Chapter 20: The Princess
Ema answered the knock at her door to find Tsubaki looking awkward on the other side.
"Tsubaki? Is something wrong?"
"Well, I don't think I would say wrong…Director Agota called and…"
"Did he decide he didn't like the song I did?" Ema asked when Tsubaki paused. "I won't be offended if he decides not to use it. It's not like I'm a professional, after all."
"Um, no, that's not quite it. He sounded really upset and frazzled and immediately asked if he could setup a meeting with you. I told him he had to tell me what he wanted first since it was a weird request. And, well…"
"Is something wrong?" Azusa asked, coming out of his room. Since his was right next to Ema's, he'd probably heard them talking. "Did I hear you mention Director Agota, Tsubaki? Did something happen with the song Ema recorded?"
"Nope," Tsubaki shook his head. "That's not it at all. From the director's current request, I'd say he was absolutely impressed with Ema's work."
"His current request?" Azusa echoed. "What current request? Does he want Ema to do another song for the anime?"
Tsubaki shook his head. "The song Ema recorded is for the episode when a princess from another dimension enters the show. Azusa and I play the princesses' destined guards from the dimension where most of the rest of the show takes place. That's why Director Agota wanted a specific accent. He wanted it to be something no one had ever heard before since the character is from another dimension."
He paused again. Ema was getting a little tired of the dramatics. "Tsubaki, as interesting as all that is, why don't you just tell us why Director Agota wants to meet with me?"
"All right," Tsubaki agreed with a shrug. "The voice actor for the princess dropped out last minute and since production begins tomorrow, Agota wants Ema to voice the princess."
Ema's jaw dropped and Azusa looked taken aback.
"Hear me out," Tsubaki said, taking Ema's hands. "Or, at least, hear out Agota's reasoning. I told him you were still in high school, but he said he'd work around your school schedule and be as flexible as you needed. Agota has been a director for a long time and he can tell pretty quickly how well he'll be able to work with an actor. He said you were really receptive to the cues he gave you and were able to pick up on what he wanted. Plus, you know he finds it hard to find actors who can do accents the way he wants them, and you already know what accent he wants."
Ema gaped at Tsubaki, stunned. How could Agota want an untrained voice actor for an anime that was good enough to have Tsubaki and Azusa in it? It seemed like a gamble. Another thought that ran through her head was that voice acting while seventeen was not living a normal high school life.
"Just meet with him, Ema, and see what he has to say," Tsubaki urged, squeezing Ema's hands. "Azusa and I would be right there to help you. Most of the scenes you'd voice would have one or both of us in it. We could help coach you."
"Tsubaki, maybe Ema doesn't want to be a voice actor," Azusa said, laying a hand on his twin's shoulder. "You shouldn't pressure her into doing something she's not interested in."
"But you enjoyed doing the song, didn't you, Ema? You've talked about how much fun it was."
"Well, yes, it was, but doing a song isn't the same as voicing a whole character. What if I ruined the anime? Wouldn't it be worse for Agota to hire someone who can't do the job and have to redo scenes than for him to delay production and find someone who can do the voice acting properly?"
Tsubaki turned an excited look on Azusa. "See? She's not saying she doesn't want to do it, she's just afraid she's not good enough."
"Because I'm not!" Ema burst out. "You two went to school for this. Tsubaki, you practiced your whole life at doing voices ever since you realized you wanted to be a voice actor. If anyone could be a voice actor, you wouldn't have to go to school for it."
"Agreeing to meet with Agota isn't agreeing to take the role," Tsubaki argued. "He would have you read for the character to see if you could keep up the accent consistently, and he'd have you read with Tsubaki and I to see if we had the proper chemistry for the roles."
Somehow, ridiculously, foolishly, Ema was considering the idea. She had enjoyed recording the song, and she did love hearing Tsubaki and Azusa talk about work. It sounded really interesting. Fun and challenging were Ema's type of adventure, and though this situation was very different from the adventures she'd done with her father, it was still an adventure.
She bit her lip and looked from Tsubaki's hopeful and excited face to Azusa's concerned one.
"I guess…I could read for the part. But don't be disappointed if I don't get it!" She ordered, but Tsubaki seemed to ignore her as he threw his arms around her in a hug.
"It'll be great!" He said. "Even if it doesn't work out, I still think it will be fun to read through the part with you. I didn't ever think anything like this would ever happen."
~.~
Ema was more nervous than she expected on the drive to the recording studio. Tsubaki gave her a constant steam of advice on the drive down with Azusa occasionally adding his own words of advice.
Director Agota sat them down and explained to Ema who the character was, adding more detail than Tsubaki had given her. He explained how Princess Neena was a princess from another realm, but the only one with the power to help the main dimension of the series, which was being overcome by a spreading darkness. There was a prophecy that she would come to save them, which was why two guards were prepared from birth to serve her. She made the choice to leave her people behind to help this dimension and would eventually join the group of the main hero of the series, but despite her two guards, she was very lonely being in a completely foreign land.
Ema could relate to the princess' feelings. She had been doing good things while traveling, like being with her father and learning about life, but it had been so hard and lonely, no matter how hard she tried to be cheerful.
After Director Agota explained a bit more about the character, it was time for them to read. Ema's heart was in her throat, but she tried to follow Tsubaki's advice of using your own experience to help bring life into characters.
"We know this must be hard for you," Azusa read, his voice solemn. "Coming to another world and leaving your people behind when you feel responsible for them."
"But we're so grateful you came," Tsubaki jumped in, voice earnest. "We have been prepared from birth to serve you in whatever way you need. It was prophesied that you would come to save us, and we will serve you in whatever way you need so long as you are in our realm, no matter how long you remain for."
On one hand, Tsubaki and Azusa sounded so amazing that it felt intimidating to respond. On the other hand, having them be so serious helped her to work out how her character might speak. She thought of how she felt when she and her father originally left Japan. About how good Ema knew it would be for her father's career, but how terrifying it was for her. She also had to keep in mind the proper accent. It was difficult to keep all those things in mind at once.
"I'm grateful," Ema said, concentrating on the gratitude she felt for the Asahina family as she said it to put emotion in her voice, "for your aid. I thought I would be all alone in this world when I came to help stop the darkness, but I…even with you, I am still alone. I will give my best for this world since there is none other who can, but my heart is still with my realm."
"Princess!" Tsubaki exclaimed.
Agota stopped them to give Ema direction before having them read the scene again. They did three more scenes, with Agota correcting Ema when he saw the need. Ema had no idea if the corrections meant he was purely unhappy with her work, or that he saw potential, so felt she was worth bothering to correct.
At the end, she assumed it was the latter that was the case, because Agota offered her the role.
"Are you sure?" Ema asked timidly. "This anime will be full of professionals like Tsubaki and Azusa. I would hate to drag down the quality of it."
"You have the exact accent I want," Agota assured her. "And you were able to keep it most of the time. The emotion in your voice was real as well, which is even more important. I think with practice and my direction, you will do great." He laid a hand on Ema's shoulder. "Yes, you are an amateur, but if you're willing to work with me and the Asahina brothers, I think you will absolutely be the right person to voice this part. Are you willing to put in the work, Hinata?"
His eyes were piercing as he stared at her. Somehow, during the nearly two hours they'd been reading, Ema had come to love Princess Neena. She wanted to be the one to voice Neena, and to do the character justice. "Y-yes," Ema said, then felt that sounded too weak. She straightened her shoulders. "Yes, I do, Director Agota."
He smiled. "Excellent."
~.~
Juli wanted to bang his head against a wall. How could Chi think this was a good idea?
"What about school?" Juli said. "What about being a normal teenager? Working right now, especially in something like this, could affect that. You might have to miss school. You might become famous, and there goes your normal life."
"Director Agota promised me they would be flexible with my school schedule. He knows that grades are important. And I highly doubt that voicing one character will make me famous. No one will even know my face. And even if people from my school watch the anime and like it, they won't think that a high school student is a voice actor. They'll probably think it's some other Ema Hinata."
"But—But, Chi…" Juli said, desperately trying to think of some other argument other than the real one, that the twins would now have Ema in their clutches. They would be spending hours every week with just the three of them, and probably sometimes just two of them, in a small box together recording lines. And those sneaky twins would probably offer to help Ema at home as well and get her alone in one of their rooms. Just the thought made him want to pull his fur out.
Where was he when Tsubaki came to get Ema for the audition? He should have been there. He should have jumped at the stupid voice actor's face the moment he started talking and clawed his eyes out. These Asahina brothers were far sneakier than even Juli had thought. And it was two of them at once. And they would be away from home and his and Louis' protection! But it seemed it was too late now that Ema had gotten the part. He would just have to make sure that neither twin was alone with Ema at home.
Unable to help himself, Juli had to get the last word in. "I hope this at least means you'll stop spending time gaming with the other brothers since you'll have less time for school work now." It would be nice if something good came of this mess.
~.~
A few days after Ema got the part, she saw Azusa standing by himself on the balcony after dinner. Hoping she wasn't disturbing him, she went out. She had been looking for an opportunity to speak with him since she got the part.
"Hey, Azusa. Mind if I join you?"
Azusa looked away from the city lights in surprise. "No, not at all. It's a little cold for stargazing tonight, though."
"It is," Ema agreed with a shiver, wishing she'd thought to grab a jacket before coming out.
"Are you okay?" Azusa asked, reaching for the top button of his sweater. "I can give you my jacket."
"No, I'm fine," Ema told him, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm the one who decided to come out here. You don't need to give up your jacket because I was too silly to grab something warm. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with me being part of the same anime project. You were a lot quieter than Tsubaki about it. If you have any problems with me doing it, I'll step down. I know I'm not a professional, and I don't want to cause you any worry over this project. Although, I will do my best if I do it."
"I don't have a problem with it at all," Azusa said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry if I gave that impression. I'm less enthusiastic than Tsubaki about most things. Actually, the majority of the population is less enthusiastic than Tsubaki about most things. I was only worried about you getting pushed into something you didn't want to do. I hope you didn't accept the role because of pressure you felt from Tsubaki or Director Agota."
"No, I didn't. I may have felt pressured to do the song because of them, but this is too big a project to commit to just because other people want me to do it. It will take nearly half the school year."
"That's good to hear," Azusa said, facing the city again. "I'm glad you accepted the role because you wanted to." He smiled a little bitterly. "It doesn't say much about a person if they make a big decision only because someone else wants them to."
"Azusa?" Ema said hesitantly. She'd never seen an expression like that on Azusa's face. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he waved off. "I'm being ridiculous. Just ignore what I said."
"Are you sure?" Ema asked, leaning against the railing so she could better look into Azusa's face. "If it's bothering you, I don't think it's ridiculous."
"It's nothing. It's just, seeing you audition for the role reminded me of when I became a voice actor."
"Didn't you become one when Tsubaki did?" Ema asked. "I remembered I was surprised to hear you were both going to a college for voice acting. I hadn't known you'd wanted to be a voice actor too. Tsubaki talked about it for as long as I've known him, but I never heard you talk about what you wanted to do after school."
"That's because I never said anything about what I wanted to do after school," Azusa said, turning to face Ema. "I didn't have anything in mind, so Tsubaki suggested I follow him. Tsubaki was so passionate about voice acting that I let his passion carry me along, but it wasn't something I'd ever dreamed of doing." He shrugged. "But it's not like it matters since there wasn't anything else I wanted to do either."
He looked as though he was going to back inside when Ema's next question stopped him.
"Do you regret becoming a voice actor?" Azusa paused. "You sound like you enjoy it when you and Tsubaki talk about it. And you were amazing at the live event. I was a little surprised. Tsubaki loves to be the center of attention and is a natural entertainer. You're on the quiet side, but you were just as engaging on the stage. It was fun to see."
Azusa looked surprised and Ema wondered if he was blushing, but it was difficult to tell in the dark. It was probably just her imagination.
"Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I'm glad you felt like I did a good job up there. It's not something that comes naturally to me like it does Tsubaki. Though it's not like I don't enjoy the live events, or the voice acting. I've never not liked it. I guess…I worry that I don't do parts justice in the same way Tsubaki does since I don't have the same passion."
"But your voice is amazing," Ema said, unconsciously taking a step toward Azusa in her excitement. "You've played so many roles that have meant so much to people. The only reason the characters resonate with people is because of how you played them, Azusa. Without your work and the voice you gave them, no one would have been passionate about those characters."
She clasped her hands and looked down, suddenly embarrassed. "I told you I bought most of yours and Tsubaki's work while I was gone. I didn't like all of the genres you did, but I still bought them because you two were involved. Even when I didn't necessarily like the story, I was still impressed by your voice and the job you did. I was really amazed at your work as the drug addict."
Peeking up at Azusa, she said, "Voice acting might not have been your passion to begin with, but it sounds to me like you give it your all. I can tell from your conversations with Tsubaki that you try hard with each job to learn more and improve. I don't think you would put forth so much effort if some part of you hadn't come to enjoy being a voice actor."
Azusa looked stunned. "You know, sometimes it's really hard to remember you're only seventeen." He shook his head. "I guess traveling around the world really does give you wisdom."
Ema grinned, happy she seemed to have said something that resonated with Azusa. "I don't know about that. I just have a bad tendency to meddle in my friends' lives since I want them all to be happy."
"I think we'll have to disagree on that," Azusa said, putting an arm around Ema's shoulders and pulling her close to warm her up. "Come on, it's too cold to stay outside in the dark. I'll make us some hot chocolate to warm us up."
