Work Text:
Matsunai Ruriko was worried. Panicked, really. Her week had started out beautifully. She had crushed the hyena LoveMe member under her foot and had managed to make it up to the location without ruining her complexion. Everyone had been excited that she had arrived and was anxiously awaiting her.
Except for Tsuruga Ren.
He had carried that thing in his arms -like a princess!- and had not even bothered to come and see her –her, Matsunai Ruriko!- since she had arrived. It was more than a girl could handle. It was a relief that the demon was finally gone. But her presence hung around the set, haunting Ruriko.
"Tsuruga-san, we need you on set!" one of the crew called. He smiled and acknowledged the summons, glancing back at his manager as the bespectacled man informed Ren that they would be heading back into town that afternoon for one of Ren's other projects.
"It's annoying, but they need to reshoot the one scene, and they're willing to meet us halfway since they know you're on location."
"Alright, I know."
"Ruriko-chan, we need you over here," someone else called, reclaiming Ruriko's attention. She smiled and gave as polite a response as she could, hurrying over in an awkward shuffle, inwardly cursing the tightly wrapped kimono that she still had not quite adjusted to. She could walk in it just fine for scenes, but trying to rush was always a challenge.
And Ren had not once held her hand or steadied her. It hurt a girl's pride. He had supported that LoveMe creep.
Ruriko shuddered at the thought of that, that monster. It was bad enough that the thing had taken up time with Ren, and made Ruriko look bad, and impressed the director. But she had also set this impossible standard that Ruriko never seemed to reach. The singer could see it in the director's eyes when he watched Ruriko moving. She could feel it from Ren as he took her more seriously than before, but not as seriously as he had taken that girl. She could feel it in the whispers of the crew, all commenting on the girl that had tamed LME's last big star.
It was terrifying. Ruriko felt cursed. Like at any moment that hyena could return and steal her job.
She finished her scene and waited with bated breath as the director reviewed it, asked her twice to redo one piece or another, and at the end accepted her work with a small sigh and a wistful look towards the horizon. She trembled as she saw that look in his eyes. He was thinking how much better it would be if he had chosen that… usurper instead of her.
"Good work, Ruriko-san," Ren told her as she stepped over to another part of the set, joining him. "You're doing much better today."
It was probably a good thing that the indirect comparison to Kyoko flew over her head. Instead, she felt relieved and basked in Ren's compliment. He walked over to the window and leaned against it, crossing his arms and letting his gaze wander as he waited for the cue to start. Ruriko sighed blissfully, admiring him blatantly, imagining a string of lilies growing down to finish framing him in the afternoon light. Her imagination drifted into a brilliant daydream in the middle of Tokyo at a small café, sitting outside and sharing a cheerful lunch. He would order black coffee and listen attentively as she cheerfully explained to him about her very successful day at work. He would get just a little jealous when she told him about one of the staff flirting with her, but she would reassure him that he was her number one. She would have a light salad and nothing green would get stuck in her teeth-
"Ruriko-san, we're starting," the director shouted from position. She snapped back to reality and bit back a retort, bowing instead and taking her place. As the scene progressed, she became so detached from herself that she started to drift again. She was enjoying an afternoon stroll with him through a traditional garden, her walking perfectly in the narrow skirt of the kimono, him offering a hand to help her up some steps on a small bridge. They paused under a tree, staring at each other, caught up in the perfection of the moment. He brushed a strand of her hair back, she blushed sweetly.
"Cut! That's good. Next scene."
He arrived at her work with a surprise bouquet, making everyone else viciously jealous. Of course the flowers would only get in the way, but she accepted them gratefully, granting him a kiss on the cheek as a reward.
"Cut! Alright, let's do that again from the next angle."
That hyena had given up on being an actress and was now Ruriko's personal gofer, sulking in the corner as Ruriko and Tsuruga-san enjoyed their sweet, ideal love story. The idiot would get to carry the flowers all day while Ruriko worked. She would go home to an empty apartment, unknown to the world. She would get old and grey all alone.
"Cut! That's good for now. Set up for scene ten." Ruriko sighed and drifted closer to her costar, glancing up at him bashfully.
"How was that?" He gave her a smile.
"Exactly as I thought," he answered. "You acted just as you were supposed to. Next time, you might even manage to get creative."
The tone was just condescending enough that she caught the mockery. But her now love-drunk mind turned the words into teasing flirtations. Suddenly the man at her table was making her blush rosily, teasing her and licking a drop of dressing off of her finger. In the garden, he picked her up, laughing as she flushed and demanded that he put her down before someone saw them. When she kissed his cheek for the flowers, he slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her up against him, making her staff titter in embarrassment. The hyena could not even look at them, she was so humiliated and defeated.
"I'll do my best," she answered a bit breathlessly. He nodded carelessly and went to find his manager. The man gave him a water bottle and Ruriko watched in rapt attention as he drank and recapped the bottle. She would never be able to explain how he could make taking a drink of water look so captivating, but captivated she was.
"Things are going well today," the manager remarked. Ren nodded, his attention seeming to be elsewhere. Ruriko let herself imagine he was thinking of her.
"We caught up nicely," Director Shingai agreed, joining the conversation. "Even with those days that we lost. How is she doing by the way?"
"Kyoko-chan?" the manager asked. Ruriko felt a vein twitch. "She's doing fine. Right, Ren?"
"Yes. She got back down just fine, as far as I understand. Her injury should heal fairly quickly." Cool, crisp, professional. Distant. Ruriko liked his tone.
"I'm glad. I think I'll cast her as your leading lady in my next movie. She's got potential." When Ren smiled Ruriko felt her blood go cold.
"Well, if she's improved at all, it will be an excellent experience."
Suddenly, Ruriko was not the main character of her daydreams. That girl was there, eating lunch elegantly, enduring his teasing and replying with wit and appeal. When he licked her hand, she kissed the spot, giving him a saucy look. They walked in the garden together, arm in arm, laughing gently and pausing to admire bunches of flowers. When he picked her up, she buried her face in his neck and stroked his hair. That hyena was the one receiving the flowers at a studio, rewarding him with a kiss on his cheek and leaning her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, stroking her side. Ruriko was the one in the shadows. That girl looked over Ren's shoulder into the darkness and smirked.
"I'll make you walk where no light shines on you."
"And I'm sure working with Ruriko will be educational," Shingai added, Ruriko missing his teasing smirk as she snapped out of her visions.
"Well, it will certainly mean an opportunity to teach her things."
Ruriko's mental pictures almost imploded. She and Ren were sitting on a bench under a moonlit sky. He was caressing her cheek softly and whispering something in her ear that made her shiver with delight. He placed kisses all over her face and pulled her closer, smiling tenderly as she looked up at him. His lips were about to brush hers and she felt her breath hitch as-
"Ready for the next scene, Ruriko-chan?" Shingai called over to her, interrupting her happy daydream. "You'll need to try and guide this one more than the last few, since Ren's character is supposed to be tricked by you this time."
"I understand," she answered, trying to figure out how she was going to lead the man beside her when all she could imagine was him teaching her "things."
In spite of her distraction, it only took them a few tries to get things perfect. Of course Ren was flawless from the beginning. Ruriko kept getting distracted when he approached her on set, trying to press her character for information, but she pulled through.
"Good work," director Shingai said as they completed their last scene of the afternoon. "Ren, you're free to go now."
"Thank you," Ren answered, moving away from the set and nodding at Yashiro. Ruriko waited until everyone else had said their farewells before she bid him goodbye herself.
"Have a safe trip Tsuruga-san. We'll make sure to not waste time while you're gone."
"I hope so," he smiled at her, and she felt a bit of the blissful comfort leave her. "It would be sad to get back and find out you had gotten sloppy while I was away."
"Ren…" his manager sighed, glancing nervously at Ruriko. "She's been doing good work, right?"
"Yes. Much better than before. It seems much more like you have the kind of professionalism that your LoveMe escort showed when she was here."
With that he turned to leave. Ruriko was too stunned to manage a reply. In her mind, her final fantasy had been usurped by that female, the moonlit bench holding two lovers, intimately entwined and kissing passionately, while Ruriko watched from the shadows, unable to move under the combined weight of their overpowering auras.