A/N: Dang women! Nothing but a citrus grove! My stories are turning into limes and lemons. Nagisa is quickly learning the two most important lessons about dating women…"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" and "Payback's a bitch."
Don't I Know You?
Nagisa was awakened by someone kissing the back of her neck. For a moment, she panicked as she looked around the room, not recognizing anything. After she calmed down, she remembered where she was and who was kissing her. Nagisa remembered she was unable to find any extras still hanging around the set last night, so she went to a bar in search of company.
"Mmm…good morning Nagisa-chan," the young woman spooning Nagisa said sweetly, as she wrapped her arm around Nagisa's waist.
"Good morning Chihaya-chan," Nagisa said as she turned to face the young woman. In the morning light, the young woman looked MUCH younger and Nagisa began to worry.
Nagisa practically skipped all the way to her dressing room after leaving Chihaya's place that morning. As she was about to enter her dressing room, Shizuma walked up to her.
"Hmmm…looks like you had a wonderful night Aoi-san," Shizuma teased.
Nagisa flashed Shizuma a huge smile and answered, "Absolutely fantastic!"
Shizuma laughed and asked, "Anyone we know?"
"Luckily not this time," Nagisa beamed. "How was your night, Hanazono-san?" Nagisa said with a 'knowing' tone in her voice.
"Fine, why?" Shizuma's eyebrow arched over one eye.
"No reason," Nagisa said trying to suppress her laughter. "I was just wondering how the forest nymph was?" Nagisa laughed and quickly disappeared into her dressing room, leaving Shizuma standing there with her mouth open.
Nagisa was raring to start shooting this morning. She felt fantastic and didn't have a care in the world. Not even Tamao and her antics could get to Nagisa this morning. Nagisa practically ran onto the set from make-up.
With all the actresses in place, Sakoi Masayuki yelled "ACTION!" to cast and crew. The scene flowed along, although Nagisa flinched a bit when Tamao reached out to adjust Nagisa's tie in the scene. Surprisingly, Tamao performed the scene without any antics. She and Tamao stood in front of the closed dorm room door. Tamao knocked and opened the door. Seated at the desk, reading a textbook was Takemura Chihaya. Actress and co-star Takemura Chihaya. The same Takemura Chihaya Nagisa left this morning. Nagisa felt all the blood drain from her body and rush to her cheeks. She stood there speechless. Tamao snickered at the look on Nagisa's face.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "Aoi-san, did you forget your line?" he asked sarcastically.
"No Sakoi-sama. Gomenasai," Nagisa quickly apologized and bowed repeatedly.
"From Aoi-san's line, ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
With a lot of effort, Nagisa was able to deliver her lines and the scene flowed along again.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "That was wonderful ladies. Just a minute while we set up for the next scene," he said happily.
While waiting for the crew to set up for the next scene, the four actresses had a chance to chat.
"Yes, Tamao-chan and I have been friends since we were children. She helped me and my partner get small roles in this project," Chihaya said.
"Yourpartner?" Nagisa asked incredulous.
"Yes, Mizushima Noriko is my most important partner. We have been together for three years, right dear?" Chihaya said and kissed Noriko's cheek. Noriko blushed and smiled.
Nagisa felt queasy and her stomach was doing somersaults. She wanted to bolt from the set.'Did Tamao-san set me up?' Nagisa wondered as she looked at Tamao, who was chatting with Chihaya. Nagisa berated herself for not recognizing Chihaya from the day before yesterday's 'read through.' She was lost deep in thought when Sakoi Masayuki's assistant called them all back.
The next scene wrapped with no interruptions, although Nagisa's thoughts were somewhere else the entire time.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. 'I wonder what's wrong with Aoi-san? She seems distracted,' he thought, but rather than delay shooting, he felt it best not to ask.
The crew was finding their rhythm, because they were getting faster at scene set up. With the actresses in place, Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew, "ACTION!" Shizuma entered the scene on cue. As Shizuma tilted Nagisa's chin up with her forefinger and thumb, she leaned close to Nagisa's ear and whispered, "Suzumi-san set you up last night." Upon hearing this, Nagisa fainted.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew as he handed his assistant the smelling salts.
The four actresses were waiting for the crew to finish setting up one of the Hide and Seek scenes. They were all seated up in the attic. Tamao, Chihaya, and Noriko were seated together. Nagisa was seated away from them. Chihaya and Noriko began bickering about something, so Nagisa moved further away from them. Tamao wisely stayed away from Nagisa.
"Fine, be that way!" Chihaya said and walked away from Noriko in a huff.
"Long time, no see Nagisa-chan," Chihaya bent down and purred in Nagisa's ear, which startled Nagisa. Chihaya sat down rather close to Nagisa.
"Chihaya-chan, why didn't you tell me about Mizushima-san?" Nagisa asked.
"It wasn't relevant at the time," Chihaya answered. "We had a huge fight that night and she stormed out. She knows I spent the night with another woman, but doesn't know who," Chihaya added.
Nagisa felt her insides turn to liquid and she looked over at Noriko, who was pouting.
"Are you going to tell her it was me?" Nagisa asked.
"More than likely not, but she's pretty perceptive," Chihaya said.
Nagisa felt her stomach turn sour. She looked around and locked eyes with Tamao. With blood and hatred in her eyes, Nagisa resisted the urge to do bodily harm to Tamao. Sakoi Masayuki's assistant asked the actresses to take their places.
The remaining Hide and Seek scenes wrapped in one take. The four actresses, along with all the other cast members in the next scene, waited outside the Student Council Room set while the crew finished setting up.
"Hello, I'm Minamoto Chikaru," Chikaru introduced herself to Nagisa, who was sitting off by herself.
"Huh? Oh, hello. I'm Aoi Nagisa," Nagisa answered.
"I know what Suzumi-san did to you," Chikaru sympathized and sat next to Nagisa.
"WHAT?! Does everyone know?" Nagisa asked incredulous.
"I'm afraid so," Chikaru said sadly.
"It'll only be a matter of time before Mizushima-san finds out it was me," Nagisa said.
"Here's a bit of advice from a friend of Noriko-chan. Do NOT get too close to her. She has an amazing sense of smell. Since you spent the night in their bed, she knows your scent by now. Unfortunately, Chihaya-chan enjoys tormenting Noriko-chan with her indiscretions, so she brings the women into their bed," Chikaru said and she put her arm around an obviously shaken Nagisa.
"Minamoto-san," Nagisa began.
"Please call me Chikaru," Chikaru smiled.
"Chikaru-san, since you are friends with Takemura-san and Mizushima-san, you're probably friends with Suzumi-san as well?" Nagisa asked.
"Hai, we've all known each other for some time now. Sometimes Chihaya-chan and Noriko-chan double-date with me and my most important partner, Shion-chan. What do you want to know about Tamao-chan?" Chikaru said.
"Why is she doing this to me?" Nagisa pleaded.
"Aoi-san, that's simple. She liked you, but you rejected her…quite roughly I might add," Chikaru honestly stated.
Nagisa's stomach turned sour again. She put her head in her hands and was praying for a quick painless death, when she felt a hand gently land on her shoulder. She jumped up with a start.
"Aoi-san, you look like someone just ate your last cookie," Shion said as she sat down next to Chikaru. Shion affectionately placed her hand on Chikaru's thigh.
"Suzumi-san," Chikaru said flatly to Shion as she placed her hand over Shion's.
"Oh. Aoi-san, it should blow over soon. I've never known Tamao-chan to stay angry for too long," Shion tried to reassure Nagisa.
The crew finished setting up. All the actresses were called and took their places.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
All the scenes wrapped in one take, much to Sakoi Masayuki's pleasant surprise. As he watched the crew set up for the Student Council Room Meeting scene, his trepidation began to show on his face. 'I hope Rokujou-san and Toumori-san can work together enough to get through this scene,' Sakoi Masayuki prayed to himself.
The rivalry between the two actresses was well-known. It was SO well-known that most casting directors made it a point not to cast them together in any projects. If it weren't for the insistence of executive producer Kataoka Yoshiro, those two would not have been cast together on this project. Kataoka Yoshiro felt their heated rivalry would add some spice to the project. The actresses were in place.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. He mentally crossed his fingers.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki happily yelled to cast and crew as the scene wrapped in one take.
Sakoi Masayuki's happiness was short lived as he prepared for the next scene. 'I wonder why Aoi-san has been shooting daggers at Suzumi-san every single time she looks at her?' he thought and deeply sighed as he watched his actresses take their places.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
The scene went smoothly until Nagisa could no longer contain her urge to do bodily harm to Tamao. Chikaru delivered her lines and walked away from them with an uneasy feeling. Nagisa and Tamao delivered their lines. On cue, Nagisa flared at Tamao's last line. Sakoi Masayuki thought Nagisa delivered her lines angrier than they should have been, but let the scene continue to roll. In the blink of an eye, she shoved Tamao into one of the doors of the Student Council Room, thus smashing it to pieces.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. He rushed over to Tamao. "Suzumi-san, are you okay?"
"Yes Sakoi-sama," a shaken Tamao answered as she was helped to her feet by a crew member.
"LUNCH!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to the cast. He asked the crew to take their lunch after repairing the damaged set.
Nagisa was lying on the couch in her dressing room with the door locked, the lights off, and a damp washcloth over her eyes. Several people knocked on her door, but she refused to answer. Thoughts of the past two days tormented her as she tried to get her temper back under control. She realized she was going to have to be more professional, if she was going to survive on this project. After a bit, she felt better and ate a light lunch. As she was finishing her fruit salad, she felt the urge to talk to Shizuma. She walked to Shizuma's dressing room. As Nagisa was about to knock on the dressing room door, she heard a thud, the muffled sound of a woman's voice, another thud, and more muffled women's voices. It sounded like a scuffle to Nagisa, so she opened the dressing room door without knocking.
"Gomenasai, Gomenasai," Nagisa bowed repeatedly as she quickly backed out of the dressing room.
Nagisa ran back to her dressing room, locked the door, and began laughing at what she just witnessed in Shizuma's dressing room. A knock on her dressing room door startled her.
"Aoi-san, please report to the set," Sakoi Masayuki's assistant said through the dressing room door.
Nagisa took her place on the set. Tamao apprehensively approached Nagisa and took her place.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
The remainder of the Student Council Room scene wrapped without incident, as well as the Dorm Room scene. Nagisa behaved as if she never shoved Tamao. Tamao's fear of Nagisa kept her in line.
The scenes leading up to the Etoile scene wrapped without incident. Nagisa continued to behave as if nothing happened earlier that day, which gave all the other actresses the creeps and they gave Nagisa a wide berth.
The crew finished setting up for the Etoile scene. Shizuma took her place in front of the tree.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
Shizuma stood in front of the tree with her arms crossed at her waist. Nagisa approached Shizuma with a determined gate. They delivered their lines perfectly, until Nagisa leaned up to Shizuma's face to deliver her next line. The memories of what Nagisa saw in Shizuma's dressing room returned to her and Nagisa started laughing.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "Aoi-san, what is SO funny?" he asked obviously not amused.
"Nothing Sakoi-sama, Gomenasai," Nagisa apologized through her chuckles.
"Hopefully Aoi-san can control her fits long enough to wrap up this scene! ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
Once again they delivered their lines without incident, until Shizuma took Nagisa in her arms. As Shizuma held Nagisa, she could feel Nagisa begin to giggle, so she tightened her hold on the shorter girl. This didn't help and soon Nagisa was rolling on the grass laughing.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew. "AOI-SAN, NOW WHAT?" he yelled at Nagisa, his patience finally abandoning him.
"Nothing Sakoi-sama," Nagisa snorted as she continued to roll on the ground laughing.
"TEN MINUTES! AND I MEAN TEN MINUTES!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
After about ten minutes of continuous laughter, Nagisa was finally able to control her laughter. The actresses took their places.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew as he handed his assistant the large packet of tissues.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew once the tissues were distributed.
He retrieved the smelling salts from the first aid kit in preparation, but surprisingly he didn't need them. Nagisa did not faint.
While the actresses waited for the crew to set up for the New Students Ceremony scene, they clustered in small groups chatting. Shizuma and Miyuki stood chatting. Nagisa sat far away from everyone, looking at Shizuma and Miyuki. Nagisa was laughing. Shizuma pointed to Nagisa and Miyuki looked at her, which only caused Nagisa to laugh harder. They were headed in Nagisa's direction, when everyone was called to take their places. The New Students Ceremony scene and the ending scene went smoothly.
As Sakoi Masayuki walked back to his trailer at the end of the day, he wondered if there was anything stronger than whiskey available in bulk in Japan.
Nagisa wisely skipped returning to her dressing room and left the set after the last scene wrapped. She wanted to avoid running into Shizuma, Miyuki, or both.