Title: What Eyes Cannot See
Pairing: Kyoko x Ren
Genre: Drama/Romance
Rating for this chapter: K
Words: 1462
Warnings and Author Notes: General warnings? This piece might be a bit kinky for some of you youngsters but overall... it's pretty harmless... maybe? *sigh* Just read with caution, kay? ^_^;; As for spoilers, hmm, perhaps I'll just put it for up to chapter 138 of the manga. This might change but 138 should be okay for this chapter. ^_^ Let me know what you think. Enjoy the first chapter, everyone. =]
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たましいは凍えていた
Tamashii wa kogoeteita
信じない信じたいと
Shinjinai shinjitai to
愛を彷徨った二人
Ai wo samayotta futari
愛しい貴方と寄り添って生きて行けたら
Itoshii anata to yorisotte ikite yuke tara
いつか寂しい大地に
Itsuka sabishii daiichi ni
光を呼び戻して
Hikari wo yobimodoshite
Her heart had sank the second her eyes scanned over the script that Sawara-san had handed her with enthusiasm. The director of the critically acclaimed movie "Serende" that reached great popularity in the late 1990s, Nakamura Yotsubu, had specifically asked for Mogami Kyoko to be the star of his next film after nearly a decade of absence from the show-biz scene. The intensity of the pressure that had been placed upon her shoulders has nearly brought her to her knees as she stood alone, riding one of the elevators of LME, contemplating whether it would be easier to just turn down the offer or suffer night after night of mental tortures, reenacting all the possible scenarios of how she will most definitely embarrass not only herself but the agency as well. Not to mention grandiosely disappointing both the president and Nakamura-san.
"Wahhh! I can't bare thinking of the looks on their faces." She wailed as she melted into a pile of goo against one of the metal walls of the descending lift. She hadn't even really looked at the entire script yet but she was already intimidated by the sheer complexity of the title: An Overture to Heaven.
Sadly, she knew all too well what her first instinct would be when she became stuck with a problem regarding work. Each and every time, it was Tsuruga Ren to the rescue. Kyoko was beyond annoyed with the fact that she can't figure things out by herself, especially since she's been in the industry for nearly two years, yet she found herself running in circle after pathetic circle trying to find inspiration for each of her roles. And it wasn't like her roles were getting any easier to portray. She had to learn to let go of her crutch. Besides, lately it seems that Tsuruga-san has been more and more busy as promotion season for the winter TV dramas approach. No, she would not dare bother him at such a critical time of the year.
She reluctantly solidified again when the doors slid open and trudged her heavy feet towards the entrance. It wasn't until she was about to exit the building did she hear a distant voice call her name.
"Kyoko-chan!"
Turning around she saw the owner of the voice to be Yukihito Yashiro, the kind and exuberant manager of the one and only Tsuruga Ren (actor extraordinare). And said actor was walking gracefully off the steps of the escalator behind Yashiro-san, leaving a trail of sparkles and glittering awesomeness in his wake. He quietly smiled brilliantly at Kyoko before saying, "Mogami-san. Good evening to you. Are you leaving for the day?"
Kyoko bowed deeply to both of them before sluggishly replying, "Good evening to you both. Yes, I'm done for the day hopefully I will be able to go back to Darumaya in time to catch the dinner rush."
They both smiled at her undying work ethic but it was Yashiro that spoke the actual words of praise. As she modestly brushed aside the compliment, Ren noticed a bulky manual script protruding from Kyoko's purse.
"Mogami-san? Is that a new project you have there?" He asked innocently.
Panicking out of habit, she snatched her purse from her shoulders and hiding it behind her back, creating an unnecessary air of suspicion. "Nope! That is was just a boring magazine that I took from the waiting area... of the... uhm... dentist office!" She stammered as she began to slink away towards the automatic doors.
"Oh~? Is that so...?" Ren asked, his voice began to drip with sweet nectar of poison.
"They sure have odd magazines nowadays, don't they, Ren?" Yashiro asked as he slipped behind Kyoko and skillfully snatched the large packet out of her opened purse, and out of her reach as she struggled haphazardly to retrieve what was hers. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that this is a new drama, Kyoko-chan will be staring in. Which would mean-"
"she lied to me... yet again." Ren said dripping honey like cavity-educing sugariness from each word as they would stab themselves into Kyoko with deadly accuracy.
"izamobie" came a mumbled reply, as the young 17 year old cowarded in fear.
"Hmm?" Ren asked, as he leaned in closer, sparkling ever so elegantly so that the "UV rays of his heavenly being" could coax basically anything out of her. "What was that?"
"It's a movie!" She nearly shouted before glaring at the two men in front of her. "It's a movie that will be directed by the legendary Nakamura Yotsubu! And I will have to take on a role of one of the most difficult characters in the history of movies directed by Nakamura Yotsubu! I hate my luck! No! No! You don't have to look at me, Tsuruga-san! I know that the very sight of me is revolting to you. I am a failure as an actress! You need not stain your eyes with my presence!" She wailed as her head slumped against the cool floor.
Ren silently studied the script and then, without another word, walked out of the building, the script in one hand and his jacket hanging from his finger in the other as it hung lightly over his shoulder.
"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked, her eyes glued to her retreating script.
"Ren? Where are you going?" Yashiro asked as he followed Ren out LME.
The next thing that they both realized was that the were in Ren's car and on the road on the way to Darumaya. He had not peeled his eyes from the script until the very second his car was warmed up to shift gears into reverse, did he tuck the script snuggly under his legs in order to shield it from retrieval by a certain someone whom is plotting his grand demise in the back seat of his sports car.
Kyoko was beyond furious as she sat against the plush seat huffing and puffing her cheeks in annoyance as she now was broken out of her stupor and ended up silently accepting a ride from Tsuruga-san who had not even once looked at her as he opened the car door for her and then got behind the driver's seat. As of that moment, her poor script has been taken prisoner obscured from her vision by his lean legs. The man could have placed it in a wooden crate and float it atop bubbling acid and it would have probably been more probable for her to get it back than him practically sitting on it. And perhaps Tsuruga Ren knew this.
Thus, the current situation.
"Mogami-san. We are here."
Kyoko had been fuming so profusely in the back that she had not realized that they have arrived in the alleyway leading up to Darumaya. She quickly squeezed out from the back seat of the small car and was about to leave without even saying thank you for the ride home before she realized that she was about to leave without her manual script.
Turning around she came face to face with the bold title of An Overture to Heaven and heard from behind the script, "I'll help you out. You seem to be asking for it even if you don't have to guts to". Kyoko detected a smirk in his voice and snatched the script out of his hand.
"There is no need to be prideful, Mogami-san. The role that you have been tasked with isn't an easy character to portray. Granted it is not impossible and, most certainly, not the most difficult character to act out. You just need to channel that energy that you have bottled up and focus it. I will be at the agency tomorrow evening but you can call me anytime, if you just want to talk or have any questions. We can work on it at my place if you would like." He said, trying his best to sound completely professional and smother his rising laughter at the Hongo Mio-like look that is now gracing the young actress's face.
Fire of a thousand suns burned in her glittering orbs but she smothered the fire before taking a deep breath and saying, "Thank you for the ride, Tsuruga-san and I do not need your help. I will be able to figure this one out on my own, thank you very much. So there! Good night, Yashiro-san."
And with that she left in a huff.
The two men sat in muted shock before Yashiro that broke the silence.
"I give her two days."
Ren chuckled before he turned off his emergency lights and replied, "Nah. This is a pretty big project... I give her until tomorrow morning.