One Take Only (A Skip Beat! Fanfic)

Omakes

"Huh," Chiori said, in a tone of mild surprise, and closed the laptop with a click.

"Yes, Amamiya-san?" Her fellow LoveMe member asked.

"Hmm? Nothing important. Just thinking about how I kind of hate Kyouko-san right now."

"Oh, that." Kanae shrugged. "You get used to it."

This Director...

"Kyouko-chan!" Director Anna waved wildly at the young woman, who was seated at a cafeteria table flipping through a stack of paper.

"Anna-san!" Kyoko jumped up and bowed. "Good afternoon."

"I'm glad you could come by and meet me," he said cheerfully, pulling out a chair. "I watched the interview. You did great!"

Kyoko blushed. "Thank you, sir. I took your advice to heart."

"And lied. Like, a lot," he laughed. "You'll be a top-notch actress, I'd bet on it."

The blush intensified. "I was trying to be delicate," she said. "It's unprofessional to-"

He waved a hand, cutting her off. "Hey, we all do it. We might be in the public eye, but our business is our business, you know?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded, shocked to find that she agreed with him. Every so often, he does say something sensible, doesn't he?

"And it was all worth it, too. Have you seen the ratings?" Kyoko shook her head. She'd been kind of busy lately. "They exploded! Having Fuwa-san on the show and being the first place anybody heard his latest single? People are streaming the episode left and right! The song is playing on practically every radio station, and the network's already re-run the episode a couple of times. We might get even get a special out of the deal." He was charged with energy, throwing his hands up in big, sweeping gestures with every sentence. "I have to say, this was one of the best ideas I've ever had."

Kyoko wasn't sure if she agreed with that. "Well, Box "R" is a good show, and I know people will enjoy it once they give it a chance. I'm glad it's worked out so well," she said diplomatically.

"And I was thinking," he said, even more excited now, "we could do it again. Not with Fuwa Sho, mind you," he backtracked a little, "'cause I don't think anybody wants another go-round with him, but a partnership with a band or singer. It just makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Um-"

"Pop groups and school dramas, you know?" He went on, "we hit the same demographics. We could get a reputation for having the latest music, spice up the show."

"Well-"

"So I was looking around, trying to find out what groups are popular with our audience right now, and I came across a band with sort of the same vibe as Fuwa Sho, still visual kei but more mysterious and spooky," he expounded.

"Sir-"

"You might have heard of them, Vie Ghoul? What am I saying, you're a teenage girl, too, of course you have. I've already put in a call with their agency. We're only in talks for the song deal right now, but who knows? A cameo or two-"

"Director Anna!" Kyoko said sharply. He finally actually looked at the girl to whom he was talking, her face dark and stern. "Do you remember when you told me to come to you if anything was troubling me?"

"Yes, of course," he said, confused at her expression. "I want you to be able to talk to me, Kyouko-chan. This relationship only works-"

"Then hear me now," she interrupted, grudges rising at her back, the lights flickering around them. "Song deal or not, I don't care, but if you bring those Beagles on set," and she rose out of her seat to tower over the director, enunciating clearly, with plain malice in each drawn-out syllable, "It. Would. Trouble. Me."