A/N: I FINALLY caught and sat on my muse to get this chapter to you all in a timely manner. Needless to say, once I let her go, she yelled something obscene in Japanese and swore in English never to return again. In other words, chapter 9 might take awhile to finish.
Ya Gotta Have Heart
As Nagisa sat in Shizuma's dressing room, she found herself having a difficult time controlling her laughter. The memory of what she saw in this very room continually played in the back of her mind. Shizuma changed out of her costume and into her street clothes, but Nagisa was SO preoccupied with keeping a tight rein on her laughter, she didn't notice. She also didn't notice when Shizuma sat down right next to her on the couch. Nagisa FINALLY became quite aware of Shizuma as the older woman was leaning in to kiss her. As Shizuma's lips came within an inch of Nagisa's, Nagisa lost all control of her laughter and laughed right in Shizuma's face! Nagisa was completely mortified. She stared wide-eyed at Shizuma, who looked more confused than anything else. When Nagisa opened her mouth to apologize, nothing more than a squeak came out, causing Nagisa even more embarrassment. She bolted out of Shizuma's dressing room.
The next morning in Miyuki's bedroom, Miyuki awoke to find Noriko propped up on one elbow, staring at her intensely.
"Ohayo Miyuki-san," Noriko smiled, leaned in, and kissed Miyuki on the cheek.
"Noriko-chan, after last night, I think you can drop the honorific. Just PLEASE don't call me 'Miyuki-chan,' it would feel strange, since I'm older than you," Miyuki replied.
"Hai…Miyuki," Noriko said tentatively at the awkwardness of it.
Miyuki leaned her back into Noriko. Memories of Noriko's archery lesson and the passion of last night flooded Miyuki's conscious mind. Miyuki surprised herself last night in Noriko's arms. She had NEVER been that free with any other lovers and she felt herself blush. Noriko wrapped her arm around Miyuki and kissed the side of the older woman's neck. Miyuki moaned. The sound of Miyuki's moan triggered memories of last night in Noriko. She had NEVER cheated on Chihaya, until now. Noriko waited for the feelings of guilt to wash over her, but it didn't happen. Miyuki sensed Noriko's distraction and touched the younger woman's face to bring her back to the present.
"O-h-h…Noriko-chan," Miyuki moaned louder as Noriko's hands expertly moved over Miyuki's breasts.
Back on the set, an altercation was beginning at the front security gate.
"Call Ootori-san's dressing room and tell her Sono is here to see her!" the young blonde man demanded.
"I'm sorry, but I have already tried her dressing room several times and as I already told you, there is no answer," the security guard repeated the same sentence he had been telling the young man for the past ten minutes.
The young blonde man deeply sighed and tried to think of alternate ways to contact Amane. As if a light bulb went on above his head, his demeanor lifted.
"Call Konohana Hikari's dressing room," Sono said as he remembered Amane telling him she was one of her co-stars.
The security guard deeply sighed and dialed Hikari's dressing room.
"Konohana," Hikari answered.
"Konohana-san, this is the front gate security guard. Could you please tell me if Ootori-san is there?" the security guard asked, expecting a negative response.
"Hai, she is," Hikari answered as she looked at Amane lying on the couch.
"May I please speak to her?" the security guard asked.
"Amane, the front gate security guard wishes to speak to you," Hikari said as she handed Amane the telephone.
Amane stood and her brow knitted as she took the telephone from Hikari.
"This is Ootori," Amane said into the telephone.
"Ootori-san, I'm sorry to bother you, but there is a Sono-san to see you here at the front gate," the security guard informed Amane. Amane could feel all the blood drain from her body and she went ice cold.
"Could you bring him directly to my dressing room?" Amane asked.
"I will have someone escort him right away," the security guard said.
"Arigato," Amane gently hung up the telephone.
"Who is here to see you?" Hikari asked, but she already had a pretty good idea.
"Sono," Amane answered distracted as she buttoned up her shirt.
Hikari didn't say anything. She grabbed her script and began to review it, although the words were beginning to blur from the tears welling in her eyes. Amane began to say something to Hikari, but stopped cold when she saw the tears rolling down Hikari's cheeks. Amane knelt beside Hikari, lifted the younger woman's chin up so she was looking into Hikari's big, blue-grey eyes swimming in tears, and kissed her lovingly on the lips.
"I have to go take care of this. I WILL be back," Amane tried to reassure Hikari before she left.
As one of the security guards escorted Sono to Amane's dressing room, Sono could hear several of the whisperings as he passed various cast and crew members.
"Who is that?"
"Is that Konohana's sister?"
"Is that Konohana's brother?"
When they finally reached Amane's dressing room, the security guard knocked on the door. An extremely agitated Amane opened the door and Sono rushed in. Amane thanked the security guard and closed the door. When Amane turned around, she saw Sono sitting on the edge of the couch. She walked over to her dressing table and leaned against the edge of it. She crossed her arms across her chest.
"What are you doing here Sono?" Amane asked clearly annoyed at his presence.
"I wanted to talk to you about us," Sono almost pleaded.
"There is NO us anymore," Amane angrily stated.
"Amane, I want you back. I want us to try again," Sono pleaded.
"Sono, it's over. I don't want to be with you," Amane flatly stated.
Sono looked down at his feet and tears began to fall upon his tennis shoes. Amane was just about to say something, when a knock on her dressing room door stopped her. She walked over and opened it. Hikari stood in the open doorway staring incredulously at the young blonde man seated on Amane's couch. When Sono looked up, his eyes widened. The woman in the doorway could have been his twin sister. Hikari opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She turned and ran back to her dressing room.
"Konohana-san?" Sono asked amused.
"Hai," Amane answered as she closed her dressing room door.
"Now it all makes sense. You're a damn dyke," Sono spat triumphantly and stood to face Amane.
Amane didn't say anything. She looked at Sono with pure hatred.
"I suspected you were a dyke and were dating me as a cover," Sono continued. "Konohana-san is HOT! Maybe the three of us…," Amane grabbed him by the front of his tee shirt.
"Calm down, I won't touch her. It's you I want," Sono said.
"You're a liar. You don't want me. You want the doors I can open for you," Amane growled through clenched teeth.
"Youdon't have much of a choice," Sono smiled and triumphantly continued, "Either you come back to me or I'll go public with this information about you and Konohana-san."
Amane deeply sighed and weighed her choices. She knew she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. No matter which choice she made, the rest of her life would be a misery.
"You don't have to decide right now. I'll give you three days," Sono said and he leaned in to kiss Amane.
Amane opened her hand to slap him, but her anger bested her better judgment. She closed her open hand into a fist and delivered a nasty right cross, releasing all her pent up anger. It sent him reeling back on to the couch. He wiped his mouth with the backside of his hand and saw the blood smeared on it.
"Such a passionate woman, that's just a small part of why I love you," Sono sarcastically said.
Amane called security and informed them her "guest" was ready to leave immediately.
"Three days," Sono smirked as he left with his security escort.
Sono and the security guard jumped when they heard the dressing room door loudly slam shut behind them.
Amane sat in her dressing table chair with her head in her hands. As she contemplated her current situation, a knock on the dressing room door startled her.
"Ootori-san, please report to the set," Sakoi Masayuki's assistant said through the door.
Amane peered out her dressing room door to make sure she would not run into Hikari on her way to the set. Hikari was the last person she wanted to see right now.
Thankfully, Amane's first scene didn't involve any direct interaction between her and Hikari, so shooting went smoothly. Amane almost fell off her horse when she spotted Hikari standing by the tree. Skillfully, Amane recovered and no one even noticed.
Nagisa silently thanked Kami she didn't have any scenes with Shizuma today and if shooting stayed on schedule, Shizuma's scene for this episode would not shoot until tomorrow. This meant Shizuma would not be on the set today. After Nagisa and Tamao finished shooting their scene Nagisa asked Tamao to join her for a leisurely brunch, since their next scenes wouldn't be until the afternoon shoot.
Kaname and Momomi were in Kaname's dressing room running through their lines. Today is their first full day of shooting and they have two love scenes to shoot. Kaname and Momomi lived up to their well-deserved reputations as 'bad girls' off camera, however, on camera they were consummate perfectionists when it came to their craft. This placed them in high demand. They usually accepted roles offered to them as a team, but every so often, they each accepted individual roles.
They promptly reported to the set after being called and were in place ready to shoot by the time Sakoi Masayuki arrived. As called for in the script, Kaname was leaning against one of the roof pillars delivering her lines with Momomi when she deliberately botched her lines, causing Sakoi Masayuki to yell "CUT!" to cast and crew.
"Sakoi-sama, this scene doesn't feel right," Kaname complained and quickly suggested, "I feel the scene would work much better if I were to sit here and watch Ootori-san and Konohana-san below." She reclined dangerously atop a roof pillar.
"Kenjou-san, get down from there!" Sakoi Masayuki screamed.
"Not until you shoot the scene this way," Kaname adamantly stated.
'Either I give in to Kenjou-san and shoot the scene or we spend the next few hours arguing,' Sakoi Masayuki thought. Dreading a long argument, he relented and shot the scene.
Amane was visibly nervous about her upcoming scene with Hikari. Her palms were sweating, making it hard for her to hang on to the reins. She begged Kami for the strength to get through this scene. Kami must have been listening, because the scene wrapped in one take.
Loud arguing could be heard throughout the closed set.
"WHY do I have to do a shower scene?" Amane yelled.
"The script calls for it," Sakoi Masayuki sternly stated.
"It does ABSOLUTELY nothing to move the storyline along!" Amane yelled.
"Ootori-san, can't you just shoot the scene as written?" Sakoi Masayuki pleaded.
"NO!" Amane yelled and stormed off the set.
Sakoi Masayuki deeply sighed as he watched his actor storm out the door.
"Get Ootori-san's stunt double in here to shoot this scene," Sakoi Masayuki barked to his assistant.
After the shower scene wrapped, Amane was called back to the set to shoot the remaining scene with Shion.
Yaya and Tsubomi playfully wrestled with each other as they approached the set from Yaya's dressing room. Tsubomi's sexual frustration showed on her face. Yaya plopped down into her set chair next to Hikari, causing Hikari to start and abruptly look up. The first face she saw was Tsubomi's.
"Tsubomi-chan? Is something wrong? You look upset," Hikari asked.
"No!" Tsubomi snapped.
Hikari looked at Yaya, who just shrugged her shoulders. Hikari could sense something was going on between the two lovers, but neither one was talking.
"Tsubomi-chan, unless you behave yourself around others, I'm not going to release you from your punishment," Yaya whispered in Tsubomi's ear.
Tsubomi gritted her teeth and plastered on the nicest smile she could muster in her current mood. Yaya laughed at the sight. She and Hikari sat in their respective set chairs waiting to be called to shoot their scene by the fountain. Yaya finally noticed Hikari's dark mood. She leaned in close to Hikari.
"Hikari-chan, what's wrong?" Yaya asked concerned.
"A-man-e," Hikari barely got out before tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Yaya hopped off her set chair and hugged Hikari. She stroked Hikari's hair and murmured comforting words as Hikari began to cry.
"What happened?" Yaya asked after Hikari stopped crying.
"I don't know. Her ex-boyfriend showed up on the set this morning and after they talked, she has been avoiding me like the plague," Hikari said.
"Ex-BOYfriend?" Yaya and Tsubomi asked incredulous.
"Yes, I asked the exact same thing. Amane got upset that everyone questions this," Hikari let out a sad giggle.
"Hmmm…" Yaya pondered what could be causing Amane's sudden strange behavior and offered, "Perhaps she's having second thoughts about being with a woman?"
Hikari nodded her head in agreement and added, "I think her ex-boyfriend gave her some sort of ultimatum, because I heard him say something about three days as he was escorted away."
Before they could discuss this matter any further, they were called to take their places.
Kaname and Momomi were in Momomi's dressing room this time around. Kaname paced back and forth ranting about script quality and cursing the writers. Momomi watched her lover pace and lustfully admired her panther-like body. Momomi didn't care about the script, because she rarely stuck to it. Finally, Momomi's lust got the better of her.
"Kaname, why do you care so much about script quality or what the writers were or were not thinking? You always get the script changed to suit you anyway," Momomi said trying to hide the lust in her voice.
Kaname stopped pacing, thought about what Momomi said, and after realizing she was right, smiled broadly.
"Now come here…," Momomi called with pure lust in her voice.
Shion sat behind her student council desk. Chikaru sat on the desk facing Shion.
"Shion-chan, we really need to get a new dishwasher instead of a big screen television," Chikaru stated.
"Chikaru-chan, I'm tired of watching all those high definition shows on our low definition television," Shion whined.
"Well, I'm tired of dishpan hands from having to hand wash everything," Chikaru countered and she held out her hands.
Shion took Chikaru's hands in her own and when she felt how rough Chikaru's normally soft supple hands had gotten, her eyes widened with surprise.
"See?" Chikaru said after seeing Shion's reaction.
"Hai," Shion said sadly, adding, "Gomen, I didn't know. We'll go shopping this weekend."
Chikaru smiled and wrapped her arms around Shion's neck. She leaned down and they kissed passionately.
"Hey, don't you two ever get enough at home?" Kaname sarcastically remarked as she and Momomi walked on to the set.
"Just because we're married, doesn't mean we're buried," Shion retorted and returned to making out with Chikaru.
"Okay, okay…enough…you're warping our young minds," Momomi said.
Chikaru and Shion took their time breaking their kiss. Chikaru noticed the hickey on Momomi's neck a little bit below her left ear.
"Kiyashiki-san, you might want to cover up that hickey before shooting starts," Chikaru whispered in Momomi's ear and pointed to the hickey on her way off the set.
Shooting began before Momomi could get to make-up, so she improvised hiding the hickey throughout her scenes.
Tamao hid a Yuri hentai manga inside the French textbook Nagisa was supposed to be studying throughout their scene. As soon as Nagisa opened the book, she let out a squeal and started to laugh.
"Tamao-chan, did you put this in here?" Nagisa giggled.
"Hai," Tamao laughed and rolled on the bed.
"Ara ara, look at this…," Nagisa stared intently at the page as she turned the book sideways, "I've never met a woman who could dothat!"
"I have," Tamao sheepishly said as she looked over Nagisa's shoulder. Her cheeks were crimson red.
"Introduce me to her," Nagisa joked.
Tamao took Nagisa's hand and led her to the mirror.
"Nagisa-chan, meet Nagisa-chan," Tamao said.
Nagisa turned a deep shade of red and was glad when Sakoi Masayuki called for everyone to take their places. With the exception of a few misplaced giggles on Nagisa's part, the scene wrapped in one take.
As soon as Yaya's brief scene wrapped, she rushed back to her dressing room where she released Tsubomi from her punishment.
Kaname and Momomi delivered their lines SO tongue-in-cheek, they came across as dramatic, much to everyone's pleasant surprise. Kaname jumped on top of Momomi and began kissing her.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
Kaname and Momomi continued what they were doing.
CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to Kaname and Momomi.
Kaname and Momomi continued what they were doing.
"CUT! CUT! CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to Kaname and Momomi.
Kaname and Momomi continued what they were doing. Sakoi Masayuki whispered something to his assistant and the assistant scampered off. A few minutes later, the assistant returned with a fire extinguisher.
"When I say CUT! I mean CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled. He blasted Kaname and Momomi with the fire extinguisher.
After Amane's brief scene wrapped in one take, Sakoi Masayuki announced shooting for the day was done.
The next morning, Hikari awoke with a start as her alarm blasted the morning news. Fumbling around, she finally landed on the off button. She immediately reached out next to her and sadly realized she was all alone. She threw on her robe and shuffled to the kitchen to start breakfast.
"Ohayo Hikari-chan," Amane said from in front of the stove.
Hikari stared and blinked repeatedly as she tried to comprehend the person in front of her.
"A-man-e?" Hikari asked tentatively.
"Hai, were you expecting someone else?" Amane asked amused.
"No, but…I was NOT expecting you," Hikari said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.
Amane removed the pan of food from the burner and walked over to Hikari. She cupped Hikari's cheek with one hand and kissed the younger woman firmly.
"Hikari-chan, I told you I would be back," Amane said.
Hikari could no longer hold back the tears and began to cry. Amane took Hikari in her arms. Hikari wrapped her arms around Amane's waist and squeezed tightly.
The blasting sound of the day's morning news ripped Hikari from her dream. She rose and turned off her alarm.
'It was just a dream,' Hikari sadly thought.
She threw on her robe and headed to the kitchen. As she stood alone in her kitchen, waiting for the kettle, she stared out her window and began to cry.
"You said you would be back," Hikari yelled and she felt her heart breaking.
Hikari sat in her set chair waiting for the first scene of the day to start shooting. She stared into space.
"Hey, space cadet!" Kaname sarcastically chided.
Hikari didn't respond. She just blinked repeatedly at Kaname.
"Blondes," Kaname grumbled and rolled her eyes.
"Kaname, leave Konohana-san alone and come back here!" Momomi yelled.
Kaname glared in Momomi's direction, deeply sighed, and left her prey alone.
When Sakoi Masayuki arrived on the set, Kaname and Momomi glared at him. He did his best to ignore them and ordered his assistant to call everyone to take their places. Once everyone was in their places, he sat in his director's chair.
"ACTION!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew through his megaphone.
The first two scenes of the day went smoothly and wrapped quickly. As the crew was setting up for the next scene, which was a large scale outdoor scene, Sakoi Masayuki finally noticed he was getting strange looks from some of his crew. He called his assistant over.
"Why is the crew looking at me strangely?" he asked.
"Ano…ano…" his assistant began, but paused at length, trying to find the right words.
"Just tell me!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled.
"Because you have bright red lipstick all over your mouth," his assistant quickly blurted out in fear.
He grabbed the reflective cover off a piece of equipment and looked at himself. He grabbed his megaphone and saw the bright red lipstick on the mouthpiece. His assistant handed him a wet wipe. He cleaned his face and the megaphone's mouthpiece.
Nagisa and Tamao stood among the extras waiting for the scene to begin shooting. Nagisa nervously scanned the crowd searching for Shizuma, who was also in this scene.
"Nagisa-chan, don't worry. You and Hanazono-san don't have any interaction in this scene," Tamao said, trying to calm Nagisa.
"Aoi-san," Shizuma said from behind Nagisa, as she placed her hand on Nagisa's shoulder.
"HAI!" Nagisa jumped and yelled.
"Please come to my dressing room to talk during the lunch break," Shizuma asked.
"Hai," Nagisa said softly, unable to look Shizuma in the eyes.
The cast was called to take their places. This entire scene took several takes to wrap. It required several different shots and close-ups. The entire scene was being shot all at once and would be edited later. After the scene wrapped, Sakoi Masayuki broke for lunch and Nagisa headed to Shizuma's dressing room.
Nagisa nervously knocked on Shizuma's dressing room door and silently hoped Shizuma wasn't in yet. Shizuma opened the door and Nagisa entered.
"Hanazono-san, I want to apologize…," Nagisa began blurting out as soon as she entered the room.
"Aoi-san, please sit down first," Shizuma said and gestured to a chair.
Nagisa sat down in the chair and began, "Hanazono-san, I am SO sorry for laughing in your face. I didn't mean to…honestly. It was just…being in here…remembering what I saw you and Miyuki doing…well…it all got too much for me," Nagisa blurted out before she lost her courage.
Shizuma didn't say anything for a bit and it made Nagisa even more nervous. When Shizuma finally spoke, Nagisa jumped a bit.
"Aoi-san, I accept your apology. Is there any way I can help you stop remembering what you saw me and Miyuki doing?" Shizuma asked.
"I'm afraid not," Nagisa stated sadly.
"Hmmm…well, I guess I'll have to give you something else to replace that memory with," Shizuma said with amusement in her voice.
"Nani?" Nagisa said shocked.
Shizuma laughed and rolled out a cart with their catered lunch on it.
"I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of ordering us lunch. I thought a change from studio food would be nice," Shizuma smiled when she saw Nagisa's eyes widen.
They enjoyed their wonderful lunch.
After the lunch break, Hikari sat in her set chair waiting for the scene to begin shooting. She dreaded this moment from the day of the 'read through.'
'Yet ANOTHER scene where I get molested,' Hikari thought and deeply sighed.
The scene rolled along and Hikari found herself struggling under Kaname. Hikari tried really hard to make the scene convincing, but she couldn't hide her disdain or her eye-rolling. The scene took several takes to finally wrap.
"Konohana-san, what was wrong with you?" Kaname asked frustrated.
"Kenjou-san, when you have been the victim of as many molestation scenes as I have in my career, you can't help but feel disdain for the whole damn thing. I apologize for wasting your time," Hikari flatly stated and walked off to the next scene location.
With her anger bolstering a false sense of bravado, Hikari was no longer nervous about her upcoming scene with Amane. Amane, on the other hand, was barely hanging on to what was left of her inner resolve that helped her get through the last scene with Hikari. When Hikari grabbed onto her arm, Amane almost all composure, but managed to hold herself together long enough to finish the scene. Both women begged Kami for the strength to get them through their next scene together.
"Daijobu?" Amane asked and placed her hand on Hikari's shoulder.
"H-h-hai," Hikari barely got out as she looked into Amane's eyes.
As soon as Hikari looked into Amane's eyes, her anger and bravado abandoned her. She grabbed Amane around the waist and cried into Amane's chest. Amane froze in place with her arms out to her sides, not wanting to touch Hikari, as if the younger woman was on fire.
"CUT!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
"Sakoi-sama…," Amane shot Sakoi Masayuki a pleading look.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES!" Sakoi Masayuki yelled to cast and crew.
Amane finally wrapped her arms around Hikari. They stood there together for quite some time before Hikari released Amane and pushed the older woman away.
"You said you would be back," Hikari accused.
"Hikari-chan…," Amane pleaded.
"You SAID you would be back," Hikari repeated.
"Gomenasai, I could not come back. I was called to the set right after Sono left," Amane partially lied.
"WHY didn't you come back after shooting?" Hikari countered.
"Hikari-chan, it's extremely complicated…," Amane trailed off.
"Tell me. I may be blonde, but I'm NOT stupid," Hikari firmly stated.
"After the day's shooting, okay? I'll explain everything," Amane offered.
"Okay," Hikari said satisfied.
After the break, the scene resumed shooting and wrapped in one take.
Sakoi Masayuki patted the fire extinguisher beside him in anticipation of the next scene. He hoped Kaname and Momomi would give him reason to use it, after the incident with the lipstick earlier today. Unfortunately for Sakoi Masayuki, Kami was done listening for the day. Kaname and Momomi's second love scene was executed to perfection, in accordance to the script.
The final scene for this episode wrapped and Sakoi Masayuki announced shooting for the day was done.
Amane found Hikari after the scene wrapped. Since both of them would not have to on the set until the afternoon shoot, Amane asked Hikari to come over to her place.