A/N: If you haven't read the redone conversation between Ren and Yashiro, please do so now. Thank you so much for reading.
Chapter 10: Auditions
It had been a few days since Ren had dropped the bomb, and Yashiro's mind was still reeling. He was sitting in his small living room, drumming his fingers on the coffee table, trying to made the information fit. 'Okay. Ren is the son of Hizuri Kuu. That sort of makes sense. They do look similar, if you think about it. Ren has some American mannerisms. Sort of…not really but…I guess he has to work not to. And I guess that means he changed his name.' He had already looked up the son of Hizuri Kuu and Hizuri Julie on the computer and came up with a tall, blonde young man named Kuon. 'Is that why Ren seemed to be startled when Kuu called Kyoko 'Kuon?' But why did he run away from home? Or did he?' He rested his head in his hands and tried to wrap his mind around it. 'It must have been so hard to come to a strange country to make a life for himself when he was so young. It said that Kuon left home around 15. I met him when he was…about 19? I haven't known him for that long. He was almost 20 when I became his manager. Even then his schedule was ridiculous.' Yashiro chucked to himself. "He's such a hardworking guy. But I wonder why he came to Japan in the first place."
"Should I not have told him?" Ren asked his empty living room. It was about 10:30 in the morning, but Ren didn't have work until 12, so he had told Yashiro to sleep in. He was waiting for Kyoko to call him and let him know about her audition. She had told him yesterday that she was going to audition for a commercial. His heart swelled with pride. She had gone to a strange country and, in a matter of days, had managed to create a new persona and get into one of the top agencies in the area. For the last few days, she had been preparing for her commercial audition and hadn't called him as much, but he could hear the happiness in her voice. Julie was trying to get her to audition for her modeling agency, and he thought it was a great idea if she was interested. 'She would be a fantastic model. She would be a fantastic anything.'
Shaking his head, he tried to focus on his original dilemma. 'Yashiro hasn't said anything else about it, but does that mean that he is angry? Upset? Surprised? Hurt that I didn't say anything? I couldn't! I shouldn't have in the first place….it's just that I didn't want to lie to him anymore. He the closest thing to a 'best friend' that I have. I know that I can trust him; we just can't tell the President that he knows.
But what about Kyoko? I know that I want to tell her. I miss her so much, and it would be a great excuse to see her. I feel like we are getting closer. She isn't as skittish as she used to be, and living with my parents, in a stable loving family, something she has never really had, will only help. Maybe she will be able to accept love and realize what it should be like.
I haven't written her as Corn lately. What can I say? I can't tell her much about myself, but if I try to get information about Tsuruga-Ren, she will think that I'm gay.' He groaned again at the thought and the complicated situation he had managed to get himself in to. 'Maybe I can figure out a way to do this…'
Kyoko sat in the waiting room outside of the office of the head of the acting department. His name was Jeremy Write, and he would be the man that she would be dealing with the most. He was young and seemed to perpetually be on his phone, making her miss Sawara-san, but he seemed to be qualified, despite insisting that she call him Jeremy. As Rosa, she had shrugged and smiled, willing to call him whatever she wanted, all the while resisting the urge to let Kyoko out. When he appeared in the doorframe, she looked up at him.
"Come on back, Rosa." He motioned for her to follow and sat behind his small desk, which was crammed between some filing cabinets and book shelves. "The director would like you to be in his commercial. I assume that you are interested."
'I auditioned didn't I?' "Yes. Very much so. Thank you." She answered calmly. Inwardly, she was hopping around, screaming in triumph. 'My first job in America! I'm so excited. Tsuruga-san will be so proud of me….wait. No. So will Father and Mother and Kanae. Not just Tsuruga-san. Not even 'mostly' Tsuruga-san! He's at the bottom of the list of people who will be excited for me! No…not the bottom…the middle! He's in the middle!'
"Um…Rosa?"
"I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?"
He seemed wary. She had been staring at the desk with that calm expression for a while now. "Um yes. Here are the forms, the meeting information, the phone numbers you may need, and a draft of the script. Have a good day." Immediately the man picked up his phone and began yelling. Kyoko stood and showed herself out. 'Everyone in American show business seems quite rude.' She thought with a frown, suddenly missing home very much.
Pulling out her own phone, Kyoko found an empty room, shut the door behind her, and dialed speed dial number four. "Hello Kyoko."
She smiled as the deep voice seemed to caress her cheek. 'Wait! What! Caress my cheek! What am I thinking!' "Hello Tsuruga-san. How are you? Have you eaten?"
The chuckle on the other end made her smile involuntarily. "I am fine. Yes I just finished a healthy breakfast of eggs and sausage."
"Oh. I didn't know that you liked American style breakfast, Tsuruga-san."
"Hmm. I like it occasionally." 'Too bad I can never manage to keep the shells out of the eggs…' "So are you going to tell me what happened or are you going to make me suffer from the anticipation?"
Her giggle made his heart stop momentarily. "I got it." She answered shyly.
"Congratulations." His voice was warm and she could hear the same pride that had been in her father's voice. "When do you start filming?"
She pulled out the forms. "Actually I just got out of the meeting with Jeremy, the acting department head. Um….here we go." She pulled out the folder from her bag. "The first meeting is in three days. The filming schedule will be set after that, but it will last for two to three days. The filming will be in…" She grimaced as she tried to read the name of the studio. "Well Father will know where it is." She said a little sadly.
"Don't get frustrated." He said gently. "You're getting a lot better, and it will be a while before you can read everything. Kuu will always be there to help you. And there are online dictionaries that you can find on your phone." Kyoko's eyes opened wide as she remembered when he tried to look up that word on his phone when she was Bo. 'Why does Tsuruga-san know about all the online dictionaries?'
"I might look into that. Thank you."
"So what are you up to now?"
"Hmm. Well, I'll probably just go home after I call Moko-san. Or I might look around the area for a while." He frowned.
"By yourself?"
"I guess so. I don't really know anyone around here."
"How are you getting home?"
"Um…I'll probably walk." She said quietly.
"Can't you call Hizuri-san?" He asked incredulously. He didn't know how far it was, but he was not comfortable with the thought of her walking around alone.
"Well he told me to call his butler, Jack, to come and pick me up…but I'd rather not bother him."
"Kyoko, please don't walk home alone." He said softly.
"Tsuruga-san! It's fine. I've done it before." She bit her tongue. 'Please don't tell Father though.'
"Kyoko, when you want to go home, call the butler. Or I'll come over there and drive you myself."
Kyoko laughed nervously. "Tsuruga-san, you don't know where I am. Besides, you wouldn't be here in time to take me home."
"Did you know that the President has a private jet?" His voice was smug. "And you'd have someone to drive you from now on." Kyoko was stunned. Ren, however, was liking the idea.
"Tsuruga-san! You can't! I'll call Jack when I want to go home! I promise!" Ren was laughing and Kyoko pouted, glad that no one was around to see this conversation. "You shouldn't tease me like that!" He laughed harder, so she just crossed her arms and waited.
When he finally caught his breath, he remembered what else he wanted to talk about. "Did you decide if you were going to audition for Julie's modeling agency?"
She dithered for a minute. "I don't think I will." She mumbled.
"Why? Does it not sound fun?" He wondered. He was glad that he had agreed to try modeling. He wondered why Kyoko wouldn't want to try.
"I…I don't think I can."
"Kyoko." His voice was suddenly stern. "Do you want to do it?"
"Yes." She whispered. "It sounds like fun and it would help my career." She admitted.
"Then what's the problem?"
"What if they don't accept me?"
"Then you still have a job at Kuu's acting agency. You are still going to star in a commercial and you will still have a job at LME when you come back." He assured her softly.
She sighed. "Are you ever wrong?" She wondered with a wry smile.
He laughed loudly. "Occasionally. Not very often though."
"Thank you Tsuruga-san."
It was his turn to sigh. "You know, I've been calling you Kyoko for a while now. I think it would be safe for you to call me Ren." She blushed brightly on the other end.
'I can't! I could never be so disrespectful! But...if he wants me to...' "Thank you…Ren."
Kanae drummed her fingers on the table in the café. She was still waiting for Kyoko's call. 'Where is she? I'll bet she already called Tsuruga.' Suddenly there was somewhere in front of her. "May I join you?"
"Sure. What are you doing here? Where's your shadow?"
Yashiro smiled. "Ren doesn't start filming until 12, so I came in a little early. He's probably going to show up any time now." Kanae nodded and looked up when the waitress approached.
"A coffee and…" Kanae looked at the menu again, pointing at one of the items. "this salad please. No dressing."
"I'll have coffee and the ramen please." Yashiro said politely. The waitress hurried away and Kanae put the menu down. "Have you talked to Kyoko?"
"Yes. I'm actually waiting for…" The phone vibrated. She looked at the man across from her apologetically and he motioned for her to go ahead. "Hello?" Yashiro pretended to be engrossed in the menu. "Really? Congratulations." He peeked at the girl. Her face was relaxed into a happy smile. He found himself smiling too. "Of course. I think that's a good idea. Make sure…" She frowned a little in annoyance. 'She doesn't like being interrupted, but she loves Kyoko too much to say anything.' Yashiro laughed a little. "No. Mo Kyoko, of course not!" She rolled her eyes. "I didn't say that. You'll do fine." She was drumming her fingers and seemed about to launch into a long tirade when she seemed to remember Yashiro. 'Did she just blush?' "Hey, can I call you back later? Yes. I'm having lunch with Yashiro-san." Her blush grew bright and she ducked her head. "MO! Kyoko! You're one to talk!" She sighed. "I'll call you back in a while. Okay. You too." She turned back to the very amused man sitting across from her and realized that their food had arrived.
"So what did she want?" He asked with a small smile.
"Nothing." She grumbled, still red.
They made small talk for a while, nibbling at their food. "Where are you headed?" He wondered as they finished.
"Um...I have shooting in about thirty minutes. I should go." He nodded and stood, discreetly slipping several bills on the table, enough to cover the meal and a tip. "I'll walk you." She seemed so flustered by this that she didn't seem to notice him paying.
"Don't you have to meet Tsuruga?" She snapped.
"I'll text him and tell him that I'll meet him on the set."
Kyoko entered the house that evening to find Kuu and Julie in the kitchen. "I'm home."
"Welcome home." Kuu smiled at her from the stove and Julie gave her a hug.
"Hey sweetie. How did it go?"
Kyoko pulled out a folder which Kuu immediately seized. "The first meeting is in three days." She said shyly, and Julie threw her arms around her again.
"Congratulations, sweetie!" She cried, and Kuu ruffled her hair with a proud smile.
"Do you know the director Father?"
"Director Marks? No, I haven't met him, but I've met his father. Nice enough guy, professional. Not actually very memorable." He said with a small shrug.
As Kyoko pulled the dishes out and helped Kuu cook, he told her about his experience with Director Marks's father and about the other commercials that he had filmed. When they were finally all seated, Kyoko turned to Julie. "Mother, do you think…maybe, if it's not too much trouble…" She took a deep breath. "Do you think I could try to join your agency?"
"Kyoko, you want to try modeling?" Kuu asked in surprise. The girl nodded softly. Afraid that he would be upset, she clenched her fists in her lap. When she peeked up, she saw him smiling brightly. "I think that's a great idea!" He cried. "Julie, don't you think she would be a fantastic model?" Julie laughed a little.
"I agree. She certainly has a good figure, and a good sense of style. But, look at her face." Kyoko blushed and ducked her head as they examined her. "So expressive! Those eyes! Even with the contacts in, they are perfect."
Kuu nodded. "My daughter is perfect!" He said with a smile. "She'll be a great model! The best in America!" Julie laughed at her husband and at Kyoko's embarrassment.
She leaned over as Kuu went on. "Don't worry sweetie. You get used to it."
Ren pulled out the most recent letter. 'Corn didn't write her back yet. Why is she writing again?'
"Dear Corn,
Everything is going well in America. Tomorrow I go to the first meeting of my first commercial in America, and I am very excited. I must say that I don't like the people that I work for. Jeremy, the head of the acting department, is always on the phone and seems preoccupied, which seems rude to me but may be normal in America. The President is still a bit condescending. The other men who head the agency rarely speak to the new talents, and the bigger actors rarely deign to acknowledge us. I feel like I shouldn't be complaining, and maybe it is wrong of me to feel this way, but I prefer working with people in Japan. Tsuruga Ren is a big time actor, and is very popular, but he is never rude and he will talk to anyway. The head of my department is always friendly and will never treat the other members of my section badly.
Actually, I wanted to ask your opinion about something. It is about Ren. (He did give me permission to call him that! I am not trying to be rude.) He was advising me about my English and mentioned online dictionaries. Well, I guess I should give you the whole story. I secretly acted as a chicken mascot for a variety show in Japan. When I was acting as this chicken, I met Ren (when he still hated me, so I never told him for fear that he would be mean to me) and he asked me to borrow a phone. I told him that I didn't have one and found out that he needed to look up a word on the internet that he didn't understand. It was a strange word to be having trouble with, but I never thought about it after that.
But I was thinking about it earlier. He also told me that he had been fired several times early in his career and he…well I just believe that this was in America. Do you think that this makes sense? I couldn't ask him…it would be very presumptuous of me, but I think that he is from America and was having trouble because he did not grow up speaking Japanese. I wonder why he would hid this, or even why he chose to come to Japan if he didn't speak the language very well.
Anyway, I know that you haven't responded to my last letter, and I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. Please don't feel like you have to keep answering my letters. It's okay if you don't want to be in contact with me anymore. Please take care.
Sincerely,
Kyoko"
Ren sighed and dropped his head in his hands. 'Well, this certainly makes things complicated.'
Kyoko arrived at the meeting early. Taking a seat in one of the chairs, she waited for the director to arrive. It was only 7 in the morning and the meeting was scheduled for 7:30. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out and checked the screen. "Good luck –Ren" She smiled softly. She knew that it was late in Japan, but he was taking time to text her.
Ren let himself relax in the bed. When the phone vibrated, he reached blindly for the phone on the nightstand and opened the message, blinking at the bright light. "Thank you so much. Good night. –Kyoko" He grinned and replaced the phone. 'Small and trivial progress. Heh.'
The director entered the room a few minutes after she did. He seemed surprised to see the small girl sitting at the end of the table. She stood with a soft smile. "You must be Rosa. Nice to meet you." He said, hiding his surprise and holding out his hand. She approached him and took his hand, shaking it firmly.
"It's nice to meet you as well Director Marks. I look forward to working with you." He smiled at her politeness. 'That's unusual.'
Sitting across from her, he pulled out a folder. "So this will be your first gig here in the states, huh?"
She nodded. "Yes. I'm very excited to have to opportunity."
'Wow. Very polite. But professional.' "You are from Japan, correct?"
"Yes. I moved here recently and joined this agency only a few days ago."
"Wow. You're getting right into it then. How are you liking America?"
"I haven't seen very much of it, but I am enjoying myself."
"You miss Japan though, right?"
She laughed a little. "Very much. It will always be my home."
"I know what you mean…well sort of. I'm originally from Florida, in the south-east." She nodded. "Believe it or not, it sometimes seems like a foreign country here." The girl smiled brightly and his heart skipped. 'Wow. The longer I look at her, the prettier she seems. I wonder if she had a boyfriend…not that I'm interested! She's so young…but it seems like she would have someone.'
Slowly, members of the cast and a few crewmembers trickled in. To Kyoko's surprise, a few people didn't arrive until almost 8. When they were all seated, the director began to introduce everyone. Kyoko found herself next to a girl around her age with platinum blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She introduced herself as Maria and was the other lead. Kyoko smiled inwardly, thinking of little Maria from home. 'I wonder how she is. Maybe the President will let me talk to her.'
When it was her turn, she smiled around the table. "My name is Rosa. I'll be playing one of the leads." The blonde smiled back at her, but the others merely nodded.
"Okay. Now that everyone knows everyone else, let's get started." He pulled out his papers. "This commercial is going to focus on Rosa and Maria. Rosa, Maria, the two of you are going to be best friends who are at a club. Maria, you are going to be shy and unwilling to talk to anyone, but Rosa is going to give you some of her perfume, 'Confidence' which, will, of course, give you the confidence to go and dance. Pretty straight forward. The filming will be…" He looked at the date on his phone. "This Thursday, and we should finish up Friday." Kyoko thought of the generic commercial and wanted to speak up. The only other commercial she had been a part of had been set up like a story. This was just a bare advertisement using a cliché scene. However, she only nodded and followed the others out.
Once in the hallway, the blonde turned to her. "Are you from Japan?" She asked suddenly, as though she had been holding that in for a while.
Kyoko gave a small smile and placed her phone back in her pocket instead of calling Jack. "Yes. I am. Have you ever been there?"
"Only once. I went with my family. My dad had a job in Japan and he brought my mom and me along. It was beautiful."
Kyoko's smile grew. "Oh. Where did you go?"
"Kyoto."
"Ah. I'm from Tokyo." She said softly, not wanting to share her real story. The girl nodded.
"I've heard it's very…busy." Kyoko nodded.
"Yes, you get used to it." Maria nodded.
"I'm from here, born and raised in California. Do you like it?"
"Hmm. Yes. It is very warm. Not as crowded as Japan."
The conversation fizzled and Kyoko wondered if she was supposed to say something else. Maria seemed to be focuses on the floor, apparently thinking the same thing. "Well," She finally said. "I guess I'll see you Thursday. It was nice to met you, Rosa." She smiled and held out her hand.
Kyoko shook her hand and nodded. "It was nice to meet you as well."
Standing outside, Kyoko wondered what to do. Her audition for her mother's agency wasn't for a few hours. She still had no idea how her mother had managed to get her in so quickly. She checked her watch. 11:00. She had until 3. Making a quick decision, she headed for her agency and the café she knew was nearby.
Sitting in the dark room, she looked over the menu. When someone sat across from her, she started to stand and leave, but looking up, she saw Will. "You again." He said cheerfully. She suppressed a sigh. 'Does this guy follow me wherever I go... that's kind of creepy.'
"Good afternoon Will." She said simply.
"My uncle told me that you go by Rosa now."
"Did he tell anyone else?" She couldn't help the bright, irritated smile that spread across her face. He laughed a little.
"No. Just me. And only because I asked. Sorry. But now I know not to call you Kyoko when I see you around."
'What makes you think that you will see me around?' "Oh." She said simply.
"You don't like me much, do you?" She looked up, startled.
"I don't know you much." She retorted, obviously surprised.
"Oh come on. I thought we were becoming friends." She stared at him in confusion. He finally sighed. "Alright. Friendly acquaintances?" He asked hopefully. She continued to stare at him. "So, what are you doing later?"
Will led Kyoko down the hall. She trailed behind him, not sure what she was doing. 'I have nothing else to do until 3, and it will only take me about 20 minutes to get to Mother's agency.' The door he led her through was in the actor's school.
Two guys and a girl looked up from a piece of paper. She was stunned when she saw the blonde girl from her meeting. "Hey Rosa." She waved and Kyoko gave her a surprised smile.
"Well you obviously know Maria. She's our keyboardist. This is Tyler and Sam. They play bass and drums." Kyoko smiled at them, and they waved.
"So this is your whole band?"
"Yea…why? Can you play the electric violin or something cool like that? Because we could use more people. Heck, can you play the triangle?" Kyoko laughed and shook her head.
"No. I'm afraid I don't play any instruments."
"Are you from Japan!" The man Will had introduced as Tyler asked.
Kyoko gave a tired smile, wondering how many people were going to ask her this. "Yes." She said simply, and Maria laughed a little. "So how did you all meet?" She tried to change the subject.
"Maria and I went to school together." Sam spoke up. "And I met Tyler here. We met Will online and when we found out that he was coming up, we asked him to meet up with us."
"What about you? How do you know Will?" Maria wondered.
"We met in the airport when she got here. I gave her money for the payphone." He said proudly while Kyoko fought not to roll her eyes. The others didn't restrain themselves and Kyoko fought a laugh.
After being invited to sit down, and then offered a soda (which she politely declined) and then water (which she accepted) she found herself forgetting the time and had to leave in a hurry to arrive at her audition. On her way, she was smiling to herself. 'The fact that Will seems to be following me around is strange, and seeing Maria twice was a surprise, but maybe they will be my friends while I am here. I've never had a group of friends before…that was nice.'