Audition

Chapter 9

Rei had sunglasses on, having followed Kana to her audition. She was sitting on a bench, in a small backroom, legs shaking up and down, nails on her teeth. She was more natural when she acted with him yet here, she was breathing heavily. She didn't even notice he came with her as she opened her bag, pulling out an white bottle. When she opened it, turning it upside down, it was empty, no pills falling in her hand. "Oh no... oh no... when did I run out?"

"What's wrong?" Rei slid into the bench seat, catching the attention of everyone as almost all contestants were women.

"What are you doing here?" She seemed startled by him but her hands didn't stop checking for pills in her purse. She seemed really anxious, hands trembling. Rei picked up the bottle from her hand, reading the label. Stress support pills? "Do you always take this?"

He looked at her with a frown and she tugged her neck shirt, almost as if she was suffocating, she was breathing from her mouth. "Y-yes!"

He didn't notice any of that. Although if she was taking pills... It must be a little serious. Her breath came out in short gasp as she clutched her shirt, near her chest. Rei realised she was actually having a panic attack. "I-I can't- "

A short gasp. "-I can't breathe."

Rei tilted his body to the left, right fingers slipped in between her ear, running through her hair as he brought her face towards him, taking off his sunglasses. He gave her a light kiss on her lips and that seemed to work in throwing her off her own mind. He kept her close, lips a inch away, as his warm breath fanned her lip, eyes boring into hers, he rubbed the back of her hair. "Look at me, darling."

She stared at his dark eyes, the hiccup, short breaths were still there but not in the same way aggression. She looked at him confused and flustered by their proximity.

"Hmm, it seems to work, huh?" Rei grinned before leaning to whisper, grazing her ear, finger caressing her neck. "You liked it, didn't you?"

He teased and Kana shoved him as he laughed, falling off the chair into the floor. The other contestant looked at them, frowning. There were still short hiccups but she seemed to be calmer as she crossed her arm at him, ears red.

Rei returned to his seat, ceasing his teasing. She was so cute. "Do you panic before every audition?"

She seemed so confident, it was hard to believe. As the names were called out of the next contestant, none of them were Kana. She looked at him. "Yes... I get panic attacks especially when people laugh. The pills help but I always go through them since high school"

She trailed off, going quiet. Her eyes looked lifeless. "Let's just say so many people laughed at me. I guess I wasn't that good but I didn't want to stop dreaming."

It sounded like people did more than just laugh at her if that's how she reacts everytime she needs to act in front of people. He, once again, remembered his first meeting and panicked a little. "When I laughed during your audition… did that affect you too?"

Kana went quiet, to spare him his feelings but that was all he needed to know he did. He felt his heart sink. He knew he shouldn't have laughed. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I'm the problem, not you." Kana smiled a little, her hiccups becoming less frequent now. Rei couldn't help but notice how kind she was. He hummed, delighted by her personality. Aww, it was not his fault? He can just tell now that she definitely cried in the bathroom because of him.

"Is there any reason why you acted the prompt that way?" He was curious. She was a odd case.

"I thought it would be funny if I turned such a serious scene into a comedy parody in a way. I mean the judges were probably bored seeing the same thing over and over again. I guess I accomplished my goal in making everyone laugh... just not in the way I thought it would go." Kana let out a depressed sigh.

Huh? The corner of his lips crept up in amusement. How bold of her. She took a risk because she thought they would be bored? The confidence from someone who panic before each audition had him shocked.

What he thought was a case of bad acting, turned into a case of an actor who wasn't appreciated by the judges. Sometimes it's hard to tell if an unknown actor was good or bad. "Well then, I'll take back my judgement."

"You can't just do that?" Kana frowned.

"I totally can~" Rei mischievously bumped her shoulders a little. She looked at him amused, bumping back at him.

They sat in silence as less people were around, he would rub her back to soothe her every now and then. She would let him as it helped calm her nerves.

"Next, Kana Fujiwara." She stood up immediately, straightening up, her nervousness back. She walked beyond the curtain, into the theatre set, sweating. She walked to the front camera. They wanted a front view, a smile, a wider smile, side profile before asking her to introduce herself then act the scene. They had a fake wall for people to be creative. Rei sneaked in, trying to get a position to look at her from the side and he did. The cast caller looked at him briefly, as if checking to see if his name was on the list.

"Just here for support~" Rei waved, giving a friendly smile to make sure he didn't get kicked out.

It was time for Kana so she took a couple deep breaths, trying to force herself to stay calm. As it happened, flashes of her past blinked in her head.

"You are such a joke! Do you call this acting?" The classroom laughed as Kana tried to impress them by practicing in front of a crowd. Everyday, she would act in front of them to prove them wrong but day by day, it was like giving people ammo to shoot her.

"Ooooh let me do that!"

"Look, he did it better than you did and you wanted to be the actress?"

The sounds of faceless people laughing rang in her head over and over again. Only their laughter rang in her head like a broken record.

She needed her pills... They helped her calm down. It made the thoughts fade away.

They asked her to start and he could see her stuttering, lips trembling and as she started her audition. It was an awful performance, nothing like the one she did at home and nailed quickly. He can see the judges shaking their heads, one of them even laughed a little. Her body heaved in and out. She swallowed, tying to focus. Her fist clenched.

"Yes... I get panic attacks especially when people laugh. The pills help but I always go through them since high school."

She already failed this...Rei stared as her body shook. This was an important audition for her. She was practicing all night long whenever she had the chance. He didn't want it to be ruined. He took off his sunglasses and placed it on the ground, as he strode in and aggressively grabbed her by the hand, forcing her to look at him. She seemed shocked at his presence.

He shoved her into the wall and she stumbled backwards, back slamming into the wall. She gasped as his two index fingers formed the gun shape and pressed on her neck as he leaned near, arrogantly looking at his surroundings. He positioned himself in a way where the judges could see the scene, leaning more on the right so they could see from the left.

She already failed so it didn't matter what he did. He just wanted them to see her true potential.

"If you scream for help, I'll shoot you." He loomed above as his face manically looked down at her. She stared up at him, at the genuine insanity he held behind his gaze.

The judges stared at the newcomer, confused by the entrance as this was an individual audition. This was against the rules but they were curious on where it was leading.

Kana used her panic to her advantage, using her uneven breathing to create tension with. "W-Who are you? What do you want from me?"

It seemed like she remembered their practice. He grinned. "Who am I?"

He pulled his pistol finger to pressure her neck, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Your Death Reaper."

A line like this would be more effective if it came from an older, macho man than a pretty face like him but he wasn't the actor for this role so he didn't care. He pulled Kana aggressively and she wobbled, trying to catch her feet. Good, the acting was good. He put his finger pistol on the side of her head, grabbed her by the waist as he backed away as if someone was approaching them. Kana seems to have finally snapped out of her panic because her eyes looked all dopey as tears filled her eyes, sliding down. "No... don't come close honey... I'll be fine." She choked as if the protagonist was there

The judges leaned closer on their desk, invested by the acting.

Rei pointed his finger pistol at the judges, his lids half open, making them appear dead and darkened, intimidating them. "If you come closer, I'll shoot her."

It was a threat the protagonist ignored and suffered the consequences.

"Bang." Rei used his voice expertise to sound similar to a gunshot so Kana would know what she needed to do. As expected, her eyes were fearfully frozen as she fell down to the side ungracefully,, her face stuck in a creepy position as she lay emotionless, her tears flowed before they no longer overflowed anymore as if she was dead, never closing. Rei got out of the scene as if the protagonist got too close.

The judges clapped, impressed by the vision. Kana stood up, wiping her eyes, stunned by the reaction of the judges. "This was surprisingly good... it's a shame I have to fail this."

Both Rei and Kana knew it flopped. It was an individual audition not a team audition plus she failed the first time trying. Despite that, she felt relieved that Rei stepped in. She was content with how she acted right now. If it was before, she would have been miserable knowing she ruined her audition because she forgot to take her pills. "Thank you. I'm sorry that I couldn't perform well. I understand the decision."

Rei waited back on the side, picking up his sunglasses as he leaned on the wall. He crossed arm, swinging his feet on nothing as he heard the judges inquired and chatted with Kana. It seems like the judges failed Kana but she seemed happy about it, the panic no longer there. Rei felt relieved that she didn't seem sad anymore.

One of the judges approached him so Rei stood straighter, bowing a little politely. He thought he would scold him for interfering but instead-

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before, are you new in this industry? What's your name?" Rei recognized the older man, he was a Kousei, a well known director, for a lot of dramas. The man had shoulder length brown hair, spectacles on with a beret hat. Once someone catches his eyes, this guy hunts them around like a hawk. He was a persistent guy.

Rei calculated what he should say. He was just a voice actor who worked in obscure anime, video games and mobile games. Although all that under a different alias, Yuta. People in the Itomori Entertainment would recognise him but he didn't want to branch out to other people. He liked being hidden.

"My name is Rei… I used to act but I quit at the age of eleven." Rei politely gave him a little smile, trying to seem enthusiastic but he had a feeling he knew where this was going. He hoped his gut feeling was wrong.

"Oh really? Where?" At the question, Rei started to list the daily dramas and series he was in and the director seemed to recognise him now.

"Oh you are that kid!" He clapped his hand together, grinning. "I remember now! You have grown so much."

"Yea..." Rei continued to smile forcibly, laughing a little. He acted a lot since he was nine but he hoped he genuinely didn't remember him.

"Say, do you want to act in my drama series? After I saw you today, I really want you in mine as the male lead." Kousei finally cut to the chase.

It was what Rei feared.

"Oh... a drama? I'm actually not that good, I'm afraid." Rei tried to decline. He tried his best to sound like he had barely any experience. "It's been over ten years since I last acted…"

"Think about it? This is an opportunity of a lifetime," Kousei insisted. Except it was an opportunity that Rei still DIDN'T want.

"No, I really can't act. I'm just here to support my wife." He used Kana as bait. Maybe if he knew he was married, he might feel reproached. Some people had a stigma about that.

"Oh, you are married?" Kousei seemed to think about it as he looked over to the left at the woman who was talking animatedly with the other judges. Kousei can see Rei's reluctance from his posture. He has been in this industry long enough to see it but he didn't know why he would reject such a great opportunity. It made him want him even more in his drama.

"Hmm, I'll cast your wife too." At the mention of Kana, Rei perked up. The small weakness and curiosity Rei showed, the director latched on. "Wouldn't it be fun to have both the married couple in the same drama?"

"Ummm..." Rei's hesitation told a lot. He put a finger on his lips as he thought about what a good opportunity this would be for Kana. He looked at Kana, she waved at him from the side with a smile as he felt his heart warm up.

"What do you say? I will not give her a small role. She will be the main lead too as long as you accept." The director tried to tempt him again. Rei frowned, it was a bit scummy to try to coerce him like that and also unethical.

"Here, have my business card, when you change your mind, give me a call." He pulled it from the top corner pocket of his blazer and handed it to Rei. "Give me a call when you both agree."

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The ride back was mostly comfortably silent before Rei broke it. "I'm sorry your audition got ruined because of me."

"No, no, it's not your fault. Even if you didn't interfere, I would have acted worse but I'm glad I could show a better performance with you there." Kana smiled, chuckling a little when she remembered it. "The judges liked it a lot actually even though they warned me not to do it again."

Rei smiled back, focusing on the road again. The weight on his shoulder lifted when he realised she wasn't mad at him.

"I'm more curious on what you were talking about with Director Kousei? I'm a big fan of his work!" Kana curiously asked, looking at him from the passenger seat, she seemed excited.

He was going to lead it into that conversation but she beat him to it. Rei scratched his head a little, trying to think how to say this. "He offered me a position as the male lead for his new drama."

Kana gasped, hand clamping her mouth, sparkling at the thought. "Wow! This is a great opportunity for you! Any drama he makes is an instant hit! You will be well known by everyone if you accept it! Oh, and the pay is so good for the main leads."

"Aren't you mad?" he asked, confused, he omitted out the rest of the information as he was curious how she would react without knowing them.

"Why would I be mad?" Kana was equally confused.

"Because I got an offer during your audition? It's not even my chance... I stole it from you." He pointed out, gauging her a little. The awful side of him that liked to test people out was coming out again.

"Why would I be mad about that? You have much more experience than me in this industry so I'm sure he saw your talent right away." Kana tilted her head. "You should definitely accept it! It would be a waste not to unless you don't want to act?"

Rei kept quiet. If this is how she viewed it... he stopped driving as the red light flash.

"He also offered you a role in the drama. He liked your acting too," he lied, he decided to keep it a secret that she was only offered because he wanted him. He didn't care how unethical it was, the one who deserved this role more than him was his wife. It was just proof though that life was about connections after all.

Kana almost screamed, startling Rei. "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Rei smiled, glancing at her for a minute. She did a mini dance on her seat, clearly happy. "I guess that's a yes?"

"Of course, it's a yes." Kana almost seemed offended that he couldn’t tell but he was just teasing her.

"Then I'll let him know then." Rei grinned, driving again once the green light came up.

"I still can't believe this. I ruined my audition but I got an even better offer? Life really works in wonder." She was really excited about it, she could barely stay in her seat.

Rei let out a small sigh. That was a way too positive way to look at life but he let her enjoy it. He couldn't bring himself to break her heart. He rather he sees all the ugly sides of life while she sees all the beautiful. "Yes, life truly works in wonder. They say after rain, there is a rainbow."

He lifted her mood more and watched as she got even more excited.

Back then, he should have realised. He should have realised that he was slowly falling in love with her and there was no way out.