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Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
When Kyoko came down the next morning, she was shocked by the sight awaiting here. She almost did not recognize the woman sitting at the counter. Kyoko had come to expect crisp business suits and neatly styled hair from her manager, but that was not the case today. The older woman stood in the same dark heels, but with faded blue jeans and a dark colored tank top. Even her makeup was more aggressive than before. She had a black trench coat pulled over everything and Kyoko recognized it as the coat she had been wearing the first time they met. It hung open and loose around her. Catherine had left her hair loose so that is hung in waves to her waist. The whole ensemble screamed Yankee. The only thing that the now dangerous looking manager was missing was a bat.
"Good morning." Catherine bowed to her in greeting. "We have a lot to do today." Kyoko bowed back and hurried as Catherine lead her out the door. She followed Catherine to the car and climbed inside without a word. Kyoko wondered if her manager had been affected by the head wound more than they thought.
"Are you alright?" Kyoko questioned the changed manager.
"Yeah, I feel great today." Catherine smiled and pulled out into traffic. Kyoko did not know how to approach the subject of her changed demeanor so she left it for the moment. Kyoko studied the left side of Catherine's face as they made their way to work. The manager had used makeup to cover most of the darken area around the stiches. Catherine noticed the uncomfortable silence that had settled inside the car. "Are you ready for your scenes today?" She provoked a normal response out of her charge. "I wouldn't want to you get a NG from the director because you were distracted by everything going on." This shook Kyoko back to herself.
"I spent a lot of time on that last night and I am ready for today." Kyoko regained herself as she took out her script. She would be filming with Ren this morning. She was enjoying playing in another drama with him, even if it was just a small part.
"Good. We will be there in a few minutes." Catherine signaled to change lanes. "You also have the filming of 'Totally Wild Rock' tonight." Kyoko nodded. Catherine noticed the crowd of reporters milling around as they parked at the studio. She was glad she had physically prepared for them today. The manager took a moment to mentally prepare for the confrontation as the two climbed out of the car. When Kyoko noticed the group, she faltered in her steps as she remembered the mob from a few days ago.
"Um… Maybe we should call security?" Kyoko asked.
"Na, we will be ok." Catherine reassured her as she propelled the reluctant actress towards the waiting cameras. "Just remember to not say anything to any of their questions. We have a right to be here and they cannot stop us." Catherine whispered into her ear as she braced herself for the onset of the paparazzi. Some of the group noticed the arrival of the actress and turned to her with questions. Catherine stepped closer to Kyoko and pulled her inside her trench coat and continued strait into the group without slowing down.
"Are the rumors of you and Fuwa Sho true?"
"Is it true you were attacked by his fans?"
"Were you hurt?"
"Who was the woman hit with the brick?"
"We have no comment!" Catherine yelled as she pushed the wrapped Kyoko past all the questions and cameras into to the building. Once inside the doors, Catherine released a stunned Kyoko from the inside of her coat. Again, Kyoko's footsteps faltered as the shock of the situation settled over her. She had seen this type of response to Ren, but she never thought it would happen to her. "Come on Kyoko, you have work to do." Catherine took the still stunned girl by the shoulder and guided her into the studio.
"Aaa, Yes! Thank you." Kyoko came to her senses and headed to her dressing room. Catherine followed her at a little slower pace. Her adrenalin was up from the paparazzi and she needed to cool off so she adjusted her course towards the refreshments left for the actors. This took her strait past Yashiro and Ren. They didn't notice her until she had walked up behind them.
"Good morning gentlemen," she greeted them as she picked out two bottles of water from the cooler. They both turned to look at the girl that spoke. For a moment, they did not recognize the woman, than it hit Ren.
"Saunders-san!" Surprise flavored his voice. He had seen her like this before in California, but he never expected it here. Yashiro stared at her with wide eyes.
"Please, Kat. I can't get use to the use of my last name." Catherine smiled and turned to head back to the dressing rooms. "Kyoko will be out in a bit," she called to them as she left. The two men watched her go before looked at each other, eyes still wide.
"Was that really Saunders-san?" Yashiro finally closed his mouth. "What happened to her? She looks so different today."
"I think that was." Ren turned back to the set to ponder the change. This was going to be an interesting day.
Catherine smiled all the way to the dressing rooms. She felt good after seeing the guys' shocked reactions to her new look. She entered the entertainment business because she loved showing off and turning heads. She found Kyoko's room and knocked on the door. Kyoko called to enter and Catherine let herself into the room. Kyoko had finished changing and looked again at her manager.
"Kat-chan, why did you change your look?" Kyoko could finally voice the thoughts that had been in her head all morning.
"What? Don't you like it?" Catherine spun around to give Kyoko a full view of her new style.
"That's not it… It looks good on you. I was just wondering why the sudden change. You are so different today." Kyoko continued to study her new manager. Catherine shrugged before walking over and dropping herself on the couch. She kicked her feet out to rest crossed on the table in front of her. Kyoko was not sure how to react to this change; it seemed that Catherine's personality has also changed. Catherine held out one of the bottles of water and Kyoko took it without even thinking. Catherine put an arm on the back of the couch and leaned her head back closing her eyes. The position reminded Kyoko of someone. She cocked her head and thought hard about it. Then it hit her. Sho would often sit like this when he had a long day. Kyoko gritted her teeth and the air around her darkened as she was reminded of that stupid man. Catherine felt the air chill and looked up at her charge.
"Are you ok?" concern brought Catherine from the couch to check on the trembling woman. Kyoko turned darkened eyes to the older woman. Catherine raised her hands between them to protect herself from the violent atmosphere she felt rolling off her charger. "I am sorry for startling you." Catherine explained quickly. "I decided that the problem we were dealing with needed a different approach." Kyoko's mood shifted back to normal upon hearing this unusual explanation. She cocked her head in confusion.
"How is a change in look going to help with my situation?" Kyoko didn't understand. Catherine smiled at her.
"I made the mistake of underestimating how difficult the fans we were dealing with could be." Catherine settled back onto the couch. Kyoko sat next to her. "Dressing for business is fine if I only have manager's work to do, but dressing more aggressively works better in dealing with crowd control. After talking with Lory yesterday, I was sure that I would be doing more crowd-controlling then managing, hence the change." Catherine cracked open the other bottle of water and took a big swig. "It was a good thing that I decided to make this change last night. Those reporters would have been harder to deal with as a mild mannered manager." A light came on inside Kyoko as she finally understood what was going in. There was a knock on the door before Kyoko could say anything to her manager.
"Your needed on set Kyoko," the stage hand called from the other side of the door.
"Coming!" Kyoko stood up and looked at Catherine. She found her feet and waved for Kyoko to lead the way. The two girls walked out to the set where Kyoko went to take her place and Catherine angled over to stand with Yashiro. He was busy watching Ren take his place so he didn't notice the woman's arrival. She decided to have a little fun with the bespectacled man.
"Hey there." Catherine said in a silky tone. She came to rest a little closer to him then was proper for public but not yet actually touching him. Yashiro turned to see the changed manager next to him. His movement caused him to brushing against her lightly. A soft blush bloomed on his face in reaction to the affection tone and sudden contact.
"Oh, good morning Saunders-san," Yashiro fumbled and took a slight step back to give himself more space. The soft sent of flowers followed his retreat. She smiled her amusement at his reaction.
"Please, I asked you to call me Kat. Using my last name it makes me feel so old." Catherine pouted a little. It really did not suit her new image, but it made her look really cute.
"Alright, Kat-san," Yashiro replied. His eyes traced her from head to foot and back. "You look very nice today." Catherine smiled genuinely at the compliment and the use of her name.
"Thank you. You look very nice too." Catherine stepped in to closing the gap between them so she could straiten his tie then patted his lapel down a little. "Very professional." He voice softened for the last two words. Yashiro blushed a little harder at the intimate actions, cleared his throat, and then turned back to the set.
"So…" His voice squeaked a little before he cleared it again continued. "So, how are you today?" He asked. His eyes met with his charges on set. Ren had turned in time to watch the exchange between the managers. The actor raised an eyebrow at the flustered man and chuckled. He was so going to tease Yashiro about this later.
"Not too bad." Catherine gave the flustered man a little room so he would be a bit more comfortable. "I was really surprised to see all the cameras out front this morning." Catherine pulled her bottle of water from her coat pocket and took a drink. She turned her attention to the actors on set. "I know the rumors and the attack on Kyoko is big news, but I expected the press at LME, not here."
"I don't think the studio here expected this to be such a hot topic." Yashiro glanced at her as he expressed his opinion. Catherine nodded her agreement. His pulse quickened as his eyes followed the mouth of the bottle as she raised it to her lips again. Tearing his eyes away, he shook his head a little to loosen the randomly forming thoughts. He was not sure what had come over him today. Was it the change in her attire? Her invasion of his personal space? Was that rose and jasmine perfume she was wearing? All he really knew was that he needed to get some fresh air to clear his head. "Excuse me for a moment. I need to make a phone call." Yashiro excused himself and quickly retreated to Ren's dressing room. Catherine chuckled as her entertainment fled the scene. She knew it was not nice to tease him, but she had not fully forgiven him for the pill incident. Catherine decided to find a quiet place to relax until lunch.