Hello everyone, and Happy New Year, even though it is about ten days late. Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but illness and laziness got the better of me. I have been writing ahead though, in all my stories, so the next few updates should come quickly.
I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 10
'Hayama Yukino. A twenty-year-old girl who has recently lost her mother and her father is grievously ill. Despite the utter grief, she is experiencing at her mother's death, she still decides to take over her father's company at his request.'
No matter how many times she read this profile, Kyoko could not relate to this character in her entirety. There were some parts that she could directly connect to, like Yukino's desire to help her Father despite her own sadness. And yet others were completely out of reach. Like how to portray the grief of a Mother's death. She could not produce that kind of anguish and pain from her heart when she had been unable to experience the love of a mother in her life. Kyoko had experienced the sadness of her Mother's abandonment but that had quickly turned into resentment, which she had in turn suppressed in favour of gaining acceptance from the Fuwa's so that she would not have to go through such pain again. Kyoko had never mourned a parent.
Kyoko let a large sigh escape her, knowing that she was alone. She knew that she could complete most of the scenes well enough, but that was not good enough. The flashback scenes, in particular, were giving her all kinds of trouble… She leaned her elbows against the table and let her head hang low. Closing her eyes, Kyoko tried to imagine what it would be like if she lost her mother. But all that came to the surface was bitterness born of years of pain, none of the anguish and sadness that Yukino was supposed to feel. Giving up on it for the moment, Kyoko set up her futon for the night. Maybe a good night's sleep would give her some new perspective.
However, sleep eluded her. Tossing and turning as her mind ran in overdrive, Kyoko gave up on sleep and decided to think about the day's happenings. The cast meeting had been nice until Futonami had created a scene, but it left her wondering if her goals in life would always be fraught with such obstacles. It made her ponder upon the possibility if she could have become like Futonami, a wretched, self- absorbed and conniving woman, if she had remained on her path of revenge. And even though she had proclaimed that she was now acting to find the true 'Kyoko Mogami', Kyoko still felt like a floundering carp in a sea full of sharks.
Kyoko fell asleep late into the night, all her problems running around in her head and no solutions in sight.
Next morning, Kyoko was running slightly late as she rushed to LME. She powerwalked through the lively corridors of the building, occasionally greeting people as she made her way to the Love-Me Room. She was greeted with the sight of Chiori applying her make-up, seemingly ready to leave for work. Her manager was seated at one of the desks with a planner, probably briefing Chiori about her schedule.
"Kyoko-senpai! Good morning," came the polite greeting and Kyoko returned it as cheerfully as she could. She then gave a smile to the older woman in the room.
"Good morning, Arisa-san."
"Good morning, Kyoko-san"
Making small talk with Chiori, Kyoko put on her Love-Me overalls, rushing because she had to meet Sawara-san.
"Oh, don't worry, Kyoko-senpai, Sawara-San left a list of tasks and a couple of audition scripts for you to look at," Chiori said, picking up her purse as she and her manager got ready to leave.
Kyoko smiled at the help, "Thank you for telling me that Chiori-chan. I should talk to Sawara-san about those auditions, though I will have to look them over first."
Chiori chuckled, "Have fun, Kyoko-senpai."
"Have a good day, Chiori-chan," with that, Kyoko turned to start sorting through the papers lying on the shared desk. She continued working in silence, looking through the Love-me tasks first before moving on to the scripts.
Despite being engrossed in her work, Kyoko raised the head as she heard the door open and perked up as she saw Kotonami Kanae enter the room. Moko-san had been away for two weeks for an on-location shoot and Kyoko had missed her terribly.
"Moko-saaaan!" Kyoko launched herself like a projectile at her best friend, only to be met by a familiar resistance of Kanae's hands pushing her away.
"Get away!" Kanae said with gritted teeth, and Kyoko let go of her with a small pout.
"But I missed you!"
"I missed you too, idiot. But that doesn't mean you can glomp me," Kanae said sternly, as put down her purse on a nearby chair.
As the two girls sat down with the intent to catch up on the past two weeks, Kyoko smiled excitedly at the prospect of finally getting to talk to her best friend. The two girls chatted about light-hearted topics and Kanae's location shoot for a long while before Kanae brought up the one topic that they both definitely needed to talk about.
"So, you told me about your new role, but you never said who you were starring with? You do know who it is, right?"
Kyoko's excitement was dampened slightly at the question, "Yes…my co-stars are Tsuruga-san and Kobayashi Makoto-san."
"Kobayashi Makoto. The legend, Kobayashi Makoto? I did hear that he had re-entered the industry but you get to work with him?" Kanae's expression was a strange mixture of shock, envy, and pride as she said this.
Kyoko was slightly bashful and began to explain Yashiro-san's identity, before she remembered that it was supposed to remain a secret. She scrambled to say something else before Kanae noticed her pause.
"But I am playing the romantic lead against them both! How am I supposed to convincingly play that wretched emotion?" Kyoko blurted out with a tortured expression.
Kanae was outraged at her friend's behaviour. "You idiot," she said, hitting Kyoko upside the head, "not only do you get to play the lead role in a drama directed by Shingai Seiji, but you are also acting with the two best actors in the industry! Be appreciative!"
"I am! But, but! The kissing scenes, with two men! Romance scenes!" At this point, Kyoko was a wailing and flailing mess, all her emotions coming out. This was mostly because she had not accepted the inevitability of these facts.
Kanae, on the other hand, was getting even more annoyed, "Don't say stupid things like that. You would have had to do some of those things at some point anyway. As newcomers, we don't get the luxury of choosing what roles we play. The fact that you got handpicked by the director for this role is already a feather in your cap, so get those moronic thoughts out of your head."
She faked anger and folded her hands in front of her chest and looked away from the pitiful visage of Kyoko, "Besides, I won't be your friend anymore if you give anything less than your best in this role."
"No, Moko-san!" Kyoko cried out, once more throwing herself at her best friend, "I promise I'll do my best in this role."
"Mou. You better, you are my rival after all," Kanae said, reluctantly hugging Kyoko back. She was met by a beatific smile for her action. Hurriedly removing her arms from around her best friend, she changed the topic.
"Anything else you didn't tell me about, Kyoko. Other than your upcoming romance with Tsuruga-san," Kanae said with a small smirk on her face.
"Moko-saan!" Kyoko whined childishly, "Don't say it like that! But there is nothing else to tell. Filming for the drama will begin next week, and until then, I need to figure out how to play the role of a girl in love."
For a moment, Kyoko had entertained the thought of telling Moko-san about the incident with Shotaro. But ultimately, her pragmatism won out. Shotaro was a problem for her alone to deal with and she would not pull her best friend into it.
Kanae's smirk just grew bigger, "Then why don't you ask your beloved senior for advice. You did, after all, help him find his Katsuki for Dark Moon. I think its time he returns the favour."
Kyoko once again descended into fervent denials, nearly falling out of her seat. However, the thought lingered in her mind.