Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Manga or any of its characters, plots, etc. But seriously, I'm just doing disclaimer just in case. Doesn't hurt to be safe.
Hi guys… It has been so long, huh? I was very busy as usual. You know me, I can't concentrate on writing between work, church, family and cleaning. I also used my holidays to recover coz I was sick. Anyway, Happy new year! And I hope you will like this chap update. Enjoy! ^_^
...Like I'm made of Glass...
...Like I'm made of Paper...
Kyoko nervously bit her nails as she sat in the living room couch while they were waiting for the president to arrive. Ren couldn't help but take her hand from her mouth and kiss the nail she was biting.
"Relax. It's going to be alright." He reassured her. "I know the president and he won't be mad at us. He would even be ecstatic because now his squeaky clean actor is not boring anymore. I bet his mad only because we didn't tell him any of this." He snorted at the thought.
Kyoko blushed at the intimate gesture he just did so thoughtlessly. But before she could chastise him, the doorbell rang that signified the arrival of the president. Just then, all her worries and nerves came back and she started to fidget once more. Ren sighed a little and went to get the door. Ren opened the door to see a thunder faced Lory with Sebastian behind him as usual. He just barged in without any pleasantries.
I guess his feathers were ruffled more than I expected... He sighed. This is gonna be a long night.
Ren sat next to the very nervous Kyoko who was looking at anything but the imposing presence of the president sitting on the chair beside the couch. Sebastian faded into the background like he usually does.
"Well?" The president prompted. "Are you gonna spill everything or am I going to have to wriggle it out of you?"
"What do you want to know exactly?" Ren asked cautiously. "I already told you we were drunk that's why that happened."
"I am not blind, Ren!" Lory exclaimed in exasperation. "You couldn't have
performed that good without practice. You couldn't have sang that song in perfect harmony without ease if you two hadn't sang it together before. So now, I want to know everything about you two and your singing abilities. How did you managed to perform that good live."
Ren and Kyoko were silent. Clearly not that ready and willing to let go of their secret together. Well, that was Ren's reason but Kyoko was actually embarrassed and afraid of the judgments or criticisms she was going to receive from the president and the whole people of Japan who watched that show reveal their secret.
But they didn't have a choice. They had to tell the president everything so he can protect them better from the media because they just rocked the whole nation with that one video clip. The press was going in a riot after it.
"It started about...seven months ago." Ren started to explain. "Kyoko heard a popular western song in the radio that she liked and the chorus got stuck in her head. She cooked me dinner one night and she was singing and humming the chorus while she cooked. I noticed instantly because she was singing in English. I searched the song in the net and liked it too. So I dug out the guitar you gave me one Christmas from my storage and learned the song. I played for her and she sang. That's how we got started."
"And?" Lory asked, clearly wanting more. "Surely that was only the beginning. There's still more and you know it."
"Well..." Ren clearly didn't want to spill everything. "She had an amazing voice and we liked doing music together so we started to meet up every Friday after that, just to play music together." Ren scratched his head while Kyoko blushed at the compliment as Ren reluctantly continued. "But then I thought of recording her singing 'cause she's amazingly good. I researched a bit at the music department in LME and bought the necessary equipment and we started recording..."
There was silence after that and Lory mastered all his patience to wait for the end and what he was dying to know.
"Then, we made a youtube channel and posted our songs there. All are covers of the songs we liked to sing. It's all in English. We made it that way so we are not recognized as Japanese and are famous." Ren finally confessed everything.
"Youtube?" Lory was stunned. "That is a very popular website. You haven't been recognized?"
"No. We put alias names and we didn't show our faces in the videos. We're not that dumb, president."
"Show me!" He demanded. "Show me this channel and your videos."
Ren sighed. He knew this was coming. So he got up to get his laptop in his room. He returned and showed him their channel.
The president was very intrigued and his eyes glittered at the number of videos they had published. He scrolled down and clicked on one of the videos. The music started and on the video they could see piano keys and a then a set of hands playing the background music. Then, a clear voice serenaded their ears. But it wasn't just the voice that captivated Lory and Sebastian, on the screen appeared a window glass showing the rain pouring outside and some of the drops falling down on the glass which was a little fogged.
Skies are crying, I am watching
Catching teardrops in my eyes
Only silence, as it ending
Like we never had a chance
Do you have to make me feel like
There's nothing left of me
The video faded away to show a close-up of a bluish purple stone. It kept zooming in on the stone. And then, it faded away and showed a crumpled used tissue. Then it showed every tall building all over the world and after that fading in was a silhouette of a sexy woman with blinding light behind her.
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper
The silhouette faded away just as it appeared and mists swallowed her whole. When it cleared, it showed the silhouette but it was showing its back to the camera and she slowly took off her clothes one by one. She put it in a pile at her side. She took out a lighter and dropped it on top of the pile of clothes. Fire effects engulfed the whole screen.
As the smoke clears
I awaken and untangle you from me
Would it make you feel better
To watch me while I bleed
All my windows still are broken
But I'm standing on my feet
The screen showed every big scandal headlines of all the celebrities and politicians all over the world one after another without focusing too much on any of them. Then, they all faded and that silhouette with the blinding light behind her came on screen again with misty cloud like effects around her feet but faded just at quickly
Go run, run, run
I'm gonna stay right here
Watch you disappear, yeah, oh
Go run, run, run
Yeah, it's a long way down
But I am closer to the clouds up here
Then the screen showed a sad picture of a girl curled up in front of a window while it was raining outside. She was looking down at her open palm. There was something that was glinting on it, as well as the tear that flowed down her cheek. But she wiped it away. Straightened her head and stood up resolutely. Held tightly that glinting something in her hand she faced the window and the rain outside. She then held up her hand and showed the stone to the light above her. Before the image faded, you could see the color of the stone turned into something else.
You can take everything I have
You can break everything I am
Like I'm made of glass
Like I'm made of paper
Go on and try to tear me down
I will be rising from the ground
Like a skyscraper
Like a skyscraper
Lory was shocked. That was the only word that could describe the state he was in. Why? Because for two famous actors, they just made a pretty awesome video on their own. It was home video and audio recording. They didn't record it in any recording studio and they were the only one doing the background music. The video was directed pretty good too and to think they only did it, just the two of them.
He looked at their youtube channel and saw more videos. They did that many in a span of seven months?
Kyoko was fidgeting as she waited for the president's reply while Ren sat there bored but smug by the look of shock on the president's face. He knew the president would be surprise and get crazy about. That was why he took extra precaution not to get caught by the self-proclaimed ambassador of love. But in the end, they got exposed by a challenge and a few glass of drinks.
"Did you produce everything in it? All the recording of the music and the filming, directing, and editing of the video?" Lory asked one question after another, wanting to really make sure.
"Yup!" Ren answered while Kyoko nodded silently.
"Is it that bad?" Kyoko asked worriedly.
"No, not at all, Mogami-kun." Lory replied. "But when did you two had time to do all this?"
"Well… we suggest songs we like and if we both like it, we practice on our own between jobs and then practice, record and edit it on Friday. One of those Fridays, she was browsing songs on youtube, the website I suggested to her we publish our songs to, she saw amateur covers of famous songs like what we were doing but they had filmed a music video along with it like real artists. Her imagination ran off with her and we just did it. It was hard at first because we couldn't show our faces. So we had to get creative. She directed everything and I just enhanced it. Though, we had to discreetly ask the crew at our jobs for tips and recommendations for equipments." Ren concluded his explanation.
Lory in front of them was glowing and had sparkly eye. He felt like floating.
Awww! I was not wrong, my dear children… But I didn't expect you two to be this talented!
"I'm so proud of you, my most precious children! You are the fruit of my labors! This is the satisfaction of my work. I am so blessed to have you in my company. To think you would grow this fast without me knowing it!" The president felt like he was floating.
"Uh… sorry to burst your bubble, boss, but we still have that video leak problem." Ren commented, breaking the president's moment.
The president looked down at the two of them sitting on the couch. He smirked joyfully with mischievousness glinting in his eyes.
"Don't you worry, my children. It will all be okay. See you soon." He replied chuckling on his way out of the apartment.
Kyoko and Ren sweated as they worried about what the president meant by that.
Ohhoo… what has the president got in mind for them? :3 I hoped you liked it… I chose this song because I felt that Kyoko would relate to it with her experiences with her mom and especially with that Bakatarou. Well, I hope you guys are doing fine. May God bless you all and may we all have a healthy and prosperous new year! Love you guys… Read ya next update!
Thank you all for your continuing support in your reviews, favs, follows and for just reading it. ^_^