I'm splitting the chapters by which character it's following, so some are shorter than other's. Again I have not played the games, so some information is a bit off and this is an AU
Reiji stood under bright lights in the middle of a set that looked like a normal dining room for a family of four. He picked up a box of cereal and began to recite his lines. "Mom," he turned around to look at the middle aged woman. "Why do we have to decide what we want to do now? We're just kids, it's too much to handle, what if we make a mistake?"
"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about that, you have your talent with the violin." The woman playing his mother smiled sweetly at him.
"But what if I don't want to be a violinist?" Reiji asked dramatically, getting into his character well.
"Why wouldn't you? You've been studying it since you were small, you're a prodigy!"
"I don't enjoy it!"
"But you're good at it sweetie, and mama loves hearing you play."
"You can hear me play anytime, I'm not becoming a professional!"
"Ronald, that's enough, we'll discuss this later, go to your room and practice!"
Silence broke through the set. Reiji looked around for help.
"Cut!" called the director. "Kotobuki! Remember your lines, 'I'm not some doll you can control!' then you storm out of the house"
"Ah, right, sorry!" Reiji bowed.
"Take two, from 'You can hear,'" The director ordered.
They started the scene again. "You can hear me play anytime, I'm not becoming a professional!"
"Ronald, that's enough, we'll discuss this later, go to your room and practice!"
Reiji took a deep breath remembering his next line, making sure to bring it out naturally. "I'm not some doll you can control!" Reiji slammed his hand on the table before storming out of the back door.
"Cut! Perfect!" The director called
Reiji walked back in where he came, grinning.
"That was perfect, Kotobuki! Good job hitting the table, it wasn't in the script, but I like it!" The director commented.
"Thank you sir, sorry about forgetting my lines earlier." He bowed apologetically again.
"It's alright, you're still young, now we are having an hour break, make sure to replenish your energy!" The director ordered.
"Yes sir!" The whole set answered together.
Reiji ran over to where his bag was and grabbed it. He searched for his phone and turned it back on.
30 missed calls.
Reiji looked at the call log and saw the name of his roommate. He pressed the call button rather than listen to 30 voicemails and waited.
"It's Aine Kisaragi," the voice mail answered. "I can't make it to the phone, either leave a message or call back later and I'll get back to you."
"Hey Aine, it's Reiji, I was just wonder why you called and if you wanted to have some lunch together. I'm on break now."
He closed the phone only to open it back up again. "If he called so many times it must be important…" he voiced his thoughts. He called his voicemail and quickly punched in his pin code.
"30 voice messages," the voicemail spoke. "First message at 9:37 am Tuesday the -..." Reiji waited for the voicemail to play.
"Reiji… those thoughts are on my mind again…"
"Reiji I'm about to give up!"
"Reiji, please stop me before I do something I regret…."
"Reiji, help me…"
"Reiji, please pick up! I just need to talk to you!"
Message after message, all cries of help from his roommate. Reiji didn't know what message number he was on, but he heard enough. He shut his phone and ran over to the director.
"Sir, I have to go for a while, I'm not sure how long it'll take, but it's emergency. Can you push my scenes back a bit?" he asked nervously.
"Most of your scenes aren't until later, so being late won't matter too much… but it will hurt your credibility, are you sure you won't be back in time?"
"It's a family emergency and I have to get there, it's a few hours away, I'm sure."
"We'll push it back as far as possible, but if you don't get back in time it'll hurt your reputation and I'll be sure that you never work for me again."
"I know sir, but this is really important, I'm willing to risk my career!"
The director smiled. "Alright, since it's so important, you can go, but don't disappoint me, if you can't make it we'll reschedule."
"Thank you sir!" Reiji bowed. Reiji half-ran, half-walked out of the studio and sprinted to his car, knowing he had to try to get to Aine.
Finally seated in his car the brunette dialed his roommate's number again. "Pick up, pick up," he chanted, drumming his fingers of his free hand on the steering wheel.
"It's Aine Kis-" the voicemail started only to be silenced. Reiji tossed the phone in the passenger seat and started the car. Putting the car in reverse he pulled out of the parking lot and started down the highway.
"Aine wouldn't be in the dorm…" he said to himself. "He probably wants to be alone…."
Reiji tried to go through Aine's thought process of where he might be. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he tried to concentrate, both on the road and where his friend might be.