Title: Stranger things have happened
Author: Sakura Takanouchi
Summary: "It's not acting- I really do hate you," she spat. "We have to follow the script," Seto reminded her. "Eventually, your character falls in love with me." He smirked at her shocked expression. "I wonder, will you be acting then?" Setoxwho?
A/N: Why do I even have these? Is it just for symmetry? Like anyone even reads this…
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO (duh), movies that I make fun of in this chapter (say what?), or pop culture references (ha!). Just the plot, and the plot of the movie-within the plot.
Chapter Five: You know you want to
"I know you can paint, Serenity," Mokuba's words rang in her head, "But can you act?"
Everyone was now looking at Serenity, who was looking more than slightly uncomfortable. "I'm going to try my best," she said, a determined glint in her eye.
"Well good! Here's a script; we'll find someone to read with you in about 15 minutes." Mokuba turned to Kako, pulling her away from Serenity, who was staring intently at the script.
"Kako, I gave her a script from the scene where the two main characters first meet," Mokuba started. Kako frowned thoughtfully, chewing the end of a pen that she had used to write on the screenplay only moments before.
"That's a scene with three people in it," she said, removing the pen and tapping it against the paper. "Why did you do that? Are we reading it with her?"
The slam of a door interrupted their discussion. In strode a very angry Seto Kaiba. His shoes made clacking noises on the floor, echoing through the otherwise silent room, and his navy trench coat billowed behind him, fueled by his dramatic entrance. Kako stopped tapping her pen. Mokuba could have slapped his forehead in frustration. He was supposed to meet Seto in his office, or in the lobby, or…somewhere else! As amusing as it was that Seto looked extremely irritable and grouchy, it did put an aura of fear upon the entire room.
"Um, team, this is my brother, who will be assisting us with this, uh, endeavor…"
Kako snorted. "He's directing? With you?"
Seto's gaze narrowed on his brother. Violet eyes widened in realization. "You're directing?"
Seto's question hung in the air. Kako looked back and forth between the brothers nervously, and then began to jot down notes on the paper as fast as she could. Mokuba shifted slightly, but he kept eye contact with his older brother. "Yes, I'm directing. After a few meetings with Kako, we decided that bringing in more people would just take away from our interpretation of the script." Once those words left his mouth, it got really uncomfortable. Mokuba remembered their conversation earlier, and how neither would ever admit that they were really backing a 'chick flick'. It was just a movie, nothing more. But both Seto and Mokuba dropped their gaze, looking around at anything other than each other. Mokuba knew that if he looked at anyone, he would burst into laughter. What an impression to give all of his employees.
"It's been a quarter of an hour already; Serenity's had plenty of time with the script." Mokuba turned around, looking for his new friend. Serenity had made a home sitting on Mokuba's director's chair, reading and re-reading the script, a determined smile on her lips. "Serenity! Time's up, let's see what you've got!"
She looked up from the script as if noticing them for the first time. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear drew the attention of Seto Kaiba himself. Azure orbs narrowed as he perused her form, noting at once how unfathomably girly she looked. She looked sweet, he supposed, but it was all so contrived. He had no idea why girls dressed the way they did to make themselves more appealing. Most of the girls he knew from work, or school, were simply clones of each other, hollow and shallow. He couldn't stand it. Seto noted what Mokuba had called her. Serenity indeed.
Serenity herself had become lost in the script as soon as it was placed in her hands. She couldn't deny that it was good- no, better than that- and the scene that she had been given would be fun to act. At the sound of her name, however, she looked up. Kako and Mokuba were staring at her expectantly, but they were joined by a third person, standing slightly behind them. Tucking a strand of her wavy hair behind her ear, she noticed that he was staring at her. She nearly shuddered under his gaze. It was so piercing, but unnerving- completely different from the way she felt when Mokuba or Kako looked at her. It made her want to go over there and smack him for…what? For looking at her? For thinking? She couldn't even tell what he was thinking. His expression remained unreadable. Just then, the memories came flooding back. She remembered an article she had read earlier. Thousands of times when her brother came to her room, or called her on her cell phone. This man in front of her was Seto Kaiba, Mokuba's older brother. With everything she knew about the pair, she thought them as different as night and day. Mokuba had called out to her, even before he knew who she was- it was instinct for him to be cheerful, noisy, and outgoing. Seto, on the other hand, had barely said anything, and had the audacity to judge her even before he knew anything about her- but she didn't want to get involved. All signs told Serenity to run.
"Well, I heard that the Kaibas are ruthless at business, doing whatever they can to remain ahead of the pack," Mai said, sipping her water. "I would hate to be involved in any way to them."
"Who's he eating with?" Serenity asked, squeezing a lemon wedge into her water.
"Probably his brother," Mai said, shrugging it off. "Heartless bastard if I ever saw one."
"I've never heard anything positive about him," Serenity said as garlic bread sticks and oil were placed on their table for the girls to share.
"That's because you're Joey's sister," Tea stated emphatically, dunking a bread stick into the oil. "Joey will probably never forgive the man for putting him down all through high school."
She really liked Mokuba- he was charming and witty- the perfect person to represent an entertainment label. His only fault was his brother. Serenity's mind returned to the present and she remembered why she was here. Movie, contest…the script!
"Yes, and I must congratulate you on the script," Serenity said, addressing Kako. The girl nodded in thanks. "I just have a single question, Mokuba. The script you gave me is for three people- who am I going to be reading with?"
Seto, Mokuba, and Kako looked at each other appraisingly. "Kako, can you please hand to me the description of the male lead character please?"
Kako passed Mokubaa sheet of paper- it was typed but covered in scribbles. At Mokuba's look Kako shrugged sheepishly. Mokuba began to read, his voice never wavering despite the numerous additions.
"Cousin to Yugi, the next-door neighbor to Shizuka- that's the character you're reading for," Mokuba began. "Very mysterious- has left college but is going on the trip because Yugi thinks that he works too much, and wants him to get to know more people now that he's moving back into town. He's a fast-track young executive in the corporate world…" Mokuba strained to read the words that Kako had written in the margins, over and under words. "Very strong, both physically, ideally, in convictions, and a…super mega-hottie?" They all looked at Kako inquisitively. Her eyebrows raised in surprise at the sudden attention.
"What?" She looked around, oblivious. "Of course he HAS to be a super mega-hottie. It's the most delicious flavor of anti-hero." A laugh broke the near-palpable tension.
This was how it could get worse. Mokuba could barely believe what he was witnessing. His brother was laughing? At this? Stranger things had happened, he supposed- that was what this whole filmmaking experience was teaching him.
Seto's deep, throaty chuckle filled the whole room, as everyone watched, silent, at what would happen next. "That is rich," he said, his laughter subsiding. "You mean to tell me that you wrote this character? You created someone completely one-dimensional. It couldn't be easier- a young executive? All you'd have to do would be to point and grunt." Seto smiled a little at his own joke. He had hired- and fired- employees that fit that description perfectly.
"If it's so easy, then why don't you do it?"
Now everyone looked, astonished, at Serenity's sudden outburst. Even she looked surprised, color flooding into her cheeks, her eyes locked on Seto's unwavering countenance. "Are you going to back down? Or can you not read? Pointing and grunting more your style?"
"I never back down from a challenge. It will be a piece of cake." Seto's gaze was unflinching; he looked rather amused at this exchange. This frightened Serenity more than the typical angry Kaiba. "I'll read the lines- nothing more would anyone expect from this character." He snatched the screenplay out of Serenity's hands and strode off to read them.
"Serenity, what did you do that for?" Mokuba's words shook Serenity back into focus. She smiled reassuringly.
"He was insulting your work," she replied. "I wasn't going to let that slide." Kako looked up, surprised. They all stared, motionless, for a moment until Serenity broke the silence. "Besides, he was kind of insulting himself with that comment." With a grin, she took a second copy of the script from Kako and moseyed over to the stage, set up as a typical student's apartment. In fact, it looked not unlike her own living room- just without the large windows. She studied it, picking up empty photo frames and a potted plant on the end table.
Kako now looked at Mokuba, cocking one eyebrow. "What?" He replied irritably.
"What's eating you? I thought this all went rather well," she preened, probably from Serenity's last comment. Mokuba shrugged.
"Just, that whenever Seto comes into contact with my work, I feel like he's always judging it, and putting me down for not staying with KaibaCorp. He doesn't realize that I just couldn't do that. We're two different people…"
Kako sympathetically put an arm on his shoulder. "The way I see it, you both have devoted your lives to companies that all make people happy. Your products enrich people's lives and that is such a positive thing. You obviously love what you're doing so much. How could you ever be unhappy?"
"Wow…I never really thought of it like that," Mokuba smiled softly. "Thanks." 'Wow…that pearl of wisdom just came from Kako? Maybe I should keep her around as a shield against my brother…'
"There's one more thing," she said, withdrawing her hand and looking at him smugly. "In exchange for my fabulous advice, you must act the third character." She shoved yet another script into his hands. "You obviously know the lines already, and you're a guy! So you win, and I'll be the judge! Now go! Skedaddle!" She pushed Mokuba over to where Serenity was lounging on a futon, this one covered in a forest green cloth.
"I guess I'm acting the character of Yugi Moto," Mokuba said, stretching out on the futon next to Serenity. She smiled brightly.
"This is great; I have a friend to play my friend." She flipped over pages of the script as she spoke. "And an ally. Let's hunt us some Kaiba."
"Hey, I'm neutral- I'm Switzerland!" Mokuba replied defensively. "My character is Seto's cousin here, so I can't abandon him." 'I hate being caught in the middle like this…' He rubbed his temples gently; he could feel a headache creeping up on him. Lost in conversation, the two barely noticed Seto's presence until he was right behind their futon.
"Are you ready to do this?"
Serenity craned her neck up to look at Seto's determined smirk. He looked so confident: was he as great an actor as he was with everything else? She had to admit, she was itching to start, too. She wanted to prove herself to Mokuba and Kako, to not let them down. "We were waiting for you."
Seto looked surprised at her retort, but it barely registered other than a slight twitch in the eyebrows. "Getting into character already? That's good; you'll need it." Serenity frowned; why was he goading her like this? It wasn't nice. He sauntered over towards the bookshelf against another partition; gazing at the assortment of college textbooks and accessories on its shelves. Mokuba sighed, "Let's start this- Kako, don't interrupt us until we're done- no matter what." The last bit was said almost as an aside, but still, he felt like this was going to be rough.
"Sure thing," Kako replied. "But can you please use your own names for this run-through? I don't want to get distracted." She moved to Mokuba's director's chair and perched on it, waiting expectantly. "Makes it easier for yourselves as well as me."
Serenity stood up from the futon and stretched, relaxing every muscle in her body. Seto eyed her strangely- she was reminding him of a cat. Seto Kaiba hated cats. All they ever did was get fur everywhere and then sleep. Trying to act cute when they were really a nuisance. Yes, he decided, Serenity is actually a cat, trapped in a woman's body. Serenity would even be a name someone would give to a cat.
"Come back to us," Mokuba laughed at his brother. Seto blinked a few times, returning his focus to the conversation at hand. He needed to clear his mind. That girl even managed to annoy him in his thoughts!
"Aaaand…action! Or whatever…" Kako shrugged, twirling a lock of hair between two fingers. She had a clipboard by her side, ready to write down her reactions from their performance. A slight smile escaped as she watched lights focus and people bustling around stop in respect. All of her attention was centered on the stage. Mokuba looked so eager, while a silently studious look graced the elder Kaiba.
"Come on, Seto!" Mokuba chided his 'cousin', dragging him along behind him as if entering the apartment for the first time. "If you're going to be my guest, can't you at least pretend to be interested in meeting my friends?" Mokuba turned around to glare at Seto. "Serenity's nice, so please, for once just don't be yourself?"
And here I thought I was just going to be reading lines. Guess that's out. "Why are you in such a hurry?"Seto asked, freeing his arm from Mokuba's grasp and crossed his arms petulantly. "You're just next door. There's no need to rush at all. Besides, you invited yourself over."
"Us. Over." Mokuba scanned the room, a hopeful smile extending over his face. "Serenity? We're here!"
"I'm in the kitchen!" Serenity called from a hallway built off of the room. It served as a conduit to several other stages, sets of other rooms in her apartment, she supposed. She bit her lip to hide a smile at Seto's words. He said he was just going to read the lines. This would be interesting if they were all going to get into it. Serenity set her face, and then turned, gliding smoothly into the room. This was her room, after all.
"Mokuba, I'm glad you called! It's been a while since I've seen you. Why don't you…" Serenity froze for a moment upon seeing the man next to her friend. "Oh! So that's why you said 'we're'. Let me grab another soda. Make yourselves comfortable!" She placed two coca-colas on the coffee table centering the room, and then disappeared back through the hallway, where a mini-fridge labeled 'props' was waiting for her. She extracted another cola and headed back into the room, smiling at the sight before her.
Mokuba was lounging on the futon, a contented smile on his face as he guzzled the can of soda. Seto had taken a chair next to it, and was toying with the already opened can. Seto frowned as he read the ingredients list. This stuff is liquid sugar…do I really have to drink this? He took a small sip, quickly putting the can down. It would be too tempting to finish the whole thing. He couldn't. That was way too much sugar, and with those bubbles…it was much safer to just not drink anymore of it.
Mokuba finally put down the can with a contented sigh. "Oh! Serenity, I would like you to meet my cousin, Seto." Serenity strode over from the side of the room and stopped at the seating area. Seto stood up to greet her. "Nice to meet you," she said pleasantly, holding out her hand. 'Ooh, a gentleman…'
His handshake was strong, and his hand felt cool to the touch. Deep blue eyes locked on to hers as he returned, "You as well…" His voice was surprisingly strong and deep. Serenity almost froze, looking at him. That handshake seemed too forward- Serenity couldn't quite figure it out. Seto was the first to retake his seat. Serenity joined Mokuba on the futon, still puzzling over the handshake. She figured he probably was introduced to thousands of people; it must be reflexive by now. But this position put her closest to him. This was slightly awkward, but nothing she couldn't handle.
"So Mokuba," Serenity began, "How come I haven't met your cousin before? Has he never visited?"
"He just got a job transfer back to Domino," Mokuba explained. "He's spearheading the new branch of Industrial Illusions." Serenity raised an eyebrow. That wasn't in her script, but hey, she'd roll with it.
"Impressive." She opened her soda, enjoying the hiss as the carbonation was exposed. She savored a sip of the soda, an indulgence hardly ever satisfied. "I hope that goes well for you."
"It will." Seto lowered his soda to match her eyes with his serious gaze. This soda was too affecting. He should have let that remark get away, but for some reason, he had to counter. What was he supposed to say to that? 'I hope so too?' How lame. He didn't care if he was acting, but Seto Kaiba didn't hope for things. He set goals and made them. Whatever it took, he would see things through to the end. Mokuba did a stupid thing, putting us on this tangent. He would have to fix it.
"Confidence will only get you so far," Serenity said, sipping the soda again. This was anything but diet. Screw her own diet, she needed the real thing. Mokuba looked at Serenity, worry etched into his face. She could almost hear the message his body was sending. This is not the time to argue. Wait until the script tells you to argue. I am refusing to run interference for you. Again.
Seto smirked, obviously liking the direction that this was going in. This was the threshold where his employees and rivals only dared to cross. Who contradicted Seto Kaiba? That was rhetorical, of course. Nobody did. And lived to tell about it that is.
"But you do agree that it is a necessary trait for success in any endeavor," Seto said, putting that damn soda down as he stood up from his chair. Best to stay out of arm's reach of that can- it was only half empty. 'Black coffee from now on,' his brain reminded him. 'This whole experience is a testament to that." From this position he towered over her, his superiority in their argument now showing a physical manifestation.
"Confidence in moderation is." Serenity said, enjoying their banter. Intelligent conversation was one of the things she missed most about leaving college, and it felt refreshing to talk to someone who wasn't either going along with everything that she said or forcefully trying to convert her to their way of thinking. This was a simple and harmless exchange of ideas, and with someone whom she probably was never going to see again. She got the feeling that Seto didn't like to come to this building.
She stood, matching his level, although she was much shorter. "Too much confidence begins to resemble… arrogance," she drew out the last word, putting emphasis on it. This was not lost to him.
"Are you calling me arrogant…Serenity?" He nearly whispered, his voice dangerously low yet with considerable intensity. Normally he ignored it, but to be indirectly insulted by this mere girl that he had only met was intolerable. If she didn't back off, he was going to make her.
"Now what makes you think that…Seto?" She replied, just as low. Her voice retained its sweetness, however soft her voice had become. Mokuba's sharp breath was audible to both of them; he knew she was using his name only to antagonize him but still…that took some nerve. Serenity's eyes twinkled merrily as they met his frigid blue ones.
Seto couldn't believe it. She was enjoying this. Most people were petrified to just talk to him and here she was, insulting him and with his own name! Only Mokuba ever dared to do that, and then he always ran off here, to his studio. He could see her breathing, her shoulders rising and falling, and her
hair brushing against the sides of his arms. It was at that moment when he realized how close they were.
Warning bells were going off like fireworks in his brain. When did they get that close? Had they always been that close? And why the hell hadn't Mokuba said anything? This was ridiculous. He nearly shoved her away before he realized that they were in character. Acting. Pretending. With people watching. He was blocked in. Wasn't it time for her to leave the scene already?
"Not many people would challenge me like that," he began again, the words slipping coolly from his mouth. "Why would you?"
"Simple," she replied, seemingly forgetting all about their debate earlier. "I believe that you should never back down from your beliefs. If I think arrogance is a vice, I'll say so." She turned to leave, and without thinking, Seto grabbed her arm, firmly preventing her escape. Serenity spun around to face him, real surprise evident on her face. "What are you—"
"You're doing it again." Serenity looked up, surprised. Seto looked down at her, almost as confused. Where had that come from? Seto's mouth never wavered, but as she looked at him, she thought she could detect a shimmer in his eyes. 'He's smiling with his eyes…' One of her other beliefs, held so strongly, was that true smiles could only be seen with the eyes. Anyone (well, maybe he was the exception) could put a smile on their face, but you couldn't fake an eye-smile. It was like an open window into the soul. And Serenity had just seen his.
At once she dropped her gaze- her eyes were at about the height of his shoulders. Suddenly the room felt a whole lot smaller. And she needed to get Seto's hand away from her elbow. "Excuse me; I'll take these cans back to the kitchen." Her voice sounded weak, even to her own ears. She grabbed Seto's soda can with her free hand, and gently eased away from Seto's grasp. He let her go and she left, taking all three cans in one trip. They went on top of the mini-fridge. Serenity heaved a sigh of relief. She was done. With the speaking part, anyways. She moved towards the room, stopping only when she could hear their voices.
"Well, thanks for including me in your conversation," Mokuba huffed. Now that they had completely, well not so… they had still deviated, and now he had to steer it back to port. He had half a mind to smack his brother. He grinned at him instead. "So…? What did you think about her, Seto? I have cute friends, right?"
"Cute? Maybe by your standards, but thank goodness mine aren't set that low."
"Ouch, Seto. Anything else you'd like to add?"
"You lied to me."
Mokuba recoiled in mock disgust. Thank goodness, he's back to the script!
"You told me she was nice."
Mokuba frowned. "Well, she is nice. To me, anyways. Maybe it was something you said—"
Seto sank back into the chair, glaring coldly at Mokuba. "I didn't say anything!" he hissed. "She was the one snapping back at everything that I said! And all because of her stupid ideals…" Stupid cat-woman…I pity the person who is cast opposite her…
Seto gave his brother a highly disdainful look. "And you've been her friend for how long? You live next door to her and go visiting her apartment, which looks like a goodwill store…" Mokuba looked horrified. Seto looked really angry. Was he acting? Did he really not like her that much? Was he even aware of what he was saying?
They couldn't see, and couldn't know, but Serenity stayed hidden in the hallway, but still was able to hear their voices. At Seto's words, a hand flew up to her mouth to shield her gasp. Undisguised shock was clear on her face. He was taking this too far. Was any of this even on the script? She had been nothing but agreeable to him, and he acts like this? She wanted to kick the wall in anger, but she restrained herself, silently seething.
Seto slammed a fist on the arm of his chair, making a slight thudding noise. "You've introduced me to your friend now. That's all we agreed on. I even talked to her, which was more than she deserved. Can we go now?"
"But Seto," Mokuba whined. "I haven't had the chance to—"
"I don't care. I want to leave."
Wordlessly, Seto got up and strode to the 'door', a simple painted oak construction built into the partition. At least he had the decency to shut it behind him, not slam it. Mokuba sighed. "Serenity? I've got to get back to my apartment for a second. I'll talk to you later about the trip plans, ok? See you!" Mokuba made his way to the door, following Seto's path. Maybe that was a little too cheery. Oh well, it couldn't be helped. What was said was said.
Serenity's breath caught in her throat. Seto had sounded so…angry at her. Even though she knew it was just lines (although not all of them were really from the script), everything that he had said hurt her. It hurt when he said she wasn't cute, when he said she wasn't nice, when he insulted her apartment, and most of all, when he left. She had spent a lot of time on her appearance today, and for it all to mean nothing to him…it wasn't exactly a boost in the self-esteem department. And Serenity thought that she was a nice person! She was…right? And even though it wasn't her apartment per se, it certainly felt like hers. And she had never shown anyone her apartment, for fear of exactly this thing happening. And when he left…he didn't slam the door. So was he angry or not? If he was angry, he wouldn't have cared whether she knew that he was leaving or not. But he didn't slam the door…
Mostly Serenity was just frustrated with herself. Why did she care so much? Why did all of this have such a great affect on her? She shouldn't let it get to her, but it was. She just couldn't help it.
Serenity slowly sank down the wall she was leaning against. It didn't matter now whether she was acting or not. It hurt. She wasn't even sure what was in the script or not. Did he leave on his own accord? Was that how he felt? This wasn't fair. And no matter how he felt, Serenity wasn't sure which she hated worst: his scorn or his indifference. She stared at a blank space on the wall in front of her; this feeling made her want to curl up on her bed and cry. But she wasn't sure if Shizuka would cry. So she just stared bitterly at the wall. She couldn't help the lone tear that streaked down her right cheek- the one that faced the stage.
Everything was silent- Kako remained poised on the director's chair, enraptured, her pen in hand hovering over the clipboard. She began to clap, at first slowly, then building. The noise was joined by others in the room, tech support guys, camera people; everyone had stopped to watch the performance. And they were all applauding the trio. Serenity hastily wiped her cheek; it wouldn't do for Mokuba or his brother to see how their words had affected her. She stood up, moving towards Kako. She tried not to, but couldn't help looking as the door swung open. Mokuba entered first, smiling brilliantly, soaking up all the attention. He was followed by Seto, his head barely clearing the frame of the door, his countenance unreadable.
Mokuba bounded easily across the stage to Serenity. "You did an amazing job," he congratulated. "Considering what we had to work with…" he jabbed a thumb in Seto's direction. Serenity put on a small smile. She was still shaken up and she didn't want Mokuba asking any unnecessary questions. Mokuba sailed away to talk to Kako. She was still scribbling away on her clipboard.
Serenity didn't want to be the one to speak first. Let it be awkward, she didn't care. She had done her part, now it was Mokuba's turn to decide what would happen next.
"Why did you challenge me, to do this?" he asked, fixing his eyes on her again.
That stare. Did he know how to do anything else other than stare at people? It was as if someone was pointing a laser at her, as uncomfortable as it made Serenity feel. She, however, would never give him the satisfaction of knowing that. "You did it, congratulations, now you're expecting something from me?" Her voice was laced with disdain.
"Tell me." It was an order, not a suggestion. An answer was already forming in her mind.
"Because I knew that it would be easy," she answered, a confident smile lighting up her face.
"Why?" They were nearly as close as they were on the set, where if she reached out, she could touch him. Not like she would, but she could… She looked up, meeting his gaze. His eyes were serious and searching, trying to decipher if there was even a shred of truth to anything she was saying.
"Because I don't like you."
She had just blurted it out. It was what she had been thinking the whole time, so why not get it out there? She stared blankly as Seto's eyebrows disappeared under a forest of brown locks and then his
mouth twitched into the familiar Kaiba smirk. He didn't seem fazed at all. She wouldn't have been surprised if he started laughing at her. What was the deal?
"Half of Domino doesn't like me. You don't even know me and you don't like me."
Why was he so calm? It was infuriating, making her all the angrier at him. She glared at him; he just continued to look at her, amused. "In this script, we argue. It's a lot easier arguing with someone you don't like. It makes things much simpler; half of the time I wasn't even acting."
"How do you know that I wasn't either?"
He just let the question hang, suspended in the air. Serenity frowned at his smirking face. What sort of game was he playing? "Of course I know. You can't act."
"Neither can you, from what I just heard."
Serenity was fuming. "I'm not even talking to you right now. You make me so mad- I can't even think straight." She stomped off towards the snack table set up in the back. She needed to vent her anger with something sweet.
Mokuba had cornered Kako in his director's chair. "Give me that clipboard."
"No," Kako replied childishly. "It has comments about your own performance on it."
"And I care because…?"
"Just be glad you're the director." Kako thrust the board into his outstretched hands. She waited for him to read.
"WHAT!?" Mokuba switched his gaze from the board to Kako to the board again. "What do you mean I can't act?"
"Exactly that," Kako preened. "You got them started on that whole tangent, and you didn't even try to act like Yugi Moto's character. He's sweet and innocent and trusts other people's judgment entirely. If Seto says these things, Yugi would feel terribly confused. Thank goodness you weren't auditioning. You made a complete mess of the scene." Mokuba continued to read down the sheet, occasionally reading the comments aloud.
"You think she hates him? I doubt that- Serenity seems like the nicest person." Mokuba turned around to look for her- he saw Serenity shaking her hands with rage at Kaiba, and then stomping off, obviously upset. "Guess I got that wrong. It must be his fault, though." They both watched the pair silently. Serenity was holding a plate and covering it with grapes and brownies. Seto was watching her, a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Definitely his fault," Mokuba concluded, suddenly catching on to Kako's wide grin. Realization flashed across his features- the only think lacking was a light bulb over his head. "You think?"
"They definitely have chemistry. The beginning scenes will be perfect for them. I can tell that they're both desperate to really have a go at each other. Take Serenity, for example. She looks furious."
"Yeah, but what about what happens after the beginning scenes? Do you think that they can handle it?"
Kako looked at Mokuba's worried expression and smiled. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I couldn't see anyone else in those two spots. Besides, we've casted everyone else already. And the auditions this morning were pathetic. Even if we looked at everyone, I doubt we can find anyone that could bring the spark we need to this film. I can feel it- we need them in these spots."
Mokuba nodded. Kako was making sense- now all they had to do was convince them both to join the cast…and sign the contract. With Serenity, it wouldn't be a problem. She wanted this; it was why she was here. Seto, on the other hand, would rather lose a duel than get put into this situation. Kako had a gleam in her eye to match his own. Mokuba knew that she was right. They were the perfect duo for this movie. It couldn't be anyone else. Mokuba threw a sideways glance at Kako. They both sighed in union. Now if only they knew that.
A/N: Here we are for grand old chapter 5! It only took this many chapters to set up the plot! Hooray! Now let's wait patiently to see if they can force our heroes to act in this movie. On another note: Wow, the lengths of these chapters are growing exponentially. This one, in particular…wow. Quite possibly the longest thing I've ever written for a chapter. On a harmonic third above this note, another note: I am thankful for all my lovely readers and reviewers. This story has over 500 hits now (in just four chapters, I'm overjoyed). If you like what I've got so far, I'd love to hear from you! Constructive criticism always appreciated, I want this story to be the best that it can be! Or if you have any ideas for torture methods to get Seto to sign the contract…muahahaha! Hope everyone had/is having/will have a fabulous spring break time! Yay for holidays!
I wrote this on St. Patrick's Day…so Happy Green-wearing day to all!
Sakura Takanouchi