Blind Sided

-Jasmine-Fields-1979-

I Disclaim: I do not own the copyrights or trademarks of the respective authors, artists, and television programming of any Manga or Anime. Please note, with respect, that the images I use are clipped from open source images discovered on the Internet, with exception to photos pertaining to my own image and any business branding about my employers past and present.

Chapter 12

Yamato walked with Kenji to discuss how they would recreate the situation where he had been guilty of sexually harassing all the girls at university right before the stint with Mei.

Megumi was behind them, listening to the conversation with two or three friends in tow, including Aiko's cousin. Left to their own thoughts, surely there was dirt on Mei somehow. Something they could blackmail her over. She did not wish to antagonize the cameramen, since they seemed to favor Mei. But nobody knew what to look for, since she generally kept to herself and seemed careful who she associated with more than most of the campus population. There must be something that was useful... something juicy and good.

Megumi learned that Mei had been stalked recently – as had a great majority of the more popular women on campus. She didn't know if it was because everyone wanted a chunk of fame or if there was something more sinister in the works. She did not want to run the risk of being caught unawares, so delegated tasks for others to do, including the drama club, per the request of Mei. Normally, she couldn't care what Mei asked, but Megumi recalled the warning of her publishers and Mei's insistence that this be done immediately.

Campus police warned the dorm monitors on how to be prepared and even Mei encouraged some sort of self-defense classes. Something about Mei's rapport with the campus journalists and reporters caused them to write in the school paper – and there it was in print.

Mei kicking some guys. The faces of those guys were hidden and looked blurred out in the ink printed.

Megumi didn't know if it was staged or how Mei landed on the front page, but a school newspaper was hardly meant to bring fame and fortune to a single entity in the big picture to her thought process. That picture was pretty powerful though. Perhaps, this is why the journalists were surrounding her making suggestions from the statements of police and security that everyone could use.

She was trying to listen to the conversation in front of her more attentively, but her other peers, who were excited that she had joined them at this university, asked a question. She responded.

"I'm thinking about the time the Tokyo Collection comes out that he'll have lost interest in this Mei Tachibana. She will have only been a blink in history, but then, that's how I heard she likes to be – just a blink."

Kenji and Yamato turned upstairs while she continued walking straight with her peers and the camera crew.

"Megumi, how much do you actually know about Mei or Yamato?" asked the cameraman, who grinned a sly Cheshire cat smile.

"Mei? She's a here today, gone tomorrow sort of girl, I'll bet. And Yamato? I can win him anytime I want to away from her. I love this industry more than both of them. I am quite determined to see success for myself – and of course to win Yamato's heart."

"How do you know that your desires will not be tested in this situation? There are several contracts at risk, if things do not go well." A reporter asked.

"I'll get what I want, I'm positive. I'll just mind my good girl manners and be persuasive with the camera angles. Yamato will have to acknowledge me then."

Megumi felt positive about this.

The group continued on to the next building chatting excitedly about the next few steps to take in the production of showing Megumi and Yamato together.

After the group passed, Mei came out of her hiding place and followed both Kenji and Yamato up the stairwell, where they had stopped to listen in.

"You do know that it's rude to eavesdrop, right?" Mei asked.

"Yes. And you do it all the time, don't you Mei?" Kenji answered. Yamato intensely studied their responses toward each other.

"Only because I'm paid to do it – and depends upon how accurate the customer wants the return message to be as to how well I actually listened."

"So, what do we do now?" Kenji, now exasperated, asked.

"We record each other's thoughts on that voice recorder thing that Asami and Aiko bring with them to class. Some of it will have to be script based off our understanding at any given time, guys."

She was about to continue her thoughts aloud when the other cameraman stepped down from the flight of stairs above them.

"You guys are going to need my help to match up all this in the editor's office, you know. This is a mess otherwise."

"Tell me about it," agreed Mei.

Yamato sighed and started to grab Mei's hand, before the cameraman stopped him.

"You'll want to reconsider doing that just yet. You still don't know everything that we do about Mei. When she's ready, she'll volunteer herself."

Mei edged herself into the conversation to set the record straight.

"No, I won't. I prefer the invitation first but thank you for the input."

The dark-haired cameraman – who still had not introduced himself formally – nodded, then turned off the camera a moment.

"Miss Tachibana, you'll still listen to me, won't you?"

Sighing, she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes. Just please, let me try. All of this is new – doing things more my way and less how everyone else wants. I didn't sign up to be the rotten one here and I know Megumi didn't either. We'll see how this goes. Yamato, if after all this is over with... the cameras, the emotions that go into this day after day, and the relationships then contracts become too cumbersome, you need to say something to one of us."

He looked down at Mei after glaring at the cameraman a moment. Then he grit out, "I thought I already did."

The cameraman flicked the camcorder back on. "Let's go. We have a lot of logistical work to do, Mister Kurosawa."

Miffed, Yamato and Kenji left Mei to her darker thoughts.

~***oOo***~