actors. Just before Kyouko stepped onto the set, Ren had a sudden epiphany.
"Kyouko," he murmured, gently holding her chin. "You are beautiful." He brushed his lips against hers, not breaking eye contact. He watched in satisfaction as her pupils dilated. She smiled softly back at him, more confident in the upcoming scene than she ever thought was possible. Ren found her attractive, and she found him attractive. If she imagined her co-star was Ren, she knew everything would work out.
Ren smirked at her co-star over her shoulder, before adding "I will pick you up at 5, then." He did not expect an answer: she was already in character.
Of course the Box R shoot went well, and caused quite a stir. The scene was tasteful, and even critics could not argue it was inappropriate. Sex scenes were becoming more acceptable on TV, but there was a raw passion between the characters which put hard core traditionalists on edge. Kyouko got several offers for more mature work, which she turned down with the president's blessing (and Ren's relief). She did not want to have to act out those sort of scenes in such detail before she had experienced them herself, but she was not yet ready for that sort of relationship with Ren.
Everyone was talking about Ren and Kyouko and speculating. No-one who had met Kyouko could think of her as anything but proper and completely innocent, although occasionally scary when she channelled Mio. Ren was the perfect gentleman and always had been, leading many to realise that his behaviour was almost certainly an act.
Although the two stars had never denied that they were dating, they had never been seen out together, and the first time they had openly displayed affection in public was the kiss on the box R set. Of course when questioned, Ren just smiled genially and gave non-committal answers, and Kyouko blushed sweetly and changed the topic. It was only when they were interviewed together for Nodame Cantabile that the dynamic between the couple was apparent.