TAKARADA KNOWS
The workers were busily unloading the movie props from the truck and carrying them to the studio like they do every morning, when someone approached them.
"Are you taking these to the Tragic Marker set?"
They turned to see a total stranger in the standard staff uniform. His unruly hair were covered in a colourful bandana, and his eyes had dark sunglasses on them, which seemed wierd since he was inside the building. He had a brown mustache and a goatee.
"Yeah," one of the workers replied, eyeing him curiously. "Never seen you around before. You new?"
"Yes," he nodded. "The studio is on the third floor, right? I'll take that." Carrying the heaviest bulk of the props, he started proceeding towards the elevator.
The Heels were in time for once. As the cast waited for the shoot to begin, the crew hurriedly readied the stage.
Setsuka was sitting beside her brother, the two of them unusually quiet. Although, Kyoko knew Setsu's character wasn't supposed to drag out her anger for long, she still couldn't help it to even look at Ren. So she ignored him pretending to be still infuriated about the whole hair-stroking business.
Ren understood that, but assuming it all to be just a part of her act, he tried to win her back the way Cain Heel would. Being the stubborn brother that he was, he began talking to Setsu several times only to get short and cold responses from her, in which she convinced him that she was not angry anymore but her tone sure suggested otherwise.
"Would you please just let that go?" He almost begged her as he got up and started pacing the floor.
"Let what go?" She feigned ignorance. Although it did seem a bit out of character for Setsu, Kyoko couldn't help but give him the cold shoulder.
Giving a defeated sigh, he slumped down again on his chair beside her. Before either of them could say anything, one of the workers entered the large studio with some prop.
Seeing him from her peripheral vision, Kyoko's attention was captured. Why does he seem so familiar? Have I seen him before? She wondered, frowning.
She noticed from the corner of her eye that Ren followed her gaze to the same man and his eyes widened for a second. He recognized him as well.
Kyoko snapped her attention back to him, trying her best to disern the source of the resemblance when all of a sudden, she saw it. Of course, she sighed. She knew only one person in the world who would do something as crazy as this: disguising himself as a worker to come visit the set. She looked down, shaking her head. What is President Takarada doing here?
She glanced at Ren again. He had managed to hide his surprise and maintain his character again, but she could tell he was thinking the same thing.
All of a sudden, something occurred to Kyoko. When she had talked to the President over the phone, she was able to fool him by changing her voice, thanks to her acting abilities, so he wouldn't suspect anything about that thing being out again. Now, however, she wasn't so sure if she could fool him again since he was actually here. No matter how much of a good actress she was, it was impossible to fool the President.
Panic rose within her. If Takarada found out about it, there was no doubt he'd tell Ren. No! She could not let that happen! She'll have to be extremely careful to not let the President see.
It's all your fault, you traitor! She grimaced, silently cursing her heart. Why do you have to be so darned weak? Why can't you just do your job and just pump blood, and beat at a normal rate? Of course, the heart made no answer.
"Cain Saan! Why don't we go to the graphics room together?" A shrill voice calling out to him snapped Kyoko out of her thoughts. It belonged to Manaka. The leading actress giggled and threw herself at Cain. Kyoko ignored the stabbing pain in her heart, biting down the urge to push her away.
Turned out, she didn't need to bother herself, because Cain did that for her. "Leave me alone," he growled at his costar, yet the actress continued to giggle, not even a little bit fazed.
It was a little satisfying to watch Ren push her away, but Kyoko couldn't help but wonder how he would have reacted if he wasn't bound by his character. The answer hurt her even more.
"Setsu," Cain rose to his feet, deliberately ignoring Manaka. "Let's go." He held her hand. As the siblings started to proceed, Manaka once again coiled her arms around Cain's.
"Where are you going without me? I'm your cute little hamster!"
Kyoko was aghast. Is this girl for real? She wondered, her eyes widening. But she never actually hated her. Because a tiny voice in the back of her mind reminded her: This used to be you. When you were all clingy to Sho. And it'll be you again, since you were stupid enough to fall prey to it again.
Her face burned with humiliation. Never again! She told herself. I'll never be like that. But the fact didn't change that she did lose to that thing again. A sudden chill went down her back leaving only cold in it's wake and she tasted something bitter, as the fear of once again turning into this version of her consumed her from the inside out. She blinked the tears back again.
Cain, after finally managing to rid himself of Manaka, turned to Setsu only to find her nearly in tears, and a desperation to fix this shot inside him. Whether it was Ren or Cain Heel, neither of them could bear to see her in that state, so without a care about the twice dozen pair of eyes in the room, he grabbed Setsu by her shoulders and locked her into a tight embrace.
Before Kyoko could even know what was happening, she was being squeezed into his arms. One second, she was worried about her heart, and the next, he crushed into a hug so tight that left her body on fire as it yearned for more with an intense craving.
No! Before she could help it, her skin tinged deep red and her eyes flooded with tears. She stood still, not having a clue how to react.
"I'm sorry," With his lips pressed against the shell of her ear, he whispered. "Even if it was in the heat of the moment, and even if I considered her only a pet, I shouldn't have done that. I'll not lay a hand on another girl again, I swear. Forgive me? Setsu?"
The whole time he spoke, Kyoko had no idea what was going on as her mind was in a daze. One look at her face and anyone could have seen she was not in character, but thankfully, everyone was busy shooting them judgemental nasty glares instead of paying attention to her face. At last, when he called her Setsu, she realized she needed to snap back in character and fast, but no matter how much she tried to blink back the tears from her eyes, they just wouldn't dry up.
Everything suddenly got quieter. In the hazy sight, she noticed the way everyone was starting at them only, as her eyes landed on face after face, having similarly shocked and disgusted reactions, until they lingered on a familiar countenance. Standing in the back, President Takarada took off his sunglasses only to reveal that he was looking directly at Kyoko.
Her tears suddenly dried up and she averted her eyes, though a part of her knew that it was too late. He had already seen what she was so desperate to hide from him.
"Stop that, you perverts!" Murasame's voiced echoed through the hushed studio as he thundered down on the siblings, pushing them apart. "Do this creepy stuff in your own time, you hear me?"
Kyoko was greatful to the actor for the first time for making that scene since she was now distracted enough to snap back into character.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened for the rest of the shoot, except for the small argument between Cain and Murasame which was followed by the actor forcefully cutting their hug short and the baleful glances the crew was passing to her and Cain. She didn't blame them, knowing what kind of rumours were being circulated about her relationship with her brother. With Cain giving them that live show, their suspicions were confirmed.
Why did I even agree to do this job? She groaned inwards. As she sat there in the corner, trying not think of anything, the last scene was shot and they were done for the day.
After she and Ren changed out of their character's getup, Takarada showed up offering her a ride since it was past midnight. As uncomfortable as she was around the President, specially after what happened today, she still graciously accepted since her only alternative was to go with Ren.
Fortunately, Jelly was also in the car on the way back, so Takarada never uttered a word to her. When they arrived at Darumaya, Kyoko disembarked the vehicle and thanked the President. Before she could scamper off, Takarada called after her, much to her dismay.
"Mogami!"
She halted, fliching down. "Y-yes?"
"How's your schedule for tomorrow?"
"Um... I have a Box R shoot starting at 1pm." Here it comes, she thought despairingly.
"Is that so? Then you'll have some free time in the morning, I suppose. Before you head to the set, can you drop by my office for a while? I've something to discuss with you."
I can't let him tell Ren, Kyoko repeated to herself over and over again on her way to the agency the next morning. She suspected Takarada already knew about it from the time when their eyes had met, so she could either look him in the eye and lie to his face or she could beg the President to keep her secret safe.
However, Takarada being obsessed with love, she had a feeling neither of those things would work. She reached the main gate of the agency. The nearer she was to the President's office, the heavier her heart became.
Each footstep was harder than the one before. By the time she reached her destination, her forhead was brimmed with perspiration. She was literally terrified to face him. What would he have to say to her? More importantly, how would she respond?
Knowing Takarada, he would never sit back and not butt in. Specially because it was a matter of love, he'd try to help her and pair her with Ren, not understanding that she does not want his help. She'd have to make him see that she did not want to be with anyone ever again.
With a sigh, she formulated a last minute plan. Since it would be a waste of time to try to make some lame excuse and fool the President, Kyoko decided she might as well accept defeat and let the cat out of the bag. But, she'll need to stop him from telling Ren somehow. If only she knew something which she could use to blackmail Takarada in keeping her secret.
All of a sudden, the door to the President's office was opened from the other side, and Kyoko was left bewildered. She was still trying to think of some bargaining chip, but before she could succeed, she was interrupted by Takarada's secretary, Sebastian.
"Ms Mogami, the President had been waiting for you. Please come inside." He lead her in.
Following him, Kyoko stepped into the familiar office to the smell of room freshner and air conditioning.
"Mogami, welcome!" She heard Takarada. "What great timing! Ren got here a few minutes ago as well."
Her eyes widened at the sight of Ren and Yashiro sitting comfortably on the couch opposite Takarada. The President didn't even give her the chance to talk to him alone! He had already called Ren to ask her about it in front of him. How could he be so cruel!
"Good morning," Ren smiled at her. "Kyoko."
With her panic reaching it's maximum, her jaw snapped open and dropped to the ground. All the colour drained from her face leaving it a pale white.
"What's up with her?" Yashiro wondered, shooting Ren a questioning glance. "She was with you all day yesterday, so did anything happen between you?" The manager asked.
"I can't think of any-," Ren was saying, before he was suddenly reminded of the stuff they did a couple nights back in the pretense of their characters. "Ah," he said, remembering. He instinctively reached for his high-neck collar beneath which he had the hickey hidden Kyoko had left him.
He cleared his throat. Now it made sense. It was the first time after that night, they were finally seeing each other just as themselves without being in character. No wonder Kyoko freaked out. He felt bad for putting her through all that, but that didn't mean he regretted any part of that night.
He looked down, averting his eyes away from hers to give her some time to recover, while Yashiro was narrowing his eyes at him. He could already see the questions his manager would be bombarding him with once they would be alone.
Not getting much of an answer from Ren, Yashiro walked up to Kyoko. "Hey, you okay? What's wrong?"
Until now, Kyoko wanted nothing more than to shrink into the size of a bug and fly away, but the concerned look on Yashiro's face gave her a small ray of hope. If the President had already told Ren about that thing, then Yashiro must have heard it as well. But judging from the way the manager was acting like he normally would, maybe they didn't know yet. If Takarada didn't tell them already, maybe he was not going to tell them about it after all. Hope began to shine within her.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," she smiled. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" The manager raised an eyebrow. "Your face suddenly went pale."
"Yes, I'm okay. Just a little tired. Work has been getting to me lately, that's all."
"Why don't you take a seat Mogami?" Takarada said. "Join us for tea."
Kyoko obliged, taking the empty seat on the couch beside the President. She was still hopeful, that maybe, just maybe, the President wasn't that cruel after all that he would tell Ren on her. However, whatever hope she had was crumbled to pieces as she heard the next words he uttered making her heart sink again.
"Well then," Takarada began, as he poured tea for her. "The reason I called you all here today is because there's something important I have to tell Ren." He turneTAKARADA KNOWS
The workers were busily unloading the movie props from the truck and carrying them to the studio like they do every morning, when someone approached them.
"Are you taking these to the Tragic Marker set?"
They turned to see a total stranger in the standard staff uniform. His unruly hair were covered in a colourful bandana, and his eyes had dark sunglasses on them, which seemed wierd since he was inside the building. He had a brown mustache and a goatee.
"Yeah," one of the workers replied, eyeing him curiously. "Never seen you around before. You new?"
"Yes," he nodded. "The studio is on the third floor, right? I'll take that." Carrying the heaviest bulk of the props, he started proceeding towards the elevator.
The Heels were in time for once. As the cast waited for the shoot to begin, the crew hurriedly readied the stage.
Setsuka was sitting beside her brother, the two of them unusually quiet. Although, Kyoko knew Setsu's character wasn't supposed to drag out her anger for long, she still couldn't help it to even look at Ren. So she ignored him pretending to be still infuriated about the whole hair-stroking business.
Ren understood that, but assuming it all to be just a part of her act, he tried to win her back the way Cain Heel would. Being the stubborn brother that he was, he began talking to Setsu several times only to get short and cold responses from her, in which she convinced him that she was not angry anymore but her tone sure suggested otherwise.
"Would you please just let that go?" He almost begged her as he got up and started pacing the floor.
"Let what go?" She feigned ignorance. Although it did seem a bit out of character for Setsu, Kyoko couldn't help but give him the cold shoulder.
Giving a defeated sigh, he slumped down again on his chair beside her. Before either of them could say anything, one of the workers entered the large studio with some prop.
Seeing him from her peripheral vision, Kyoko's attention was captured. Why does he seem so familiar? Have I seen him before? She wondered, frowning.
She noticed from the corner of her eye that Ren followed her gaze to the same man and his eyes widened for a second. He recognized him as well.
Kyoko snapped her attention back to him, trying her best to disern the source of the resemblance when all of a sudden, she saw it. Of course, she sighed. She knew only one person in the world who would do something as crazy as this: disguising himself as a worker to come visit the set. She looked down, shaking her head. What is President Takarada doing here?
She glanced at Ren again. He had managed to hide his surprise and maintain his character again, but she could tell he was thinking the same thing.
All of a sudden, something occurred to Kyoko. When she had talked to the President over the phone, she was able to fool him by changing her voice, thanks to her acting abilities, so he wouldn't suspect anything about that thing being out again. Now, however, she wasn't so sure if she could fool him again since he was actually here. No matter how much of a good actress she was, it was impossible to fool the President.
Panic rose within her. If Takarada found out about it, there was no doubt he'd tell Ren. No! She could not let that happen! She'll have to be extremely careful to not let the President see.
It's all your fault, you traitor! She grimaced, silently cursing her heart. Why do you have to be so darned weak? Why can't you just do your job and just pump blood, and beat at a normal rate? Of course, the heart made no answer.
"Cain Saan! Why don't we go to the graphics room together?" A shrill voice calling out to him snapped Kyoko out of her thoughts. It belonged to Manaka. The leading actress giggled and threw herself at Cain. Kyoko ignored the stabbing pain in her heart, biting down the urge to push her away.
Turned out, she didn't need to bother herself, because Cain did that for her. "Leave me alone," he growled at his costar, yet the actress continued to giggle, not even a little bit fazed.
It was a little satisfying to watch Ren push her away, but Kyoko couldn't help but wonder how he would have reacted if he wasn't bound by his character. The answer hurt her even more.
"Setsu," Cain rose to his feet, deliberately ignoring Manaka. "Let's go." He held her hand. As the siblings started to proceed, Manaka once again coiled her arms around Cain's.
"Where are you going without me? I'm your cute little hamster!"
Kyoko was aghast. Is this girl for real? She wondered, her eyes widening. But she never actually hated her. Because a tiny voice in the back of her mind reminded her: This used to be you. When you were all clingy to Sho. And it'll be you again, since you were stupid enough to fall prey to it again.
Her face burned with humiliation. Never again! She told herself. I'll never be like that. But the fact didn't change that she did lose to that thing again. A sudden chill went down her back leaving only cold in it's wake and she tasted something bitter, as the fear of once again turning into this version of her consumed her from the inside out. She blinked the tears back again.
Cain, after finally managing to rid himself of Manaka, turned to Setsu only to find her nearly in tears, and a desperation to fix this shot inside him. Whether it was Ren or Cain Heel, neither of them could bear to see her in that state, so without a care about the twice dozen pair of eyes in the room, he grabbed Setsu by her shoulders and locked her into a tight embrace.
Before Kyoko could even know what was happening, she was being squeezed into his arms. One second, she was worried about her heart, and the next, he crushed into a hug so tight that left her body on fire as it yearned for more with an intense craving.
No! Before she could help it, her skin tinged deep red and her eyes flooded with tears. She stood still, not having a clue how to react.
"I'm sorry," With his lips pressed against the shell of her ear, he whispered. "Even if it was in the heat of the moment, and even if I considered her only a pet, I shouldn't have done that. I'll not lay a hand on another girl again, I swear. Forgive me? Setsu?"
The whole time he spoke, Kyoko had no idea what was going on as her mind was in a daze. One look at her face and anyone could have seen she was not in character, but thankfully, everyone was busy shooting them judgemental nasty glares instead of paying attention to her face. At last, when he called her Setsu, she realized she needed to snap back in character and fast, but no matter how much she tried to blink back the tears from her eyes, they just wouldn't dry up.
Everything suddenly got quieter. In the hazy sight, she noticed the way everyone was starting at them only, as her eyes landed on face after face, having similarly shocked and disgusted reactions, until they lingered on a familiar countenance. Standing in the back, President Takarada took off his sunglasses only to reveal that he was looking directly at Kyoko.
Her tears suddenly dried up and she averted her eyes, though a part of her knew that it was too late. He had already seen what she was so desperate to hide from him.
"Stop that, you perverts!" Murasame's voiced echoed through the hushed studio as he thundered down on the siblings, pushing them apart. "Do this creepy stuff in your own time, you hear me?"
Kyoko was greatful to the actor for the first time for making that scene since she was now distracted enough to snap back into character.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened for the rest of the shoot, except for the small argument between Cain and Murasame which was followed by the actor forcefully cutting their hug short and the baleful glances the crew was passing to her and Cain. She didn't blame them, knowing what kind of rumours were being circulated about her relationship with her brother. With Cain giving them that live show, their suspicions were confirmed.
Why did I even agree to do this job? She groaned inwards. As she sat there in the corner, trying not think of anything, the last scene was shot and they were done for the day.
After she and Ren changed out of their character's getup, Takarada showed up offering her a ride since it was past midnight. As uncomfortable as she was around the President, specially after what happened today, she still graciously accepted since her only alternative was to go with Ren.
Fortunately, Jelly was also in the car on the way back, so Takarada never uttered a word to her. When they arrived at Darumaya, Kyoko disembarked the vehicle and thanked the President. Before she could scamper off, Takarada called after her, much to her dismay.
"Mogami!"
She halted, fliching down. "Y-yes?"
"How's your schedule for tomorrow?"
"Um... I have a Box R shoot starting at 1pm." Here it comes, she thought despairingly.
"Is that so? Then you'll have some free time in the morning, I suppose. Before you head to the set, can you drop by my office for a while? I've something to discuss with you."
I can't let him tell Ren, Kyoko repeated to herself over and over again on her way to the agency the next morning. She suspected Takarada already knew about it from the time when their eyes had met, so she could either look him in the eye and lie to his face or she could beg the President to keep her secret safe.
However, Takarada being obsessed with love, she had a feeling neither of those things would work. She reached the main gate of the agency. The nearer she was to the President's office, the heavier her heart became.
Each footstep was harder than the one before. By the time she reached her destination, her forhead was brimmed with perspiration. She was literally terrified to face him. What would he have to say to her? More importantly, how would she respond?
Knowing Takarada, he would never sit back and not butt in. Specially because it was a matter of love, he'd try to help her and pair her with Ren, not understanding that she does not want his help. She'd have to make him see that she did not want to be with anyone ever again.
With a sigh, she formulated a last minute plan. Since it would be a waste of time to try to make some lame excuse and fool the President, Kyoko decided she might as well accept defeat and let the cat out of the bag. But, she'll need to stop him from telling Ren somehow. If only she knew something which she could use to blackmail Takarada in keeping her secret.
All of a sudden, the door to the President's office was opened from the other side, and Kyoko was left bewildered. She was still trying to think of some bargaining chip, but before she could succeed, she was interrupted by Takarada's secretary, Sebastian.
"Ms Mogami, the President had been waiting for you. Please come inside." He lead her in.
Following him, Kyoko stepped into the familiar office to the smell of room freshner and air conditioning.
"Mogami, welcome!" She heard Takarada. "What great timing! Ren got here a few minutes ago as well."
Her eyes widened at the sight of Ren and Yashiro sitting comfortably on the couch opposite Takarada. The President didn't even give her the chance to talk to him alone! He had already called Ren to ask her about it in front of him. How could he be so cruel!
"Good morning," Ren smiled at her. "Kyoko."
With her panic reaching it's maximum, her jaw snapped open and dropped to the ground. All the colour drained from her face leaving it a pale white.
"What's up with her?" Yashiro wondered, shooting Ren a questioning glance. "She was with you all day yesterday, so did anything happen between you?" The manager asked.
"I can't think of any-," Ren was saying, before he was suddenly reminded of the stuff they did a couple nights back in the pretense of their characters. "Ah," he said, remembering. He instinctively reached for his high-neck collar beneath which he had the hickey hidden Kyoko had left him.
He cleared his throat. Now it made sense. It was the first time after that night, they were finally seeing each other just as themselves without being in character. No wonder Kyoko freaked out. He felt bad for putting her through all that, but that didn't mean he regretted any part of that night.
He looked down, averting his eyes away from hers to give her some time to recover, while Yashiro was narrowing his eyes at him. He could already see the questions his manager would be bombarding him with once they would be alone.
Not getting much of an answer from Ren, Yashiro walked up to Kyoko. "Hey, you okay? What's wrong?"
Until now, Kyoko wanted nothing more than to shrink into the size of a bug and fly away, but the concerned look on Yashiro's face gave her a small ray of hope. If the President had already told Ren about that thing, then Yashiro must have heard it as well. But judging from the way the manager was acting like he normally would, maybe they didn't know yet. If Takarada didn't tell them already, maybe he was not going to tell them about it after all. Hope began to shine within her.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," she smiled. "I'm fine."
"You sure?" The manager raised an eyebrow. "Your face suddenly went pale."
"Yes, I'm okay. Just a little tired. Work has been getting to me lately, that's all."
"Why don't you take a seat Mogami?" Takarada said. "Join us for tea."
Kyoko obliged, taking the empty seat on the couch beside the President. She was still hopeful, that maybe, just maybe, the President wasn't that cruel after all that he would tell Ren on her. However, whatever hope she had was crumbled to pieces as she heard the next words he uttered making her heart sink again.
"Well then," Takarada began, as he poured tea for her. "The reason I called you all here today is because there's something important I have to tell Ren." He turned to Kyoko. "It's about Mogami."
To be continued.
