HER TRANSFORMATION.
Is that tape? Yashiro thought as he strolled through the corridor on his way to Ren's apartment. I wonder who put it there?
The door swung open after he rang the bell, and he was rather surprised to see Ren with sleep-deprived eyes.
"What happened?" The manager demanded.
Ren narrated to him the events from last night and the manager sighed, shaking his head. "I guess I should've known this the minute you told me Kyoko was at your place. Now I know what that tape was about."
Ren ushered him inside, and the manager followed. "So were you up all night? Did you get any sleep at all?"
"I did. We were done a little before five, and then I passed out the moment I crashed on my bed."
Yashiro glanced at his wrist watch. It was seven am. "Only 2 hours!" He shook his head disappointedly.
"Relax. It's a long drive. I'll get some more sleep in the car."
Yashiro bent down to take off his shoes and his eyes widened with absolute shock at the sight of a pair of heeled-sandals. He cocked his head up to look at Ren. His eyes brimming with silent curiosity.
"Yep, she did stay over." Ren nodded as if he could read his thoughts. "This is not the first time, you know. She also stayed over when she was acting as my substitute manager."
"But that was different. You were so sick then. How on earth did you convince her now?"
"She knew I wasn't going to let her go alone when it was still dark, and I was too tired to drive her myself. So I offered her the guest room and she was too tired herself to object."
"So was it worth it?" Yashiro asked. "Your training, I mean? Did she develop her character?"
"She'll show you herself," a mysterious smile tugged on Ren's lips as he led his manager to the guest room. He knocked twice, but when he got no response, he pushed open the door and found Kyoko sitting on the floor leaning on the bed. Her eyes were closed and there was a soft smile on her lips as if she was lost in a good dream.
"It seems I'll have to wait to see whatever it was." Yashiro pointed out.
"Well, she did work really hard last night. Since I taught her everything I knew as fast as I could. Fortunately, she's a quick learner."
"So, you think she'll finally be able to create her Natsu? Now that she has found her motivation."
"Lets just say, I wouldn't bet against it," Ren smirked.
"But she might still need some time."
"No, she won't." Yashiro could feel the faith Ren had for her in the tone of his voice. "Once she gets interested in a role, she takes almost no time to create it." Ren explained, his proud smile returning. "That girl will be one hell of a scary villain when she wakes up." He said nodding at Kyoko, who was still sleeping as peacefully as a baby cherub.
Chiori Amamiya didn't usually fill in her diary in the morning, but this particular morning was an exception. After all, today was the day she was finally getting her role back from that stuck-up feeble actress who was only good to act Mio.
When Amamiya had first heard about Box R and read about it's characters, she had been obsessed. Specifically with Natsu Kitazawa.
Because Natsu was a girl who was never satisfied. She had it all, beauty, talent and charisma. Yet, there was something which always stayed missing. It was this emptiness which gave birth to her inner demons, making her this mean, sadistic person. She always had a smile on her face, through which she succeeded in making everyone believe that she was a nice person. But in reality, she was hiding her darkness beneath the facade of this charming personality.
For Amamiya, it was like looking into a mirror. Since the first time she had read about Natsu, she had never been more sure about anything as she was about it. She knew that she had been born to play this role.
When she went ahead to audition for the part, there was no doubt in her mind. No way they could reject someone like her. Her acting skills were top notch and it was only a small project. She was positive that she would be hired on the spot. They just couldn't afford to let someone like her go.
And they didn't. But instead, they offered her the role of you Yumika. According to what they said, it was because, firstly, unlike Natsu, she had a baby face which was too innocent to pull of the wicked vibe intended for the role, and secondly, they had already offered the role of Natsu to someone else. Not to mention that it was just some newbie.
Amamiya didn't care what they said. Because in her eyes, Kyoko Mogami was already deemed the culprit.
If it wasn't for that bitch, they would've given me the roll on the spot! She had scribbled these words in her diary, the day she returned from the audition. Hot tears flooded in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks. Those weren't tears of sadness. They were of frustration. And anger. And resentment.
This whole situation was so iniquitious. Amamiya had been acting from the tender age of six, when she barely knew about anything else. And they offered her role to some new rookie who just debuted an year ago. Only because she got lucky and booked a major role in some drama. It was unforgivable!
I will have you fired somehow and get my role back! Amamiya had sworn it on that day. And now she was finally succeeding.
Very carefully, she had insinuated to the Director how Kyoko had disrespected him. It took barely any effort at all to pit the two against each other. All there was left to do now was to sit back and wait.
Once Kyoko would play her Natsu differently, the Director would be furious. But of course, Kyoko would keep fighting for her role, just like Amamiya had suggested. And then the Director would notice how she is ignoring his words. It was only a matter of time before he fired her. No Director could ever stand an actor with a big mouth.
With Kyoko out of the way, there was nothing stopping Amamiya from getting the role of Natsu.
The shoot wasn't starting till noon, and so Kyoko luckily had some time to prepare before she had to reach the set. After a quick stop at the agency, where she borrowed some clothes she needed to get in character, she went straight back home.
Upon her arrival, the first thing she did was to take out Queen Rosa along with a small silver chain from her cupboard. She also took out a locket which she had made herself by twisting and bending a copper wire. Carefully placing the small tear-shaped crystal into that wire locket, Kyoko attached it to her chain before wearing it around her pale and slender neck. It hung elegantly in the pit between her collar bones.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Kyoko smiled. It was not her usual carefree smile, because it didn't quite reach her eyes.
It was time. For her Natsu to come out.
Rumi Maruyama was on her way to the Box R set when a huge gust of wind hit her from the front. She shivered pulling her fur coat securely around her chest. But before she could help it, her hat flew off with the wind. Frantic, she turned back to chase it, but she halted to a stop because she ran into her.
At first Rumi only heard the clickety-clack of her heels as she walked, so she didn't pay much attention. But once she materialized through the thick fog, and Rumi laid eyes on her, she stopped to stare in shock and wonder. She was one of the most sophisticated women Rumi had ever seen. The tips of her cream leather coat were fluttering in the wind as she treaded along the pathway. Each step full of poise and panache. A wide patch of her smooth blonde hair were obscuring the full view of her face, so Rumi couldn't quite see it.
Before she could react, the women shot out her hand from her pocket and got a hold of the hat which was floating away.
Without breaking her elegant stride, she replaced the hat back on Rumi's head, who inhaled deeply when she caught a wiff of the heady, seductive perfume that woman was wearing.
"Th-thank you!" Rumi tried calling after her, but the woman either didn't hear her, or she just chose to ignore her.
Rumi stood frozen for a minute, staring at her back as she was slowly fading through the fog. But even then the leading lady of Box R didn't fail to notice the way her hips were swaying as she continued to walk away. Her each step was pure seduction.
Rumi wondered who that was, and why on earth she seemed familiar to her. When the answer finally hit her, she gasped aloud. "No way...!"
"I will not accept this!" Honami humphed aloud, mincing her teeth with each word, as she stormed through the empty corridor.
"Yeah, well, we don't have much of a choice." Yuka rolled her eyes
The two co-stars were each carrying a sealed package which had Natsu's and Yumika's costume in it. Since they arrived early on the set, they were asked by the crew to help out and take those dresses to Kyoko's and Chiori's dressing room.
While they were on their way, Honami didn't hide her anger at all for being treated this way. She kept grunting and complaining.
To which Yuka answered, "look, I'm not happy about this either. You don't have to remind me again and again."
"But they are treating them like there's some big shot celebrities, while we're not even treated like the actresses that we are!"
"Let's just get it over with" Yuka sighed.
"Chiori is one thing, but that so-called actress who can only play Mio, why are being asked to run errands for her!"
When Yuka didn't bother to give an answer this time, Honami halted to a sudden stop. "I have an idea!" Her scowl was replaced by a devious smile.
"What is it?'
In reply, Honami tore open the seal on Kyoko's package and took out the bow tie from her uniform. "How about a prank?" She smirked.
Kyoko shrugged off her coat in her dressing room and stood in front of the mirror to gaze at her reflection. Argh! My lips have gone dry again, she thought. Such a pain. It's probably because the wind is quite strong today. Opening her new purse, she took out her makeup kit.
She was in the middle of process of glossing her pink plush lips when the door of her dressing room clicked open.
On the other side, Yuka gasped in surprise when she laid eyes on her. "Who... What...?" The poor girl was speechless. She couldn't even comprehend what was in front of her.
"What's the matter?" Honami, who had been waiting outside, decided to join her in after listening to her hysterical tone. And once she saw what Yuka was seeing, both girls looked at each other to confirm that they weren't hallucinating.
Who the hell is she? The question was practically branded on their faces as their eyes leisurely strolled down her body before coming back up again, taking in every detail in awe. Her white pants were tightly fitted, and her high-collared black top hugged her narrow waist in a delicious way. The V-neck of her top was a bit too low and revealing, as the tips of her soft creamy cleavage was apparently visible. Besides that, her face with quality makeup backing it had the fresh glow of a newly bloomed flower. But what really drew the most attention to itself was the small crystal locket hanging on her neck. It glistened under the flashy lights of the dressing room.
Stroking her straight smooth hair, Kyoko upturned her lips into a sugary sweet smile which didn't reach her eyes. "Good morning, you two!" She greeted her co-stars in all cheerfulness.
One stubborn lock of her hair was still hanging on her face, so Kyoko tossed it back by cocking her head. Her hair were still ginger, but now they were dyed into a much paler shade, to the point that they almost looked blonde.
Honami and Yuka were so caught up in staring at Kyoko that it didn't even occur to them that their jaws were hanging low enough to almost hit the floor. Using all the effort they could muster, they pulled it shut again.
Kyoko didn't care. "What are you doing here?" She demanded. Though, she wasn't rude.
Trying to wipe off the shock from her face, Honami answered, "w-we were asked by the crew to bring your costume in." She held out the package to her.
Kyoko glanced at it. Without making any attempt to reach for it, she moved back inside to stand in front of the mirror again. "What are you waiting for then? Just put it somewhere." Her tone was commanding.
Honami and Yuka exchanged another uncertain glance before they moved inside and put the costume on the table.
Kyoko smiled again. "Well done. You can leave now."
The two girls were too stunned to get offended.And besides, they were so freaked out by this sudden change in Kyoko that they were happy to leave. The moment they stepped outside, the door was slammed shut behind them and the two girls exhaled out the breath they didn't realise they had been holding.
"What the hell was that?" Yuka rubbed her eyes. "It almost felt like we were talking to someone superior!"
Honami stroked her chin thoughtfully. "I wonder If that was her Natsu?"
"What do you mean?"
"I've heard the some actors get in their character a long while before the scene so they can be perfectly synchronised with it. They do it to add more impact. Judging from the way she was acting, she was definitely not being normal. Besides, she was totally giving of that deadly gorgeous and mean vibe. The glamours yet scary Natsu vibe."
"Not a chance! It's not that easy! That is something only real veterans can pull off. Besides, even if she is from some big shot agency, she is still basically just a rookie. She only debuted a year ago, remember? It's impossible for her to do something like that!"
"I guess you're right. I bet we were only caught off guard by her change in appearance. Once she'll be in front of the camera, her attitude will crumble just like yesterday."
"One more time," the photographer said.
Ren nodded. He was leaning on a brick wall with both his hands inside his pocket and his smooth dark hair, with the help of some gell, were glistening.
He maintained his pose for a moment until he heard the snapshot from the camera followed by a blinding flash of light.
"Got it!" The photographer put his thumbs up and Ren relaxed. Feeling the curious gaze of his manager on his face, he finally decided to ask, "what is it, Yashiro?"
The manager blinked. "Er... nothing."
"Cut that out." Ren sighed. "I know you've got something on your mind. You've been spacing out since morning."
"Sorry. It's nothing serious," Yashiro smiled to support his statement. "I just can't stop thinking about this one thing."
"Does it have something to do with me?"
"Well, you can say that." Yashiro shrugged. "Actually, since I met Kyoko this morning, I had been really surprised to see how different she seemed just by changing the manner of her walking."
"So?"
"But those poses, there's no way you could have taught them to her without actually doing them yourself. Since then, I can't help but imagine you doing the female version of a catwalk. I know it would be hilarious, but no matter how hard I try, I just can't picture it." Taking off his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Stop imagining it!"
Ignoring Ren, Yashiro went on. "Kyoko was so lucky. At least she got to see you like that. You're usually so cool and collected that it's really hard to imagine. Whenever I try, only a drag queen pops in my head."
Before the conversation could get any worse, Ren protested, "I didn't do them myself! Kyoko's posture was already quite symmetrical. That's why she was able to catch it so quickly."
"I do wonder how she will perform Natsu today."
"She told me that she has turned the Queen Rosa crystal into some necklace." Ren smiled, wondering how she'll look wearing it.
"Is that so? I have to say, her colleagues would be thrilled when they see her. Because she seemed, how should I put this, she just wasn't the same anymore."
"Kyoko? What do you mean different?" Amamiya inquired.
"Her appearance." Rumi answered. "When I met her this morning, she looked totally different. I was so shocked."
The two girls were talking by the set as the crew was busy with the preparations.
"Different how?" Amamiya was genuinely curious.
"Frst of all, her clothes were quite fancy. But it was more than that. Her whole energy was transformed."
"How exactly?"
"How should I put this?" Rumi rubbed her hands as she pondered. "Well, she's wasn't stiff anymore. She seemed relaxed, but not just relaxed..."
"So she's wasn't like Mio today?"
"Yeah. She looked more like... like Natsu!" Rumi snapped her fingers. "The wind was quite strong today, and so my hat flew off..."
Bur Amamiya wasn't listening. She allowed herself a big smile. It was all going according to plan. She has come back changed just as I expected. She grinned and turned to look at the Director, who was busy shouting orders to everyone. Now I'll leave the rest to you.