Behind a Different Set of Lens [one-Shot]

Title: "Behind a Different Set of Lens"
Rating: PG
Pairing: Inoue Mao x Matsumoto Jun
Genre: Drama/Romance

“Will you take this man to be your beloved husband, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do?”

“Eh? What does that mean? The questioning behind the “I do.”

“Ha ha, gomen, gomen. Could we do that one more time? Onegai shimasu.”

Dark skies loomed over the set of the church as the shooting for season II of HanaDan continued on relentlessly. Walking outside for some fresh air, Mao was starting to have butterflies in her stomach for some bizarre reason. She didn’t feel this way when she was rehearsing this scene but all of a sudden she couldn’t help but become overwhelmed with a wave of anxiety. What with the gorgeous dress and the headpiece, and these damn shoes that were probably happily making blisters in her feet, she couldn’t help but feel just a tad bit nervous.

“Why the long face, Mao-gaki?”

Ah, that voice. Probably part of her nerves came from that voice. Well, more particularly the person whom the voice belonged to. She couldn’t help but smile anxiously at the handsome man in front of her, “ Why the ugly face, Jun-oji?”

“Haha, very funny baka! I’ll have you know this ugly, ojii-san face graces more magazine covers than you’ve got.”

“Oh, and girls would totally buy those magazines, wouldn’t they? Those pages make great toilet paper.”

“What’s eating you?”

“Eh?” This is different. They always bickered. That was what they did. It became so second nature for her to fight back venom with venom that she hardly noticed that she was being so rude let alone become taken aback when he asked what was wrong with her. “Nothing. Why don’t you go pamper yourself maybe that way you can butt out of other people’s business?”

“Are you sick?” he said, concern obviously etched on his handsome features. “Something is wrong and it is so fucking obvious? Why don’t you just spit it out instead of acting like a girl who’s starving for attention?”

He was pissed. She could tell as he started shifting nervously and blinking relentlessly. And that glare. Oh, if that glare wasn’t the most attractive face he could possibly ware-

“I AM NOT STARVING FOR ATTENTION!”

The crew outside became quiet at her outburst and slowly a blush sat comfortably on her cheeks.

“Gomen.” She said guiltily before turning her attention to the source of her frustrations.

“And you, I think I’m going call it a day. How am I supposed to act like you are the man of
my dreams if I can’t even stand to look at your face?” And with that, she stormed off the set.

Jun stood there stunned, having no clue what so ever as to what he did wrong to upset her and feeling as if he was truly a man left hanging at the alter.



* * * * *

Storming into the make-up room, Mao ripped the head dress from her head and as it fell with a soft thump on the floor, so did a tear drop. “Why the hell am I crying?”

“Well, if you don’t even know, how would anyone else be able to know?” came a soft reply. A voice of a sleepy man whom just woke up from a comfortable nap. Even if Oguri Shun didn’t have much resemblance to his character Rui, it didn’t mean that eventually some habits simply grow on you.

Like how Abe-san would flirt with everyone shamelessly nowadays. Or how Matsuda-san would unconsciously pick up a bottle of green tea instead of any of the other drinks offered during their meal times. Or even how she herself would constantly bicker with-

“Well, I suppose some people were born for some roles. They are both arrogant, boisterous, pompoms, and every other negative adjective that exist. Grrr! That man just makes my blood boil!” Mao said aloud without noticing as she wiped the last of her tears from her under her chin.

“Such sweet thoughts of Jun-kun, ne, Mao-chan?” Shun chuckled.

Mao blushed self-consciously and nearly tripped over her big wedding dress as she whipped around to look at his face.

“If you are frustrated about something, please come and talk to me.”

He got up to walk out when she suddenly said, “I hate him you know.”

“Eh?” Shun turn around and if he was confused it was hardly noticeable on his serene face.

“I hate him and everything that he is. I hate that when I talk to him, I get nervous. And I hate how every time he walks by, my knees get all weak. I hate how he would just call my name and I immediately fall to pieces. I hate the fact that I’m wearing this beautiful dress and all I can think about is that it’s nothing more than a costume… a prop. And I am nothing but an actress reading lines that resound so strongly inside of me. I have to say the words ‘I love you’ and yet afterwards think nothing of it. I hate all of this! And it’s all because of him. How dare he make me feel this way?!” The tears began to well up again, and her heart ached as it never ached before.

After what felt like hours, a warm hand fell atop her head and in a soothing voice, came the words, “You call it madness, but I call it love.”

“Eh?”

“Don Byas. African American jazz tenor saxophonist in the mid 1900s. Perhaps it is time to finally be honest with yourself and even though this might not last forever, I think it is only wise to enjoy the now, how ever short or long it may be. ”

Mao shook her head and spat out, “Shun-kun, if this is love, I never want to feel this way again.”

“There is no remedy for love, but to love more.” Shun said enigmatically.

“Don Bryas?” She said teasingly, as warm tears leaked from the corners of her big, doe-like eyes.

“Nope. Henry David Thoreau. And it’s Don ‘Byas’ not ‘Bryas’. Look, Mao-chan, if you want to be happy you can’t be wallowing here by yourself. You have to put on that pretty actress face of yours and walk forward. Don’t let personal feelings tangle up your work. Besides if you give the guy a chance, I have a feeling that you’ll see something that you have been denying all along.”

Mao was stunned and a bit confused at his words but nonetheless began to chuckle. “When did you get so smart?”

“When did you ever ask me for my advice?”

“I didn’t.” She said offhandedly.

“You did. Through your confession.” With that he saluted and excused himself out.


* * * * *


The set was a mess, when Jun returned. People were running around frantically setting up for the last session of shooting and his presence was hardly noticeable.

Which was fine for Matsumoto Jun since he was hardly in any mood to be grumpy Domyoji at the moment as he was too busy being sulky MatsuJun.

Walking up to the director, Jun was about to ask what the next scene was that he wanted to shoot, but the director spoke first, “Where is Inoue-san?”

“Heh?”

“We can’t find Inoue-san. Could you go see if you can locate her? If we wait any longer, there won’t be enough light to shoot the rest of the scene.”

Without further thought, Jun sprinted off towards the front of the church and then in the direction of the changing rooms, his feet guiding the rest of his body.

When he was finally there he saw Shun walking out of the room and in an breathless tone Jun asked, “Is Mao in there?”

Shun merely smiled before saying, "I couldn't help her, perhaps you could." Patting him on the shoulder, the ever enigmatic "Rui" walked towards the break room for a steaming cup of tea.

“What the hell?” And the second he caught sight of her.

She was struggling to get the head piece back on and finally growled in frustration.

“Hold it. You’re gonna rip the thing if you aren’t careful.” Jun said as he walked up behind her and got to work pinning in the veil atop her head. Silence fell over the room, when finally in a quivering voice, Mao sighed, “I’m really sorry for going off on you-”

“Daijoubu.”

Mao looked up into the mirror and saw him smiling. It was soft and understanding. “I’m just glad that you’re okay now. What ever the reason, it doesn’t matter to me.”

She returned his smile shyly and finally said, “Arigatou na.”

Jun’s softly chuckled, “God, how could you possibly be this beautiful all the time?”

“Oh please-”

“No seriously, you actually look attractive when you smile. If you keep that up I might not be able to keep my hands to myself.” He was teasing her but there was honesty behind his words. She could tell. And thus another blush crept up.

Finally he turned his attention to the back of her head and with one final bobby-pin, he exclaimed, “Ha! All done. Now stop crying over this and let’s get back to the set. The director might have a cow if he finds out BOTH of us are missing.”


* * * * *


“There you are! Kami-sama, I was about to have a cow! Look I’ve looked the thing over and I think we’re gonna end up just shooting the scene where your father walks you down the aisle and then Jun will turn around and scream, ‘Wake up.’ We’ll just take it from there, I think that way there isn’t too much lingering and screen time wasted. We can call it a day after that, okay?”

They both nodded approvingly and were off to get ready for the scene one last time that day.

“Okay, people places in five.”

As she stood next to Kobayashi-san, he looked at her quietly before saying, “Tsukushi-chan, daijoubu desu ka?”

Mao couldn’t help but smile and said, “I wasn’t at first, but now, I am. Papa.”

A chuckle rumbled in his chest and then said teasingly, “It’s because you are in the presence of your great Papa, ne?”

Mao laughed before saying, “Of course...”

But her eyes drifted.

And before long it fell upon the face of a man she could not help herself but love. Jun looked up at that exact moment and then a sweet smile graced his face.

Mao thought to herself that she could live the rest of her life waking up to that very smile.