07.26.11

BETTER AND WORSE

Oh man, today was a rough day.

I don't even feel like posting anything tonight, but I know you're all probably wondering what happened the next day at the 'actual shooting.' Well, I'm really tired and I'm writing this a lot later than usual, so this is only going to cover the first part of the next day, and will probably be fairly short.

Sorry about that.

Anyway, let's start with the rest of the first day. The androids kept me up until around six am because Hikaru and Kaoru found a marathon of the Ju-On movies playing and insisted we watch them. By the time it was over, I was falling asleep on Mori, Tamaki was cowering in the corner, and the twins were cheering and asking when we could see them again.

No comment.

We got to the shoot again the next day, and I did indeed see a great deal more cameras than the day before. Kyoya immediately wandered off, I had to wonder why no one tried to stop him.

Usagiuma greeted us by the dressing room, and several attendants ushered them inside leaving me and the fat director alone. Usagiuma had this smug look on his face, like he was the world's greatest genius. I honestly wouldn't have put it passed him to think like that.

"Ahhh,' He said, taking an exaggerated deep breath. "This is a great day for filming. Perfect weather."

He turned to me.

"What do you think, Haruna? Ready for the shoot?"

I'd love to shoot you, Usagiuma-san, but I'm afraid there are too many witnesses.

…you don't actually believe I said that, right?

"It's Haruhi," Is what I really said. "And no, not really."

Usagiuma's smile faded a bit at that. Did I ever mention I can be a bit too blunt when it comes to answering questions? I mean it, I can't lie to save my life.

I could tell right away Usagiuma wasn't happy with that response. He stopped walking and examined me, clicking his tongue as he did so.

"And why is that?" He asked.

I stopped as well, giving his as even en expression as I could manage while inwardly boiling with rage.

"I'm worried for my… cousin's safety," It took me a moment to remember the cover story Tamaki had come up with. I just hoped Usagiuma didn't notice the pause.

"Hmmm," He rubbed his unshaved chin. "I see, but they did sign a contract knowing all the risks. It's not like their children and you're their guardian."

…okay, let's play a game everyone. It's called: How many things are wrong with this statement?

Number 1: None of them had the chance to even skim that contract.

Number 2: They don't know what the 'risk' means.

Number 3: YES I AM THEIR GUARDIAN, YOU IDIOT!

Granted, only the first two were safe for me to say, but the point still stands.

"Even so," I ground out. "They are family and I care a great deal about them. I really don't like them doing this."

Usagiuma raised an eyebrow.

"So what would you like me do to about it?"

I glanced from side to side. Mostly from the awkward air this conversation was beginning to take on. I gave a weak shrug.

"Let them out of the contract so we can go home?"

It was a hopeless attempt, I know that now. Actually, I knew that then too, but what was I supposed to do? Odds were that contract was legally binding, and the last thing I needed was to get sued on top of all my other problems.

Usagiuma was giving me a funny look now, one I couldn't really describe except that it didn't leave me very hopeful.

"I see," He said a second time. "Why don't we discuss this more in my office, Ms. Fujimoto."

"It's Fujioka," I grumbled.

He ignored me and gently placed his open palm on my back, guiding me into a dark room just a little ways down the hall. He opened the light while I walked in, revealing a room filled with nothing but clothes racks on either side of the room. I blinked in confusion.

"This is your office?" I asked.

"WHOOPS!"

SLAM

I whirled around, Usagiuma was grinning at me through a window in the now shut tight door. Without missing a beat, I ran to it and tried to turn the knob. It wouldn't budge.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Usagiuma was definitely NOT sorry. "I accidentally shut the door and it locked on it's own!"

I gave him the strongest glare I possibly could. Seriously, I probably could've killed a puppy with it or something.

Usagiuma pretended to search his pockets for something, still grinning widely.

"Darn," He said, snapping his fingers. "Can't find the keys. Oh well, I'll just get you out after the shoot is over. You'll be fine until then."

He turned to walk away while I fruitlessly banged on the door and called out to him.

"Relax," He shouted over his shoulder. "When I'm a world famous movie director, I'll thank you in my Oscar speech!"

Oh, I knew what he could do with his Oscar speech.

And his Oscar, but that's another story.

Anyway, I spent roughly an hour banging on the door as well as the window on the other side of the room. Nobody was in the hallway, but people were constantly passing the window and not one of them acknowledge my pleas for help. I had no idea whether they couldn't hear me or if Usagiuma had outright told them to ignore me. Either way, I wasn't getting out anytime soon.

This, of course, meant the androids performed all those dangerous stunts again, and this time I couldn't even see them. Somehow, that made the situation both better and worse. Don't ask me how.

I eventually gave up trying to get anyone's attention. I slid to the ground, moaning as I went, and thought of all the horrible things I wanted to subject Usagiuma and those stupid androids to. Meanwhile, I could still hear Usagiuma shouting instructions, along with the voices of other crew members, making random comments about, 'not enough fire,' and 'those skates are the wrong size.'

One such remark, however, got my attention rather quickly.

"Alright, time for the big one!"

That was Usagiuma, obviously.

I had no idea what he meant by 'the big one,' but the fact that this statement was met with cheers and whoops didn't reassure me of anything. I shook my head, trying to remove all overreacting thoughts from my head.

I was sure there wasn't any other stunt that hadn't been rehearsed yesterday for whatever reason. Usagiuma was a lot of things, but he wasn't a liar, right?

Right?

"Alright, get ready for the big stunt!"

Wait, what the Hell was I thinking? Of course he was a liar.

"Why's this door locked?"

That comment came from behind me, by the door. I almost jumped, but settled for just whirling around in time to see two men in the little window before the door came open with a squeak.

The two men looked at my relieved face as I walked over to them.

"Thank God," I said more to myself than to them. "I've been waiting forever for someone to come."

"Are you here for the show?" One of the men asked.

I started to nod, then stopped.

"Well, yeah, technically I guess."

I'm not sure if the men heard more than the first part of what I said. They gave relieved sighs of their own while the one who spoke grabbed my arm, scowling at me.

"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?" He demanded as he pulled me down the hall. "This is not professional behavior."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded right back.

"Just come on," The man ignored all my further protests as he dragged me to the back door and opened it.

I found myself in a field, most likely behind the actual set. All I could see besides grass and a few other crew members was a large elevator-type box connected to an intricate series of wires. How had I not noticed that before?

A female employee ran over as we exited the trailer. She had an identical look of relief to the two men.

"Finally, now we can get started," She breathed out.

I was pulled over to the box, one of the employees pushing something into my ear before I could object to it.

"Just calm down," The female employee said, giving me a funny look. "Why are you so nervous, you've done this sort of thing before, right?"

"Done WHAT before?" I responded loudly.

Something was forced onto my head before she could respond. I yelped and tried to fight it off, until I realized it was just a helmet.

Wait, a HELMET?

"Alright, the stuntwoman's all set," The man who pulled me out here said into his ear piece. Meanwhile, I was being all but pushed into the elevator box.

"Stuntwoman," I repeated, everything now starting to make sense. "Stuntwoman?"

SLAM

I was really starting to hate that sound.

"Alright, just listen to the microphone for instructions," The female employee explained to me while grinning. "You don't really have to do much, just try not to rock back and forth too much, okay?"

"Hang on a minute!" I shouted back.

Then I heard what sounded like a machine starting up, and the crew member ran back towards the others.

The box lifted into the air, and despite the woman's warning, I did shake it quite a bit as in my shock. I went up higher and higher, until I could see over the entire set. I noticed a flashed of blonde hair at one point, but couldn't tell if it was Tamaki or Hunny.

I could barely here Usagiuma shouting something through his megaphone, but what I could make out gave me a fairly good idea of what was happening here.

"…completely unrehearsed… trained professionals only… will they rescue her from certain death in time?"

Find out on EXTREME!

At least, that's what I assume followed that last bit.

Okay, I'm going to stop here. I'm sorry if this post doesn't seem as good or amusing as any of the others, but I'm about to literally fall asleep over my laptop.

Good night everybody, see you tomorrow!

Posted by Haruhi at 12:57 am 0 comments