I don't own Skip Beat! I do own some pocky, though. *crunch*
A note: I use honorifics because I feel that leaving them out takes something away from the story. I hope it doesn't bother anyone too much.
Chapter One - Prelude to a Dream
A young woman walked down the street in a gloom. She dragged her feet on the pavement as a cloud of dark energy swirled around her.
"I can't believe the director scolded me again...it's not my fault Bo has such a bulky costume...it's so hard to move around in when the set gets all cluttered like it was today...how can he blame it on me..."
She mumbled to herself as she walked. Startled onlookers did their best to get out of her way. Though few could see it, dark spirits were gathered around the girl. They were whispering to each other, saying things like "Unreasonable" and "Totally unforgivable!"
Kyoko continued this way until she reached her home. The restaurant was crowded at this time of day. She put on the best face she could manage and walked into the bustling establishment. The kind taisho and okami who owned the restaurant were busy attending to customers when she entered. The okami spotted Kyoko over the crowd and greeted her.
"Kyoko-chan!" the okami called. "How was work today?"
Kyoko greeted the okami as politely as she could manage in the noisy room and told her that work had proceeded smoothly that day. She did not see any reason to bother the okami with her troubles when the restaurant was so full.
Something in her face must have given her away, however. The okami regarded Kyoko with concern.
"Are you tired?" the older lady asked, leaning in to get a better look at the young woman. "Why don't you go upstairs and rest?"
Kyoko jumped and waved a hand in a nervous way.
"Oh, I'm not tired. It wasn't a hard day. Are you sure you don't need any help?" Kyoko asked.
The okami smiled at Kyoko's obvious concern, though she hoped that there really had been nothing to distress the girl that day.
"Oh no, Kyoko-chan. It's so late, I think the rush is almost over. You should get some rest. It's not good for a young lady such as yourself to be out so late," the okami said kindly.
Kyoko thanked her for her consideration, bowing, and then made her way through the crowded room. The okami watched her go. She noted the careful way the young woman walked, evidently tired, but still maintaining her good posture. When Kyoko had disappeared up the stairs, the okami returned to the counter where her husband was working.
"She's a good girl," the okami said warmly. The taisho made a sound of agreement, but did not look up. The okami glanced at him and smiled.
Kyoko went slowly up the stairs. She was tired, for all that she told the okami she wasn't. But her haven was only a few feet away. She reached her bedroom door and pushed it open with a rush of relief.
"Hello," Kyoko said to the empty room, smiling in a way that would have made a person's heart stutter. There was no response from the room, but to Kyoko, the familiar sight was the warmest greeting she could have hoped for. Every last article, even the very conservative curtains, seemed to be crying, "Hello, Kyoko! Welcome home!"
"Hello Tsuruga-san, stupid Sho," Kyoko said as she walked past the posters of the two male celebrities that hung on her wall.
There was a table at the center of the room. Kyoko gladly dropped her bag beside it and sat down. She sighed.
She couldn't blame the director for getting angry with her, really. She was supposed to be a professional. He might've overreacted, but he didn't fire her or give her any punishments. In fact, if Kyoko hadn't known any better, she would've suspected that the director had yelled at her out of concern. It made her feel like a failure, somehow.
Absently, Kyoko reached into her bag and rifled around until she found a small handmade doll. It was fashioned in the image of her senpai, Tsuruga Ren, wearing a white suit and tie and an expression of mild disappointment.
"What do you think, Tsuruga-san?" she asked, holding the doll up so that it was level with her face.
She positioned one of the dolls arms so that it was pointing at her in an accusing way. Then she said, in her best impersonation of Ren's way of speaking:
"How can you say you're an actress with determination if you let a thing like this get you down? I don't like you at all this way."
Kyoko lowered the doll and sighed.
"You're right," she said. She was about to lift the doll up again when a buzzing noise from her bag made her body shake all over. Kyoko reached into the bag and pulled out the source of the commotion.
Her cell phone displayed a familiar number. Looking at it, Kyoko could not help the broad grin that spread across her face. She answered the phone as quickly as she could.
"Good evening, Moko-san!" Kyoko said brightly. The girl on the other end of the line cried out at this exuberant greeting.
"Mo! Not so loud!" Kanae said. Kyoko could not see it, but the other girl was holding her phone a good six inches from her ear.
"Oh, I'm sorry! What makes you call so late? How was your day?" Kyoko asked politely.
"I need your help. I got an offer for a remake of an old movie and I don't know if I should accept it," Kanae said. If she was a bit brusque, it was only because she was embarrassed to call her friend this late at night to ask for advice. It was so intimate.
"What movie?" Kyoko asked.
"An American one. It was made during the thirties. They say it's very famous, but I've never watched it. It's based on some novel. I asked if they had a script ready, but they said it was still being prepared. They offered me the book instead. I started to read it, but..." the other girl drifted off, her voice strange.
"What's wrong with it?" Kyoko asked, worried.
"It's not my taste," Kanae replied shortly, as if the idea of her liking such a thing was unthinkable. "The story starts on a farm in the middle of nowhere. The main character is a young girl who gets into trouble and finds herself spirited away to a kind of magical fantasy world. Frankly..." Kanae paused and let out a world-weary sigh. "Frankly, it's not the sort of thing I'm used to doing, but I don't want to give up on the offer before I know anything about it. What do you think? Kyoko?"
Kanae waited for an answer from the girl, but there was nothing. Puzzled, she tentatively repeated Kyoko's name and wondered if the connection was bad.
Kyoko, meanwhile, was lost in her thoughts. The mention of a magical fantasy world had sent Kyoko into her own mental reverie. She was imagining a world full of castles and wonderful adventures when Kanae, irritated by the silence, broke in:
"Mo! Are you listening?" Kyoko gave a start and bumped into the table before her.
"Moko-san, I'm sorry!" Kyoko said, rubbing the spot where she'd hit the table. "It's just, when I heard you say it was a magic world, I was a little distracted-"
"I can imagine it," Kanae said. "I don't suppose you heard the rest of what I said?"
"Ah, well..." Kyoko stammered, feeling stuck. A sudden recollection came to her rescue, and she said quickly, "You want to know if you should accept the role or not?"
"Yes, that's right," Kanae said, rather pleased that her friend had been listening after all. "What do you think?"
"Oh, well," Kyoko said, feeling flustered and happy to be able to give advice to her dear friend. "I don't see how you can really decide until you've read the script, or at least finished the book," Kyoko conceded.
"I was afraid so..." Kanae grumbled.
"But why did you want to ask me, Moko-san? You usually decide these things on your own," Kyoko said. Not that she minded the chance to bond with Kanae.
"That's just it," Kanae replied. "I don't have a lot of time to read the book, but thought you might be interested in it. Would you help me look through it?"
Kanae spoke lightly, hoping for a calm response, but it did not go as she hoped. A sudden squeal from the other end of the line caused the composed young woman to jump and nearly drop her phone. As she attempted to recover the cell, she could just make out her friend's enthused reply.
"Really, Moko-san? You want to read it together? Like classmates? We'll be just like friends in school, helping each other with our homework!" Kyoko said happily, a glowing smile playing across her face.
To her horror, Kanae found herself blushing.
"Whatever! Don't get all excited! I can imagine the stupid look you must have on your face right now! An entertainer should be more concerned about her appearance," Kanae lectured sternly, hoping she didn't have a stupid expression as well. "Just meet me at the Love Me section tomorrow! I'll be waiting. It's not like I'll have anything else to do, stupid newbie schedule..."
Kanae began to mumble to herself in an agitated way. Kyoko interrupted her worried rambling to say that she would stop by the Love Me section as soon as she could, and then they could go through the book until Kanae knew enough about the project to decide if she should accept or not. Kanae seemed placated by this. They said their good-byes and hung up.
Kyoko turned her phone off and put it away feeling refreshed. She prepared for bed, moving about the room while humming a happy tune. The idea of spending an afternoon reading next to Kanae had her floating on air.
But even more than that, Kyoko was relieved to know that she was not the only one who got discouraged about work. Even Tsuruga-san would understand, she thought. How little she knew...
Finally, she settled down to sleep feeling content. Tomorrow she would wake up and go to work, determined to do a good job. Thinking this, Kyoko closed her eyes with a smile and went to sleep.
She had no idea what was in store.
You know how, when you really love a series, everything starts to remind you of it? This fic is the result of that peculiar phenomenon.
Well, that's the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I was able to finish it earlier than I thought, so I'm just a little proud of myself. The next chapter will be up in the next few days!
