Title: The Trap
Summary: To be in a movie with Tsuraga Ren is a dream come true for Kyoko. The role is ... not.
Disclaimer: Skip Beat! belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura and other people that are not me.
Note: This is my first chaptered story in a long time, so... *crosses fingers*. Also, for this story I'll be ignoring the Cain/Setsuna arc since I don't know what the upshots from it will be. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I love writing it!
Chapter 1
Kotonami Kanae was a confident woman. As one aspiring to be a top-class actress since she was in elementary school, she had honed those abilities required to make her acting superior to everyone else's – and confidence was certainly something necessary to both get a role and to play it well.
(Of course, breaking out of that circus of a family, with everyone living on and over each other – with no concept of personal space whatsoever! – required its own level of confidence, what with dodging the creeper vines that were her nephews and nieces simply to get in and out of the house and the tons of laundry to juggle alongside her career.)
All in all, she had always been remarkably (and justifiably) confident of her abilities and her judgment.
And now, Mogami Kyoko, looking at Kanae with teary, helpless, salvation-seeking eyes, was completely destroying her confidence in her ability to judge people.
"Mo! I can't believe I ever actually thought that you were smart!" Kanae muttered disgustedly as she dropped into the seat next to Kyoko.
"Moko-saaan! How can you be so cruel!" Kyoko's wail rose into the air and filled the small LME preparation room. "Here I am in the depths of despair, the most unlucky person ever to –"
"What do mean 'unlucky'? You knew this was going to happen. I told you this was going to happen, if you kept on taking bad-girl roles – you're going to get pigeonholed."
"But – but –"
Kanae ignored her partner's stammers and continued with increasing righteousness, rising out of her chair to stare down at Kyoko. "What's more, you thought it was likely too! I'll admit that your role as Natsu is really unique – it has a completely different feel to it from Mio – but the fact that you do the villain roles well only makes more directors want to cast you as that!"
"But – but – Moko-san –"
Kanae flopped back down, her ire deflating at Kyoko's whipped-dog look. "Well, so it's another villain role. If you don't like it, you don't have to do it, you know."
"But, Moko-san!" Kyoko cried out, and Kanae leaned back and away from a face suddenly transformed with awe. "Tsuruga-san is going to play the main character! I can't pass up this chance to act alongside him! Never!"
Kanae turned away disgustedly. "Well, you've already acted with him in Dark Moon, haven't you? Do you really need to act in a movie with him at the risk of getting typecasted?"
"But in Dark Moon, I had so few scenes with him! I never got the chance to really test myself against him, to see if I've grown since that time I competed against Ruriko-chan." Kyoko was staring down at the desk, lost in serious thought and completely oblivious to Kanae's confused 'Ruriko who?' "But now, I've got the chance to really act alongside him, and to see if I can hold up my own version of Akane without getting caught up by Tsuruga-san."
Kanae stared at Kyoko's pensive face, and battled some inner demons.
(It was purely professional jealousy, at realizing how far the actor was above her, Kanae, in his career. That was all. She was not, definitely not, jealous of Tsuruga Ren's hold on Kyoko's admiration or her affections. Nope, not at all.)
Kanae let out a sigh and crossed her arms. "I suppose it might be worth it." She waited until Kyoko's surprised countenance confirmed that she was paying attention. "Director Shinkai is considered one of the rising stars of the movie world, and he's demanding enough that every movie made by him is held to a high standard. If you act in this movie, with both Tsuruga-san as hero and Shinkai Seishi as director, you'll be put straight into the spotlight in an impressive debut. Even if the role is that of a villainess, it'll give you excellent exposure, and with your abilities, I'm sure you could turn it into a unique character. But what about –"
Kanae broke off mid-sentence as a hundred pounds of ecstatic LoveMe member barreled into her arms.
"Moko-san, you're the greatest!"
A very short introductory chapter, but the pace will pick up! :) Comments are always, always much loved.