A/N: Thank you for all the reviews. With the brief introduction of Kaname and Momomi in this chapter, I find I need to change the rating back to 'M.' Things are beginning to heat up, so I think it best to leave it there. With all that out of way, on with the show…

Let's Be Professional About This

Nagisa was having a very bad morning. Her nerves were on edge from lack of sleep and there were visible dark rings under her weary eyes. She hoped the make-up girl would be able to hide them. As she was just about to enter her dressing room, a voice startled her, nearly sending her through the ceiling.

"Long night…Aoi-san?" Shizuma teased.

"Hanazono-san," Nagisa said relieved as she released her held breath.

"I heard what happened between you and Suzumi-san," Shizuma sympathized.

Nagisa stared at Shizuma for a bit, listening for sincerity in Shizuma's voice and finding it. Nagisa then wondered how Shizuma found out.

"Everyone knows. Apparently Suzumi-san cried on Kiyashiki-san's shoulder last night, which has proven to be quite a large mistake. I guess that makes two," Shizuma answered Nagisa's unasked question and added her own jab at Nagisa.

Nagisa wasn't sure if Shizuma was trying to be nice or here to torment Nagisa even more than she was being tormented by her own demons. Last night, after reading today's script, Nagisa realized she would have to talk to Tamao BEFORE shooting began. According to the script, most of the scenes were between them. This is why she made the effort to come in extra early this morning, although she could have used the sleep.

"I can see you're working through a lot of guilt right now, so I shall talk to you later. My dressing room door is always open if you need to talk," Shizuma said and kissed Nagisa on the cheek before she left.

Nagisa watched Shizuma walk to her own dressing room and wondered what Shizuma was up to. Every single nice thing Shizuma said to Nagisa this morning was tinged with venom. Shizuma waved at Nagisa before entering her own dressing room. Nagisa checked her watch and ran into her own dressing room. She threw her belongings on the couch and was just about to run back out to find Tamao, when another voice stopped her dead in her tracks. It was an icy voice full of pain and anger.

"Running out to look for me?" Tamao coolly asked.

Nagisa nearly came out of her skin when she turned and saw Tamao staring at her from a chair in the room.

"Y…y…yes," Nagisa managed to stammer.

"Well, I'm right here," Tamao eerily smiled. "Let me guess…you want to talk about today's shoot, right? We're in most of this episode together," Tamao finished.

"Yes," Nagisa said trying to ignore Tamao's icy stare

Nagisa sat down on the couch, "I'm very sorry for hurting you Tamao-chan. I want you to know that."

"Tamao-san, not chan, please address me correctly in the future," Tamao corrected Nagisa.

"Gomenasai, Tamao-san," Nagisa apologized.

"Sorry? For hurting me? While I appreciate the sentiment, you'll have to excuse me if I can't forgive you," Tamao said as cold as possible. She could feel her bravado beginning to wane, as she looked into Nagisa's eyes. She still loved Nagisa and it hurt deeply.

"I never expect you to forgive me, but I was wondering…," Nagisa paused as she searched for the right words.

"If I can be professional about this?" Tamao finished Nagisa's sentence. "Yes, I can. I haven't survived this long in the business for no reason," Tamao flatly added, doing her best to maintain control over her waning bravado.

The two sat looking at each other when a knock at the dressing room door startled them.

"Aoi-san? Are you okay?" Shizuma called from the other side of the door.

Nagisa got up and opened the door to a concerned Shizuma.

"Hanazono-san, I'm fine. I was just talking to Suzumi-san," Nagisa said.

"I should go get ready," Tamao said through a plastic smile, never taking her eyes off Nagisa. She stood and said, "I shall see you on the set Nagisa-san." Tamao brushed by Shizuma in the dressing room doorway.

Shizuma and Nagisa watched Tamao walk down the hall to her dressing room.

"Well, looks like I'm not needed here," Shizuma stated brightly.

"Hanazono-san…thank you," Nagisa smiled.

"Not a problem," Shizuma waved and returned to her dressing room.

Nagisa plopped into the chair in front of her dressing table and deeply sighed. She knew this was going to be a LONG day.

Tamao stood poised and ready to deliver her lines. She looked SO calm, anyone looking at her could never tell how much the poor woman was dying inside. Like the true professional she is, Tamao read the poem flawlessly.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki happily yelled. "That was absolutely perfect Suzumi-san!" he exclaimed.

Tamao walked back to her set chair. En route to her set chair, she overhead two crew members critiquing her performance.

"Suzumi-san's performance was heartbreaking," said the female crew member.

"Yeah, I wanted to cry," said the other female crew member.

'I wanted to as well,' Tamao thought. She picked up the script lying on her chair, sat down, and deeply sighed as she reviewed her lines for the next scene. She could feel tears welling in her eyes and quickly wiped them away. She took a deep breath, pasted on a plastic smile, and headed off to shoot the next scene…with Nagisa.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

Tamao clenched her fists as she looked down at Nagisa asleep in bed. Tamao took a deep breath, unclenched her fists, and pushed on the sleeping Nagisa to wake her.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "Aoi-san, Suzumi-san that was great. Let's set up for the next scene." 'I hope these two can get through this scene without problems,' Sakoi Masayuki thought.

Tamao helped Nagisa into her new Miator school uniform without incident. Sakoi Masayuki breathed a sigh of relief. As Tamao tightened Nagisa's tie, she rubbed the back of her right hand against Nagisa's left nipple.

"HEY!" Nagisa yelled.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "What's wrong Aoi-san?" he asked exasperated.

"Suzumi-san, watch your hands!" Nagisa reprimanded Tamao, who feigned innocence.

"Are you two through?" Sakoi Masayuki asked. "ACTION!" he yelled to cast and crew.

The scene took twelve takes before Tamao decided to behave herself. By the end of the scene, Nagisa's left nipple was quite sore.

Sakoi Masayuki was happy to be done with Aoi-san and Suzumi-san for now. The crew finished setting up for the next scene.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled loudly to cast and crew.

Shizuma walked down the hallway, followed by Miyuki and her attendants. As she passed the female extras in the hallway, she made mental notes of the ones she thought were cute…for later use.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

The crew finished setting up for the next scene at the bottom of the staircase and the actresses took their places.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

On cue, Nagisa came running down the staircase, nearly running into Shizuma. Sakoi Masayuki reached into his bag and took out the first aid kit in preparation. Just like yesterday, when Shizuma looked into Nagisa's eyes, Nagisa fainted.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew as he handed his assistant the smelling salts.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew after Nagisa was revived.

As Shizuma got close to almost kissing Nagisa, Sakoi Masayuki once again reached for the first aid kit.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew as he handed his assistant the large packet of tissues, because just like yesterday, there were several nosebleeds.

All the scenes leading up to the Cafeteria scene went smoothly, much to Sakoi Masayuki's delighted surprise. The crew finished setting up for the Cafeteria scene. Nagisa and Tamao took their places.

"Tamao-san, thank you for being so professional today," Nagisa said.

"I told you I would be," Tamao responded a bit irritated.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

Tamao fed Nagisa some dessert on a spoon. Before Nagisa could say her line, Tamao moaned just loud enough for Nagisa to hear and softly growled, "I remember that mouth and what it can do." Nagisa blushed deep red and was unable to say her line.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "Aoi-san? Aoi-san? What's the problem NOW?" he asked as he rolled his eyes.

"N…n…no problem Sakoi-sama," Nagisa stammered. She leaned across the table and hissed at Tamao, "First the nipple thing and now this? Stop it, okay?" Tamao just looked at her with wide-eyed innocence.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

Tamao fed Nagisa some dessert on a spoon. Before Nagisa could say her line, Tamao once again moaned just loud enough for Nagisa to hear and softly growled, "Those lips, that tongue…oh…that tongue. How I miss that tongue," Nagisa once again blushed deep red and was unable to say her line.

"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled exasperated to cast and crew. 'This is going to be a LONG day,' he thought to himself and deeply sighed.

And a LONG day it was turning out to be, however, Sakoi Masayuki had no idea just how long this day would actually be. The Cafeteria scene alone took twenty takes before Nagisa was able to ignore Tamao's antics and deliver her lines. Unfortunately, she was unable to control her blushing.

Sakoi Masayuki deeply sighed as he watched the crew set up for the Student Council Room scene. 'What is going on with my cast?' he asked himself.

"Kenjou-san, please report to the set," said one of Sakoi Masayuki's assistants as she knocked on Kaname's dressing room door.

"Huh? I'm coming!" Kaname yelled from between Momomi's legs and started to get up.

"You might be, but I haven't. You're not going anywhere until you finish what you started," Momomi sternly stated as she pulled Kaname back down.

On the set, the cast, minus two, were in place waiting and the crew was standing by.

"Did you tell Kenjou-san and Kiyashiki-san to report to the set?" Sakoi Masayuki asked his assistant.

"Hai Sakoi-sama, ten minutes ago," the assistant replied.

"I apologize for the delay. We're just waiting for Kenjou-san and Kiyashiki-san," Sakoi Masayuki announced to his assembled cast and crew.

"Those two! What the hell is keeping them?" Shion fumed.

"Shion-chan, what do you think is keeping them?" Chikaru giggled.

"Bakas! They should do that at home!" Shion blushed as she fumed.

"If I remember correctly, we were late for quite a few events when we first started going out," Chikaru blushed.

Shion crossed her arms in reluctant defeat, but lovingly smiled at Chikaru seated across from her. Five minutes later, Kaname ran onto the set, attempting to straighten her clothes while she ran. Momomi followed behind walking, with a huge smile on her face.

"Gomenasai Sakoi-sama," Kaname bowed and took her seat at the table.

"Nice of you two to grace us with your presence, as late as it is!" Shion sarcastically said to Kaname and Momomi.

"Toumori-san?" Kaname said.

"Nani?" Shion asked.

"Get bent," Kaname spat.

Momomi and Chikaru giggled. Shion shot Chikaru a wounded look.

The crew finished setting up for the Literature Club scene and the actresses took their places.

"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.

As Nagisa sat watching Tamao read the poem, she finally saw the depth of Tamao's feelings for her. Nagisa's chest hurt and she desperately wished she could return Tamao's feelings, but knew it could not be.

The remainder of the day went rather smoothly with only minor problems. The Library scene proved problematic due to the lighting and Sakoi Masayuki had to send one of his assistants out to buy more tissue. For Nagisa, it was problematic for an entirely different reason.

The day ended quite late and everyone was exhausted. Sakoi Masayuki retired to his trailer to contemplate his life. After today, he realized all the sake in Japan was not going to help tonight, so he switched to whiskey.

Nagisa dragged herself to her dressing room. She was physically exhausted, but between her scenes with Shizuma and Tamao's antics, she was extremely aroused. As she lay on the couch, she contemplated her situation. She was very sure sleep would not trump sex tonight. One thing for sure, she didn't want a repeat of what happened with Tamao. 'Perhaps one of the extras?' Nagisa thought. 'Perhaps I should take Hanazono-san up on her offer to "talk?" Nagisa smiled at this thought. She freshened herself up a bit and walked down to Shizuma's dressing room. As she was about to knock on the door, she heard a female voice scream, "Oh…yes…Hanazono-san! Yes! Don't stop!" Nagisa tried to place the female voice and after a few minutes, she realized it was the young actress from today's scene with Shizuma in the forest.

"Well, we now know what side of the fence you reside Hanazono-san," Nagisa chuckled to herself she walked back to her dressing room.