"It's gotten so bad that Dad actually hid her credit cards so she can't run away on her own," Naoki murmured to Dylan as they followed Kotoko and their guide through the convention center maze.
"Yikes! She'd be hopping a plane over here in no time!" he responded.
"She called Kotoko twice yesterday and once this morning, just after midnight our time, complaining about how much she misses her. As if we aren't going to be home in a few days!"
"You're lucky her computer skills aren't advanced enough to hack a spy satellite to track you!"
"Tanaka-kun!" Kotoko stepped through the door opened by the guide and flew across the room to hug her friend.
"Hey, Kotori-nee!" He kissed her on the cheek quickly then released her as Naoki and Dylan approached in her wake, chuckling together. "How's the honeymoon?"
"Great!" She grinned then looked around at the plain walls. "Dylan-san, I think you're color-blind. This should be called the 'faded beige' room!"
"'Green room' is just another way to say waiting area," Naoki informed her as he seated himself in one of the padded chairs and took out his tablet. "It no longer has anything to do with the actual color."
"Oh."
"Especially when it's in a multi-purpose room at a conference only in town for a few days," Dylan added, patting her cheek as he passed by to sample a tomato from the fresh vegetable tray on the buffet table. Tanaka followed, asking a question about Racquet Warrior's release schedule.
Kotoko opened a small cooler and pulled out a bottle of water. "Does anyone want something to drink?"
Tanaka turned from his conversation with Dylan. "I'll take one! Thanks!"
The door opened again just as Kotoko was handing her friend the drink. A curvaceous young woman with dramatic eye make-up strode in, followed by a harried man with a badge and clutching a clipboard.
"M-M-Miss Lee! If you will p-p-please wait in here for a few moments until we are ready for you! These are," he consulted his notes, "Dylan Saeki, Hikaru Tanaka and Naoki Irie of Pandai, and Kotoko Irie, the original Kotorin, Racquet Warrior. Miss Jasmine Lee, the English voice of Kotorin."
"It is very nice to meet you," Kotoko said carefully in English, bowing politely. The men bowed also, Naoki having risen upon the actress's entrance.
"Sure," she replied in a bored tone.
"You will join the French panel members currently on stage in...uh...ten minutes time," the conference flunky announced.
"What!?" Miss Lee screeched. "My agent didn't say anything about having to share the spotlight. She claimed this was an easy show-up-and-get-paid-for-smiling gig! I'm calling her right now!"
"Why don't you go ahead and do that, darling?" Dylan put on his best business smile and approached her with the smooth gait of a predator. "We're all on the same team here—and that would be Team Kotorin." He indicated a wide-eyed Kotoko with an inclination of his head. "And when you get your agent on the line, hand me the phone and I'll tell her exactly how you have made yourself unemployable to Pandai."
She froze for a few seconds then replaced the cell phone in her minuscule bag. "What a silly misunderstanding this is!" She laughed easily and hooked her arm with his. "Now, never mind that! Which one were you again?"
"She's a fiery one," Tanaka muttered to Kotoko. She nodded mutely in response.
Naoki walked over and leaned to whisper in her ear. "Maybe I'm guarding you from the wrong gender this weekend."
His wife's frown deepened when Dylan waved Tanaka over. "And this young man is one of the game's creators. He has a bright future ahead of him, hopefully at Pandai!" Tanaka smiled at the now composed young woman and began to chat with her.
"I can't believe I expended all that effort on him just so he could be able to have a conversation with THAT WITCH!" Kotoko muttered. Naoki patted her on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, biting his tongue as he did so.
When Dylan drifted her way, Kotoko snagged him. "Dylan-san!" she hissed. "She is not a nice person!"
"Well, dear, she's an actress, and not a very successful one at that," he admitted.
"With that attitude, she probably won't get much farther," Naoki surmised.
"Look at you, Mr. Hollywood predictor," Dylan teased.
"Not successful?" Kotoko pouted. "I was hoping for someone like Scarlett Johansen or Angelina Jolie. I bet they'd be nicer."
"I'm sure they would, darling, especially if we could pay their asking price. Unfortunately, they're wa-a-ay out of our budget," he chuckled.
"Anyway, she's so rude that she gives Japanese people a bad reputation." She scowled at him.
"She's not Japanese," Dylan offhandedly informed her before swigging from a water bottle. "She's 100% American, but part…Korean? Indonesian? The story changes, depending upon what role she's up for."
"What!? But Racquet Warrior Kotorin is Japanese! Why couldn't they get a Japanese actress?" she protested.
Dylan shrugged. "The choice was out of my hands this time. The California office made the decision and they are highly influenced by Hollywood's insistence on ethnic casting. The industry tries, but they don't particularly distinguish between any of the Asian countries."
Kotoko shook her head. "Not only is that rude, but it makes no sense."
"You're not in Kansas anymore, Kotoko," he chuckled as he patted her on the head.
"What? A painting?"
"Kansas, not canvas," Naoki corrected her as Dylan left to confer with Clipboard Man. "You know: Oz, tornadoes…"
"Ah! Tutu!"
"Close," he sighed. "So close."
"Two minutes, folks!" Dylan called out.
"Well, I suppose I should get ready," Miss Lee announced to the group. Smiling sultrily at Tanaka, she handed him her bag as she asked, "Do you mind?" At that point she eased out of her fashionable trench coat, which Kotoko had assumed was a shirt dress.
"Wha-a-at!?" Kotoko gasped to her husband, who was choking back a laugh. "She can't mean to wear that in the auditorium!"
"I wonder what rating of movies she has been featured in," Naoki whispered. The actress was sporting an outfit almost identical to the one in the animated video that the Anime Appreciation Club had produced during Kotoko's freshman year in college.
"She is shameless!" Kotoko averred. "I refused to wear that outfit! You remember it!"
Tanaka's eyes were about to bug out, and he swallowed loudly. "Oh, if only Kato could be here."
