Firebolt: You're review made me smile. Thank you!
And to those who have asked what the ending will be, my current plan is to have multiple endings like I did for Intricate Relations, though I've little idea of who I'll include at this point other than that I'd like to do endings for some of the brothers I didn't for that fic.
Chapter 19: Voice Acting
Ema giggled along with the rest of the crowd as Tsubaki, acting in character, proposed to Azusa, as a girl in the crowd had requested.
For the first time, Ema was attending one of the twins' events promoting their latest anime. She hadn't even realized they did events like this, but had been excited when they invited her to come. It seemed silly that she'd followed their careers so closely, yet hadn't known about events like this.
In their own way, Tsubaki and Azusa were as good of performers as Fuuto, though this was a very different type of stage. The audience was enthralled as the twins and their coworkers talked about the anime and about upcoming projects. Ema felt like she'd misjudged the twins, thinking their main talent lied only with voice acting. She tended to think of voice actors as people who didn't do well when they had to deal with people in person, but this event proved she was dead wrong.
Of course, she should have known Tsubaki would be entertaining. He always had loved having an audience. The real surprise was the quiet Azusa, who seemed just as comfortable on stage as Tsubaki.
Tsubaki blew the crowd a kiss as the event came to an end. Girls screamed and some leapt to their feet, holding their hands out as though to catch the kiss. She wondered if the twins had as many devoted female fans as Fuuto did. Maybe they had even more. They had been voice actors for longer than Fuuto had been an idol, and they did a variety of projects. Someone who didn't like Fuuto's style of music wasn't going to change to suddenly like it, but someone who didn't like one anime Azusa or Tsubaki did might love another, or might enjoy the games they voiced. And here she'd thought Fuuto was the most famous member of the Asahina family.
She waited for the crowd to die down a little before going to the room Tsubaki had told her was his and Azusa's dressing room. She didn't want any of the fans to think she was sneaking around and breaking rules by going to see the stars of the show.
Reaching the door, she knocked tentatively, not wanting to interrupt them if they were still changing. Tsubaki threw the door open and pulled Ema inside.
"Well, what did you think?" He asked, shutting the door behind her. His eyes were bright and excited. Ema probably would have been exhausted after giving as much energy as Tsubaki had during the event for an hour and a half, but he looked ready for another round.
"Amazing!" Ema gushed. "It makes me sad I wasn't around for all your other events. That was so much fun. You're an amazing voice actor, but you're really fantastic at entertaining people in person as well."
"I do what I can," Tsubaki said with a falsely modest shrug. "But since you're around now, feel free to come to our events whenever you want." He squeezed Ema in a hug. "You're my favorite fan in the whole audience."
"I'm probably the only fan you know in the whole audience," Ema countered, trying to breathe through Tsubaki's hug.
Tsubaki pulled back with a pout. "Even if I knew everyone, you'd still be my favorite. You know that, don't you? You supported my dream of becoming a voice actor even when Ukyo didn't. You were my fan even before I became a voice actor."
Ema put her hands on her hips and shook her head in mock disappointment. "I'm on to you, Tsubaki, you're just hoping to get more compliments. You're a glutton for them, even knowing how good you are."
A knock came at the door and Ema jumped in surprise. She hadn't been expecting anyone else to come to the twins' room.
Azusa answered the door and let in a middle-aged gentleman with a goatee.
"Director Agota, what can we do for you?" Azusa asked.
"Nothing other than keep doing what you've been doing," the man, who was apparently the director of the anime, said. Ema had seen him near the front of the room, but hadn't realized he was involved with the anime. "I wanted to congratulate the two of you on how well today's event went thanks to you. Each event and project is always a success when we have the Asahina brothers on board."
He seemed to notice Ema for the first time and did a double take. "Oh? Is this a girlfriend of one of you?" He held his hand out for Ema to shake.
Ema smiled as she shook his hand. She would have expected someone like a director to feel too important to shake hands with a random girl in the dressing room of one of his voice actors, but he seemed genuinely pleased to meet Ema.
"No, this is our childhood friend, Ema," Tsubaki said proudly, clapping a hand on Ema's shoulder. "She's traveled all around the world."
"Really?" Director Agota asked, excited. "Did you learn any good accents? I love accents. One of the hardest things as a director sometimes is finding someone who can do a good accent consistently."
"Um, I guess I picked up a few," Ema said. "Though I don't know if I'm very good." Sometimes it had been hard not to start picking up an accent when she was trying to learn a new language. She found herself mimicking the way the people around her spoke as she tried to learn unfamiliar words.
"Let's hear it then," the director said, gesturing for Ema to go ahead.
"I'm not sure Ema's comfortable with that," Azusa broke in tactfully. "It's a little difficult to be asked to do things spur of the moment, and in front of strangers no less."
Director Agota looked disappointed. "I guess Azusa is right. My apologies, young lady, I get so excited I lose sight of polite etiquette sometimes."
"No, it's okay, I can try," Ema said, despite feeling embarrassed. She was grateful Azusa had given her a way out after Director Agota accidently put her on the spot, but the director seemed so friendly and so disappointed that she wanted to try for him. And because he seemed to be an important person in Tsubaki's and Azusa's careers.
"Are you sure?" Agota asked, brightening again.
Ema smiled and nodded before demonstrating her French, Italian, American, and Canadian accent for the director. He clapped at the end, looking pleased as he told her how good she was.
She was blushing by the time he left. The only person she'd done accents for before were Hikaru and Arisa. It was embarrassing to do it in front of other people, even if it had been fun as well.
"That was great, Ema," Azusa said. "I had no idea you'd picked up any accents while you were gone."
"It was just a few words," Ema said, still blushing. "I'm not sure how well I'd do if I had to speak like that all the time, but thank you."
"I'm starving. Let's go to lunch," Tsubaki said, putting his arm around Ema's shoulder. "But Ema can demonstrate her mad accent skills for us as we drive."
~.~
"Crap. Tsubaki, we might have to change our plans," Azusa said. It was a week after Tsubaki and Azusa's event and the two of them plus Ema were going to a movie. "I just got a text from Director Agota that we need to come in right now for an emergency scene fix. This episode is supposed to air next week and they just noticed a mistake Kya made, but he's out of the country on vacation. We'll have to re-record our parts to cover up his mistake."
He twisted in the front seat of the car to look back at Ema. "I'm sorry, I don't know how long this will take. It shouldn't be too long, but we'll probably miss the start of the movie. Do you want to catch a bus from the studio and go without us?"
Ema shook her head. "I can wait for you guys. Maybe we can find another movie to go to today, or we can find something else to do if that won't work."
"Sorry," Azusa apologized again.
"You don't need to apologize," Ema told him. "Your work is important and we can go to a movie anytime."
"I can't believe this wasn't caught during recording," Tsubaki said, shaking his head. "It must have happened the day Director Agota was out for his son's birthday. There's no way he would have missed a mistake like that."
~.~
Ema sat on a chair outside the recording booth, waiting for the twins. She knew they felt bad, but she'd never been to a recording studio before and found it interesting.
Half an hour later, Tsubaki and Azusa came out of the recording booth. Director Agota came out of the adjacent room.
"Thank you for coming in last minute, boys," Director Agota said. "I'm sorry I had to call you in on a Saturday. I promise this won't happen again. Kya—Ah!"
Ema jumped at Agota's sudden exclamation, looking at him to see what had happened. She was surprised to find him pointing at her. "You!"
"Um, yes?" Ema said uncertainly, looking to Tsubaki and Azusa. Was it against the rules for them to bring her here? Neither of them had seemed concerned about it and they both looked as surprised at Agota's outburst as she was.
"You, here, it's kismet! Can you sing?"
Ema opened her mouth, but no answer came out, so she shut it. Why on Earth would an anime director be asking her if she could sing? He continued to stare at Ema expectantly, so she said, "I'm okay, I guess. It's not like I'm at Tsubaki's and Azusa's level if that's what you're asking."
"Let's hear it," Agota said, crossing his arms.
Ema gave Tsubaki and Azusa a confused and panicked look.
"Director Agota?" Azusa said tentatively. "Maybe you could explain to us why you want Ema to sing for you?"
Agota looked surprised at the question before comprehension dawned on his face. "Of course, of course. You're right, Asahina. This situation requires context to be understood! You know how I easily get ahead of myself." He waved a hand carelessly in the air as though waving away his mistake.
"You two don't know a lot about the new anime you're about to start recording for. We don't even have everyone cast yet, but we plan to have a special opening song for one of the episodes where an important new character will be introduced. I want the song done with a particular accent, but I haven't been able to find anyone who can do it for me. I was just thinking of your young friend last night. I would like for her to sing the song for me and see if she can do it. I'm looking for an accent somewhere between French, Italian, and Japanese. Do you think you can do that?"
Ema gave the director a blank look, wondering what on Earth on accent like that sounded like and how Agota had come up with that particular combination.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Azusa told Ema quietly.
"But it could be fun," Tsubaki said, looking excited at the idea. "How cool would it be if Ema sung the opening song for an anime episode we're in? And Director Agota is one of the best anime directors out there, Ema. He'll coach you with what he wants. Why not give it a try?"
Ema wanted to say because it was an insane idea. She wasn't a professional singer or voice actor, but Tsubaki looked so excited and Agota so hopeful.
"Okay," she said. "But I'm not promising anything. You might not like my voice and I might not be able to do the accent you want."
"Yeah!" Tsubaki said, pumping his fist in the air.
"I'm not looking for any promises," Agota assured Ema. "I'm just looking for you to try."
~.~
They didn't end up going to a movie that night. Director Agota worked with Ema for three hours to get the accent right and to sing the song properly.
Sitting in a booth for hours while being given specific direction and instructions was a lot more fun than Ema would have expected. She appreciated that Agota knew what he wanted and was skilled in describing it to Ema. She figured that was probably why he was one of the best anime directors. He knew what he wanted and knew the best way to help people give it to him.
After she finished recording the song, Tsubaki and Azusa took Ema out to dinner. Ema was happy that something she'd learned on her travels, the accents, would be helpful for the twins at work. She hoped they liked the song when they heard it.
