I have come back to merge chapters and correct some mistakes. So if you already read it, the new stuff will start in chapter 11
Chapter 7: Jumping between worlds
Happy thoughts, now, happy thoughts, think about ways to make fun of Kuon that won't get Tsuruga involved...
Even though the filming is really depressing I can't be sad in between. That would really make me miserable. What can I do to tease…
"Hana-san, you really were serious about not talking to me if I didn't stop about Kuu?"
I sigh, that guy is really annoying. Unfortunately he is playing the brother closest to my character, so I can't avoid him much.
"Of course she was serious, you are really annoying, Murasame-san." Makino saves me.
"Besides she probably wants to recover from 'killing' you." Yuka adds.
"Yeah, even though it was only the rehearsal it was scary." Murasame agrees.
"It's just normal stunting, but I guess you are not used to it."
It really is only stunting, the knife blades are all dull and they slide back in the hilt as soon as there is a little pressure. I will have to do my best to burst the blood bags for the real take.
"Alright, everybody, I want to see emotions here. There are not many lines so your actions and expressions must speak for you. Murasame, as Dari, you are begging Maiko, your sister, 'wife', and precious lover to kill you and the family. I want to see the desperation of all those long everlasting years.
Hiro, Tame is watching his lifelong companion kill his family. But at the same time he wishes for that. He keeps silent, to make it easier for Maiko. I want to see his struggle to overrule his survival instincts.
Yuka, Makino, even though Nana and Ella are the first to 'die' you also know that struggle. They are both afraid, but also want to die. I don't want to see acceptation on your face. Dying is always scary, and the fact that your sister is coming for you makes it both worse and better. And the same goes for you Yuzuru, Dani isn't waiting for his fate but also embracing it. He just saw his soulmate die before his eyes after all.
Hana, Maiko is killing the bodies of those who have been her family for thousands of years. Make that distinction. You are telling yourself that it is for their own good. They want to die, to 'sleep' after their never ending story. We might do a voiceover for that but it would be better if you manage to show it on your face.
The rehearsal was good, but the focus wasn't on the expressions then. I don't mind if you deviate from the script if it conveys the emotions better.
Okay, then if nobody has questions you can take your places."
Director Nori finishes his speech, but before anyone can move Sora raises his hand. We have grown accustomed to this, since he is never able to make himself audible over all the noise in the studio. In a few seconds it is completely silent in the studio, and Sora starts to speak.
"Even though Dari is the one to speak up, everyone is actually waiting for Maiko. She is the leader of the group. She initiates everything, always, and everyone reacts to that. It is probably the most important scene in the series, this shapes Maiko for the rest of her existence. She willingly kills her best friends and self-chosen family."
Great, now the pressure on me is even bigger. Only a bit more and it is as bad as when I went to confront Kuon.
Actually, maybe that's what I need. In that situation I was 'killing Corn', so it is a bit similar.
I keep the feeling and slip into Maiko and wait for the director to start the scene.
"Places, light, okay… And action."
I walk to our last room, this world is coming to an end. Even though my brothers and sisters can't feel the worlds breath like me, they will have noticed the signs. They have seen it before.
As I come closer I hear their voices through the door.
"Even the wars have grown tired, if we don't leave we will be caught up in the end."
"Maybe that is what we want. You must feel it too Tame, this has been too much."
I open the door, the first ones I see are Daniella. Like always they seem two pieces of perfect unison, so nobody calls them Dani and Ella anymore, they're just Daniella. Opposite of them I see Tame, he is arguing, but seems lost and alone. Nana stands close to him but her stance says clearly that she is siding with Daniella in this, otherwise she would have a loving arm around Tame. Their romance still hasn't waned after all those centuries.
I look around, not wanting to break the awkward silence, that has come over the room with my entry.
There, in the far corner of the room Dari rises. His stance is affected by the pressure, his former days as fighter prince are unusually clear in his movements.
"You are back, I missed you milady." He greets me.
"What is happening here, milord?" I ask him.
He looks at Tame, so I also address him "My first love?"
Tame doesn't take it.
"That was long ago, sister. Too long."
He doesn't speak further and the silence continues to press on our ears.
Then Dari embraces me, speaking softly in my ear.
"We are tired, humans define living as the period between birth and death.
Since there is no death for us…
We want to say we have lived…
and…"
His voice breaks, and I can guess what he wants to say next. But I wait, for it is something I don't want to think of.
"… and we want to leave the memories."
As he finishes the tension grows until it is almost suffocating. Dari steps back to look me in my eyes.
"Please, Maiko. Kill us. When this world ends we will all be gone, forever."
I embrace him again, not saying anything. I have thought of this many times, it is not fair to drag them with me in my curse of never ending.
I look at Tame, even in his eyes I can see the wish for peace, but he tries to hide it. I grip the hilt of Dari's knife, strengthening my resolve. As I raise my hand I hear Nana, she makes a choking noise. I'm not sure it is fear, sadness or joy. Fearing that she might stop me from 'freeing' everyone I jump towards her, pushing Dari to the ground. I stab her into her heart and then stuff the knife into her brains, giving her memories no chance to transfer to a new-born. Daniella run towards me, and I grab Nana's knife to deliver it to Ella's heart and brains.
I am now on auto pilot, not allowing myself to think about the terrible things I force myself to do.
Dani is on the ground before I can take his knife, so I have to kneel next to him to get it. That forces me to look at his face, it is a strange mix of relief and fear. I jerk my head the other way, only to be greeted by Dari's similar expression.
"Thank you." He whispers the moment I pierce his heart, and then the dams holding my tears break. I barely manage to stab again, with sheer luck I reach his head.
It was a mistake to leave him to be the last.
No, it is a bigger mistake that I left Tame till the very end. He has been my first friend, then lover and now brother for longer than anyone can imagine.
I look up and sweep away my tears, but I still feel them burning on my cheeks. Tame holds out his knife for me, his eyes are averted. I know he wants to join Nana, but I am not able to lift my hands. The guilt is nearly killing me.
"Finish your dance, you always do." He states, knowing I need to find my strength again.
Those words kill me inside, but I do as I was told. Like a puppet I rise and mechanically I pierce Tame's heart and head.
Only then I grab my own knife, stabbing it in my stomach. After so many years I know where my powers are concentrated. As the magic runs loose in my system I almost collapse from the burning pain. With sheer willpower I steer my hands to my heart, while forming a spell that will force them with the knife to my head after that. I don't want to remember, nothing from this room should come out.
As the knife reaches my heart, the magic roars. It doesn't want to die. My eyes close just before I can see the knife that my hands are positioning before my eyes.
I drop Maiko, concentrating on the stunt. As the knife comes down I make sure it scrapes my brow first, letting the blade slide in the hilt. Then I squeeze my eyes around the hilt, allowing it to remain stuck in the make-up. Only then I fall down, concentrating on every muscle that I have to move. Right now I want to crawl into a corner and cry. Behind my closed eyes I see my state after Kuon left.
I wait for the director to call cut. A tear tickles down my cheek, I want to sweep it away but I have to leave it until the scene ends.
"Cut. Everyone stay in position. We are shooting the discovery right now."
"Discovery scene, take one. Action."
The people behind the door are talking, but I can't react. Maiko is supposed to be unconscious now, barely alive.
The scream that escapes when the door opens is hard to ignore. I twitch before I can stop myself, and the knife falls. That draws another scream from the woman outside the room.
"Is there someone alive?" A tentative voice asks.
Sliding into Maiko again I groan, I don't want to be alive. If I am that means that the magic won again. Within a second there is someone at my side, checking my vitals.
I sit up, surprising the physician who just wanted to declare my near dead state. I open a portal, I don't want to stay in this world even a second longer. Then I walk away from the scene. The people in the room go on like I never was there.
Voiceover: The portal makes sure the people will forget about me. People can't deal with supernatural stuff, their mind automatically shuts down if they see something they deem impossible. No one will remember me. No one will know what the dead bodies meant, I am alone with my guilt.
"Okay, that's a wrap."
"Good evening everyone! We are getting ready for another Yappa Kimagure Rock."
"Today we have two special guests, from the promising new series 'The alien next door'."
"The man behind the whole story, Wakahisa Sora-san. And the lead, you may know her as the ghost of Ring-Doh, Hana-san."
And with those words Bo tugs us onto the stage, holding our hands up in a cheer. I don't mind but Sora isn't used to an enthusiastic audience. If only Nori wasn't double booked, he would be the one with me here.
"Thank you for your amazing welcome. We are happy to be here."
As we sit down I rehearse the names again, Shinichi, Hikaru and on the right is Yuusei. Hikaru starts with the 'small talk'.
"I watched the first episode yesterday. I thought it's ending was really strange."
"Yeah, I didn't think you would start with the end." Yuusei adds.
Out of habit Sora starts to raise his hand, I nudge him and give him a microphone.
"No, this is the start. The show is about Maiko living incognito, this is the reason she does that."
"I hope you weren't too busy to watch the teaser trailer at the end. There you see Maiko leave the world though the portal." I add, teasing the boys a bit.
"We did, so it is the start?" Shinichi bites, which has me smiling. He will be fun to tease later.
"Yes, from the next episode we go to this world. The story is really about Maiko trying to fight the magic that cursed her with immortality. She basically got too strong to remain mortal. She found her family and that soothed her for a bit. But now they quit, and she had to send them off. After they die she goes to our world and lives here in the hope that the magic will leave her at the same time as it leaves this world.
Now she moves every twenty years to restart a 'normal' life. But she will always stand out because of her gifts and the fact that she doesn't age." Sora explains.
"Wow, restarting life every twenty years? Does that mean will we see more marriages or flashbacks? Wasn't it strange to marry three times?"
I laugh at Hikaru's remark.
"No, for Maiko there were thousands of years between them. She had been with Tame for as long as she could remember. So even though they were introduced as 'young' husband and wife they already thought of each other as brother and sister. They had been together for thousands of years then, so they introduced themselves as brother and sister in the fighter world.
There she met Dari and the love sparked again. He married her and Maiko was happy again for a while. He is still the one who is closest to Maiko. Nana also comes from that world centuries later, she is Tame's joy.
Daniella, sorry, Dani and Ella came from a world where you only could leave your community though marriage. So to help them get together we, Maiko and Dari, held two show marriages. Every bond is different so it wasn't strange at all. Besides, Maiko's magic is a bit erratic. Although it is strong enough to cover the portal transporting them between the different worlds, it is easier if the ones using the portal are close to her."
"Squawk!" Bo interrupts me, flapping around like he is afraid of going through a portal, amusing everyone in the studio. I laugh because I can imagine Kyoko in fairy land underneath the suit.
"You are totally right Bo. We need to re-watch the show, since we missed so much."
My attention is back on the show with Hikaru's joke. Then Yuusei takes over.
"Wakahisa-san did you have a fixed image of the series before it started, or did the actors make it come alive?"
Next to me I feel Sora shy away, but his voice is as steady as always when he answers.
"I always write my scripts with a film playing in my head, so sometimes I am a bit disappointed at first when my brother films. But it helped that the lead actress is the one that ignited the idea from the start."
"Really? How long have you been acting then Hana-san. I can't imagine the idea for 'The alien next door' is as young as Ring-Doh."
"No, it was a scene from my first movie that the Wakahisa brothers showed as reference. I filmed that movie eight years ago in America."
This amazes all of them.
"You have been an actress for eight years?"
But I can only manage to nod as an answer because Bo chooses that moment to come out with the eggs.
Bo stops before me and offers me the basket. I pick one and break it open, then Hikaru picks up the paper and reads the question.
"Which role did you like the most?"
"From all my roles? That would be Ashley, my debut role we were just talking about. If I have to choose between the ghost in Ring-Doh and Maiko, I like Maiko more. Her story is so complicated, it is a really interesting role."
"Have you had many roles in America, aside from Ashley?" Yuusei asks.
"I have played in a lot of movies but usually as a stunt double or in a stunt role like Ashley, but those were only small parts. My first 'big' role was in Ring-Doh."
Then Bo steps in again and puts the basket before me.
I look at the eggs, trying to see where the tricky questions are. They eggs look all the same, so I just have to be lucky. When I break the egg this time Shinichi picks up the paper.
"If you could choose any guy to be your boyfriend, who would you choose?"
I laugh, this counts as a tricky question for most people, but I don't have to offend anyone.
"For now I can't choose. I made a bet with a few friends back in America. We always bet blind dates, and I lost, so I have to wait till they set me up with someone."
"You bet blind dates?"
Everyone in the studio has the same surprised expression, not only Shinichi who asked.
"Yeah, everyone except me came into the group because they broke up with their boyfriend. Then we thought that we could help everyone to a new boyfriend if we set up blind dates. If someone already has a new boyfriend we just have a pretend blind date, then the boy knows it is just for a bet."
"So you don't have a boyfriend?"
"No."
As soon as I say it Bo is on his knees in front of me, looking up in a pleading way. I laugh, even though it is just a mask Kyoko's manners make it seem like it changes expression.
"I am sorry, Bo. I could help you if you want to apply for a blind date though."
Bo rises but still looks questioning. I laugh again
"I am not sure it will be me, it is a blind date."
After that Bo looks defeated and he grabs the basket again.
Now it is Yuusei's turn to read the question.
"You are from America. Why did you come to Japan to start acting, and do you like it here?"
"I came here when I got the offer for Ring-Doh, really liked the role since it was more towards acting than my usual roles. Now I am staying here because I like this county. Besides, here I can act in roles that are not necessarily stunt roles. In America I was known for stunting, so it was hard to restart my career as an actress. Here in Japan I am relatively new so I can start in a different way."
"You speak Japanese fluently, I wouldn't have guessed that you weren't from Japan." Shinichi says, even though he knows my story, but we agreed he would act ignorant.
"I only moved to America when I was nine, and I was raised bilingual because my parents have a hotel. So I know both English and Japanese as my native language."
"Impressive, do you speak another language too?"
"Only bits and pieces, because of the hotel I know greetings in most languages. I know a little more about Dutch, French, and Russian because my friends learned it."
"Squawk." Bo interrupts.
"I am sorry, Bo, I should have included the chicken language…"
With that everyone in the studio is laughing.
After it calmed down Bo gestures that it is time for the next part of the show, survival island. This time Sora will be the one taking most of it, since they have invited a few story tellers. Sora has to do a line battle story with them. Everyone adds one line to the story, if they can't produce a line within 30 seconds they are out of the game.
It is really funny, in fact I laugh so much that I can barely follow the story.
I am still laughing when I wait for Kyoko to finish changing. I won't be able to think about polka-dots, elephants or swings ever again without laughing. I knew Sora could think of amazing stories, I read his script, but this was really funny.
Then Kyoko comes out and we leave the studio.
"How is it going with your shooting?"
Kyoko asks as soon as she sees me. I see Hikaru turning back as he realizes Kyoko hasn't even seen him as she ran towards me.
"It is going well. I really like the high school, and college scenes. It is different from high school in America but still the same. You also started filming with Dark Moon, didn't you?"
"Yes, somehow director Ogata liked my Mio. And Tsuruga-san wasn't angry that I ran to find her."
I laugh, her expression now is the same as two weeks before. She was so scared that I would be angry about her strange voicemails and her being in Fuwa's PV. I smile again thinking of her strange ways of explaining her role as an angel. Kyoko looks at me warily, she probably expects me to be angry again, even though I wasn't angry then.
"You seriously ran? Why? Actually I am really curious about your interpretation now."
"You are also not angry?"
Laughing again I tell her I'm really not angry. On the way home she tells me about the curse of Mio. It is too soon that we have to split ways, she lives in a different part of town after all.
As I walk into the studio a stagehand approaches me and leads me to director Nori.
"Hana-san, I want to confirm that we will be going on location in a next week. You said you didn't have any other jobs that we need to accommodate for?"
"No I haven't. You have decided where are we going?"
"We are going to Okinawa, can you believe it! We will be shooting on the most dreamy beach of Japan!" Yuka calls from behind me.
"We are shooting the holiday scenes on the beach and we also found a night-club there. The club is perfect for the party in the 'faking an alien'-episode."
I am confused, I haven't heard of that episode yet. It must have been clear on my face since the director tells me to find Sora to get the new scripts.
"Okay, attention everyone. We will be shooting scene 37 next, the moment Maiko arrived in this world. It is a flashback so we will be fading out faces, so all extra's just be there for the crowd.
Hana-san, we will be editing this between the scene where she is writing her history essay about witchcraft in Europe."
I nod, we already filmed that scene, so I have to make sure the emotions are mirroring that scene. I walk towards my spot and kneel, the camera angle will make it look like I appear out of thin air when I stand.
"Action!"
I 'land' in the middle of a crowd. I quickly wipe away my tears, I don't want to attract attention. It is best if I 'forget' my siblings as fast as possible. If I remember I could force their memories back, into their reincarnations. Then they will be caught in my immortality curse again.
Looking for a distraction I turn towards the man next to me. Asking why they have gathered here is announcing I am not from here so I can't ask that.
"Excuse me, could you switch places with me? I can't see it clearly here."
His reaction is not as I expected. First he looks at me strangely and then he eagerly changes places with me.
"You actually want to see the burning?"
"Yes, it's better to see it than to fear something went wrong." I say, trying to be as vague as possible to allow him to put in his own interpretation.
"I can't stand those witch burnings. But I agree it is better than having a witch roam free, you never know who she will curse next." He grumbles, telling me everything I need to know.
As the witch walks to the pyre I am suddenly scared. I recognize the aura of a fairly gifted magician. Only then I notice this is one of the few worlds where the magic is vanishing long before the world ends. Maybe I will also lose my magic if I stay here.
Then the woman looks straight at me, and leaves no doubt that her last words are for me.
"I warn you, stories travel far through magic. Milady, the dancer, will hear and she won't approve of this killing. Prepare to dance! Please milady, the magic is dying here!"
I look at her with sad eyes, I can't stop these witch-hunts. It is part of the fading of magic.
"Cut, that's a wrap."
"Hana-san, you have a message on your phone. Someone with an unknown number called you during the shoot." Makino tells me as I leave the stage.
Why would the president call me today? Does he want to make sure I really don't connect Kuon to Tsuruga? Walking into LME I see someone in a high school uniform sitting on the stairs. It is a strange sight so I get closer. Then behind her Kuon is coming closer. Yes, he is mostly Kuon, since Tsuruga won't have such emotions on his face. I stop a little before I reach them, not hidden enough to be accused of eavesdropping but far enough not to interrupt. I want to see what Kuon is doing. While Kyoko is talking to Yashiro he seems to realize his face is slipping and starts to correct it, only to fail when Yashiro suddenly pulls him into the conversation. I only catch something about lunch, and seeing the box in Kyoko's hands I assume she made Tsuruga lunch. So they made up, well Kyoko got over their not-fight about Mio two weeks ago. Although now she seems to be unsure about the lunch. I almost want to run over and knock the idiot to the right state of mind. Now is not the time to be expressionless. Big fool, you have to show her you care. Then again, he never really fell in love, so he probably doesn't know any…
There, that is a real smile! Way to go, even though it still is a somewhat Tsuruga smile, I can hope that Kuon can return to 'Corn' with his fairy princess, just like I hoped five years ago.
A fangirl squeal pulls me out of my thoughts.
"Kyoko, that is wonderful!"
Kyoko doesn't look happy so I walk towards the trio, and catch Yashiro's "But better watch out."
Both Kyoko and I reply "Watch out for what?"
Yashiro, still in fangirl mode, replies to me,
"Ren just asked for Kyoko's time and body for tonight! Kyaa."
As he is talking Ren/Kuon shoots him a dark look and then Kuon's attention is on me. I am not scared of his anger, I return it with an even darker look.
"That is not something a GENTLEMAN should say."
"Sorry, don't tell…"
"Ku-reep, you are 20."
And with that I walk away. If I stay a second longer we would expose Kuon. This routine is too familiar, after every break-up that Kuon didn't understand he would ask me advice. It would usually turn out that I had to scold him for some behaviour and he would ask me not to tell his mom about this 'last' affair. I sigh, luckily I managed to stop myself from saying his name out loud. Thank the Japanese sound system, maybe I will keep calling him creep, it might save me again sometime…
"Thank you for responding Hana-kun."
The voice calls me to attention and then I notice the room. I can only nod as an answer because, really, there should be a limit to this office. How does he make it look like an enormous hall in ancient China now?
"Would you help me out? I need an independent judge, tomorrow."
I hesitate, personally being chosen as a judge by the president isn't necessarily a good thing I have learned.
"A judge for what?"
"O, just an acting test. You are free, so I will send someone to pick you up tomorrow."
It doesn't sound like I have anything to say in this. Besides if it is just an acting test, it can't be that bad if I have to judge a newcomer.
A/N: Okay, this is for everyone who wanted to know more about Hana's series. Yeah, if I am writing stories on my own I can be pretty cruel...
On a more positive note, thanks to Kumioko and MyLuckTookAWalk for helping me with the question eggs. Nothing more to say, except for the standard disclaimer. Well here it is: I don't own Skip Beat.
And thank you for reading.
