Work Text:
Is it really your fate, to destroy the ones you love?
I'll predict your final love fortune.
You will be hopeless when it comes to love, for all eternity.
I woke up with a start, sweat coating my forehead. It was that same dream again. The last time I saw Ace...
I didn't notice at the time that I was crying and so I fell back to sleep with tears in my eyes.
This was about a month after I had graduated high school and everyone was very busy. Usagi and Mamoru were planning their wedding (mainly Usagi, since Mamoru was busy at university). Rei was also busy juggling university work and taking care of the shrine. Setsuna, Michiru, Haruka and Hotaru were preparing to travel the world. Ami had just left for medical school and Mako was still trying to get her shop into reality.
For this reason I didn't mention it to anyone at the time. Anyway, I pretty busy too, trying to find my way to stardom. I had got work in as an actress in my final year of high school and with the help of the three lights was trying to get work as an idol. I had attended what seemed like hundreds of auditions but hadn't gotten much back.
It was the day after the nightmare that I auditioned for the role of Linda Evangeligeli from Marie Buraidaru's masterpeice Aurora Wedding. I wasn't really expecting to get it but the manga was one of my favorites when I was young so I figured I'd give it a shot.
Linda's situation in the story was similar to my own. She was one of ten sisters who fought the forces of darkness while living as an ordianary girl at the same time. By the end of the story all of the sisters had found true love and Linda was left alone. Unlike myself, Linda was never bitter about her predicament and her perseverance was rewarded by a touching romance between herself and the mysterious Coattail Mask. I of course would never be so lucky. My fate was sealled from the moment I became Sailor V.
So anyway, I was at the audition. I hadn't spent much time learning my lines but I still felt confident, I knew the scene by heart anyway. It's a monologue where Linda admits to her loneliness. There were a lot of girls there, some as young as junior high students while some seemed to be housewives. A lot of them were gathered in little groups and were chatting animatedly. They probably knew each other from previous auditions. I scanned the room for a familiar face and finding none, moved to the edge of the room and went over the scene in my head.
My audition number was 224 so I was in for a long wait. I watched the girls leaving the audition room some with smug expressions on their faces, others less so. Some of the younger girls started crying. I felt a pang of empathy for them. I remember crying for hours after forgetting the words to the song at an audition. Rei resorted to buying me a huge cake to make me stop.
I started to get nervous when number 222 left the audition room. I was never one for stage fright but I couldn't help but feel a little sick before an audition especially one for a role as close to my heart as this one.
Minutes passed and finally I was called to the audition room. The I introduced myself and began the monologue.
"I've got to keep smiling, not just for my sake but for the others too. If I lose myself, who will protect this city?
There comes a point where you have to make choice between your emotions and your duty and I have made that choice.
It's true that I hate the fact that I have to be the one to take on this duty. It's not my decision. I am the one who destiny has chosen to be eternally alone..
I just need to lift my eyes, stare straight ahead and walk away. The future looms ahead and I mustn't loose my way. I can't keep myself from falling in love but I can turn my back and walk away with a forced smile..."
I think I delivered the lines pretty well. I don't really remember the judges reactions but for whatever reason, I joined the ranks of girls who left that room with tears in my eyes. I laughed at my silliness and was given strange looks from the remaining auditionees. I got ice cream on the way home to cheer myself up.
I was strangly quiet when Artemis asked me how things had gone. He was always supportive of my career choice (which I can't say for some people) but I could tell he was worried. I had moved out of my parents house just after graduating high school and had a cheap apartment in dodgy area of Tokyo. Artemis didn't like it there and spent most of his time at Usagi's place to be with his family.
For this reason, I was alone when I got the letter from the Aurora Wedding people. Getting a letter is always a good sign but I still didn't expect to get the part. My fingers shook as I tore open the envelope. I gave out an ear-piercing scream that the neighbours would later complain about. I was going to be in Aurora Wedding! I could hardly contain my excitement. I called up all my friends and told them the good news.- Usagi, Rei, Mako, Ami, Setsuna (who told the rest of her family). I even called my mother and she seemed genuinely impressed. I was attacked with a barrage of questions about what the adaption of Aurora Wedding would be like and who would be playing who. I got a little annoyed at explaining to her that I didn't know anything yet and we got into a fight.
This is a story about ten sisters
who spent there lives fighting evil by moonlight
and winning love by daylight.
eventually, nine of the sisters had retired from the fight.
This is to story of the final sister.
The first day of filming coincidently fell on my nineteenth birthday. The months leading up to that day just flew by. I couldn't contain my excitement the night before and had trouble sleeping. Luckily, a goddess of love and beauty such as myself knows how to always look like she got her beauty sleep!
I spent ages trying to decide what to wear. I mean, I would be changing into a costume once I got there but I still wanted to dress to impress. I ended up going to the shrine and borrowing some of Rei's clothes. She's normally annoyed when I do that kind of thing but she held it all in today since it's my first big acting role. She let my borrow some cute jeans she had only just bought. They were a little to tight for me since Rei is pretty tiny but they still looked hot.
I was super excited to see the rest of the cast. I had made friends with the girls who were playing my (Linda's) sisters. Wendy, the oldest sister who doesn't appear that much but is super popular with the fans is played by a 28 year old award winning Actress, Meiko Setsuo. Tilly the next sister is played by the former member of the popular idol group Nippon10, Haruna nouzaki who is trying to make a comeback after being caught having a relationship with a much older man! (How scandelous!). The bext three sisters are played by Kanon, Karin and Kei who are sisters in real life and are popular as gravure idols.
The next four girls are played by newcomers like me and I was closest to them. There names are Sayumi, Saki, Maria and Reiko. Reiko and Maria despite playing my older sisters are actually younger than me and still in high school so I act like an older sister to them in real life. Reiko is a little moody and dreams to become an enka singer when she's older (and she's got a damn good voice!). Saki and Sayuki are just a bit older than me and can empathise with the constant plight of an actress trying to make it big.
Anyway, I have yet to be indtroduced to the guy playing coattail mask. His name is Hikaru Chen and is an upcoming actor in China (he is of mixed japanese and chinese heritage). I promised Saki that I wouldn't look him up online so we can meet just like Aurora Linda and Coattail Mask meet in the manga.
So here I am on set (filming hasn't started yet) waiting for Saki and the mysterious Hikaru Chen. did I mention how gorgeous the set is? I didn't imagine they could recreate the beautiful Aurora Wedding Bridal shop just like it is in the manga (hell, it's even better than the manga!).
In the story, Coattail Mask's secret identity Daisuke comes to the shop with a delivery of new products. So I sit down near the till and wait for him and Saki to show up. A few minutes later, I hear Saki's giggling and a gentle knocking on the door. They knock a little to hard and the set creaks a little. I can't help but smile to myself.
I lay my head on the desk and pretend to be asleep (like Linda does in the manga). I hear the door open and someone walks in. He clearly hasn't read the manga since Saki is whispering to him what to do. I feel the desk shift a little as he puts down the "deliveries". I feel his hand on my shoulder. Saki whispers something to him and he repeats in. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Miss Evangeligeli?" He pronounces "Evangeligeli" wrong (who can blame him and I can't help but smile a little.
I opened my eyes to see him for the first time. He was blushing and Saki was grinning like the cheshire cat beside him. That image is permanently burnt into my retinas (in a good way!). His hair is a pale whitey blondey colour (clearly dyed) and his eyes were a dark muddy brown. Our eyes met and he smiled a huge, cheesy smile.
"Hi" He said like our meeting was the most ordinary thing in the world. I don't remember if I said "hi" back or not but I assume I must of said something because by the end of the day Hikaru Chen had entered my circle of friends.
Silent – If you keep silent
Sorry – Love won't come your way
Set on – Be more active
Throw a kiss to a shy heart
The first day of filming was very successful. By which I mean it was hilarious. We knew from the very beginning that the DVD would have one hell of a blooper reel. Me and Hikaru got to know each other very well and that's probably what led to what happened next. Basically, on the eighth day of filming, Hikaru took me aside to talk to me. He seemed nervous and I couldn't guess what he was going to ask me.
"Hey, I wondered if you could help me with something..." He said, I could tell by the tone of his voice that he didn't think I would accept.
"What is it?" I asked. He was blushing a little.
"Well I've been discussing things with my agent and she said I need to do something to get the tabloids talking about me more" He Said. I still didn't get what he was saying.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Surely you did stuff like this in China too" He nodded shyly.
"Yeah but... She suggest you and me go on... A few dates to you know..." Finally I understood. He wanted me and him to pretend to date as a publicity stunt.
"Sure" I said. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little embarrassed to be asked and I guess I must have been blushing.
"You don't have to if you don't want to"
"No, I do - I mean... I want to help in any way that I can" As you can imagine, things were becoming pretty awkward so we were pretty glad when we got called over to film the next scene.
After filming had finished, we agreed on the plan for our first "date".
We decided to go to a movie because we both liked action movies. I never told him this at the time but I had already seen the movie with Rei the week before but he really wanted to see it so we went together. It was a good movie anyway. There were lots of hot guys and cool fight scenes. As we had planned, the press discovered this "secret rendezvous" and we pretended to be shocked while also not doing a good job at hiding that we were in a "relationship". It was pretty successful if I do say so myself. Even I was impressed with my acting skills. There's a reason I was cast as the female lead in the hit new TV series Aurora Wedding.
After that I was driven home by Hikaru. I was a little worried about him seeing the dump where I lived but he was pretty cool about it. He was really funny too! I've never met someone with a sense of humour as nonsensical as mine! I thought to myself how I should introduce him to Usagi and the others.
When he drew up outside my flat, I saw that Artemis had been waiting for me.
"Aw what a sweet cat, is he your's?" Hikaru asked. He reached out to stroke him but Artemis moved away before he could.
"Yeah, his name's Artemis and he doesn't seem to like you much!" I replied silently angry at the cat's reactions. Silly cat. Getting jealous that I left him alone to go on a date.
"Do you want to come in for coffee?" I asked, forgetting how much of a dump my place was. Luckily for me, he said he should possibly get home. Even so we both stood around making small talk for a few more minutes.
"I had a lot of fun today, Aino-san" I blushed, I wished he would use my first name.
"You can call me Minako or Mina, if you want."
"Ok Mina" as he was saying that he lent in and kissed me softly on the lips. I was surprised. I hadn't been kissed like that since Kaitou Ace. The thought of him made me sad and Hikaru must have noticed.
"I'm sorry, was I too forward?"
"No! It was wonderful! I mean It was cool. It just reminded me of... A sempai that broke my heart" I blurted out Mako's old catch phrase. I mean, it was technically true. I hoped I didn't look like too much of an idiot. He smiled me.
"I'm sorry to hear that, he must have been a jerk. See you tomorrow then?" I nodded happily and went inside. It was then that I noticed the butterflies that had filled my stomach.
Hikaru Chen had just kissed me!
The view from the ferris wheel where we once sat
Makes tears softly swell in my eyes.
I leave this city without saying goodbye.
I cannot ever return to that time again.
He must have been messing with me. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I was only thankful I didn't tell anyone about it. I couldn't bear it if Usagi got it into her head that that me and Hikaru Chen were some kind of item. He was only hanging out with me ofr the publicity. He must have kissed me so I would keep the act up for longer. I can't believe I had forgotten the destiny that had been laid out for me. I was the Guardian of Love but I could never fall in love myself. I had learnt that the hard way...
Artemis tried his best to comfort me but even so, I didn't want to go into work the next day. This wasn't like my school days however, I couldn't just call in sick. Everyone was depending on me. For this reason, I dragged myself out of bed the next morning, put on my best smile and went off to work.
Despite everything, the day wasn't that bad. By coincidence, me and Hikaru didn't have many scenes that day, so I was successful in avoiding him. I knew I couldn't do this forever though. I needed to decide what I wanted. I had told him I was fine with pretending to be his girlfriend... But the more I thought about it, the less okay I was with that plan. I decided the most honourable thing I could do was be honest (I'm not gonna lie, this was Artemis' idea). So the next day would be the day I confronted Hikaru.
I didn't get much sleep that night because I was so nervous.
I decided to get it over with as soon as I saw him. Unfortunately for me, he wasn't coming in until the afternoon so I spent the whole morning as a tense mess. Reiko got pretty annoyed at me when I kept getting my lines wrong.
When everyone else was eating lunch, I went to speak to Hikaru. He smiled brightly when he saw me.
"Mina, I missed you yesterday" I had to just tell him. I couldn't get distracted by awkward small talk.
"Listen Chen, I need to talk to you about the day before yesterday" I waited for him to respond. His face turned serious and he nodded.
"I know I said I would help you with anything but I don't feel entirely comfotable pretending to be your girlfriend" I said quietly, trying to be sure no one else on set would hear me. Hikaru seemed a lttle hurt by my outburst.
"It was silly of me to agree to it anyway, remember the ex-boyfriend I told you about? Well we had a pretty messy break-up" I explained, using the biggest understatement of the year. "and I'm just not ready for another relationship, even a fake one" I tackd on at the end, not wanting him to think I had taken the "relationship" as seriously as I really had.
Surprisingly, he took it quite well.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you. Maybe we can still be friends?" My heart melted a little at that question. How could he be so nice?
"Of course we can!" After that brief conversation we joined are fellow cast members for lunch. I had a really good time. It felt like a huge wieght of been lifted off my shoulders. Everyone seemed to love Hikaru. Maybe one of the other girls could help him in my place. That thought was supposed to make me feel better but for some reason it made me feel like my heart was being squeezed.
I spent the rest of the day trying to make up for my poor performance that morning and I think I succeeded. That afternoon we filmed the scene where Linda and Coattail Mask discover their real identities. I couldn't help but giggle a little when I saw Hikaru in the full Coattail Mask costume. I had seen it before but it never failled to make me smile. He really looked similar to Tuxedo Mask which is odd because Aurora Wedding was writtan way before Tuxedo Mask was a thing. I had just spent what seemed like hours getting my own costume, hair and makeup ready (How is Linda supposed to fight in such a ridiculous outfit?) and we were finally ready to film the scene.
"Caottail! Don't go, you're hurt!" Caottail turned to Linda.
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch" He said, trying to hide his injury.
"Don't be silly, let me use my healing powers" Coattail Mask reluctantly reached out his hand and Linda took it. They closed their eyes and a bright light enveloped the two of them. After Coattail had been healed, Linda reached for the mask covering the man's face. When he didn't protest she gently removed the mask and gazed into his eyes.
"You're the delivery boy" Linda stated the obvious.
"And you're the girl from the bridal shop" The two figures moved closer and Coattail lent down and kissed Linda on the lips.
"And cut" Yelled the director "Good job everyone, the kiss was a nice touch too" He said, winking at the two of us. We blushed. The kiss had not been in the script. When filming was over, me and Hikaru decided to go for coffee together.
"So what was that about?" He asked, smiling at me.
"I don't know, I guess we both got a little caught up in the romance of the scene" I replied.
"I suppose you're right..." And that was the end of that. We spent the rest of the time discussing plans the other cast members had made to go to the beach together on our day off. He ended up driving me home again. When I got home I wondered about telling Artemis about what had happened but somehow, it seemed like a secret just for me and Hikaru (and the 20ish people in the room at the time).