Chapter 29!
"Emily, I'm so glad you could make it these past three days on such short notice," Director Ogata smiled kindly at me as we poured over the rough scripts and storyboard drafts. "You're working so hard even on New Year's Eve – your family must miss you very much."
"It's fine Director, thank you so much for your hard work," I grinned heartily, still giddy with excitement that I could be a part of the 6 episode mini-series romantic-comedy he was directing. "My family is just as busy, but I'll be having dinner with them tonight to celebrate the New Year."
"That's wonderful. Let's hope the cast meeting and rehearsal goes smoothly, and we can call it a day."
Director Ogata stood up and I followed him, like a fledgling waddling after her parent, together with the main producers who were working on the series with him. Over the past three days, I had mainly learnt that I had a lot to learn. Everyone on the producing team was incredibly professional, soaring steadily and confidently in their element, offering clear ideas and direction that the series should take, and drafting out the scripts and storylines in a flurry of enthusiasm and efficiency. It was daunting to work beside them and offer ideas, but simply listening to how passionate they were about telling the story inspired me to desire to be like them, to spread my wings and show the world what I could offer too.
Director Ogata had briefed me about the work commitments and given me a run-down of the main storyline – how a pair of twins; sons of an American hotel tycoon; liked the same Japanese girl working in their hotel (named Sakura, of all the Japanese names they could have chosen), but she doesn't realise they are two separate boys. The budget had been fully sponsored by a rich American hotel owner who wanted the series to be filmed in California, in order to encourage more Japanese to travel there for their holidays. Director Ogata and the other producers were pleasantly surprised that I had lived in California, and was able to offer advice about wardrobe and setting matters. However, the filming in America bothered me a little; my parents still weren't aware that I had joined LME, and certainly would raise an eyebrow or two if I didn't visit for dinner the entire month that we would be filming overseas. But that would come later, as I was sure that Lory had a few tricks or two up his sleeve. Maybe I could arbitrarily extend my spring break on my own, using the excuse that I missed my grandmother's cooking, eat until I bloated like a stuffed turkey, and suffer from a heartburn similar to the one Kuu Ojiisan was having at the moment.
Right now, however, we were about to meet the main cast of the mini-series. The nervousness was palpable under my skin, and I felt like a chick who was about to take its first flight out of the nest. I was certain my flaming red wig was out of place, after having twirled the ends of the wig since the moment I stepped into the conference room this morning, and I was perspiring so badly I thought my feathers – no, I mean; my hair – would fall right off.
When Director Ogata opened the door to the briefing room, my worries waned for a while when I saw Kaitou and Kichirou, lazing in their armchairs, looking relaxed, comfortable, and even seemed like they expected to see me.
Until my worries popped right back up, like daisies, when I saw my arch-nemesis in the armchair right next to them, blowing on her perfectly manicured nails and tossing her flawless locks.
…
"Everyone okay with the timeline and scripts?" Director Ogata was about to move on to the rehearsal, after introducing the main cast and crew to one another. "Well, let's take five, then meet again for the read-through and rehearsal."
I filed out of the room mechanically, heading to the vending machine around the corridor. Apparently the budget was big enough to hire my two superstar brothers to be the twins, since they looked alike, save the fact that Kaitou would have to dye his hair, and did have Western facial features thanks to my model grandmother. It pains me that I did not see this coming even after three days of reading through the scripts and realising that this drama called, or practically screamed at the top of its lungs, for Japanese actors popular and Western-looking enough to attract the growing number of young and successful Japanese women to holiday in California. My brothers were a logical choice, and I did not question their casting.
What I really was questioning, however, was how long I could further hold on to my sanity. Because right now, I was close to completely and utterly losing it.
The Sakura of my nightmares was about to be the main lead of my first ever drama.
What the actual heck.
"Hi there Emily! Can I…call you Emi-chan?" Sakura's sweet, chirpy voice bounced off the LME corridors like rubber pellets, making the hair on my neck stand at complete attention even under my wig. "Emi-chan I'm so glad we can work together on this drama! You know Yuuichi, the guy you helped film the music video for? He's my boyfriend! What a coincidence!"
I was about to punch the living daylights out of this delusional snake.
Too bad I had to be professional Emily, calm Emily, collected Emily, Producer Emily – I willed myself to breathe in and out in order to conduct a decent conversation. Her tone was exactly the same as the one she used in school while sucking up to the teachers. What a coincidence it had been that the same man who was giving Youdai High enough money to operate was also the owner of a hotel in California, and had asked that his daughter, Akane Sakura, be given a the main lead in the cast. I don't blame him, he was probably trying to make up for his absence by giving her anything she wanted, be it control over the school or even using his money to buy her the fame and attention she so desperately needed. What I knew, though, was that I neither wanted nor needed any of the attention she was giving me now.
"Ah, Yuuichi never really mentioned he had a girlfriend when we were filming though," I turned around and sipped my milk tea nonchalantly, smirking a little and wanting to shake her confidence like she had done with mine. "You're young – have you had any acting experience?"
"As a matter of fact, I have," she effortlessly changed the topic, "I need your help later Emi-chan, I need to get close to Tsuruga Kaitou. Just a short moment with him; he's so dreamy!"
"Aren't…you…already dating Yuuichi?" I knew this wasn't true, but at this point, both Emily and Etsuko were equally confused.
Sakura flashed the cunning smile I knew so well from school, but I wasn't sure what Emily had done to deserve the demon-snake-with-three-heads grin that Sakura was currently giving me. Jelly-san's disguise had always been the shield that I could hide behind for the past two weeks, but at this point I was not only questioning my sanity, but the effectiveness of the shield. Sakura fished out two photographs from her purse, and handed them to me. I stared straight at the image of myself hugging Kichirou at the Christmas party just a week back, and the second photograph was of Kaitou, Kichirou and I getting into the car to leave the party. Shell-shocked, I gaped at her. How had she gotten these pictures, and what was she about to do with them?
"Where…where did you get these?" I stammered, my voice threatening to break.
"It's amazing how clear the CCTVs are at Dad's hotels in Tokyo too. Come on, Emi-chan, don't play dumb, both you and I aren't here through our own abilities," Sakura scoffed, "you're secretly dating Tsuruga Kichirou, and used him to get into this mini-series. I just need to ask Kaitou-kun a little something. And I know you have no experience in this industry."
"Looks like you know my little secret," I bluffed as well as I possibly could. On the bright side, at least she thought I was dating him, rather than being his blood-related, full-out sister. For the record, that last blow of hers really hurt, but I wasn't going to let her see that it did. "I'll ask for a favour just for you."
Sakura chuckled mirthlessly, and turned to leave for the rehearsal.
"I just knew we'd see eye to eye. Let's have a great time working together, Emi-chan!"
…
It was quiet in Kaitou's car back home, and for the first time I was unsettled to have dinner with my family. After I had told Kaitou and Kichirou what had happened during a break in the middle of rehearsal, Kichirou had said that it was still best that Sakura thought we were dating instead, and that Kaitou should just play along. Sakura had just tried to get to know Kaitou better, asking him basic questions and whether he'd been to California before.
I may have been a fledging at the rehearsal, but I had watched Akane Sakura like a hawk. This vixen was as talented an actress as she was cunning, and she acted the role of Sakura the young hotel manager flawlessly. It really ticked me off that I couldn't pick on her non-existent mistakes, but what could I expect from a demon whose entire life was simply one big act? Her skills must have come from all the daily practice in school from feigning innocence and ignorance.
I was going to get to the root of this mystery even if it killed me. There was no way she could have obtained those pictures on her own, but at the same time, none of us could get more information out of her now that she had the upper hand. I was perplexed and frightened, yet downright curious as to what her true motives were. Worry was etched onto Kaitou's face, and the "Mogami river" had been engraved onto Kichirou's forehead the moment I showed him the photos. The earlier part of the car ride had been a turbulent one – all three of us had argued over whether to let our parents in on these events – but that would mean the certain removal of Emily Hart's existence and any possibility of finding out what was truly going on. I had vehemently protested against Kaitou's plan that I should just quit showbiz and producing altogether, and even though Kichirou suggested that he publicly "break-up" with Emily Hart so that I would have a reason to leave the project, I couldn't stomach the fact that I would be turning high tail against Director Ogata and his kindness, and run away in fear and without any concrete answers to the flurry of questions flocking in the recesses of my mind. I didn't know what I should do, but I was ultimately certain that my next course of action would not include evasion or disappearance.
"Kai, could you drop me off at the apartment? Okaasan said to bring Yuuichi along for dinner tonight. Is Megumi-chan coming for dinner too?"
My softer tone seemed to relax Kaitou a little, as he managed a wane smile.
"Okaasan invited Megumi-chan as well, but she's got plans with her own family. Thank goodness though, she's so young, I can't imagine how Okaasan could even suggest it!"
"Well," Kichirou interjected, chuckling, "you better move fast Nii-san. The industry is already starting to question your sexuality! Wait till Okaasan finds out her eldest son is rumoured to be gay because he's too shy to ask a girl out!"
"The last I checked," Kaitou wrinkled his nose in disdain, "you made eyes at our younger sister, and now people are going to think you're dating her. That can safely be considered incest. Just you wait till the oyabaka of our Otousan finds out. I believe I will get the last laugh."
"That wasn't my fault!"
"Kichi Nii-san, if my memory serves me right, you said you'd never hit on me because of my lack of assets at the chest area," I smirked, adding my share of fuel to the fire.
"Etsu why would you team with our demon lord brother!" Kichirou protested pitifully as we rounded the corner to my apartment. "I'll never trust any of you again!"
"Too bad, you're stuck with us for life," I opened the car door, traipsed out, and headed to the passenger window with a cheeky grin while throwing Kichirou a knowing look. "Next time when you bring a girl home Kichi, I'll tell her you were such a playboy, you even dated me! And if she stays with you even after that, I'll probably approve."
I could vaguely hear the annoyed whine that my ticked-off Kichirou Nii-san was giving as a guffawing Kaitou sped off into the distance, thoroughly entertained by our flustered brother.
…
Sitting on Yuuichi's couch, I watched him pensively switch his glance between a grey shirt and a blue shirt, his eyes shifting between the two choices as if he was making an important life decision. We had around an hour to reach my home for the New Year's Eve dinner, so although he had plenty of time to put an outfit together, he wasn't making much progress. He looked even more like a lost duckling than I did in the morning at LME, and I couldn't help but feel that he was adorable in his actions. What really surprised me, now in retrospect, was that I was growing more comfortable admitting how all Yuuichi's smallest actions simply won my heart over. Chuckling under my breath at his perplexed visage, I crossed the room and picked up the blue shirt.
"Wear this one," handing it to him, I barely stifled a giggle as his confusion turned to absolute relief. "There's no reason to look so flustered, it's just dinner with my parents."
"You have no idea," Yuuchi's relief suddenly morphed into resignation with a hint of contempt as he took the blue shirt, "but thanks for making up my mind for me. How was work today?"
Cautiously running my fingers through my freed golden tresses since I had taken off Jelly-san's wig, I didn't exactly know how to tell Yuuichi that Sakura had decided to wreak havoc in the persecution of Emily Hart as well as Etsuko. It was unfortunate that technology still had a long way to go in creating equipment that could just transfer memories from one mind to another, as I was highly uncomfortable with recounting today's events.
"The good news is that the mini-series will be filmed in my hometown and I will be working with my wonderful elder brothers, but the bad news is that Emily Hart will have to tolerate a certain Akane Sakura for the next three months."
Yuuichi's eyebrows shot up. Way up.
"She also mentioned that you were her boyfriend, threatened me with pictures of myself talking to Kichirou at the party, and accused me of not being there by my own talents," I sighed as I continued explaining. "Her dad is funding the project to promote his new hotel resort in California, and she's got the main lead in the mini-series. And dammit, her acting is actually worth its weight in gold."
"Whoa there Etsu, slow down. You said she threatened you? Did she know who you were?" Yuuichi set the shirt aside and led me to sit back down on the couch, his physical presence in close proximity making me flustered yet feel comforted at the same time.
"No, I don't think so. She was just using Emily to get a little closer to Kaitou. Which doesn't make sense if she told me she was dating you. And the pictures…you'd have to be actually looking through the CCTV camera footage to get them. Which means that Sakura already had something in mind regarding my brothers, and was purposefully poring over the archives from the Happy Grateful Party."
"Let me guess – your brothers told you to quit the project, but you didn't want to."
"Bingo. Ten points to Yuuichi."
We sat in pensive silence. In reality, it felt like a noiseless vacuum, but in my head, the thoughts were zooming around like jet planes in an elaborate aerial display. I glanced at Yuuichi, somehow hoping that my worried gaze would find comfort in a clear sea of blue. Why wouldn't he say something, anything to allay my fears and make me feel like everything would be alright? But in his eyes I saw the confusion that mirrored mine, and I couldn't help but regret telling him so much, and making him worry for me as well. It was heart-breaking to see his angelic appearance marred with apprehension and guilt, probably from thinking that it was his fault I was caught up in an even bigger mess. Looking back, it was ironic that I was seeking comfort from Yuuichi but ended up wanting to make sure he was fine instead. I have no idea what prompted me to do it, but I remembered how warm, tingly and comforting it had felt when Yuuichi cupped my cheek on Christmas.
"Yuuichi, look at me," I murmured, gently putting my right hand on his cheek. "I promise I will take care of myself, you don't have to look so worried."
"I may not be able to fight your wars for you," Yuuichi gave a wan smile and placed his own large palm over mine, and I was sure I was blushing bright red at the increased physical contact, "but I could give you a good luck charm to take to your battles."
The mix of anticipation and trepidation caught me in a whirlwind of emotions as Yuuichi leaned his forehead against mine, and pulled me in closer to him. I scanned his gaze for any hint of what he was about to do next, but was caught completely off guard as he slowly, achingly brought his lips an inch away from mine, as the operations in my brain completely shut down, and I acted on instinct, doing something I had wanted to do for the longest time, and not even realising it all these months.
I moved my lips an inch forward.
The kiss that came engulfed me in a wave of emotions. It was soft, tender, and I melted into Yuuichi's arms as he cupped my cheek, and I vaguely registered his other palm that supported my waist. His lips moulded with mine as my heart burst – his mouth warm, wet, and incredibly gentle as he captured my lower lip and sucked, running his tongue across it. His name involuntarily rolled off the tip of my tongue like a whisper, a cry for something I didn't recognise, and I heard him inhale sharply as the gentle Yuuichi I knew completely vanished. Pressing me against the couch, he dove in for one more searing kiss, setting my heart on fire and razing my doubts to ashes.
When Yuuichi finally pulled back, I slowly did the same, suddenly realising that my hands had been flushed against his chest, fingers curling around the front of his t-shirt and nearly begging him to come closer. My breath came out in shallow pants, and his kind gaze was the most beautiful blue I had ever looked into. Before I could drop my hands in sheer embarrassment, he had pulled me into a tight hug and planted a feather-light kiss on the top of my head. I was grateful that he couldn't see how overwhelmed I felt at that moment, drowning in a sea of contentment and light-headedness.
"Yuuichi?"
"Mmhmm?"
"Does this mean we're not best friends anymore?"
"It means you're my girlfriend, you adorable Pikachu."
…
