Chocolate Fic for sparklynoodles; part 1
To: sparklynoodles
From: kaminikaku
Title: A Winter's Day
Pairing: Kazuya Kamenashi/Anne Watanabe
Rating: PG
Summary: Hokkaido in winter is the coldest place in Japan. Anne is a cable car attendant at the Mount Moiwa Observatory in Sapporo. When a magazine photo shoot chooses the Observatory as a shooting location, Anne finds herself meeting a person who may change her life. Can one day be long enough to melt the icy determination of a wounded heart?
A/N: Dear sparklynoodles, I tried to pitch this towards some of your wants and interests, and I hope you aren't disappointed at the sweeter rather spicier rating and tone. I hope you enjoy it, and it was a pleasure writing for you. Also, I found Anne quite difficult to write as there seems to be little in translation from her in terms of interviews etc, so there may will be moments where she appears to be Bera-lite, and I hope the sweetness is balanced out enough to not be too saccharine. Now, prepare for winter in Hokkaido.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 1, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 3, 2013 10:13 p.m.
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.” Anne bows deeply from the waist, her back perfectly straight, her shoulders even, gaze fixed on the yellow safety line painted on the concrete landing. Her voice doesn't waver, each word is as crisp and clear as when she first started reciting the company apology eleven hours ago.
She knows that if she thinks about it too deeply, if she tries to calculate how many times she has recited that speech since the cable car first fell behind schedule, she will want to beat her head against a nearby wall, so instead, she pretends to be a robot, and makes sure that it is perfect each and every time. No point in giving Management any more reasons to believe that she is not taking the job seriously.
As she watches the passengers disembark and move through the building towards the second boarding area hallway, she thinks, not for the first time, that her job could be done by a robot. She doesn't open the cable car door, she doesn't point towards the second boarding area, she just welcomes people and bows. This could be done by a robot. A metal robot, who didn't have to wear sheer pantyhose and court shoes on a day of -5 degrees Celsius, along with a little wool hat perched jauntily beside her carefully pinned up chignon and a hip length grey wool coat. On a 12 hour shift open to the elements. She can't feel her feet anymore...or her ankles. At least Management had agreed to their request to wear gloves when the temperature fell below freezing. So she could feel her fingers... in a fashion. She knew they were at the end of her arms, but they were so stiff, she couldn't really move them. Undoubtedly, a man had decided that female staff were perfectly capable of wearing a thin layer of nylon and plastic on their legs in the middle of winter, while standing outside in sub zero temperatures, without them being uncomfortable at all. She manages not to snort.
If it wasn't for the fact that Management probably would replace her with a robot, she might ask if it was at all possible, if there was any chance, if they might possibly discuss whether the female staff could wear work trousers as well as gloves when the air around them became colder than ice and occasionally, as was the case right now, filled with snow flurries.
At least this was the second last carriage. Only one more to go, and then she just had to wait for the return of the cable car and passengers, and they could call it a night and go home. She had twenty two minutes before it was due to arrive, just enough time to make a cup of tea from her thermos of hot water, and hope some of the chill left her bones.
Twenty five minutes later...
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Her bow was perfect, so perfect she didn't actually see any of the passengers as her eyes were fixed on the ground. Deep inside she may have been doing a little dance of happiness, while yelling 'Last one! Last one!' but you certainly couldn't tell.
Or at least most people wouldn't have been able to tell.
“Sorry. It's not the last one.”
Anne snaps to attention, to see her friend and colleague Riisa Naka slowly edging away. “What do you mean it's not the last one?”
“Remember, I'm just the messenger?”
Anne raises an eyebrow.
“Management booked a magazine photo shoot tonight and forgot to put it on the schedule.”
“You are joking.”
“Sorry.”
Anne stamps her feet. Just a little bit. If they check the security footage she can always say she was trying to get the feeling back in her legs. Then she repeats her mantra of 'No matter what, you need this job for another six weeks!' to herself, takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders and looks at Riisa.
“How long?”
“At least three hours. We have to wait for this load of passengers to clear, then we have to transport everyone and the equipment up to the Observatory. It's probably going to take three trips.” Riisa bites her lip, she knows that Anne isn't going to like this last bit at all. “They also want you to work top of the mountain and act as the company liaison.” She holds up her hands. “Messenger! Remember! Messenger!”
Anne stares, nods, puffs out her cheeks, and then walks a little bit further away from the security camera. She gives a single very regal nod, and bows deeply. With her head down, you can't see her lips moving, and she swears quietly so only Riisa can hear.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 3, 2013 11:50 p.m.
Anne makes sure the last passenger had left the area, and then pushes the alert button. Riisa signals back from the Terminus Stage 1 area, and the cable car rises and then heads back down the mountain, sinking into the inky darkness. One more, and then everyone would be up here, and they could get a move on, and get things done. She must admit she was grudgingly impressed by the efficiency of the people who had arrived so far. It was a little like a military landing, make up had set up their area complete with mirrors and tables in the hallway, the set assistants were setting up lights and marking out areas for shadows or suggested angles outside, and make up had colonised the lobby area near the elevator. Maybe it wouldn't take the entire three hours that they had scheduled? She hopes it won't; going home sounds wonderful.
They can turn the cable cars around a little more quickly when there are no passengers, or Management left on site to insist on arbitrary time limits. Technically, she should have been in that car while it was travelling between the stages, but as they had let everyone else go home except for her and Riisa, there was no other choice. She thinks the lesser of two evils was to stay here, and send the automated cable car alone. Surely that was a better decision when there was 12 people running all over the Observatory at the top of the mountain...
The control panel lights up as Riisa sends the cable car back up the mountain, and Anne checks to make sure her hat is straight and so are her gloves. Last car, and this would be the most important. Photographer, set director, producer, and presumably the models as well.
The bell rings as the car arrives and the door opens. Anne bows, and greets them.
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
She freezes in horror and embarrassment, then peeks up through her eyelashes. Five men are looking at her with puzzled and confused frowns and a sixth is grinning. Or she thinks he is, most of his face is covered by a mask, and thick black framed glasses, but she can see the corners of his eyes are crinkling.
“Excuse me?” one asks, the photographer by the looks of it, but he is interrupted by the smiling man who begins laughing.
“How many hours have you been saying that?” he asks.
Anne bites her lip. “About twelve?” she finally says.
“That's a long time,” the smiling man says gravely. “Let's hope that we can get this thing done quickly, so you can go home.” He claps the photographer on the shoulder. “What do you say, Senga? Shall we do this as quickly as possible so this lovely lady over here can get home soon?”
Senga shrugs. “I say that is exactly what we should do.” The wind strikes him as he steps out of the cable car. “How cold is it up here?”
“Last time I checked, it was minus four degrees, but it feels a little colder now.” Anne points towards the elevator. The make up area has been set up in the hallway over there, the wardrobe people have set up on the second floor lobby area, and I think every one else is outside.
“Thank you. Sounds like we are ready to start.” Senga glances at the others, who nod in agreement. “Kazuya, could I please have a moment? If everyone else could head upstairs please, gentleman?”
Senga catches Anne's arm as she moves aside. “I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.”
“Anne Watanabe.” Anne smiles, unsure why he is interested in her name.
“Nice to meet you Ms Watanabe. I am Kento Senga, and I am the photographer on this shoot. I actually need to make a few phone calls. Is there a private room I could use?”
“Not really,” Anne thinks for a moment. “There isn't any office space up here, but there is the staff kitchen? It's a small break room really, with a couch and some lockers and so on, but the door locks, and I am the only staff member up here at the moment, so would that work?”
“Yes, it would. It sounds fine.”
“Then follow me please,” Anne says as she leads the two gentleman around a hidden corner and into a small room. “Please let me know if you need anything else.”
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 4, 2013 12:35 am
The arrival of the final group seems to have kicked the entire production into high gear. People are moving with purpose, calling across to other people to check the order of shots, making sure the clothes are easily accessible. One woman has a computer set up, and she seems to be checking the weather minute by minute, while another man is checking lighting cables. Anne feels incredibly superfluous, so she has quietly shifted a chair into a corner and sat down. Although she wasn't told she could sit down, there doesn't seem to be anything she needs to do to help and … she was starting to doubt whether she could stand for much longer. This long day is just going to get longer it seems. At least in here, the air is warm and comfortable, although she isn't going to fall asleep as the door to the viewing platform keeps opening, allowing the icy wind to rush in.
Senga is making last minute checks with his staff, and when he is finally satisfied he announces that they are ready to begin the first set of shots. He sends a runner down to the make up area to bring the talent up.
When the elevator doors open, and Kazuya Kamenashi steps out, resplendent in a dark suit, heavy wool overcoat and a luxuriously long golden cashmere scarf, Anne is quite glad she is already sitting down.
Kazuya Kamenashi.
Anne is proud of herself. She manages to keep her jaw off the floor as he walks by and smiles at her.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. February 4, 2013 1:10 am
As the shoot progresses, Anne wishes that she had hidden her phone in a pocket of her coat today. Shige was not going to believe it! Kazuya Kamenashi at the same observatory that she worked at. She couldn't wait to tell him, he would sputter and disbelieve it, and then demand all the details, and then Koyama would demand to hear the story himself … Anne got hold of herself.
Kazuya Kamenashi smiled at her. Granted it was just a standard hello yes I see you there and yes it really is me and if you'd excuse me I have somewhere very important to be now type of smile, but it was still a smile. At her.
Shige was not going to believe it.
When she had called down to Riisa to demand to know why she hadn't told her exactly who the subject of the photo shoot was going to be, Riisa had shrieked at her, audibly struggling to breathe between gales of laughter. Apparently Riisa thought her shock was reward enough.
“Anne, honey, it's Kazuya Kamenashi! I know that you are a fan of his. I think you own everything he has ever appeared in on DVD, and I know that you bought AnAn last week because of him and not for the free Hello Kitty bento bag like you claimed.”
“Shut up, the bag was cute.”
“And so is Kamenashi. You can buy me a coffee later as a thank you.”
So now Anne was back, sitting in her chair, trying to stay warm while unobtrusively drinking in every moment of this unexpected chance to watch the famous Kame-chan at work.
**
The chair gives her quite a good vantage point. The chair has been a front row seat for each change of outfit so far, and she is quite happy to report that they had all been equally lovely except the last one. Two sets of suits, casual jeans and thick woollen jumper, hiking boots and plaid shirt, and a rather odd ensemble of rainbow striped ski pants, a red pullover covered in black hearts and a bright orange puffy vest. All in all, he looks fantastic. Not that she ever doubted he would of course.
She can also see why they wanted to use the observatory as a setting, Senga wasn't the first photographer to have seen its possibilities. During the day you can see for miles, all the way out to the sea on a clear day. Sapporo spreads out from the foot of the mountain, and it's an impressive sight. It's at night though, that it becomes a special place, as the city lights up and you can see twinkling lights stretching out forever into the distance. Winter helps the view, the air is crisp and clear and somehow, even light snow makes the lights glisten more. The observatory is really popular at night, people keen to take photos with the city panorama behind them, and it was a great date spot to create memories. The spot in the middle of the north railing was famous for photo taking. They even had a little spot to the side, where a huge neon lit heart was available for couple photos. The Love bell, on its little raised platform at the highest point of the observation deck was the most popular spot for children to take a picture, as they were always eager to ring the bell. The observatory would make some very effective background possibilities, and you really did need to be in charge of the whole observation deck area to do it, but somehow she wished they could have done this during the day, or at least not after a twelve hour shift.
Still, at least this particular photo shoot had some redeeming features. Well, one particularly redeeming feature, which she was doing a very good job of being professional around.
Speaking of which, his final outfit is about to come up, and she is both happy and worried. The temperature had dropped again, and the light snow flurries are heavier now. Not enough to show up on film and cause problems, apparently, but the weather is definitely worse now. The outside crew is suffering and Anne has helped as much as possible with distributing cups of tea and slipping heating pads into coat pockets, but the wind is so strong that it's as if the the marrow in your bones is freezing.
The sharp cry of pain when the wardrobe assistant slips on the icy ground startles them all. The sharp crack of a breaking bone is even worse. The outside staff, including Kame and Senga rush to help her, but from the pallor of her cheeks and the way she is whimpering Anne thinks she has definitely broken her ankle. They carry her as gently as possible inside, and the make up assistant gently prods her ankle. The scream convinces all of them that she needs to be taken to a hospital, and the sooner the better.
Senga barks orders to his staff; and before she realises it, he has organised for the make up and wardrobe teams, along with his assistant to take her to the hospital, while everyone else works as quickly as possible to get the last shot set up. Anne offers to call an ambulance, but Senga insists that it is better for them to handle it discreetly, for the sake of both his shoot and the Observatory.
She helps escort the new patient and her helpers into the cable car, and automatically bows as the car leaves.
She turns to find Senga beside her. “Would you be willing to help with the last shot?” he asks.
“Of course. What do you need me to do?”
“Hold a coat for Kamenashi, and be ready to hand it over as soon as possible.”
“I can handle that.” Anne ignores the little flutter of nerves in her stomach. “Just tell me where to stand?”
“This way.” Senga hands her a large, knee length down filled coat; she clutches it carefully. “Be careful though, I don't want you to slip either.” He glances downwards and stops. “You are wearing the stupidest shoes possible for this weather.”
“You may have noticed that it is part of my uniform?” she replies snarkily, and then flushes. Snarking back at a customer was definitely on the not-allowed-under-any-circumstances-at-any-time list.
Before she can apologise, Senga grins. “I see. Your Management is even more stupid in that case.”
“No arguments from me!” Anne bites her lip and apologises quickly. “Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it was inappropriate.”
“I don't know,” Senga stops and checks her outfit, and she flushes a little more as his gaze travels all the way up from her feet to her burning cheeks, and then all the way down again. “Nylon stockings, knee length skirt, court shoes - I would say that Management has a direct line to inappropriate at this point. Anyway, please be careful out there.”
She nods, and waits in her corner with the coat, as everyone else hurries to make everything perfect. Finally Senga himself runs down to the make up area to collect Kamenashi, and as they appear, Anne realises why Senga had been adamant that she move quickly.
They were going to kill him.
“You can't send him out there dressed like that!”
They stop, and Kame shoots her a puzzled look, while Senga checks Kamenashi's outfit. “She's right, the undershirt is visible. Lose it.”
Kame shrugs, and quickly unbuttons his white shirt, and hands it over to Anne. Before she can look away (and a very large part of her brain controlled by her hormones is ordering her not to), Kame strips off the white undershirt and tosses it onto the wardrobe rack. As that leaves him in skin-tight black leather pants, boots and nothing else, Anne really doesn't know where to look, so she settles for his left collar bone. She automatically hands over the shirt when he stretches his hand out, and then watches as smooth skin disappears behind incredibly soft and almost translucent white Egyptian cotton.
“Good catch on the undershirt,” Senga says and Anne snaps back to attention.
“No! I meant that you can't send him outside wearing that. He'll freeze!”
Senga laughs, as Kame grins at her and says, “That's where you come in Ms Watanabe. I see Senga has given you the responsibility of holding my coat. I'll toss the coat at you as late as possible, and then once we have the shots we need, you can bundle me back into it.” Kame pats her shoulder reassuringly, and then turns to the side, and Anne automatically slides the coat sleeve over his arm, then helps him shrug it on. “See? Toasty warm for now.” Seeing her still sceptical look, he gives her a thousand watt smile, the one designed to make grandmothers keel over and says, “Trust me.”
Anne meekly follows them out into the dark snowy night.
Senga puts all the staff members on standby, and then nods at the Love Bell platform. “Ok for this last series of shots, I want you up there on that platform, one hand on the bell cord, looking out over the city. I'm going to take a lot of angles, so try and stay as still as possible, but I would like some different emotions. Think you can handle that?”
Kame snorts. “Of course. I thought you might ask me to try something that is actually hard.”
With a grin, he pulls of the coat, and hands it to Anne. “Please look after this for me?”
She takes the coat, and then hurries back towards the door. She needs to stay as far out of sight as possible, but she is determined to be ready the moment Kame can use the coat again. It is so cold out here, she hopes it won't be too long …
Her hopes are in vain. Twenty minutes later, Senga is still looking for his shot and Kame is still trying, responding to Senga's suggestions of different emotions; pensive, expectant, melancholy, arrogant, depressed, joyful, wistful … She has lost track of the list, but Kame responds to each suggestion, finding a different expression and posture, almost like magic. He is beautiful when he needs to be, and strikingly sad at other times. Maybe it's because she is so completely focused on him, looking for any sign of discomfort that she is the first one to notice how damp his shirt has become. It clings to his chest and spine, the snow melting against the cotton and moulding it to him. It must not provide any warmth … She is almost positive his lips are blue. He seems to be getting a bit sluggish too, not responding quite as quickly, maybe he was ... There. She sees the first shiver, one too big for him to hide. Surely Senga must give him a break soon …
“One last idea. Are you ok for it?” Senga asks.
Kame nods, slowly, and manages a smile. “If it doesn't require me to move much.”
“Defeat. Hang onto that bell cord as if your life had depended on ringing it, and no one answered. Complete and utter devastation. Go.”
Kame shifts, arches his back and raises both hands above his head to clutch the rope, then pulls it down with all of his strength. The bell tolls, a clarion call in the still night air, and then he slumps as no response comes. He lets the rope bear all his weight, shoulders slumped, legs shaky, and the sorrow of his loss scores heavy lines across his face. He sways slightly, just in time with the rope; it seems to be the only thing connecting him to this world.
Senga's camera is clicking furiously, recording moment after moment, and no one says a word. Anne shifts, from foot to foot, keeping the blood flowing in her toes. Kame has been still for so long, the chill must be bone deep by now.
Finally … finally... Senga calls, “That's a wrap!” and before he can ask, Anne is running across the deck, and climbing the icy stairs as fast as she can.
“Kame?”
He doesn't respond, but his eyes meet hers, and in that moment she can see how much this has cost him. The cost ... and how badly he doesn't want the others to see it.
“Can you move?” she whispers as she shakes the coat out and throws it around his shoulders.
“No,” he mutters.
“Take it slowly, I'll help,” she whispers, then calls out, “Left arm first!” as she surreptitiously peels his fingers away from the rope.
He staggers as he loses that support, which she helps to hide by shifting with him, pretending she was stumbling as well, on that icy metal in her stupid shoes, and then his arm misses the sleeve and instead he is clutching her in his arms, holding her warmth against his chest and she wraps her arms around him too. His face is buried in her neck, the shudders running through him shake his entire body, and all she can do it hold onto him.
Hold onto him and keep that coat around his shoulders. She turns him, gently, so that his back is to the crew, and pulls the coat tightly around him. “You need to get warm,” she whispers, heart beating frantically, and feels him nod against her neck. “Walk with me.”
“Don't think I can,” he breathes the words against her ear, and the shiver that runs down her spine is not entirely caused by the cold.
“Together.” Fierce and determined, and not to be questioned, it is almost a demand. One arm is around his waist, the other sneaks up to cradle the back of his head. “Together. On three.”
She feels the nod against her neck.
“One. Two. Three.”
Kame moves, slowly, feet shuffling through the snow. Anne bears most of his weight, he doesn't seem conscious of how heavily he is leaning on her, but she can take it. As they reach the steps, she whispers in his ear, “Let me go first.” Cautiously stepping onto the first step, she offers her shoulder as a prop, and they safely make it down.
Senga has realised what state Kame is in, finally, and is calling orders to break down the set, and get everything packed as soon as possible, he wants everyone ready to roll in twenty minutes. Silently, Anne and Kame pass by him; she is focussed on getting Kame inside and as warm as possible as quickly as possible.
She opens the door, and Kame's shaking so violently now that she almost loses her grip on him. She pulls him down the hallway into the staff kitchen, and pushes him onto the couch, spreading her own coat over him as well for extra warmth. “Wait here, I'll find something to get you warm.”
Kame slumps against the couch and nods.
She pauses briefly to pump the heating as high as it will go, then runs for the wardrobe area. Senga's team was very efficient and prepared, the Wardrobe assistants may have gone to the hospital, but their bags were mainly packed and luckily clearly labelled. Anne grabs three of them, one labelled KK-street, one labelled knits and one labelled towels. The crew member packing the final items looks at her, surprised, but she mutters, “For Kamenashi,” and disappears before she can be questioned.
When she gets back, the room is markedly warmer, and Kame is huddled under two layers of coats, but she can still see him shaking from the cold.
She opens the bag labelled towels, and goes for his head, towelling as much moisture from his hair as he can. “Ouch,” he mutters, but his eyes stay closed, and he doesn't move away.
She pulls the coats away. “You need to get out of those clothes. Now.”
“Dinner?” he replies.
Anne blinks.
“What?”
“Aren't you ... going to ... buy ... me dinner ... first?” Kame wheezes, and Anne uses the towel to dry his hair just a little bit more. Harder than before.
“Idiot.” She reaches for the shirt buttons, fumbles, and he lets her. She doesn't let herself think too much about it, concentrates on how cold the material is, how wet it is against her fingers and how it soaks her gloves … which are causing her to fumble. She yanks them off, and gets Kame's shirt off. Skin. Lots of wet skin. Lots of icy wet skin and shivers and muscles, and … Kame looking at her and trying to smirk, and ... she decides that imagining she was drying off a very large and cute puppy would help ignore the fact that she was running her towelled hands all over Kame's chest.
The towel is wet through in moments, so she pulls a second one out of the bag before drying Kame's back. As she strokes over his waist, she realises he is undoing the button on his pants.
“Puppy?” he asks.
“What?”
“You keep saying puppy.” Kame seems to be gaining back more than a sense of warmth.
Anne flushes. “You must be imagining it,” she hedges, but Kame snorts.
“Are you imagining me as a puppy?”
“No!” Her denial speaks volumes.
“You are!”
“I'm not,” Anne says and then clutches her towel as Kame starts to roll his trousers down over his thighs.
He suddenly stops. “I'm not wearing any underwear.”
Anne swallows. Stares. Hopes he can't hear the thundering of her heart. “I'm aware of that now.”
Kame reaches behind, and Anne hands him the towel. “Could you see if wardrobe has a bathrobe for me?”
“Sure!” Anne chirps and bolts from the room, as her mind helpfully catalogues each touch, sight, sensation and view from the last five minutes and files it under 'How did that happen but I am so glad it did.'
Behind her, Kame towels himself off, dries his legs, and is thankful that even if cold weather tends to make a man's ... assets ... less impressive in size, he could now tell that the cold had done him no lasting damage. He wasn't quite sure when the cold had stopped being the only reason for his shudders, but he knew for a fact that the feel of Anne running the towel over him had helped. An unexpected but welcome development in any case, Kame couldn't remember the last time he had felt such an intense draw towards someone.
Outside the staff kitchen, there is controlled bedlam. The area in front of the elevator is now covered with boxes and equipment, this crew has definitely taken Senga's request for efficiency to extremes ...
Senga flags her down. “The first load is ready to go. Shall we get this show on the road?”
Anne throws a quick glance over her shoulder at the closed door, then heads out to the cable car bay. She watches as they load what appears to be half the equipment and most of the staff into the cable car, and then sends it down to the next terminus. The rest of the crew piles the final load of equipment together, ready to be loaded as quickly as possible.
“I think we can manage this with one trip,” Senga says. “I should really get to the hospital, I haven't heard from my assistant yet, and I'm worried.”
“Wait. Will you have a car?” Anne asks.
“Sure, we all drove up here together ...” Senga pauses. “In the same car that I sent them to the hospital in.”
“Let me see if Riisa can drive you?” Anne suggests. “She brought her car today.”
Anne calls down, and Riisa is more than happy to drive Senga to the hospital. With Senga standing right beside her, Anne can only subtly confirm that yes he was the photographer, yes he was good looking and tall and was a gentleman, and finally she has to cut her off with a quick, “Great! Thanks so much,” and hang up the phone.
“She'll do it?”
“Yes.”
Senga and his crew load the car with the rest of the equipment. As the doors start to close, Senga jumps out. “Wait! If you have to send the car down, how will you get down there? Can't you come with us?”
Smiling, Anne shakes her head. “No, with a fully loaded car, the system requires me to confirm that you are ready to leave from this panel. We have a separate protocol for staff, so if there is only me in the car I can override it and release the car from the inside. Riisa will send the car back up for me once you have unloaded it. Are you ready to go?”
Senga nods, thanks her for all her help, the doors slide closed and the car makes its way down the mountain.
Anne waits.
Only this time, Riisa doesn't send the car back up the mountain.
Anne waits.
Then waits some more.
Then calls down to Riisa to demand she send the car back up because she would like to go home thank you very much.
Riisa doesn't answer.
The lights around her go out, then the ones in the other terminus switch off.
Anne takes a very deep breath, then one more. Willing Riisa to answer, the phone rings and rings.
If the lights are out both here and at the first terminus, that means that everyone is at the base of the mountain, and Riisa has shut the system down for the night.
She calls down to the base station. The phone rings and rings.
Anne grabs a pair of binoculars from under the desk, and searches for the car park at the foot of the hill. The streetlights show a mainly empty lot and, she thinks she sees the tail lights of Riisa's car leaving.
She is going to kill her.
Anne pats her way over the wall, searching for the control box. She finds the switch she thinks is for the lights, and turns it on. Nothing. She tries the next one, and light floods the room. Thank goodness, for a second she had wondered if the base station controlled the system up here as well, and she would be left sitting here in the dark, all alone and cold, and …. angry. Now the light was back on, she could cheerfully strangle Riisa.
She was stuck at the top of the mountain, while everyone else got to go home and sleep.
Lovely.
Stomping down the hallway improved her mood a little bit; maybe it was childish but no one would see her.
At least it was only a few hours before the next shift would show up and free her. Until then, at least there was tea in the kitchen and a novel in her bag, and maybe if she left a message for Riisa she could come back and -
“What's happening?” Kame asks.
Anne shrieks and the door slams shut behind her.
Kame looks at her, his head cocked to the side, and then he smiles. “Did you actually forget I was here?”
“No?” Anne stammers as she stares.
“You are a terrible liar, do you know that?”
Kame gets up and stretches, and Anne realises he is dressed once more in his street clothes, the ones he wore up here. “Is it time to go?” he asks.
“Um.” Anne flounders for a moment, and then hurries to her locker. “Please wait a moment,” she tosses over her shoulder, as she frantically unlocks her phone, calling Riisa in a hurry. “Pick up, pick up.”
The phone rings and rings, and then the call is cut off. As she tries to call again, a mail message comes through. “Sorry! At the hospital Have to turn the phone off See you tomorrow” With a little smiley face at the end. Anne gave the smiley face a very unsmiley face in return.
“What's wrong?” Kame asks warily.
Anne puts her phone back into her bag, and gestures towards the couch. “I think you need to sit down for this.” She takes the seat beside him.
Kame takes the news that they are locked in a building on top of a mountain quite well. Anne is very glad that he doesn't seem angry at her, if anything he seems to be amused.
“Seriously? We are locked in?”
“Yes.”
“And no one realised we were not on that cable car?”
“Well they knew that I wasn't but Riisa forgot to send the car back up for me. They just seem to have forgotten you completely.” Anne claps her hand to her mouth. “I mean ...”
Kame laughs, and pokes Anne until she smiles too. “You mean, they somehow missed the fact that the star of the photo shoot, that would be me of course, and the apparent reason that we were all stuck here in the middle of the night in the cold, was not there. Somehow, they left me behind.” Kame waves a hand then strikes a tragic pose. “It beggars belief. How could this happen? Me? They forgot me?”
He continues, bewailing their fate until Anne laughs.
“It's not the end of the world, is it?” he asks.
“No,” she says. “No it's not the end of the world.” She takes a deep breath. “I can understand if you want to make a formal complaint to Management. I will give you their details.”
A flash of anger passes over Kame's features. “A formal complaint?”
“Of course.”
“To your Management.”
“Yes.”
“Will you lose your job?”
“Possibly.” Anne bites her lip. “Riisa almost definitely, as she should have realised that I was still up here. I probably would too as I didn't clear the area properly.”
“And you are stuck here with me for a few hours, and the reward for that is you lose your job? After everything you did to help us?” He shakes his head. “No, I won't be making a formal complaint, and I will not be saying anything to Management. As I said, this isn't the end of the world. For the first time in a very long while, no one knows where I am. I've actually escaped from them, and that is quite a nice feeling. Freedom. That is definitely not the end of the world. Is it?”
Anne looks away, unable to meet his eyes, “We have heat and light, we can make tea. I'm so sorry. I'm sure she just forgot. I'm just sorry that you are so inconvenienced. Would you like some tea? Or some peace and quiet? I can find another -”
“Stop right there.” Kame's tone is serious, and he grabs Anne's hand. “You are as trapped up here as I am. We are in this together.”
“I just meant that I am sure you have so many other things that you would rather be doing,” Anne starts to justify herself.
“And you don't? Anne, it's the middle of the night. We should both be at home sleeping, but we aren't.” He grins cheekily. “I didn't think I'd get the chance to spend the night with a beautiful girl in Hokkaido, but look what the universe provides!”
Bright crimson floods Anne's cheeks, and he smiles gently at her. “May I call you Anne?”
She nods, helpless. She doesn't think her voice can actually be trusted to work.
“Excellent. Please call me Kazuya. Or Kame is fine. My friends call me Kame. Now, would you like some tea?”
Three minutes later, Kame hands Anne a mug of hot tea, and sits back down beside her. “You called me Kame earlier.”
“I did?”
“Yes, you did. Out there by the bell.”
“Oh, sorry, it just slipped out.”
“So you know who I am then?”
Anne nods. “Of course I do. You are Kazuya Kamenashi.”
“That's my name yes.”
“You are a model and an actor.”
“Also true.”
“You played one baseball season for the Yomimuri Giants before you blew out your left knee.”
“Correct again. You do know who I am.” Kame gives her a sly smile. “Are you a fan?”
“I have been known to watch your movies,” Anne says primly.
“Really?” Kame drawls and is rewarded by another flush. She was really quite delightful to tease.
“You've watched my movies? All of them?”
“A few,” she says cagily.
“Only the worthy ones? The ones which have a clear social message and the acting is top notch, with a complex and interesting story line?”
Anne nods.
“The ones where I take my shirt off are of no interest to you? Or how about the one where I was a cop, and had all those locker room scenes?” He grins at her. “How about the one where I play a host? Did you see that?”
Anne huffs. “Ok, I've seen them all.”
“Even the one where I was a pianist who spent two hours trying to learn that one piece of music and ended up dying of pneumonia?”
“Even that one.”
“Wow. That's dedication.”
“Yes it is, you probably owe us money for sitting through that one.”
He laughs. “Possibly I do. That seems fair. It was a terrible film.” He pokes her cheek. “Admit it though, I looked cute in the black tails.”
Anne shakes her head, and Kame grins. “Admit it.”
“No.”
He makes a claw shape with his fingers. “Admit it!”
“No!” Kame wriggles his fingers and moves towards her, intent on tickling. “What are you? Twelve?” Anne shrieks as she jumps off the couch. “Stop it!”
“Ok.” Kame pulls back and grins. “Well it does seem that you know everything about me, and I know almost nothing about you. That's hardly fair.”
“I'm not anyone interesting.” Anne protests. “Really.”
“You are Anne Watanabe, Mount Moiwa Observatory cable car staff member. You are a mystery that I would really like to solve.”
“Wow. That was cheesy.”
“It really was. Sorry. I was trying to say that I want to get to know you.”
“You really don't have to, I'm just a normal person.”
“And I am a star, who rarely gets to meet normal people like you, and we are trapped here, and I would really like to hear about what you think and do. Please? Indulge me?”
“I'm really not that interesting,” she protests one last time.
“Do you have a family, friends and a hobby?”
“Of course.”
“Then start with the hobby.” Kame makes a great show of settling comfortably into the couch. “What do you like to do when you are not being a highly competent cable car driver?” He raises an eyebrow at her. “If you say watching Kazuya Kamenashi movies, I declare a tickle war.”
Anne laughs, rubs her eyes, and settles back more comfortably herself. If Kame's intention had to been to make her less nervous, it was kind of working - and encouraging her to get a little of her own back. “Really? What if I spend my days watching DVDs of your movies, and buying magazines just because you have a photo in them, wondering if your co-stars see fireworks when you kiss them, buying all the products that you endorse and making fan-videos of your dramas, and ...”
'Then I would say thank you, and congratulate you on your sense of good taste,” Kame says serenely.
Anne huffs. “You are shameless.”
“And you are trying to change the subject back to me. I want to hear about you. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
“No.”
“Where did you go to high school?”
“Tokyo.”
“University?”
“I started in Tokyo and then switched to Sapporo.”
“Why?”
“I … I needed a change of scene.” She avoids his eyes.
“Ok. Topic off limits. Understood. What are you studying?” Kame notes the way Anne shifts a little uncomfortably, avoids his gaze once more and twists her fingers together, Now this is interesting. The previous topic she had shut down completely, a wall of ice. Now she was a little skittish kitten. He repeats the question.
“I'm studying literature. Japanese literature. Older Emperor's court literature, and the power structures shown in the documents ... You didn't go to University did you? What would you have studied?”
“I didn't go to University. I really don't know what I would have studied, I never thought about it. Maybe something to do with ... nice try at changing the subject. What Japanese literature are you looking at?”
“Political and military power structures.”
“In the Emperor's court?”
“Yes.”
“Like the Tale of Gengi?”
“In a way, but the texts I am looking at are from a later period.”
“Tell me about them.”
“I'm sure you would find them really boring.”
“Try me.”
“Most of the texts I am looking at are from the Edo Period, and are looking at warrior class traditions from earlier times.”
“Nanshoku literature then?”
Anne stills and curses the fact that all the blood in her body seems to have rushed to her cheeks. “Yes.”
“Why didn't you say so?”
“It's a little bit embarrassing. ”
“Why?” Anne avoids his gaze, and then he realises. “Ahh. I see.” He bends closer to her. “Ranmaru.” She nods, and Kame pats her cheek. “I presume you watched that taiga drama then?”
“Of course.” She scowls at him a little as his grin widens. “It was a decent take on the source material, but you got a few things wrong.”
“The relationship between Ranmaru and Nobunaga.”
“Yes. You played it like he was little more than a page, or an errand boy.”
Kame nods. “Let's just say there were some major disagreements between the director and the network higher ups. The script that we signed up for underwent major rewrites, and we had to reshoot a number of scenes, and … what was it … ah yes, 'pull back the level of unseemly emotion between Nobunaga and Ranmaru.' Either we did that, or they threatened to shut down production.”
“So originally there was a much deeper emotional relationship between you?”
“Of course.” Kame turns to face her, and pulls one foot under himself. “The original script was more layered. It gave the characters a lot more dimensionality, it showed how their experiences had shaped them as people, and how their status forged a relationship between them that was multi faceted. Military. Intellectual. Social. Emotional.”
“Sexual?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That disappointed me the most, the source material seems quite clear to my mind. Even if the majority of surviving sources come from the Edo period, there is a long textual tradition showing that it was a socially well accepted role for them to take on.”
“I hope that one day we get a chance to remake it. It's a great story that deserves to be told properly and accurately.”
“Definitely. And you would look so hot being stripped out of a kimono by Nobunaga.” Anne claps a hand over her mouth and hopes that the ground opens to swallow her. “Oh my God.”
Kame laughs so hard he sounds like a wounded seal. He claps his hands and stomps one foot, and all the while Anne wants to die.
Finally, when he has enough breath he asks her if he can use that as an argument to fund the film, she slaps his arm in protest and tries to give him a stammering apology.
“Relax. People have said things that are much worse about me.”
“Still, it was really inappropriate. I'm really sorry, I'm just really tired.”
Kame shrugs. “If you think I am hot, in or out of a kimono, I am happy.” He stretches out a hand and turns her face towards him. “Seriously, Anne. I'm an actor and a model. Before that I was a professional level baseball player. My physical being has been assessed and commented on since I was a teenager. At this point I can say that being hot is part of my job.” He strokes a finger along her jaw and gives her his best soulful look. “I'm glad to know, however, that you can appreciate my work on a hormonal as well as intellectual level.”
“I swear, I want to kill you.”
“Think of all the fans who would be sad. You can't.”
“Maybe I could hurt you somewhere they won't notice.”
Kame snorts. “Unlikely. I think every inch of me has been photographed and published somewhere. Well every inch that is deemed suitable for public consumption.” Kame's smile grows gentle and indulgent, and for a moment Anne feels like they are the only two people alive on the planet. “If you are tired though, you should sleep. It's almost 4 am. What time is the next shift due?”
“They start at 8.” Anne stifles a yawn, and Kame shifts his hand from her jaw to the little hat that is still securely pinned to her head. He pulls out the pins before she can protest, and grins as her hair falls around her shoulders.
“I've wanted to do that for hours, just to see how long it is.” He smoothes it back behind her ears. “Try and get some sleep. If you take off your shoes, I can give you a foot rub to help you relax.”
“You are not going to give me a footrub!”
“I'll have you know my footrubs are well known as fabulous.”
“We barely know each other. You are not touching my feet.”
“So how well do we have to know each other for that to happen?”
“I don't know - at least dinner and a movie!” Anne says, feeling flustered and embarrassed.
“Well I can't arrange a movie, or dinner right now. How about a date instead?”
“Please don't say that.” Anne turns her face away, and Kame lays his hand on her arm. He doesn't grab or clutch, he just lets it rest gently.
“Say what? Ask you for a date?”
“It's not funny.”
“I mean it. I want to go on a date with you.”
She can feel the warmth of his hand on her arm. It feels grounding and exciting all at once, but she can't understand why he would want this. So she asks. “Why would you want to do that?”
Kame starts to say 'Fishing for compliments?' and then realises she is serious. Now is the time for him to be honest. He's always good at polished turns of phrase, simple honesty is much harder for him. He can make anything seem sincere, but to make it his own unvarnished truth, that is much harder. “I ... I feel a connection with you. You are interesting. You have amazing hair and legs that go for miles. You are … so alive. You are funny and sweet and caring and you blush and you tease me and you … I want to get to know you better.”
“I'm not anything special.” Her cheeks are hot. “Not at all.”
“I can honestly say I have never met anyone like you.” Kame gets off the couch, and kneels at her feet. “Look at me please.” He takes both her hands in his. “I'm serious. I'm not teasing you, or making fun of you, or expecting anything. I'm hoping that you will say yes.”
“You don't know anything about me!”
“I know you are Anne Watanabe. I know you are kind hearted and sweet and protective of your friends. I know you will help people as soon as they ask. I know you are careful and considerate. I l know you have a sharp sense of wit, and a great sense of humour. I know you are a smart girl, a University student with a penchant for samurai literature, which makes me wonder if you have a shelf full of BL manga at home. I would really like to get to know you better.”
The suspicious look in her eyes still hasn't faded entirely, but her shoulders aren't quite as tense. Kame decides to take that as a good sign. “I'll be completely honest with you. I think you are beautiful and attractive and yes, if you asked me to sleep with you I'd say yes in a heartbeat. I can imagine how great we could be together - but right now that's just a fantasy. If you've seen my movies and dramas, you know what it looks like when I kiss someone, how I embrace them, how I take them to my bed. You might even have wondered what it would be like for me to touch you like that? Do you see fireworks when I kiss you? Does your stomach drop when I pull you into my arms? All of that is pretend. Scripted and choreographed so it's graceful and romantic and perfectly lit and framed. It doesn't mean anything to the me that is sitting right here beside you, right here right now. I would like to get to know you better, I would like it to mean something.” He clears his throat and looks her square in the eye. “If I just wanted to get you into bed, we wouldn't be sitting on this couch. I want to learn who you are, and I want you to see me. The real me. Not just Kazuya Kamenashi the celebrity.”
Anne bites her lip, and Kame smoothes his thumb over her mouth. “Do you believe me? he asks.
She nods. “I … Yes. I would like that. To get to know you better.” The words stutter from her lips, but she doesn't mind as Kame grins at her.
He leaps to his feet and does a victory dance that Anne vaguely remembers from his baseball days. Finally he sits back down beside her. “What would you like to do? Let's do something that normal people do in Sapporo as a date. Like in Tokyo they go to DisneySea. What do couples do in Sapporo?”
“Well, one of the popular spots is the Observatory, but we have that covered.” Kame grins at her reply, and for a moment as her heart lurches Anne thinks this might just work. He's still the same, and she's still the same, they just need to be careful. She needs to take care of her heart, and so does he, but he makes her feel … safe. “There are the usual types of things, ice skating, movies, karaoke.”
Kame makes a face. “They all seem a bit too ordinary. Something a little bit special? Something that we can only do in Sapporo? How about the Snow Festival?”
“That starts next week, they are setting up for it now.” Anne stills, he made it seem so reasonable, so possible that for a moment she had forgotten. “Are you sure that you are allowed to be seen with me? In public? Is that a good idea?”
Kame stares at her. “I'm allowed to have a life. I'm not planning on doing anything scandalous enough to make the tabloids. Unless … you don't want to be seen with me in public?
Anne hears it, buried deep under the words, the tone of hurt he was trying to hide. “It's not that! I was just worried that it would cause problems for you. I don't want to cause you any trouble.”
“Well, the tabloids would love to have pictures of me on a romantic date with a beautiful woman like you, so maybe you are right. What can we do which won't let people stare at me?”
Anne smiles. “I have an idea.”
“What?”
“It's a surprise.” She looks at him, at his eyes, hair, jaw line, obviously considering her plan. She nods. “Yes. It will work. Do you have a scarf, a hat and some glasses?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. I'll give you a face mask, and I'll wear one too, and we will totally fit in with everyone else.”
“So you aren't going to tell me?”
“Not yet. I think you can wait.” She grins and then yawns. “Sorry. I'm so tired.”
“Try and get some sleep.” He settles back onto the couch, and stretches out an arm. “I have a very comfortable shoulder you can use.”
Anne gives him a sceptical look.
“I promise, a comfortable shoulder and nothing more.”
She slides closer to him, and lays her head on his shoulder. He spreads his long coat over both of them. “Good night.”
Kame grins at her, then presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I lied. Just a little bit. A comfortable shoulder and a good night kiss.”
“You are lucky that I am already comfortable,” Anne says.
“What were you going to do, storm down the mountain to get away?” he responds. Anne lifts her head, and he hurries to add, “I'm joking. I swear. Just a joke. A bad one. I swear you have nothing to fear from me. Ever.”
Anne smiles, a little sadly. “Except a broken heart,” she says sleepily as her eyes slide closed.
Kame doesn't respond for a while, not until he is sure that she is asleep. “I don't think it's your heart that is the one in danger of being broken,” he whispers.
Mount Moiwa Cable Car Terminus Stage 1, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 4, 2013 5:27 am
When Anne's phone rings, it drags them both from a deep sleep. Anne fumbles for her bag, tripping over the coat while Kame stares blearily at her. She accidentally hits speaker so Riisa's voice booms in the quiet room.
She doesn't get a chance to say anything before Riisa is frantically apologising, promising she will make it up to her, explaining that she had forgotten completely, and was on her way now to pick up Anne, and she is terribly sorry and to please hold on, she is on her way, and she needs to hang up because the roads are snowy. She hangs up before Anne gets a chance to say anything.
“Bring the phone,” Kame says, and Anne does so as she crawls back onto the couch, under the coat and settles against Kame's side. She closes her eyes, then blinks as they snap open.
“What's wrong?” he asks.
“Riisa didn't mention you.” Anne can almost feel her brain trying to tell her something, but she was so sleepy. Wait, there it was. “She doesn't know you are here. She said she forgot me. Not ... us. No one knows you are here.”
“I don't have any appointments today,” Kame says, a smile curving his lips and his eyes lighting up like a schoolboy starting winter vacation. “If everyone thinks I'm at the hotel, and I have a free day, no one will bother me. My flight leaves at 10 tonight, they could have my bags sent straight to the airport.” He gives her the biggest puppy dog eyes he can manage. “Would you have a spare futon you could lend me for a nap? Would you offer a runaway actor/model/ex-baseball player sanctuary and a home cooked breakfast?”
Anne nods. “On one condition. When you walk out of the cable car and Riisa sees you, I want you to be recording video on my phone.”
“Deal.”
Part 2.
From: kaminikaku
Title: A Winter's Day
Pairing: Kazuya Kamenashi/Anne Watanabe
Rating: PG
Summary: Hokkaido in winter is the coldest place in Japan. Anne is a cable car attendant at the Mount Moiwa Observatory in Sapporo. When a magazine photo shoot chooses the Observatory as a shooting location, Anne finds herself meeting a person who may change her life. Can one day be long enough to melt the icy determination of a wounded heart?
A/N: Dear sparklynoodles, I tried to pitch this towards some of your wants and interests, and I hope you aren't disappointed at the sweeter rather spicier rating and tone. I hope you enjoy it, and it was a pleasure writing for you. Also, I found Anne quite difficult to write as there seems to be little in translation from her in terms of interviews etc, so there may will be moments where she appears to be Bera-lite, and I hope the sweetness is balanced out enough to not be too saccharine. Now, prepare for winter in Hokkaido.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 1, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 3, 2013 10:13 p.m.
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.” Anne bows deeply from the waist, her back perfectly straight, her shoulders even, gaze fixed on the yellow safety line painted on the concrete landing. Her voice doesn't waver, each word is as crisp and clear as when she first started reciting the company apology eleven hours ago.
She knows that if she thinks about it too deeply, if she tries to calculate how many times she has recited that speech since the cable car first fell behind schedule, she will want to beat her head against a nearby wall, so instead, she pretends to be a robot, and makes sure that it is perfect each and every time. No point in giving Management any more reasons to believe that she is not taking the job seriously.
As she watches the passengers disembark and move through the building towards the second boarding area hallway, she thinks, not for the first time, that her job could be done by a robot. She doesn't open the cable car door, she doesn't point towards the second boarding area, she just welcomes people and bows. This could be done by a robot. A metal robot, who didn't have to wear sheer pantyhose and court shoes on a day of -5 degrees Celsius, along with a little wool hat perched jauntily beside her carefully pinned up chignon and a hip length grey wool coat. On a 12 hour shift open to the elements. She can't feel her feet anymore...or her ankles. At least Management had agreed to their request to wear gloves when the temperature fell below freezing. So she could feel her fingers... in a fashion. She knew they were at the end of her arms, but they were so stiff, she couldn't really move them. Undoubtedly, a man had decided that female staff were perfectly capable of wearing a thin layer of nylon and plastic on their legs in the middle of winter, while standing outside in sub zero temperatures, without them being uncomfortable at all. She manages not to snort.
If it wasn't for the fact that Management probably would replace her with a robot, she might ask if it was at all possible, if there was any chance, if they might possibly discuss whether the female staff could wear work trousers as well as gloves when the air around them became colder than ice and occasionally, as was the case right now, filled with snow flurries.
At least this was the second last carriage. Only one more to go, and then she just had to wait for the return of the cable car and passengers, and they could call it a night and go home. She had twenty two minutes before it was due to arrive, just enough time to make a cup of tea from her thermos of hot water, and hope some of the chill left her bones.
Twenty five minutes later...
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Her bow was perfect, so perfect she didn't actually see any of the passengers as her eyes were fixed on the ground. Deep inside she may have been doing a little dance of happiness, while yelling 'Last one! Last one!' but you certainly couldn't tell.
Or at least most people wouldn't have been able to tell.
“Sorry. It's not the last one.”
Anne snaps to attention, to see her friend and colleague Riisa Naka slowly edging away. “What do you mean it's not the last one?”
“Remember, I'm just the messenger?”
Anne raises an eyebrow.
“Management booked a magazine photo shoot tonight and forgot to put it on the schedule.”
“You are joking.”
“Sorry.”
Anne stamps her feet. Just a little bit. If they check the security footage she can always say she was trying to get the feeling back in her legs. Then she repeats her mantra of 'No matter what, you need this job for another six weeks!' to herself, takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders and looks at Riisa.
“How long?”
“At least three hours. We have to wait for this load of passengers to clear, then we have to transport everyone and the equipment up to the Observatory. It's probably going to take three trips.” Riisa bites her lip, she knows that Anne isn't going to like this last bit at all. “They also want you to work top of the mountain and act as the company liaison.” She holds up her hands. “Messenger! Remember! Messenger!”
Anne stares, nods, puffs out her cheeks, and then walks a little bit further away from the security camera. She gives a single very regal nod, and bows deeply. With her head down, you can't see her lips moving, and she swears quietly so only Riisa can hear.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 3, 2013 11:50 p.m.
Anne makes sure the last passenger had left the area, and then pushes the alert button. Riisa signals back from the Terminus Stage 1 area, and the cable car rises and then heads back down the mountain, sinking into the inky darkness. One more, and then everyone would be up here, and they could get a move on, and get things done. She must admit she was grudgingly impressed by the efficiency of the people who had arrived so far. It was a little like a military landing, make up had set up their area complete with mirrors and tables in the hallway, the set assistants were setting up lights and marking out areas for shadows or suggested angles outside, and make up had colonised the lobby area near the elevator. Maybe it wouldn't take the entire three hours that they had scheduled? She hopes it won't; going home sounds wonderful.
They can turn the cable cars around a little more quickly when there are no passengers, or Management left on site to insist on arbitrary time limits. Technically, she should have been in that car while it was travelling between the stages, but as they had let everyone else go home except for her and Riisa, there was no other choice. She thinks the lesser of two evils was to stay here, and send the automated cable car alone. Surely that was a better decision when there was 12 people running all over the Observatory at the top of the mountain...
The control panel lights up as Riisa sends the cable car back up the mountain, and Anne checks to make sure her hat is straight and so are her gloves. Last car, and this would be the most important. Photographer, set director, producer, and presumably the models as well.
The bell rings as the car arrives and the door opens. Anne bows, and greets them.
“We apologise for the delay. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the cable car is running behind schedule by approximately 13 minutes. Please follow the directions of the guides. The next car will arrive shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
She freezes in horror and embarrassment, then peeks up through her eyelashes. Five men are looking at her with puzzled and confused frowns and a sixth is grinning. Or she thinks he is, most of his face is covered by a mask, and thick black framed glasses, but she can see the corners of his eyes are crinkling.
“Excuse me?” one asks, the photographer by the looks of it, but he is interrupted by the smiling man who begins laughing.
“How many hours have you been saying that?” he asks.
Anne bites her lip. “About twelve?” she finally says.
“That's a long time,” the smiling man says gravely. “Let's hope that we can get this thing done quickly, so you can go home.” He claps the photographer on the shoulder. “What do you say, Senga? Shall we do this as quickly as possible so this lovely lady over here can get home soon?”
Senga shrugs. “I say that is exactly what we should do.” The wind strikes him as he steps out of the cable car. “How cold is it up here?”
“Last time I checked, it was minus four degrees, but it feels a little colder now.” Anne points towards the elevator. The make up area has been set up in the hallway over there, the wardrobe people have set up on the second floor lobby area, and I think every one else is outside.
“Thank you. Sounds like we are ready to start.” Senga glances at the others, who nod in agreement. “Kazuya, could I please have a moment? If everyone else could head upstairs please, gentleman?”
Senga catches Anne's arm as she moves aside. “I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name.”
“Anne Watanabe.” Anne smiles, unsure why he is interested in her name.
“Nice to meet you Ms Watanabe. I am Kento Senga, and I am the photographer on this shoot. I actually need to make a few phone calls. Is there a private room I could use?”
“Not really,” Anne thinks for a moment. “There isn't any office space up here, but there is the staff kitchen? It's a small break room really, with a couch and some lockers and so on, but the door locks, and I am the only staff member up here at the moment, so would that work?”
“Yes, it would. It sounds fine.”
“Then follow me please,” Anne says as she leads the two gentleman around a hidden corner and into a small room. “Please let me know if you need anything else.”
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 4, 2013 12:35 am
The arrival of the final group seems to have kicked the entire production into high gear. People are moving with purpose, calling across to other people to check the order of shots, making sure the clothes are easily accessible. One woman has a computer set up, and she seems to be checking the weather minute by minute, while another man is checking lighting cables. Anne feels incredibly superfluous, so she has quietly shifted a chair into a corner and sat down. Although she wasn't told she could sit down, there doesn't seem to be anything she needs to do to help and … she was starting to doubt whether she could stand for much longer. This long day is just going to get longer it seems. At least in here, the air is warm and comfortable, although she isn't going to fall asleep as the door to the viewing platform keeps opening, allowing the icy wind to rush in.
Senga is making last minute checks with his staff, and when he is finally satisfied he announces that they are ready to begin the first set of shots. He sends a runner down to the make up area to bring the talent up.
When the elevator doors open, and Kazuya Kamenashi steps out, resplendent in a dark suit, heavy wool overcoat and a luxuriously long golden cashmere scarf, Anne is quite glad she is already sitting down.
Kazuya Kamenashi.
Anne is proud of herself. She manages to keep her jaw off the floor as he walks by and smiles at her.
Mount Moiwa Observatory Cable Car Terminus Stage 2, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. February 4, 2013 1:10 am
As the shoot progresses, Anne wishes that she had hidden her phone in a pocket of her coat today. Shige was not going to believe it! Kazuya Kamenashi at the same observatory that she worked at. She couldn't wait to tell him, he would sputter and disbelieve it, and then demand all the details, and then Koyama would demand to hear the story himself … Anne got hold of herself.
Kazuya Kamenashi smiled at her. Granted it was just a standard hello yes I see you there and yes it really is me and if you'd excuse me I have somewhere very important to be now type of smile, but it was still a smile. At her.
Shige was not going to believe it.
When she had called down to Riisa to demand to know why she hadn't told her exactly who the subject of the photo shoot was going to be, Riisa had shrieked at her, audibly struggling to breathe between gales of laughter. Apparently Riisa thought her shock was reward enough.
“Anne, honey, it's Kazuya Kamenashi! I know that you are a fan of his. I think you own everything he has ever appeared in on DVD, and I know that you bought AnAn last week because of him and not for the free Hello Kitty bento bag like you claimed.”
“Shut up, the bag was cute.”
“And so is Kamenashi. You can buy me a coffee later as a thank you.”
So now Anne was back, sitting in her chair, trying to stay warm while unobtrusively drinking in every moment of this unexpected chance to watch the famous Kame-chan at work.
**
The chair gives her quite a good vantage point. The chair has been a front row seat for each change of outfit so far, and she is quite happy to report that they had all been equally lovely except the last one. Two sets of suits, casual jeans and thick woollen jumper, hiking boots and plaid shirt, and a rather odd ensemble of rainbow striped ski pants, a red pullover covered in black hearts and a bright orange puffy vest. All in all, he looks fantastic. Not that she ever doubted he would of course.
She can also see why they wanted to use the observatory as a setting, Senga wasn't the first photographer to have seen its possibilities. During the day you can see for miles, all the way out to the sea on a clear day. Sapporo spreads out from the foot of the mountain, and it's an impressive sight. It's at night though, that it becomes a special place, as the city lights up and you can see twinkling lights stretching out forever into the distance. Winter helps the view, the air is crisp and clear and somehow, even light snow makes the lights glisten more. The observatory is really popular at night, people keen to take photos with the city panorama behind them, and it was a great date spot to create memories. The spot in the middle of the north railing was famous for photo taking. They even had a little spot to the side, where a huge neon lit heart was available for couple photos. The Love bell, on its little raised platform at the highest point of the observation deck was the most popular spot for children to take a picture, as they were always eager to ring the bell. The observatory would make some very effective background possibilities, and you really did need to be in charge of the whole observation deck area to do it, but somehow she wished they could have done this during the day, or at least not after a twelve hour shift.
Still, at least this particular photo shoot had some redeeming features. Well, one particularly redeeming feature, which she was doing a very good job of being professional around.
Speaking of which, his final outfit is about to come up, and she is both happy and worried. The temperature had dropped again, and the light snow flurries are heavier now. Not enough to show up on film and cause problems, apparently, but the weather is definitely worse now. The outside crew is suffering and Anne has helped as much as possible with distributing cups of tea and slipping heating pads into coat pockets, but the wind is so strong that it's as if the the marrow in your bones is freezing.
The sharp cry of pain when the wardrobe assistant slips on the icy ground startles them all. The sharp crack of a breaking bone is even worse. The outside staff, including Kame and Senga rush to help her, but from the pallor of her cheeks and the way she is whimpering Anne thinks she has definitely broken her ankle. They carry her as gently as possible inside, and the make up assistant gently prods her ankle. The scream convinces all of them that she needs to be taken to a hospital, and the sooner the better.
Senga barks orders to his staff; and before she realises it, he has organised for the make up and wardrobe teams, along with his assistant to take her to the hospital, while everyone else works as quickly as possible to get the last shot set up. Anne offers to call an ambulance, but Senga insists that it is better for them to handle it discreetly, for the sake of both his shoot and the Observatory.
She helps escort the new patient and her helpers into the cable car, and automatically bows as the car leaves.
She turns to find Senga beside her. “Would you be willing to help with the last shot?” he asks.
“Of course. What do you need me to do?”
“Hold a coat for Kamenashi, and be ready to hand it over as soon as possible.”
“I can handle that.” Anne ignores the little flutter of nerves in her stomach. “Just tell me where to stand?”
“This way.” Senga hands her a large, knee length down filled coat; she clutches it carefully. “Be careful though, I don't want you to slip either.” He glances downwards and stops. “You are wearing the stupidest shoes possible for this weather.”
“You may have noticed that it is part of my uniform?” she replies snarkily, and then flushes. Snarking back at a customer was definitely on the not-allowed-under-any-circumstances-at-any-time list.
Before she can apologise, Senga grins. “I see. Your Management is even more stupid in that case.”
“No arguments from me!” Anne bites her lip and apologises quickly. “Sorry, I shouldn't have said that, it was inappropriate.”
“I don't know,” Senga stops and checks her outfit, and she flushes a little more as his gaze travels all the way up from her feet to her burning cheeks, and then all the way down again. “Nylon stockings, knee length skirt, court shoes - I would say that Management has a direct line to inappropriate at this point. Anyway, please be careful out there.”
She nods, and waits in her corner with the coat, as everyone else hurries to make everything perfect. Finally Senga himself runs down to the make up area to collect Kamenashi, and as they appear, Anne realises why Senga had been adamant that she move quickly.
They were going to kill him.
“You can't send him out there dressed like that!”
They stop, and Kame shoots her a puzzled look, while Senga checks Kamenashi's outfit. “She's right, the undershirt is visible. Lose it.”
Kame shrugs, and quickly unbuttons his white shirt, and hands it over to Anne. Before she can look away (and a very large part of her brain controlled by her hormones is ordering her not to), Kame strips off the white undershirt and tosses it onto the wardrobe rack. As that leaves him in skin-tight black leather pants, boots and nothing else, Anne really doesn't know where to look, so she settles for his left collar bone. She automatically hands over the shirt when he stretches his hand out, and then watches as smooth skin disappears behind incredibly soft and almost translucent white Egyptian cotton.
“Good catch on the undershirt,” Senga says and Anne snaps back to attention.
“No! I meant that you can't send him outside wearing that. He'll freeze!”
Senga laughs, as Kame grins at her and says, “That's where you come in Ms Watanabe. I see Senga has given you the responsibility of holding my coat. I'll toss the coat at you as late as possible, and then once we have the shots we need, you can bundle me back into it.” Kame pats her shoulder reassuringly, and then turns to the side, and Anne automatically slides the coat sleeve over his arm, then helps him shrug it on. “See? Toasty warm for now.” Seeing her still sceptical look, he gives her a thousand watt smile, the one designed to make grandmothers keel over and says, “Trust me.”
Anne meekly follows them out into the dark snowy night.
Senga puts all the staff members on standby, and then nods at the Love Bell platform. “Ok for this last series of shots, I want you up there on that platform, one hand on the bell cord, looking out over the city. I'm going to take a lot of angles, so try and stay as still as possible, but I would like some different emotions. Think you can handle that?”
Kame snorts. “Of course. I thought you might ask me to try something that is actually hard.”
With a grin, he pulls of the coat, and hands it to Anne. “Please look after this for me?”
She takes the coat, and then hurries back towards the door. She needs to stay as far out of sight as possible, but she is determined to be ready the moment Kame can use the coat again. It is so cold out here, she hopes it won't be too long …
Her hopes are in vain. Twenty minutes later, Senga is still looking for his shot and Kame is still trying, responding to Senga's suggestions of different emotions; pensive, expectant, melancholy, arrogant, depressed, joyful, wistful … She has lost track of the list, but Kame responds to each suggestion, finding a different expression and posture, almost like magic. He is beautiful when he needs to be, and strikingly sad at other times. Maybe it's because she is so completely focused on him, looking for any sign of discomfort that she is the first one to notice how damp his shirt has become. It clings to his chest and spine, the snow melting against the cotton and moulding it to him. It must not provide any warmth … She is almost positive his lips are blue. He seems to be getting a bit sluggish too, not responding quite as quickly, maybe he was ... There. She sees the first shiver, one too big for him to hide. Surely Senga must give him a break soon …
“One last idea. Are you ok for it?” Senga asks.
Kame nods, slowly, and manages a smile. “If it doesn't require me to move much.”
“Defeat. Hang onto that bell cord as if your life had depended on ringing it, and no one answered. Complete and utter devastation. Go.”
Kame shifts, arches his back and raises both hands above his head to clutch the rope, then pulls it down with all of his strength. The bell tolls, a clarion call in the still night air, and then he slumps as no response comes. He lets the rope bear all his weight, shoulders slumped, legs shaky, and the sorrow of his loss scores heavy lines across his face. He sways slightly, just in time with the rope; it seems to be the only thing connecting him to this world.
Senga's camera is clicking furiously, recording moment after moment, and no one says a word. Anne shifts, from foot to foot, keeping the blood flowing in her toes. Kame has been still for so long, the chill must be bone deep by now.
Finally … finally... Senga calls, “That's a wrap!” and before he can ask, Anne is running across the deck, and climbing the icy stairs as fast as she can.
“Kame?”
He doesn't respond, but his eyes meet hers, and in that moment she can see how much this has cost him. The cost ... and how badly he doesn't want the others to see it.
“Can you move?” she whispers as she shakes the coat out and throws it around his shoulders.
“No,” he mutters.
“Take it slowly, I'll help,” she whispers, then calls out, “Left arm first!” as she surreptitiously peels his fingers away from the rope.
He staggers as he loses that support, which she helps to hide by shifting with him, pretending she was stumbling as well, on that icy metal in her stupid shoes, and then his arm misses the sleeve and instead he is clutching her in his arms, holding her warmth against his chest and she wraps her arms around him too. His face is buried in her neck, the shudders running through him shake his entire body, and all she can do it hold onto him.
Hold onto him and keep that coat around his shoulders. She turns him, gently, so that his back is to the crew, and pulls the coat tightly around him. “You need to get warm,” she whispers, heart beating frantically, and feels him nod against her neck. “Walk with me.”
“Don't think I can,” he breathes the words against her ear, and the shiver that runs down her spine is not entirely caused by the cold.
“Together.” Fierce and determined, and not to be questioned, it is almost a demand. One arm is around his waist, the other sneaks up to cradle the back of his head. “Together. On three.”
She feels the nod against her neck.
“One. Two. Three.”
Kame moves, slowly, feet shuffling through the snow. Anne bears most of his weight, he doesn't seem conscious of how heavily he is leaning on her, but she can take it. As they reach the steps, she whispers in his ear, “Let me go first.” Cautiously stepping onto the first step, she offers her shoulder as a prop, and they safely make it down.
Senga has realised what state Kame is in, finally, and is calling orders to break down the set, and get everything packed as soon as possible, he wants everyone ready to roll in twenty minutes. Silently, Anne and Kame pass by him; she is focussed on getting Kame inside and as warm as possible as quickly as possible.
She opens the door, and Kame's shaking so violently now that she almost loses her grip on him. She pulls him down the hallway into the staff kitchen, and pushes him onto the couch, spreading her own coat over him as well for extra warmth. “Wait here, I'll find something to get you warm.”
Kame slumps against the couch and nods.
She pauses briefly to pump the heating as high as it will go, then runs for the wardrobe area. Senga's team was very efficient and prepared, the Wardrobe assistants may have gone to the hospital, but their bags were mainly packed and luckily clearly labelled. Anne grabs three of them, one labelled KK-street, one labelled knits and one labelled towels. The crew member packing the final items looks at her, surprised, but she mutters, “For Kamenashi,” and disappears before she can be questioned.
When she gets back, the room is markedly warmer, and Kame is huddled under two layers of coats, but she can still see him shaking from the cold.
She opens the bag labelled towels, and goes for his head, towelling as much moisture from his hair as he can. “Ouch,” he mutters, but his eyes stay closed, and he doesn't move away.
She pulls the coats away. “You need to get out of those clothes. Now.”
“Dinner?” he replies.
Anne blinks.
“What?”
“Aren't you ... going to ... buy ... me dinner ... first?” Kame wheezes, and Anne uses the towel to dry his hair just a little bit more. Harder than before.
“Idiot.” She reaches for the shirt buttons, fumbles, and he lets her. She doesn't let herself think too much about it, concentrates on how cold the material is, how wet it is against her fingers and how it soaks her gloves … which are causing her to fumble. She yanks them off, and gets Kame's shirt off. Skin. Lots of wet skin. Lots of icy wet skin and shivers and muscles, and … Kame looking at her and trying to smirk, and ... she decides that imagining she was drying off a very large and cute puppy would help ignore the fact that she was running her towelled hands all over Kame's chest.
The towel is wet through in moments, so she pulls a second one out of the bag before drying Kame's back. As she strokes over his waist, she realises he is undoing the button on his pants.
“Puppy?” he asks.
“What?”
“You keep saying puppy.” Kame seems to be gaining back more than a sense of warmth.
Anne flushes. “You must be imagining it,” she hedges, but Kame snorts.
“Are you imagining me as a puppy?”
“No!” Her denial speaks volumes.
“You are!”
“I'm not,” Anne says and then clutches her towel as Kame starts to roll his trousers down over his thighs.
He suddenly stops. “I'm not wearing any underwear.”
Anne swallows. Stares. Hopes he can't hear the thundering of her heart. “I'm aware of that now.”
Kame reaches behind, and Anne hands him the towel. “Could you see if wardrobe has a bathrobe for me?”
“Sure!” Anne chirps and bolts from the room, as her mind helpfully catalogues each touch, sight, sensation and view from the last five minutes and files it under 'How did that happen but I am so glad it did.'
Behind her, Kame towels himself off, dries his legs, and is thankful that even if cold weather tends to make a man's ... assets ... less impressive in size, he could now tell that the cold had done him no lasting damage. He wasn't quite sure when the cold had stopped being the only reason for his shudders, but he knew for a fact that the feel of Anne running the towel over him had helped. An unexpected but welcome development in any case, Kame couldn't remember the last time he had felt such an intense draw towards someone.
Outside the staff kitchen, there is controlled bedlam. The area in front of the elevator is now covered with boxes and equipment, this crew has definitely taken Senga's request for efficiency to extremes ...
Senga flags her down. “The first load is ready to go. Shall we get this show on the road?”
Anne throws a quick glance over her shoulder at the closed door, then heads out to the cable car bay. She watches as they load what appears to be half the equipment and most of the staff into the cable car, and then sends it down to the next terminus. The rest of the crew piles the final load of equipment together, ready to be loaded as quickly as possible.
“I think we can manage this with one trip,” Senga says. “I should really get to the hospital, I haven't heard from my assistant yet, and I'm worried.”
“Wait. Will you have a car?” Anne asks.
“Sure, we all drove up here together ...” Senga pauses. “In the same car that I sent them to the hospital in.”
“Let me see if Riisa can drive you?” Anne suggests. “She brought her car today.”
Anne calls down, and Riisa is more than happy to drive Senga to the hospital. With Senga standing right beside her, Anne can only subtly confirm that yes he was the photographer, yes he was good looking and tall and was a gentleman, and finally she has to cut her off with a quick, “Great! Thanks so much,” and hang up the phone.
“She'll do it?”
“Yes.”
Senga and his crew load the car with the rest of the equipment. As the doors start to close, Senga jumps out. “Wait! If you have to send the car down, how will you get down there? Can't you come with us?”
Smiling, Anne shakes her head. “No, with a fully loaded car, the system requires me to confirm that you are ready to leave from this panel. We have a separate protocol for staff, so if there is only me in the car I can override it and release the car from the inside. Riisa will send the car back up for me once you have unloaded it. Are you ready to go?”
Senga nods, thanks her for all her help, the doors slide closed and the car makes its way down the mountain.
Anne waits.
Only this time, Riisa doesn't send the car back up the mountain.
Anne waits.
Then waits some more.
Then calls down to Riisa to demand she send the car back up because she would like to go home thank you very much.
Riisa doesn't answer.
The lights around her go out, then the ones in the other terminus switch off.
Anne takes a very deep breath, then one more. Willing Riisa to answer, the phone rings and rings.
If the lights are out both here and at the first terminus, that means that everyone is at the base of the mountain, and Riisa has shut the system down for the night.
She calls down to the base station. The phone rings and rings.
Anne grabs a pair of binoculars from under the desk, and searches for the car park at the foot of the hill. The streetlights show a mainly empty lot and, she thinks she sees the tail lights of Riisa's car leaving.
She is going to kill her.
Anne pats her way over the wall, searching for the control box. She finds the switch she thinks is for the lights, and turns it on. Nothing. She tries the next one, and light floods the room. Thank goodness, for a second she had wondered if the base station controlled the system up here as well, and she would be left sitting here in the dark, all alone and cold, and …. angry. Now the light was back on, she could cheerfully strangle Riisa.
She was stuck at the top of the mountain, while everyone else got to go home and sleep.
Lovely.
Stomping down the hallway improved her mood a little bit; maybe it was childish but no one would see her.
At least it was only a few hours before the next shift would show up and free her. Until then, at least there was tea in the kitchen and a novel in her bag, and maybe if she left a message for Riisa she could come back and -
“What's happening?” Kame asks.
Anne shrieks and the door slams shut behind her.
Kame looks at her, his head cocked to the side, and then he smiles. “Did you actually forget I was here?”
“No?” Anne stammers as she stares.
“You are a terrible liar, do you know that?”
Kame gets up and stretches, and Anne realises he is dressed once more in his street clothes, the ones he wore up here. “Is it time to go?” he asks.
“Um.” Anne flounders for a moment, and then hurries to her locker. “Please wait a moment,” she tosses over her shoulder, as she frantically unlocks her phone, calling Riisa in a hurry. “Pick up, pick up.”
The phone rings and rings, and then the call is cut off. As she tries to call again, a mail message comes through. “Sorry! At the hospital Have to turn the phone off See you tomorrow” With a little smiley face at the end. Anne gave the smiley face a very unsmiley face in return.
“What's wrong?” Kame asks warily.
Anne puts her phone back into her bag, and gestures towards the couch. “I think you need to sit down for this.” She takes the seat beside him.
Kame takes the news that they are locked in a building on top of a mountain quite well. Anne is very glad that he doesn't seem angry at her, if anything he seems to be amused.
“Seriously? We are locked in?”
“Yes.”
“And no one realised we were not on that cable car?”
“Well they knew that I wasn't but Riisa forgot to send the car back up for me. They just seem to have forgotten you completely.” Anne claps her hand to her mouth. “I mean ...”
Kame laughs, and pokes Anne until she smiles too. “You mean, they somehow missed the fact that the star of the photo shoot, that would be me of course, and the apparent reason that we were all stuck here in the middle of the night in the cold, was not there. Somehow, they left me behind.” Kame waves a hand then strikes a tragic pose. “It beggars belief. How could this happen? Me? They forgot me?”
He continues, bewailing their fate until Anne laughs.
“It's not the end of the world, is it?” he asks.
“No,” she says. “No it's not the end of the world.” She takes a deep breath. “I can understand if you want to make a formal complaint to Management. I will give you their details.”
A flash of anger passes over Kame's features. “A formal complaint?”
“Of course.”
“To your Management.”
“Yes.”
“Will you lose your job?”
“Possibly.” Anne bites her lip. “Riisa almost definitely, as she should have realised that I was still up here. I probably would too as I didn't clear the area properly.”
“And you are stuck here with me for a few hours, and the reward for that is you lose your job? After everything you did to help us?” He shakes his head. “No, I won't be making a formal complaint, and I will not be saying anything to Management. As I said, this isn't the end of the world. For the first time in a very long while, no one knows where I am. I've actually escaped from them, and that is quite a nice feeling. Freedom. That is definitely not the end of the world. Is it?”
Anne looks away, unable to meet his eyes, “We have heat and light, we can make tea. I'm so sorry. I'm sure she just forgot. I'm just sorry that you are so inconvenienced. Would you like some tea? Or some peace and quiet? I can find another -”
“Stop right there.” Kame's tone is serious, and he grabs Anne's hand. “You are as trapped up here as I am. We are in this together.”
“I just meant that I am sure you have so many other things that you would rather be doing,” Anne starts to justify herself.
“And you don't? Anne, it's the middle of the night. We should both be at home sleeping, but we aren't.” He grins cheekily. “I didn't think I'd get the chance to spend the night with a beautiful girl in Hokkaido, but look what the universe provides!”
Bright crimson floods Anne's cheeks, and he smiles gently at her. “May I call you Anne?”
She nods, helpless. She doesn't think her voice can actually be trusted to work.
“Excellent. Please call me Kazuya. Or Kame is fine. My friends call me Kame. Now, would you like some tea?”
Three minutes later, Kame hands Anne a mug of hot tea, and sits back down beside her. “You called me Kame earlier.”
“I did?”
“Yes, you did. Out there by the bell.”
“Oh, sorry, it just slipped out.”
“So you know who I am then?”
Anne nods. “Of course I do. You are Kazuya Kamenashi.”
“That's my name yes.”
“You are a model and an actor.”
“Also true.”
“You played one baseball season for the Yomimuri Giants before you blew out your left knee.”
“Correct again. You do know who I am.” Kame gives her a sly smile. “Are you a fan?”
“I have been known to watch your movies,” Anne says primly.
“Really?” Kame drawls and is rewarded by another flush. She was really quite delightful to tease.
“You've watched my movies? All of them?”
“A few,” she says cagily.
“Only the worthy ones? The ones which have a clear social message and the acting is top notch, with a complex and interesting story line?”
Anne nods.
“The ones where I take my shirt off are of no interest to you? Or how about the one where I was a cop, and had all those locker room scenes?” He grins at her. “How about the one where I play a host? Did you see that?”
Anne huffs. “Ok, I've seen them all.”
“Even the one where I was a pianist who spent two hours trying to learn that one piece of music and ended up dying of pneumonia?”
“Even that one.”
“Wow. That's dedication.”
“Yes it is, you probably owe us money for sitting through that one.”
He laughs. “Possibly I do. That seems fair. It was a terrible film.” He pokes her cheek. “Admit it though, I looked cute in the black tails.”
Anne shakes her head, and Kame grins. “Admit it.”
“No.”
He makes a claw shape with his fingers. “Admit it!”
“No!” Kame wriggles his fingers and moves towards her, intent on tickling. “What are you? Twelve?” Anne shrieks as she jumps off the couch. “Stop it!”
“Ok.” Kame pulls back and grins. “Well it does seem that you know everything about me, and I know almost nothing about you. That's hardly fair.”
“I'm not anyone interesting.” Anne protests. “Really.”
“You are Anne Watanabe, Mount Moiwa Observatory cable car staff member. You are a mystery that I would really like to solve.”
“Wow. That was cheesy.”
“It really was. Sorry. I was trying to say that I want to get to know you.”
“You really don't have to, I'm just a normal person.”
“And I am a star, who rarely gets to meet normal people like you, and we are trapped here, and I would really like to hear about what you think and do. Please? Indulge me?”
“I'm really not that interesting,” she protests one last time.
“Do you have a family, friends and a hobby?”
“Of course.”
“Then start with the hobby.” Kame makes a great show of settling comfortably into the couch. “What do you like to do when you are not being a highly competent cable car driver?” He raises an eyebrow at her. “If you say watching Kazuya Kamenashi movies, I declare a tickle war.”
Anne laughs, rubs her eyes, and settles back more comfortably herself. If Kame's intention had to been to make her less nervous, it was kind of working - and encouraging her to get a little of her own back. “Really? What if I spend my days watching DVDs of your movies, and buying magazines just because you have a photo in them, wondering if your co-stars see fireworks when you kiss them, buying all the products that you endorse and making fan-videos of your dramas, and ...”
'Then I would say thank you, and congratulate you on your sense of good taste,” Kame says serenely.
Anne huffs. “You are shameless.”
“And you are trying to change the subject back to me. I want to hear about you. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
“No.”
“Where did you go to high school?”
“Tokyo.”
“University?”
“I started in Tokyo and then switched to Sapporo.”
“Why?”
“I … I needed a change of scene.” She avoids his eyes.
“Ok. Topic off limits. Understood. What are you studying?” Kame notes the way Anne shifts a little uncomfortably, avoids his gaze once more and twists her fingers together, Now this is interesting. The previous topic she had shut down completely, a wall of ice. Now she was a little skittish kitten. He repeats the question.
“I'm studying literature. Japanese literature. Older Emperor's court literature, and the power structures shown in the documents ... You didn't go to University did you? What would you have studied?”
“I didn't go to University. I really don't know what I would have studied, I never thought about it. Maybe something to do with ... nice try at changing the subject. What Japanese literature are you looking at?”
“Political and military power structures.”
“In the Emperor's court?”
“Yes.”
“Like the Tale of Gengi?”
“In a way, but the texts I am looking at are from a later period.”
“Tell me about them.”
“I'm sure you would find them really boring.”
“Try me.”
“Most of the texts I am looking at are from the Edo Period, and are looking at warrior class traditions from earlier times.”
“Nanshoku literature then?”
Anne stills and curses the fact that all the blood in her body seems to have rushed to her cheeks. “Yes.”
“Why didn't you say so?”
“It's a little bit embarrassing. ”
“Why?” Anne avoids his gaze, and then he realises. “Ahh. I see.” He bends closer to her. “Ranmaru.” She nods, and Kame pats her cheek. “I presume you watched that taiga drama then?”
“Of course.” She scowls at him a little as his grin widens. “It was a decent take on the source material, but you got a few things wrong.”
“The relationship between Ranmaru and Nobunaga.”
“Yes. You played it like he was little more than a page, or an errand boy.”
Kame nods. “Let's just say there were some major disagreements between the director and the network higher ups. The script that we signed up for underwent major rewrites, and we had to reshoot a number of scenes, and … what was it … ah yes, 'pull back the level of unseemly emotion between Nobunaga and Ranmaru.' Either we did that, or they threatened to shut down production.”
“So originally there was a much deeper emotional relationship between you?”
“Of course.” Kame turns to face her, and pulls one foot under himself. “The original script was more layered. It gave the characters a lot more dimensionality, it showed how their experiences had shaped them as people, and how their status forged a relationship between them that was multi faceted. Military. Intellectual. Social. Emotional.”
“Sexual?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That disappointed me the most, the source material seems quite clear to my mind. Even if the majority of surviving sources come from the Edo period, there is a long textual tradition showing that it was a socially well accepted role for them to take on.”
“I hope that one day we get a chance to remake it. It's a great story that deserves to be told properly and accurately.”
“Definitely. And you would look so hot being stripped out of a kimono by Nobunaga.” Anne claps a hand over her mouth and hopes that the ground opens to swallow her. “Oh my God.”
Kame laughs so hard he sounds like a wounded seal. He claps his hands and stomps one foot, and all the while Anne wants to die.
Finally, when he has enough breath he asks her if he can use that as an argument to fund the film, she slaps his arm in protest and tries to give him a stammering apology.
“Relax. People have said things that are much worse about me.”
“Still, it was really inappropriate. I'm really sorry, I'm just really tired.”
Kame shrugs. “If you think I am hot, in or out of a kimono, I am happy.” He stretches out a hand and turns her face towards him. “Seriously, Anne. I'm an actor and a model. Before that I was a professional level baseball player. My physical being has been assessed and commented on since I was a teenager. At this point I can say that being hot is part of my job.” He strokes a finger along her jaw and gives her his best soulful look. “I'm glad to know, however, that you can appreciate my work on a hormonal as well as intellectual level.”
“I swear, I want to kill you.”
“Think of all the fans who would be sad. You can't.”
“Maybe I could hurt you somewhere they won't notice.”
Kame snorts. “Unlikely. I think every inch of me has been photographed and published somewhere. Well every inch that is deemed suitable for public consumption.” Kame's smile grows gentle and indulgent, and for a moment Anne feels like they are the only two people alive on the planet. “If you are tired though, you should sleep. It's almost 4 am. What time is the next shift due?”
“They start at 8.” Anne stifles a yawn, and Kame shifts his hand from her jaw to the little hat that is still securely pinned to her head. He pulls out the pins before she can protest, and grins as her hair falls around her shoulders.
“I've wanted to do that for hours, just to see how long it is.” He smoothes it back behind her ears. “Try and get some sleep. If you take off your shoes, I can give you a foot rub to help you relax.”
“You are not going to give me a footrub!”
“I'll have you know my footrubs are well known as fabulous.”
“We barely know each other. You are not touching my feet.”
“So how well do we have to know each other for that to happen?”
“I don't know - at least dinner and a movie!” Anne says, feeling flustered and embarrassed.
“Well I can't arrange a movie, or dinner right now. How about a date instead?”
“Please don't say that.” Anne turns her face away, and Kame lays his hand on her arm. He doesn't grab or clutch, he just lets it rest gently.
“Say what? Ask you for a date?”
“It's not funny.”
“I mean it. I want to go on a date with you.”
She can feel the warmth of his hand on her arm. It feels grounding and exciting all at once, but she can't understand why he would want this. So she asks. “Why would you want to do that?”
Kame starts to say 'Fishing for compliments?' and then realises she is serious. Now is the time for him to be honest. He's always good at polished turns of phrase, simple honesty is much harder for him. He can make anything seem sincere, but to make it his own unvarnished truth, that is much harder. “I ... I feel a connection with you. You are interesting. You have amazing hair and legs that go for miles. You are … so alive. You are funny and sweet and caring and you blush and you tease me and you … I want to get to know you better.”
“I'm not anything special.” Her cheeks are hot. “Not at all.”
“I can honestly say I have never met anyone like you.” Kame gets off the couch, and kneels at her feet. “Look at me please.” He takes both her hands in his. “I'm serious. I'm not teasing you, or making fun of you, or expecting anything. I'm hoping that you will say yes.”
“You don't know anything about me!”
“I know you are Anne Watanabe. I know you are kind hearted and sweet and protective of your friends. I know you will help people as soon as they ask. I know you are careful and considerate. I l know you have a sharp sense of wit, and a great sense of humour. I know you are a smart girl, a University student with a penchant for samurai literature, which makes me wonder if you have a shelf full of BL manga at home. I would really like to get to know you better.”
The suspicious look in her eyes still hasn't faded entirely, but her shoulders aren't quite as tense. Kame decides to take that as a good sign. “I'll be completely honest with you. I think you are beautiful and attractive and yes, if you asked me to sleep with you I'd say yes in a heartbeat. I can imagine how great we could be together - but right now that's just a fantasy. If you've seen my movies and dramas, you know what it looks like when I kiss someone, how I embrace them, how I take them to my bed. You might even have wondered what it would be like for me to touch you like that? Do you see fireworks when I kiss you? Does your stomach drop when I pull you into my arms? All of that is pretend. Scripted and choreographed so it's graceful and romantic and perfectly lit and framed. It doesn't mean anything to the me that is sitting right here beside you, right here right now. I would like to get to know you better, I would like it to mean something.” He clears his throat and looks her square in the eye. “If I just wanted to get you into bed, we wouldn't be sitting on this couch. I want to learn who you are, and I want you to see me. The real me. Not just Kazuya Kamenashi the celebrity.”
Anne bites her lip, and Kame smoothes his thumb over her mouth. “Do you believe me? he asks.
She nods. “I … Yes. I would like that. To get to know you better.” The words stutter from her lips, but she doesn't mind as Kame grins at her.
He leaps to his feet and does a victory dance that Anne vaguely remembers from his baseball days. Finally he sits back down beside her. “What would you like to do? Let's do something that normal people do in Sapporo as a date. Like in Tokyo they go to DisneySea. What do couples do in Sapporo?”
“Well, one of the popular spots is the Observatory, but we have that covered.” Kame grins at her reply, and for a moment as her heart lurches Anne thinks this might just work. He's still the same, and she's still the same, they just need to be careful. She needs to take care of her heart, and so does he, but he makes her feel … safe. “There are the usual types of things, ice skating, movies, karaoke.”
Kame makes a face. “They all seem a bit too ordinary. Something a little bit special? Something that we can only do in Sapporo? How about the Snow Festival?”
“That starts next week, they are setting up for it now.” Anne stills, he made it seem so reasonable, so possible that for a moment she had forgotten. “Are you sure that you are allowed to be seen with me? In public? Is that a good idea?”
Kame stares at her. “I'm allowed to have a life. I'm not planning on doing anything scandalous enough to make the tabloids. Unless … you don't want to be seen with me in public?
Anne hears it, buried deep under the words, the tone of hurt he was trying to hide. “It's not that! I was just worried that it would cause problems for you. I don't want to cause you any trouble.”
“Well, the tabloids would love to have pictures of me on a romantic date with a beautiful woman like you, so maybe you are right. What can we do which won't let people stare at me?”
Anne smiles. “I have an idea.”
“What?”
“It's a surprise.” She looks at him, at his eyes, hair, jaw line, obviously considering her plan. She nods. “Yes. It will work. Do you have a scarf, a hat and some glasses?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. I'll give you a face mask, and I'll wear one too, and we will totally fit in with everyone else.”
“So you aren't going to tell me?”
“Not yet. I think you can wait.” She grins and then yawns. “Sorry. I'm so tired.”
“Try and get some sleep.” He settles back onto the couch, and stretches out an arm. “I have a very comfortable shoulder you can use.”
Anne gives him a sceptical look.
“I promise, a comfortable shoulder and nothing more.”
She slides closer to him, and lays her head on his shoulder. He spreads his long coat over both of them. “Good night.”
Kame grins at her, then presses a gentle kiss to her forehead. “I lied. Just a little bit. A comfortable shoulder and a good night kiss.”
“You are lucky that I am already comfortable,” Anne says.
“What were you going to do, storm down the mountain to get away?” he responds. Anne lifts her head, and he hurries to add, “I'm joking. I swear. Just a joke. A bad one. I swear you have nothing to fear from me. Ever.”
Anne smiles, a little sadly. “Except a broken heart,” she says sleepily as her eyes slide closed.
Kame doesn't respond for a while, not until he is sure that she is asleep. “I don't think it's your heart that is the one in danger of being broken,” he whispers.
Mount Moiwa Cable Car Terminus Stage 1, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan.
February 4, 2013 5:27 am
When Anne's phone rings, it drags them both from a deep sleep. Anne fumbles for her bag, tripping over the coat while Kame stares blearily at her. She accidentally hits speaker so Riisa's voice booms in the quiet room.
She doesn't get a chance to say anything before Riisa is frantically apologising, promising she will make it up to her, explaining that she had forgotten completely, and was on her way now to pick up Anne, and she is terribly sorry and to please hold on, she is on her way, and she needs to hang up because the roads are snowy. She hangs up before Anne gets a chance to say anything.
“Bring the phone,” Kame says, and Anne does so as she crawls back onto the couch, under the coat and settles against Kame's side. She closes her eyes, then blinks as they snap open.
“What's wrong?” he asks.
“Riisa didn't mention you.” Anne can almost feel her brain trying to tell her something, but she was so sleepy. Wait, there it was. “She doesn't know you are here. She said she forgot me. Not ... us. No one knows you are here.”
“I don't have any appointments today,” Kame says, a smile curving his lips and his eyes lighting up like a schoolboy starting winter vacation. “If everyone thinks I'm at the hotel, and I have a free day, no one will bother me. My flight leaves at 10 tonight, they could have my bags sent straight to the airport.” He gives her the biggest puppy dog eyes he can manage. “Would you have a spare futon you could lend me for a nap? Would you offer a runaway actor/model/ex-baseball player sanctuary and a home cooked breakfast?”
Anne nods. “On one condition. When you walk out of the cable car and Riisa sees you, I want you to be recording video on my phone.”
“Deal.”
Part 2.