The Little Mermaid (part one)
Director Kingo sweeps onto the set and starts barking orders before he even greets anyone. His cast gathers around him and listens quietly as he outlines the course of the rehearsal. As he falls silent, five of his cast turn to move onto the set but Kyoko remains in front of the man in charge. She smiles, bows formally, and wishes him a good morning. Kingo stares at her with disdain but she can not see the expression because she remains in her bow as she waits for him to return her greeting. The director turns away from the actress and yells a number of orders to lighting and sound technicians. He turns his attention back to the set and notices that his youngest actress is still standing in front of him awaiting his greeting. The irritated director mutters an insincere good morning and Kyoko stands properly and smiles brilliantly at him before skipping towards the set.
Kingo watches her move happily across the studio with a bewildered expression which he quickly covers with a scowl. To cover his uncharacteristic show of emotion, the director yells even louder at the cast to find positions for the first scene. He absently rubs his chest to try to relieve the slight pinching pressure. Focusing on the scene ahead, the director sneers and stalks towards the sets.
Tsuruga and Koga move onto the first set which appears to be the grassy mall in front of a university building. Tsuruga settles into one of the metal lawn chairs with a pile of school books on the table. He shifts one closed and opens a new one as if changing subjects to study.
"Yo, Kei," yells Koga as he slips into his character, Toru. Toru bumps roughly into Keitaro and purposefully knocks his books off the table.
"Come on man," Toru urges. "You study too much. Come and play. A bunch of us are meeting up at the Sugar Shack for some grub and karaoke. You gotta come. Kimi-chan from chem lab is supposed to be there."
Toru nudges Keitaro when he mentions Kimi and grins evilly. Keitaro sighs and closes his book before retrieving the ones from the ground. He grins at his friend but shakes his head. Unfortunately, he has to stay here because the law firm for the Numamura family is sending over a representative to talk to him about his impending inheritance. Toru once again offers his condolences but Kei just shrugs.
"I was never close with Great-Uncle Taro. I always found him to be a bit of a jerk. I mean, he disowned his own daughter because she fell in love with the wrong man."
Toru opens his mouth to remind Keitaro that his uncle did take care of him and his mom after his stepfather died but Kingo interrupts him.
"Tsuruga-san, I need you to put more emphasis on your facial expression when you say the line about disowning his daughter. I want more disgust conveyed."
Ren nods and they restart the scene from Toru's offered condolence. They finish the scene and Koga exits. He meanders over to lounge on a folding chair with the three female cast members. Ren remains sitting at the table as if still studying. He expertly suppresses his frustration about Koga sitting entirely too close to Kyoko as Kijima enters the set. Kingo stops him before he even greets the other character.
"Kijima, you need to be less casual in your approach. You are supposed to be conveying self assurance and a bit of arrogance. Move your shoulders back more and step more firmly. I don't want to see a rolling gait."
They start again and Kingo stops Kijima yet again and goes over the walk one more time. This time, the actor does it well enough that the director accepts it.
"You're Numamura-san, correct?" the lawyer confirms. Keitaro glances at the older man and nods.
"I'm Saito Jun, an associate from Integrity Law. I wanted to meet with you to discuss some of the more unusual aspects of your uncle's will."
Jun looks slightly flustered when Keitaro raises his eyebrow as if to express that he is not surprised that there are unusual circumstances involved with anything to do with his great-Uncle. The lawyer clears his throat nervously and Kei invites him to have a seat. When Kijima sits, Kingo has him change seats so that he is sitting at an angle to Ren instead of across from him. This will allow the camera to catch both of their expressions at the same time.
Again, Jun clears his throat then dives into his explanation.
"Are you aware that your great-Uncle had a daughter?"
Kei nods.
"Of course you would; she would be your aunt after all. According to public records, your aunt died in a car accident three years ago. Records also show that she had a now 20 year old daughter, Yoshie. She seems to be missing at this time. Anyway, Numamura-sama listed Yoshie as his primary heir and you as his secondary heir. You are to receive all his company holdings, personal property, real estate, and investments in the event that the primary heir is not found. The problem is that if the primary heir is not found, your inheritance is to be held in trust and only released in increments every ten years which will allow for at least part of the inheritance to fall to the primary heir if she is found at a much later date. Your mother will continue to receive a stipend and her health care if the primary heir is not found. If the primary heir is found, the will outlines that you are to marry her. If you do so, you, as a couple, will receive the entire inheritance the day the marriage license is signed. Your mother will also be provided with her full inheritance also. If you do not choose to marry, the primary heir will receive a stipend until her death and your mother receives nothing. You will receive nothing. The rest of the estate will be held in trust in case the primary heir ever has offspring. If she does, the first born offspring will become the sole heir at the primary heir's death."
The lawyer falls silent and Kei stares at him for a few moments. He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair.
"So I guess I should be hoping that the primary heir isn't found, huh?"
Jun nods and starts to reply but Kingo interrupts again.
"I want to see more embarrassment when you nod, Kijima-san. You're about to admit to the final stipulation in the will that was placed to ensure that every effort is made to find the primary heir. You are searching for her with all your abilities because the lawyer who finds the primary heir along with proof of her identity will be made an instant partner and receive a 200 million yen in bonus."
Kijima adjusts his expression and continues his dialog. The two actors finish the scene without any additional director interventions but Kingo offers no words of encouragement as they exit the scene.
The cast moves onto the next scene where Kanae's character and Ren's character meet and establish a mutual attraction. Kanae does a great job of capturing the intelligence and flirty countenance of her character and Ren flows through the scene without a single need for the director to correct them for anything other than some general staging requests.
Although it is out of order, Kingo then has the young couple act their scene on the college mall where Kei admits his feelings for Kimi but that he is trapped by his inheritance. His mother is ill and so he needs to ensure that she keeps access to the best possible medical care. Unfortunately for the two lovers, the only way to ensure the ensured health care is to follow his great-Uncle's will request.
Kei reaches out to the slender beauty he has been dating for months. He gently touches her shoulder and begs that she turn back to him.
"I love you Kimi-chan. Nothing will change that feeling but I love my mother too. I have to take care of her. She will die without the medical treatments that the Numamura money provides."
Kimi whips around to face her boyfriend. "But we will die, just a little bit every day, if you agree to marry that other woman."
"My love for you will not die."
Realizing that her sadness will not sway him, Kimi reacts in anger.
"You want to marry your silly little cousin," she accuses viciously. "You're obsessed with her simpleminded sweetness and you can't wait to have her dancer's legs wrapped around you in bed."
"Kimi, Yoshie-san is sweet and I enjoy watching her dance but you are the only one I dream about at night." Kei reaches out to embrace his lover. "The only one I want to hold for eternity."
Tears fall from Kimi's eyes as she raises her face to her pleading boyfriend. "You promise me eternity but you are settling for the money and forever with someone else."
Kimi takes a deep breath and smiles softly at Kei. She reaches to his face and rests her hand on his cheek. Her thumb brushes gently across his lips in the kiss that she can not share. She turns and walks away leaving behind her stricken lover. In the shadows in the background, a slight figure watches the two lovers with tears streaming from her haunted golden eyes.
As Kanae leaves the set, she gently wipes her tears from her face. Kijima sidles along her side and offers to help her feel better, a lot better.
"Who feels bad?" she waspishly replies before purposefully turning away from the playboy. Koga snickers but Kijima just watches Moko's attractive back side as she retreats across the studio.
"She's too cold, man," warns the green-eyed star.
Kijima smirks as he replies "she just needs the right heater and I happen to have the body temperature perfect for the job."
"Lines like that are not going to cement Kotonami-san's interest," warns Ren as he attempts to steer the known playboy's attention away from LoveMe girl number two. In his mind, the actor curses the president for forcing him to act as the LoveMe babysitter. This project has too many dangers floating around for his sanity. He decides to kill two birds with one stone, or one suggestion as it were.
"If you want to impress her, you will need to show her your professionalism and acting talent. That's what interests LoveMe number two."
Kijima grins and thanks his co-star as he affirms that he can be even more professional then the next guy if he thinks it will help. To support his claim, he quickly strides away to prepare for his first scene with Kyoko and Amamiya.
Ren and Koga watch his purposeful exit and Koga laughs.
"I guess he doesn't realize that you weren't really trying to help him, huh?"
Ren tilts his head and smiles one of his gentlemanly smiles at Koga as he asks him what he means.
Koga snorts. "I'm not exactly sure what a LoveMe girl is, but I know for a fact that you're gonna drive yourself to an early grave acting the white knight for all three of your female co-stars. In fact, you might need to get on your steed right now," he warns as he waves his hand towards LoveMe girl number one who is currently wiping her tear-filled eyes with shaking hands as the director seems to be berating her about something. Ren suppresses a groan and takes off for his kohai's position.
As Tsuruga approaches Kingo and Kyoko, his kohai bows formally to the director and apologizes then confirms that she will do better next time. Kingo makes a noncommittal sound and walks away.
"Are you okay, Mogami-san?" he gently asks as Kyoko returns to an upright position. She takes a shaky breath and scrubs the tears from her eyes. Kyoko nods. She then excuses herself because she needs to start her scene. Anxious about what the director said, Ren can only watch as his sweetheart resolutely begins her first scene.
Yoshie and her best friend Tama exit the dance school where they teach school aged children ballet. Jun approaches the young ladies and introduces himself. Kingo calls a halt and instructs the girls to both appear more suspicious of the well dressed lawyer who approached them. They nod in unison and return to the scene.
"Excuse me miss, but are you Manai Yoshie, daughter of Manai Yun and Numamura Yuri?"
Yoshie and Tama exchange a concerned expression.
"Who wants to know?" inquires Tama carefully.
"I'm Saito Jun, an associate from Integrity Law. I am looking for the daughter of Numamura Yuri. Yoshie was born in Hirado, Nagasaki and her mother died three years ago. He turns towards Yoshie. You're the girl for whom I have been searching for months, yes?"
Yoshie nervously grasps her friend's elbow. "I don't know why you would be searching for me. I'm not anyone of consequence. You must have me confused with someone else."
The young woman turns and pulls her friend in her wake.
"Wait, you are Manai Yoshie, right? Your father was an entomologist who worked at the Tabira Insect Park."
Yoshie sighs and turns back to the young lawyer.
"Yes, you have the right person but my father died over ten years ago so I don't think I can be of any assistance to you."
"No, no, I'm not looking for your father. I am looking for you actually," admits the lawyer before asking if they could go somewhere more appropriate to talk since he has a lot of private information to share with her.
Yoshie looks to Tama who nods her head slightly.
"Alright, Saito-san," she finally agrees as the scene ends.
Kingo calls a short break for the technical crew while he goes over some instructions for the cast. He spends the next ten minutes outlining the remaining scenes and general blocking for the action. When he finally finishes his directions, he orders everyone back onto the set for the next scene. On her way to the tiny space that represents Yoshie's and Tama's small shared apartment, Amamiya stops to grab a water bottle. As she twists off the lid, Kingo begins yelling at her that she needs to get her butt on the set and that if she was thirsty that she should have gotten a drink before it was time to start.
Chiori puts the cap back on the bottle and is about to drop it back onto a folding chair, when Kyoko stands up for her friend.
"Kingo-san," she begins. "You know it is very important for actors and actresses to keep hydrated. It helps protect our voices and our bodies from the stress placed on while acting. You really should let Amamiya-san finish her water. Professionals must care for their bodies properly, no?"
The director glares at the young actress who has stood up to his irritable behavior twice now. His eyes narrow onto his target.
"Oh, so you think actors and actresses should be allowed to waste their co-workers time anytime they feel like it?" he asks sarcastically.
"It does not take much time to drink a bottle of water and Amamiya-san could have finished her drink in the time we have been discussing it," Kyoko calmly replies.
"Fine," sneers Kingo. "Amamiya-san, drink your damn water. As Kyoko-san has pointed out, it does not take MUCH time."
"But in order to make up the time wasted, we will speed up our conversations," orders Kingo as he settles on a mild punishment for his overly formal actress.
"Starting now, you will all refer to each other by your given names, no honorifics and no surnames. Given names only. If I hear any wasteful additions, you will be fired."
"Sir, I don't think..." starts Ren as he attempts to intervene on the charged staring contest currently issuing between Kingo and Kyoko.
"Keep your thoughts to yourself, REN," Kingo orders with a nasty look for the veteran actor "or you might not be the one who ends up fired."
As the unreasonable director storms across the studio, all six cast members stare after him in amazement. Finally chuckling at the irony, Koga leans close to Kijima and mutters, "my given name is a hell of a lot longer than my family name."