Strings Attached
by
dancingfingers
Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Skip Beat! and its characters.
AN: This is a beta version. All (beta) credits goes to Roshelle Diall.
Chapter 7
Up in the sky of Japan
January 31, 2013
Kuon tightened his thin blanket around his body. The temperature was rather cold tonight, even though they were trapped here in the big bird's steel body. Kuon, along with Yashiro, was flying to the set of his newest project, From Batavia With Love, in Indonesia. He would be playing two roles; one was Pieter Van Reissen, a young Dutch man who came to Jakarta to visit his uncle and aunt and the other one was Erick Putra Arifin, a half Indonesian businessman.
The first role – Pieter, forced Kuon to learn the basics of Dutch language, as the timeline would set around 1900 where the Dutch still ruled the small country of Indonesia in Southeast Asia; which is actually a "hidden treasure", where the Europeans found various spices in Eastern Indonesia and fertile land where any plants would grow big and healthy. They also found various kind of rare species of plant and fish in the sea. The locals were still uneducated and poor, one of the main reasons why the Dutch ruled the country for a long time. The locals knew them as a snobby, egoistical, wicked, cruel, and infuriating people who dared to land their feet there. They couldn't do anything as they had limited contact with higher education and didn't know what to do to declare their freedom. Only the children of Indonesian nobles and government workers were allowed to have that. (1)
Pieter was one of the few Dutch that cared for the country and when he first came to Indonesia, he met an interesting young girl in the market, where she tried to deceive him. She took some money from him, in order to pay for the vegetables he ruined – or, to be exact, the ones his horse ate – since the seller didn't understand his language. Although he knew that the girl lied to him, Pieter found it amusing and decided to follow her after that. As time went on and he finally succeeded in befriending her, he faced a dilemma when he fell in love with her. His uncle didn't approve it, saying that "their kind" was more superior than "those stupid, idiotic people."
The other role was quite easy and didn't need many takes. Erick was a successful businessman and was the nephew of an American couple (2), Rob and Maddy Groonevelt. He was the love interest of the female lead, Tara Medira (played by Maya) and ended up marrying her.
Kuon sighed and closed his eyes, trying to sleep. He had a good feeling about this project. Not because of his boss and Maria's words, but he felt like something big was going to happen soon after he set his feet on the land of foreign country.
Smiling, he succumbed to his exhaustion and slept.
Jakarta, Indonesia
February 1, 2013
There was a small crowd in front of the hotel. Sachiko tiptoed to have a better look at the crowd. There were people who brought big cameras and microphones, while some of them were talking on their cellphone and some of them were just sitting and talking to each other. She sighed softly. She didn't understand why those people were eager to know about the important guests here. Sachiko was not a stupid girl, she was really smart and naturally curious like her mother. She knew that the guests were movie crews and actors and some of them came from Japan, while the rest were from Indonesia. She just didn't understand why they couldn't leave the actors alone to work properly!
In the back of her heart, she admitted that she was quite excited to see another Japanese person here. Since she was born, she only met ones such as her Okaa-san, Uncle Sho, Aria Onee-chan, Shoko-san, Jirou Jii-san, Fumiko Baa-san, Lory Jii-san, and Maria-tan. She didn't make any friends in school since the parents and the children insulted her and Okaa-san behind their back.
"Sa-chi-e!"
The little girl gasped in surprise and stumbled. Her bottom hit the floor and she cried in pain. Two slender arms suddenly picked her up. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sacchan... Are you hurt? Here let me make it go away!"
Her emerald eyes stared at the owner of the voice. "Aria nee-chan?"
Izumi Aria was a 26 year old woman with natural red hair cut short above her shoulders and warm brown eyes. She was a friend of Sho and Kyoko, they used to play together back in Kyoto before she moved to America following her parents. Since then she had lost her contact with her friends. She recently found them again, first it was Sho, who she dated for two months before they broke up and then Kyoko. She was a doctor who helped Kyoko when giving birth to Sachiko, the little girl in her arms.
Grinning, she nodded at the raven-haired girl. "Yep! Happy to see me?"
Sachiko blushed. "Yes..." she said softly.
Aria squealed at her cuteness and pinched Sachiko's chubby cheeks. "You are so cuuuutttteeee!"
Twirling the poor girl in the air, Aria giggled and then brought Sachiko to her lap. She grabbed a pink shopping bag and shoved it to the girl. "I bought some dress for you! Put it on!"
"Uh... but..."
The red-haired beauty pouted sadly. "Please?"
Before she could answer, the door opened, revealing another older woman. "Shoko-san?" Sachiko stared at the brunette and smiled. "Good morning!"
Shoko smiled gently at the girl. "Good morning, Sachie. Good morning to you too, Aria-san."
"Good morning, Shoko-san! Pray tell, is there anything you need?"
Shoko nodded. "Well, I need to give Kyoko these documents, but I forgot that I have a meeting with my client and I only have 30 minutes. You know how terrible the traffic is, so much different than Japan." She looked at them and sighed. "Oh, well. Kyoko is not here, so I will go and find her – "
Sachiko stood up abruptly. "I'll go!"
"Eh?"
Sachiko puffed her chest and clenched her right fist, placing it on her chest. "I know where Okaa-san is, and I already remember the hotel, so I won't get lost! Let me do that, Shoko-san!"
Actually, she didn't know where Kyoko is, but she had to get out quickly before Aria made her try on the dresses so she'd do her best to find it.
The brunette raised her eyebrows. "Uh... Maybe it will be done quickly if I just – "
The emerald-eyed girl wiggled her index finger. "No, no, Shoko-san. Let me do it! I'm bored in my room, anyway."
Aria's eyes widened in realization. "HEY! Sacchan, it is only ONE dress, I swear!"
Shoko smiled knowingly. "Oh, Aria-san wants to dress you up, ne?" She giggled as Sachiko
nodded at her. "Aria-san, you should stop dressing her up like a doll. I mean, she's cute and all, but lately she feels dizzy and tries to hide from you."
Aria pouted. "Meanie. Sachiko is meanie! I bought you all those cute dresses and this is what you give to me?"
"Ne, ne, Sachie. Here are the documents." Shoko glanced at her watch and gasped. "I need to go! Thank you, Sachie! See you later, you two!"
Sachiko waved and smiled. "See you later, Shoko-san!" Then, she turned to her mother's best friend and smiled innocently. "Aria nee-chan, I have to go too! Bye!"
She let out a giggle as she heard Aria's groan. "Sachieeeee come back heeerreee!"
"I'm going down for brunch."
Yashiro nodded. "Okay."
Kuon frowned. "You won't come with me?"
The manager merely shook his head. "I already have my breakfast."
Kuon shrugged. "Well, I'm off."
Sachiko bounced down the hallway and greeted some staff she knew from the time she got here. One of the bellhops, named Rio, was pushing a cart with luggage and waving his hand excitedly at her. Sachiko waved back and then ran to the boy, smiling. "Hello!"
"Hello, Sachi!" The black-haired boy frowned. "You're alone?"
"Yes! I can find my way here! I will not get lost!"
Rio chuckled in amusement. He leaned down until he was at eye-level with Sachiko and asked softly, "So, tell me, where are you going?"
The girl smiled. "Um, Okaa-san. Do you know where Okaa-san is?"
"Sure!" He stood up and pointed to the floor below. "She has a meeting in Conference Room 1."
"Thank you, Rio!" She yelled happily and hugged the older boy's legs. "I'll go and wait there! See you later!"
Thanking the cleaning staff who helped her to push the elevator button, she bowed slightly at the older woman and waited. She tapped her foot and held the documents tightly to her chest. These were very important to her mother. After all, she was a general manager for a reason, right? And if her mother made a mistake, Uncle Sho would get angry and Sachiko didn't want that. She had to do this right!
The elevator finally gave a soft 'ding' sound.
Sachiko looked up. There was a blonde man leaning on the wall. She quietly stepped inside and occasionally glanced at the man. He was so tall, taller than Uncle Sho or Lory jii-san, the only two tall men she knew. His golden locks looked very soft and silky. His body was "well-built" (as Aria nee-chan told her about a big man they saw in mall) and he also had such a long legs!
"Woah..." she murmured.
Kuon opened his eyes. He was alone, again. Great. That way, no one would stare at him strangely because he acted like a drunken man in the morning. Sighing, he tried to straighten his posture, but stopped when he heard a soft murmur.
"Woah..."
He frowned. When did someone come in the elevator?
He turned around hastily, only to meet a pair of emerald orbs looking at his forest green orbs.
(1) This is what I remember so far from my history lessons in my... say, junior high school. Or was it elementary?
To destroy a country is to crush the education system and its culture. That way, the Dutch people had decided to limit the education access especially to the peasants, who were obviously had no money to pay for the school. Only the wealth; Indonesian nobles and government's staff's children who were allowed to attend school, along with the Dutch juniors. Even so, the peasants were allowed to attend a (much, much) lower level of school, with (also much, much) poorer building and its facility.
(2) They are American citizens.