Naruisawesome: Hey, peoples~! Ehe, so yeah, Amy-chan and I started another story together! We thought it'd be fun to do.
AmyNChan: Yup~! This is our take of how we think things would be behind the scenes of Ghost Hunt. *^_^*
Naruisawesome & AmyNChan: We hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Neither of us own Ghost Hunt!
So, Mai and Oliver were walking, hand in hand, on their way to an audition. Normally, Oliver would not have bothered with it, but his girlfriend had been very, very insistent that they do this together. Of course he never really expected them to get the parts anyway, so really, what harm could it do?
"This is going to be so much fun!" Mai chirped beside him as they looked at the looming building they had come to. Studio NA. "If we get these parts, then we'll be in an actual anime! Won't that be so cool?"
"Perhaps." Oliver replied dryly, glancing at the overly-excited girl. "But Mai, you have to remember that just because you audition doesn't you're going to get the part..."
"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport," the girl pouted, poking the cheek of her boyfriend with a frown. "It's all about the experience, Noll! You can't expect everything to be about whether you get the part or not."
Oliver just sighed, knowing she wouldn't listen to him no matter what he said. She was just going to be optimistic about the situation, like always. Then again, that was one of the reasons he had stayed by her side for the past four years. It was one of the reasons he loved her.
"Come on, hurry!" Mai exclaimed with a grin as she walked faster, tugging him from behind her. Oliver allowed himself to be pulled along, taking in the details of the building they were now inside. Very spacious, yet cramped to the hilt with excess props and stages. They were looking for stage 3. It didn't take long to find it once they came across stage 1, considering that the stages were in numerical order.
Oliver sighed as his girlfriend pulled him along. How did she even manage to rope him into this again? Oh, that was right. She saw this in the newspaper and spontaneously decided it was worth a shot. And he, being her boyfriend, absolutely had to be pulled along. The things he did for this girl...
"Okay...this is it!" Mai whispered excitedly as they stepped into the large room. Oliver allowed himself to be pulled onto stage 3 by his excited girlfriend. He looked around to see at least ten different people here, all auditioning for different parts. Surely there had to be more to come though.
He stared at one man in surprise for a few moments as he and Mai walked by. The man looked kind of like him...huh, weird. Another person was a very loud girl with red hair that shot behind her back, laughing haughtily at something some person had said. Oliver flinched away. He would hate to work with someone like that.
"Watch where you're going," a girl with short black hair shot upon bumping into Oliver's back. He immediately disliked her and he could tell the feeling was mutual. If she had a change of wardrobe, she could possibly pass off as a doll. As it was, she was...well...not.
"Perhaps you should do the same." he replied, his eyes narrowed in distaste. The girl eyed him—a sensation he was all too familiar with—and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave the stage. Fortunately for him, that was when Mai decided to turn and look at what her boyfriend was doing.
Noticing the looks they were giving each other, especially from the girl, Mai flicked her gaze between both of them before slowly stepping in front of Oliver to get the girl's attention.
"Umm...can we help you?" she asked warily, wondering why some strange girl just suddenly appeared. Instead of answering, the girl simply turned and walked off. Mai and Oliver watched as she made her way to a blonde haired man—probably their age. Mai frowned and turned around to face Oliver.
"What was that all about?"
The man shrugged. "Nothing."
Mai sighed, knowing he wouldn't tell her anything else besides that. Instead of responding, she took a few moments to look around, much like Oliver did just a while ago.
"There's a lot of people here..." she mused. She noticed a couple of other girls that had hair like she did, talking politely in a corner. One had longer brown hair and the other had a timid smile. "They might have the lines I need... I'm gonna go ask."
"Mai, wait." she heard her boyfriend call after her, but she ignored him and continued walking to the two girls. He'd be okay by himself for a few minutes.
Oliver sighed. That girl would never listen to him, not in a million years.
"You're here for the main role, right?" a voice to the side asked of him. Oliver turned to see that boy that looked similar to him holding out a few sheets of paper in his direction. The boy seemed all right if it were not for those creepy eyes of his.
Oliver gave a curt nod. "Yes, and I'm assuming you are as well?"
The boy gave a disarming smile as he handed Oliver the lines. "Yeah, though I'm not sure I can be quite as demanding as the script would want..."
Silently, with a brow slightly raised, Oliver took the papers from the man and looked through them to see what he was talking about exactly.
"Cold and calculating, but still gentle in the night," a new voice mused. Oliver and the boy with the funny eyes turned to see another lookalike standing by a shadow. This boy had deep-set eyes and a scowl on his face, but somehow did not seem to be a bad person. "Looks like I'd have to do some reverse work if I got the role... I'm Hei, by the way."
"Oliver." he shortly introduced himself. Hei gave a sign of acknowledgement before looking at the other boy.
"What about you?"
"I'm Ryuuji," the boy greeted with a look of friendliness. "Either of you been practicing the lines or flying blind?"
"I haven't. Yet." Oliver said, skimming through the lines a bit. "Thanks for this, by the way. I hadn't looked at it."
"No problem," Ryuuji waved off. It was then that Hei was shoved forward by some mysterious force.
"Noll! Guess what! Those girls over there are auditioning for the main part too, and they were nice enough to give me the lin—Eh?" Mai cut off when the man in front of her turned around with a deep frown and saw that it wasn't her boyfriend. She backed up and began sputtering apologizes with an embarrassed blush.
"Honestly, one would think you would be able to recognize my face by now," Oliver sighed. Mai turned to him with an angry scowl and pointed a rolled up script at his face.
"In case you didn't notice, Oliver, I wasn't exactly looking at his face," she fumed.
"Are you not even going to apologize?" her boyfriend questioned. Her eyes widened, realizing that she hadn't, and twirled around to face Hei.
"I'm so sorry! I mistook him for you from the back..."
"It's fine," Hei said before turning to his script. Mai blinked at the quick reaction.
"Okaaay, then." she mumbled herself before once again turning back to Oliver. She stood by his side and then began to read through her lines, zoning out from everyone else. Oliver took that time to read into his script as well. After all, it would not do to be unprepared, now would it?
"You'll have to be a priest," a certain girl with short black hair noted, looking over at her own boyfriend. He lifted his biking helmet to reveal blue eyes and a mop of curly blonde hair. Not what one would typically expect of a biker, but they came in all shapes and sizes and colors.
"And you'd have to wear a kimono all the time," he returned, looking down at a script. "You sure you want to do this?"
"It'll launch my career and give you something to do since you're so bored all the time," the girl returned with a snarky smirk. The boy gave a devious smile in return that made her go beet red.
"Alright then, let's get to it then." the blonde boy jerked his head towards stage 3.
"Fine by me, John," the girl replied easily, looping her arm through his. The couple strode into the room where the auditions were taking place, confidence radiating off the black-haired girl even more so than the man beside her.
"Whaddya mean the blonde's a priest?!" a voice shouted out angrily. The couple turned to find an angry blonde haired boy with a red coat. His hair was in a braid and his face was angry. "No one told me this was a friggin' religious show! I'm outta here!"
"Mr. Elric!" one of the staff called out as the boy stomped away. John gave a low whistle.
"Nice show..."
The girl gave a sardonic laugh as she watched the man, by the name of 'Elric', leave. "Shouldn't he have made sure of the character he was auditioning for before coming?" she muttered critically. "What a loser..."
"No fair picking on the less observant, Masako," John chided, though he himself had a grin on his face at the display. Masako feigned a pout at her boyfriend before dropping it and smirking.
"Well, now perhaps you won't have any competition."
"Looks like I do..." John said, an eyebrow raised. Upon a curious look, he directed his girlfriend's gaze to a hyperactive blonde child who was eating a plate filled with cake. How he got the cake into the studio, no one cared to venture a guess.
"A child?" Masako questioned in disbelief, looking back to John. "How is a child suppose to be a priest?"
"He looks a lot more innocent than me. He might get the part," John shrugged as he watched the competition. He had been carrying around a bunny. "Then again...seems like he would be in more of a children's show..."
"I need more cake!" they both heard the child shout out. John's brows shot up when he saw the cake that had been on the plate was completely gone.
"That was...impressive..." the biker begrudingly admitted. Deciding to ignore his competition for the moment, he turned to Masako. "Did you have any trouble finding the studio?"
"Nope," she replied, popping the "p". "Though there was one rude guy who didn't apologize to me."
Expression turning dark, John narrowed his blue eyes at her words. How dare someone mistreat his girlfriend!
"Who?" he demanded. Masako smiled as she watched her boyfriend turn protective about her. His streak of defense was one of the things she loved about him.
"I think he was one of the guys going for the main role."
John gave a nod before cracking his knuckles harshly. There was nothing more that he hated than someone messing with Masako. "Should I pay him back for what he did?" he asked.
"Not today," she said, easily placing her head on his shoulder. Her expression was bored, but the contact still sent shudders down her spine. "Remember that the paparazzi are everywhere, and we don't want to have to cover up another fight..."
The blonde-haired boy let out an annoyed breath and scoffed at not being able to put this stranger into his place but nevertheless complied to her wishes. "Alright, babe..." he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders, causing her to blush. "Let's go find the directors of this show."
"Yes, let's," she said, trying to suppress her blush. John smirked at her attempts and Masako whacked him upside the chest. They walked together to find the directors.
The light brown-haired man sighed in slight frustration as he tugged his sister along. The woman seemed to get more reluctant to walk as they arrived closer to the place where the auditions were being held. Honestly. She was the one who wanted to come and try out for this new show, and now she was having second thoughts about it. However, being the good, older brother he was, he wasn't going to let her back out so easily. He came to give her moral support after all.
"Come on, Ayako! You made it this far; you're not going to turn back now!" he said, trying to pull the struggling woman harder.
"Hoshou..." she complained. "My hair isn't right and I don't know if I can do it, and..."
"You're going to be wearing a wig anyways, remember?" he responded, pulling her further into the studio. He was not going to listen to her complain for another six months because she had chickened out of another audition. "You'll be fine, I promise!"
"B-but what if I can't do with all of those peop—"
"No more buts!" Hoshou stated firmly, dragging his sister into an elevator. Ayako finally fell silent as the elevator doors shut. In her hands was clentched a script from which she could read. Her blonde hair—cut rather short to the side of her head—seemed to be the only thing about her that screamed confidence. Hoshou sighed. He had always been studious, she had always been shy. She was the one with grandoise dreams, while he was content to let the days pass him by. However, if there was one thing he would never let go by, it would be his sister's chance at happiness. He would help her through this no matter what.
"Ayako, you're going to do great." he added, sensing that she still felt uneasy. She looked at him for a moment, only to quickly shift her gaze to the floor a second later. It was odd considering how shy she was, but yet she wanted to be an actress. Though, if this is what she wanted to do, then she should go for it. "Just remember how the character you're auditioning as acts. Be her. It'll give you more confidence."
"But what if..."
"Just be her. I'll go with you if you want," he offered. Ayako's eyes widened as she turned to her brother. "I know there isn't a role there, but I'll act across from you if you need it."
"Thank you!" Ayako cried out as she hugged her brother. "You're the best ever!"
Hoshou let out a chuckle as he placed his hands on her shoulders. A few moments later the elevator doors opened back up, and Ayako released him, taking a deep breath. Hoshou patted his sister's shoulder and allowed her to take the lead. This was, after all, her dream. She made him proud by boldly walking out of the elevator and striding towards stage 3. Now he just hoped she'd keep up the confidence while saying her lines in front of everyone.
"Hey!" a red haired woman called, her hair jutting straight to the back. "The only blonde role is for a priest, and you sure don't look the part. You in the right spot?"
Ayako's eyes widened, instantly becoming nervous again. She began to stutter as she stared at the woman who felt like was glaring at her.
"Ye-yes, I am..." she said timidly. Hoshou placed a hand on her shoulder supportively, silently reminding her to be confident and not to let some lady knock her down. With her brother at her back, she felt herself straighten up. She reached inside her purse and pulled out a cherry-red wig. She flipped it over her head with ease and tucked the blonde securely away. She smirked. "And you?"
The woman scowled. "What about me, you little twerp?!"
Ayako's flinch was barely noticeable. She continued her banter, pretending to keep her wits about her. "Nothing, I'm just not sure a child would be able to capture this role very well."
"Humph! Better me than some old lady with a wig!" the other girl sneered. Hoshou instincitvely backed up.
"What did you call me?" Ayako nearly growled. The other girl, not taking the hint, repeated herself with flair.
"O-ld!" she grinned. So cocky was she that she did not notice Ayako fling her bag around and make one hundred percent accuracy with her head until it was too late. The woman whined. "What was that for?!"
"Don't call me old, you brat!" Ayako shouted. Hoshou laughed sheepishly behind his sister. She may always be shy and quiet, but call her old, and you will rue the day. It amazed him how her personality always changed so fast when someone calls her that.
"How dare you!" the girl screeched. "My name is Jessie and you had better prepare for trouble, because you asked for it!"
"Bring it, you old hag! I can't wait to see the look on your face when I get the part!"
Hoshou wisely stood to the side as his sister and this Jessie girl got into it. They pulled at hair and clawed each other's arms, but the man knew when it was time to step in. It was time to step in when Ayako started biting.
"Hoshou!" she cried out as her brother jerked her away. It was then that the man noticed another man pulling Jessie away. A man with..blue hair? "What's the big deal?!"
"The big deal is that the director told the cameras to film this fight since it's been going on for ten minutes already," her brother responded, pointing over to the cameras. Ayako's eyes widened and she jerked her head to the side, embarrassed at having such a fight recorded.
"Oh, no..." she then buried her head in her hands in horror. How could she do such a thing? To be honest she didn't really know what she was doing before she reacted. It just...happened. "What if they don't give me the part because of this?!"
To her surprise and utter horror, her brother merely laughed away her concerns. "If anything, they might be trying to decide who looked more lady-like while fighting to determine who gets the part. The rest of the competition walked out already."
Ayako's head shot up, and she looked at Hoshou in shock. "Wha... A-Are you serious? Why?"
"Only two women with the ability to fight like that have the confidence to fight like that," her brother replied. "All that's left is the actual screen test and then they'll make their decision."
"Yes...but they might choose her..."
"But they might choose you."
"But..."
"Sis!" Hoshou exclaimed as he placed his hands on her shoulder. "What did I say earlier? No more buts! What happened to that confident, fiery girl a few minutes ago who wanted to chew some other girl's head off?!"
"You know I'm not like that all the time, geez!" Ayako hissed, exasperated. Her brother sighed, removing his hands from her.
"Perhaps. But that personality is somewhere inside of you. You just have to find it and let it out."
Ayako exhaled sharply and looked away from her brother. He could not—
"Jessie, thank you for your time, but we feel that your talents may not be particularly suited towards this show," a voice called out. Ayako's eyes popped. No way...
"What?!" she heard the woman, Jessie, screech in anger. "How dare—you'll regret this!" The director seemed to choose not to grace her with a response. Jessie began to storm out of the studio, but not before yanking off Ayako's wig in anger. "Let's see how you get the part without this piece of trash!" the woman yelled, foolishly thinking someone wouldn't get the role if you didn't have red hair. A flood of anger ran through Hoshou at what Jessie had done. This woman was going too far, he thought.
"Now just a minute—!" he began, taking a threatening step towards her, but he stopped when his sister held out an arm in front of him.
"I suppose you think that acting like a two-year-old brat will help your cause?" Ayako asked, her eyes taking a dangerous glint. "You can't get everything you want through whining, and you can't scare me through petty means. Besides, I'm pretty sure that if they want to, the directors can get me another wig."
Embarrassed and enraged, Jessie began to tear out at Ayako. Before the woman could jump backwards in surprise, Hoshou stood between the two women, having enough.
"I will not have you hurting my sister in any shape or form." he warned, glaring at Jessie. "The reason why you didn't get the role has nothing to do with Ayako, but of your own skills, no matter how amateur or professional they may be. You have no business here any more, so leave."
Jessie sized up the blonde man before deciding such a man would be foolish to take on in a direct manner. Annoyed, embarrassed, and flustered, she did nothing more than fling Ayako's wig into his face and stomp out of the door, growling the entire way. Once the competition was gone, Hoshou heard a thud behind him. He turned to see Ayako sitting on her knees with her feet to the side. He sighed.
"You did good, Ayako," he assured his shaking sister, handing back her wig. The blonde woman said nothing, only looked up at her brother and gave a small nod.
Meanwhile, in another section of the building, yet another couple of people strode through the front doors. A tall man walked in with his wife. The pink-haired woman smiled excitedly as she looked around and also at the other people walking passed them.
"Madoka, people will think you're auditioning with how excited you are," Lin smirked. His wife gave him a gentle whack on the arm in response. The two laughed.
"Well, one of us has to be excited for you." she replied.
"I'm just not sure how well I'll do. This character doesn't move, talk, or anything. Just sits in front of one of those boring computers the entire episode," Lin admitted, looking over his script again.
Madoka gave a sympathic look to her husband. "Yeah...that may be a problem since you can't sit still for too long."
Lin sighed and then straightened his shoulders. He actually was excited to try for a role like this, given that it was in an anime about hunting ghosts, he just did not want to sit in a desk all day when he could be playing basketball.
Madoka nudged his arm, seeing the look on his face. "I'm sure it'll be okay, just give it a shot." she encouraged.
"I suppose," he said, then turned to his wife with a smile. "Play you one-on-one after this is over?"
"You bet." the woman grinned. Shifting her gaze away from him, she realized they were finally in front of stage 3. "This is the place, right?" she nodded towards the closed door.
"Looks like it," Lin responded. He squeezed Madoka's hand before walking into the studio, surprised to see so many people already present.
"We're not...late, are we?" Madoka frowned, gazing at the people around them.
"I don't believe so..." Lin said slowly, taking note of another tall figure that looked similar to his own stature and the stature required of the part. "It seems as though a lot of people have already divided themselves into the parts they want..."
Madoka wrinkled up her nose in distaste as she looked at the groups that her husband mentioned. "Why does it suddenly feel like I'm back in high school again?"
"Cliques." he answered her simply. She smirked at him. "Sarcastic snot."
"Oh, give me a break, Koujo." she grinned, still scanning the area. She did a double take, however, when she saw a man who looked almost exactly like her husband. "Hey...that man looks just like you..." she whispered to him. Lin followed her finger and his visible eyebrow rose in surprise. Indeed, the man could have been his long-lost twin. Madoka gave a low whistle. "Too bad that the part you guys are trying out for isn't of the twins... That would have been all too perfect."
Lin only hummed his acknowledgement that he had heard her as he continued staring at the man. It was a little creepy seeing someone, who wasn't related to you, look like you. Therefore, it was not much of a surprise when Madoka was the one who had to pull him to the other man. In her mind, perhaps the directors had already split people up in accordance to the roles they wanted.
"Hi!" his wife exclaimed to the man with a wave. The man turned his head and nodded at the pair.
"Hello."
"We couldn't help but notice you look a lot like my husband here." Madoka blurted friendly as she gestured towards Lin. The other man gave a small nod.
"Yes, I would assume we're going for the same parts. Shame the character isn't more of a doctor, though..."
The pinkette blinked at the man and glanced at her husband for a brief moment. "Are you a doctor?" she asked.
The man smiled. "I like to think so. I didn't spend eight years in college to not be one."
"And you're an actor now..." Madoka gave a slow nod, processing the small amount of information she received. It seemed weird someone would go to college for that long to be a doctor, but then end up here, at an audition for a TV show.
"In between jobs. It's not uncommon to freelance these sort of things," the man returned.
"Ah, right, of course." Madoka reassured him before he could take anything she said in offense. "My name is Madoka Lin, by the way." she smiled, introducing herself.
"Hatori Sohma," the man introduced himself.
"Oh, and this is my husband Koujo." she added when Lin failed to say anything. Hatori extended a hand for Lin to shake, which he did after mild prompting. The handshake was firm and brief.
"Have you meet anyone else auditioning for this part as well?" Lin questioned the man.
Hatori shook his head. "As far as I know, we're the only two going for this part."
Madoka blinked in surprise and gave a quick glance to the tall Chinese man beside her. "Really? You'd think they would be more people..."
"I told you, Madoka." Lin said quietly to his wife so that Hatori couldn't hear. "No one wants to sit behind a computer all day and never say anything." Madoka stuck her tongue out at her husband's observation. He merely offered a smirk in response.
"I wonder when the audition will start..." Madoka mused after a few minutes, frowning. Lin looked around, observing a girl with red stuck-out hair stomping her way out of the studio. The remaining woman—a girl with blonde cropped hair and a red wig—seemed to be smiling with a man who had short blonde hair. The directors moved from that group to another.
"I think they already have..."
"Ah!" Madoka's eyes widened, following his gaze. The directors were only a couple of groups away from them. "You better hurry up and read over your lines to make sure you don't forget them!"
Although Lin wanted to remind his wife that this character said practically nothing and merely sat a computer all day, he decided to humor her and read the script. After all, it would be bad if he came to this unprepared.