Chie: Again, as a reminder, if the names confuse you, there is a list on my blog: chie-chie . livejournal . com / 25476 . html

Also from now on, the chapters will be more of of a drabble length, generally between 300 and 800 words.

3. Cliques

784 Words

The members of the Inuyasha cast fell into smaller cliques quite naturally. Some of the cliques were even quite amusing, if one took in accordance the roles they would play in the drama. One of those was the close friendship quickly knit by the cute, shy Noriko and the motherly Izumi – which was fairly natural as they both were the same age, but appeared a bit comical as the two would on the screen play the respective roles of 'Kikyo' and 'Kagura'. Other such pair was naturally formed by the two veteran actors Morikawa and Kyouda, but again the notion of 'Naraku' and 'Kaede' being all buddy-buddy caused some members of the staff to chuckle.

Some of the new close friendships struck were not out of character for their roles in the drama – for example, it took only a day on the set until Himeko, who played 'Sango', and 'Miroku's' actor Kouji, became inseparable.

There were those, too, who preferred solitude. The young Akio-kun who had been cast in the role of 'Kohaku' was one of them. It was probably just natural, as the only actor on the set around his age was the actress of 'Rin', Mamiko-chan, and she usually ignored Akio-kun completely.

Narita Ken was also like that. He was occasionally seen in deep conversation with Morikawa, but he did not really consort with other members of the cast much – apparently, just like his character 'Sesshoumaru', solitude was no problem for Ken.

Still, he was hardly ever seen by himself, as company would always seem to find him somehow. Especially that of the female kind.

Satsuki wasn't all too impressed about that. All in all, she got along great with her colleagues – but for some reason, it was Ken she did not particularly care for. From the beginning, something about him had ticked her off. She could not deny that he had charisma – but the whole ladies' man thing was thoroughly pissing her off.

Her eyes travelled to where the man was currently standing, that stupid, charming smile plastered on his face. As usual, he was surrounded by annoying and giggling flock of mindless females.

The sight made the corner of her eye twitch.

Still, her animosity towards Ken aside, she was having a great time working on the project. 'Kagome' was her first big role – which was absolutely thrilling as her career was still quite in the early stages. Aside from Akio-kun and Mamiko-chan, Satsuki was the youngest member of the cast.

She had also quite easily found her own very clique – Mitsuo's boyish charm and tendency to pull pranks suited Satsuki's mischievous nature better than anything. It was a bit of a relief, really, because things might have got awkward on set if they would not have got along well, after all, 'Kagome' was quite obviously carrying a torch for 'Inuyasha'. But luckily, Mitsuo was a blast to be around. Satsuki had always been more comfortable in the company of guys as opposed to girls' – she just was not all that into make-up or boy-talk.

Occasionally the havoc wreaking duo was joined by Taiki, the actor for 'Kouga'. He was a bit loud at times and liked to be in the spotlight, and he was very careful to maintain his bad-boy image – but he also was great fun and suited the team formed by the prankster and the tomboy amazingly well.

o~D~o

Everyone was delighted that there was hardly any discord between the cast, and already in the course of few days, they were starting to resemble a big family:

The 43 year old Morikawa was their "father", while Kyouda, the 54 years old veteran actress, was like their strict aunt. As the oldest and most notable actor in the cast, she had also eased into the role of a mentor, almost by an accident.

Surprisingly the "family's" mother figure was Izumi, who was among the younger members at just 24 years of age. However, she was quite the mother hen. Narita Ken was quite obviously the distant uncle who was an eternal bachelor.

The children were Mamiko-chan and Akio-kun, of course, as they both were barely in their teens. Surprisingly the rank of the 'children' was also joined by the 25 year old Mitsuo, who was boyish and a tad immature and always joking around, as well as his faithful teammate Satsuki, who was quite the tomboy. Kouji and Himeko might as well been twins.

Taiki was the attention-seeking cousin while Noriko was like the pet dog everyone adored and doted on.

All in all, everyone got along, and they all were very enthusiastic about working on project Inuyasha, and could not wait to start the shooting of the drama.