On the Eighth day of Christmas Sawara gave to me…..

Eight Love Me jobs,

Seven Acting Lessons,

Six Kyoko Demons,

FIVE GENTLEMANLY SMILES,

Four wax dolls,

Three broken phones,

Two Love Me members,

And a Stalker in a Sakura tree.

12 Showbiz Days of Christmas

December 20th

Sawara sat back in his chair at his desk sighing. The President was going to be the doom of this company. But that was just his personal opinion, the world of show business believed differently. He wondered if the agents at the other companies had as many headaches as he did. Even if they did, he was sure it wasn't embodied in the form of two sinfully bright pink uniforms with matching Santa hats. Or the angelic seeming, part demon, nine year old granddaughter of the company President. He really did not enjoy winter. Sawara sat up straightening his shoulders and shuffling papers. There was no way he was going to let the President guess his feelings regarding Christmas; he did not want to be haunted by the two pink messengers of doom. His own personal nickname for the girls. Really, he was fond and awed of the girls' talents, but they created a bigger headache for him than anyone else.

Currently, he was responsible for assigning the Love Me members their Christmas duties as given to him by the President. 'Following' various employees around could not be legal, even if it was only to discover their interests, so the President could arrange a gift for them. But no, he wanted to work for the most talented entertainment company in Japan. Well, at least his work was never boring, and the President did gift him with a stocking full of aspirin to deal with his headaches. He looked at the clock, 9:58. In two minutes the First Love Me member would show up awaiting her assignment. The doors flew open revealing Kyoko. She rushed over to him bowing.

"Good morning Sawara-san."

"Good morning Mogami-san."

"Do you have my daily Christmas assignment?"

Sawara took a book off the desk and flipped to December 21st. He read it for a moment.

"Today, President Takarada would like you to arrange a date for the singer Mimi with the lead vocalist of Bridge Rock. It is to be a surprise for her. He says she has bad allergies to most flowers, loves Chinese food and is an animal activist. The lead vocalist has some idea of the date, but has not been fully informed, so once you're done arranging it, call him, well in your case you could tell him when you go to perform Bo today, but tell him what you have planned and when he needs to pick her up for the date."

"Yes, sir!"

Kyoko saluted before finishing taking notes on the details Sawara had given her. Sawara just sweat dropped at her enthusiasm.

"President also thought I should mention that he plans to give Kotonami-san a present for her help in Love Me Operation: Spread the Christmas Spirit. He thought it would be best if you could help her pick it out, since you know her better than anyone else…"

Sawara went quiet as Kyoko's eyes became wider brimming with happiness. This girl always has the oddest reactions. She was still off in la la land.

"Um, Mogami-san, are you willing to do that? I can always tell the President if you are no-"

"Nooooo. I'll do it!"

Her eyes reflected a fiery determination he was all too familiar with. Sawara settled for a sigh.

"Mogami-san, you are not required to buy Kotonami-san a gift, just create a detailed description of what you think she might like, the President will arrange for her to receive it."

"Oh, okay. I understand."

Her face fell a little, and she appeared to be embarrassed. He didn't want to know what she had been thinking.

"And one more thing Mogami-san. If you can follow Director Ogata, President has rated him a Tiny Tim for spirit. He wants to see if you can help him somehow. But just follow and talk indirectly for now, don't try to solve it on your own."

Mogami looked up at him surprised now, nodding her head.

"Hai."

He couldn't take her worried look.

"Don't worry; I doubt anything is wrong with Ogata-san. I heard his father was returning from America, so I assume he is nervous about that."

It was worth telling her to see her smile.

"Hai! Is there anything else, Sawara-san?"

"No, not for now. Remember to check in tonight again."

She bowed once more before leaving. He returned to looking through documents, and dealing with any problems the other office workers brought him. In two more hours Kotonami-san should be checking in with him.

……………………

Kotonami-san arrived promptly at 12:15, just as he was returning from his brief lunch with Maria-chan. She was standing promptly at his desk as he walked over to her.

"Good afternoon, Kotonami-san. I trust your drama went well this morning."

"Yes, thank you Sawara-san."

She bowed as Kyoko had. Sawara breathed a sigh of relief, of the two she was generally the calmer, less reactive one. He could deal with her without fear of being swarmed with apparitions. He shuddered at the thought. But it was wise to remember she was in the Love Me section for a reason.

"That is good to hear. I apologize again for you and Mogami-san having to do this when you're both doing serious acting work already. "

"No. We both understand that we haven't been relieved of Love Me member status by President yet, so it is important for us to perform these duties well."

Yep. This girl was an actress to the core.

"Well, shall we get on with business? President would you to go to the airport right away and wait for a Henry-san. Henry-san is an overseas director who is currently engaged to one of our actresses, so President wants to surprise the actress. He would like it if you could show Hinamura-san around until tomorrow evening when Hinamura-san is finished with her filming. You don't have to keep him company the entire time, just for meals and a little sightseeing beforehand."

"Understood. Do you know what kind of interests Henry-san has, so I might have an idea where to take him?"

If there was one scary thing about this girl, it was that she had a perfect memory.

"I think he is partial to seafood, and he likes manga."

She nodded taking all this in as if it were all matter of fact.

"Anything else?"

"Ahh, yes. President wanted to know if you could go along with Satamo-san, our singer who is going to a children's hospital to try and cheer the children for the holiday. President was hoping you could hand out gifts to all the little kids, and he would like you to give this envelope to the Director of the hospital."

He took a green and red envelope from his drawer and handed it to Kotonami-san who grabbed it and put it into her shoulder bag.

"Okay. What time will the event be tonight?"

"It's at 8:00. If you drop by LME first the bag of gifts and a driver will be waiting for you and Satamo-san."

"Will that be all for today?"

She appeared to be ready to leave, and he was aware she would have to be at the airport in an hour.

"Just one more thing. President was wondering how the assignments regarding Tsuruga-san and Mogami-san were going."

"I have the idea ready for what President might surprise Mogami-san with. I'll bring it by tonight when I come to check in. As for Tsuruga-san, tell the President not to worry."

Sawara sweat dropped at her professional attitude.

"I'm sorry Kotonami-san. It's just that President assigned the mission to you a while ago and is a little worried about why you won't divulge what Tsuruga-san would like."

"I apologize, Sawara-san. Tsuruga-san told me what he would like, but I don't think he wants anybody to know what it is. Anyways, the President entrusted me with the responsibility of getting Tsuruga-san his gift, and I feel confident I can get Tsuruga-san his gift, or die trying."

Sawara let go of his smile, sweat dropping even more. What could make her so serious about getting Tsuruga-san his gift? And why did she have to keep it a secret from the President? Maybe, he should be asking what it was Tsuruga-san wanted that it had to be kept secret from the President. No. Bad idea to think about it.

"I guess that concludes are discussion for today then. I'll see you this evening with that report."

"Hai."

She bowed once more before leaving. Just in time, as another worker was giving him worried glances meaning there was a problem that needed to be dealt with. He sighed once again before continuing his work.

……………………

"Hello again!"

Sawara looked up slowly from his paperwork upon hearing the melodic voice of Maria-chan. He was surprised to see Mogami-san and Kotonami-san with her.

"Hello…Everybody."

Kotonami-san looked like she was there against her will, but wasn't moving away from either Maria or Mogami-san.

"I met Nee-san and Kotonami-san on their way here and thought I would hang out with Nee-san until she has to leave."

"That was nice of you, Maria-chan."

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but here is the paper President wanted."

"Thank you Kotonami-san."

Maria-chan looked up at Mogami-san who was startled by Kotonami-san's prompt gesture.

"Oh, sorry. Here is my report too. I'll have to get back about the other thing tomorrow if you don't mind."

She was rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, while Kotonami-san and Maria-chan stared at her.

"Thank you too, Mogami-san. It's okay if you get back to me about the other thing tomorrow. Well, it looks like that's all I have for you both today, so I suppose you can get on with the tasks you still have to finish."

He said trying to dismiss them. He turned to put away the paperwork, but when he returned to his original position all three of them were still there.

"Is something the matter?"

He was confused; he didn't think he had given them anything else to do. The all looked a little apprehensive. It was Maria-chan who finally spoke up.

"Grandfather assigned another task to Nee-san and Kotonami-san. I thought it might be fun to help them. So here."

She an oddly colored candle over to him and an odd lighter. He observed it for a moment.

"Ummm…What exactly is this Maria-chan?"

"It's a candle that when you burn it gives the owner good fortune."

She smiled up at him as if that said everything. It was Kotonami-san who spoke up next.

"President told us that you have a tendency to procrastinate buying gifts until the day of Christmas, so he thought we could help you do your shopping early. So here is a gift for your wife."

She pulled out a pair of new black shoes that his wife had been talking about for a while now. Before he could say anything Mogami-san jumped in.

"Yeah, he also told us it might not be a good idea to wrap it, in case you disagreed with the choice. And this is for your daughter."

She placed two large dolls on his desk; one of Sho Fuwa and the other of Tsuruga Ren. They were a third the size of the one she had given Maria-chan last year. He really worried about her fanaticism towards both idols. It just wasn't healthy, but for some reason Maria-chan had a tendency to carry the Ren doll around with her. All he could do was observe the gifts before him.

"T-thank you…"

Kotonami-san gave him an empathetic look, she really understood his worries. Maria-chan and Mogami-san looked pleased though. He would have no choice but to give it his family, it was a really nice gesture after all. Plus, he didn't want Mogami-san to curse his family if she found out he didn't give his daughter the gift, if it wasn't already cursed that is.

"Your daughter will love them; I love my Ren doll so much. Nee-san made them especially for you when she found out Sho Fuwa was your daughter's favorite singer, but for some reason she made a Ren doll too."

Mogami-san looked nervously at the confused Maria while Kotonami-san gave her a level, piercing stare.

"I'm glad you like it Sawara-san. I think we'll go now; we don't want to be the reason for you returning home late. Bye!"

With that Kotonami-san and Mogami-san bowed to him before running out, while Maria waved lazily at him, telling him he would see her tomorrow. He just waved back weakly.

An interesting view from Sawara's point of view. Not sure I kept him completely in character, but those three are definitely his weakness. I originally intended to make the chapter completely different, but I'm glad with the way it turned out nevertheless.

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False Sourires