Whoo! So far I've gotten 8 chapters of this written, so it's going well, YAY! Please enjoy, and next chapter (I think) you will find out what's going to be so angsty about this sequel. Please read and review!
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Chapter Two
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A few weeks later
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Takuya grinned as he and Kazuki walked into the room only to be attacked by a short, dark haired teenager. "Takuya!" Aoyagi Ruito exclaimed, bouncing on the heels of his feet. "I've missed you! Kazuki-san, hi!" he waved, still beaming. "I'm so glad the two of you decided to return for this. I was hoping you would. It wouldn't be the same without the two of you as Notani and Sugimori."
"I thought the same," Notani Yuuma's actor stated, smiling over at Saito as he came to stand next to his young boyfriend.
"Hello, Saito,"
Saito smiled and nodded. "Konma-kun, Kato-san, hope the two of you are well."
"We are," Kazuki answered. "Thank you for asking."
"You know what I heard?" Ruito asked in excitement, almost screaming from not being able to say it yet. "I heard that one of the characters is going to die." There was silence for a moment.
"Eh? Die?" Takuya repeated in confusion. He had heard no such rumor.
Ruito nodded. "Yeah, and supposedly it's one of the larger characters meaning…" he looked between the two of them. "It's probably one of you. I'm not sure who or if it even has any fact, but I'll guess we'll be finding that out today."
Takuya nodded slightly, frowning. He didn't like the thought of either one of the characters dying. He'd grown attached to them, but Ruito was right. If it was at all real in anyway, they would find out today—during the script reading.
Kazuki's left hand traveled between the two of them to briefly squeeze Takuya's before falling back down to his side just as the director walked over.
"Ah, Kato-kun, Konma-kun!" Minato Yuudai exclaimed, stopping as he stood in front of him, beaming. "I'd like for the two of you to meet the new…" he paused for a second. "Antagonist of the next movie; Hoshino Arata."
"Yoroshiku," the man that they hadn't noticed until that moment bowed and the two of them bowed back, greeting likewise. "It is very nice to finally be able to meet the two of you," Hoshino smiled. "I was a big fan of the first movie, and I'm honored to play a part of the sequel along side of you two."
Kazuki smiled and nodded. "I'm sure we'll get along just fine.
Hoshino grinned politely back before turning to Takuya and saying, "You were particularly very good in the movie. You seem very nice and not at all like Notani in real life. It's amazing how you can make the transition between yourself and Notani that well." Takuya blushed at the compliment.
"Uhh, thank you, I'm not exactly as… good with my words as you are but thank you." everyone chuckled slightly at that.
"Well," Minato clapped his hands. "Everyone is here, and there is no more reason to stop us from doing the script reading. Of course it's only the actors, script writers, and me that are here. But, shall we all sit around the big round table?"
"Hai," they all said, and walked towards the table where people were beginning to take their seats. Takuya sat with Kazuki on one side of him and Ruito on the other who sat next to Saito, Hoshino sitting on the other side of Kazuki and so on. They each grabbed a script and looked at it, the words And the Cranes Take Off in bold black against the white paper. Takuya frowned, it sounded a little… eerie somehow.
"Each actor will read their own part, of course, while I shall be reading everything in italics and parentheses. The script writers are here to mark anything down that needs to be changed. And off we go."
Takuya listened as Minato-sensei read out the setting. He smiled slightly as the story began to play out in his head. "Sugimori stares down at the unfinished cranes in the box, before kicking it further into his closet and closing the door. He goes over to his bed and lies down."
"Two months," Kazuki read.
"Sugimori turns off his light and rolls over in his bed, pulling the blanket up over his head. The scene changes to show another teenager leaning against the alley wall, staring up at the gray winter sky. He doesn't turn at the sound of footsteps nor does he react when another man leans against the wall next to him and presses his lips to the boys neck as he holds out some money. Notani glances down and takes it, slipping it into his pocket."
Takuya raised an eyebrow at that. It seemed Notani had not quit his ways and had instead gotten worse over the time that had passed since the end of the first movie. "Where to?" Takuya read.
"My place is just down the street, it's suitable enough as long as you work for your pay." A man across the table read from the script, nodding slightly to Takuya who gave a small smile in understanding back.
"Notani gives a small laugh and smirk."
"I always work for my pay," Takuya glanced over to his boyfriend to see him wearing a small frown and nudged his foot beneath the table. Kazuki looked over and smiled a bit, nodding.
"The man leads the boy to his house and the last we see is the door to the man's apartment closing before the scene moves back to Sugimori's closet, the cranes flying up into the air as the shot darkens to black to spell out the title."
It continued like this for awhile, and Takuya found that this movie had a bit more of everything; drama, romance, sex (he blushed at that), betrayal on Notani's part, tragedy, and comic relief, thankfully. Because if any movie needed it, this one did badly.
And—a bit too soon—it came time to find out whether or not the rumor about a character dying was true. So far, one person already had died but it was a minor character—Notani's mother—and Ruito said that the rumor had been about a major character and he had a feeling—that if it was true—it would be Notani would be dying.
He didn't like the thought of having to act dead, but only because the character of Notani was one that he really enjoyed acting as. He had already had to fight off tears during the dramatic scene between Notani and his mother; he hated to think of the final scene between Notani and Sugimori—the scene he and Kazuki had to act out—that would no doubt be even more saddening.
The whole script had been leading up to it, and he should've known that the end of the first movie foretold a tragic end—whether it be death or something else—for the two teenagers. But Takuya still didn't like the thought of it.
"As Notani quickly walked past the entrance to the alley, a hand pulled him into the alley and backed him against the wall, as if shielding him."
"Imamura-kun," Takuya gasped. "You scared me. Did you need something? And what are we doing in this alley?" personally, Takuya thought that line was a bit cliché and that his character Notani was not that stupid, but then again, he figured that maybe there were only so many ways to word it.
"I just wanted to see you, Notani." Hoshino breathed out, as if he were out of his mind, and Takuya had to applaud his ability to act crazy.
"Imamura leaned down and roughly kissed Notani, hands tugging at his shirt. Notani made a small sound of displeasure and pushed him away, wiping at his mouth."
"What's with you? You're acting strange!" Takuya exclaimed in confusion. "I thought you were going to talk to Nozaki?"
"I don't want to waste my time with that person. He's annoying." Hoshino made a sound of annoyance.
"Annoying?" Takuya cast him a glare as if they were now shooting the scene. "That's my best friend you're talking about!"
"Don't you mean was?" Hoshino made an honestly confused face. "He basically disowned you as his friend because you betrayed him." The man gave a chuckle. "I know that I'm easily liked but Nozaki wasn't my type. You're more my type, I prefer easy."
Kazuki twitched and Takuya nudged his leg again without looking up from his script, wanting to find out what the ending was going to be.
"Nozaki—even if he's not my friend—I'm still his friend. And I don't like people insulting my friends like that! So apologize."
"Fine, fine. I'm sorry, Notani, that you are such a naïve, little slu—"
"Don't you dare call me that!" yelled Takuya. "I'm not a slut."
"Hm, you're right, you aren't a slut. You're a whore aren't you? You take pay for your body, which even isn't that great, really. I've had better."
Kazuki's hands fisted around his script and Takuya kicked his foot this time. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Takuya read. "Have you been drinking or something? You're usually very nice."
Hoshino rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair, turning the page for his next line. "Nice is something that people do around other people, Notani. I thought you were smart.
"Once again, Imamura roughly kisses Notani, holding him forcefully to his chest. Notani turns his head away and pushes him back again."
"What the hell?" Takuya spat. "You call me a whore and you try to kiss me? What's with the mood swings?"
"I want you to myself," Hoshino said simply. "And now that Sugimori," the man spat out the name. "Is out of the way, it is indeed possible."
"Out of the way?" Takuya repeated quietly. "You… you did that? You planned him coming to… why would you do something like that? I love Shou!"
"As Notani screamed that a look of shock came over his face and he stared down at the ground. There was silence for a few minutes."
"Really?" Hoshino asked tightly. "Does Sugimori know that?"
"He does now…" Kazuki read quietly.
"During this, Sugimori had entered the alley when he thought he heard Notani's voice to see both Notani and Imamura arguing."
"Shou-kun!" Takuya exclaimed as if he were fighting from running and jumping into the man's arms. "How long have you been there?"
"A few minutes," Kazuki continued just as quietly, a small tinge of confusion in his voice. "What's going on, Yu—Notani?"
"Notani glanced over his shoulder to where Imamura had been slyly backing away to some abandoned, glass bottles that were littered in the alley."
Takuya took in a deep breath as he readied for his next lines, already being able to see what was going to be happening in a few minutes. "U-uh, Shou, do you think we can talk?" he asked nervously.
"… hai…"
"I'm sorry," Hoshino cut in, "But that's going to be a bit impossible. I didn't want to do this, but—"
"Imamura broke one of the glass bottles against the alley wall and Notani quickly backed away to Sugimori's side."
"—It seems that I'm not going to have any choice in the matter." Hoshino gave a characterized smirk. "I want Notani, and I thought breaking the two of you up would work, but I guess I was mistaken and there is only one way for the two of you to not be together. You love birds are sickening."
"What do you want with me?!" Takuya screamed. "Why me? What is so special about me?"
"Not only are you easy, Notani, but there is something… entrancing about you and I want to find out what it is that makes all the guys get on their knees when you walk past them. Even I've had the urge to do the same thing, but there's a problem. You don't actually want any one of them despite being easy. You just want Sugimori," he pointed out. "You just want a boring teenager who is trapped in his books and traditional family when you can have so much better. You can have adventure and excitement. You can be pampered until you burst."
"I don't want to be 'pampered until I burst' Imamura." Takuya said in disgust. "I just want someone who actually cares about me and that is Shou, not someone who calls me a whore even if I am one. Shou doesn't think I am."
"Of course you aren't, Yuuma," Kazuki broke in. "And anyone who says anything otherwise needs to have their brain checked." He sent Hoshino a small glare.
Takuya cast him a smile. "Thanks Shou…"
"And here we go! The gross display of love that all the couples are doing this year." Hoshino stated sarcastically. "I'm sorry to break this up, but Sugimori and I have some business to discuss, so—if you don't mind Notani—do you think you can move? I don't want your pretty, little body getting hurt. That'd be such a shame." He tsked.
"At almost that exact moment, Imamura ran towards them and Sugimori pushed Notani away, causing the teenager to fall to the ground and watch as Sugimori narrowly ducked Imamura's swipe at him with the broken bottle."
"Shou…" Takuya whispered in worry. "Imamura! I'll give you whatever you want if you just stop! Anything!"
"The exclamation made Sugimori pause and stare at Notani, giving Imamura a chance to stand as he had fallen while they were fighting and pick up the sharp glass from the floor. Notani looked on in horror and slowly stood before running towards Sugimori and pushing him away just as Imamura went to stab him. Instead, the glass impaled Notani's whose face quickly turned pale as he looked down to see blood beginning to soak his clothes."
Takuya fought off another bought of tears. He knew that this was going to happen.
"Y—Yuuma?"
"Shou… I…"
"Yuuma? Yuuma?"
"Sugimori knelt on the ground as Imamura looked on before dropping the broken bottle and running. Sugimori paid him no attention as he held Notani to his chest."
"I'm sorry… f-for everything. For n-not being a… b-better boy… friend."
Kazuki closed his eyes for a second before continuing. "D-don't say that. You'll have plenty of more chances…"
"I don't think…"
"There was silence for another minute."
"Yu…Yuuma? You shouldn't be sleeping at a time like this… Yuuma? Why aren't you answering? Yuuma? Answer me, please! Yuuma!"
As they ended the scene, Kazuki let his script drop onto the table and stared up at the ceiling, tired and exhausted."
"Kazuki?" he asked quietly as the others took a break. "It's not actually me, you know." Takuya pointed out softly, discreetly placing his hand on his boyfriend's knee.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I know." He looked over at him. "That doesn't really comfort me though. Just the image of… that… I don't like it."
Takuya glanced around to make sure that no one was within hearing distance and said, "After we finish the reading, we're going to go home and take a nice," he trailed his fingers softly up the older man's leg. "Long bath together. And we're going to forget about today until the day of shooting the scene comes. Okay?" he gave him a small smile and Kazuki couldn't help but smile back and place his hand atop his boyfriend's.
"That sounds nice," he fought from leaning over and kissing the teenager. "And after we're going to go to bed and… do a few more activities, of course." Kazuki grinned.
"Sounds fun," Takuya laughed, leaning in slightly only to have a script placed in front of his face and someone walk in between them.
"Sorry, just getting a new script," Ruito stated, smiling down at them. "This one is missing a page." As he turned around he smacked them both across the head with the new script and whispered, "Be careful baka's."
"Ruito," Takuya shook his head. "He's always looking after us." He laughed and turned back around in his seat, his and Kazuki's hands still intertwined together.
