Here begins the sequel to Of Strength and Grace, which was a sequel to Five Times Tsuruga Ren Slipped and Covered with a Smile. To understand any of this, you must read those first. Additionally, I changed my username because having so many different handles on the internet has begun to frustrate me.

To all my faithful and patient readers, enjoy.

…

My story begins as many do; with a marriage to a wonderful woman. I had not accomplished much before my marriage, with my one true success being that I achieved a year abroad at Cambridge in England. This was due in part to my academic prowess, but also due to a need in my department to gain access to books we could not otherwise find, but that we required to have a complete library.

I was concerned with my legacy at a young age, mostly because of the notable success of my various relatives. So, in an effort to disconnect myself and my accomplishments from the shadow of my family's name, I entered into my wife's family and took her family name. My wife was everything I was looking for, and it might have been the romantic in me, but I strived to be the man of her dreams.

She was brilliant, beautiful, ambitious. Her family's inn was her pride and joy and so it remained that way for all of her days. I admired that determination and that dedication to her duties. Perhaps, over the years, I was a little bit envious that she had such a prominent pride and joy. My work was much more subtle, translations of philosophies and legalese that made people call me sensei. Regardless, she was my sun, and I was happy to be her moon.

When we gave birth to our first child, we were joyous beyond belief. In our son, we could place our hopes of the continuation of our legacy. When we next gave birth to a daughter, we were overjoyed once more. In her, we could pass on our love for our family and our home.

When we were once more told to expect the birth of another child, we were surprised, but still pleased. Perhaps in this second daughter, we could pass on the love we had for our beliefs and our philosophy.

Excerpt from Spring at Mt. Oguso

Act 1, Scene 1: Yoneda Michitada's Opening Narration.

…

Kyoko watched avidly as Kawaguchi-san intoned his narration in the voice-over booth under Director Shingai's instruction. She was fascinated not just by the words, moving though they were, but by the raw emotion the older man could express through the words of Yoneda Michitada. She subtly pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. But, the brief flash of pain let her know she was definitely awake.

As Kawaguchi-san continued to recite the opening narration, stopping and adjusting inflection and such and then repeating as Shingai-san wanted, she sighed. Being able to pass the audition for Mt Oguso was something she still was uneasy about and she felt as if the reality of it hadn't fully set in.

She admired so many others in this production for their dedication and their talent that she couldn't help but want to be everywhere at once, absorbing as much as she could from the various talented cast and crew. She'd spent an entire afternoon the day before with wardrobe, oohing and aahing over the hard work of the tailors and seamstresses for the various kimonos, obis and other costumes that they had been working on for the first scenes they were to shoot. It was such thoroughly detailed work that Kyoko couldn't even be tugged away from her observance of it by Moko-san tempting her with tea and treats.

However, Yashiro being the competent manager he was, had eventually managed to wrangle her into obedience as her schedule was pretty overstuffed at the moment. They had to squish in everything she needed to take care of so she could take a leave of absence for the location shooting. The location work promised to be about two months long, as far as they could figure, and she would only get a couple breaks during it.

Kyoko straightened to attention as Shingai seemed to be wrapping up with Kawaguchi-san. She'd gone ahead and decided to meet them here, to help assuage her curiosity about how the voice-over narration would work, and she was happy to see that Director Shingai would help coach them through it. Well, and she'd made sure to schedule it so she had the opportunity to do so before they started shooting the scenes Kyoko needed to do before she had to leave that day.

This was the first time she'd be doing one on one scenes with Kawaguchi-san as Michitada and Yayoi and Kyoko couldn't wait. She'd even done some extra preparation by studying Marcus Aurelius' Meditations just for it. Kyoko blew out a nervous breath as Shingai and Kawaguchi-san came out of the booth and greeted her. She bowed and replied.

"Let's work well together today!"

Kawaguchi-san let out a soft laugh that instantly put some of Kyoko's nerves to rest.

"Yes, let's. You're as professional as ever I see. I must say Shingai, you've found a diamond in the rough here." Kawaguchi-san's slightly teasing voice made Kyoko blush as they ambled back down the hallway to the set.

An odd smile crossed Shingai's face that only Kawaguchi caught and the older man looked between the Director and the young actress in quiet curiosity. To his slight exasperation however, neither responded to his compliment.

Kyoko, in an obvious attempt of deflection, started chattering away, asking questions a mile a minute that Kawaguchi struggled to answer in time before she blurted out yet another. Well, she's certainly something else, huh? So exuberant…he thought to himself, entertained at such a wholesome and talented young woman being so genuinely interested in the craft. He indulged her throughout their work together that day though, as he found he simply couldn't stop himself from doing so. Ah Shingai, what have you got me into this time?

..

Nick was half asleep in his morning grub when in his half-aware state, he heard a distinctly familiar voice. He peeled his cheek away from the hand that had been holding his head up and stared groggily at Ren, whose raised voice had roused him. The actor was on his phone and paced agitatedly in front of the bay window in the breakfast area as he spoke.

"I assure you Yashiro-san, this firm will be fine for what I want to do."

After a moment, he spoke again. "Yes, training has been fine, no worries here."

Nick had to smirk at that. The military trainer from the naval base had actually challenged Ren to a boxing match just to see if the 'pretty boy actor' could actually handle himself well. Ren had held his own pretty well, but had not won the match. Said trainer and Ren now challenged each other practically every other day to see who could one up the other. Ren typically lost, but he'd surprised the trainer a couple times. Not surprising, in Nick's opinion. The trainer probably had fifteen years boxing experience on them, at the least.

Nick's ears perked up again as he overheard more from Ren's call as he munched on his breakfast.

"Yes Yashiro-san, I've looked that offer over. I may be able to squeeze the audition into that timeframe you said they wanted it done in, but I have to double check the date with Director Konoe-san."

Nick felt the familiar surge of sympathy mixed with envy as he heard that. Sympathy because of Ren's rough schedule, and envy because Ren, who was actually younger than him, always seemed so far ahead. He knew Ren was always willing to put in that extra effort, Spring at Mt Oguso was a prime example, but Nick always wondered if the other actor ever got tired of going non-stop all the time. He had always been that way it seemed like, since Nick and Ren had been snot-nosed teens sharing smoke breaks while working on R'Mandy shoots. Nick had never been able to keep up and had long since gotten tired of trying to compare himself to Ren's self-imposed and impossibly high standards.

He was disrupted from his musings as Ren's voice raised again in exasperation. "Yashiro-san, I'm hanging up now. I need to eat sometime." Nick watched in amusement as Ren rubbed his brow as if trying to get rid of a headache.

"What-wait, no, you know what, I don't care anymore, tell her whatever you like." Then, more slyly, "I'm sure my esteemed manager, noted as one of the best professionals out there, can appropriately indicate my well-being to those that are concerned about it."

Then, most puzzling of all, "I'm hanging up now. Goodbye." Accompanied by a frustrated growl and Ren slumping down at the table with a groan.

Nick made a sympathetic noise, "Kind of an early call ain't it?"

Ren sighed heavily but threw a faint smile Nick's way. "A little yeah. It's really not that big of a hassle, but all this training has me more tired than I care to admit so, I may have been a little short with him."

Nick nodded sagely, "I get that. My manager sends me emails if we're apart for work so we can avoid getting on each other's nerves."

Ren stretched a little, "Is everyone else still asleep?"

"Yep." Nick said, "So far as I know. But I woke up starving and we're running suicides right after breakfast if I remember that right."

Ren groaned again, "Looks like I'll be icing my ankle again tonight."

Nick winced in sympathy. In the midst of stage combat instruction the other day, an extra had accidentally gotten a solid hit in on Ren and that had made Nick all the more grateful that he hadn't had to undergo the amount of training Ren had needed to. Ren's training was just as thorough as Atsushi-san's because the both of them had needed to bulk up as much as they could for the roles in question.

"Poor bastard." Nick said, and patted Ren on the shoulder as he went by to turn in his dishes to the kitchen. The long-term site they were boarding with had a fantastic kitchen, and Nick was not about to mess up the extra treats he got from the early morning baker by not abiding by the rules.

He was at the outside exercise area doing his stretches by the time Ren caught up with him again. Nick only recognized Noa and Jin from the group that was blearily stumbling in behind him. Nick's jaw popped as he yawned and he mused over whether the others were just some additional extras. He wouldn't be surprised.

From the last week of them being on-location for training, he knew only that some of the cast stood out to him more than others. Everyone was too focused on the physical training, and then eating, and then more training, and then, if you were lucky, getting out early enough that you had some time to yourself the rest of the day to do what you needed to. For Nick, Ren, Noa and Jin, that meant, in-between days they had to meet the naval base trainer for unit choreographed work and other basic knowledge of how a unit functioned, they met up to do rehearsals. Or, if they got bored with that, days where they did team-bonding.

Team-bonding usually consisted of the four of them hitting up a paintball facility for either a free-for-all, two on two, or the four of them against four others. So, Nick had recently gotten back into the daily routine of waking up at a godawful hour, placing a call to his better half to get him going, and then eating and then stretching. He wasn't getting any younger, and Noa and Jin were wicked fast at paintball. He was used to competing with Ren for things; boxing or modeling, or attempting to drink each other under the table. But, he'd forgotten that other young stars were rising and he had to keep up if he wanted to stay on top of his physical fitness.

Today, he was in luck. After the suicides, their combat instructor had Nick and Ren pair up against Noa and Jin for a search/attack/defend maneuver. Noa and Jin searched and attacked, while Ren and he laid traps to catch them or they defended if they were caught off-guard. Nick didn't mind, he had some ego-soothing to do after Jin got him right on his helmet last night at paintball.

He snickered to himself at he created his trap. Their course had provided them with a lot. He and Ren were released onto the course first, for a twenty minute head-start for set up. They'd all been provided with rope, rubberbands, spray paint, firecrackers and a small matchbox, string and fishing wire, paintball guns and ammo.

His trap was simplistic in nature. He laid out a simple tripwire at a particularly irritating section of course, wherein you couldn't really go around that part of the ground, only walk through. That was the obvious bit. Nothing would happen when walking through, but three steps after that, he'd dug out a wide, shallow path of moist earth, damp from the rain in the night presumably. It stretched wide across the obvious path from the trap and once that divot was stepped in, rubberbands pulled tight from where they were hooked triggered a can of neon orange spray paint to release its trigger and spray the victim who'd activated it.

Their instructor hadn't said what the trap outcomes should be, so he got inventive. If they tripped into the pitfall, not paying attention, that'd be funny by itself. But, how would he know? And thus, the spray paint idea had been born. Nick snickered to himself again, but then heard the five-minute warning alarm sound. Straightening up from where he'd been covering obvious signs of the pitfall he'd made, he hurried back to Ren.

Ren cocked his head curiously as he saw his dirtied hands. "What did you go and do?"

"Oh simple stuff due to time constraints, like trip wires and pitfalls. Oh,and tried a pitfall with spray paint. Dunno if that one'll work. But it'll be funny if it does." Nick smirked. Ren snorted a little and tossed him the other side of net he'd been working on.

"Come on, I saw a spot we could make this trigger at."

A little while later, after they'd rigged up the net, they were perched in trees about halfway through the course and Nick had a good look around them. The course really didn't have too many trees and they'd have to be sparing with using them as hiding spots. He calculated routes almost without thought and the fact that he did so made him chuckle a little.

"Hey Ren?" He called out, voice pitched appropriately to not be overheard.

"Yeah?" came the response.

"Didya think you'd be doin this when you said sure, sign me up for that extra training!"

Nick caught his low laugh and he fought to keep from smiling himself.

"Definitely not." said Ren.

Just then, a high pitched wailing noise sounded, near making Nick fall from his perch. He held fast to his paintball gun and the branch he was on and caught laughter coming from the tree near him.

Nick stared in awe down at the course, "We didn't have alarms! What'd you do?!"

"Had my key fob on me and rigged it to a tripwire near the entrance of the course." Nick shook his head and snickered.

They waited in the trees for about ten more minutes, keeping as still as possible as Noa and Jin neared their hiding spot. A bird call sounded and Nick smiled. That was the signal. He and Ren dropped from their perches, as quietly as they could and slunk around behind the other pair as they passed by them.

Each of them had a handkerchief from the instructor. Winning the course was simple in theory. Get the other team's handkerchief and make it back to the beginning of the course. Ren was the stealthiest of them, and he crept up behind Noa and easily snagged his from his back pocket with a deftness that Nick could only envy. Nick hadn't been able to see where Jin's was and he continued his hunt.

Not much later, Nick noticed that Noa and Jin were coming up on their net trap and swore silently to himself. He knew for a fact he'd not be able to get to Jin's through a net. He'd told Ren to make it back to the entrance and just wait for him so they could both leave together, as instructed, and was cursing himself to high heaven now.

He thought frantically as they got closer, patting his pockets down for anything he might have left. He felt his little matchbox in his shirt pocket and breathed a sigh of relief. Nick slipped his firecrackers out of his cargo pants, lit some matches and ignited the firecrackers. He aimed to their left, so they would move to avoid the trap, then ducked behind an evergreen bush with some good cover as the firecrackers went off.

After some explosive cursing, silence settled enough for Nick to brave a peek out. He'd been lucky, Noa had been the one to go running off to investigate the noise, leaving Jin alone. Nick thought, if he was quick enough, he could slide in close and grab his paintball gun at least and disarm him. Nick sent up a prayer to the heavens and went for it. Pulling on his baseball days, and the muddy earth, he rushed into the area, dropping to his knees and sliding home, in true baseball fashion. He got his hands on Jin's gun, yanked it from him, and spun away, leaving Jin stunned enough to just stare at him.

Before he could holler for Noa, Nick tossed their guns to the side and had him in a hold he couldn't break out of unless he wanted to dislocate his shoulder, making sure to clamp a hand over his mouth. Jin struggled fruitlessly for a while, enough for Nick to start getting nervous about Noa coming back. He cast around for an idea and then remembered that some pinch-holds actually had you pass out for a couple minutes. He rearranged enough to manage that hold, then waited with baited breath for Jin to slide into unconsciousness.

Nick breathed a sigh of relief as it worked. He fished the man's handkerchief out of his front shirt pocket, crafty bastard, and then booked it back to the entrance with both of the guns. He cared not one whit to keeping silent this time, sacrificing stealth for speed and when loud hollering started echoing from behind him, he let out an adrenaline-fueled laugh. A couple minutes later, he ran up to Ren, who'd been waiting where they'd planned, and the two of them exchanged a high-five, laughing and congratulating each other as they exited with as much haste as they could.

As they spilled out into the area where the instructor was waiting, holding out their handkerchiefs they'd won, the man cocked an eyebrow, looking a little bit less stony-faced than was normal.

"Well, this is unexpected." The instructor gathered up all the handkerchiefs and then continued. "I see that you two were a bit speedier than is your norm."

Ren and Nick exchanged a slightly guilty look. They may have slacked recently in their physical fitness, before they'd arrived here for training. But, that was life right? You got busy and...the instructor cut Nick's train of thought off.

"Nevertheless, you win this time."

Ren and Nick gave each other satisfied smirks. Nick's only grew even bigger when Noa and Jin stumbled back out, looking aggravated beyond belief. There, on Jin's pant leg, was fresh neon orange paint.

…

Kyoko rubbed her neck where it ached as she settled into her chair on the set of Spring at Mt. Oguso. Her call times were basically how she and Yashiro planned out her day now. It was the end of the first week of shooting, and all week they had had to schedule around her ikebana lessons, her tutoring for the LME acting school, and the last bit of Sacred Lotus in the Mire duties she had to do. She'd actually been so busy she had actually missed school and Darumaya work. But, as per production scheduling, things had been accelerated so they could fit all of the shooting into this year so the series could be released after the first of the year. She didn't quite get all of the scheduling reasons, but she was relieved to be able to get it all done in the span of a few months.

She'd just come from ikebana lessons, and she felt as if all the names and arrangement instructions were spilling out of her ears. She groaned faintly and rubbed at her neck again, doing her best to avoid rubbing at her eyes and messing up what the make-up crew had done, and briefly looked over her script for what was on the docket for the day.

Mostly, she did so just so she could focus and recenter herself. She and Oohara-san had actually been prepping for this particular scene all week. The first act of Spring at Mt Oguso had Yayoi and Daisuke's wedding and so the work leading up to the actual wedding ceremony took up a lot the scenes she was in in the first act. Kyoko thought it was pretty smartly written, in her opinion. If you opened a series where a lot of it was focusing on a singular family, it could quickly get boring. But a good way to bring subtext of familial relationships into sharp relief was to place them into a stressful situation, ie, the wedding.

Her first serious scene in the first act in regards to the wedding had been with Yayoi's father, Michitada. Kawaguchi-san, despite a couple of her own mistakes due to nerves, had been very pleasant to work with, just as he'd been in group scenes. Kyoko had been a little intimidated at first, but he'd quickly put her at ease on breaks between work. The scene had been a simple one, where Michitada had been reminiscing about how Daisuke had asked for Yayoi's hand.

It had also helped that he had indulged her quite a bit in answering the multitude of questions she'd asked him. Kyoko shook her a head a little, exasperated as she thought about it. But, he was quite patient with me, he's such a nice man, maybe I didn't frustrate him? Well, she sure hoped she hadn't come over as too unprofessional at least.

Her next one had been with Kanae, who was playing Yayoi's best friend Akiyama Nozomi. Or, to the pair of them, they played Ya-chan and Mi-chan. Ya-chan and Mi-chan had just been teasing each other over lunch about boys in general. The scene had to be fun, a little serious, but full of emotion. For these two, Ya-chan was about to make one of the biggest steps forward into adulthood. The girls were only eighteen, only five years out of a brutal war and on the cusp of yet another if their elders were to be believed. They were also both leery of having too much of a good thing, and relieved that they even had a happy occasion to celebrate. Being able to play opposite Kanae in such a situation was beyond Kyoko's wildest dreams. She'd been in ecstatic tears all day yesterday about it, to Kanae's long-suffering exasperation. But honestly, who could blame her after the hell that was Lotus in the Mire?

However, the scene she had today was very, very different from those other two. It was one of those sibling squabbles that was to leave a lingering hurt that Yayoi and Yumika would be spending the next five episodes attempting to repair. Kyoko was extremely apprehensive. She was stuck between not understanding how siblings could act like that, and recognizing that how she and Shotaro acted now when they pissed each other off, was really similar to how siblings that didn't like each other behaved.

It was a humbling idea to wrap her mind around. It only solidified her certainty of how naive she used to be about Shotaro if she was only now recognizing that they fought like siblings. I was truly, truly blind. It might have been pitiful, but she was now feeling gratitude again that their fallout, as messily as it had been done, at least helped her realize how much she was not only damaging herself, but the relationship that they had cultivated since they were young. Well, and it also helped me considerably in recognizing that I needed to grow up.

In light of what her mother had explained to her, Kyoko could more fully understand how lucky she had been as well. If she had had continued to deceive herself like that, how far could the damage have eventually gone? She shuddered as progressively more awful scenarios danced about in her mind that would have been the fault of her own naivety. But that train of thought drew her once more to her script and she bit her lip in consideration. Was this squabble about an older sibling thinking the younger one was too idealistic and naive? The dialogue certainly suggested it, she thought as she thumbed through it.

She sighed as she realized she was getting angry over the dismissiveness of the older sister in the scene as she reread it. I seem to get most fired up when people dismiss me, don't I? She shook her head wryly and straightened a little in her chair, rereading her dialogue as she waited to be called onto set. She only had a few more minutes to wait, she presumed as she took in the scene of Oohara-san miming sewing motions on the hem of the wedding outfit.

Her guess was right, and Shingai called her on only a little while later. Kyoko settled in at her desk on the set, and picked up the Naval Newsletter and pretended to be absorbed in it. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she reigned in her emotions. This scene was too important to mess up.

As much as she and Oohara-san had practiced though, their tempers began to fray about half-way through the scene and Kyoko had to step back and ask Shingai-san if she could take five.

He gazed at her from where he stood beneath the steps of the set as she twiddled her fingers nervously in front of her.

"I certainly don't mind, we're ahead of schedule in fact, but what seems to be the problem?"

Kyoko felt herself flushing nervously, "I'm pretty sure I made Ya-chan too angry. She should be more refined. I think I just needed to remember that more."

Shingai hummed thoughtfully, "There's merit to that thought, certainly. But, as much as she's been trained to be a proper young lady, this is her sister. In some ways, they know each other better than anyone else. It's in how they were raised, it's in how they have coped with their tragedies. And they are coming from very different places and both of them feel pretty betrayed. Sometimes, you can only be this angry with family, does that make sense?"

Kyoko listened carefully, and nodded shortly after Shingai finished talking. "Yes, yes, I think so. Thank you Director." She bowed and Shingai nodded.

"Certainly Kyoko-san. Resume your place. We'll start from the top."

Kyoko returned to her desk and picked up the newsletter again, her resolve strengthened. She heard Shingai's call for action and let Yayoi take over again.

…

Yumika pushed open the door to the room, hauling in the last of Yayoi's wedding outfit for the following day. Yayoi smiled up at her from where she sat reading at her desk. She stood as Yumika hung up the last of her outfit pieces with the rest on the stand next to her dresser.

The kimono was a beautiful cream color, with a patterning of chrysanthemums, and it was to be paired with a similarly floral-patterned yellow silk obi. Yayoi had had to save up from her wages for six months to get the material. Mi-chan had argued for a more Westernized outfit but the Yoneda matriarch had been livid at the thought. Her mother, older sister, and herself had all had a hand in sewing the outfit, as had also been determined by Yayoi's mother. Yayoi's parents just wouldn't be able to afford a seamstress if they also wanted to give Yayoi and Daisuke help in affording their own residence.

She and her sister stepped back and just gazed in admiration at the outfit for a moment. "Thank you for these last little alterations. I'm truly lucky to have a sister with such steady hands." Yayoi said, fondness apparent in her tone.

Yumika sent her an affectionate look and came over to give her a small hug that Yayoi returned.

"Of course Ya-chan, I know tomorrow is something new and scary for you, and naturally, as your nee-chan, I want to do whatever I can to help you through it."

Yayoi threw her arms around her older sister again and squeezed her tight. "I'm lucky to have you."

Yumika patted her gently and then stepped away to check and make sure Yayoi's hair pieces for tomorrow were all still where they were supposed to be.

Halfway there, she noticed the newsletter laying out on Yayoi's desk and frowned.

"What have I told you about reading trash like that?"

Yayoi's smile slipped off her face and she felt herself tense. But she couldn't help but defend herself and it came out in her tone.

"It's not trash nee-san, I'm reading it so I can further my understanding of-"

"You really think those Americans care at all whether or not you understand them?" Yumika scolded, "Their blatant disregard for our beliefs and our culture clearly show that they don't care one whit about understanding."

Yayoi's face grew inscrutable as she tried to respond, "Onee-san, you know that's not true. Your anger clouds your judgement."

Yumika scoffed in disbelief, "Your foolishness is going to lead you down a path you're going to regret later. Listen to your big sister, for once."

Yayoi tried to speak but Yumika cut her off, "Look Ya-chan, I didn't want to get into this, not with your big day tomorrow, I just don't understand why you refuse to listen to me about this. You're usually never this unreasonable. Just listen to me about this, alright? You'll thank me later for it."

Yayoi's jaw tightened in anger and she slowly released a breath to help calm herself and tried again, "I have listened onee-san. Over and over again I have listened to you disrespect them and disparage them and I am sick of it."

Yumika, as much as she tried to get her temper under control, couldn't help but snap, "I'm only returning the same disrespect and disregard they have shown us!"

"That's not fair! When you paint everyone with the same brush, you only become part of the problem. Not only has their help been invaluable for our country's progress-economically and otherwise, but the help their people give otou-san at the embassy makes his job so much easier. And that's why he can come home more now!" Yayoi was near pleading with her older sister, and tiredly holding onto the last threads of her temper with everything that she had.

Yumika sneered, "I wondered when otou-san would come up. As much as he taught all of us children, you did always think of him the most highly. It's clear that your sheltered upbringing has cultivated little to no anger in you at the injustices we have had to endure."

Yayoi stiffened, her frustration getting the better of her and she demanded of her older sister, "What will you have left?"

Yumika scoffed again, and went to speak but Yayoi cut her off.

"When your anger burns out, because it will, what will you have left? Because I can tell you that the regret you will feel then will be overwhelming and you will have to live with that for-"

"Don't lecture me like this is a scholarly philosophical debate. This is reality. Wake up and realize what's happening around you. And do you think the man you're marrying will go along with the way you think?"

Her eyes narrowed at her older sister, "Daisuke-san and I often debate Plato, and Marcus Aurelius' Meditat-"

Her older sister's hands curled into fists, and she stalked over to Yayoi's bookshelf and snatched up her copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations and flung it her way. Yayoi quickly dodged to avoid being hit, the book thumping against the legs of her desk with a sharp smack that made Yayoi flinch.

"This? This means nothing to me!" her older sister snapped, no longer able to keep her temper under control.

Yayoi's bit back angry words about her sister's treatment of her precious books and instead continued with what she wanted to say, "It should. Father was right to try and teach it to us. And you know the danger he was in when he did it. But it's proved pretty important in the political climate that exists now, hasn't it? We must understand our new allies if we are to make any progress-

"Our new allies!? Allies?! Our way of existence was terrified into dismantlement due to their attacks and their bombings! How dare you forget so quickly what we've been forced to endure!"

Yayoi stared steadily at her furious older sister and felt her insides crumbling into disarray, filled with a pain she couldn't quite name.

"It wasn't them that took away our older brother." the silence that fell abruptly was deafening in its breadth. "That was our, our honored and respected military leaders you're so quick to defend. You so quickly forget our sins in an effort to point fingers."

The fury in her sister's eyes blazed ever brighter.

"You and I have virtually no sins to speak of. That was a foolish thing to say. You're still such a child."

Yayoi straightened her spine and stared her sister down, "I was not referring to you and I. I was referring to those despicable people that were supposed to take care of us, that were supposed to be the people to lead us into a better future. It was they that were so eager to betray their own people and our principles, betray our ideals and our philosophies, and for what? More land? More resources? In an effort to gobble up our sister countries, they twisted everything that was important to us into their tools, and all for a pursuit of a disgraceful and dishonorable undertaking."

Her sister opened her mouth, most likely in an effort to refute her words but Yayoi cut her off before she could.

"You know this to be true. You know what the letters brother sent back said. You know what keeps father up at night. Our own people betrayed us first."

"This is disgraceful! How dare you judge what-"

Yayoi interrupted Yumika's snappish retort to continue what she was saying, "And then, when surrender was inevitable, instead of changing tactics, instead of trying to save what they could, they left their people to die, and to starve. And all of it was futile. It was futile. And it was shameful. And this way of life, this is what you want to defend?"

Yayoi studied her sister as silence fell again, her hands tightly clasped together to avoid their trembling-the indicator of the depth of her emotional upheaval. Her sister seemed at a loss for words, stuck between defending what she'd said and the truth.

Yayoi spoke up again after a moment passed and her sister didn't not respond. "I am aware of the reality of our situation. I've lived through it too. But I will not let my anger get the better of me. I refuse. Not only is it shameful to let your emotions control you in such a fashion, but I refuse to be a hypocrite. The truth is not black and white onee-san, it never was. We must learn our lesson if we are to move forward."

Yayoi turned and strode towards the door of her room, she'd kept her mother waiting long enough. She paused at the door though, and turned to look back at her sister. She was staring at the floor, angrily curling and uncurling her hands into fists.

"I am sorry sister, that this became the fight it did."

Yayoi flinched when her sister turned her resentful gaze on her and she scurried away before the fight reignited.

Kyoko let out the breath she'd been holding only when she stepped off set after Shingai cleared them to end the scene. She felt almost light-headed at the amount of emotional upheaval she'd just been experiencing. She did her best to reign it in and felt the Yayoi that burned inside her flickering and struggling to stay on the surface. Kyoko breathed in deep once more, and slowly released. She was more successful in keeping Yayoi at bay this time around. She opened her eyes to find Oohara-san slightly off to the side, gazing at her in a thoughtfully amused manner.

"That was wonderful Kyoko-san. I'm lucking to be starring opposite you." Oohara-san said.

Kyoko flushed in embarrassment and bowed deeply to her senpai, "I should be the one saying that to you. You were wonderful. I'm very happy I get to work with you again."

Oohara-san laughed a little and waved off the compliment, "We'll just have to agree that we both like working with each other or we'll embarrass ourselves further."

Kyoko smiled, her embarrassment waning, "As you like senpai."

Oohara-san then took her leave, as she was done for the moment and was capitalizing on her free time to grab something to eat.

Kyoko blew out a big sigh and settled back into her chair to await Atsushi-san and the next scene while the crew ran about doing work around the set. Curiously, her brain and heart were much quieter. Still, she worried over the scene not only for her own performance, but because of the heaviness of the subject matter. I have virtually no grounds on which to identify with Yayoi's perspective here, she thought to herself. Am I good enough to do this?

Some time later, as she was rereading the next scene in the script and feeling uneasy about that as well, a voice spoke up and startled her out of her musings. "What's on your mind? You look deep in thought."

Kyoko swung her eyes up to Atsushi-san's, "Oh good afternoon! Let's work well together today."

Atsushi smiled, "Indeed. Well, what's got you so deep in thought?" Kyoko bit her lip in consternation as she thought his question over.

There was another moment of silence before Atsushi spoke again, "I know it might seem unusual for me to ask but that little furrow in your brow has me quite curious." There was a gentle tease in his tone that reminded Kyoko of the Ishibashi trio and that made her smile a little. She sighed and then answered.

"To be honest, it feels very odd for me to be doing the scenes I'll be doing with you today. I've never even dated. Doing a rehearsal of a wedding is a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around."

Atsushi Isami stared down at the girl, faint surprise overtaking his features, "You've not been on dates yet?"

Kyoko felt a hot blush spreading over her face and felt a pang of embarrassment over being so forthcoming.

She was distracted from replying when Atsushi settled into a seat next to her and tapped a thoughtful finger against the arm of the chair and spoke again, "That's interesting. I can't say I've ever been in the situation you're in right now. So no one's ever taken you out for anything special? Even a friend?"

Kyoko thought for a moment and she laughed a little nervously before she replied, "But even if friends do that, that's not quite the same right?"

Isami hid the small smile that question produced. Kyoko-san, as much as he'd had misgivings, was never nothing but professional. In addition, she was pleasant to be around as she was always energetic, nice and cheerful. Her being stumped by part of the production was inevitable, as she was young still. But, the look on her face as she attempted to work this out was too adorable for Isami to not smile at, a fact that he figured she wouldn't appreciate. He cleared his throat a little to get her attention again, as she seemed to have resumed staring at her script like it had the answers to all her questions.

"Well that depends Kyoko-san. If you want it to be the same, it will be, even if it's 'just a friend'. I imagine, considering how you responded, that there's probably someone in your life that treats you in a pretty special way. And that they treat you different than how they treat everyone else."

Atsushi's glance to her was faintly knowing, and Kyoko struggled to keep her composure. Thankfully, Atsushi quickly moved on, "So, think of it this way Kyoko-san, Yayoi and Daisuke are very close friends. Daisuke is undeniably in love and he can't help but be charmed by her. But this is only their beginning. If you have ever been out with friends and they did something nice for you, or if a friend has taken you out for some special reason and did it just for you, remember those charmed and delighted feelings you had then. It's a good starting point, as this is a special event that's only for Yayoi and Daisuke, and they are charmed and delighted by it."

Kyoko had to struggle to not be doused in a memory of tealights dancing along a stream in a garden. Her brain then helpfully conjured up a memory of a hazy pub, a soulful drawl, and a breathless dance.

"I see." she stammered, flustered beyond belief and hoping a blush wasn't suffusing her face.

Atsushi shot her a smile, "It's natural to be worried and uneasy with this type of event. But it's also natural to feel happy to be doing it with a friend. Try to keep that in focus too."

"Thank you for your advice Atsushi-senpai."

"Of course Kyoko-san, I have faith that you'll be able to figure the rest out as we go along." Kyoko blushed again as Atsushi sent her a gentle and reassuring smile. Her cast members were certainly doing their best to put her at ease and she was supremely grateful for that.

As she squished her flustered feelings into something resembling a professional composure, she once again promised herself that she'd do her best to not let them down.

...

Ren's phone ringing is what eventually stopped the rehearsal that he and Nick were doing between their characters of Lieutenant Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Bill Burnham. Ren excused himself as hastily as he could; he was eager to spend some time alone talking with Kyoko. It was a system that they'd slowly put in place over the past week. Either she would call when she was done, or he'd call her when he was done. So far, it was working out well.

"Moshi moshi?" Ren was happy to hear Kyoko's bubbly greeting soon after he answered his cell. He leaned against his balcony rail and stared up at the stars as she cheerfully related to him her successes of the day.

A few minutes went by before she paused, and then sounded a little embarrassed as she spoke again, "I'm sorry, you must be so tired, and this must be very boring to you."

"Oh no, not at all. I love hearing about your day. It's nice and normal and does not include paintball or obstacle courses or stage combat." Ren's dry tone of voice as he listed off what he had to put up with sent her into a round of giggles.

"I couldn't believe the picture Noa-san sent me of he and Jin-san. Did Nick-san really lay out a neon orange paint trap?"

"He sure did. Never seen the man look so pleased with himself while covered head to toe in mud."

Kyoko's laughter brought another smile to Ren's face. "And how are your rehearsals going? It can't be all choreography and stage combat, right?"

Ren sighed, "Other than trying to get some bonding to happen with these guys out here, it kind of is. We rehearse the lines, but as you know, our scenes as one solidified group aren't that big until Act 4 and we don't have that script yet."

Kyoko hummed thoughtfully, "I'm surprised, I thought Shingai-san said they were accelerating the timeline again because of a weather thing. He said something about us being on location by next week."

"Huh, no we hadn't heard that yet. Perhaps we'll be informed tomorrow some time. But well, that shortens our time apart considerably. It would be nice to see you." Kyoko blushed at the warmth in Ren's voice.

"Ah, well, yes, certainly. That would be nice." She struggled to not hit her head against her window from where'd she'd been settled in to stare out at the stars while she talked with him as she silently berated herself for her stupid words.

"Mogami-san?"

"Hhhyes?" Kyoko struggled to hide her dismay as she heard her voice pitch weirdly from nervousness.

Ren's voice grew ever-so-slightly more amused, "Mogami-san, there's no need to sound so nervous. Don't friends want to spend time together? Don't friends miss each other when they're away from each other?"

Kyoko felt her eyebrow beginning to twitch in irritation as Ren layered more and more suggestive emphasis into his questions. This man is too much, truly, this playboy! She struggled to respond with something resembling maturity before being struck by the memory of Atsushi-san's words earlier in the day.

"Ren," Kyoko said abruptly, and Ren stopped and pulled his phone away from his ear, staring at it in consternation. A beat later he then put it back to his ear and responded hesitantly.

"Um, yes?"

"Would you say you find me charming?"

Ren felt unease stirring to life inside him, "How do you mean?"

Kyoko suddenly lost all courage she had mustered up and let out a nervous laugh and tried to play it off,"Oh, it's something Atsushi-san said to me today. It was curious, what he was saying about special things with friends and how charming people could be. So, it made me start to wonder."

Ren stiffened as he heard this and began agitatedly pacing back and forth, "Atsushi-san? What do you mean? What were you talking about?"

Kyoko desperately searched for a way to get out of this conversation and then surprised herself by yawning a little. Her eyes widened as she noticed the time. Well, that was as convenient an excuse as any and she blurted it out in a hurry, "Actually Tsuruga-san, I have a chance to make it to school tomorrow morning so I want to turn in early. I'll talk to you later, alright? Rest well!"

With that, Ren was left staring at his phone in aggravation as the call disconnected.

"What special things with friends?" He eyeballed his phone with some frustration as he muttered this. "You better not have been hitting on her Atsushi." He grumbled a little bit more as he tried to think it over. Atsushi was about as nondescript as you could be for an actor, and Ren knew he was happily married with a child on the way. Ren knew he had him beat in terms of appeal, but still that unease ate at him as he got ready for bed. He found himself staring at his fingers as they hovered over his keyboard as he contemplated sending Kyoko a message. He sighed and settled against his pillows and stretched out on his bed.

"This is stupid. This is so stupid. Why am I doing this?" He let out a soft groan and ran a hand through his hair, but found himself sending the message anyway. He tossed his phone onto the nightstand with some exasperation, then rolled over and punched his pillow into a shape he could sleep on. It was stupid yes, but he was often stupid when it came to the girl he loved, as he had learned long ago.

In Tokyo, a still flustered Kyoko was roused a little bit from the ball she'd curled herself into under her covers by her text tone going off. She peered hesitantly at her phone but found herself opening the message despite her sensible side telling her to let it go. A delighted thrill ran through her that had her heart pounding anew as she saw the message was from Ren. She knew then that Atsushi had been right. She was being treated as 'special' and she knew it.

The text was a picture of the night sky, and Ren's message was simple. The view is better when I'm sitting next to you.

…

Shingai said his goodbyes to the cast and crew leaving for the day and went and shut himself off in his office. He had one last meeting for the night, and then they were all to be bussed off to their location shoot bright and early in the morning.

He settled into his desk and rummaged around for the paperwork in question. His security chief has asked him to personally clear their latest hire before they went on location and it had stoked Shingai's curiosity. As he read through the resume, he could see why his chief had wanted him to handle it. The person in question had just recently left their previous employer. Interesting, what's this about?

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Enter."

A young man, well-built and with sandy hair, entered his office. He bowed and said his greetings and Shingai waved him in.

"Come on in, take a seat. I understand you come highly recommended. My chief was impressed with your resume and your interview."

The younger man squirmed a little, a sign of his discomfort before he muttered his thanks. Shingai studied him, shrewdly noting how his fists curled and uncurled in his lap, presumably a nervous tick.

"So, what made you want to apply to this position?"

The young man cleared his throat, "My mentor suggested it actually. He said that a varied resume would do me some good. And an old coworker of mine let me know you had the position available."

Shingai nodded absently. The old coworker was his security chief, and that was part of the reason he'd wanted Shingai to approve this. A thought tickled his mind and he flicked his gaze back down the resume, "Ah, is this mentor of yours why you stayed so long with your previous employer?"

The man nodded, "Yes sir."

"So why not finish out with their current production? By all regards, they're still halfway through shooting. It's a little unusual, as I'm sure you're aware Kinji-san."

"I am."

Shingai raised a brow as Kinji-san did not speak further.

"As you may know, we're leery of hiring individuals that cannot commit to at least the two-month time span this location shooting requires. It seems reasonable of me to ask this, wouldn't you agree Kinji-san?"

The young man flinched a little, "Yes sir."

Shingai waited for a moment, then sighed gustily, "Kinji-san-"

"I hadn't intended to leave when I did." Shingai's eyebrows raised again as he was interrupted. "I really do love working with Ogata-san's typical crew. I've learned a lot."

Shingai waited again as Kinji-san squirmed a little more, "There's just been some frustration with some things about his current work and so I thought a change of scenery would do me some good."

"That's...interestingly worded." Shingai tapped his fingers against his paperwork as Kinji-san stared determinedly at the floor. Shingai could read between the lines decently enough however. Something was frustrating the young man and instead of just having it handled within the crew of Ogata's production, he'd decided to leave. It was rather drastic for someone that had worked with the same crew for close to three years however, and that was curious indeed.

"Look Kinji-san, I'll be blunt, we'd love to have you, we need every helping hand we can get with set security, especially ones with the experience you have. Is this...frustration going to continue to be a problem for you? Or can you commit to this?"

Kinji-san looked up, a faint look of hopefulness in his eyes as Shingai caught his gaze.

"I can commit sir. It won't be a problem at all. I promise" For emphasis, he bowed his head in thanks.

"Good, glad to hear it. Be here at seven sharp in the morning." Shingai released him with that, but then stopped him at the doorway, "And Kinji-san."

The younger man looked back.

Shingai smiled a little, 'Welcome to the team." He was rewarded with a bright smile and another thank you before Kinji left.

Shingai gazed down at the paperwork, his curiosity stirring. It seemed, as much as he'd wanted to get a hold of Ogata, fate had wound up dropping an opportunity into his lap.

…

Kyoko and Kanae stumbled out of their bus, and Kyoko winced a little as she took in the brightness of the mid-morning sun. Kanae was similarly aggrieved by how bright it was after the cool shade of their bus and was muttering curses about it that made Kyoko smile. They and the rest of the group, which had included Oohara-san, Atsushi-san, and Misaki-chan, were shown into the building they were staying in. They were to check in at the desk so they could be given keys to their rooms.

Kyoko faintly heard Shingai saying two persons per one room, and she quickly snagged Kanae. This was going to be like a sleep-over times ten and in Kyoko's mind, that sounded like the best on-location shoot ever.

Before the group was able to leave to drop off their luggage, Shingai stopped them to tell them to head to the dining hall as soon as possible for a brunch.

Kyoko heard Misaki-chan's cheerful voice then, "Will everyone else be there to?"

A faint murmur of interest rippled through the assembled group.

Shingai indulged the apparent curiosity, "Yes Takimoto-san. This will be the impromptu first meeting of the entire cast."

Excited whispering overtook the crowd and Shingai then made sure to speak over it, "That means drop your luggage and quick! You don't want to be the last one in and lose out on food options!"

With a great deal of hustle and bustle, the crowd dispersed to their rooms. Kyoko was pleased to see that she and Kanae had grabbed a key to a room on the second floor, with a nice view of the sleepy town they were near, and the big set they were working out of from their balcony. Before she could get too lost in thought, Kanae grabbed her and hustled her back down to the dining hall.

The din was overwhelming, and Kyoko was happy to have Kanae at her side. Kyoko knew they could handle new and unusual situations better together. Certainly, it had come in handy with Sacred Lotus in the Mire shoots. As they were standing in the food line being served, she felt Kanae lean over her shoulder.

"Don't turn around, but Tsuruga-san is headed this way towards the line." Kanae whispered in her ear and Kyoko froze.

Now that she'd been notified, she distantly realized that the general hubbub had quieted some. A new sense of unease overcame her as she remembered that she'd avoided his persistent questions about her conversation with Atushi-san last week by being a chatterbox. Which had been easy to do over the phone, and not something she was likely to get away with in person.

How did I not plan for this? Kyoko thought wildly and then promptly blamed it on Yashiro for keeping her so busy. She found herself grabbing Kanae's hand on her tray to hold her still.

"Kanae, please, don't ask me why right now, but please don't leave me alone with him."

She felt Kanae stiffen as the other girl recognized how serious her tone of voice was. Despite her request though, she felt Kanae whispering in her ear again.

"Did he do something Kyoko?" Kyoko kept her mouth shut and smiled brilliantly at the kitchen staff serving them. She gave them her most polite expression of gratitude, and then booked it, hauling Kanae with her, looking for all the world like she was starving and in a huge rush to eat.

As she veered away from where Ren was in line, she kept her head down, just in case. Once she had installed herself and Kanae at a table, she spoke again.

"No he hasn't done anything, I just did something stupid."

Kanae's eyes narrowed and Kyoko dodged her gaze by stuffing slices of apple in her mouth.

Kanae only let that fly twice more before demanding further explanation.

"I'm sorry Moko-san, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Is there anyone else you can talk to?" Kanae asked flatly. Kyoko slumped a little in her seat and sighed.

Kanae rubbed her forehead in exasperation, "Look, I know he makes you nervous, I get it. But do you really want that to hold you back?"

Kyoko worried at her bowl of fruit, turning it this way and that.

"Kyoko look at me." Kyoko slowly dragged her gaze up to meet Kanae's.

There was a compassionate look in her eye, despite her stern tone of voice, "If you can't trust yourself right now, trust me. Treat him like you always have, and it'll work out. Avoiding the issue helps nothing."

It looked like she wanted to say more, but they were interrupted by Oohara-san and Misaki-chan joining them at their table. Promptly distracted, the four young women excitedly began to chatter about the pretty location and the scenes that they were to rehearse and shoot that day. Oohara-san had an important one at the studio with the teahouse set with Sugaya-san and Misaki-chan, while Kyoko and Kanae and a few others were to head to the jazz club location.

Their chatter petered off one by one as Misaki-chan fell silent, and looked past where the other three were sitting, surprise filtering onto her features. Kyoko stared, confused, but before she could ask, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She sat there, stunned as she felt the familiar sensation of Ren leaning down to talk in her ear.

"Mogami-san, how rude. You didn't come greet me." It was all Kyoko could do to bite her tongue and not let the squeak out as she stared, hopelessly fascinated by how close his hand was to hers on the table.

She slumped in relief as Kanae slid forward to get his attention from Kyoko's other side, "It wasn't rude at all actually Tsuruga-san, I told her to wait."

Kyoko could feel the tension zing as Moko-san held Ren's gaze, challenging him. Ren straightened a little, his hand falling off her shoulder.

"Kotonami-san, how unusual. You two are usually so good at being polite." His gentlemanly facade did not hide that he was throwing Kanae's challenge back in her face and Kyoko quickly spoke up.

"Ahha, you see, Moko-san and I had been rehearsing our scene this evening and you know how we get, we want to do the best we can, without being distracted."

Kyoko's gaze narrowed as Misaki-chan looked confused, and looked like she was about to open her mouth to disagree. I apologize in advance Misaki-chan. Kyoko gave her a swift kick to her foot under the table to preempt her saying anything. Misaki shut her mouth again, bewildered at Kyoko's behavior. It was all for naught however as Oohara-san, on Kanae's other side, spoke up.

"Oh, how rude of us, we didn't realize! Shall Takimoto-san and I go on ahead then?" Kyoko heard Kanae's faint groan and Kyoko gave it up as a lost cause as Ren spoke again, a subtle tease threading through his words.

"I see. Studiously working as ever, even through lunch. A truly admirable quality."

"Yes, well, we just want to be as good as you someday," said Kanae, hastily trying to cover it up.

Kyoko shot her a small glance and mouthed, 'give it up, it's fine'. Kanae threw her a frustrated look but sighed and signaled for her to do as she liked.

Kyoko cleared her throat a little, "Really Oohara-san, it's no trouble. You guys are fine-"

Ren interrupted, "Ah I see, I'm the one that's the distraction."

Kyoko ground her teeth together as he tried to bait her into saying something damning, amusement apparent in his voice. There was a loaded silence before Kyoko could gather her wits enough to respond.

"Nonsense Tsuruga-san, Moko-san and I were just very focused at the moment. I deeply regret not greeting you-"

Ren leaned down again, his hand on the back of her chair and spoke in an undertone into her ear, so only she could hear.

"That's not the only thing you're going to regret. Consider yourself off the hook-for the moment." As smoothly as he dropped the teasing warning, he stood back up again.

He smiled at them all, "Ladies, I'm off to a rehearsal, but let's do this again sometime. It's been a pleasure."

He strode off and Kyoko glared after him. That playboy! Did he really need to be that charming just to be a tease? She then stopped herself as she thought that and let out a groan as it reminded her again of Atsushi and hers conversation.

Kanae patted her on the back in sympathy and Kyoko turned her attention back to the rest of the table, so she could field the flurry of questions the others gave her. But just for good measure, Kyoko cursed him again in her head.

…

In Act 1 of Spring at Mt. Oguso, Yoneda Yayoi and Lieutenant Commander Jack Taylor had one-on-one meetings three times. While the commander was the one to accompany the base's youngsters to Yayoi-sama's brief lessons on ikebana, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony, it was always something done as outreach. Which meant that everyone was always the most professional they could be.

Kyoko stared grimly at the words on the page in front of her as she thought this over. The first meeting where they actually talked with each other was the teahouse scene that had been done for the last audition. The second was a happenstance meeting that was set chronologically in the first act, but would not be revealed until the second act. Which left the third meeting, the night out at the jazz club. This was the scene they were to do this evening and even if Ren hadn't challenged her earlier in the day, she'd still feel as determined as she did in this moment.

Yayoi was stirring to life inside her, itching for the scene to start. Kyoko was rereading her dialogue, doubly determined to make sure her work would be flawless on the first take as she waited for Kanae to be done with wardrobe. Kanae had called her a worrywart that morning on the bus, but after lunch, she'd agreed with Kyoko. Something about Ren's behavior had them on edge, and they were definitely not going to let him steal this scene.

Her gaze shot over to where Yashiro and Ren were talking animatedly, Ren in his character's uniform, and she cursed him again in her head. How is that man so damnably attractive?! Shingai's voice then caught her attention and she pricked up her ears so she could listen.

"...you sure, sir?"

"Yes. Ito-san knows what he's doing, just make sure to follow what his setup is." Shingai's patient voice had her curious so she looked around to see where he was. He appeared to be instructing camera grips and sound guys about something. She got up from her seat, and wandered over.

As they group continued to discuss something, one of the staff she didn't know looked her way, cocking his head inquisitively. He stepped closer to her, talking quietly so he wouldn't interrupt the group "Kyoko-san, did you need something?"

Kyoko flushed and shook her head, "Sorry, I was just wondering what was going on."

Recognition dawned on the crew-member's face, "Oh! Yes, well, we're doing something a little different in post-processing, so we have to make some adjustments for the first act."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, how to explain this. Well, you know how tall Americans are on average, at least compared to us?" He asked her.

"Yes?" She cocked her head, wondering where he was going with this.

"So, in cinematography, visual storytelling is something that's always in play. Seems obvious, but that means when we're shooting a scene like this, ie, something that's supposed to be fraught with tension between people, we want to consider those kind of things and show the difference. A really good way to do that is to highlight an apparent difference, like height. It helps to visually explain how overpowering and discomforting the situation feels."

"Oh how interesting!" Kyoko said, excited to get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak.

"What's even more exciting, is something Takashi-san and Shingai-san just came up with earlier," said the crew-member, looking amused at her reaction.

"Oh, what was it?"

"They're going to edit Act 1 in post-processing so you never see Commander Taylor's face."

Kyoko stared, befuddled, "Wait, what?"

The crew-member laughed a little, "Apparently it came from an old joke about Tsuruga-san's height. We're adjusting the camera tracks right now, and Shingai-san already ran through Tsuruga-san's new blocking with him earlier. I must say, I'm excited to see how it'll look."

The crew-member turned his attention back to what the rest of them were doing, leaving Kyoko to her thoughts. After a moment however, her thoughts settled enough for her strengthen her resolve over how flawlessly she would act as Yayoi. Tsuruga-san would essentially be handicapped throughout the entire scene, as he would have to do his best acting only with his voice and his body language.

It seems he's always just that one step ahead, she thought agitatedly to herself. As she saw Kanae step onto set, however, she brushed away all thoughts about that. It was time for Ya-chan to shine.

Ya-chan and Mi-chan started the scene inside the club, at a table. The production team had hired a team of rotating musicians for the jazz club scenes throughout the production, so Kyoko and Kanae were able to enjoy some live music as the rest of the scene was set up. The scene was one wherein Mi-chan had invited Ya-chan out for a 'girls' night'. It was their first one after Ya-chan had gotten married, and so the characters had 'splurged' a little by going into Yokosuka to one of the fancier clubs. It was also one that was frequented by US troops, which was where Lieutenant Commander Jack Taylor came in.

In the story's timeline, it was set after Daisuke-san had accompanied Yoneda Michitada-sama into Tokyo on embassy business. So most of the dialogue for Ya-chan and Mi-chan was gossip about marriage and work, and then some worry on Ya-chan's side for her husband and father.

As it neared time for Ren to enter the scene, Kyoko found her focus sharpening in preparation.

Kyoko, as Yayoi, laughed a little in response to what Mi-chan was saying, "No, I'm sure Daisuke-san won't irritate otou-sama so much he'll make him walk back."

Mi-chan shot her a sly grin, "I don't know...it happened that one time last year-"

"Hey! They were just coming back from the shops in town then! Otou-sama is definitely not so mean that he'd make Daisuke-san do that coming back from Tokyo." Ya-chan giggled.

"Hmmm...what's that Yoneda-sama always says..'It builds character!'" The two of them dissolved into giggles again. A soft clearing of a throat interrupted them then.

Kyoko, as Yayoi, stilled as Ren stepped up to their table, and bowed a little, "Yamamoto-san, Akiyama-san, I did not anticipate seeing you at a club here in Yokosuka."

His face was politely inquisitive as he looked at them and Kyoko couldn't help but wonder if the sound guys had caught the inflection in his words well enough.

Kyoko smoothed her face into Yayoi's neutral mask as Mi-chan cheerfully answered for them both, "It's a special girls' night Commander-san."

"Ah, I see."

"And Commander-san, please refer to me as Yoneda-sama," Kyoko gently chided.

A worried look came over the commander's face and it was as apparent in his tone of voice, "Oh, oh I'm so sorry. I had heard that you and Yamamoto-san had tied the knot, as it were."

"Indeed we have, however, he entered into my family as he has none left of his own."

Another worried look, "Ah I see then. Will he be joining you shortly?"

Kanae, as Mi-chan piped up again, "Girls' night Commander-san. Of course he won't."

"Ah yes, of course." Again, his tone of voice was as troubled as the look on his face. It would be a shame, Kyoko thought, that the camera's were avoiding his face, because he flicked his eyes from one group of soldiers to another, uneasiness easily communicated through his features.

Mi-chan spoke again, interested in what he was doing, "Commander-san? Why are you here? Is it your night off? Oh, but you're in uniform. Ah, a dinner break then?"

Yayoi subtly hid a smile behind her glass as she took a sip of water, her gaze amused as she looked between her very cheerful friend and the more somber features of the Commander.

While Kyoko knew that the Commander was there to root out some unsavory characters that people had put complaints in about, Yayoi simply thought that this was a lucky meeting, as she knew her friend was always interested in what the US troops did.

The Commander and Mi-chan's conversation continued a little longer, before a tussle broke out near the musicians in the corner and the Commander's features tightened up from where they'd slowly relaxed. Kyoko was observant enough to notice him crushing the rim of his uniform's cap with his grip as well. As he'd not made overly dramatic gestures, she was pretty sure that the crew must have brought in the camera guys whose sole job was to film small details such as that. No wonder Shingai-san had a group of people he was instructing. She imagined that adding in those details in post-processing was going to be difficult.

"I'm terribly sorry to cut your night short, but Yoneda-sama, Akiyama-san, if you wouldn't mind, please let me escort you home. These men...they have the tendency to be rowdy."

Mi-chan pouted but Ya-chan interrupted her before she could respond. Ya-chan slowly stood up, and looked up into the Commander's face, "While we appreciate that Commander-san, our driver from the inn can take us."

The Commander frowned down at her, "Yoneda-sama, please let me join you, it'd really put me more at ease if I knew you made it back safe."

She tilted her head slightly to the side as she studied him, "I see. Orders from my father then?"

Mi-chan made a surprised noise as the Commander cleared his throat, looked away and stepped back from her. "Yoneda-sama-"

Ya-chan cut in, "It's fine Commander-san, I'm used to it. Otou-sama is very leery about leaving his family behind when he goes into Tokyo, as I'm sure you know."

The Commander turned her way again, "While he did ask this of me Yoneda-sama, it was my personal choice to agree."

His tone of voice was gentle, and Ya-chan studied him for a moment longer before she turned to Mi-chan, "Come, we should return before that trombonist decides to join in on that fight."

She held her hand out to Mi-chan, and the two of them made for the door, the Commander right on their heels.

The clapperboard shutting ended the scene and Kyoko faintly heard Shingai shouting out various instructions to the crew about the sound, lighting, and camera-positioning. Before too long though, the three of them were cleared to step off the set and the scene declared a success.

Kanae flipped back her hair in it's high ponytail as the makeup crew scurried around her to make their adjustments. "Well," Kanae started, "It seems this commander role suits you well Tsuruga-san."

He laughed a little, "I won't take all the credit for that. You two were absolutely wonderful together, and I felt that if I didn't bring my all, I'd be washed out next to you two." He sent them both a smile. There were was quiet moment where Kanae and Kyoko tried to process that compliment. But then, Ren spoke again, looking a little embarassed.

"I did want to apologize for my behavior earlier, however. Did I tease too much to be forgiven?"

Kanae's eyebrows raised and Kyoko stared between them, wondering at this dynamic while the makeup crew shuffled off to see to the others on set, "That's up to Kyoko, not me." Kanae said.

Ren turned to her, face expectant, but all Kyoko could do was send him a distracted smile. Wardrobe had given him hazel-colored contacts, and had lightened his hair considerably. Close up in this light, she could very clearly see the Kuon that was hiding beneath the surface of Tsuruga Ren.

"Well," he prodded, "Did I tease too much earlier, or am I forgiven?"

Kyoko shot a quick glance to Kanae as she remembered her advice from earlier. As best as she was able, she stuffed down all her unwieldy emotions to return Ren's teasing look.

"So long as you forgive me for not greeting you, I'll forgive the teasing."

Her heart couldn't help it though; it pounded ever faster as Ren shot her his brilliant smile. He stepped closer and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

"That's good. I'd feel just awful if my very dear friend, who I missed terribly couldn't forgive me my teasing."

Kyoko's gaze narrowed as she stared him down, "Is that so?"

"Oh yes," He nodded, humor lurking in his eyes, and she hoped to all the gods out there that he didn't pull out his puppy-dog eyes.

"Well just in case then, you should do something nice for me."

A satisfied smile spread over his face and Kyoko wondered if that's what he'd planned all along to get her to agree to.

"I'd be pleased to do so Mogami-san."

Kyoko sent Moko-san a long-suffering look, and was absolutely gobsmacked to see Kanae hiding a smile. Kanae shot her a wink when she noticed Kyoko looking her way and mouthed, 'Well done.'

Kyoko blushed at the praise, but as she sneaked another glance at Ren as someone on the set grabbed his attention, she couldn't help but smile.

…

Well, this is the first part of Whichever Way the River Flows. I hope people enjoyed it. Any feedback is welcome!

One small note for the Yumika/Yayoi fight. Yayoi is the sort to hang onto her father's every word. So, much of what she says is what she's heard him say. Yumika is a decent amount older than Yayoi, and had experiences in the war the Yayoi didn't. Both of their stances come from those places, and this was a common thing to happen between the young teenage generation in Japan at the time, and the those that were older. I doubt that this would come up elsewhere, it would just be already known context for the audience, so I wanted to make that clear.

Regards,

artsy