One Take Only (A Skip Beat! Fanfic)

Omakes

Great Minds

Chiori and Kanae sat in the LoveMe room, chairs pulled up in front of a laptop borrowed from the managers' desk. They were having an impromptu viewing party; neither had been free to watch Kyoko's interview the night before and they knew she would ask their opinion first thing the next time they met.

Both girls rolled their eyes all the way through the host trying to bait Kyoko into talking about the kiss or the so-called "relationship" she had with Fuwa Sho. After watching an ad for paper towels they were able to click on to the next segment, where the host finally got it into her head to ask Kyoko about herself. It was easy to see from the way she sat and talked how much more comfortable she was with this topic, but then the conversation hit something of a stumbling block.

"No," Ayame said, "I don't think you understood my question. I asked when you knew you wanted to become an actress."

"Yes, I know," Kyoko replied lightly. "And as I said, it was about a year and a half ago."

"I don't mean when you debuted, Kyouko-san," the host contended. "I mean when you first got it into your head to try acting as a career. Like for instance, many actors caught the bug when they had to perform in school plays, something like that?"

"Oh, no," Kyoko said. "I was always behind the scenes for plays and festivals. I mostly just helped with the costumes."

"Did you maybe see an actor that inspired you?" Ayame asked. "In a movie or a television show? Or was there an idol you looked up to as a child? What was it that made you want to take up acting?"

"A childhood friend of mine made...a suggestion," she said carefully. "He told me to go into show business, and I decided it was something I was interested in."

"And when was this?" The host asked, her goal in arm's reach.

"About a year and a half ago," Kyoko said.

Sweat started beading on Ayame's forehead. "Why don't we move on?" She suggested. "So you helped with costumes as a child. Do you have any interest in clothing design?"

"Not especially," Kyoko said. "I just happened to be the best in my class at sewing." She fidgeted sheepishly. "This is going to make me sound so old-fashioned," she said awkwardly, "but I'm quite proud of my skills when it comes to crafts and cooking."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with being a little old-fashioned," came the response. "And a good Japanese girl should have some household skills, I think. Do you have a specialty? What kind of dishes are you best at?"

Kyoko brightened at the question. "Well, I'm rather good at traditional Kyoto cuisine, even the high-class type, and I also do fairly well with western pastries. But I think what I'm proudest of would have to be the Katsura technique."

"I'm sorry...what?" Ayame asked, floored. "The Katsura technique? You don't mean the advanced knife technique used to cut a vegetable into an unbroken, paper-thin sheet?"

"Yes," Kyoko nodded eagerly. "It took me a long time to master. I started as a young girl. It's actually part of the reason I made it into LME."

"I..." The host seemed lost for words. "Well, that's..." She trailed off, mouth gaping uselessly. ""You know, I think we're nearly out of time, so...um...do you have anything you can tell us about the next season of Box "R", which will begin airing in October?"

As Kyoko dutifully reported whatever pre-approved information the director told her to pass along, they clicked out of the window and each started gathering up their things.