I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think. As always, if you see anything that needs correcting, please let me know.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
"Cut" the director called. "Ok, now we'll break for lunch." Everyone relaxed and headed off to get food. Kyoko accompanied Ren over to where Yashiro was waiting for them. She looked around for Catherine but could not locate her anywhere. Kyoko turned to the two men talking.
"Have you seen Kat-chan?" Concern coloring her voice as she inquired to her manager's location. Yashiro looked around for the missing woman.
"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her for a while." Yashiro turned farther to scan the crowd relocating to where lunch was being served. Kyoko pulled out her phone and called Catherine. They were all surprised when they heard American rock music coming from the darkness behind them. They turned towards the sound and found the missing manager perched on top of a stack of wooden storage case. She had relaxed against the wall with her hands folded over her stomach and her feet crossed at the ankles, sound asleep. How she got up there was beyond anyone's comprehension. Yashiro could not help but notice how enchanting she was, her hair cascading down the side of her face. He shook his head to bring his mind back to the gravity of the situation.
"How are we going to get her down from there?" Kyoko looked to Ren for an answer. An idea popped into his head and he rapped his knuckle on the stack of cases under her. Catherine cracked one eye to the strange vibration in the box she was sitting on. She looked down on the group staring up at her. She stretched her arms, yawned, and shook herself to wake up.
"What's up?" She asked as sat up.
"It's lunch time." Ren explained as Catherine regained her senses. "Come on down and we will go get a bento." Catherine looked at them and stood up on the case she had been sitting on. There was a collective gasp when she launched herself off the box. Three sets of eyes followed her decent as she flipped and twisted in the air over their heads. She dropped to the floor on the other side of them and landed facing the group with both knees bend and a hand on the floor for stability. She held the position just long enough for the tail ends of her coat to flutter to the floor. She stood up dusting her hands off like nothing had happened as three set of wide eyes stared at her in disbelief.
"So what's for lunch?" Catherine asked to the startled faces. Ren had seen something like this before, but it was not something he had expected from her now. You could have knocked Kyoko over with a feather at this display. Visions of a similar landing Cain had done flashed through her mind. At that moment, she was sure that Catherine was not human. Yashiro just could not believe his eyes either. No one moved. Catherine looked over her shoulder to where the door was open. "Is the food this way?" She pointed towards the door and turned to lead the way. Her movement pulled the rest of them back to reality and they followed.
"Kat-chan," Kyoko ran to catch up to her, "are you ok?" She looked at her with concern.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Catherine looked at her worried charge as Kyoko glanced back at the cases. "Oh! No, I am fine. I was just a little tired from everything that has happened this week." Catherine continued towards the door way.
"That is not what I meant." Kyoko stammered as she tried to think of a way to better explain her concern.
"I think she was referring to that jump. How did you do that?" Yashiro stepped in to rescue the floundering girl. Catherine turned around and continued her walk backward without slowing her pace. She smiled at the confused people.
"Practice," She spun back around and continued walking properly. Kyoko shot Yashiro a confused look and went on. Ren followed the group quietly. He laughed to himself at the reaction of his two shocked companions. He could see that his old friend had not changed in the years since the last time he saw her. She was still in very good shape and a showoff.
The four coworkers found lunch and an empty table to eat at. Catherine pulled a bottle of aspirin out of her pocket and downed two before she started on her lunch. Yashiro noticed she was not taking the medicine that the doctor had given her.
"What happened to your prescription?" He asked as Catherine slipped the bottle of meds back in her pocket.
"I have them, but I don't dare take them during the day." She looked at him and smiled evilly. "I would hate to have a repeat of the other night. Itadakimasu!" She picked up her chopsticks and started on her food. Yashiro swallowed hard as he remembered the following morning and turned his attention to his own food. Ren poked at his plate a little until Kyoko scolded him into eating properly.
Once lunch was finished the actors and their managers went back to their dressing rooms to prepare for the second half of filming. Yashiro followed Ren into his room and shut the door. Ren smiled to himself and turned to the older man.
"So what do you think of Kyoko's new manager now that you have spent some time with her at work?" Ren poked at Yashiro with his words. He had seen the way Yashiro had been flustered by her earlier.
"Well, she is definitely not what I expected from the time I spent with her in the hospital." Yashiro ran his hand through his hair and straightened his glasses. "She is a lot more aggressive then I had first believed her to be." Ren chuckled.
"Did you see the way Kyoko reacted to her?" Yashiro nodded to Ren's question. "I think she may have changed her personality in response to everything that has happened." Yashiro paused and thought about that for a moment. Kyoko did seem off when Catherine was around, like she didn't know what to make of the woman. A light came on inside Yashiro.
"You mean she is playing a character?"
"That is exactly what I think is going on." Ren smiled at Yashiro. "I think she can to the conclusion that she needed a stronger image to deal with the problems troubling Kyoko. She did mention she had been an actress at one time."
"I see what you mean." Yashiro rolled the idea around for a minute. "But what about that jump? I mean, wow! She must be a really good athlete to do that. And in heels, none the less."
"Well, she must have to stay in pretty good shape to work as a body guard." Ren shrugged. A knock sounded at the door telling them it was time to be back on set. "You could always ask her about it." Ren teased as he left for the set. Yashiro stammered before collecting himself and following the tall man out.
Kyoko and Catherine were already in the studio when Ren and Yashiro came out. They were talking quietly about their plans for after the recording was finished. Catherine saw the men approaching and cleared her throat causing Kyoko to fall silent. She turned to see what Catherine was looking at. She thanked Catherine as the two men came up and stopped next to the ladies. Before the gentlemen could ask about their conversation, the director called for the scene to start and the actors left to take their places.
"What was that about?" Yashiro asked.
"Kyoko has some special LoveMe work to do tonight. I was just discussing it with her." Catherine said watching the actors form up. Yashiro nodded his head at her suspicious answer but let it go.
"How did you do that earlier?" Yashiro just had to know the truth. Catherine looked at him.
"What do you mean?" She was going to make him work for the answers he wanted.
"You know. That jump." Yashiro looked at the woman intently.
"Oh that. I told you. Practice." She smiled at him. He started to look cross at her answer so she elaborated a little bit. "I use to free run with some friends back home." Yashiro was slightly shocked at this news. He had a hard time imagining the well-dressed woman he rescued free running. He needed a moment to process this information so he turned back to watch the performance back on stage. Catherine's head was starting to ache again so she found a chair nearby and sat down.
It was not long until Kyoko's filming was done for the afternoon and the two girls were prepared to leave. They said their goodbyes to both Ren and Yashiro and made their way to out of the studio. The crowd of reporters was still waiting outside for Kyoko. Obviously the attack on the young actress was the best story they could come up with today, so Catherine stopped Kyoko before the mob could see them.
"How about we try a different exit? Losing them coming in was much easier then it will be going to the car." Catherine said as she pulled the actress in a different direction. Kyoko agreed and followed the woman down the corridor. "Normally I would walk right past them, but my head hurts and I would rather not deal with it right now." She walked until she came to an entrance that led to the ally at the side of the building. Catherine stuck her head out and found that the coast was mostly clear. She closed the door and reached in one of the pockets of her coat and pulled out a black fedora rolled around some sunglasses. She straitened them out and put them on. Next she took the coat off and slipped Kyoko inside it. It was a little large, but the fit was not too bad. Kyoko was surprised at how heavy the coat was. Now that their disguise was complete, Catherine opened the door and led Kyoko down the alley, past the mob, and straight to the car without anyone noticing the pair. Once at the car, Catherine took the coat back and put it on before getting in.
"What are you carrying in the pockets of that thing?" Kyoko asked as she settled in for the ride to her next job.
"Oh, just some things that I might need." Catherine smiled as she pulled out into traffic. The rest of the day's jobs went well. There were no cameras waiting for them at the filming of Totally Wild Rock, because no one knew Kyoko was Bo. Catherine stayed in the prop room during the filming, her head was really killing her now. She was going to be glad when she could get home to take her medication. Kyoko was starting to get use to the change in her manager. Even though her look and demeanor had changed a little, she was still the same caring person that Kyoko had grown accustom too.