Law Of The Jungle

It was the strangest thing. Lately, ever since she saw that particular news-cast, she had been noticing more and more men looking her way. It was actually a little uncomfortable, to be honest. Seriously, she still had like six months before it even actually affected her life, then all it meant to her was that she would be in complete control of her life. Not that she didn't already have her freedom, she had been emancipated during her time as Setsuka Heel, when she received her passport, but she had never really told anyone else that.

However, back to the main subject... You know, the subject of every man she knew and some she didn't, giving her these weird hungry looks. You know those looks. The looks of a starving man that hasn't eaten in weeks and he looks as though he just encountered an unlimited pass to the buffet at one of the most prestigious restaurants in existence. Yes, they were giving her that look. She still didn't know what to make of it. Not to mention, she had been seeing a lot more of the "Demon Lord" lately too. She sighed. Well, at least that look hadn't been directed at her. Of that, she was extremely grateful.

She kind of had a hunch what those looks from LME's newest addition, Taira Murasame meant. He had given her those looks as Setsuka, but what really unnerved her was that Hikaru, Kijima-san, Koga-san, Sho (that one made her shiver in disgust) and about twenty others had been giving her that "Emperor of the Night" look for the past week. It made Ren's version infinitely more bearable. When others did it, it made her skin crawl.

Oh god, here he comes again with it. She groused inwardly as Murasame-san approached her with his cocky "Sho-like" attitude. She rolled her eyes and Setsuka was clawing to get out, just so she could crush his male ego.

"Kyoko! Hey... I was just going to lunch to grab some "Murasame Fuel" and was wondering if you would go with me." He asked confidently, yet again.

Kyoko sighed. "Murasame-san... I'm very busy today. I'm sorry and could you please not address me so? I would appreciate if you would use honorifics. I'm don't want people to get the wrong idea."

He gave her a little pout. "Come on, we both work for LME and I don't care what other people think."

"I do." And the "Demon Lord" makes his appearance. Kyoko sighed as she turned to Ren.

"Tsuruga-san! Umm, I was just going to check my offers with Yashiro-san." She smiled sweetly and nearly blinded every male within a 20-meter radius. "I didn't know you were going to be here today."

He smiled back with equal intensity and said "other males" including Murasame, withered. "I thought I would check my own. Perhaps you would like to join me for lunch?" He smiled slyly, inwardly and braced for the lecture, but it was totally worth it. "I really didn't have anything for breakfast this morning, so I'm feeling a bit peckish." He shot Murasame a glance that said "I win!".

She gave him a cute frown that always made his heart do flips. "Tsuruga-san..." and then the lecture. "How many times do I have to tell you that you can't skip meals?! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! I suppose you've been snacking on onigiri all morning too?!" And it went on and on, according to his stealthy plan to get her away from the thorn in his side at the moment.

Murasame just stood there stunned at what had happened. "He's pretty skilled at pressing her buttons." A random male office worker commented in passing. "He's been doing that for over a year."

Murasame turned to him. "Are they dating?"

The young man just shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Seems like it." He said as the elevator closed.

Kuon smirked to himself as he endured the rant of the irate little pixie next to him as she led him to LA Hearts. One down... Half of Japan to go. He sighed inwardly, remembering the latest bachelorette polls Yashiro had left on his desk, accidentally on purpose, for him to read.

Who would have thought that such a tasty little flower would have such a vicious little bee protecting it? Hiromune Koga thought wryly. All afternoon, he had been trying every tricky maneuver in his book to get Kyoko-san to go out on a date with him, but just before he would get to the good parts, Kanae Kotonami would swoop in and foil his plans. First, she had been distracted by a hug from the "Ice Queen", then it was the suggestion of ice cream after work, followed up by a sleep-over and then a shopping trip. What the hell? Now it was her manager dragging her off to her photo-shoot! The world must be against him. Well, at least he didn't need to deal with the "Demon Lord" today. He shivered at the thought of Tsuruga's last visit on the set. Koga's eyes went wide. Are they dating?

Kanae groaned at the sacrifices she had just made to keep her best friend out of the claws of an unworthy male. "What the hell? One stupid law change that says you're legal at 18 and every male in the vicinity is all over her like wolves on an injured doe!" She sighed again as she began stuffing her scripts in her bag. "And it figures that she would be completely clueless! It's hard enough keeping that cockroach away from her, now I have to deal with all the others too!" She groused. She actually had given up on keeping Tsuruga away from Kyoko a long time ago. None of them were worthy of Kyoko, but he was the closest to good enough and he'd been working on her a long time without overstepping Kyoko's boundaries. Yes, Kanae could deal with him easily.

Yashiro was beside himself with worry. Never in all of his time as a manager did he think that things could get so difficult. She was stunning. Her hair had been dyed back to black and extensions were added for her part as Momiji months ago and as he had told Ren once, "girls mature quickly in the entertainment industry" and Kyoko was no exception. She was dazzling and no... Yukihito was not in love with her, but clearly almost half of Japan was, at least according to the most recent polls.

Those polls were both a blessing and a curse. A blessing to tease Ren with and boost Kyoko-chan's self-esteem, and much to his dismay a curse, because now he was encountering Valentine's Day level gifts in every one of her locations with male fans out the wazoo, every single day for the past week. Well, at least the most of males were a bit more respectful of her personal space than Ren's female fans and most men had too much dignity to send their favorite female a pair of their underwear in a letter. He shivered at that thought. Although, he was getting a little irritated by all the men that sent letters asking her to be the mother of their beautiful babies. (Engagement Ring enclosed.)

He wondered if maybe he should leave one of those letters out for Ren to find. Maybe to light a fire under him, so to speak. He would definitely need to consult Lory on that one. Meh, he needed to anyway. She was beside herself with all of the expensive jewelry that she was receiving from admirers with no return address and he honestly didn't know what to do with it all. Maybe suggest raffling it off and donating the proceeds to charity. A light bulb went off in his mind and he jotted the idea down in his notebook as he watched his female charge sail through her photo-shoot expertly. She had grown so much in the past months.

He sighed in frustration. Ren was so incredibly slow. After that mess with "She Who Will Not Be Named" (Kimiko Morizumi), it was painfully obvious that Kyoko-chan had been harboring some pretty serious feelings for Ren and the boy was too blind to see it. Yashiro shook his head at the thought. Ren was worse than Kyoko-chan. How could he not see it? She was practically laid out on a platter ready for him to dine on, and he was just looking at her as if she was some rare animal to be viewed in a zoo.

Every time Yashiro saw those two together, he could see how Ren became caught in her gravitational force. He would hover around her like a planet around the Sun. He saw those furtive looks, the hesitant reaches and the constant moistening of lips that would dry instantly out of nervousness. What the hell was going on? How could Japan's #1 Bachelor be so completely insecure around a female?

Hmm, now that Yashiro put some thought into it, he really hadn't seen Ren date a whole lot in the years he had been his manager and when he did, it didn't last very long. A thought that Ren might be like a male version of Kyoko-chan popped up. He shook his head. There was no way that was possible. Kyoko-chan seemed infinitely more secure in her knowledge of that arena than Ren did. And then it struck him. His eyes went wide. Ren's never really been in love! Yashiro groaned at the thought. This was going to be a whole lot more difficult than he had originally thought now.

Lory was in his office bouncing around with glee, planning a festival to celebrate the new opening for love. The excuse Kuon had been using, "Kyoko's too young" was now obliterated. He'd like to see what the new excuse was going to be. This was just too wonderful!

~Fin~