FIC: Positive Reinforcement (Princess Princess D)



This was the result of a phrase prompt. The prompt is stated at the end of the fic. I may be way off on this interpretation of the actors’ personalities, but this was just for fun and no disrespect was intended.


Positive Reinforcement (Princess Princess D)

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

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Kamakari Kenta was having trouble with his script for the Princess Princess live-action drama, in which he played Mikoto. The rest of it he had down, but there was one line that kept catching on his tongue and getting tangled there.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get this!” he exclaimed in frustration.

“Sure you will, don’t worry,” reassured Satou Takeru, who played Tohru.

“Hey, guys,” their Yuujiroh actor, Fujita Rei, greeted as he entered the rehearsal room. “Is everything okay? You’ve been in here for a while.”

“That’s my fault. I can’t get this one line down,” Kenta declared. “I’m afraid I’m going to mess it up on camera and causing all kinds of delays.”

“Which is entirely possible,” Rei agreed. “I can help you, though. Start from the beginning of the scene, and if you mess up the line, I’ll give you a gentle reminder that will condition you not to forget it again.”

“Really?” Kenta said hopefully. “Okay, let’s try it!”

Takeru gave him the prompt for the beginning of the scene and Kenta picked up his part, performing his lines with admirable emphasis and suitable expressions.

That is, until he got to that one line that had been troubling him. Once more he got tongue-tied in trying to get it out, only this time, his failure was punctuated by a solid wallop across the head with a rolled-up script.

“HEY!” He spun around to face Rei. “THAT was your gentle reminder?!”

The teenager regarded him calmly. “If you don’t like it, don’t mess up the line.”

“You think I’m going to let you whack me like that again?!”

“That remains to be seen.” Rei nodded to Takeru. “Start at the beginning once more, please.”

Kenta warily turned back to the other actor as he began the scene again. He did his best to focus, but it wasn’t easy, knowing that Rei was right behind him, ready to hit him again.

His nervousness didn’t cause him to misread the line, but rather he forgot it entirely.

“No, no, NO!” Rei scolded, bringing the script down on Kenta’s head to emphasize every word.

“That HURTS!” Kenta complained. “I’m older than you are! Why am I allowing you to punish me like this?”

“It’s not punishment, it’s conditioning. Try again.”

“Boy, just wait until the first time YOU mess up a line!” Kenta grumbled, then shot Takeru a dirty look. “And you stop laughing!”

His co-star made a supreme effort to control himself and cleared his throat. “From the top then?”

“Yes,” Kenta agreed firmly, his expression resolute, “and this time it’s going to be perfect.”

The young actor was right and he did finally achieve perfection in the scene and with that troublesome line – six attempts later. By then he was fairly sure he’d also achieved brain damage from being clobbered repeatedly in the head by Rei.

“Congratulations, you succeeded!” The younger boy beamed, clapping. “Didn’t I tell you that it would work? Applied, practical training can’t fail.”

Kenta’s gaze shifted mischievously toward Rei as a thought occurred to him. “You’re absolutely right, Fujita-kun, and I appreciate your efforts. But I think it’s time you put it to the test personally.”

Now it was Rei’s turn to look wary. “What do you mean?”

Kenta grinned. “Remember yesterday when you stumbled three times during rehearsal in the high heels? You couldn’t seem to walk in them at all.”

“I’ll be all right,” Rei said frowning. “It’s not like I have to walk FAR in them.”

“No, no, that’s not right.” Kenta wagged a finger. “Even if it’s not far, you can’t afford to stumble even once on camera.” He looked over at Takeru. “Isn’t that right, Satou-kun?”

The other boy was once again trying to stifle laughter. He nodded emphatically. “Absolutely!”

“Well, what do you propose I do about it?” Rei asked, already fearing he wouldn’t like the answer.

“Applied, practical training, of course. Isn’t that what you’ve been saying?” Kenta danced across the room and picked up the high-heeled shoes in question. Although they were in a men’s size, they were obviously designed in a women’s style. Appropriate, considering the three actors portrayed schoolboys who were made to dress in girl’s clothing.

“You’re going to put these on right now and walk around in them until you can do so without messing up!” Kenta told him. “And just to add that little extra correction incentive, Satou-kun and I will escort you on a stroll out to the local mall.”

“WHAT?!” Rei cried. “You want me to go out in public in those things?”

Kenta met his gaze, his eyes twinkling evilly. “The faster you learn, the sooner the pain will stop, right?”

Rei had to admit Kenta had him there. He grabbed the shoes. “Okay, fine! But you won’t have long to laugh at me because I’ll master this before we even REACH the mall!”

In actuality, it took six embarrassing times circling the perimeters of the mall before he, too, achieved perfection.

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(Prompt phrase – Trial and error)

(2006)

Princess Princess belongs to Tsuda Mikiyo

This fic is not to be re-posted.

Comments

*snicker*
Now this would have been one interesting sight to see.

annakas
I agree, ha ha!

Thank you very much for all your comments so far on my stories, I REALLY appreciate them all!