Disclaimer: I do not own nor draw Skip Beat! All rights belong in the rightful hands.
Another PV
By Matelia-legwll
Chapter Four: Contemplation
The following day dawned bright and clear. In the halls of LME one shout rose above the rest. "MOKO-SAN!" the retina-scarring pink girl exclaimed before racing to catch the elusive Kanae.
Expertly sidestepping the running girl, Kanae checked her outfit before turning back and facing her best friend. "Mo! Kyoko, how many times do I have to tell you to not try and tackle me? What is it?"
Regaining her balance, Kyoko smiled brightly. "I just wanted to share some lovely skinship with you!"
Knowing it was useless to protest the term Kyoko had used for her barreling hugs or the shoves in response, Kanae just winced, shaking her head. "Mo! Now, are you going to tell me what you need this time?"
"Moko-san," Kyoko pouted, remembering the real reason she had sought out her best friend. "Just because my phone was off, doesn't mean I didn't want to spend the night at your house."
"What? How did you find out about that?" Kanae was sure that she hadn't mentioned the reason she had been trying to get in touch with Kyoko that other day.
Kyoko smiled triumphantly. "Okami-san told me."
"Mo! That woman." Kanae pouted, not being able to say anything else. On one hand, having secrets exposed like this was very embarrassing, but on the other, it might drive into Kyoko that Kanae didn't consider this friendship purely one-sided.
Kyoko went on, increasing drawn into the tragedy of the moment. "I mean, you should have called me again yesterday, we could have had a sleepover last night! Now we'll have to wait until next Wednesday."
"Why all the way out to next Wednesday?" asked Kanae suspiciously. Kyoko was always willing to do anything that screamed 'best friends' with her, that putting it off for so long was extremely unusual.
Kyoko opened her mouth and closed it again, trying to figure out how exactly to proceed with this conversation which had crossed the line from innocent to dangerous as if being chased by fire. "Um, well, Moko-san, I'm sorry…" she trailed off.
Kanae took the opportunity of the speechless Kyoko to also be suspicious of the other statement she had made concerning their plans. "And what do you mean I should have called you yesterday? I tried. It's not my fault your phone was still off."
This so startled Kyoko that she immediately reached into her homemade bag for her cell phone. "It's still off? I thought I had turned it back on once I got here yesterday."
Kanae watched as the girl pulled out two phones, instantly replacing one of them before Kanae got a good look at it, and then stared at the other in disbelief.
"It really is off. How odd." Kyoko flipped it open and stared at the black screen. "When did I turn it off?"
Kanae said in a disappointed tone, "You didn't believe me."
"No, Moko-san. I did believe you," said Kyoko. "I just don't remember exactly when or why…" Suddenly a memory came back. "Oh."
"You remember now?"
She nodded, staring at the phone in her hand as if it had suddenly transformed into the President's pet anaconda, Natsuko.
"So what is causing you to be so busy that you don't have time for your best friend until next Wednesday?"
How to proceed, how to proceed... She had already let Yashiro-san in on the secret, which President heartily disapproved of. To be a pro actress, she must fool her friends before she could fool her enemies, and lead them through believing it must be someone else.
Wait a second. Fool her enemies? She could fool her enemies. If she was top notch, she'd be able to fool not only Kanae, but also Shotaro. That's it! That was the answer! All she had to do was envelop herself so much into Setsuka's character that nothing he did would break through her barriers. She had improved at character building, and Setsu was a lot more defined than the measly attempt of a Kogal classmate she had tried to disguise herself with in the beginning of the Prisoner PV.
First things first though. How best to fool Kanae?
"I'm going on location for a shoot," she replied confidently.
Kanae tilted her head. "Box-R is going on location?"
"Uh, no. Not Box-R." She didn't want to have Moko-san ask Amamiya-san randomly about it, and get ratted out. But what other project could she claim? She hadn't started even pre-production meetings for her next bully role, even though she had accepted one, hoping to be done with Box-R and Tragic Marker soon after it started.
"Kimagure Rock?" Kanae seemed even more skeptical.
"No. Definitely not," objected Kyoko automatically, before she realized that she wasn't officially working on any other regular project.
"Then who are you going on location with?" asked Kanae suspiciously.
The pretty actress wouldn't accept the fact that Kyoko had to keep it secret, that she was sure of. She could almost hear the threat now. I'm not going to talk to you for a year unless you share your secret with me. Nooo! MOKO-SAN! Kyoko got so lost in this possible outcome, she extended her arm to her friend, withering away before Kanae's wary gaze.
"Kyoko! Mo! Snap out of it!"
"Eh?" That's right. It hadn't happened yet. But just because that fact was true didn't mean it would never happen. "Moko-san, I'm sorry. I can't tell you about it quite yet. I'll tell you soon, though."
"Next Wednesday?"
Kyoko nodded, eager to get away from the dangerous conversation before she really spoiled things. She had just realized that she had promised a later and most likely total reveal to her best friend, but she had to tell Moko-san at some point, didn't she? And that was better than worrying the beautiful actress over nothing. Plus Tsuruga-san had mentioned that she could classify the Setsuka job as part of her "dangerous assignment" to help the other girls not worry about her so much.
"Fine." Kanae debated on pouting, but she had too much dignity to do that just to know things earlier. "So what is the deal with your phone?"
Kyoko frowned down at the electronic device in her hand. "Um, Moko-san, I'm gonna have to ask President for a new number."
Kanae stared in shock. "A new number? Again? Eh, why?"
Kyoko's frown had morphed into a full-on pout. "An evil cockroach keeps calling me."
An evil cockroach. Really? Sometimes Kyoko was just too strange. "Cockroach. I see," the actress said aloud, in spite of the fact that she had no clue what her friend was talking about. How in the world would there be a cockroach that could physically operate a phone? Oh. Hang on. It would make complete sense if... Yes. That must be it. Kanae felt relieved. Her childhood fake friend. She was hiding and lying about Fuwa Sho. That would be the only cause of something to hide from both Kanae and Tsuruga-san. Just like when she was debating over the Mio offer and Kanae had to forcibly drag the information out of her.
"Kyoko," Kanae began warily. "Did Fuwa Sho ask you to take part in another PV?"
"WHAT?" Kyoko's genuine shock and surprise overrode the chills at this newest close sneak-attack. "But, Moko-san, you know that I don't—I can't—Moko-san!"
"Kyoko, it's not good to hide your feelings this way."
"But—!"
"Or your jobs," finished Kanae sternly.
"—No, Moko-san!"
"No. I know the truth now. I've guessed it. You might as well just acknowledge the fact." Kanae faced her friend. "You accepted Fuwa Sho's PV and are freaking out on how to tell Tsuruga-san."
She opened and closed her mouth soundlessly. The problem Kyoko was facing in clearing up this misunderstanding was that Kanae's guess wasn't entirely incorrect. She would have to interact with Fuwa Sho, and it would be because of one of his PV's. She wasn't technically acting in it, though she was acting a complementary role to Ren's Cain Heel who was acting in the PV. Her freaking out over Tsuruga-san was a completely different and unrelated issue. Well, alright, not completely unrelated, however, that just sent her swirling into the darkness some more. How in the world could she explain something like this? Especially when parts of it are super top-secret. And especially to someone who thought that just because her phone happened to be off, she didn't want to sleep over last night? Kyoko pouted at this last thought. Before, she had been persistent, even to calling the Okami-san. If she had tried that last night, the message might have reached Kyoko in time.
"Fine. I'll tell you what I can tell you next Wednesday," Kyoko said steadily. Kanae seemed to accept this answer and walked off saying that she'd reserve a karaoke room for the two of them. Kyoko laughed, and agreed, reasoning to herself, that she might not be able to talk there about it, no matter how private those rooms were. Rumors always seemed to leak out so quickly.
However, if she could fool Moko-san, she could fool Shotaro. That thought brought such hope along with it. She knew the facts. He had known her for much longer than Moko-san or anyone in Tokyo, and he knew all her weak points, but even that time at the gas station... Yes, she'd been able to fool him then, just by changing her voice, and her haircut and color. Even at the start of the Prisoner PV job, she'd managed to hide her identity successfully until the salt incident and the Odette make-up.
Maybe by transforming herself into Setsuka, she could fully fool him and it wouldn't hurt anything at all. It couldn't harm the movie project, and it couldn't harm Tsuruga-san. In fact, it would make Tsuruga-san proud of her as a fellow actor. She just had to act as Setsu long enough for the filming to be done and that shouldn't take more than a day.
She would be Setsuka, she would fully immerse herself in the role. So much so that he would never break her out of character. It would have to be even better than the profile from Tragic Marker, because even then, she had trouble watching from Setsu's shoulder occasionally. She'd just have to envelop herself so much in the role, that not even Ren could break her out. She had to step up her game that much, and she would. Because this was the only way that she could protect the movie project, protect Tsuruga-san, and protect Cain Heel, her brother.
Kyoko suddenly glanced at the hanging clock. Good, her current mission was accomplished and she still had another hour before she needed to be at the studio, filming Box-R.
Sho looked at his phone in disgust and amazement. What in the world was going on with her? He had taken full advantage of the fact that Shoko had left him alone in the dressing room to go get some drinks before they wrapped up this particular CM by immediately calling Kyoko's number. Sho couldn't figure this out.
Foremost in his mind was her previous avoidance of his phone calls, because he still hadn't figured out how she'd deduced they were from him. The last time she'd answered his silent calls she'd suggested both Tsuruga and the Beagle, which was really annoying and caused him to break that rule of silence so she'd know it was him calling, but even the mistaken identity was not nearly as vexing as this absolute silence from her. What had he done that deserved the silent treatment?
Yes, he had gotten her rather riled when he had taken her to TBM, but that was really rather normal, all things considered. Completely and absolutely normal, for if he didn't make her angry, she wouldn't think of him so often. But that still didn't disguise the fact that he had tricked her into a date, of sorts.
He had to laugh softly to himself. Being Kyoko, she probably didn't think of that as a date, but that certainly was what Shoko had classified that interaction as being. It sounded nice, didn't it? A date with Kyoko.
What was he thinking! Sho pounded his head. Why would he have to try so hard to fight for a date with that plain, boring, childhood friend? Ugh. He was not a man in love. Surely not. He was not fantasizing about her at all.
And so the response he had just gotten was… odd, if anything. It wasn't like he had been expecting something to have happened. And if, if, something did, it certainly wouldn't be the way he was anticipating it. It was Kyoko after all.
However, hearing her yell, "No! No! No! Where's the off button? Turn it off! Turn it off!" immediately upon answering his call, which he had to assume was entirely accidental based on her reaction, was so unsatisfying. Even more than screaming at her in her voicemail.
So she certainly was realizing the calls were from him, even though he had checked and made sure his phone was concealing the caller id. Sho leaned back, tapping the phone against his chin, wondering if that was the precise reason she was successfully avoiding his calls. If he was the only one she didn't have the number saved for, she could avoid the calls by logical deduction. It didn't explain why she had answered all the calls prior to the silent treatment, but even if she had the number saved, Sho knew he wouldn't successfully reach her in any case.
The trials of a teenage heart.
No! No! Not his heart! No! Definitely not. This had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with making sure she would actually act in this PV.
So why couldn't he find her? She hadn't been to school in what seemed like ages. Fine, it was four days or so. And the last time Pochi mailed him and helped him nab her from running away. Sho sunk lower into his lazy posture, frowning. He had just remembered that the little puppy wouldn't spy for him again until he compensated with the kiss he had promised. How annoying. In some ways, she reminded him of the old Kyoko, and in others he wished he just still had the old Kyoko around. Though Pochi was more intriguing in some ways, he was really missing those pudding cups. And her bento boxes expertly prepared with all his favorites instead of the sweet tamagoyaki crap Pochi made him. It was torture receiving a bento box from Pochi.
Well, there was another thing he wanted to avoid thinking about. Bento boxes and Tsuruga receiving them. Definitely shouldn't think about that. It just brought back all his rotten imaginations from when he had heard they were filming Dark Moon together. The mental agony.
So, anyway, how could he figure out where she is? He couldn't show up randomly at LME, because if she was working her jobs there, he wouldn't be able to get a hold of her in any case. Somehow, there might be a chance she's at school, but Pochi's usually good at following through on the whole spy thing even without the reward.
As far as making sure that she is actually on set, that would be impossible. He had no clue where that new drama she's in is supposed to be filming. He had done a little snooping and found out the name was Box L or Box R or something like that. And it wasn't like he could do much else, as he was busy. He had interview after interview, another CM coming up after they wrapped this one, plus preparing his band for his sold-out concert later next month, and prepping for the PV.
But even that amount of work still left him free time.
He wasn't nearly as busy as they claimed both she and Tsuruga were. But just the fact that they were busy didn't really mean a whole lot, did it? When you came down on it, Sho probably put a couple hours into writing a song down, a bit more to polish it up, then a few days practicing before it was ready to record and put on the shelves. The whole process turned out a song that was three to five minutes long. That was the life of a musician. An actor probably spent days and months on a two-hour long movie, and longer on the dramas. So when you put the time in proportion, it was easier to skip ahead of the game and straight to the top of the entertainment industry as a musician.
He sighed. Why did he have this innate sense that a rejection was coming? Was it because she'd just shouted that at his phone call? He'd known she had been ignoring him, but purposefully turning it off so that he couldn't even register a message for her was driving him insane. Admittedly all he would probably do in the message would be to take some frustration out and yell at her. And also personally invite her to work in his PV. No, not invite… challenge her. Yes, challenge her to take part in the PV.
Miruki was being annoying about trying to avoid offering her the job. So what if she had a point as far as his scenes with her needing to be redone just because he hadn't remembered to close his eyes. It was irritating! Both she and Shoko kept harping on that time and again whenever he brought up possibly asking Kyoko back for another PV. He did not become a musician to be critiqued about his expression. And he was a good musician. That was his strong point. Let nobodies like that pin-head actor, and that plain shape-shifting demon control their expressions. He didn't have to all the time.
Then why was he so frustrated? He had stopped himself from going over to the Daruma-ya and checking on her at night. She thinks he never paid attention to her, but he knows her all too well. He knew precisely where she would go as soon as he pulled out of that mansion apartment. But quite honestly, it would be quite a distance to walk all the way from Shoko's apartment. Which was a good restraint most days. If only he could guarantee that she would be there, he'd make Shoko stop off there… randomly… for a meal of some sort. Although traditional Japanese restaurants always got on his nerves, reminding him too much of home. Must be why Kyoko likes them so much. She was made for that world.
The memory of his parents and the ryokan was enough to keep him away from most traditional restaurants. But the Daruma-ya he could see himself going into, perhaps. If only to prove that his fan base is larger than she'll ever reach. If only he could make certain she was there and safe from that monster of an actor.
Dark Moon was finished, though, and that was a relief. The two wouldn't be working so closely together anymore. And Kyoko had a ways to go before she reached Sho's level, let alone thought herself worthy of Tsuruga's league. And she will never reach that goal. Never.
"Sho!" called Shoko's voice.
Sho jerked up, surprised. "What is it?"
Shoko looked worn out, as she set down on the table the papers she had been carrying. "I've been calling you for the last five minutes."
"Really? Odd." He shrugged, dismissing the rebuke. "What did you need, Shoko?"
Warily, Shoko began with the inevitable news. "We've heard from LME."
Her charge noticeably perked up, straightening even further into a sitting position. "Oh, you have, have you?"
"Yes. Kyoko-chan won't be able to work in the PV." Shoko nervously eyed her charge, sure this information would turn him into a demon for sure.
Sho sighed, and slumped back. Rejection. He had known that this was coming. "And why not?" he asked shortly. What excuse had she come up with?
"Because she has a job conflict."
"Job conflict?" Sho parroted. He shrugged. "You did tell the agency we could just film on another day… right? One that works for her highness?"
"Apparently, that won't work. Our antagonist—Mr. Heel, I believe is his name—is only available that day."
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" burst out Sho, sounding for all the world like a spoiled brat. "He has no other days available?"
"No," confirmed Shoko. "Oh, and he will be bringing a translator with him."
The musician looked at his manager as if she were the one speaking a foreign language. "Why would he need that?"
Shoko let out a little giggle, partly in relief at the fact that her charge hadn't exploded in rage and anger, and partly at the agency's own folly. "Without really knowing it, we managed to hire an Englishman."
"What?"
"Yes, he's English. He does have Japanese heritage, but he's only in Tokyo to film a movie called Tragic Marker. Which was one of the reasons he only has that day free."
"I see… " Those were the only words he could spit out without showing his frustration too openly. He mentally swore. All his efforts to get in touch with her had been worth nothing. Even his efforts on making sure she would be the heroine for this song would be worthless. He had been trying to create the proper environment, and without Kyoko this play-by-play for the PV wouldn't have the same effect. So why should he commit himself to those ideas if Kyoko wasn't going to be in it? He certainly didn't want to do that one scene with a different actress.
That was the problem with writing love songs. There was always a girl involved in the PV. Or two girls. It had helped his image, the picture of two girls fighting over him. This really was the first time they were doing things with a male antagonist. However, with Kyoko not being there, it didn't feel worth the effort to have the kiss scene or all the princessy nonsense. That was made purely to torture her, since he knew how irresistible she found all of that fairy tale stuff.
"Sho? Is everything okay?" came Shoko's worried voice, cutting into his thoughts once more. "Asami-san was able to locate another actress for your PV."
"Fine," he dismissed immediately, really not interested now that the conversation had moved from his childhood friend. "Great."
Well, Kyoko was busy, was she? He sighed. How was he going to locate her now?
"Sho, we need to go. You'll be going on soon."
"Ah. Yes."
During Box-R's lunch break, while the five girls were conversing, Kyoko gave a little sneeze, unintentionally interrupting Makino's story about something that had happened the previous day on set.
"Kyoko-san, you're not coming down with a cold are you?" teased Chiori, smiling.
Kyoko laughed in response. "I hope not."
Makino grinned and added her support. "Nacchan really doesn't seem like the type of girl that could just get sick."
"That's true." Kyoko acknowledged. Though what she really couldn't imagine was catching a cold while she was playing Setsu, and needing Cain to take care of her. She shuddered, resolving not to catch a cold, no matter what.
At the next break in the conversation, Chiori suddenly dropped her chopsticks and said, "Kyoko-san! I almost forgot to tell you! Yoshimoto-san informed me of a job offer this morning."
"Really?" inserted Rumi.
"What kind of job, Chiorin?" asked Makino.
"Oh? Did you accept?" Kyoko was surprised and a little confused. While she felt pleased that Amamiya-san was excited about her work, this sort of went against the reason she felt it was necessary to wear the pink curse at LME, didn't it? Was Amamiya-san going to be in and out of the Love-Me section much faster than either she or Moko-san?
"Yes. It's a PV," Chiori said, smiling at Kyoko's blatantly confused face. Really, that girl was so oblivious to the transparency of her own reactions sometimes. "Actually, the reason I'm excited about it, is I get to follow in my sempai's footsteps a little more."
"Chiorin, who are you talking about?" asked Rumi.
"My sempai in the Love Me Section, of course," said Chiori smiling sweetly as she gazed steadily across the table.
Kyoko flushed. "Amamiya-san…" she started to protest humbly, trying to gently correct the girl who, in spite of living fifteen years in the entertainment world, insisted on calling her, the newbie talento of only a year, sempai.
"It's alright, Kyoko-san," said Chiori. "This PV should raise me closer to your level, after all. I've been in a V-cine before, but you've only done the one PV, correct?"
"Well, yes," mumbled Kyoko. She didn't like to think about that particular PV any more than she had to. To think, she'd soon be going back into that environment and fooling Asami-san and Shoko-san as well as Shotaro this next time. They of course would see only Setsuka-chan. And her older brother, Cain. It was worrying though. She didn't want to have to break up a fight between Nii-san and Sho. Hopefully the two had enough professionalism to get through the day without fighting.
"And to participate in a PV with the same artist that Kyoko-san did is a great honor, ne?" Chiori had continued.
Kyoko froze. Please, no. Same artist? Surely not. That fool of an idiot couldn't have hired Chiori as his actress in the PV, right? This could not be happening.
A chill in the lunchroom caused the temperature to suddenly fall to the subzero range, sending chills through everyone. Some of the crew members commented on the abrupt drop, while looking around for the air conditioning unit controls.
"You'll work with which artist?" Kyoko checked, just to make sure she had heard properly.
"The singer, Fuwa Sho."
At the sound of his name, her demons launched and started to circle the table where the girls were sitting, the atmosphere interrupting the congratulations the other girls were giving Chiori for the offer, and Rumi-chan started to shiver harder.
"What shall we do, Mistress?"
"She said the idiot's name, and was excited to work in his PV."
"But it wouldn't really be fair to curse her, after all, we will be in the fool's presence as well."
"If it isn't Amamiya-san, it will only be some other poor unfortunate soul."
"What should we do, Mistress?"
"Then," Kyoko paused, evaluating. Chiori didn't fall into the usual categories of Shotaro's interests. So she should be safe enough from the true attentions of that playboy. "Show that idiot your professional dedication."
"Eh?" asked Makino.
"Did Kyoko-san just call someone a baka?" whispered Rumi-chan in shock. "Is she Nacchan right now?"
"I don't think so," muttered Sudo, shuddering. "She's giving off rather a Mio aura right now, don't you think?"
"Ah, I see what you mean," agreed Rumi. "Although the chill has finally died somewhat now."
Ignoring the other girls, Chiori nodded, determined. "Don't worry about me. I can do that much."
Kyoko nodded in return. The other girls continued to chat, but she fell into her silent musings.
This was awful, Kyoko moaned to herself. Not that she begrudged Amamiya-san her work offer. Of course she didn't. But Kyoko would be on set as Setsuka-chan, with Cain, Sho, and Chiori. The only good thing was that she had time to mentally prepare. How in the world did she get herself into these kinds of messes? There might be something after all to what Tsuruga-san had said about teasing gods.
Oh, and she still somehow has to hide her feelings from Tsuruga-san himself.
Let this part of the day be a bad dream.
That would be wonderful.
But the bad dream idea was definitely a flight of fancy. This was her life after all.
So, not only would she have to stay true to Setsuka for Tsuruga-san's identity to be protected, she would have to fool Shotaro, Shoko, Asami-san, and Amamiya-san. And fooling Chiori was going to be really hard. Would it be harder than fooling Shotaro? Maybe not. Chiori didn't know her that well, yet. Her eyes suddenly widened in horror at a sudden memory. She knows Kyoko has a connection to someone with Setsu's style. She had caught her buying the ero-kawa underwear for Setsu after all.
Would Chiori make that connection from the vague description of Setsu that she had given at the time? Did she actually have enough information to pierce through the armour of Setsu? Kyoko breathed deeply, glad she had found this out before the crucial day. It was possible to fix that oversight.
Basically, Kyoko had to make sure there was a background prepared where Setsu had met Kyoko through Love Me work. She didn't even have to bring it up, unless Amamiya-san said something to her, but it would be good to have something prepared. Would she have time to warn Ren about this development? She would see him late tonight, but only as Cain. It was troublesome, to say the least, to think of a way Setsu had information that only was told to Kyoko.
Maybe she could cook him dinner tonight… No, thinking over his maniac schedule as Tsuruga Ren during Cain Heel's off-days he would be lucky if he had enough time to eat a bento in between shoots. It was worrying to her, but she couldn't possibly go find him and make him eat tonight. She'd be on the Box-R set herself tonight until it was time to change into the Heel siblings. And in a way, Kyoko was glad. It would be a while before she could pretend to interact normally with Tsuruga-san outside of their roles. Yesterday she judged to be more of a fluke.
She couldn't warn Tsuruga-san, but at least she knew she wasn't dealing with Nanokura Mimori again. That was a relief.
Hm, so might as well focus on that back story. How does Setsu know Kyoko? What kind of Love-Me job would the young girl ask Kyoko to do?
Well, fact was, she did meet Cain Heel as part of Love Me work. Hm, if Setsu had existed at that moment outside of Kyoko, where would she have been?
"Rumi-chan, everyone, we're ready for scene 51," the assistant director announced, preventing her from speculating further.
"Ah, yes," was the general murmur of assent.
"You make the most interesting expressions when you're silently thinking, Kyoko-san," commented Chiori in a low voice as everyone filed back into the studio. "It makes me wonder what you were thinking about."
"Oh, that," Kyoko giggled nervously. "Nothing really. Just freaking myself out."
"Alright," Chiori accepted easily. "Ready, Nacchan?"
"Ready, Yumika."
A/N: Thanks for the marvelous response to the first three chapters! And sorry for the late update on this one. I kept being vaguely dissatisfied with it without really knowing what I wanted to change. So hopefully this version works the way I want it to. And next chapter is the PV!
Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading! And tell me if you like it. ^_^