A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST.
Running into Cain Heel was not something Murasame had hoped for or intended when he left the cafeteria to come out in the empty corridors. It was only natural he was caught off guard when he did, immediately halting to a sudden stop.
Though he had already imagined a million ways to pick a fight with his new costar, just to get back at him for glaring at him, however, now faced with the opportunity to go through with it, Murasame grew oddly silent as he found his tongue stuck for some reason.
Cain only ignored him, turning his attention to his sister. "Setsu, you were taking too long?"
This was the first time Murasame had heard him speak. His voice was rough and papery. Though it was still no use since he couldn't catch a single word because of his heavy accent.
"Sorry," Setsuka answered, switching to english as well. "This annoying guy held me up!" She poked a thumb in Murasame's direction.
For the first time, Cain acknowledged his presence, and finding the same guy from before who had the nerve to stare at his sister through out the meeting, his face contorted into a sneer.
"You piece of shit," he spat, his tone threatening. "Get close to her again and I'll rip you to pieces!" Wrapping a protective arm around Setsuka, he shot him one final sneer before the Heels turned to leave.
Throughout the whole time, Murasame had remained frozen once again. When he was alone, his jaw finally hung from shock. Part of the reason being he let himself get insulted like that without fighting back, but mostly because just now, Cain had spoken flawless japanese to give him that threat.
Cain Heel wasn't supposed to know how to speak japanese, but just now he had spoken it using clear and precise words. The only explanation was he had lied about it. But then again, what was the point? Why go through the trouble of bringing a translator along when you could speak enough to get along?
You bastard! You had the nerve to threaten me? Just you wait until I expose your lie to the Director!
Things were not going according to plan, and Director Konoe didn't like it when things weren't in his control.
After Murasame was here to rat out Cain Heel as how he had lied about not being able to speak japanese, he was speechless.
It was never his intention in the first place to make Cain Heel not being able to speak japanese. It was true he had himself come up with his character, but with Ren Tsuruga portraying him, he had turned out to be a lot different than he had imagined. A lot messier.
The Director only wanted to boost the name of his movie, which was why he came up with this stunt where an unknown actor would play the the iconic role of BJ, it being revealed later that it was Ren Tsuruga all along.
However, Ren asked his permission to share it with the President of his agency. Konoe didn't mind. He had often heard of Lory Takarada being an eccentric man, but he got to see it for himself when the President not only changed the character of Cain Heel but also created a companion to go with him.
Setsuka Heel was created without his knowledge, and the Director had no idea what her use was. He didn't really mind her, but what bothered him was how they decided to make Cain Heel unable to speak japanese.
Not being able to communicate, it would be a lot harder to keep up the team morale and get the work done. Specially with the unapproachable personality of Cain.
And now, all of a sudden, Ren changed his mind and started speaking japanese in the middle of the act, without even letting him know.
Konoe sighed. What was I thinking letting him do whatever he wanted? As the Director was regretting his decision, something occurred to him. Wait! The more unapproachable Cain Heel would seem, the more the fans will be shocked when he turns out to be Ren. So in turn, it'll create an even huge buzz in the media.
True, that the President of LME had tampered a lot with Cain Heel's character, but every decision he had made had changed him for the better as it would keep Ren's true identity even more guarded making this project a guaranteed success.
How did I not see this before? The Director slapped his forehead, grinning to himself.
He remembered how much dedicated Ren had been about all of this. Being such a big actor, he was not taking this job lightly at all. He had gone so far as to warn the Director about his behavior beforehand and apologized in advance for the offending things he might say when he would be in character.
Same went for that girl playing the sister. She seemed like a good kid with extremely polite manners to Konoe. Only after he saw the sudden shift in her personality back at the meeting, he realized that she was one hell of an amazing actress as well.
Just watching the determination of these two actors, Konoe found himself thrilled. He could literally feel the goosebumps rise.
I might be on the verge of creating something really great here, he thought. A lot greater than what I had planned before. A Cain Heel better than what I imagined will only draw out a BJ much more irresistible.
Back in the room assigned to the Heels, Cain ate his lunch in a lethargic way while Setsuka eyed him strangely.
"Don't worry, I'll eat all of it," he assured her.
"No, it's not that," she shook her head, frowning. "I was wondering if it it's okay how you let it slip to that Murasame guy that you can speak japanese?"
"It doesn't matter." At that moment, Ren knew no matter what threat he would fling at that perverted protagonist, it wouldn't make a difference uness he understood him. So he decided to improvise his character just for the sake of telling Murasame off, specially since Ren had noticed how he had developed an interest at Kyoko.
As an actor, it was bad a decision on his part, but Ren didn't have any regrets. Specially because it didn't have any major consequences. In fact, it would make the unnatural relationship of the Heels seem even more questionable as people would wonder why Cain went to such lengths to lie just so he could bring his sister with him.
Kyoko had been more worried about it, but after hearing Ren say that it was okay, even if he was in character when he said it, she was a lot more relieved.
All of a sudden, their meal was interrupted by a loud bang on the door, followed by it being kicked open. Murasame stormed inside.
"Don't you have any sense of responsibility, you bastard?" He thundered at Cain, shooting him the meanest of glares he could conjure. "The lunch had been over for twenty minutes! Do you need someone to give you a special invitation everytime you'll grace us with your presence at the set?"
Cain lazily picked himself up from his seat, paying no more attention to Murasame than he would pay to a pesky fly buzzing around his ear.
This time, Murasame was almost tempted to hit him. And he would have done so, if reason hadn't stopped him. As much as the actor would've loved to show this condescending foreigner that he wasn't afraid to fight him, he knew if he made the mistake of making the first move then it would be a bad mark on his professional reputation. Specially when they'll connect it to his past.
So, trying to calm himself, he marched out of the room before he did something he would later regret.
Outside, he found the poor assistant trembling and near in tears. It was her who had been asked to bring the Heels to the set, but since she was too afraid to go in herself, she had approached him for help.
"Sir, are you a-alright?" She quivered. "I'm s-so sorry!"
"It wasn't your fault." Murasame smiled at her kindly. "I've told him what you asked. You don't have to go in there anymore."
It took Cain another ten minutes to get in costume. When he was ready to go, the Heels set out together for the set.
On their way to the studio, Cain halted to a sudden stop as if he had forgotten something. He stared at his gloved hand and then at Setsuka, who looked at him solicitously.
"What's wrong, Brother? Did something happen to you hand?"
"Setsu, do me a favor." He held out his hand to her. "Take off my glove."
Mystified, she narrowed her eyes, but did as she was told. Kyoko noted how beneath his glove, Ren wasn't wearing his usual watch like last time. She figured it was just as she had suspected: he wore it that time because it was only the rehearsals back then.
Once Cain's glove was off, to Setsuka's surprise, he placed it on her cheek and stroked it with such gentleness that even she was taken aback.
Kyoko immediately blushed into the deepest shade of red, ignoring her instincts to get away from him. Though, fortunately for her, her character would've had a similar reaction, so the fact that for a second there she almost forgot she was supposed to be in an act and broke character wasn't revealed.
Gently tucking the blonde locks behind her ear, Cain stroked her cheek once more, evoking a shiver from her. After he was done, he held his hand out to her again. "Now you can put it back on."
Not quite recovered from it, Setsuka put the glove back on in a daze and asked timidly, "what was that for?"
"What? I was being affectionate, obviously."
This time, Kyoko managed not to break character so easily, but that didn't change the fact that she was hysterical on the inside.
"Don't blame me. It's your fault since you're so goddamned cute!" Cain objected. "Ah, I almost forgot." Reaching into his pocket, he took out a small plastic bottle of fake lenses. "I didn't put in my contacts. Wait here, I'll go put them on in the men's room."
Setsuka managed a nod, and the moment he left, she was Kyoko again, trying to calm her nerves. With her heart in such a dangerous position whenever she was around Ren, she knew accepting this job would be hard.
But she dismissed the fact, thinking she wouldn't even notice her own feelings once she would get in character, like generally. However, it had been the opposite. Being Setsuka, she was forced to see Ren even more closely and in a whole new light. She watched him from angles where she would never dare herself to look.
In the end, she blamed the President for all of this. Why couldn't he have just left them as normal siblings? Why did he have to include all this creepy flirty things in their characters?
Because it's the President, and he wouldn't enjoy anything unless there's love involved! She answered her own question silently. Even if that means he has to forcefully create a ship he wants to root for!
She could do nothing but sigh inwardly for risking her heart again and again when it was already in danger around Ren, just for the amusement of the President.
Inside the bathroom, Ren placed the small plastic bottle on the sink and studied his reflection for a while.
Before he had to put on those silver-grey contacts which was supposedly the colour of BJ's eyes, he carefully removed the blue ones he was already wearing.
Taking them off, he splashed some water into his eyes, and looked up at his reflection again. This time, they were back to their original colour: emerald green, which was the reason why he had lied to Kyoko about forgetting to put his contacts on in the room. In truth, he only said that because he couldn't change them in front of her. He needed privacy.
The moment he looked at those emerald eyes in the mirror, he was instantly reminded of Kuon. A torrent of unwanted memories rushed into his mind making him wince.
Those eyes and hair of yours, none of it is earned! You bastard! His voice echoed in Ren's mind and the memory of him was enough to make him flinch away from his own reflection.
The voice in his head didn't stop. It belonged to a man who had been the source of all those nightmares Kuon used to have. The same man who pushed Kuon to such a limit that one day, he just snapped.
You filthy japanese! He had called him. Ren could still remember the time when he had said it and how he had put the heel of his shoe on Kuon's head.
Even though Kuon was beaten, bruised and battered, his spirit was still intact. He kept glaring at that man, though his glare only provoked him enough to use his staff on him again. An impact which evoked chuckles of amusement from his gang.
Kuon was fifteen back then. Surrounded by a bunch of thugs, he was lying down with his chest hugging the floor. His chin was pressed below because of the heavy foot resting on top of his skull.
For such a devil, that man had a strikingly beautiful face and smooth pale hair. It only proved to Kuon that appearances could be deceiving.
He removed his foot from Kuon's head and grabbed some of his blond hair to pull him up. "You're just a filthy japanese, you hear me? You're trash! You deserve none of it! Without your looks and your family name, you can't land even a single role. There's no place for the likes of you here!"
Before he got too lost in the past, Ren shook his head briskly, trying to snap himself out of it. It worked. Immediately putting on the fresh pair of contacts into his eyes, he walked out.
The crew was busily making preparations, while the cast waited by in a corner chatting among themselves. A couple of extra actresses approached Murasame. They wanted to know if he was alright, since word was getting around that he got in a fight with Cain Heel.
Murasame put on s comical smile to prove there was nothing wrong. "Don't worry about me, ladies. It wasn't actually a fight. And even if it was, I am perfectly capable of defending myself against him. I know it might not seem like it now, but back in my days, I used to be the leader of a gang."
"We hear about it on the TV all the time!" One of them squealed.
"Why don't you share some of your stories with us?"
Before he could reply, all the heads turned towards the door as a couple pair of footsteps approached. Knowing who it would be, they were all instantly on their guards before the Heels entered.
Murasame turned to look as well. His eyes landed on Setsuka first. She was still wearing the same tube top, leather jacket and shorts from before, and still looking as hot.
Then, his eyes travelled up to her brother, and they widened. Now in costume, Cain Heel appeared as BJ, the killer. He was still dressed in black from head to toe, but now, instead of a jacket, a dark cloak covered his head and fell all the way to his knees leaving the top half of his chest bare. The end of that cloak was torn into hundreds of spiky tails, as if they were shadows of his victims calling out for help.
As creepy as his outfit was, the most unsettling thing about him was something else. They were his eyes. Since everything about him from his hair to his clothes was pitch black, his shiny silver eyes twinkling ominously in a mass of darkness looked so out of place, but at the same time, they completed the image of BJ, as it were them which were the most scary part about him.
"God, he is terrifying!"
"And they haven't even put any special makeup on him yet!"
Murasame overheard someone talk, and he couldn't himself agree more. Because at that moment, even he felt chills crawling down his back and a cold sensation on the back of his neck.
"Now that everyone's here, let's get started!" The Director clapped his hands with optimistic energy, capturing the attention of everything away from Cain Heel. "Murasame, if you would," he said, motioning for him to come up on the stage where the scene was to be shot. "We'll shoot the BJ and Kouji's fight sequence first. So you can start with rehearsing it."
As the Director began explaining the scene to the two opposing actors, Setsuka joined them as well, translating everything into her brother's ear, which fueled Murasame's already bubbling fury even more. He was trying to suppress it, but only looking at Cain's face was enough to remind him of how he was insulted.
"You're still pretending!" He sneered at Cain, who in turn scowled at him condescendingly, as he was nothing more than bug whom Cain wanted to crush so badly. "The Director knows you can speak japanese! So drop the act already!"
Murasame did get an answer, but it was not from Cain. Setsuka threw him an annoyed look. Leaning close to him, so much so that it immediately made him blush, Setsuka muttered something when her lips were only inches away from his ear. "Leave my brother alone, or drop dead somewhere!"
Her remark had no aggression whatsoever. Infact, it was muttered rather sweetly for a threat. As sweet as poison. And it riled Murasame's anger even more, but he was left with no option, so he silently bore it waiting for his chance to enact revenge from Cain Heel for his words and his sister's words as well.
When the Heel's were alone, Cain asked, "what did you say to him?"
Setsuka smirked. "I told him to drop dead."
It was only for the fraction of a second, but something close to pride sparked on Cain's face. He placed a hand on Setsuka's head and stroked it as a sign of his approval making her blush.
To be continued.
