AN: Edited by the scintillating prettyinpinkgal.
Ah, my first Glass Mask fan fiction. Now with editing and a bearable format. Enjoy, friends!
Ridiculous
Masumi Hayami, president of the Daito Corporation, worth millions in name alone, was walking down the corridors of MBA TV's headquarters in search of a little girl.
This endeavour was even more ridiculous than it sounded. He'd made a late night visit to the studios to receive a report from Mizuki about how Maya was coping with her newfound stardom. Instead, he'd been informed that Maya had somehow managed to go missing, even under the watchful, though sunglass-clad, eye of her temporary manager.
Still, it hadn't any of his business, really, and Mizuki had already sent some set workers out to look for her. He should've just gone home, get some much needed sleep and chide Daito's newest star for her shenanigans the next time he saw her.
Yet here he was, asking stunned strangers if they had seen Maya Kitajima, a short, longhaired girl, pass by? After about ten minutes of receiving nothing but negative answers, Masumi was ready to withdraw from the hunt with the last of his dignity still intact, when encouraging news came his way:
"Oh, that little girl? I've seen her. In fact, I sent her to the storage room downstairs."
This lead was delivered by the janitor, who sat in the personnel lounge, sipping green tea and munching on rice crackers. While everyone else he'd encountered had been surprised over being spoken to by Masumi, as his face and status was well known and his request contrary to his image, the janitor showed no signs of being disconcerted. Probably, he simply had no idea who Masumi was, which came as a comfort to the president. While there were bound to be rumours about his uncharacteristic man hunt, he'd rather limit the amount of people who could spread the gossip.
"The storage room?" Masumi said. "Why?"
"Well, she was just ambling about," the janitor said around a half masticated cracker, "mumbling to herself, reading some story, so I thought she was an intern with nothing to do. I can't abide by restlessness, especially in young people, so I sent her down with some bags of textile rolls."
"Did this happen recently?"
"An hour ago, probably. Rice cracker? They're liquorice flavoured."
"No thank you. You've been very helpful."
"Glad to be of assistance, Master Hayami," the janitor chirped, smiling cheerfully (and just a bit slyly).
Masumi winced, but refrained from replying, knowing very well that this meeting would become the highlight of the gossip tomorrow no matter what he said.
On his way down to the storage room, he had to exchange a chuckle for a deep sigh. It was just like Maya to not only be confused for an intern, but to actually go along with the charade out of sheer timidity. But if she'd been asked to go on the errand an whole hour ago, why hadn't she returned yet? Masumi wasn't a worrier by nature, but he couldn't help but to imagine various scenarios of kidnapping, accidents or assault.
When he opened the creaky door to the storage room, he saw that the foulest thing that had befallen Maya was inopportune sleep. She sat on a black plastic bag (which looked rather comfortable, actually), leaning her head against a crate, her arms functioning as a pillow. Her hair covered her face, but Masumi could tell by her steady breathing that she truly was asleep.
Masumi let out an audible breath, so relieved at the peaceful sight that he had to repress laughter.
Shorty, he thought, you'll be the end of me. My dignity is forfeit simply because you decided to take a cat nap.
He took a step forward to wake her, but the expression on her face, peeking out of her thick hair, stopped him. She looked so still, so deep in sleep, Masumi couldn't help to find it moving. It was ironic; despite all he'd done to her, despite the fact that he had little trouble acting like an ogre to her normally, he simply couldn't bring himself to wake her in that moment. To go from enjoying some well deserved rest to waking up to his hated visage would doubtlessly make her miserable.
He was turning to leave, deciding that Mizuki was more fitted for this task, when he saw a pile of blankets on one of the crates by the door. After a short debate with himself, which ended when he saw Maya shiver slightly, he grabbed one of the blankets. He unfolded it as he silently stepped over to Maya, gently covering her with it. He adjusted it over her shoulders, confident that the actress was too far gone into sleep to feel it, when a loud, echoing thud made his heart stop. The script Maya'd precariously pinched hold of between her fingers had fallen, hitting the floor spine first, issuing out the loudest sound Masumi had ever heard.
Anticipating the worst and praying for the best, he glanced at Maya's face, receiving the shock of his life when he met her big, brown, open eyes. She stared back at him, slowly recovering from being jarred from sleep, her expression growing more incredulous the more awake she became.
For some reason, the phrase "O, hell, o spite!" played itself over and over again in Masumi's mind. This sudden turn of events was unlike any he'd ever encountered before, and judging from Maya's frozen countenance, he guessed that the same went for her.
"M-Masumi?" she whispered, a slight scratch to her voice. "What…?"
All the poise he'd managed to collect shattered. Masumi? Did she just say Masumi? Not "Mr Hayami" or "Spawn of the netherworld"?
By sheer will power, he righted himself, feeling distinctly wobbly on his feet. Clearing his throat, he said:
"Good, you're awake. I thought I was going to have to fetch Mizuki to wake you."
"M-Mizuki?" Maya sat up, as shaky as he was. "Why would Mizuki have to…? D-did you just cover me with a blanket?"
Had Masumi been in his usual form, he would've easily been able to explain away this whole situation, leaving Maya satisfied with the fact that he'd merely acted out of his own interest. But that stuttered "Masumi?" had unnerved him, and the way she was looking at him, as though he was a horror film, distraught him.
"Exactly why are you acting as though I should be incapable of covering a shivering girl with a blanket?" he snapped, an uncharacteristic indignation accompanying his words. "In spite of the popular opinion, I'm not evil incarnate. If I can help it, I'll avoid acting like a bastard, such as forcing the girl who hates me to wake up to my face."
Maya didn't, or more accurately, couldn't, reply. At her blank expression, Masumi was goaded into continuing his already ridiculous rant:
"And why are you here, anyway? You're a star, not a janitor's disciple! I know you suffer from a completely inexplicable inferiority complex, but I'm sure the sky won't come tumbling down if you at least tried to act like the celebrity you are! Millions of people all over Japan know who you are, and they adore you! While a humble artist is a refreshing thing, a confident artist is infinitely more attractive in the eyes of the public. Do you understand?"
Maya nodded numbly, not sure whether she was awake or merely dreaming the most bizarre dream she'd ever had (including the one with the purple elephant dictator).
"Good," Masumi said roughly. "I'm glad that common sense hasn't left you altogether. Don't wander off like this again. Mizuki's sent out the remaining set workers to look for you, and I've had to half destroy my own reputation in order to find you."
"I… I'm sorry… I didn't realize…"
"That seems to be an all too frequent phrase with you, shorty. I'll leave first, if you don't mind."
With that, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, without a single backwards glance. He didn't need to; his tortured inner eye could see her blankly stare out into space, completely bewildered, slowly voicing out "What the hell just happened?"
He made it to the entrance in record time, not bothering to tell Mizuki that he'd found Maya. Mizuki, with her near mind reading powers of perception, would've been able to tell that something unspeakable had happened between him and Maya with just a look, he was sure of it.
"Take me home, please," Masumi told the driver as he settled into the backseat of his car. "As fast as you can."
"Yes, sir," the driver answered, a bit surprised by the demand. Usually, Masumi enjoyed leisurely driving, as it gave him a chance to either rest or go through his work.
He was further disconcerted as he, when stopping at a red light, discovered that his employer was making quite expressive grimaces of pain, writhing restlessly in his seat.
"Are you alright, sir? You're not ill or anything?" While the people of the entertainment world had nothing good to say about Masumi's personality, his domestic staff was loyal to him, as he was a gracious and generous master. "Should I drive to the hospital?"
Masumi let out a weak laugh at the driver's concern, touching his hand to his forehead.
"No, I'm sorry," he said, making an effort to control his mortification. "I just discovered I've made a stupid mistake, and I'm trying to live it down. It's nothing at all, just wounded pride."
What he really thought was this:
This will be the end of me. It really will. Either she'll be so fed up with my antagonism she'll leave Daito post haste, or she'll realize that I'm infatuated with her and go to the press about it. Either way, this is the end. I wasn't made for this, this caring thing. God, why couldn't I have become a hermit? A Buddhist monk with no desires or aspirations. That's what I should do: become a monk. I'll begin my pilgrimage to some obscure temple in China tomorrow, because honestly, anything would be better than feeling this ridiculous!
OXOXO
The day after Masumi's complete humiliation brought on a bit of clarity. He'd given up his hope to achieve Nirvana a few minutes after waking up, but proceeded into the afternoon with a wish to flee to a faraway country.
Maya would be busy with rehearsal all day, so Mizuki had resumed her position as his secretary. He'd rather she hadn't, as he wanted to be alone with his agony, but he was slightly grateful as well. Without her presence, he probably wouldn't even have begun working.
He tried to appear as his normal, collected self, and marginally succeeded. But by two o'clock, his veneer was starting to crack, and memories of last night were starting to well up. Her sleeping face, his stupidity, the explosion of sound as the script hit the floor, how lost and scared she'd looked, how his heart had banged against his chest as he'd blathered on with needless hostility and how he'd hardly been able to sleep because of his embarrassment.
At last, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He collapsed over a budget report with a groan, hiding his face in a nest of arms.
"Sir?" Mizuki called, springing up from the sofa where she'd gone through some publicity suggestions for Maya. "Sir, what on earth's the matter?"
"Mizuki," Masumi said, emerging from his nest with an expression of pure misery, "you've got hundreds of different connections listed in your address book, right? Do you know anyone who could exchange my entire life up until this point for another's? Or at least someone with the ability to turn back time?"
"That is it," Mizuki said, flinging the list away, placing her hands on her hip. "Sir, you've spent this entire day either sighing or wincing. What's the cause for this decidedly childish behaviour?"
Masumi contemplated his options: either he refused to obey Mizuki, and become the receiving end of a cold shoulder all day, or he'd tell her, the very epitome of discretion, and get it out of his system with the slight setback of being forever seen as a fool by her.
While he figured that she was already wise to the fact that he was an idiot, as she knew what he felt for Maya, he wasn't ready to divulge his shame just yet.
"It's nothing," he said, recovering from his mini breakdown. "I always become dramatic when I've had too much coffee. Just return to your work."
"I'm not equipped to deal with this erratic kind of behaviour," Mizuki said, pursing her lips matronly. "First, it's Maya, and now you're acting completely out of character as well."
"What about Maya?" Masumi inquired, feigning casual interest. "She was carefree enough to get lost yesterday. That sounds like perfectly normal behaviour of her to me."
"Of course, but it was when she finally turned up that she started to worry me. She was wandering through the halls like a ghost, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. When I asked her where she'd been and where she'd gotten the blanket from, she just turned red and mumbled she'd been in the storage room, helping out the janitor. She wouldn't tell me anything about the blanket."
While relieved that Maya hadn't told other people about their encounter, her silence spoke volumes about how disturbing she must've found his behaviour.
He was about to comment that shorty must be losing it, when he saw that Mizuki was giving him a sly, penetrating look. That look told him that the game was up; she knew everything, or at least enough to know that he was involved in Maya's distress.
"Alright, fine," he growled. "I admit it: I'm the one who put the fear of god into Maya. Satisfied?"
"Not quite. Exactly what happened between you two?"
Masumi sighed heavily, but valiantly began telling the truth:
"To make a long story short, I went looking for shorty last night, and I found her in a storage room. She was fast asleep, and for some reason or other, I didn't want to be the person to wake her. So, in a fit of chivalry, I decided to cover her with a blanket and get you, only she woke up while I was doing so."
"Oh my," Mizuki said, revealing her sympathetic nature by wincing.
"Quite so." Masumi grimaced in memory of it. "But the worst is yet to come. While she was staring at me as though I'd grown another head, I started yelling at her for no reason whatsoever. Then I just ran out, and do you think that I could become a monk? Possibly in a monastery somewhere deep in China?"
"While that is the saddest tale I've ever heard, I hardly think it calls for pilgrimage. Just fix it."
"Now why didn't I think of that? Of course I've thought of how to fix it, but it just doesn't seem possible. What could I possibly say that would explain it?"
"You could say 'I love you', sir."
"I'm sorry, I didn't make myself clear: what could I possibly say that would explain it without making the situation twenty times worse?"
"Do you really need to say anything? So you did a considerate thing. It would be better for everyone if you just left it at that."
"You don't understand. You didn't see the way she looked at me, as though she'd never seen me before. If I leave it, it'll only get worse."
"You mean she might figure out your true intentions?"
"I have no intentions towards her, other than making her a great actress and investment, so you can stop insinuating otherwise. I simply mean that she'll think I care for her as a human being."
"… And… that's a bad thing?"
"Extremely bad," Masumi confirmed gravely. "So far, I've been able to treat her like any other actress, on the account that she loathes me and has contemplated dancing on my grave countless of times. I'm fine with being hated; it's the norm. No expectations to live up to, no chance to disappoint her. But were she to think that I'm capable of emulating human emotions, she won't go as far as to think that I'm a good person, but she'd definitely start wondering if there isn't a bit of empathy in me."
"I'm sorry sir, but I still fail to see the problem."
"As my secretary, you should be able to spot the trouble with that straight away: the vice-president of Daito has no empathy. I treat people like animals; they're cash cows that I fatten up to sell to the highest bidder. Do you think a man like that can go around covering girls with blankets without there being dire consequences? Not bloody likely."
"But sir, I don't understand why you're so upset over this. This could be a good chance for you to repair your relationship with her—"
"I don't want to repair my relationship with her, I want to stabilize it. Right now, when I anger her, she'll use it as an incentive to do her best and show me up. If she believes I care for her on a personal level, then she'll wonder why I treat her like I do, and she'll be disappointed and sad instead of livid and motivated. I could try and explain that I upset her on purpose, to make her go that extra mile, but then the placebo effect would be nonexistent, not to mention the confusion she'd suffer."
"That… does actually make sense," Mizuki had to admit, nonplussed. "So what do you intend to do? Sad and disappointed or confused and listless?"
"I choose the third alternative: convince her that I was only doing it to protect my product. That's what I should've done in the first place."
"… Very well. Do you want me to arrange a meeting with her? She's free from eight o'clock onwards."
Masumi didn't answer her straight away, staring at nothing, unconsciously clenching his jaw. His face was perfectly blank as he said:
"Yes. Get her here as soon as you can."
OXOXO
Like many other teenage girls, Maya's life was made up of strife, uncertainty and confusion. Unlike most girls though, the current cause for her feelings was impromptu fame, as well as a strange incident involving the president of a multimillion corporation.
Maya had woken up in a daze, two hours before her alarm clock had been set to go off. Unable to go back to sleep, she had slid out of bed and begun pacing restlessly around the room. She'd spent the remainder of the morning mulling over every possible explanation for Masumi's uncharacteristic kindness, revisiting the memory of him hovering over her with a blush.
It's so embarrassing! she thought, covering her red cheeks with her hands. I couldn't say a proper word, just nod and stammer, like an idiot! I should've said "What the hell are you doing?", demanded an explanation! And how dare he yell at me? I'd been working all day, I couldn't help falling asleep! How was I supposed to know that Mizuki had sent out a search party? What was I supposed to say to the janitor, anyway: "Sorry, I'm too important to carry a few measly bags down to the storage room, I'll leave that to you elderly people"? Why didn't he just wake me himself? Then none of this would've happened! Hateful man!
Her internal rants often switched from being powered by either pure outrage or hapless confusion:
Why didn't he wake me? He said he wanted to spare me from having to wake up to his face… Was he actually being considerate, for once? He must have some ulterior motive to this, I mean, it's Masumi Hayami! Only… if he had, why did he look so surprised when I woke up? Like he'd done something he wasn't supposed to do? And then he started yelling at me; that would ruin any plan he might have to butter me up… unless he wanted to confuse me. But why would he want to do that? As his product, if I'm distracted, I'll perform worse, thus be worth less. Does… does he actually care for me?
She shook her head violently. She'd been down this road before, when Masumi had saved her from being injured at his own expense. He'd only done it because she'd be useless to him damaged; you couldn't sell a broken doll.
But this felt different. He'd have nothing to gain by not waking her right away, and even if he simply didn't want to sour their relationship even more, it had been a needlessly risky and thankless gesture to cover her with a blanket.
It's useless trying to figure this out on my own, she finally concluded. I'll just have to ask him next time I see him: "Exactly what trick are you trying to pull?", and wheedle a straight answer out of him.
Satisfied with her plan, she was able to do her best at the rehearsals (though her appetite wasn't quite up to its usual standard). Yet she felt little but dread and apprehension when Mizuki announced that Master Hayami wanted to see her in his office.
"D… Did he say what he w-wanted?" Maya asked, stumbling down the steps to car.
"I didn't ask," Mizuki said (which Maya found hard to believe). "He only said he wanted to see you as soon as possible, so I assume it's about something important."
Maya slipped twice on the leather upholstery as they piled into the car, and somehow managed to stub her toe on the seat in front of her.
"No matter what you truly feel about him," Mizuki continued, rolling her eyes at Maya's clumsiness, "I want you to be on your best behaviour. He's your boss, and you need to retain a stable relationship with him."
"Stable?" At the poisonous glare Mizuki fired at her, Maya quickly changed her tone, "I-I mean, stable, of course. Naturally."
"That transparency of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days. Now, remember, address him as Mr or Master Hayami, should you find it in you. Don't stare at your feet, don't fiddle with your fingers, reply to his questions clearly, don't stammer, don't mumble, and I beg of you, do not rise to his bait if he offers it. Be calm, collected and concise."
Maya replied with a weak "Yes," though she sincerely doubted that she'd ever been "calm, collected and concise", at least all at the same time. Besides, considering the reason as to why Mr Hayami'd requested to see her, there was little chance that Maya'd be able to emulate even one of the traits.
OXOXO
One car ride later, Maya stood before the doors leading to Masumi's office, feeling as though she was before a gate of lead. She'd anticipated the nervousness that flitted about in her stomach, but was caught by surprise by the fear that made her light-headed. Why should anything Masumi had to say to her incite her in one way or another, other than into anger? Any kindness he'd ever shown her always came with a hidden motive; he was only forward with her when he was being cruel. Why should this stupid blanket incident be any different?
Perhaps that's what I'm afraid of? Maya shook her head, quickly dispelling that thought from her consciousness. Masumi had long ago shown that all he cared about was "The Crimson Goddess", viewing her as little more than a pawn in his plan to get the rights to the legendary play. She'd be nothing more than a fool if she still thought that he cared even a little bit about her.
Even so, the thought of having her worst suspicions affirmed yet again made her shake noticeably. Mizuki put a supportive hand on her shoulder, repeating:
"Calm, collected and concise."
Maya nodded, taking a deep breath. She managed to summon a brittle smile that worried rather than placated Mizuki, and stepped forward to open the doors. At the last moment, she lost her nerve, her hand resting on the doorknobs, her fragile grin shattering. Her mouth pursed with impatience, Mizuki charged ahead, opening the doors and shoving Maya into the room.
"Good evening, sir," Mizuki said, grabbing hold of Maya's arm to steady her. "We came here as fast as we could."
While it's considered very rude not to greet your boss, Maya found herself tongue-tied, simply staring at the figure behind the expensive desk. Masumi was serenity itself, comfortably leaned back in his designer work chair, his half closed eyes flitting across a thick report. When she saw that he was about to look up at them, she ducked down her head, studying the polished floor with great interest.
"Good evening," she heard Masumi said, his voice as cool and relaxed as his countenance. "So, Mizuki, are you speaking for the both of you now, or is shorty simply considering herself too important to greet me now that she's famous?"
That flippant remark was exactly what Maya needed to untie her tongue. She snapped her head up, her eyes blazing when they met with Masumi's.
"Good evening, Master Hayami," she said, meticulously articulating every word. "Forgive me for being slovenly; the splendour of your office caught me off guard."
Masumi quickly covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes darting back to the report. By the way his shoulders were shaking, Maya was sure he was trying not to laugh, which riled her out of whatever shyness she still felt for him.
"I'm sorry if my décor overwhelms your humble senses," he said, once he'd collected himself. "I shall make sure that it's not so gaudy the next time you visit me."
"Wasn't there something you wanted to talk about, Mr Hayami?" Maya said, managing to at least be "concise".
"Ah, I've been demoted!" Masumi exclaimed, laughing outright. "Might as well cut to the heart of the matter then, before I lose another rank. I've some requests for both of you, actually. Mizuki, could you run down to the third floor and pick up 'The Cherry Orchard' sale figures?"
"Certainly, sir," Mizuki said, bowing before she left without further ado.
"W-wait, Mizuki…!"
"And you, shorty," Masumi said, his voice staying the hand Maya had reached out after her manager, "you just stay here and lend me your ear."
Maya obeyed, trying to appear quite at ease, though she jumped at the sound of the door closing behind Mizuki. Once again, she felt a sort of resistance against looking straight at Masumi, and so she set her gaze onto his desk rather than his face.
"I think you're well aware of why I called you here," Masumi said, his chair creaking as he shifted in it. "Something happened yesterday which I intend to rectify, to spare us both from any misunderstanding it might've caused."
Maya's stomach sank; that was certainly an ominous prelude.
"Y-you don't have to explain," she stammered, struggling not to start fiddling with her fingers. "I… I know you're not completely evil," blood rushed to her cheeks as words flooded from her mouth, "I mean, not evil, but you know what I mean. W-what I'm trying to say, is that I understand that you were trying to help me, e-even when you yelled at me, and… and I appreciate your help."
Maya offered him a small smile, which, while far more dim than those she wore for her friends and audiences, was a lot more natural than the clown grins she usually gave him.
"… See, that was the misunderstanding that I wanted to avoid," Masumi said, averting his eyes from Maya.
"I-I'm sorry?"
"Shorty, you do know who I am, right? Masumi Hayami, vice-president of Daito, heartless and obsessed with his work. Does this sound like someone who does a kind deed without an agenda?"
"Well… well, no…"
"So why are you so sure that's what happened in this case?"
"I… I don't know… I just thought… that maybe… Oh, I don't know, alright? I just assumed you were trying to be kind, for once!"
"Odd assumption to make. You know how ruthless I am better than anyone else. You sure it isn't just wishful thinking on your part?"
"Then why did you do it?" Maya snapped, her throat beginning to tighten painfully. "Why would Masumi Hayami, self-proclaimed bastard, do such a thing?"
"It's simple: I saw the need to protect an investment in the most ridiculous sense of the word. Seriously, shorty, why did you go to sleep in a musty, cold storage room after spending a whole day jam-packed with people fretting around you? That's like begging for a cold."
"So you were worried that I'd catch a cold?"
"Yes, I was worried that you'd miss several days of work because of your own neglect, messing up the schedules of everyone involved. You're a valuable piece of income for a lot of people. As long as you belong to Daito, I urge you to take care of your health."
"… Then… then why didn't you just wake me up? You said that you didn't want to force me to wake up to your face. And you went looking for me, too, even though Mizuki had already sent a search party out. That doesn't sound very selfish or profitable to me."
"That's because you're looking at it from the wrong angle, namely your angle. I went looking for you because if something had happened to you, I'd be the one most capable of dealing with it and keeping it under wraps. It wrecked hell with my reputation, but it's nothing I can't fix by being my usual self. I didn't wake you because I didn't want you to know that I went looking for you in the first place, as it'd unbalance our already precarious relationship."
He grinned, his expression chillingly devoid of feeling. "I guess that sort of backfired, didn't it?"
Maya said nothing, too busy trying not to cry to reply. She really didn't know why it hurt her so much to hear what she'd expected him to say all along, and it made her feel like an idiot to allow him to effect her so much.
"Why so upset?" Masumi asked. "So you made a wrong guess. Surely, your pride's not that easily hurt?"
Maya made sure that she'd blinked away the tears Masumi's frankness had caused before she said:
"My pride is hurt, but not because of this. It's, it's this whole twisted thing, being thought of as a product, that hurts me."
"I thought you were clear on that when you first came into my employ," Masumi said, feigning surprise. "I only see actresses as commodities; why should you be any different?"
"I'm not saying I should be any different, I'm saying you should be!" Maya shouted. Had she had something in her hands, she would've surely thrown it at Masumi out of instinct. "I don't understand how you can be so, so dismissive of other human beings, so extremely cold to them! I always give my all to make sure you've no reason to complain, yet you won't even acknowledge that hard work! Profit, profit, profit, that's all you think about, and frankly, it sickens me!"
Maya was breathing fast, her heart banging against her ribcage. The tiny piece of her mind that was still operational was screaming at her: "Oh my god, why are you yelling at the vice-president of Daito? Exactly what do you wish to accomplish, other than looking like a gigantic ass? Stop it, stop it now, before he has you deported to Russia or something! Calm, collected and concise, that's how you get things done, not by being angry, argumentative and aggressive!"
Unfortunately, Maya had long since abandoned rationality and the three c's, and continued, her voice wavering slightly:
"But fine. If that's the only thing you'll respond to, the only thing that will get you to see how dedicated I am to my work, then I'll become the most valuable product you've ever had. I'll bring you whole mountains of money, I'll make you the richest man in Japan, don't you worry!"
"Good," Masumi said, a faint smile etched on his lips. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear."
"Then please," Maya huffed, "excuse me."
She turned to stride away, but had scarcely taken a step before she was called back:
"Wait. Just… could you wait for a minute?"
Had he spoken in his usual haughty tone, Maya wouldn't even have granted him a backwards glance. But his voice, in that moment, had sounded so soft and weary, she'd almost thought that a third person had spoken. She gave a jolt as she stopped, as though a physical hand had kept her from leaving, and slowly turned to face him.
"What?" she said, her tone hard despite her sudden unease. "What more can you possibly say?"
Masumi seemed to be as uneasy as she was, his head tilted, his fingers tucked into his hair. He looked so vulnerable, his neck exposed and his expression unguarded, that Maya could hardly believe that he was the same man who had told her she was nothing more than a source of income to him.
"It's actually rather important," he said, "so if you could just wait for me to figure out how to phrase it, I'd be in your debt."
Before she had time to say anything, Masumi rose, placing his hands behind his back. He paced around behind his desk for what must've been at least two minutes. Maya, who'd already abandoned whatever manners she'd once possessed, fiddled with her fingers to her heart's contents, about to tap her foot as well when Masumi spoke:
"It's not a lie, that I see most actors' value in profit, rather than in the actors themselves. I know what people call me: the black hearted, workaholic demon of Daito, and I do little to counteract it, since they're not that far off the mark. But I'm not a demon, and I do… I have a capacity for feelings that aren't strictly related to rationality."
"W-what exactly are you trying to say? You're not making the slightest bit of sense!"
"Like I said before, this is extremely hard for me, so if you could have a little patience with me, I'll make sure you'll get the next weekend off or something."
"Are… are you seriously trying to bribe me?"
"If that's what it'll take to make you be quiet and let me get to the point, then yes, shorty, I'm bribing you."
Had Maya's outrage been at its peak, she would've stormed out right then and there. But she couldn't help but to feel intrigued by this awkward admission, and curious what he meant to say with it. She showed him that she'd allow him to go on by becoming very still, her knitted fingers resting against her stomach.
Masumi took a deep breath, walking to the other side of his desk, sitting down right before Maya.
"While your market value might usurp most of my attention," he said, "I… I do know that you have a great talent, and… and I do see the girl behind that talent, and I s-sympathise slightly with her plight."
The silence that ensued was so absolute, the gentle tick of the wall clock sounded like a church bell.
"W-what? You… I still don't understand…"
"Shorty, you're killing me here," Masumi groaned, touching his hand to his face. "What more must I say to make you understand that Daito doesn't think of you as just a product? I'm new to this whole heart-to-heart business, so could you just try to meet me half way?"
Maya made an effort to oblige him, but was so dumbstruck by this strange twist, she had to ask:
"Why would you tell me this? You seemed so satisfied before; w-what's the point of confusing me like this?"
"I can't very well have a teenage girl go around thinking she's only of value if she's making money, can I?" Masumi snapped, rubbing his forehead, as though he was developing a headache. "I may be the most immoral man you'll ever meet, but even I have my limits, bizarre though it may be. Besides, you made such a pitiful expression, I felt like I'd just slapped a puppy on the nose. It's a very disconcerting feeling, that."
While that last remark made her doubt his sincerity, she felt that this needed investigating:
"So… when you covered me with the blanket… you did it out of concern?"
"Partly, and a very small part at that. Don't get me wrong, though you seem to have a knack for it. What I care about the most is still the prosperity of Daito. All I mean to say is that even if pushing you in front of a bus would guarantee a 30% increase in profit, I wouldn't do it."
While the sentiment was delivered in a lukewarm and rather contradicting fashion, it was in such stark contrast to Masumi's usual way of speaking, Maya was strangely touched by it.
"Thank you for caring for me… I guess. But… why me?"
"You mean why would I single you out, when you're nothing more than a hopelessly ordinary girl, whereas there are hundreds of actresses prettier than you who're begging me to show them sympathy?"
"T-that's not quite what I meant!"
"Well, I'll tell you anyway. It's because you are plainer than a wash cloth and inexperienced to boot that you caught my attention. Just watching you bob around in the entertainment world is like watching a baby learning how to swim. Despite the fact that you work as hard as you possibly can, you only manage to keep your head just above the surface. It would take a man with a heart of steel to not feel sorry for you, and as of yet, mine is only granite."
Maya winced; Masumi had just pressed down on one of her biggest sore spots, namely the fact that she'd pretty much no idea what she was doing anymore. The knowledge that he was probably well aware of how touchy she was about it, coupled with his recovered composure, made her growl:
"Thank you so very much for giving me your preference, if only because I'm such a pathetic little girl. Please excuse me, I really must go now."
"Ah, Maya, wait! Don't get upset, I was just joking!"
"Excuse me!" was all Maya said, as Masumi was laughing in his old, superior way again.
She was sure that she'd be able to make a clean getaway this time. She'd opened the doors wide enough to see a glimpse of the corridor, when they were pushed shut by Masumi.
"What exactly is it that you want with me?" Maya shouted, still facing the door. She wanted to scream right into his face, but the realization that Masumi was crouched over her, his arm right above her head, stopped her. "You're caring, you're callous, anxious and then you're just infuriating! Just, just pick an attitude; don't be so wishy-washy about it!"
"Well, this is unfortunate," Masumi sighed. "I said what I said because I didn't want you to be upset."
"You didn't have to say it in such a, a patronizing manner! I don't understand why you always have to tease me, like I'm a child!"
Masumi laughed softly, making Maya's heart stop as he placed his forehead onto the arm he's used to close the door.
"I didn't know you were so greedy, shorty," he said, as he righted himself. "You hate me, yet you want me to think well of you. That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"
Maya whirled around, ready to risk being put in an even more intimate position if it meant she could punch Masumi in the stomach at the end of her speech:
"I don't want you to 'think well of me', I want you to stop acting like…"
In a sudden rush of bravery, she'd tipped her head back to establish eye contact with Masumi. This was a mistake; seeing his face so close that she could make out the faint traces of his stubble overwhelmed her into speechlessness.
"You want me to stop acting like what?" he asked. Maya found it rather fascinating to see his lips move, to see him blink, to see a strand of hair brush against his cheek as he tilted his head. "I want to hear."
She ducked her head down, hoping that her hair would hide the fact that she was blushing like mad. She was forced to retreat, as her forehead bumped against Masumi's chest, and nearly let out a howl of rage as the knobs of the doors dug into her back.
"L-like a jerk," she muttered, putting her hand on the knobs to act as padding, pressing her shoulder blades against the door. "That's all I wanted to say. Could you please let me go now?"
"… I'm sorry, but I can't. I haven't achieved my aim yet."
"I don't care about your aim! Just let me out!"
"As my aim concerns your happiness, you should care."
Maya stared at the space underneath Masumi's arm, determined not to contribute anymore to this absurd conversation.
"As I said before," Masumi continued, and she could feel his arms move around her as he adjusted his position, "I'm not good at baring my soul, mostly because I've never had any practise in it. I'm much better at the whole 'evil mastermind' routine. I had you swearing me your loyal service in less than five minutes with it, so you know what I mean."
Maya pouted; she knew quite well what he meant.
"But if there's anything I've learnt from studying you, it's that you can't always take the easy way out. So I intended to motivate you with kindness, instead of anger, but that didn't quite work out as well as I'd hoped, or at all, really. So now, I need some other way to placate you into submission. Any suggestions?"
"None. I'll loathe you forever, and nothing you can say will ever change that. Now will you let me go?"
"Damn. I was hoping you'd at least say 'Punch yourself in the face, and we'll talk'." Masumi saw that Maya's expression had gained a reflective quality, so he hurried on, "But no matter. I think I've thought of something that will make restore our relationship into some semblance of stability."
Maya was about to give a great big snort at Masumi's expense, when she felt his fingers brush against her jaw. She flinched violently, snapping her head away from his touch. If she'd had the courage, she would've stared up at him and questioned his sanity with the most forceful words she knew.
"I want to look you in the eye," she heard him say. He brushed away the hair that covered her face without touching her skin. "As you seem to have an aversion against facing me, I thought I might help you along."
While highly reluctant to let Masumi mess around with her mind any more than he already had, Maya figured that the sooner she humoured him, the sooner she'd be out of there. So when his hand took possession of her chin, she kept still, squeezing the doorknobs to keep from shivering. Though Masumi'd requested this arrangement to meet her eye, Maya kept her gaze at the corner of her eye, intimidated as she came to the conclusion that she'd probably never been this close to a man's face before. She heard him sigh, but he let her be.
"Would you rather that I'd have another reason, other than pity, for wishing you well?" She nodded to the best of her abilities. "Very well. Maya, look at me."
Out of pure instinct, Maya obeyed him, tightening her hold around the doorknobs. Masumi was observing her, increasing her discomfort tenfold. She was about to shout at him (or at least attempt to) to stop teasing her, when he did something that made her forget all her previous anger: he smiled.
It was like watching one of those movies made up of millions of snapshots, where a tightly knit bud folds out into a flower in a matter of seconds. Maya remembered that she'd been astounded the first time she'd seen such a movie; she felt exactly the same way now.
"Shorty," Masumi said, something resembling warmth in his voice, "you're my favourite actress."
Whatever Maya'd been expecting him to say, this wasn't it. It wasn't even close. It was so far from anything she'd ever thought he'd say, she had no idea how to react to it. When she did react, she wished she hadn't:
"M-me?" Her blush travelled down to under her collar, and to the tips of her ears. "W-what? Me?"
"Yes," Masumi affirmed, letting go of her chin, "you."
He pushed himself upright, stretching as he walked back to his desk.
"W-why me?" Maya stuttered, nearly stumbling as she heaved herself up from the doors. "Are you lying? I'll never forgive you if you're lying!"
"Why would I lie?" Masumi said. With intolerable suaveness, he settled into his chair, casting an amused glance her way. "Don't you have any confidence in yourself?"
"B-but, you've seen so many actresses, a lot who are way better than me, and if you're just trying to butter me up—!"
"Take heart, shorty," Masumi interrupted her in mid-babble. "Like I said, I see actors and the like as products; their talent doesn't factor into whether I like them personally or not. I like you as an actress because you offer such a wonderful contrast. Off stage, you're just a normal girl, like any other. On stage, you're a thespian genius, with an ability to transform yourself into hundreds of different people. I just felt that you inspire and amuse me more than any other actor I've met. That's all."
"That's all"? That's more than enough! Oh my god, he seems to be sincere, what should I say, what should I do?
"You alright?" Masumi lit a cigarette, peering at her with interest. "You look a bit flushed. Anyway, I know it'll probably mean nothing to you to hear of my preference, as you hate me with the power of a thousand suns, and all that. I just wanted you to know that I'll do my best to make you Daito's most valuable asset, whether you like it or not. So if I do something strange in the future, you'll know why I did it: to ensure your future as Daito's brightest shining star."
Replies, ranging from irrationally hostile accusations to platitudes of gratitude, scrambled around in Maya's mind. While used to receiving praise that sounded strangely like insults from Masumi, she wasn't used to that ambiguous praise being spoken in candour. She'd thought the blanket situation would mark the peak of strangeness in her life: finding out that she was Masumi's favourite actress from the man himself, for no other reason than the fact that he was trying to be kind, beat that by miles.
Not being able to decide how to express herself, mostly because she didn't know what to feel about it, Maya did what she usually did when she had to thank Masumi: she detached her mind from her body and left it up to chance:
"THANK YOU!" She bowed as low as she could, her head almost level to her knees. Masumi dropped his cigarette at the sudden outcry, narrowly managing to prevent it from setting fire to his documents. "T-that you would l-l-like my performance so much, it… it really makes me, um, well, it makes me ha-happy!"
Her blush had reached all the way down to her toes, and was so intense she'd started sweating because of it, but she continued, hardly stopping for breath:
"I, I will try not to let you down! I won't make you regret choosing to support me as an actress, even though I'll leave Daito at the earliest opportunity! I promise I'll make you a lot of money, at least, during the time I'm here! S-so, thank you, and please, excuse me!"
Unable to face Masumi anymore, especially after spouting such drivel, she threw herself at the door, fervently labouring it open. She shut them behind her with a loud bang, making the office ladies jump with fright. She paid no heed to their reprimands, her hands covering her beet red face as she ran down the corridor. While she hadn't seen Masumi's reaction to her reaction, she could picture it quite vividly: he'd be silent for a few seconds, thinking "What the hell just happened?", before he'd burst into such powerful laughter he'd collapse onto his desk.
(She was partly right: he did laugh like mad after she left, immensely relieved and amused, though he murmured, "I barely got out of that alive!" when he'd finished).
She was so humiliated, she wanted to cry like a little child. When she saw a familiar, sunglass-wearing woman, she did burst into tears, throwing herself into the arms of her manager, making her drop the documents she'd been carrying.
"M-Maya?" Mizuki sputtered, completely out of her element. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, Mizuki!" Maya sobbed into her manager's shoulder. "I can't work for Da-Daito anymore! I c-can't face him again, not after this! Can't I be transferred somewhere else? Does Daito have a-a-any company in, in China or something? I want to be anywhere but Japan, please! Anything would be better than feeling this, this ridiculous!"