Chapter 3: War?!
"W-War?!" Roze stammered. "How on earth did we reach this level?"
Jezz held both hands in the air. "I'm not taking any part of this. Can't we think things through first?"
"Well, we're not going to 'war' about anything!" Izumi cried. She dipped her hand into her coffee brown Coco Chanel bag and fished for her phone. "This was SO not in my contract! Or better yet, this wasn't in any of our contracts!" She held the phone up to her ear. "I'm calling my manager and my lawyer."
Kino Aki brushed some hair away from her face. She sighed. Being manager of this studio can be tiring sometimes.
Well, this was just the best way to start the morning. Just as Nichiuri TV was talking about the so-called 'war' as well, JAM Studios was also doing the same thing. Aki hated being the bringer of bad news but she had to do what she had to do.
Obviously, from the way they acted, ruining their rest day was probably the first thing off her list of possibilities.
Supposedly, the day they got back from their previous mall show and tours from Hong Kong was their rest day. However, after they read the text message in Roze's phone, they all knew that they had to come and give up the rest day.
As everyone kept on reacting about the news, Aki looked at one girl in one corner of the studio. Angel was slumped on a wall. She obviously was sleeping rather than listening. You didn't really have to take off the Prada shades she wore just to find out. Aki understood perfectly.
Poor Angel. Not that she can't blame her for acting like that.
Angel Starling, better known by her stage name Takuto Zoey or in her albums as Zoe, was also an actress. She has been with JAM for some time already. Six years, precisely. She has thick blonde hair with eyes silver in shade. She has pale skin and she has a very nice figure. She had already been a multi-award winning actress at a very young age as well as a model for Bench and Dickies.
Recently, she just had a shooting in America with Selena Gomez in another upcoming film that was coming out this December. Aki could only guess what she had been doing in America. From the look on her face, it seemed as though she was only had an hour's sleep everyday for three to four months' time. And she still has to come back after a while in order to finish it.
She finally stretched and smacked her lips. She tapped Yuki on the shoulder. "So, what did I miss?" she asked Yuki sleepily.
Yuki didn't even bother looking up from the cell phone screen. "Oh, we're gonna be at war with Nichiuri TV," she said nonchalantly.
Angel stared at space with sleepy eyes. "Oh. Wake me up if I get called or anything," she answered sleepily and went back to making Zs.
"Er, calm down, guys!" she quickly told them amidst all the noise that they were making. When I say war, it's nothing personal, really. Let's just say that we're gonna have friendly competition against Nichuri TV for friendly matches held by STC."
Everyone stopped. They all turned to Aki with all attention. Even Angel woke up when she heard Aki say that. She took off her Prada glasses and bit her lip. She raised a brow, her silver gaze showing some interest and something else at once.
"By STC, do you mean the Star Talent Channel?" she asked a she played with a lock of her knee length blonde hair.
Aki nodded. "That's it exactly. They had actually set us up to compete against Nichiuri TV in three weeks' time. We don't really have a choice."
Everyone groaned in agony. Roze and Jezz buried their heads in the soft pillows. Haruka flopped onto a chair like a rag doll and rolled her eyes. Yuki placed her head on her hands. The other simply groaned.
"Why can't we say no?" Koharu asked.
"We can't because it's been set up already and the Big Boss found it quite useful for our advantage if we win in all or most of the contests," Aki pointed out. "If we do, it will heighten our reputation and we might have more talents."
All groaned again.
"Did I mention that this means an increase in salary and facilities if we win?" Aki added in a playful tone.
All ears perked up.
"How much?" Angel asked dead seriously.
Aki chuckled to herself. "Interested now, aren't you?" She took her organizer and picked up another bundle of papers. "Alright, I'll give a figure. But before I'll brief to the rules and contests as well as some other surprises, I'd like all of you to meet our new talents for JAM."
Everyone turned to the door of Studio No. 3. The door opened with a slight creak. They all gasped.
"Well, this seems to be interesting," Remi mused. "First day on the job and we get our salary raised! Pinch me, I'm dreaming!"
"I'll do more than that," Ray sneered as he kept on cracking his knuckles. "Want me to punch the living daylights outta ya? Maybe you'd wake up then!"
"Says the Punk-Slash-Muscle-Slash-Air-Head-Machine," Remi snapped and crossed his arms on his chest.
Ray raised a fist and charged at Remi. "You little—"
"What we'd do to get you two to shut up!" Rumi moaned. "And to think Manami isn't finish with her announcement yet."
"Um, you might-wanna go on, Manami-san," Kami grunted as she, along with Bambi and Zazie, held Ray away from Remi with all their might. "We'll just be here, listening to every word you say."
"Hell yeah, I'm takin' you on!" Ray yelled at the top of his lungs. "You'd better get ready, Yankee!"
"Who cares?" Remi responded coolly. He took off his goggles and pretended to wipe them with the hem of his shirt. "I didn't ask you to beat me up, anyway, did I? So, in the end, that does not concern me."
He propped it back on his head and stole a glance at Ray before returning to his goggles. "Besides, it's not like I would die if I won't get along. And as for defending myself, I think I can defend myself just fine. I don't know about you but I believe that these two are the most important things to me."
"You son of a—"
"Cut it out, guys!" Rumi cut in from her side. She, on the other hand, was blocking Remi from going a step closer to Ray with Ryan and Gazelle. "For crying out loud, what on earth can you two agree on even for just one second?"
"Nothing," Remi snorted. "Number one reason is because he is nothing but a big buffoon!"
Manami cleared her throat. "May I continue? NOW, please?"
Remi closed his eyes and huffed in his seat. "Feel free. Do what you must," he replied. Ray also calmed down eventually and squatted on the floor. However, he secretly kept cracking his knuckles (just in case if Remi and he were really to pick a fight later on). Everyone else relaxed and quickly sat down.
Everyone turned to the door of Studio No. 3. The door opened with a slight creak. They all gasped.
A small blonde boy and a girl with deep blue knee-length hair. The girl seemed to enter the room coolly. The boy, on the other hand, had an aura of nervousness as well as being sunny. She stood there coolly, crossing her arms over her chest. He, on the other side of the matter, appeared to be a very shy kid since he kept on looking down or stared at the room with interest. He was also looking at one of the posters that were put up last year on Yuki's concert that were still not removed up to now. He was mumbling something under his breath but then again, no one could comprehend what he was saying.
Roze and Jezz stared at them from one corner of the sofa. Angel, no longer drowsy, stared at the boy and girl intently as well. Yuki smirked and did a tiny chuckle. Haruka couldn't help but look as well as Koharu.
"They're—" Koharu started.
Namekaze gave off another smirk and then, stood up. She went near the two and shook hands with the girl.
"Nice to see you again, Soyokaze-san," Yuki greeted with a smirk on her face.
The other girl returned the smirk with a smile and a handshake. "Same here, Namekaze-san. It has been long, hasn't it?"
"Absolutely," Yuki replied promptly. "It's been quite a long time since the last time that you played in any of my father's parties."
The girl dubbed Soyokaze simply shrugged. "Well, we all have our businesses. I'm pretty sure that the last time that we have attended to any of your family's parties was when your sister had her debut when she turned eighteen."
"Good to see that you remember," Yuki commented. Then, she crouched down in front of the boy. "Hello, Kisuke. Glad to see you're here."
The boy nodded. "Yeah, Yuyu-chan! I haven't seen you in a while, either!" he answered quite joyfully.
Yuki's face darkened. "I told you. It's Yuki! Not Yuyu-chan!"
"At least let me call you Yuyu-chan since we are always the one who look after your mom's face!" Kisuke said with a pout.
"No!"
The little boy gave off a very huge smile. "Sure, Yuyu-chan! Whatever you say!" he replied cheerfully, earning a glare from Yuki which he didn't pay any mind .
Aki cleared her throat. "Well, guys, I'd like you to meet our new talents," she said. "This is Soyokaze Rei and Urahara Kisuke or also known as Ray and Matsumoto Shirei, respectively."
The girl took a deep bow. "Soyokaze, at your service. Call me Ray or Rain."
The bow waved his hand at all of them. "Hi! You can call me Chin-Chin," he said joyfully.
Angel looked at the boy and the girl. Then, she asked them both a question.
"You must love to play the guitar, am I right, Ray-chan?" she asked.
Ray nodded. "Yeah, how'd you know?" she asked her. But then, Angel went on to the little boy.
"Well, Kid, can I ask you to say one thing?" she asked him. The boy named Kisuke nodded. Then, she whispered something in his ear. The boy listened intently and laughed as she finished.
"Well, how do you say it?" she asked him.
"It's Gojoseon in spelling but you read it as GO-JO-SON," he told her with a grin. "And Hangeul is read as HAN-GUL."
"Well, I guess my deductions are right once again," she told herself with a smug grin on her face. She turned to Roze. "I won. Hand over the dough."
"Yeah, whatever," Roze mumbled as she reached into her pocket. She pulled out fifty dollars from her pocket. Angel flounced right next to her and gingerly took the money from her. She gave Roze a perfect smirk and went to her corner and sat with a contented look on her face.
"Wait, what just happened?" Jezz asked.
"We had a bet," Angel explained. "A bet if my deductions on the two new talents were correct." Then, she smiled smugly once again. "And I won."
She explained that she deduced that Soyokaze was a guitarist from the very beginning and she had just recently played guitar. As for the boy she deduced that he was part-Korean.
"What made you say that?" said Haruka.
Angel pointed to Soyokaze's fingers. "There is a strong imprint of a straight line on her middle, ring and index finger. The lines are found in the top part of her fingers and they are in a horizontal manner. Those imprints came from the guitar strings which she played with until recently."
Then, she turned to Kisuke. "I deduced that Urahara-kun is a foreigner. Roze said that he is suffering an eye disorder. However, a person who has eye disorders would not look for the furukana of a certain kanji. When he was mumbling something underneath his breath, what he was actually doing was looking for the furukana in the poster." She paused and picked up a piece of paper. "And as for the guess that he's half-Korean, I picked this up yesterday on the spot where he left it when he first came to the studio to make a contract to start his first day on the job."
Jezz gave off a low whistle. "Whoa," he said as he read the paper. "It's…Korean."
"Exactly," Angel told him. "Hangeul to be exact."
"That's Angel-san for you!" Koharu cried.
Soyokaze clapped her hands. "Impressive. Impressive, indeed." She placed her hands behind her head. "You should have been a detective, not an actress."
"I have my reasons," she responded nonchalantly.
"Well, I guess everyone has seen and heard the new talents," Aki cut in. "Let's start the real announcement in order to get the job done." She looked at Soyokaze and Kisuke. "Ray-chan, Chin-kun, please take a seat."
Soyokaze took a seat on the stool in the corner while Kisuke took a seat on the floor.
"Good," Aki said. "Let us begin now, shall we?"
"You son of a—"
"Cut it out, guys!" Rumi cut in from her side. She, on the other hand, was blocking Remi from going a step closer to Ray with Ryan and Gazelle. "For crying out loud, what on earth can you two agree on even for just one second?"
"Nothing," Remi snorted. "Number one reason is because he is nothing but a big buffoon!"
Manami cleared her throat. "May I continue? NOW, please?"
Remi closed his eyes and huffed in his seat. "Feel free. Do what you must," he replied. Ray also calmed down eventually and squatted on the floor. However, he secretly kept cracking his knuckles (just in case if Remi and he were really to pick a fight later on). Everyone else relaxed and quickly sat down.
"Thank you," she replied politely and went on reading the memorandum in her organizer. "As I was saying, if we do win in most or all competitions by the STC, there will be a dramatic raise in the salaries, more efficient facilities and more days for breaks. Here's how it goes."
Manami explained that the competition was set in random pairings: one from Nichiuri TV and one from JAM. They will face off in their given fields which are given three days before they will face off. The judges decide about 2/3 of their chances in winning. The remaining 1/3 goes to the mass by texting their votes.
Aside from the fact that there will be contests set, there will be unplanned and secret rounds called the Special Battle Editions. In this round, another random pair will be created on the spot. The category they will be competing in will be spontaneous and instant.
"How unexpected can it get?" Zazie asked.
"The categories can range from singing contests to solving algebraic expressions that can fill an entire blackboard in a racing pace," Manami answered. "So, you could say that it could get VERY random, indeed."
"So, we will need to prepare," Gazelle thought aloud.
"Prepare for anything that is, right, Suzuno-san?" Zazie added with a mischievous grin. "Can't wait to get started."
"Don't get too cocky, Tsurumi," Suzuno reminded him. "It won't do you any good if you did."
"He's right, Zazie," Manami agreed. "Aside from that guys, these battles are not only meant for the salary increase." She looked at them all seriously. "We're putting the name of our company on the line here. We should be giving it our best shot."
Gazelle smirked. "Will do."
The Tsurumi twins turned to each other with a smile and put their fists together. "No problem," they said together.
The Nahuya twins turned to each other as well. "Count on it," said Ryan and Ray.
"Absolutely!" Rumi pumped her fits up in the air.
"I won't let you down!" Bambi cried and shot her fist up in the air.
The others replied with the same determination.
"Excellent," Manami replied. "But another thing, everyone. Remember this. If you have anyone you think you have bonds with or have relationships with from the other company, break them. At least for now, probably. As much as you can, severe all bonds with them. If you don't have any, don't think of starting any; out there or in this studio here. It won't do you any good nor will it give you anything in return. It might only break your heart, your life and worst of all, your career." She eyed them all seriously. "Am I understood?"
Everyone remained silent but they all nodded.
"Thank you," she ended the first announcement. She looked at Gazelle. "Suzuno-san, the photos, please."
Gazelle took out two photos from a folder and promptly gave it to the manager. Everyone gathered around her.
"Everyone, this is another announcement. As of now, we got talents ourselves, am I correct?" Manami asked them. "If this is our strategy, we could say JAM has the same plan in mind. I have pictures of two new talents from JAM Studios."
She showed them the photos. "Guys, meet Soyokaze Rei and Urahara Kisuke, also known as Ray and Matsumoto Shirei, respectively."
Everyone got a good look at the new talents. Soyokaze Rei was a girl with knee length dark blue hair and dark eyes. She was very pretty but she looked rather tough. She was in plain blue jeans, a lavender t-shirt with the words Rock N Roll on it and hip purple shoes. She wore headphones and her hair was in a ponytail.
"She looks pretty good," Kami commented.
Zazie gave a low whistle. "Nice," he purred and earned a smack on the head from Remi.
"Wow! She's soo pretty!" Bambi mused.
"I don't know, Chin," Zazie mumbled. "I think you look better than she does."
"Did you say something?" Bambi asked him.
"N-Nothing! I said nothing!" he said. Remi laughed as Zazie secretly turned into a light shade of pink.
As the next picture was shown, most of the reactions came from the girls compared to the boys (excluding Kami, that is). They squealed out of delight and kept on at it. Manami felt like joining them, too, secretly.
Urahara Kisuke was a blonde with deep green eyes. His hair resembled somewhat like a fox's ears with brown highlights and bangs. He had pale skin and he was of short stature. He wore a white turtleneck under an open blue and yellow vest, knee-length shorts and white sneakers with blue and yellow stripped socks.
Overall impact: Too. Damn. Cute. (With a charming smile to boot!)
"Oh my gosh, is that even real?!" Bambi squealed. She kicked her heels up in the air and squealed even louder.
"Too good to be true!" Rumi cried. "Must. Resist. CUTENESS!"
The two squealed loudly once more.
"Ugh, get a life!" Ray groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Get a grip, girls!" Kami moaned.
Zazie squinted his eyes at the picture. "Aniki, I thought we were talking of teen stars here," he commented.
"Teen AND tween stars, Zazie," his brother corrected him. "Apparently, though he may not look like it, he might be eight to ten years old which officially makes him a 'tween' in our terms. JAM is not only known for producing teen talents but also for kids eight to ten years of age or even younger."
He scratched his chin. Compared to them, we actually have a smaller range of artists according to that age."
Zazie blinked. "Does that put us at a disadvantage?"
Remi sighed. "Sadly, yes."
Zazie gave his brother a pat in the back. "C'mon, you're too pessimistic, Bro!"
Remi sighed and his eyes turned into slits. "You're too simple minded," he shot back.
"You think too much," Zazie mumbled.
"You do not think at all," Remi relied coolly.
"I do not!" Zazie retorted.
"Yes, you do."
"Do not!"
"Two X minus three quantity squared?!"
"I do not speak German but do not try to change the subject, Remi!"
"Who says that I am, Vamps?!"
"I do, Twig!"
"Ya pickin' on me, Twerp?!"
"Yar on, Twig!"
"Shar, Dough, no problem!"
And so, Tsurumi twins went on. Joining them in their family feud were Rumi and Bambi squealing their lungs out.
Ray rolled his eyes. "This is so pathetic," he mumbled underneath his breath.
Adrian stared at Rei's picture. "Don't care 'bout that but this cutie's got it," he purred like a cat. "Hey, Ray, do you suppose that flowers might work for her? Or what about chocolate?"
Ray scoffed. "Seriously, she'd just beat the crap out of you."
Ryan looked at him intently. He glared at Ray for some period of time.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Ray, obviously disturbed out of the stare, screamed. "Quit it, will ya?!"
"I see," Ryan muttered. "I see why you're discouraging me." He lashed a finger at him. "You like her, don't you?! That's why you're discouraging me from making friends with her!"
"Idiot!" Ray cried angrily and whacked him in the head. "Idiot! Jerk! Stupid! Ass! MORON! I wouldn't dare fall in love with her, no matter what! And FYI, you're not making 'friends' with her! It's called 'flirting'!"
"I bet you're affected because you can't approach the ladies like I do!"
"Heck I if care about your 'ladies'!"
"Forever alone!"
"Better than being the person who flirted with Bambi on the first day of the job!"
"Says the guy who's in love with—"
"Adrian, don't you dare!"
"Adrian and Bla Bla, sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G—"
"You're toast!"
Ray threw a fist at him. And Ryan threw another. And after a few seconds, it wasn't so much of a surprise to see fists and kicks high up in the air.
Kami and Manami sighed. Gazelle crossed his arms over his chest. The three watched the chaos in the studio before heaving another sigh.
"Let's call it a day," Kami said.
"Let's. Hitomiko's been texting us for ten minutes now, Teru," Gazelle agreed as he picked up his phone to reply to the last SMS Hitomiko sent him.
"Fine," Manami deadpanned. "Meeting's dismissed. Regular sched continues tomorrow. Good day."
And the three left the others to their own businesses.
"So, I guess I made the announcements very clear now, did I?" Aki asked everyone in JAM. They all nodded quietly in response.
Kisuke raised his hand. "Excuse me, Big Sister, but why do we have to stop all bonds with the other studio?" he asked. "We still can we be friends, can we?"
Aki shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Chin-kun. If you bother making other relationships with the other studio, it is to your disadvantage. Scandals will arise, stories will come out and your career and reputation will be at stake. That's too much to lose for simple friendship now, isn't it?"
Kisuke dropped his head in disappointment. "Oh, I understand."
"Well, going on, I would like to show all of you the new and notable talents in Nichiuri TV," Aki said. "In our own way, if we know a bit on who and what our rivals can do, we can say the battle's half won."
Using a LED projector, she flashed a picture of a two identical boys on the screen. Everyone took a good look at them both before Aki started to explain.
"Everyone, these are two of the new talents in Nichiuri TV," she told them. "These are the Tsurumi twins; Tsurumi Zazie and Tsurumi Remi. They are well-known talents of Nichiuri TV but according to sources, those two were always considered as 'secret weapons' of the agency. This photo was taken in a photo shoot just recently in one of the Nichiuri TV workshops."
Tsurumi Zazie and Remi were facing their backs to each other. They had fair skin, messy dark hair and grey eyes. In the photo, Zazie was wearing a pink long-sleeve formal shirt with rumpled and raised sleeves. He wore a black tie and black slacks with shiny black shoes. His twin brother, Remi, on the other hand, wore a black polo underneath a closed grey vest with a white tie and a grey hat. He wore black slacks underneath and Sketchers shoes to match.
"Wow, they seem pretty awesome," Haruka said as she looked at their photo.
"They look so good!" Koharu mentioned. "Are you sure they are new talents? I think I've seen them somewhere before."
"They were in that milk commercial for Nido!" Akira cried. "They were in it when they were only nine or eight, I think."
"Right, I remember now!" Haruka agreed. "In fact, back in the days, my old classmates would always drool over those two saying that they were cute."
Roze looked at them again and shook her head. "Nope, never seen them before."
"Yes, we did," Jezz retorted. "They were those two who we once saw in that Indie film together with Yun Hee, remember?"
"Nope, don't remember."
Jezz laughed nervously. Pretty harsh now, aren't you, Roze?
Namekaze glared at the picture. "Tsurumi…"
"Yuki-chan, do you know those two?" Haruka asked.
Yuki bit her lip in anger but quickly stopped. "Yeah, they are one of the three biggest investors of our company. They're pretty important so we pay special attention to them," she scowled. "Not that I want to, anyway."
"Yuyu-chan, I know him, too!" Kisuke cried. "That's Ni-chan and the other is Hon-kun (Book-kun, in English.)
"Really, you do?" Roze asked.
KIsuke nodded. "Yeah, their mom was my mom's patient three years ago," he said. "She stayed in ICU number three, on the third floor form January 3 to February 21. She is Tsurumi Kayuki and she died out of tuberculosis. Blood type A, height of five foot three, weight of fifty-seven kilos, birthdate is on March 7."
"Wow, and you remember all this information?" Jezz mused.
"I read my mom's catalogs and I eventually memorize them," Kisuke replied. "It's quite fun, actually!"
Everyone sweat dropped.
"But now that we know that two people have heard of them, Yuki-chan, Chin-kun, tell us something about them," Angel told them.
"And you're telling me what to do," Yuki snarked and sighed. "Fine. I'll talk."
"Me too!" Kisuke replied.
The others learned that the Tsurumi twins were as described by Aki earlier. They were hidden secret weapons of Nichiuri TV that they planned to use sometime when they were in turmoil. However, they went under the radar for three years and moved to somewhere else away from Tokyo. In the world of business, Yuki's family greatly respects them and treats their bonds well since they were one of their biggest partners in the industry. But in the world of acting and showbiz, they were always one of Yuki's biggest rivals and competitors.
"Zazie and Remi are very dynamic and I hate to say it, but very talented," she said. "If you only got to see them in action, the two of them will be very hard to beat." She closed her eyes. "Aside from that, there is nothing else that I can say about those two except that Zazie is nothing but a boy who loves fun while his brother is too uptight and a perfectionist. Complete opposites yet are complimentary to each other."
"Chin-kun?" Angel prodded him.
Kisuke shrugged his tiny shoulders. "When their mom was sick and before she died, hey often came to the hospital and visited her. And if their mom is asleep, Ni-chan would come out and play tag with me. But then, Hon-kun would always look for him and he'd scold us both really well. Hon-kun is very strict."
Everyone remained silent for a while. They contemplated everything that they have learned for the day. The contest, the condition of the bonds, the new talents both here and there, there was just so much! They all knew they have to be a lot careful from now on. They couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.
"Well, I guess that's all for today's meeting," Aki said, breaking into their train of thought. "Thank you everyone and you are all dismissed."
A/N: As pretty much expected, I'm a very slow updater and I tend to take a lot of time up. So to compensate, I will try to get a lot of stuff into one chapter from
now on. As I go on, please tell me something or the stuff that I need to know, 'key? I'm not perfect and I might make this thing an epic fail if I don't know what's wrong with this thing. Send me your comments and suggestions! They will be highly appreciated.
And as for another announcement, anyone who has crushes, kindly submit them to me through PM as well as their relationships except for CutiePieSakura123.
In the drawing of lots among my friends, the ones who were picked first and last will be the people who will not have any crushes. And sad to say (for CPS), she was picked first and my OC was picked last. Since her OCs are twin boys and my OC is a girl, one of them will be paired up with her while the others can get their own respective crushes.
This is a first come, first serve manner so get sending those crushes!
Thankies!
Disclaimers: I do not, will not, and never ever will own Inazuma Eleven or the other OCs. However, I do own the story plot and the chapters.