AUTHOR'S NOTE: First of all, I apologize for being late with this chapter and I am currently taking steps to make sure that it doesn't happen again. I'm proud of the fact that I usually get my stories up within 24 to 48 hours of when I promise them, but life suddenly got busy. By the end of this week, I intend to be back on track where my personal schedule wanted me to be.
Second, throwing a lot of names at you in this chapter, they're important, but there won't be pop quizzes next chapter on the newcomers *laughs*
Thirdly, I'm not going to write out all of Windows, but I'm hoping to give enough information through their actions on set and glimpses of the scenes they're working on to give you guys a good idea of what it's about (kind of like that did with Dark Moon in the original Skip Beat! Manga...we never know the entirety of the story, but we know enough to kinda get where they went with it).
Thirdly, the next chapter is still going to drop on February 3rd as if I put this chapter up on the day it was scheduled to be up.
Thanks for your patience with me and taking time to read my story (and review if you get a chance).
As always, Skip Beat! doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura-the original characters, storylines, etc. are mine ^_^
See you next week!
~ Yuki
Chapter Fourteen: Meet the Cast and Crew
There was a second person in the car when Kyoko went down to meet Mia in the morning. The actress frowned as a tall form unfolded from the car and immediately reached for her bag. Kyoko clasped her bag with two hands and kept it neatly away from the stranger. "Who are you?"
"Akizaki-san…" the man's voice was deep and resonant.
With a start, Kyoko realized the man was wearing a familiar eye-gougingly pink coverall.
Mia came around the car. "You should have waited until I properly introduced you."
"It's Love Me pink!" Kyoko half-choked.
Dark blue eyes glared at her murderously over a pair of neat black frames until the man pushed the glasses into place and composed himself.
"Takarada-taichou apparently added him to the ranks of the Love Me department while we were away at the shoot," Mia said. "He is to serve as your PA for his first task. His name is Daisuke Miwa."
"Please treat me kindly, Miwa-san," Kyoko said with a bow though she kept her bag out of his reach.
"It's part of my job, Kyoko-san, to carry your bags," Daisuke gritted out. "So let me."
Mia sighed. "Your book," she said casually.
Daisuke looked at her in surprise and grudgingly drew out a familiar book that Kyoko knew all too well.
"Minus ten points for acting discourteously," Mia said and made the appropriate stamp. "Kyoko-san, please get into the car. We don't want to be late for the first day of filming."
She looked at Daisuke who moved belatedly to open the back door for Kyoko to slide in.
Kyoko wasn't sure that she liked the atmosphere around the new guy and the silence in the car was strained on the way to the studio where they'd be doing the script-reading and finalizing details on the costuming for the drama. Kyoko's stomach twisted when they pulled up to the studio and she realized she was going to be dealing with Ren Tsuruga on a professional front. She took a deep breath to calm herself, she needed to be careful of what she said and did so as not to betray anything other than the kouhai-senpai relationship with the other actor.
"Why are you here and why are you wearing that godawful pink uniform!"
The exclamation exploded from Miyako Miwa as soon as they passed through the doors and Kyoko blinked and glanced over at Ren who shrugged elegantly.
"Shut up, Miyako, or I'll make sure you don't have your favorite shampoo tomorrow morning," Daisuke growled.
"The book, Miwa-san," Mia said.
The book made another appearance and Mia stamped something else in it. "Minus one hundred points for taunting your sister without due cause," she murmured.
"What?" Daisuke exclaimed. "She's my sister…it's normal for siblings to do that. Don't you have any brothers?"
Kyoko moved away from the person who was supposed to be her PA and her manager. First she greeted Ren as he was her senpai. "Good morning, Mogami-san, I trust you slept well last night?" he asked.
Kyoko floundered a moment for a response…Ren had slept on her couch until sometime after 4 AM when he'd left to 'keep up appearances'. "Yes, I did, and you?" she asked.
"Very well," Ren rumbled, a smile curving his lips that immediately brought color to Kyoko's cheeks even though it wasn't much different from his usual gentlemanly smile.
Kyoko managed to mumble a few more niceties and then turned and smiled at Miyako. "Good morning, Miwa-san, are you ready for today?" she asked, ignoring the continuing back and forth behind her.
"Y-yes," Miyako said, tearing her eyes away from her brother. "I'm looking forward to working with you and Tsuruga-sama. I have a feeling I'm going to be learning a lot."
"We will do our best to guide you," Ren assured her gravely. "May I escort you two to the set? Miyano-san wanted the main characters to meet her there as soon as we were all assembled."
"Okay," Miyako beamed up at him and Kyoko felt a little niggle of jealousy.
Ren looked at her over Miyako's head and just shook his head, a teasing half-smile appearing on his face as he expertly guided both girls towards where the director was waiting.
They entered the room and Makoto Miyano beamed at them. "I'm so glad you all made it today," she said.
The director was practically bouncing like a child anticipating a trip to the amusement park. She gestured at the seats in front of her and waited until the actors settled into place. "Wardrobe is finishing the last of the preliminary costuming now and should be asking for each of you separately for the final fitting in a bit. I know that Clara and Reiji don't have a lot of different costumes so I want to make sure the ones you have are as comfortable as possible."
"Thank you for your kindness," Ren said. "The schedule says we will begin shooting after lunch?"
Makoto nodded. "The rest of the cast will be here then. I requested you all early to work a few things out. I'd like you three to get into character and start interacting a bit so I can get an idea of how I want to film the opening scenes. In this case, we're going to concentrate roughly around the period of the first meeting between Clara, Reiji, and Sakura at the park. Not quite the moment when Clara decides that Sakura will be her next target…"
Kyoko marshalled her thoughts and pulled the wheelchair bound girl out of her store of characters and settled into one of the cushioned chairs. "Reiji, it's too cold out here today," she announced.
Ren tugged off his suit jacket immediately and moved to settled it around Kyoko's shoulders. "The doctor says getting out and walking in the park is good for you. They think the fresh air will help clear your lungs," he said.
Kyoko/Clara Kinoshita sniffed. "It will give me pneumonia more likely, the doctor would just like to see me die already," she said.
"The doctor is your uncle, of course he doesn't feel that way," Ren/Reiji Kinoshita stated. "He's been doing his best to find every possible treatment even so far as suggesting that we summon one of the doctors from Germany that specializes in neurological disorders."
"He's just taking the steps that would be expected of him…"
Their eyes turned to Miyako who was watching them with something akin to awe and she shook herself and bounced to her feet. She rushed over in their direction and tripped and Ren offered her a hand up. Miyako accepted the hand and then turned her attention to Kyoko. "O~oh you have such beautiful hair!" she breathed, her eyes seeming to take on a sparkle.
With some surprise Kyoko realized that Miyako was already working on being in character for Sakura Yamaguchi, the first-year high school student that would have the misfortune to cross paths with Kyoko's Clara.
Kyoko reached up and touched her hair slowly—in the actual drama, she'd be wearing a long, beautifully curled black wig that flowed around her and dark blue contacts. "Thank you," she said with cool courtesy.
"I'm Sakura Yamaguchi," Miyako/Sakura introduced herself cheerfully. "May I ask your name?"
Kyoko looked at Miyako for a long moment and lifted her chin up just a bit to appear to look down her nose at her. "Reiji…" she said shortly.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Yamaguchi-san," Ren said stepping forward smoothly. "I'm Kinoshita Reiji and this is my stepsister, Kinoshita Clara."
"O~oh, I thought you were her butler!" Sakura exclaimed.
A half-smile that didn't quite reach Reiji's eyes flashed across his face. "Ah, no, but I do have the honor of watching after Lady Clara to ensure she is safe."
#
The scene continued for a few minutes longer before there was a knock on the door and Makoto quietly said 'Cut' before acknowledging the knock. "Enter," she called.
A woman with gray-streaked dark hair entered and bowed. "We're ready for Kyoko-sama now," she said.
Kyoko rose from her chair and swept out of the room like the elegant lady Clara would be if she wasn't wheelchair bound and followed the wardrobe supervisor.
Inside the dressing rooms, Kyoko was fitted for three or so dresses in soft, silky materials that ranged from dark blue to black with delicate lace touches here and there. While adjustments were being made to the dresses, one of the assistants entered with the wheelchair that Kyoko would spend most of her time on set in. She settled in the seat while the assistant took measurements and adjusted things just as it would be done for a person who was really confined to a wheelchair.
The make-up artist entered after the assistant left with the wheelchair as Kyoko was buttoned into the first dress she would be wearing when filming started. She sat in the chair patiently as the long, black wig was settled on her head and the HMUA fussed to make sure the curls were falling just right.
"Have you ever worn contacts before, Kyoko-sama?" the HMUA asked.
"Yes," Kyoko answered, she'd worn them on several occasions now.
The HMUA handed Kyoko the case with the contacts in it and Kyoko turned to the mirror in the dressing room and carefully put the contacts in. After her contacts were in the HMUA set her back down and began to transform the cute, healthy Kyoko Mogami into the frail, sickly Clara Kinoshita who's only purpose in life was to make people as miserable as she was.
Kyoko didn't bother to keep track of time as they went through the process of getting her ready for her first scene of the drama and exited the room to find Mia waiting and the blond woman handed her a bottle of water with a straw. "Where is Miwa-san?" Kyoko asked curiously. "Did he give up already?"
Mia chuckled and shook her head. "No, I sent him out to make sure that the ones who are catering the set today have food that fits into the diet that you were instructed to follow for the time being."
Kyoko nodded, unable to resist making a slight face at the idea. Make-up could only go so far as to make Clara's illness seem real so Kyoko and Mia had met with a nutritionist that helped them come up with an exercise and meal plan that would make Kyoko appear suitably pale and drawn for Clara's later scenes without actually adversely affecting her health and they'd made an agreement for one 'cheat' day a week so that Kyoko wouldn't have to go without some of her favorite things for the duration of the drama filming. Kyoko was willing to be 'professional' about it and go without, but Mia successfully won the argument pointing out that a little bit in moderation didn't hurt anyone and would cut down on the chances Kyoko might grow to resent it.
They stopped for lunch in one of the green rooms so that once everyone was assembled on set they could get started.
A little over thirty minutes later, they reached the set and Kyoko headed for Clara's wheelchair. The assistant told her the one that would probably fit her would be on the set in a little over a week and asked that she bear with this one for the time being. Kyoko smiled and assured him that she'd be fine.
Other actors and a few more staff had shown up while Kyoko was in make-up. She was introduced to Naoki Akiyama, the actor who would be playing Sakura's boyfriend who would only appear in a few episodes, and Yuuko Fukui, an actress playing Sakura's best friend who would be in more of them, especially towards the end. Other names blurred together for Kyoko, but she knew she'd get them down once filming commenced.
Miyako was the next one to enter, she was using her real hair and eyes for her role as Sakura though her HMUA had done something to make it appear even more shiny and flowy than it was previous and the make-up brightened her face and subtracted a couple years from her appearance making her look very much like the student Sakura was supposed to be. She greeted the newcomers with a bright smile, but seemed to draw back a little bit towards her manager Rei as she was introduced. With a start, Kyoko realized that Miyako wasn't entirely comfortable in the role she was in much like Kyoko had been before she fully figured out Natsu for 'Box R'. Miyako eventually wound her way towards Kyoko and made appropriately excited comments about her transformation.
For a moment, Kyoko broke character and reached out and touched Miyako's hand. "It's going to be all right," she assured her. "I'll help you as much as I can!"
"Thank you, Kyoko-san," Miyako smiled, for real this time.
Sudden silence fell over the set and Kyoko's head snapped towards the door that just opened and her jaw nearly fell in her lap. While Ren looked good in just about anything, something about the neatly pressed black suit and the carefully arranged style of his dark hair for Reiji Kinoshita stole her breath for just an instant. Miyako's exclamation of admiration wasn't silenced and Kyoko glanced over at the girl and couldn't help but laugh silently for just a moment, she'd seen many actresses over the course of her time in show business so far react similarly.
"All right, we're all here," Makoto said. "Let's get started. Reiji and Clara are on Stage one in the sitting room set for the Kinoshita mansion. Sakura, Kenji, and Reiko are to head over to the classroom set with the student extras. Let's get this show on the road!"
Filming went well and Makoto declared herself satisfied with both initial scenes and gave their managers instructions to the park where they would start filming the first meeting between the three main characters in the early afternoon.
Kyoko made a note of it even though she knew Mia would probably already have the information down in the schedule book and in Kyoko's phone for her. After saying her good-byes, Kyoko went back to the dressing room to have the make-up removed and to change into her regular clothing. When she came out from behind the screen the assistants put up for her to change behind there was a box on her dressing room table.
Frowning, Kyoko walked up to it and slowly lifted the lid. Her hand flew to her mouth as she stared at the damaged denim jacket contained therein. It had been one of the items that disappeared the night her room was savaged. Her hand clenched tightly and she caught a glimpse in the mirror of a pale reflection that had nothing to do with Clara.