Advent

Day 8 – 17 days to go

Filming I

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Kyoko yawned widely. She was pleasantly warm in the back seat of one of the company's luxury cars.

Apparently when you had a high profile gig you got chauffeured to and from the filming site in style by either your manager or if you didn't have one of those then a company employee.

Kyoko wasn't complaining though.

She had had to get up even earlier than usual so that she could get to L.M.E. with enough time to then get driven to the shoot.

Wherever it was.

Her driver looked at her in the rear view mirror and she stifled her next yawn and smiled sheepishly at him.

That's right! She was at work now!

She had to act professional!

Even if, technically, she wasn't exactly at work this very minute.

She sighed and looked out the window.

The traffic was becoming heavy as it was around this time that everyone set off for work but it was light enough that the car that she was in was still able to move quite fast through the city.

The scenery sped by in a long grey blur.

Every now and then the greyness was punctuated with green which soon became the dominant colour as they moved further and further away from the inner city sprawl and into the countryside.

Every so often Kyoko had to wipe the condensation from the inside of the steamed up window

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The sun was just beginning to rise in an explosive burst of colour as she arrived at her destination.

The car slowed down and stopped on the edge of a cluster of trailers and camera equipment.

Film crew and other people were dotted about in the cold morning air, chatting to each other and sipping from cups that steamed in the cold morning air.

Kyoko could see the area that they were about to start filming in already set up a fair distance away by a small cluster of trees.

The shoot was in the middle of nowhere but it maximised on space.

Getting out of the car, Kyoko stood, shivering slightly and rubbing her arms to try to generate more heat, her breath clouding around her face.

She was slightly unsure of where to go as she had only seen a picture of the director to pick him out of the crowd.

The chilly air was a stark contrast to the cars heated interior.

It was when she was just beginning to believe that she wasn't supposed to be there that the director spotted her and waved her over.

Glad to find the one face she recognised she hurried over, the movement banishing the chill from her cold limbs.

"Kyoko! Welcome! I'm so glad you accepted!!

Kyoko smiled, she already liked this director. He was so friendly and polite.

"You know the part was written with you in mind. I think you'll be perfect in it!"

Kyoko tried to fight down a blush before she embarrassed herself. Even so a small amount of pink tinged her cheeks.

"Oh, um, thank you!"

The director smiled.

"So, did you manage to read the whole script? What did you think of it?"

Kyoko thought for a moment of all the snatched minutes that she had actually paused and memorised her lines.

She had managed to do it all but it was disjointed, even to her.

"Yes. I've read it through. It sounds like a very romantic story."

"Was there anything that you thought was missing? I feel there is something but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe you could tell me? A fresh perspective never hindered anything."

"Well…"

There had been something. She had noticed it as she read through the last scene.

"It doesn't seem to climax."

She watched as the director frowned and tried to explain it better.

"You have the couple, and they get together and it's full of Christmassy goodness, but I think…"

She paused to ruffle through her copy of the script.

"Here! When the prince finally catches up to her after that huge misunderstanding. It doesn't seem to climax properly there."

The director moved over to seem where about she was talking in the script.

"Yes…I can kind of see what you mean. Well what do you suggest?"

She closed her eyes and tried to picture the scene.

"Well…there's been a huge misunderstanding and the princess has tried and failed to correct it. And now the price has finally realised what has happened and that he might have lost his one true love forever. It just doesn't seem right that all he does when he finally catches up to her is hug her and whisper into her ear how sorry he is."

Kyoko was so caught up in trying to describe what she felt that she didn't notice that the director was silent beside her, almost hanging off her every word.

"…If I was him…I'd think that he would be so relieved to see that she hasn't gone forever that the rush of emotions would be to much and he wouldn't be able to talk or explain. And to stop her from going any further the only thing he could do would be to pour out every one of those emotions into a kiss."

She opened her eyes and realised that the director was staring at her.

She blushed.

"And then I'd have him hold her close and whisper in her ear."

Silence followed after she had finished and Kyoko was beginning to feel that she may have overstepped her mark when the director's face broke out into a huge smile.

"Brilliant! You're completely right! That is what's missing!"

Kyoko was stunned into silence. Had the director actually taken what she had thought to heart?

Apparently so as he was now gleaming with renewed vigour.

"I'm going to take this straight back to the script writers!"

He abruptly turned and seemingly bounced off towards where Kyoko supposed the writers were.

She stood for a moment, completely dazed before one thought managed to scramble up to consciousness.

She had said that the main couple should kiss.

She was one half of that main couple.

Ergo, she would have to kiss her counterpart.

Panic set in with speed.

Would she be good enough? Could she do this? Who was going to be her counterpart?

The situation was turning so fast.

Then the thought hit her…

It was quite probable that this was going to be her first real kiss.

Could she give that away for the sake of the part?

Or would it really be her first kiss? Would it not just be her characters?

She was so confused.

It was then that the make-up and costume team grabbed her.

Whatever mess her mind was in right now was no excuse for being late.

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The first day of the shoot had gone surprisingly well.

Kyoko was taking off her costume and make up in her very own trailer. She was feeling exhausted after the long day's work.

All the scenes that had been shot today were just the one of her character on her own. They were from all over the timeline so Kyoko had had to portray many different emotions. Thankfully she had been able to do so in as few takes as possible.

Some she even got on her first try.

Even so it was tiring work and she was glad to be finished.

She felt slightly guilty that it ha taken this long to wonder how Kanae was doing at work, but she supposed that that was only natural.

The only bad thing about today was that as she was by herself she still had no idea about who was going to be acting opposite her.

She made up her mind.

As soon as she was finished up here she was going to go and find the director and ask him.

He might think her a little odd to be this far and still unaware of her co-stars but that couldn't be helped.

She hung up her dress, filled with a determination for what she was about to do.

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Even with relentless searching, it still took her ten minutes to find the director. When she did she saw that he was in deep discussion with two writers.

She didn't want to intrude so she stood awkwardly to the side so she could wait until he finished.

Finally he spotted her and smiled. Quickly finishing off the conversation he gave some orders to the writers who nodded their agreement and set off together

It was then that he came over to her.

"Kyoko! I was just telling the writers about that wonderful idea you had this morning. They seem to agree with you and me that it should be written in. We'll have to change some things around but it shouldn't be too much of a problem. They'll have it finished tomorrow."

Kyoko blushed at the fact that he had taken her idea so much to heart that he was gong to get the script re-written.

"Now…what can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering if you knew the name of the man playing the Prince?"

She faltered a little at his look of confusion.

"Only, it's just that I was told but I was so excited by the part that I didn't really hear."

The director smiled at that and Kyoko almost sighed in relief.

"Well, let's see…" he thought for a moment "The person we originally intended to take the part couldn't as he was away on another shoot, so we had to go with our second choice."

Kyoko had to old herself back from urging him on.

"Um, I can't quite recall…I know he's not primarily an actor, that's why he wasn't out first…singer I believe…"

Kyoko felt dread hit her stomach like a rock.

He couldn't be talking about him could he?

There was absolutely no way…

There must be dozens of male singers out there who wanted to try their hand in acting…

What were the chances?

"But his manager was quite insistent…saying something about it being good publicity and that he wouldn't let us down."

Suddenly Kyoko didn't want to know anymore. But she was frozen to the spot.

It was rather like watching a train coming straight towards her.

"Ah! That was it!"

She closed her eyes reflexively.

"His name's Fuwa. Sho Fuwa."