And I'm back! I was gonna go to sleep 2 hours ago, but then I decided to watch the Shouganai performance on Music Fighter, and suddenly I got hit by instant inspiration that just demanded my attention, and so was born this short.
Cute, pointless, random fluff. Maybe.
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Looking At You"Look, you do it this way. Turn. Glance. Look. Glance back. Nod if you have to."
"Why do I have to do this? It's not switched on..."
An exasperated sigh. "Look, Ai-chan, I don't
have to do this, but Gaki-san told Eri who told Sayu who in turn told me, that we have to do something to help you. I'm not sure how I ended up doing the job but I'm here now and I'll be damned before losing that bet to Sayu..."
Ai blinked innocently at Reina. "Bet? What bet?"
Reina coughed awkwardly, quickly changing the subject. "That's not important. We've got to get you to look into the camera properly now."
"But it's not running. Why do I have to?" Reina wanted to strangle the clueless leader. Or even better, that nosy sub-leader who started off this whole chain of problem-passing and eventual bet-making. Maybe strangling the devil she made a deal with would be a better idea...
"Ai-chan, this is important. This is for work." There, she said it. The magic word. If that didn't work, Reina would go kick the living daylights out of her 'reliable source', but not before screaming and breaking a few dishes. Girly frustration thing working itself out.
"Work?" Ai looked doubtful, but she
did glance back at the inactive camera propped on its stand, the dark eye of the lens winking back at her. "I suppose..."
"Good." Reina briskly rubbed her hands together, glancing around quickly. There was no one around, which was useful, because Ai tended to run towards the staff for help in escaping uncomfortable situations like having to speak in front of a camera. As for the other girls, well, they would just distract her from the point of the lesson, which was, well, the camera.
And no one, except possibly Sayu, could beat Reina at this whole camera attention thing. It was a matter of pride for the little yankii. Not that the bet had anything to do with it, of course. Triple fudge chocolate sundaes had nothing to do with it. Okay, maybe a little. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
After a frustrating 15 minutes with the hapless leader, Reina provided a succinct assessment of the problem at hand.
"Ai-chan, you don't really
have to keep staring at me when I'm talking. Hello, camera there, me here." Reina gestured as she spoke. Ai followed the directions Reina's hands were pointing, but there was no doubt about the fact that her attention remained very much on the younger girl.
"As much as I'm flattered by how you keep looking at me, when we're on screen, the camera is more important. See camera. Look at camera. Smile at camera." Reina sounded like she was addressing a little kid. Ai, for her part, just kept attentively listening, and you got it,
looking straight at Reina.
"You have no trouble finding the camera when we''re performing. Just, do that thing you do. You know, not just when you're dancing or singing. You can do it when you're sitting still too." As if demonstrating, Reina turned to face the camera and smiled dazzlingly at it. Ai followed her gaze, her own smile lukewarm but sweet nevertheless.
"See, you can do it." Reina turned her attention back to Ai, who was already looking back at Reina. Ai seemed dubious about the whole thing, idly twining one finger around the lengthening strands of her hair. She continued looking directly at Reina, who shifted awkwardly under her gaze.
"Say...why do you keep looking at m--uh, the rest of us when we're talking on screen?" Reina blurted out to cover the moment. Ai blinked softly, pushing her bottom lip out a little as she thought about it, a cute frown crinkling her forehead.
"Well, isn't it normal to look at someone and pay attention when they're talking?" Ai seemed very sincere in her reply. Reina didn't know whether to laugh or hit herself on the head. So
that was the problem.
"Ai-chan, that's what we do when we're
off camera. When we're on air, you have to divide your attention between who's talking and the camera." Reina waved one hand at the object of the discussion. Ai sighed.
"I know, but..."
Reina raised an eyebrow, waiting. "But...?"
"It's not human." Ai mumbled under her breath. Reina stared at her. Really stared at her.
"Ai-chan, how long have you been in Morning Musume?"
"Um, 9 years?"
"How old are you now?"
"Uh, 22...almost 23..."
"You've spent like, what, almost half your life in front of a camera and you still haven't gotten over the fact that it's not human and so you cannot look at it properly." Reina threw her hands in the air. "I give up."
"Technically, 9 is half of 18..."
"And?"
"I'm not 18." Somewhere during the exchange, Ai had prudently decided to inch away before Reina decided to hit her for that. Fortunately, Reina did not resort to violence. Well, not physical violence anyway.
"I knew that." Reina glared. A hint of a smile touched Ai's lips, and she ducked her head slightly to keep it from being too obvious, using her hair as a convenient shield. Long hair did come in handy at times.
"Not the point. Anyway." Reina moved on. "Moral of the story. Look at the camera. That's it. Case closed. Done. Signed. Sealed. Whatever." Ai continued looking passively at her, twisting one strand of her hair upwards to brush at her own lips.
"You can stop looking at me now." Reina muttered, leaning back into the couch they were seated on. Ai also leaned back, but she didn't stop looking.
"Why are you still looking?" Reina growled, sulking as she tugged on her own hair. Ai grinned.
"Because you're still talking."
"..." Reina shot Ai a vicious glare that the latter blissfully ignored, now focused on her growing hair. Unbeknownst to the younger girl though, the older still had one eye locked on the little yankii's face.
Staring at her own highly decorated nails, Reina was jolted out of her self contemplation when Ai, surprisingly, initiated conversation of her own volition.
"Reina." The younger looked up, startled. Ai was staring at her again, making Reina squirm a little. The intensity of the gaze was actually making her uncomfortable in more ways than one.
Ai leaned in, shuffling closer to Reina on the couch, making the younger girl move backwards until she was pressed against the other arm of the couch, with no escape save for abandoning the couch entirely. Should that be necessary, Reina would certainly not hesitate to employ that move.
Their faces were close to each other, enough to make Reina feel distinctly self-conscious about it. She was certain the heat on her cheeks was merely due to shared body heat from the proximity. Not because she was blushing, oh no. That would be clearly absurd, and she will be moving away immediately any time now.
Reina could feel Ai's breathing mix with her own shallow ones, joined in the minute space that still remained between them. Those dark eyes were unreadable to her now, mixed in with a veritable cornucopia of emotions.
Just when Reina thought she was going to faint from the tension, Ai suddenly smiled and leaned back a little, reaching up with one thumb to wipe away the smear of chocolate that had been on Reina's lips.
"That was what I was staring at." Ai explained a little needlessly, leaning back into her own space. Reina remained in that position, staring with a certain amount of disbelief at Ai, or more accurately, at Ai's thumb. She was broken out of it when Ai licked the chocolate off, eyes twinkling with something akin to mischief. Reina's eyes narrowed.
"Ai-chan..." Her tone was decidedly dangerous. Sensing immediate danger to her person, Ai leaped off the couch, grinning like a little kid.
"I think I'll go practice some more now so bye!" She bolted, fast on her feet as always. Reina jumped up in pursuit, indignant.
"You're not getting away with that, Takahashi! GET BACK HERE!"
Assorted staff and crew went about their own business calmly as the girls tore down the hallway. You just got used to the energy level after a while. Part of the job.
After all, it was just another wacky day at the office.
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Random, pointless fluff. Hehe.
I can't help but notice that Ai just really stares at whoever's talking, and only looks at the camera when the person obviously directs their attention to it. Most of the rest will at least take a moment to glance back at the camera on their own without any further prompting. Lol. So that's how I came up with this. Hurhur.
Now I sleep.
Topic: Estrea's Sandbox [6/4 - Treat] (Read 241234 times)