David: I found a new supplier. He says this is killer weed.
Jiro: You should roll one and let us try it.
Koji: We can’t. I have a game tonight.
Jiro: You’re never any fun.
Action: Emily sits down.
David: Hey.
Action: Emily ignores him.
Emily: Has Emiko (Haru’s character’s name) been bugging you guys?
Koji: I realize her sister is missing, but she seems to think we had something to do with it.
Action: Emily looks around nervously.
Emily: She showed me a picture. It shows the four of us, and she pointed out that we all had butterfly tattoos.
Jiro: Why is that a big deal? You’re all best friends. So you all got them together.
Emily: That’s just it. None of us remembers going to get the tattoo. We were at the New Year’s Eve Party. Remember, we all got really wasted?
Akio: I thought you all had gone home.
Emily: I’ve been thinking about that night.
Action: Cut away to her at the party having fun and coming off the dance floor. David’s character hands her a drink. Later, she begins to feel funny, and someone helps her to leave the party. Cut back to the five friends talking to each other.
Emily: We were having a good time, and then I felt funny. You were there.
David: I’d just moved here and met you for the first time. Actually, I met you all for the first time at that party. My dad had just started working at the company.
Emily: Did any of you see who I left with?
Action: Everyone says they didn’t.
Emily: I’m wondering if Emiko might be on to something. Do you think the butterfly tattoos have some connection to why they went missing?
Jiro: If that’s the case, you’re next.
Emily: Don’t you think I know that?!
Action: Emily storms off. The guys look at each other in concern.
Akio: We should watch out for her.
David: I’ll keep an eye on her. She and I are in the same classes this afternoon.
Akio: Thanks.
Of course, by the end of the day, Emily goes missing.
I really enjoyed acting with the three guys. Akio had been in several J-dramas and usually played the sophisticated love interest. With his height and good looks, I could see why.
“Hey,” I said. “My interpreter is a big fan. Would you be willing to spend some time and talk to her? It would mean a lot and help me win some brownie points.”
“She’s the college girl … Hana, right?”
“It seems as if she has already caught your interest.”
“Well, it’s Koji who can’t stop talking about her. I’ve been telling him that she and you are together to torment him. If he sees me with her, it will drive him crazy,” Akio said with a smile.
“Are you and Koji rivals?”
“We do try to get cast for the same roles sometimes. It’s a friendly competition,” he admitted.
“Just so you know, I do like Hana as a friend. If you plan to do anything that might hurt her, you’ll have to answer to me,” I said to make my feelings clear.
“No, I’m not like that. I mean, she is cute, but I’m aware you are both leaving after today. I don’t think we have time to get into too much trouble.”
Then I wandered over to Koji.
“Hey, I just wanted to give you a heads-up that Akio was asking about Hana,” I told him.
“Who?” he asked, looking confused.
I just smiled and left to find Hana.
“You’re causing quite the drama.”
“Why, what did I do?” she asked.
“A little birdie told me that both Akio and Koji think you’re cute and would like to get to know you better,” I said with a straight face.
I wandered off and found Jiro.
“I saw what you just did. This should be fun,” he said.
“Oh look, Akio is heading over. Koji doesn’t look happy.”
“Those two are funny. They really are good friends, but they compete for everything. Give it a minute, and Koji will be over, unleashing his charm.”
Jiro was right. Koji couldn’t help himself and was soon flirting with Hana.
“It would be funny if you just strolled over and stole her from them,” I said.
“She would never go for me.”
I found a slip of paper, wrote a note on it, and folded it in half.
“Give this to her,” I said.
I made a point of being close enough to hear the exchange.
“I was wondering if you might have lunch with me,” Akio said.
“He has terrible taste in food. I know this little place that has the best sushi. Why don’t we go there and we can get to know each other better?” Koji offered.
Hana looked back and forth at them, trying to make up her mind, when Jiro walked up and handed her the note. She read it and laughed, and a huge smile lit up her face.
“Sorry, boys, but I just got a much better offer,” she said as she slipped her arm under Jiro’s arm and guided him away.
I almost was caught chuckling as they looked at each other in stunned silence. I hurried to where my note told Hana to take Jiro.
“That felt good. I don’t think they ever imagined I could get the girl,” Jiro said.
“I need to learn my lines. Come to lunch with us so you can honestly say you had lunch with Hana,” I suggested.
Jiro took us to a noodle place, and Hana worked with me for the first half of lunch. Then she turned her attention to Jiro. It became apparent that she really hadn’t seen him before with the other two hunks, as she called them, on set. I could see I was the third wheel, so I returned to the set.
Akio and Koji found me as soon as I walked in.
“Where did Hana go?” Koji asked.
“We went to a noodle house to grab a bite to eat and so she could help me with my lines. I had to get back, but she and Jiro seemed to be hitting it off when I left.”
“Did she say anything about us?” Akio asked.
“No, nothing I can remember.”
When a smiling Jiro and Hana walked onto the set arm-in-arm, I could see Akio and Koji took it well. It wasn’t like they didn’t have girls chasing them. They both made a point to congratulate Jiro and tease him good-naturedly.
◊◊◊
It wasn’t until the last two episodes that my character was revealed as the one taking the girls. The story had me keeping them in a warehouse near the water. I was drugging them and making them dependent on me. I wasn’t ready to take Emily’s character so soon, but I’d had to when she began to look at me suspiciously.
The first girl I’d taken was Miki, Haru’s character’s sister. She suddenly was found wandering the city. Her mind wasn’t all there due to a miscalculation of the dosage on my character’s part. I wasn’t a killer, so I’d let her go, knowing she couldn’t identify me. I showed up at the hospital to make sure.
Setting: Miki’s hospital room. Emiko finds Jason (David’s character) sitting next to Miki’s bed, brushing her hair back.
David: My little butterfly with the broken wings …
Haru: What are you doing?
David: Oh, sorry. I thought we were alone. I always liked your sister and just wanted to make sure she was being well taken care of. Do they know what happened to her?