2. Introductions

924 Words

"I suppose I can go first," the kind looking older man at the end of the table opposite to where the director was sitting, broke the silence. He was middle-aged, and though he did not have many lines on his face – save for those in the corners of his eyes left by moments of merry laughter – there were refining streaks of gray in his well-groomed dark hair. His tone was friendly, and the charismatic aura surrounding him seemed to command respect. He was a veteran actor, and quite well known for some of his roles over the long years.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, everyone," he continued, smiling openly. "My name is Morikawa Toshiyuki, and I have been cast to play the role of 'Naraku'. I hope we can all get along."

Satsuki took an immediate liking to this man. He seemed to be well-mannered and very kind. She had been very nervous that such a famous actor would have been distant or stuck up, but Morikawa appeared to be none of that.

This was Satsuki's first big role, so it was no wonder she was feeling a bit fidgety.

The boy next to the veteran actor was the second to speak.

"Hi. I'm Morikawa Akio. I have been cast to play 'Kohaku'. Please take care of me," he intoned curtly with a formal bow of his head.

Satsuki wondered how old the boy was, he looked young, barely in his teens, but the way he spoke and behaved mimicked a disposition of an adult.

Next to the boy sat another veteran well known to the show biz. Her black hair was up in a tight bun as she scrutinised her colleagues all around the table.

"Hello, everyone. It seems that I am the oldest member of the cast," she noted dryly. "My name is Kyouda Hisako, you may have heard of me."

A few people around the table chuckled at that – there was none in the room who would not have ever heard of Kyouda Hisako, as she had been acting for a good 4 decades.

"I will play the role of 'Kaede'. I hope we can make a splendid show together."

Although Kyouda obviously wasn't as warm and friendly as Morikawa, for an actress with such an impressive career she didn't appear to be stuck up either.

"I am Noto Mamiko!" piped up the next person. "I'm 12 years old. I will be 'Rin'. Nice to meet you!" she had a sweet smile on her face, but her bearing was proud. Alarm bells went off in Satsuki's mind. Something told her that this girl might be trouble.

"I… I am Hidaka Noriko," a brown haired actress stammered next while blushing prettily. "My role will be that of 'Kikyo'. Please take care of me!" she bowed deep and when she straightened, she was still slightly flushed.

Satsuki thought that she was utterly adorable.

"I'm Matsuno Taiki," the man sitting next to her said in a relaxed manner. He was sporting a confident grin and he ran his hand through his bleached hair. He seemed to have the whole bad boy thing working for him.

"I'm cast in this show as 'Kouga'; I hope we'll have fun!"

Next was an actress, who was dressed up very fashionably and whose light brown hair was set on elaborate curls framing her pretty face.

Girly girl, Satsuki labelled her in her mind.

"Hi, everyone! I'm Kuwashima Himeko, and I'll be playing 'Sango'. Please be kind to me!"

And then it was her turn.

"Hey there! I'm Yukino Satsuki."

Unlike almost everyone else in the room, Satsuki was not dressed up. She was clad casually in faded jeans and turquoise T-shirt. The smile on her face was genuine and the glimmer in her brown eyes a tad mischievous and her black hair has a layered cut so that the longest strands barely reached past her shoulders.

"I will be your 'Kagome'. This is my first lead-role, so I will look to you for guidance!"

"I am Narita Ken, pleased to make your acquaintance," spoke the next in line. He was a charismatic man, and there was a charming smile playing on his lips – a smile that could make even the most frigid woman on the planet swoon.

For some reason, Satsuki was greatly irked by that.

"I have been cast to the role of 'Sesshoumaru'," he continued in his smooth, deep voice. "I hope we can get along with each other."

"Hello everyone, nice to meet you," started the actress sitting next to the mountain of charisma. "I am Ohgami Izumi, and I will be playing the role of 'Kagura'. Please take care of me."

Satsuki thought that she appeared to be quite nice.

"It's great to meet you, everyone," spoke the smiling man who was the second last to introduce himself. "My name is Tsujitani Kouji and I will be playing 'Miroku'. It will be an honour to work with you all!"

He seemed to be quite open and polite. Satsuki appreciated that.

"Last but not least, 'Inuyasha'," joked the very last one of the lot. There was boyish mirth twinkling in his eyes. Satsuki quite liked that.

"That is, Yamaguchi Mitsuo. I hope we'll have a blast!"

And so they had gone a full circle.

"Okay, that's great, everyone!" Director Takahashi concluded. "Now we all know each other a bit better. Chie-sensei will now hand out the tentative script to each of you. We'll start shooting tomorrow at 8, so don't be late!"

Chie: So, in this chapter, the cast introduced themselves and which roles they will play in Inuyasha. Generally in the narrative, I'll try to slip in the name of their Inuyasha role, too, to keep everyone from getting confused.

HOWEVER, if you feel that you still have trouble linking the actor's name to Inuyasha character name, here be a LIST: chie-chie . livejournal . com / 25476 . html