Naruisawesome: Ne, ne, Amy-chan, are you as happy as I am~!
AmyNChan: Yup~! *^_^* It's great that everyone seemed to like the first chapter.
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AmyNChan: They mean a lot!
Disclaimer: Neither of us own Ghost Hunt, and we won't say it again! ^_^
As Mai heard her name being called, she instantly felt her stomach do flips for the first time that day. She gripped on to Oliver's hand, giving it a harsh squeeze. She couldn't do this; she'd mess up like always. What on earth had possessed her to make her think she could?!
She felt slightly better when Oliver squeezed her hand in return. She turned to her boyfriend, her eyes wide. "I—"
"The only words that better come out of your mouth right now is 'I can do this'." he told her, giving a small, teasing smirk. "Because you can. And I didn't come here with you to do this only for you to back out this."
Mai scowled at having been found out, but was internally grateful. Oliver knew her so well. She poked him in the side. "And you better be acting opposite me. I don't wanna have to pretend I'm in love with someone else, got it?"
Her boyfriend gave a small smile, nodding. "I wouldn't have it any other way." he replied, making Mai smile in return. She squeezed Oliver's hand once more for reassurance when she heard her name being called again and then stood. She made her way to a line of three girls. One was a brunette with a kind smile and long brown hair. The other was dressed in jeans and a slightly girlish shirt, had short brown hair, and large honey-colored eyes. Mai smiled to them all. The kinder one—Tohru, she remembered from their conversation earlier—smiled back. Haruhi—also a name she had gathered from when she had gotten her lines from them—merely nodded her head with a soft smile.
"Good luck, guys." she told them, her kind nature overpowering the side of her that hoped to get the part instead of the other girls.
"You, too," Tohru returned with a smile. Haruhi shook her head with a smile. Honestly, did these girls not know the meaning of competition?
The two directors called out Haruhi's name for her to go first. The other girls gave her encouraging smiles. Haruhi offered them a smile in return before whisking herself away to try to meet the directors demands. She practiced falling, said a few lines which Tohru and Mai could not hear from their distance, and made some very weird face. The directors talked to her and sent her back to the girls.
"Umm... How did it go?" Mai asked uncertainly. Haruhi shrugged.
"Pretty good until the last bit, I guess. Evidently, I don't do lovesick very well. I'm too practical."
"Aww, I'm sorry." Tohru said apologetically.
"Better luck next time, huh?" Mai smiled reassuringly at her.
"Yeah," Haruhi smiled. "There's another script I've been looking at, so I'm gonna try there next."
"Good luck," Tohru wished as the girl left with a wave. As soon as Haruhi was gone, the directors called out Tohru's name for her to come next. Tohru offered Mai a kind smile before walking to the same spot Haruhi had occupied moments before. She, too, practiced falling. However, at the lines, Mai could tell that the girl was having trouble. She made weird faces and looked close to crying. Mai began to sweat for the girl and was disheartened when she was sent away more quickly than Haruhi. The brown-haired girl walked back to Mai with her shoulders slumped and her head hanging down a bit in disappointment—at herself. "I didn't do it right..."
Mai couldn't find anything to say. The girl seemed so upset. She gave her a hug. "There's always next time," she tried. Tohru smiled weakly as she sniffed.
"Thank you," she said before departing. She jutted back in the door in order to say "Good luck" and left again.
And then there was one... Mai thought as she heard her name being called. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, though it didn't help much. Seeing as how she didn't have Oliver's hand to crush at the moment, she clutched her own hand with the other one as she stood and made her way to the directors.
"H-hi," Mai blurted, attempting to at least remain friendly. The directors smiled in return.
"Good afternoon, Miss Taniyama," the elder of the two directors said with a smile.
"Hi!" the younger director of the two exclaimed. She smiled at Mai softly. "Don't worry, no need to be nervous. Just try and do your best."
"O-okay..." Mai said with a soft smile. These two directors seemed...wacky...to her.
"All right, we want you to fall for us," the first instructed. Her bespectacled eyes were looking at a clipboard in front of her. "This character does quite a bit of it, and we need to make sure you can fall safely without twisting or spraining anything."
Mai looked between the two with a small amount of skepticism. She looked around her then back at the directors. "Just...fall?" she asked uncertainly.
"Well, if you could look scared while you do it, that would be great," the first one said, a finger tapping her chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Ooh, yeah! Especially since she'll be getting attacked a lot by the ghosts!" the second director nodded in agreement. She motioned for Mai, who was just staring at them weirdly, to go ahead and do as they said. Deciding that complying would be better than standing there and letting the directors rant—which they looked halfway ready to do anyways—she allowed herself to crumple to the floor, her face twisted in what she hoped was an expression of sheer terror. She landed on the pad painlessly and heaved a sigh of relief when the directors applauded her performance. "That was great! Best one we've seen, right?" the second one asked, grinning, as she nudged the other director.
"Absolutely," the first smiled. She looked down at her list at the next thing she wanted Mai to try. "All right, I want you to argue with one of us. We will choose a subject you oppose and we want you to battle it with all of your willpower. Got it?"
"Okay!" Mai agreed. She felt more confident about this one, seeing as how she has those kind of arguments with Oliver all the time. The first director looked her dead in the eye and thought for a moment. Mai waited anxiously, but set her mouth into a firm line, preparing herself for a debate.
"Your hair needs to be dyed pink with a blue streak up the sides, like a cotton candy skunk or something," she stated blandly, though humor could be seen behind her bespectacled eyes. She turned to the second director. "Don't you think so?"
"Oh, definitely. Maybe add some glitter in there too?" she laughed jokingly. "Of course she'll have to have the right makeup to go along with her hair as well. Hot pink eyeshadow and blue lipstick?" she turned her head towards the woman beside her, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, with an innocent smile. "You think, Amy?"
"My thoughts exactly, Nia," the first director—now dubbed 'Amy'—said, a smile threatening to overtake her features. Mai turned red and indignant.
"Excuse me, but your ad says that you wanted brown hair! There's no way I'm dying it!" she told them with an air of anger. Amy waved off her concerns.
"It wouldn't be that bad..." she trailed off.
"Right." Nia, the second director, replied. "You're going to be playing a teenaged girl with no parents after all, so there wouldn't be anyone to tell you what to do." she shrugged.
"No, I'm a teenage girl who appears totally normal at first. No one's gonna see it coming when I don't have parents," Mai debated. "Besides, isn't it the point that she's normal? Who wants to watch an anime with a girl who has pink hair and blue streaks?"
Both directors stared at her, studying her carefully, before Nia looked at Amy with an amused glint in her eyes.
"What do you think?" she asked, jerking her head in Mai's direction.
"Seems legit," Amy chuckled as she wrote a check mark on a board. "Miss Taniyama, if you have a boyfriend, I'd like you to think about him right now."
Mai couldn't help but immediately smile as she had said the word boyfriend. Her mind, of course, went straight to Oliver.
While Mai went into her own little dream realm about Oliver, several emotions passed her face. A lovesick smile, a random twitch of the eyebrow at one memory in particular, a sigh that seemed a mix between happy and exasperated. Amy smirked. This was all to perfect. She looked at Nia to see what she thought.
Sensing that her friend was looking at her, she glanced at Amy with a big smile. "She's perfect." she whispered to her, nodding.
"As long as we can get the perfect actor to act opposite her, then there's gonna be no problem," Amy returned with a slight smirk. She knew they would most likely get the right person. After all, no one had really come to this shibang alone. "By the way, I forgot to mention it earlier, but nice job deciding that the actors get to keep their names in the anime. It's gonna add a lot to what the actors bring to the character."
Nia smiled. "Thanks. I think so, too." she turned her gaze back to the brunette to find her still off in her own little world, most definitely still thinking of her boyfriend. After all, no one could pull off that look without having someone they loved dearly. "Miss Taniyama!" she exclaimed loudly, trying to snap Mai out of her day dream. The girl jumped to attention, startled out of her daydreaming. A deep blush covered her face and she scowled.
"Give a girl some warning next time..."
Nia smirked, shaking her head to herself, before speaking. "Congraulations, Miss Taniyama."
Mai blinked in surprise. "What?"
"Nia means you've got the part. You might wanna study your lines for the first episode," Amy clarified with a congratulatory smile. "We have to move to the next group now, so could you please go to join Ayako? She's the blonde over there."
Mai's eyes widened considerably. "I did?! I got the part?!" Her excited smile stretched so wide across her face that it was beginning to hurt. "Oh my gosh, I have to Noll!" she rambled to herself.
"You might wanna hold off on that for a moment," Amy said, looking at her clipboard. "The main role is next."
"Oh...ah, okay..." Mai bit her lip to keep from smiling so much, though it didn't seem to help all that much. "I guess I'll wait until he's finished his audition..." she mumbled, turning and walking into the direction where this Ayako lady was.
Amy smiled as she shook her head. These actors were going to be fun.
With her arms crossed over her chest, Masako sat, waiting for her turn in auditioning for her role. At the moment her competition, a girl named Miyuki Shiba, was auditioning.
It appeared as though one of the directors in particular were in charge of this audition. The younger one appeared to be directing far better than her elder.
The punk girl clucked her tongue as she watched the other girl swoon at nothing with a lovesick expression on her face. She could only guess that, that was part of the audition. Just how was she suppose to swoon though?
She watched with a careful eye, observing everything. The other girl's form was good, though not particularly dainty, which is what the role called for. Masako reached up and took out her earrings. It would not do well to have spikes in her ears before this.
With a small huff, she reached up and grabbed a small portion of her hair with her thumb and forefinger, looking at the red strands of hair. She frowned. Perhaps she should prepared more to look the role. Thinking quickly, she flipped the red streak under a portion of her black hair. It was not as noticeable now, but if she got the part she would definitely have to dye it back to its normal shade. The things she was giving up for this—
"Miss Hara?" one of the directors called. Masako twitched. She hated it when people called her that.
"Yes?" she tried to ask politely. It would do no good to be rude to the director who decided the fate of the new role of your career.
"You can come now, you're next." the woman told her, motioning for Masako to follow her. Masako rose and walked with the grace of a swan. If there was anything she had picked up from her mother, it was how to act like a lady. She approached the two directors and kept her face somewhat passive and mildly interested.
"How do you do?" she asked, just as she remembered being taught. The two directors shared a look.
"Just fine, thank you." Nia said, giving a small smile as she studied the girl. The way she was dressed certainly didn't match her personality at the moment.
"Miss Hara, are you aware that this is part is of a celebrity whose claim to fame is her ability to see spirits and her doll-like appearance?" Amy asked. Not to be rude, but actors should generally come prepared to look like the character. No barely hidden red streak of hair, no skinny jeans, no mesh shirt, no overly done rock makeup. While the outfit did look good on her, it was not the appearance they were going for.
"Please excuse me, I was unable to ask for a kimono. Rest assured I can appear as necessary," Masako responded smoothly, somehow able to keep her temper and sharp tongue in check. This demure attitude was the only thing going for her at the moment.
The directors shared another glance between each other before giving a nod. They then looked down at the papers that were in front of them before shifting their gazes back to Masako, who was desperately trying to be patient.
"How do you show off to another girl that you've got the guy she secretly wants?" Amy inquired, raising an eyebrow. To her, it was obvious that she had to at least pretend to act like a lady while she did it. The question caught Masako off guard for a moment before she immediately composed herself a moment later.
"Well..." she began carefully, trying to get inside the mind of a young lady and how she would act in such a situation. "I would probably try to be overly formal with the man in front her, trying to make sure his attention would always be on me instead of her. Ah, but without him noticing of course. Just enough for it to be visible to her, discreetly bragging about it, but not for anyone else to see."
Amy nodded slightly. The girl knew her stuff, but could she act it out. Amy smirked. Perhaps a small test was in order...?
"Could you demonstrate for us?" Nia asked, thinking along the same lines as the woman beside her.
Masako blinked. She should have expected this, but she didn't. Hmmm... She looked around for a suitable male to test on. She walked over to John, who happened to be nearby, and silently decided that she would flaunt before both directors instead of one.
"Masako, what are you doing?" John whispered to her in confusion, furrowing his brows.
"Go with it," she whispered, flicking her eyes back to the directors. Thankfully, John did not say anything more and allowed the girl to do as she pleased.
"And who is this?" Nia questioned, her expression blank.
"A very close acquaintance of mine, John Brown. John, these are the directors," Masako said. As she talked, she shifted slightly closer to him and glanced at the girls to fish for reactions. The blonde boy tilted his head up in a greeting, still oblivious as to what his girlfriend truly needed him for.
"Pleasure," Amy said, observing the boy. He looked so oblivious right now. She tucked the information away for later when they ran the part of the priest. "Have you known each other long?"
"Oh, yes," Masako stated before John could get a word in. She covered her mouth to hide a giggle that threatened to overtake her. She never knew her boyfriend could look so childlike and adorable. He could probably get the part of the priest after all! "Several years ago he helped me out in a spot of trouble and we have been close ever since."
To emphasize, she turned her shoulder into his arm gently. John rose an eyebrow in confusion but said nothing at her odd display.
"I see..." Nia muttered, glancing at Amy for her silent opinions. Surely if Masako continued to do this with a man that another girl liked, or loved, it would be a huge success for the show. Amy nodded in the direction of her friend. This girl would go through a screen test to make sure she could look the part adequately, and then it would be decided if she actually got the part or not.
"Miss Hara, please wait over by Miss Takigawa, Miss Taniyama, and Mr. Davis. We will call you forward later for a screen test," Amy said, jotting her notes on her clipboard.
The black-haired girl stepped away from her boyfriend and gave a nod. "Certainly. Thank you." she agreed before walking into the direction of the other two woman, a blonde and a brunette, without saying so much as a word to the still puzzled John.
Amy looked from the new addition to the blonde boy who appeared so lost. Her lips twitched into a small smirk. Oh yes, he would be a great candidate for the part.
"Should we just go ahead and do his audition since he's here?" Nia whispered, leaning over towards Amy. Amy nodded silently. She looked around to find one other blonde boy. She gave a whistle and when she had his attention she beckoned him over. The young boy smiled happily and trotted over, a stuffed rabbit in tow.
"Is it my turn now?" he asked with an adorable smile. An "awwww" immediately came from Nia as a result.
"Yes, it is," Amy said, barely able to repress her inner squeal. She cleared her throat in an attempt to gain composure. "You both came to audition for the part of the priest, correct?"
"Yup! Along with Usa-chan!" the young boy laughed cutely as he held up his stuffed bunny for the directors to see. Amy smiled sadly, looking at the rabbit. It was far, far, far too pink for her liking. She cleared her throat.
"Mr. Haninozuka, you are aware that this character does not carry a rabbit, are you not?" she asked. Lowering down his most precious thing, Honey pouted as he stared at Amy.
"But Usa-chan has to do it!"
"Sorry, but priests do not carry stuffed animals around. They more often give them to the less fortunate. Others who can use them far better than themselves," Amy pointed out. Honey's pout strengthened in power, but the director was firm in her decision. No stuffed animals. Especially—even though she would not admit it aloud to anyone except perhaps Nia—pink ones.
"Aha, I'm sorry, Hon—Mr. Haninozuka." Nia started, almost slipping up on his name. He was just so child-like that it almost seemed wrong to be so formal with the boy. "Amy's right though..." she smiled sympathically. The boy was just too cute!
Instantly, the boys eyes began to water. His pout took on a form of complete and utter devastation. "Buh-But Uso-chan..."
"No buts, Mr. Haninozuka. If you would like to act along Mr. Uso, then you'll probably have to find a different show," Amy stated, her determination being the only thing stopping her from dropping everything and hugging that cute boy and telling him everything would be all right.
As his tears began to spill over, Honey clutched his bunny tighter before taking off in the opposite direction of the others. As he ran out of the door, Amy gave a shudder. She had been so close to crumbling, but one look at the pink stuffed animal had kept her firm. She took a few deep breaths to regain her strength.
Nia looked at John and smiled. "Good news, Mr. Brown!" she exclaimed, making the biker even more confusion and looking adorable as well.
"What she means is you've got the part by default. Would you be so kind as to join the others in that corner over there?" Amy asked, gesturing to the growing group of actors. Dumbfounded, the blonde gave a small nod.
"Uh...sure..." he mumbled before turning around and walking to where his girlfriend and the others were.
Amy looked over to her friend with a grin. "Hey, Nia, I wanna ask you something."
Nia grinned back, knowing her friend had something up her sleeve. She always loved it when she did. "Yeah? What is it?"
"You remember, back in the script, when you said it was missing something?" she asked, remembering the day. It was when the girls had decided to do this anime and run it for themselves.
"Yeah...it still bugs me..." Nia replied, frowning at the frustration she felt at not being able to figure it out.
"We need someone to play as 'big brother' to the main character! Someone who's older, but fun. Someone kinda whacky who can take care of rooms and whatnot. Leave people to the priest and have this new guy do rooms and objects and stuff," Amy said, waiving her arms in gesture as she usually did when she got an idea. Nia's eyes immediately lit up.
"That's a great idea!" she nodded in approval. "Although...who would we get?"
"I was actually thinking of Miss Takigawa's older brother. Did you see, in the fight, when she had him to back her up she was at least ten times as fiery as the other girl?" Amy asked as they walked.
"Hmm... Yeah, he'd be great I believe." Nia said, smiling at remembering the fight that Jessie girl and Miss Takigawa had. Oh, how she wished she would had had some popcorn at that time. However, a few moments later, she frowned. "But he might not even want to. There's only a small possibility that he would."
"We won't know unless we ask him. Besides, he came with his sister here, didn't he?" Amy pointed out hopefully.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he wants to be an actor." Nia gave a small laugh as they came upon the next group.
"We'll ask later," Amy said, relenting on the topic for now. She returned her attention to her clipboard. Their last member—for now—was the silent assistant, always at a computer. Of course, he would not get much screen time in the beginning, but he was still a vital role.
"Hello, gentlemen." Nia greeted with a smile.
"Good afternoon," the two men said, each with a slight inclination of their heads. The directors looked from one to the other and then back again.
"You wouldn't happen to be twins...right?" Amy finally asked.
"No," both of the men said at the same time. "I can assure you we're not." they then looked at each other weirdly. The directors could not hold their chuckles in. They looked from one to the other and then back again once more.
"How about stating your names for us so we know which is which, okay?" Nia asked with an amused smile.
"Hatori Sohma," the first introduced.
"Koujo Lin," stated the second.
"Alright then." Nia gave a nod, looking at the two both. "Mr. Sohma, would you please come with us for a moment?" she asked politely. The tall man nodded his head. Upon realizing that he had no intention of talking, the two led him over to an alcove with a computer.
"We're going to test your skills. One of them is typing on a computer and being able to sit still, okay?" Amy asked, list at the ready.
"Alright..." Hatori gave them an odd look, but nevertheless sat down in front of the computer as Amy had asked.
"Start typing at any time," Amy invited, holding her list up so she could make notes. Hatori nodded and began typing. Amy smirked, knowing that the computer would not allow him to backspace and was recording his GWAM, or gross words a minute. That was the second test. Frustration.
Nia smirked as well. "Now let's see how long it'll take him." she whispered to Amy. Oh how fun it was to mess with these people! They waited for no more than an extra fifteen seconds. He stopped typing completely, moved his hand to his head, and then continued to type. Amy scribbled on her notepad.
"One more thing, Mr. Sohma?" she asked. The man paused in his typing and turned his head to look at her.
"What is it?" he questioned.
"Can you whistle?" she asked. The man's eyebrows shot up before he regained composure and shook his head. It was one of the few things he could not do at all. He was trained in hypnosis, was an excellent doctor, and had quite the knack for acting. But he could not whistle or skip.
Don't ask about the latter.
"Hmmm... That'll be a problem then." Nia stated with a frown. Hatori sighed. The one thing he could not do... "I'm sorry, Mr. Sohma." Nia gave him an apologetic smile. "But that is an important thing for this character to do."
The dismissed man nodded. Amy nodded at him as well before scribbling something on a piece of paper and handing it to him. "Try there next, if you want. I overheard you say you were good with being a doctor."
Hatori's eyes widened a bit as he read what was on the paper. Then he shifted his gaze to Amy with a grateful smile. "Thank you very much." he said before walking away from the two directors.
Amy nodded. It was not fair not to get a part simply because you could not whistle, but whistling was vital to this role later on. She turned her attention to Lin. "Mr. Lin, you're up."
The tall man only gave a curt nod as he walked to the two women.
"We're going to test how long you can type and sit still. Would you please take a seat in front of the computer monitor?" Amy asked, once again referring to the computer. Lin stared the machine a few moments before complying. He could do this. All he needed to do was sit still and type. Nothing more, nothing less.
And he typed. He was fairly decent at it as well. Amy kept track of his progress while Nia looked for any signs of distraction or frustration. The man sat in front of that computer for fifteen minutes straight before moving his neck ever-so-slightly and continuing on his way. The directors' eyebrows hit the tops of their hair. This guy was a natural!
"I believe we have found our last—planned—actor." Nia's voice cut through the silence, causing Lin to stop his massive typing and look at her. She grinned at Amy. "Right?" she asked.
"So long as he can whistle," she said, looking at Lin. She gave a gesturing motion in case he wanted to demonstrate.
Two moments later, everyone was recovering from the shrillest whistle they had ever heard. Amy gave an approving grin to her friend, giving her the honors.
"Congratulations, Mr. Lin!" Nia smiled happily. "You've got the part!"
The man seemed to slump over with relief, only to be attacked by a certain pink-haired woman from the back. Amy and Nia looked at each other as the man's wife offered up congratulations.
"Oh, Koujo! You did it, you really did it!" the woman exclaimed with joy.
"It appears I have," the man said, offering up a smile.
Naruisawesome: How about those directors, ne? *nudges Amy-chan with a small grin*
AmyNChan: Lolol, yeah, they are something! XDD
Naruisawesome: XD We hope yall liked this chapter like the last one!
AmyNChan: Please review~! *^_^*