Lying perfectly still, Kyoko took a deep breath, inhaled and exhaled, before rolling over to the side. In her grip was Dark Moon's script. Not completed, but it had the first few scenes she had to do. So far, the announcements on who her co-stars weren't available at the moment, but she knew that if this was going to be the drama of the season—No! Of the century!—then she would have Ren as her co-star.
He was the number one actor in Japan, while she was just a newcomer—both on land and in the ocean.
Kyoko, after a few lessons from Kanae, got recognized for being the kohai of the famous actress. She later got a role as a bully, one she never thought of taking at the time. Kanae convinced her, as this was a way to practise building a new character.
But she soon got into a stump. Each time she acted, she had a bit of herself when she was playing the bully, Natsu, in Box R. She, as a princess, was always standing up perfectly straight, a trait that most mermaids don't do. Even her walk was prim and proper, as she didn't move her tail, moving with the flow.
She soon was asked to take a break, but she was disliked by her co-stars immediately. They hated how she got the main antagonist role, despite having little experience in acting.
"It's just because she's the kohai of the famous Kotonami Kanae. It's just a title! It doesn't say she's talented or anything!"
She then had to take lessons on how to swim as if she was a model, one where she caught on pretty quickly due to her straight posture. When asked to put on makeup, she paused, as her mother never wanted her to touch it. Said that if someone needed makeup to be pretty, then they must be pretty ugly when their face was bare.
And, ironically, Saena wore makeup.
"I'm the queen! I have no choice. You, on the hand, are a princess. I would like you to learn how to be beautiful without adding these ridiculous cosmetics on your face. And no nail polish!"
All of that, was due to Saena's inferiority towards Kyoko's beauty. Without makeup, she was beautiful as a pearl, but the more she frowned, never smiling, the more people would call her plain. And once applied, Kyoko might be the most beautiful creature in the kingdom—no, the universe!—and Saena couldn't accept this.
She had to be the most beautiful. No one else!
Saena remained clueless to the fact that Kyoko was training to be an actress between lessons on how to be a princess, but news got out once Saena was told to watch the drama.
"The credits say Kyoko... although it's written differently*, I am quite certain that the person playing Natsu was you..." Saena flared up her nostrils, and screamed, "HOW DARE YOU! What would people say to this when they discover a princess had to participate in this ridiculous farce? Acting... pfft!" She waved her hand, and got off the couch. "You're still a disgrace as always! I want you to quit acting!" she shouted, gripping her hands tightly. Her eyes were furiously turning red, making Kyoko wish she turned down that role.
But Kanae disagreed. "What? You? Quit acting? No way."
Chiori, an actress that starred Yumika in the same drama as Kyoko, muttered, "I can't believe it! I'm not going to let you quit! If you do, I'll push you into that volcano again!" Chiori was serious. She once was jealous that her friend, Kanae, was drifting apart from her. She later tried her best to persuade the director to fire Kyoko, but to no avail. She was close, but Kyoko turned the tables around once the director gave his okay to her Natsu.
Kyoko sighed. "I'm sorry, but I must. It's okay!" She smiled, reassuring her friends. "As long as I can sing, I don't mind too much!"
Kyoko was known for her voice. In the kingdom, there was many recitals where they would insist for the princess to be the main singer. She was also in musicals, but she would always bring her voice and raised the expectations others had of her. She raised the bar each year, gaining more notice to her being a singer than an actress.
"I heard she was once in Box R!"
"No way! She should just concentrate on singing! She's been doing that for years, while she has only been acting for months!"
But this didn't bring her down. She still stayed with her acting lessons with Kanae, along with advice from Chiori.
Remembering all this, Kyoko could feel a bitter taste behind the back of her tongue. "I have to play an antagonist role? I kept getting those, but I had to refuse them due to my mother's lecture on quitting. But... now that I can act again, I wonder...?"
She glanced at the script again. She asked to read the book it was based on (She finished it in five seconds flat, due to the same ability as Kanae), but there was one thing that bothered her the most.
Kanae once told her that role was written for you by the script. But what happens if you don't have a script? What happens if something doesn't make sense, but you weren't sure where the fault was?
"Then you must ask yourself questions. What was the character like? What are the likes and dislikes? What kinda environment is that character placed in. And more importantly, what past do you think affected them the most to turn into what they are to this day?" were the words that Kanae once said.
But... one question appeared in her head which she couldn't answer: What was the reason that Mio hated Mizuki?
She was going to confidently tell herself it was because Mizuki loved Katsuki, the fiancé of Mio's elder sister, Misao. And since Mio hated Misao, she would hate Katsuki, along with Mizuki. But that couldn't be right! Mio tortured Mizuki when they were little, and Misao only met Katsuki last summer, according to the timeline.
So... what was the answer?
Kyoko sighed. She didn't know.
Ren and Yukhito were talking together, as they both were at Ren's apartment. He was organizing Ren's
Holding the book, Ren mulled over a page. He then muttered, "I don't get it."
Yukhito blinked. "Huh? You don't get what?" This was the first time Ren ever bothered to admit that he couldn't understand something. He looked over and saw that he was reading the novel, Tsukigomori. "Ah... for the remake, right? What don't you get?" he asked again.
"This part... what kind of guy has to hesitate to show love to the girl he loves? Why can't he go all out?"
"... Ren... you damn playboy," Yukhito confirmed.
"Haa?" Ren looked up, and said, "Me?" He pointed to himself.
Yukhito nodded. "Why can't you go all out? A guy can't just fall in love and suddenly show a girl that he does. He has to take it slow... unlike someone." He laughed. "I remember how so many of your girlfriends would just melt when they realized you said yes to their offer, but they would later dump you because you didn't love them."
"How rude! I did love all of them!"
"No, you didn't. If you did, then you never really loved anyone besides your parents." Yukhito took the book out of Ren's hands, placed it on the table, and leaned forward to whisper, "A guy that has a whole line of girlfriends, and doesn't just have one that'll be with him for eternity is basically a guy that never fell in love before." Yukhito scoffed, "Get it now?"
"No," was Ren's blunt answer. "How did I not love them? I did!" he said, trying to convince his best friend.
Yukhito shook his head. "Didn't most of them break up with you, saying something along the lines that they found someone new?"
"Yeah...?"
"And you let them go."
"Let them go? No, I was only thinking of their happiness. If they aren't happy to be with me, then-"
"IDIOT! They were testing you! They wanted to see you refuse, to say that you want them to stay by your side! And you let each one go, not caring at all. I'm your friend, and I know what you are like. And with each and everyone, you chose someone who didn't know you were deaf."
Ren gripped his hands. "So? What's that have to do with anything?"
"Ren... a person is someone you trust. The fact that you were deaf because of that incident... if I loved someone, I would tell her a secret like that. You never did, not with any of those girls. In fact, the only girl that you admitted, besides Maria, was Kyoko chan."
"Mogami san? Well, yeah, she is but-"
"Mogami san... Gosh, just call her Kyoko already. You two are friends, aren't you?" Yukhito crossed his arms, and groaned. "I bet you, with my life, that the person that you're going to fall for is Kyoko chan."
Ren blushed, and turned away. "Wh-what are you saying? I barely know her! And... there's that girl that saved me and-"
Really? Then what's with the blush? "You barely know her, yet you are stuck to the fact she's the one for you. What about Kyoko chan?" Yukhito mustered a laugh. "And you keep trying to meet her at the President's place, and the only response you get is that "she's sleeping". Is she avoiding you?"
"Don't kid yourself! She... she's probably actually sleeping at those times, and I just came at the wrong moment! Nothing to-"
"You're a real idiot. How about this?" Yukhito grinned at Ren. This is going to be fun! "Why don't you ask Kyoko chan out on a date? Just the two of you? And I won't tag along with you from behind, like I always have to with your other dates?"
"NO! I can't just- wait. You... tag along with me while I'm..." Ren's face went blank. Then he cried out, with his hands ruffling his both sides of his head, "WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?"
"What? I can't do that? Just to let you know, I switched with Rick. Sometimes he follows you, then me, then him again..."
"That's called stalking!"
"No, it's not. We're just seeing how our little friend is doing."
Yukhito laughed as Ren chased him out the door. Behind it, he was sure that Ren was probably blushing like crazy. But inside, he hoped that his words processed into his brain.
Ren, I'm your friend. I care about you. And Kyoko chan seems to be the only girl you open to. Why are you so stubborn that you don't want to date her and consider her as your girlfriend?
As Ren shut the door, he heard a faint ringing. He strode to the kitchen, where he placed his cellphone. When he flipped the cellphone to see who it was, it was listed as an unknown caller.
Huh, I wonder who this is? Ren knew it couldn't be Yukhito, as he had him on caller ID. It couldn't be the President either, as the same went for him? So who was this? He never recalled giving his phone number to anyone. And even if he did, he would always later put their number on his list so he would immediately greet them by name right away, and not asking who the other caller was on the other line.
"Hello?" he said, placing the phone on his ear. "Who is this?"
"It's me... sorry to bother you. I got your number from Takarada san and... I kind of need your help."
Ren's eyes widened before a soft grinned formed on his face. "Sure, I'll be glad to help you... Mogami san."
*"The credits say Kyoko... although it's written differently."- If you follow the manga, you probably know that Kyoko actual name is written like this (キョーコ) while her stage name is like this (京子). Both pronounce the same, but it's just written differently.