The Tutor

Chapter 36: Crunch Time

AN: Some of you might recognize this next bit--I took it from a story I started but never continued, called Kaleidoscope Summer. I liked it, so I saved it, and resurrected it to use here. For those of you who were invested in KS, I'm truly sorry, but I was just spread too thin at that time, and KS was too dark for me to write. Anyway, this little bit of the movie is lifted from the prologue of KS:

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The wind rattled the glass in their panes as the raindrops pelted against them like bullets. The storm was gathering strength over the ocean before hurling itself against the Japanese coast. Inside the dark castle, the sound of her sobs could barely be heard over typhoon that was howling outside.

He grasped his fianceé Hana's wrists, and she dropped in front of him, her kimono soaked, her knees making a painful sound on the slate tile. Her head was bowed, neck and shoulders exposed, bottom tucked humbly under as she knelt in a posture of abject, apologetic surrender. Wispy hair fell forward, obscuring her face.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet with shock and disbelief.

"Are you saying--" he stopped and took a deep breath before beginning again. "Are you saying you'd rather stay here and possibly--die-- with him, that gaijin Eugene,  than come with me?"

She lifted her head so he could see her streaming brown eyes. She drew her brows together and nodded before lowering her head once more.

He slowly released her wrists, and she brought her hands to cover her face, continuing to sob.

A jagged, staccato stroke of lightning lit up the room, and a few seconds later, thunder boomed in the distance.

"Cut!"

The DP's voice rang out with authority over the sound of the rain, and the rain machine stopped as Hiro helped Sumire to stand  before releasing her wrists.

Murakami-sensei checked the playback, then called, "Print!" with authority, and Sumire thanked Hiro and stepped into the dry towel that an assistant was holding for her.

"Come on, let's get you out of this wet kimono," Miki, the assistant said, leading her to the women's costume room.

She needed no urging. They'd been filming with the rain machine for nearly five hours, and she was soaked through and freezing.

In the costume room, they checked the sheet and saw what she'd need next. It was all laid out and ready, so it was just a matter of getting her dried off and getting her hair and make up ready. They unwrapped her from the dripping kimono and put her in a fluffy robe that had just come out of the dryer, so it was nice and warm. She received it gratefully, as she did the socks that they put on her feet. Soon she was sipping hot tea as they went to work on her face and hair for the next scene.

While she was in the chair, Sumire checked her phone to see where Nick was. He'd spent the day outside on a horse, filming battle scenes, so she knew he wasn't faring much better physically.

She checked her phone and saw that it was after four o'clock. She knew they had one more scene to shoot, and that it wasn't complicated. She hoped that Nick's day was going well, and that they'd have some time together back at the ryokan that night. She felt like she hadn't seen him in days, and her heart cried out to be with him.

"Are you okay? Is Kondo anywhere near you?"

"No, I haven't seen him, and besides, there are people everywhere, what could he do?"