Patience Is Its Own Reward
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters.
Kyoko is still attending school and is trying to make the most of it before it graduation, with Ren and Sho chasing her every step of the way.
Chapter 21 – Jealousy
It would be wonderful to write that Ren and Kyoko made their announcement to the world and rode off into the sunset together (not too far, of course, because Japan is an island. And even though Tokyo is on the eastern side, if they kept going they'd get wet in the China Sea, and then… that would be bad… and what would happen to their horses?… and … um… sorry… rambling). And of course, it would be better still to write that they made their announcement and lived happily ever after... But neither real-life nor insomniac fanfiction writers are ever so kind.
Dr. Hook sang a song that is both profound and apropos to the situation in which both Ren and Kyoko found themselves. If you are… slightly… older, then you have probably already guessed the name of the song. Here are a few lines: "… When you're in love with a beautiful woman, you know it's hard… Everybody wants her, everybody loves her. Everybody wants to take your baby home…" In the case of Ren and Kyoko, we are actually talking about two beautiful people. And while they loved and trusted each other, their trust did not include the rest of the world.
Ren had always been almost supernatural in his handsomeness, as far as Kyoko and almost every woman in Japan was concerned. He had been sought after, sighed after, and flirted with by hundreds of women. Kyoko had known that before, but lately the whole idea had taken on an entirely different color. Without realizing it, Kyoko had been jealous of the women in Ren's life for quite a while. Now that uncomfortable feeling was out there on the surface, whispering in her ear like the little green monster it is.
Lately Ren had been trying to break out of the romantic film rut, playing action stars and serial killers. But now that Ren knew what true romance was, Lory wanted to throw him back into the middle and watch him swim. That was because, in Lory's mind, romances were the truest, purest form of film entertainment. He also wanted to see how Kyoko would fare if her latest role was more… shall we say… steamy?
Enough build-up. Let's begin with our story.
Yashiro rocked back-and-forth like a poorly-behaved schoolboy waiting to meet with the school principal. Matsushima-san, the Head of the Acting Division of LME, regarded him with a mixture of scorn and concern.
"Yashiro-san, you've never misplaced or lost a script proposal before; not once in the entire time that you've worked for us. Now you need new copies of three different scripts. What exactly is going on here?"
Yashiro mumbled something and Matsushima made him repeat himself, only louder, "Mogami Kyoko brought Ren and me bento dinners on our break…"
Matsushima leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger, "Let me guess: you left her alone with your satchel?"
"I'm afraid so. I knew that she wasn't happy with some of the new proposals, but…" Yashiro looked sheepish. He knew that Kyoko had taken the scripts, but he really, really, really didn't want to confront her about it.
"Say no more, Yashiro," his boss sighed, "I have a wife. I understand all too well. Though it is rather amusing to have the charter member of the LoveMe Section acting the jealous lover." He handed new copies of the scripts to Yashiro.
"It may be amusing to you, but I am the one who has to deal with her."
* * *
Kyoko was not pleased. She had always liked the president, but lately she was re-evaluating her impressions.
Lory just smiled tolerantly, "Kyoko, I must remind you that Ren is an actor, and therefore he must act."
"He's a great actor! The best, Kaicho. And I think that his latest action movies, and even his work as a serial killer, were wonderful! He needs to get out of all those tired, overworked, romantic dramas and be allowed to really stretch his wings! That is where he will truly shine… I'm sure of it!"
Lory adjusted the breastplate of his Mayan Priest outfit before replying. "You know perfectly well that Japan wants to see Ren in romantic scenes, Kyoko. With his looks, his height, and that voice, he makes all of the women swoon. And that sells. Now behave and stop acting like a jealous schoolgirl."
"I am a jealous schoolgirl!" Kyoko stopped herself in her own embarrassment. "I'm sorry… it's just…"
"I know, Kyoko. Don't worry. Ren may act with other women, but he only sees you. Trust me on this: that boy didn't have a romantic bone in his body until you came along."
After Kyoko left the office, Lory grinned to himself. This is fun! The two young people who knew the least about love in all of Japan are now playing jealous lovers! I have the best job in the world!!
He reached under the cushion of the couch where he had hidden the revised script for Dangerous Academics when Kyoko came in. He had met with Director Kuzawa and the writers just a week ago to make his "proposal" for steaming up the television drama. The filming would start this afternoon…
Ren would not be happy.
* * *
Kyoko found herself standing next to Fuwa Sho as the crew made last-minute adjustments to the set.
Sho was having great difficulty not staring at her, dressed as she was. She wasn't wearing anything out of the ordinary, particularly; She was dressed in school sweat bottoms and a sleeveless t-shirt top, with Converse tennis shoes. And she wasn't dolled-up, exactly; her character had medium-length, jet-black, shiny and wavy hair that was supposed to look tousled. But the combination of everything plus her newfound confidence was driving poor Sho wild. Lately she was blossoming into a true beauty.
For years Sho's ideal woman had been full and curvy. Lately he hardly even noticed that type anymore. Now it was the svelte ladies, the ones with slender, sleek curves, that attracted his notice; and he compared every one of them to Kyoko.
"He told me about everything you did to help rescue me." Kyoko deliberately omitted Ren's name, knowing how that affected Sho. Right now she wanted him to hear what she had to say, "Thank you, Shoutaro. I really do appreciate it."
Sho allowed himself to look at her, and to look into those golden eyes, "Then leave him and come back to me."
Instead of getting angry, Kyoko actually gave her childhood friend a sad smile, "I'm sorry, Sho. That won't ever happen."
I know. Sho leaned his head back against the wall behind them. Anything to prevent himself from looking into those eyes again.
"He also told me that you have been attending the LME Acting School. I'm very impressed. I was angry at you, at first, when you showed up. I take acting very seriously, Sho. I thought that you didn't. I thought that it was all just a big joke to you. But I was wrong. I'm looking forward to seeing how much you've learned."
The only thing that Sho could think to say were the words he had already just said. And he knew that the answer would be the same, no matter how many times he said it.
* * *
Director Kuzawa stood looking at Kyoko and waited for the fireworks. None came. Kyoko just read and reread the revision to scene 1. Finally, she looked up at him and expressed her main concern, "Is Tsuruga-san going to be here when we film this?"
"He's still on a job across town. He shouldn't be here until about an hour after start-time." At least, I sincerely hope not.
* * *
In an earlier part of this story I made a passing reference to the fact that a young violinist actually won the talent show competition. Later, I mentioned that he would form a part of Amori Isako's band in the drama. Now seems a propitious time to describe our young violinist.
Erizawa Morie was what every male violinist should look like (if you were to ask the young ladies out there). Above-medium height, broad-shouldered and slim-waisted; his hands were strong with long, musician's fingers. His face was even-featured, though his nose was more patrician that your average Japanese nose. His eyes were grey, his lashes long, his lips slightly fuller than average, his eyebrows arrogantly arched, and his black hair was wavy and long. Essentially, he looked like he had just stepped off the cover of a romance novel.
But best of all, he could play violin in a way that reached into a person's soul. He was classically trained since five, but in recent years he had taken that intense training and used it to play rock-style music using an electric violin with loop-station* to allow him to play multiple parts by himself. He was destined to become a noted musician in the future. For this moment in time he was just interested in having fun… and getting a little closer to Mogami Kyoko.
He hadn't really been interested in her at first. He knew who she was because his little sister was a devoted fan. But he hadn't paid any attention to her himself. That was until she sang at the talent contest. Her sultry, raspy voice caught his attention and made him sit up and take notice. Since then he had been watching her quite a bit. Morie had no shortage of self-confidence, and he knew that he was a big hit with the ladies; which is why he was one of the few young men in the school who was willing to try and steal Kyoko from someone like Tsuruga Ren.
Morie smiled as he studied the script again. Today's opening scene should help.
Author's note: To avoid confusion, I will explain the conventions that will be used for narrating scenes from the drama. All drama scenes will be set off with [[double-brackets like this]]. The description in scenes will be presented in present-tense, while the actual scenes will be presented in past-tense.
This is the opening scene for the first episode of Season 1.
[[Scene begin's with a shot of students in uniforms walking in a school courtyard. A single, deep, violin note coming from an open window on the second floor.
The scene switches to a close-up of a bow moving along strings, making a different note. The camera follows the strings to show long fingers that begin plucking out notes even as the first two long violin notes play in the background. The camera moves so that a handsome face shrouded in dark, long, wavy hair comes into focus just as the bow starts moving again, much faster now. Three tracks are playing now, and the music is ear-catching.
While this continues, the camera focuses on an electric bass guitar, as long, slender fingers begin plucking out a deep rhythm. Another set of hands begins to play electric guitar. Another adds keyboard. And finally, drums come in.
The music is hard and it sets the heart racing as the camera shows a single, slender hand with graceful, long fingers holding a microphone next to a leg in sweat pants. The camera shows two designer Converse sneakers, with one foot tapping out the beat. Then the camera moves up the slender body, goes over a female torso in a sleeveless t-shirt, and stops to focus on the lower half of an elfin face. The full lips are moving silently to the music, and then suddenly the mouth curves into a wicked smile and the microphone comes up. Amori Isako's golden eyes glimmer as she begins to sing.
"I don't know who you were before, or what you did when you were there
it won't matter in the slightest if you ruled the roost or hid in shadows
Your past is your past and won't help you in your present here
'cause baby, you're in my school now"
The camera focuses out now to show the entire band, playing in casual clothes. The young beauty on the electric guitar explodes into action, playing hard and fast and skip-jumping around the room. She stops close to the violinist and they lean together as each plays hard and fast.
They reach the end of their duet and dampen the volume as Isako saunters forward and lifts the microphone again.
"They handed you the student handbook, a locker and a parking stall
they told you all their expectations 'bout how to act and get along
Now come with me, I'll teach you what you're really going to need to know
those teachers aren't the power here, so learn this quick and learn it well
'cause baby, you're in my school now"
The music and song continued through two more verses. It ended with Itaki Jorie, the violinist, facing Isako as she walked her fingers up his torso with a sultry smile and sang the final words, "cause baby, you're in my school now!" Her hand flattened on the violinist's chest and pushed him away dismissively.
The guitar sounded out a final, disdainful-sounding riff.
"Great job, guys. We're really sounding good now," Amori Isako said with a smile, "Remember, we have to be at the Dragon's Fire by 5 p.m. tonight. Masaki, check your outfit this time or I'll make you go out there in you underwear."
Masaki Nanami blushed, "Isako-chan! I only forgot one time!"
Isako ignored her, "Jorie, stick around. I want to hear you play that second stanza again. Something didn't quite sound right."
Jorie smirked and set his violin down as everyone else filed out. Amori Isako was fishing through her bag, pulling out a water bottle as she continued speaking. I think we've pretty much nailed this song, except for that one sour note. Do you know what I'm tal…."
Jorie grabbed the arm of the smaller, slender girl and yanked her around into a kiss. She was stiff at first, but seemed to relax. The water bottle fell from her hand and started spilling on the floor as he began to press her backwards towards the wall.
Her arm reached back and her hand went into her bag. Jories free hand started to move upward toward her chest when there was a sudden "click." His eyes opened wide in alarm and he moved his face back.
The camera focuses on a slender hand holding a switch-blade against Jorie's pants.
Amori Isako's voice was calm, almost caressing as she spoke, "Jorie, I need your violin sound in my band, so I am going to let you live." Her golden eyes were terrifyingly cold, "But if you ever try something like that again, you'll be able to sing higher than your violin can play. You got me?"
Jorie stepped back, embarrassed, "I just thought… I hoped…"
"You were wrong. Go home, Itaki Jorie. We're done here."]]
"Cut!" Director Kuzuwa yelled out. One take! He couldn't believe it until he saw the film, but he was almost positive that they had achieved a "clean-speech" on the very first take. A "clean-speech" is a perfect scene with no dialogue errors. Granted, there was very little dialogue in this scene, but actors, especially young actors, are often nervous on the first day. Mistakes are made common. Achieving a "clean speech" on the first scene of the first day is a rarity, and therefore considered to be a lucky-omen for the production.
"Director," The single word, said in that icy, deep voice, took away all of the joy of the moment. Kuzuwa looked up to see Tsuruga Ren standing beside him. At least, he thought it was Tsuruga Ren. But he had never seen the mild-mannered actor with that look on his face. Nor had he ever seen those large hands crushing a thick script in white-knuckled hands before. "When did that kiss get added to this scene?"
Director Kuzuwa looked pleadingly past the tall actor to Yashiro with a plea in his eyes. Yashiro quickly shook his head no, clearly saying, You're on your own on this one, Director.
Thanks a lot, buddy! He cleared his throat. When that didn't work, he cleared it again, "Well, you see… Takarada…"
"Konichiwa, Ren-san," A sweet voice said, and Ren was wrapped in slender arms from behind.
Ren's face softened and Kuzuwa felt as if he could breathe again. Ren turned to Kyoko, "They changed the first scene. When did you find out about it?"
Kyoko could see the struggle on Ren's face. She had seen it enough times when Fuwa Sho's name was mentioned to recognize it. Uh oh, he saw it. She made herself think hard. "Yeah, I just found out about thirty minutes ago. If you hadn't taught me how important it was to be a professional, I would have refused. I'm so glad that you were my sempai." She hugged him again, tightly.
Ren's face was a myriad of emotions, but it finally settled into a look of affection.
Yashiro had to walk away to prevent the great man from seeing him smirk. You're getting good, Kyoko. I thought things were about to explode and people were about to die.
Still holding Kyoko under one arm, Ren turned to the director, "Will there be any more of these… revisions… that you would like to tell me about, Director Kuzuwa?"
Kuzuwa gulped, "No!... no, you see, by having Isako deal with the problem in her own way, we've basically shown the viewers that she's a real bad*ss, without having to go into a lot of detail. In one short scene we've established both her rocker identity and her tough girl identity."
Tsuruga Ren was a professional, and he understood more than just the acting aspect of film-making, "I have to admit, it will be a great opening scene. Just no more surprises, all right."
Director Kuzuwa nodded rapidly up and down, anxious to get away from those dangerous eyes.
Kyoko looked up at Ren, "Did you like the song? It's going to be the opening song for the whole first season… well, the studio version at least. Everyone's playing really well together too."
Ren looked down at Kyoko affectionately, "You sang it very well. I can hardly wait to see the rushes."
Then Kyoko finally asked the question that she really wanted to know. "Did... did you do the scene with Asatoki Lina today… the ki… the romantic scene?"
Ren looked down into her concerned, jealous eyes, "The kissing scene?" He felt her stiffen under his arm, and he chuckled.
Kyoko scowled up at him fiercely, "What's so funny about that?"
Ren smiled, "Nothing, really. I was just thinking that you and I are alike in one way. Neither of us are ever going to get used to the idea of the other acting out a romantic scene."
Kyoko was still frowning slightly, "I think that you should stick to action films."
"I thought that Dangerous Academics was an action film. Now I had to watch some punk kiss my Kyoko on the first day…" he frowned down at her. "I'm amazed that you didn't freak out just now. Not that long ago you would have been huddled in a corner. You didn't like that kiss, did you?"
"What? Erizawa-san's kiss?" Kyoko returned dismissively, "Erizawa Morie thinks he's God's gift to women, but he doesn't even hold a candle to you."
"Good," Ren growled.
Notes: This is the beginning of the filming arc. The hardest parts of being in a new relationship are the adjustments and jealousies. Since neither Ren or Kyoko are perfect, and both have frightening tempers, it should be fun… for us at least.
Nothing ground-breaking in this chapter, but it should get better. I'm trying to decide how much of the drama to include in this story. It is a series, not a movie, so it could go on forever. I'm considering writing the whole story separately and posting it on
Personal note to Anna: I agreed with you and changed the end of the last chapter. I wrote that after over 36 hours of little or no sleep, if that is any excuse. I wish that you would sign in so that I could reply directly. I promise that I do not send back angry emails. And I am always looking for honest input.