Chapter 26
Author's Note:
Skip Beat! and its characters belong to the creator Nakamura Yoshiki.
Skip Beat! is serialised in 'Hana to Yume' magazine (Hakusensha) and licensed in English by 'Shojo Beat' (VIZ Media, LLC).
The work below is written in the spirit of fan appreciation.
UK English has been used throughout.
Naomi waved to the studio audience as she walked onto the set. She wasn't sure if the audience was cheering louder for her or for the tall man who walked behind her: her soon-to-be co-star, Tsuruga Ren. They both took seats on the couch, Naomi sitting closer to the host than Tsuruga-san as she would be playing the main character.
"Welcome, Naomi-san, welcome Tsuruga-san!"
"Thank you, Yuu-san, it's great to be here," said Naomi.
"Indeed," said Tsuruga-san. "Thank you to the studio audience for the warm reception."
The audience cheered again. The cheer was quite loud. Perhaps he was getting more cheers than her after all.
"It's just been announced that you two have been cast in a new drama called Aozora no Yume, is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right," said Naomi.
"And you'll play the lead, Naomi-san?"
"That's right. My character is called Takamatsu Rina. She's a strong young woman who returns to her hometown after a bad breakup, not sure of who she is anymore. She finds herself through her family, friends and a new business that she puts her heart and soul into."
"That sounds like an inspiring story! And Ren-san — may I call you Ren? — you're playing the love interest, surely."
"I'll be playing a character called Ooshima Kazufumi."
The host gave him a winning smile. Of course. "Can you tell us anything about your character, Ren-san?"
"I think you'll find that he's a bit different from the characters I usually play. A different look, although I don't want to spoil anything. And for once I'll be playing a character who is about my own age, which is quite rare for me."
"Oh, of course!" said Yuu-san. "I tend to forget how young you actually are because you're usually playing something like a detective or a school teacher. But you're practically jailbait, aren't you?"
He laughed what sounded like a natural laugh, although surely he must have felt uncomfortable about the woman's comment. The audience certainly felt a little awkward. There was a lot of nervous giggling going on. Naomi looked at him out the corner of her eye. He had a perfectly pleasant look on his face. He was good.
After a pause to see if Tsuruga-san would reply to her comment with any interesting remarks, Yuu-san moved on to the next question. "So, what can you tell me about the type of drama we will be seeing on our screens from summer onwards?"
Naomi glanced at Tsuruga-san to see if he was about to speak. In her experience, men usually wanted to speak first even if she was the main character, and she didn't want to suffer the indignity of being talked over. But he was looking at her, waiting for her reply. Ugh, that was bad. I bet that just looked like I went to him for approval to speak first.
"I think you can expect some twists and turns," said Naomi. "Mifune-kantoku is a very experimental director. He hasn't given us the scripts for the whole series, just the first few episodes, so I think we can expect that he's playing with form and he will deconstruct the drama genre to a certain extent and find new ways of telling stories."
"He's also a very visual director," added Tsuruga-san. "All directors are, of course, but Mifune-kantoku's other work has shown that he has a rare talent for colour and light. I think we can expect that the drama will look amazing and set the bar higher for domestic TV productions."
What an interesting way to answer the question, thought Naomi. This guy really is a professional.
They were asked more questions, both about the drama and other projects that they had been in. Yuu-san asked Naomi when she would make her big movie break, to which she answered, "I'm ready any time someone wants to give me an offer I can't refuse."
Yuu-san asked Tsuruga-san about the gap after he finished filming Dark Moon. "Did you take personal time off? Perhaps with a ... lady friend?"
He smiled. "No time off for me, alas. I was giving my modelling work some extra attention."
"That wouldn't have taken all that time, surely?"
He paused for a split-second, or perhaps Naomi only imagined it. "I was also working on a long-term project."
"Oh? What project?"
"I'm sorry, I can't give you any more details at this time."
"How intriguing! Will you come back to the show when you can talk about it?"
"Have your people call my people and we can arrange that, I'm sure." He delivered the line with just the right amount of lightness to bring a laugh out of the audience.
"How will I know when it's time to call you back to the show? Can't you give us a few hints? Or even just one?"
"You'll know; trust me."
After the interview finished, they walked through the dark backstage area back to the green room. "Good job, Tsuruga-san," said Naomi.
"You too, Naomi-san. I think that interview went well."
Naomi eyed the tall man walking beside her. What a profile! "Uh, so, what is the secret project?" she asked to hide the fact that she'd been staring.
"Sorry; I can't say."
"Aw, come on. I won't tell anyone." She grinned at him.
He stopped just before entering the green room. "I'm sorry. I really can't."
"How about I guess? Is it a documentary series? People hired to go to various locations for documentaries can take a long time to finish the project."
"Really, I can't. I'm sorry." He inclined his head then held the door open for her.
When she entered the green room, Endou-san held out a bottle of tea to her. "Good job," he said.
"Thanks." She took a sip of the tea then motioned at the monitor that was still showing the rest of the talk show. Three young girls, a pop-rock band, were being interviewed. The poor dears looked well out of their depth. They'd soon learn. "I remember my first interview being more like that."
Endou-san snorted. "You're remembering it with rose-tinted glasses."
Naomi laughed. She turned back to Tsuruga-san, who was having a quiet word with his own manager in the corner. "Are you looking forward to the start of filming, Tsuruga-san?" she asked when his conversation ended.
"Yes, absolutely. I have all the lines memorised already and I'm keen to perform them."
Naomi didn't realise until she received that reply that she'd been hoping for an, 'I'm looking forward to working with you.' She plastered a grin on her face. "Yes, me too."
"Oh, by the way," he added, "thank you for helping out with Fuwa and the girls the other day."
She held the smile in place. "Those thanks are on behalf of ...?"
"On behalf of LME, of course."
Of course.
"It was no trouble."
Half an hour later Naomi slouched in the back of Endou-san's car.
"Stop brooding," he said. "What if one of your fans saw you?"
"I'm not brooding."
"Yes, you are. You're just going to have to be a professional and get over it."
She frowned at him in the rear-view mirror. "Get over what?"
"Your crush."
"I don't have a crush."
"Could have fooled me," he snipped.
Naomi sat forward and looked at Endou-san in profile. He'd never snipped at her like that before. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Yes, there is. Why are you in a bad mood?"
He sighed and looked at her while they were stopped at a red light. "You're usually very professional with everyone you work with, but you're showing signs of letting that professionalism slip around Tsuruga Ren. You keep staring and paying attention to him when you should be concentrating on work."
"I need to establish a good working relationship with him for the sake of the drama. You know this. It's never bothered you before."
"I do know that. But I also heard you saying to your friend on the phone that you think he's interested in one of the other actresses cast in the drama. I don't want to deal with a real-life love drama on set."
"You won't have to! Please, Endou-san, this is super embarrassing."
He sighed as the car behind them honked to let them know the light had gone green. Once the car was moving again, he said, "I'm sorry about that. I was just concerned."
"I understand," she said, although she still sat with her arms crossed. Her feelings weren't Endou-san's business, only her career. "By the way, have you ever heard rumours that an actress had caught Tsuruga-san's eye?"
He thought for a moment. "Not credible ones. Why?"
"I asked around, and no one else seemed to think he had shown interest in anyone, either. Maybe I wasn't asking the right people."
"You shouldn't have been asking around at all. Besides, maybe you noticed because you were staring so much."
She glared at him in the mirror again, but he didn't notice. "They greeted each other so formally on Monday that I was sure I was wrong. I felt embarrassed that I'd told Fumie-chan something that possibly wasn't true. But the way he thanked me for helping her on Monday makes me think I was right again. He said 'girls', but he really meant her, right?"
"I don't know, and I don't want to spend time surmising. I suggest you leave it alone, too. It's not our business."
"Yeah, it's not. You're right." Naomi sighed. It was all for the best, anyway. She'd so proudly told all her friends that she wanted to focus on her career, not men. No doubt she would be on the receiving end of a lot of teasing if she did let herself fall for someone.
Ren clenched his teeth as he drove.
"It'll be fine," said Yashiro-san. "Don't worry. You didn't give anything away."
"But I mentioned the project obliquely. Now people will be hunting for clues. I really messed up."
"You didn't, really. And Konoe-kantoku's assistant assured me he'll call you as soon as he's able. You can apologise until your face turns blue if it makes you feel any better."
Ren sighed. He'd really screwed up in the interview. 'Long-term project'? All he could do was hope that other people would come to the same conclusion that Naomi-san had and think that he was involved in a documentary or something. That's what he had been hoping to imply in the split-second he'd had to come up with a plausible explanation for his apparent low workload over the first part of the year. I'd been hoping that no one would ask me a question phrased quite like that. I was so sure the modelling excuse would work!
Soon afterwards, Ren's phone rang. He pulled over and answered. "Moshi-moshi, this is Tsuruga."
-This is Konoe. I heard you needed to talk to me?-
"Yes, sir. To be perfectly honest with you, I just did an interview, and I was asked a question which made me refer very obliquely to Tragic Marker."
The director was quiet for a moment. -Please relay how the question and answer went.-
Ren did so, as best as he could remember, then held his breath.
-Hm, I think it's OK.-
"Really?"
-Yes. That sounds to me like you inferred the job you were doing was quite unlike a movie, so I don't think anyone will guess. And actually, it might be good to have your fans wondering about what you were doing. It will build suspense for the eventual reveal and hopefully make it a bigger story in the end.-
"I'm so glad you think that, director. I thought I had messed up your plans."
-No, no, not at all, Tsuruga-san. Don't worry about that. If anyone has done that, it's me.-
Ren's eyebrows rose. "Oh?"
-Well, you know. That new drama that you and Kyouko-san and Murasame-san have all been cast in. That was my fault. You aren't having problems with Murasame-san, are you?-
"No, not at all. It's Cain who doesn't like him. Personally, I'm quite impressed with his ability and commitment."
-Ah, OK. That's good. Anyway, to be perfectly honest with you, I showed Ryou-kun, I mean Mifune-kantoku, a few behind the scenes videos from the set and he decided that Heel-san and Setsuka-san, I mean you and Kyouko-san, would be perfect for a couple of roles in his new drama. And Murasame-san caught his eye in that video too.-
So that's how that happened, thought Ren. I didn't realise there were behind-the-scenes videos, but it makes sense to keep footage to go with the reveal after the movie premiere.
"If that's the case, director, thank you very much for promoting me and my kouhai to another director and winning us new roles."
-No problem at all. How is Kyouko-san, by the way?-
"She's doing well. Come to think of it, you still haven't met her when she isn't dressed up as Setsu, have you?"
-No. I think it's best if I don't meet either of you until after the reveal, just in case. Please send her my regards and my thanks for all her efforts.-
"I will."
They bade each other farewell, and then Ren sighed and slumped back in his seat.
"That seemed to go well," said Yashiro-san.
"Yeah, he isn't angry. He thinks it may even help drum up anticipation that with help with the reveal."
"That's great. See? Everything's fine. You should have believed me. You're such a worry wart."
I know. That's the root of almost all my problems.
OverheardAtLME 3 min
"No, you don't understand. There must be four wolves or it won't fit the theme."
Next time: Camera exchanges, phone calls, and luxury goods.
I'd like to say how thankful I am for all the reviews I receive. I don't often have time to reply because I usually see the comments only on my phone while I'm at work or out and about, but I always get warm fuzzies and feel like I want to write more, so thank you :)