I apologize to everyone who reads this, for my months long hiatus with this story. I wrote myself into a corner and I'm more interested in the other stories I've started but I feel I need to finish this one. It will most likely take as long as Sensei is taking with the manga but obviously mine is a major hack job. There can be no comparison to my idol Nakamura Yoshiki to whom Skip Beat belongs. I hope this will satisfy anyone who has missed this. I will try and be a little more consistent with updates. Thank you in advance for reading and reviewing and I appreciate all who have favorited and followed!
Voodoo Curse Chapter 9
"You're not the Kyoko I know if you're quitting this early in the game!"
Ren's tone was stern and incredulous; he didn't know how to coax Kyoko out of her panic. He grasped her shoulders and gave a little shake, not violently but more as if to wake her up and bring her into the moment. She refused to look at him and blushed and squeezed her eyes shut and he knew he was witnessing a recall of their acting practice last night.
"Kyoko! Look at me! This role won't kill you! It will make you stronger! It's just kissing, no big deal!"
Like hell it's no big deal - even for me! Ren freaked in his thoughts.
He continued with an urgency of a man grasping at straws. "It's not an act between you and me it's between our two characters. There will be many more roles like this that you will be required to take if you want your career to expand. You are such a good actress you almost had me fooled! Don't let my actions of last night scare you away. That was just my role I was playing and he kinda got away on me.
Damn! - That's a bald faced lie and I doubt if she'll buy that explanation. We hadn't even got into improvising! God! Talking about digging myself into a deep hole on opposite ends! How can I tell her how much she means to me later down the road while saying that? But if I hadn't said that she'd back out! Geez! She'll never believe anything I say!
The clock was ticking and Ren was sure, although he couldn't see that Yashiro was waiting close to the closet door. His suspicions were confirmed when there was a soft and urgent knock.
"Ren! Kyoko! We have two minutes! If you don't wrap things up in there you'll be late!"
Ren gave Kyoko meaningful look.
She started to say something. "But Tsu.."
"We'll talk later! You can't ask to quit until after that!
He opened the door and let Kyoko out ahead of him. Yashiro lifted an inquiring eyebrow in Ren's direction. Ren gave him a tight lipped grimace of frustration behind Kyoko as they all headed for the meeting room.
The producer, director and a few of the cast were there waiting. They all stood up when Kyoko, Ren and Yashiro entered.
"I'm sorry! We're e a few minutes late." Yashiro bowed in apology on behalf of Ren and Kyoko.
Producer Yamada Kento nodded and made a gesture for them all to be seated. After introductions were made and the formalities over, Director Kimura Jun, addressed the cast.
"I'm really excited to go over the script and see how the first reading together goes. I hope this will let everyone get acquainted with each other and get the feel of the story. Mogami-San, this is your first lead role, how do you feel about it? Did you familiarize yourself with the character Sumire?"
Kyoko was sitting quietly in her chair and felt all the eyes in the room focused on her. Thoroughly rattled, with everything that had transpired she squirmed internally, while gathering her scrambled thoughts together. She looked down to quickly reign in her emotional turmoil.
"Yes, I have and I find it interesting".
There! That was a generic description without giving the director any immediate concerns!
"Great, I know you'll have fun with it! There are some humorous moments in this. It isn't quite a rom-com, but we don't want it to become too heavy. Being a period piece we want it just a little more relevant for our era. Well, let's start at the beginning; we'll go over the description and the background..."
The director's voice started to fade into the background as Kyoko began to immerse and imagine herself in the character and story as they began to go through the details of this Diorama she had resigned herself to accept under duress since now there was no way to back out after this first reading without her losing face and respect.
Damn Ren!
As Fate Would Have It
Background and opening scene.
It was difficult to maneuver in the brightly coloured kimono. The confining material around her legs and the wooden geta on her feet limited her walk to tiny mincing steps. It was very unfeminine to walk in large ungainly strides, her normal gait, and gardening chores were much more appropriate in Sumire's daily life than wearing fancy themed silks and ornate hairstyles, she felt constricted and it was so uncomfortable to dress formally. The western style party was lively and Sumire, feeling out of place and gauche, had slipped out the back entrance to admire the peaceful garden that was subtly lit with stone lanterns and the occasional pulsing glow of a firefly that would reflect on the water. As she retreated farther into the garden the voices and laughter in the ballroom faded and she could now fully appreciate her solitude. She approached the little wooden bridge to admire the pond and to see if it was still light enough to watch the lovely orange and black koi that swam gracefully in among the rocks and lotus floating in the evening twilight. Listening to the trickle of a little waterfall, she unfolded her fan and briskly waved it cooling her face in the heavy evening humidity of the summer.
All her life since she was young child, Sumire had focused all her efforts on the meticulous art of garden landscaping on her family's estate. She was most at home in those surroundings while pruning, arranging trees, shrubs, rocks and water features to mimic nature and bring out the simple spiritual beauty of the gardens and gave her the most enjoyment in life in spite of the fact it was uncommon for a female to pursue that discipline. She had been encouraged to practice the more feminine arts of tea ceremony and flower arranging but had shunned both after watching their master gardener working on the estate grounds until he explained that all those disciplines were intertwined. Her father, a wealthy merchant, was away most of the time on business and her mother, a reticent woman was not inclined to enforce punishment to repress her free spirit. So Sumire happily followed their old gardener like a puppy, and he indulged her as a surrogate grandchild and apprentice. As a little girl she had bombarded him with questions on everything to do with his craft, which might have tried his patience had he not been so delighted to finally find someone as enthusiastic as himself. Unfortunately, Sumire's unconventional upbringing was inevitably going to restrict her marriage opportunities.
She was unaware of the tall figure, silhouetted in the shadow of the wisteria entwined in the pergola, silently observing her.
Extremely handsome, wearing western style clothes of the Taisho period, Kazahaya Mori was sporting a smart tuxedo and bow tie with his shining black hair slicked back in a pomaded style. He was a tall man for Japanese, at least a head taller than most, which gave him an edge in trading negotiations. It had an intimidating effect on men wanting to do business with him. He found he didn't have to push very hard to win a contract that was in his company's best interest. He was used to getting what he wanted without much effort. This girl blending in the shadows on the small wooden bridge intrigued him. She was petite but didn't appear to be demure even if she was obviously avoiding the party. She acted like a curious child while leaning over the bridge peering at the water. She even kicked off her geta to step up on the lower railing for a better view. She rested her chin on her folded arms on the railing entranced by the lazy meanderings of the fish; she had hitched up her kimono and was absently swinging a free leg.
Kazahaya smiled, enraptured by her apparent innocence and artless beauty. A few fireflies glowed and dimmed randomly around her like a frame and, if he didn't know better, he might have thought he had already become smitten by her in that instant. She was like a little fairy sprite. Magical.