Authors Chat: Sorry for the delay in chapter release, I've got a Proposal due for one of my classes. (It's due tonight actually and I'm still finishing it! Eek! I had to write though. Get the creative juices flowing. Needed a break anyway.) If there are some technical errors in this chapter, I haven't had time to edit it. (Sorry!)
I've got a bunch of work coming up due next week as well, and another big paper due the week after that, so forgive me if there is another delay in chapter release. I'll reply to any comments or questions after that's over. 'course, that'll be when the next chapter comes out of the actual Manga too, so I'll probably have lots of motivation again! Woo-hoo! Heh… anyway… enjoy!
I would greatly appreciate your comments and constructive criticism!
That being said, italics text are direct thoughts of characters, text is in quotes, noises are done with asterisks.
DISCLAIMER: Skip Beat! and it's characters are not my original creation, they are owned and created by Nakamura Yoshiki.
Story Timeline: Y'all know the timeline by now. If not, go back and read it in an earlier chapter! (taken out for length).
Playing With Fire
Act 24
The world was quiet. Noises in the room did not penetrate the seeming bubble surrounding Natsu as she stared at the mirror.
Nothing new, nothing exciting.
She gently rubbed her face with a powder puff, reapplying a thin layer of powder to her face. She placed the puff back in its small tub, clasped it closed, then picked up her favorite shade of lipstick. She removed the cap and slowly, but in one movement, applied the color, re-shading her lips that daring shade of red. "Cranberry Crush" it was called. She especially liked the 'crush' part. Cranberries themselves were boring, but when crushed, you never knew which way the juice would squirt or what the berry would look like when you were done.
Natsu pushed the cap back on the lipstick tube with a *clack* that was very final, and spun around to face the four girls awaiting her.
Kaori was leaned up against the wall while Yumika and Tugumi held a fourth girl down. The young teacher's daughter was forced on her knees as her arms were held up high behind her. She couldn't move and had given up struggling. Now, she cried in wracking sobs. Snot ran down the base of her nose and her cheeks were ruddy and wet.
"Now, Aki-chan!" She used the shortened form of the girls name informally. "What did you tell Sensei?"
"N-n-nu-t-thinnng, I sweeear!"
"Hmmm… Yumika, I think Aki just asked for you to raise her arms a bit, yes?"
Yumika was used to Natsu's commands now and raised Akimi's arms accordingly.
"YAAAAAAAH! IT HURRRTS!"
Tugumi reached out and slapped Akimi across the mouth. "What did we tell you about yelling?"
When she did not answer, Tugumi yanked hard on her hair, bringing her head up. "I asked you a question Aki-chan! It's rude not to answer."
"EEEAH! N-not to y-yell out!"
"That's right. Do it again, and you'll be sorry."
Natsu's lips curled, but the light did not reach her eyes.
"Now, are you SUUUURE you didn't say anything to Sensei Aki-chan? After all, isn't it kind of hard not to talk to your mother when you're at home?"
"I… I di-didn't say a-a-anythinggg t-to her about the g-g-game Kitagawa-san!"
"But Sensei said something to Kaori-chan, didn't she Kaori?" Kaori nodded definitively. "So Aki-chan, how did your mother know to talk to Kaori and go as far as to give her a zero on her quiz?"
After a silence Tugumi pulled back on Akimi's hair again, pulling her up to face Natsu.
"…S-she saw a… a b-bruise on m-my arm. …I had to tell her something Kitagawa-san, and I didn't tell on y-you. I could only t-tell her that Kaori-san p-pushed m-me in gym class! I didn't know she would take it against Kaori-san! I swear it!" Her words spilled out as if to save herself some terrible fate.
Natsu sighed. "Okay, I believe you." She seemed to perk up considerably, and Akimi looked up at Natsu confused. She was certain there had been more coming, but was relieved when Natsu relented.
"Kaori, what do you want to do? You were wronged here." Natsu smiled at her friend.
Kaori pushed off of the wall and walked up to Akimi's still-held figure.
"Hmmm…. Well, you're right Natsu-chan, but it was her mother that did the damages." Kaori seemed to understand well how this game was played. Give them hope…
"True, but you would strike at the child to get back at the parent, right?" …and Natsu would take it away.
Akimi's eyes went wide as she tried to shake her head. The pain of shaking her head with Tugumi held her hair caused her to tear as she squinted her eyes against the hurt.
"You aren't wrong Natsu-chan, but won't she just run and tattle to mommy?" she emphasized 'mommy'.
"Veeeeeery good point Kaori-chan. Hmmm… Well, lets take a poll, shall we? Tugumi? What do you say?"
"I think she'll just run and tell mommy. Maybe we should cut out her tongue?" Akimi's eyes went wide at that and a pool began to form around her knees.
"…and you, Yumika? …hmm? What's this? Aki-chan, you're making a very big mess! Someone will have to clean that up you know. It wouldn't look too good if your skirt got wet either you know." Akimi's cheeks flushed as she almost let out a wail of embarrassment, but Yumika pulled hard on her arms, bringing her up to her feet.
"Stupid. Ugh, you're heavy." Yumika looked up to Natsu before answering. "No doubt she'll want to run to mommy, but I think she likes that we saved her from getting her skirt dirty, and it would be a shame if anyone found out she couldn't hold it and peed herself."
"Good call Yumika! Aki-chan, thank Yumika-chan for her kindness in helping you!"
The tears slid down her cheeks harder again and fell from her chin in heavy drops. "T-t-thank y-you Yu-Yumik-aa-san!"
"Well Kaori-chan? What should we do?"
It was now Kaori's turn to make Akimi wait. Natsu and Kaori had used these tactics before. Like an intricate play, Natsu an Kaori would take turns giving the target hope, then taking it away, giving a threat, then making good on a different threat, humiliating a person, then giving them a way out, making the target wait, then giving them relief though perhaps not what is expected. In the end, they ALWAYS did something. Those who withstood their tormenting became future targets. Those who succumbed became, essentially, slaves to do their bidding.
Kaori looked at the lipstick tube still in Natsu's hand, then turned to the mirror behind her.
"…my lips are dry. Natsu, may I use your lipstick?"
"Of course Kaori!" They left off the honorifics so Akimi would know how close they were as friends. This would make her worry more.
Natsu's smile reached her eyes as she handed the tube to Kaori, and Kaori slowly applied the lipstick. This was a tactic Kaori had developed. The plan was to make herself look like Natsu in the end so that the target would view Kaori and Natsu as synonymous. One was just as dangerous as the other. It gave Kaori as much control over the victim as Natsu would have in the end.
Kaori lifted her hair to simulate a short haircut style. "Hmm.. what do you think Natsu? Should I cut my hair? I've been thinking about it for a while."
"Maybe… but it would be bad if it didn't look good on you. Maybe you should try it out first on a model?"
Kaori smiled brightly as she perked up and looked over her shoulder at Akimi.
"What a good idea! Tugumi, won't you get me a pair of scissors? I think Aki-chan would be willing to let me try a haircut on her, won't you Aki-chan?"
Tugumi yanked again on Akimi's hair. "Answer!"
"S-sure K-K-Kaori-san! A-a-anyt-thing f-for y-y-you!" Tugumi dropped Akimi's hair with a push to her head and left Yumika to hold onto her as she left the Karaoke Hall's bathroom to find her bag and a pair of scissors.
The girls chatted happily over Akimi's sobs until Tugumi returned with the scissors.
"Here you go Kaori. They're sharp, be careful not to cut her! Wouldn't want Mommy to think you hurt her again!"
"I'll be careful so long as Aki-chan doesn't move, don't worry! … Lets set her up in one of the stalls so I have a good angle!"
Tugumi and Yumika forced Akimi around and into a toilet stall and forced her to sit backward on the seat.
"Too bad you couldn't wait! Now you'd be able to go without making such a mess!" the girls chuckled at Yumika's comment.
"Now… sit still Aki-chan. I'll do a good job, I promise!" Kaori was well aware that Akimi's hair was her most treasured feature. Akimi had kept her hair long since grade school, and Kaori was about to ruin that.
Kaori gathered Akimi hair up into one large bunch streaming down her back and *sssssssssskp.* The scissors cut the bulk of her hair off in one snip.
Kaori held it over Akimi's shoulder to see. "Here, you want to keep it Aki-chan?" She let the hair slide from her grasp and into the open toilet below. "Ooooh, I'm so sorry! Your hair is so healthy and slick, I just couldn't hold onto it!"
Akimi's eyes were wide in shock at what had just happened.
"So, what kind of cut do you want Kaori-chan?" Natsu stuck her head inside the stall to check on their progress.
"Liiiike… this maybe?" Kaori made a diagonal cut from the back of Aki's cut down to her chin, angling her hair so it was long around her face and short in back.
Kaori completed the haircut before forcing Akimi up and to the mirror in front of the sinks to see her new hairstyle. Kaori was smart enough to not leave the hair looking horrible, it had to look like an intentional cut so it wasn't obviously not done by a professional. The style was okay, and the cut job was okay, but they definitely were not suited to Akimi's face.
"Well. You're right Natsu. It was a good idea to try it first. I don't think this would look good on me after all." Kaori let go of Akimi's collar and handed the scissors to Tugumi.
The girls all turned and walked out the door. Natsu went last, but in the door way, she turned.
"Be sure to clean up your puddle, oh, and Aki-chan… don't forget! *shhhhhhhh*" Natsu held her finger to her lips to motion this was their secret as the door gently swung closed.
"aaaaand CUT! You girls really are amazing. That was perfect." This was high praise from Director Sutoyo, but he always seemed impressed when there was a bullying scene they got to improvise.
This was the first improvised scene in almost a month. Not that there weren't any bullying scenes, on the contrary. There were plenty, but it seemed harder and harder to please Natsu to the point of euphoria, and Natsu's personal tactics seemed to become, somehow, more vicious. The girls who were meant to be bullied began had complained to their managers and their managers took it to Director Sutoyo. He tried to talk with Kyoko, but Kyoko was more and more Natsu these days, so it was hard to get any actual response from her that wasn't vindictive and controlling. In the end, he had to bring in a choreographer to build and control their bullying scenes for a while until Kyoko seemed more in control of Natsu.
It had taken a while, but it seemed Kyoko had once again hit her streak.
"This episode is a wrap ladies. Be sure to study your lines so you'll be ready to go after the break. I'll see you in a few days."
Natsu watched as the Director left the set and her co-actors began to disperse. Once she was alone, the smile slowly slid off of her face and she turned to go to her own dressing room.
She carefully put away her clothing and removed her make-up, transforming once again into the plain girl Kyoko, and she now studied herself in her reflection. It had been a while since she had smiled as herself. She was feeling depressed and didn't know what she could do to make it better. She had limited her outside contact, so she was only going between sets and the Daruma-Ya. She only went to the LME building if she was called in for some work, but mostly, she stayed in her room at the restaurant.
She left the studio on the Okami's bike and soon found herself right back in her small room, lying on the bed and looking across the room at the posters on her wall.
Two posters hung tacked to the wall, but she only saw one. Ren stared out unblinking at her with a soft smile.
Her heart skipped a beat every time she looked at the poster's eyes. They were Ren's eyes, but there was no warmth there, not like… well, they weren't real. Not like the eyes she had burned into her memory. The eyes he looked at her with when…
Again and again she had to force her thoughts away from Ren. Away from his touch. Away from his kiss… It hurt.
It hurt more than she ever hurt when Shoutaro had thrown her away, and she didn't understand it.
Clearly it hurt when Shoutaro had abandoned her, but not like this. It was somehow different. Her hurt from Shoutaro burned inside her in rage. This hurt was an ache that she couldn't express. The only thing she could do was cry in sadness and frustration, and it was no surprise when she touched her cheek and brought her fingers away wet.
She went to bed most nights on a damp pillow, and woke up with an even more damp pillow.
*brurururururu… brurururururu… brurururururu…*
Kyoko reached out her hand and flopped it down on her ringing cell phone. She looked at the number teary-eyed before answering it.
"Hello Sawara-san."
"Mogami-san! I'm glad I caught you. I have a last minute offer I think you should take, and I think you'll like. Have you got a few minutes to talk?"
"…Sure Sawara-san, what's it about?"
"Well, it's a sequel for a movie. You look a lot like the actress who played in the first one, so they want you to replace her. She had to cancel last minute. You'd be playing a real lady of the house. This isn't a mean role even. It could be a real breakthrough for you."
It wasn't a mean role. It meant she could play a real lady, not some twisted personality. Her mind started working on beautiful dresses and long flowing hair, gloves, and carriages. This was just what she needed!
"I'll do it Sawara-san."
"… don't you want to know more about the role?"
"It's okay, you said it'd be a breakthrough for me right? Just send over the script, and I'll read it then."
"Um, alright Mogami-san. The filming will start in two days. I'll add some notes to the script so you know what scenes will be taking place first so you can be ready. …I think it may be good to assign you to a manager for now as well. It's just for now though. It will take up a lot of your free time for this movie, and I think you could use some help, and President Takarada already agreed. You're on break for a few days from the Box 'R' Chronicle, right?"
"Yup. The Director has to take a short trip. We have five days off."
"Alright then, can you come into the office tomorrow afternoon? I should have someone to assign you to by lunch time."
"Okay Sawara-san, I'll be there!" She folded the phone closed quickly and held it to her chest. Finally something to look forward to!
The ache was still there, but for the first time in weeks, she looked at the poster of Ren and felt happy.
He would be proud of me!
She was able to fall asleep finally and woke the next morning with her pillow completely dry.