Pieces of Hope
Fates Illusion
Summary: Her role in Dark Moon attracted a lot of unexpected attention... When a retired actress decides to pay Kyoko a visit no one expected what would unfold and how so many lives would change from the meeting, least of all those of a thief and a detective!
Disclaimer: I own nothing! I am merely playing with other people's toys, using them in my own twisted games. Anything you recognize most probably belongs to somebody else, except the plots, those are mine.
Dialogue Key:
"Blah…" – Talking in Japanese
"Blah…" – Talking over radio/telephone/communicators
Blah… - Thoughts, emphasis, writing/e-mails, flashbacks/dreams
Additional Notes: The story will follow parts of the manga for both series as well as the movies in the case of Detective Conan but there will be changes to certain aspects of the canon story that will be pointed out as they come up.
Chapter 1:
Living That Moment
Pinpricks of light spread out across the ground far below, illuminating streets and smaller buildings only a couple of minutes walk away from Tokyo Tower. The view at the pinnacle was amazing but that wasn't its only selling point as an excellent place to meet someone…
Tucked into a secluded corner near the emergency stairs, an old man dressed in faded blue jeans and a baggy white sweater watched the comings and goings of tourists and other visitors over a small guide book. Brown eyes, filled with the wisdom that comes with great age, scanned the crowds earnestly before landing on a young woman escaping the confines of an elevator with several teenagers.
He watched in veiled amusement as she stalked through the gaggle of school girls gossiping about the latest in fashion and who the hottest man on television was with a scowl firmly in place on her lovely visage.
Releasing a low chuckle he rose to his feet before depositing his book in the saddle-bag resting at his side. It was a moment more before the fiery youth stopped in front of him and held up her phone with a huff.
"Your increasingly cryptic messages are beginning to get on my nerves," She bit out through clenched teeth, "Honestly! You're starting to sound like one of Kaitou Kid's heist notices or something!"
A sly grin stole across his wrinkled face and his eyes closed in a mimicry of a fox's smile as a chortle escaped from his hunched figure, "Kaitou Kid-san, huh? I wouldn't have pegged you as the type to pay attention to foolish thieves, Hidemi-chan."
Rolling her eyes didn't draw out the reaction she wanted but the wheezing laughter set her at ease in his presence, at least a little bit.
After a moment of cheer the ancient man gestured to the bag on the bench behind him, "Everything your father needs to make an interesting news story is right there; I included everything I knew including popular locations, rumors, and even some common habits… If he needs any more he'll have to ask someone else as that's all I have."
Hondou Hidemi watched him with narrowed eyes as she stooped down to pick up the bag, "Do you have any suggestions?" She questioned with an almost innocent smile.
The flash of disapproval in those wizened brown orbs had a triumphant smirk hiking its way up her lips. The small victory was short-lived though as his response brought her scowl back in full-force, "I'm sure the internet could tell you much more than I ever could, Hidemi-chan."
Biting back a sharp retort was a lot harder than the young newscaster would have believed possible. Deciding to cut her losses, Hidemi swung around and stormed off back into the veritable sea of sightseers.
Letting another snicker fall from chapped lips he shuffled towards the men's bathroom on shaky legs, using his large umbrella as a make-shift cane to support his weight while he opened the door.
Three minutes later a young man with long black hair and a sharp suit left the restroom, his eyes trained on his watch on one arm while the other fished in his pocket to find his cell-phone while keeping his umbrella in the crook of his elbow.
He stood next to a small group of young women huddled over a magazine while he dialed a familiar number on his phone with a pinched expression on his face.
"I'm not familiar with Tsukigamori myself but Dark Moon is amazing!"
Grey eyes twitched as the other end of the line continued to ring and the pack continued to chatter.
"Is it any surprise though? With Tsuruga-san playing as Katsuki and Momose-san as Mizuki it was bound to be a hit!"
For a brief moment his attention was diverted from his phone, being drawn to the girls instead. Tsuruga-san…? As in Tsuruga Ren? Starring in Dark Moon? How interesting… Before he could be further drawn into the conversation his call was finally answered by a gruff but familiar voice.
"Yes, this is Ringo, I'm calling in regards to that package that was delivered…"
"They're not the only ones though, the actress who plays Mio in Dark Moon far exceeds the Mio from Tsukigamori!"
Concentration diverted between the phone and idle chit chat, he was thankful when the elevator finally ground to a halt and the doors slid open with an accompanying chime.
Putting the background conversation to the back of his mind he slipped into the waiting car and tuned back into his own discussion with the cool man on the other end.
"Yes, it's on its way. It should be in his hands by tonight, that should be more than enough time for things to get underway, don't you think?"
A warning chime preceded the doors closing and the box making its short journey back to the Tower entrance, cutting the man off from any curious onlookers and away from anyone that might have given him a second glance.
With that he became what he really wasn't, just another face in the crowd.
"Alright, we'll stop here today! Kyouko-chan, you're going to have to hurry if you want to get to Box R's set on time!"
Amber eyes glistening with malice narrowed for a brief moment before a whole other awareness seemed to seep in. In an instant the hostility that lingered in her gaze was gone, replaced with the brilliant grace everyone associated with the burgeoning talent. Director Ogata watched as the young actress charged down the stairs, already tugging at her wig and the fastenings of her costume.
"Thanks for all of your hard work!" He called after her retreating figure, receiving a bright smile and wave in acknowledgment. Failing to hide his own grin the Director turned his focus to the filming crew and the changes that had to be made to the set.
"Kyoko-chan has been awfully busy recently, hasn't she? Ever since the release of Dark Moon..."
Turning to his charge, Yashiro noted the fond smile Ren wore as he watched the aforementioned actress leave the set with a final, formal goodbye.
"Ren?"
He didn't bother to mask his cat-got-the-canary smirk when his trustee seemed to tune back into reality. "Did you say something, Yashiro-san?"
Humming a little in contemplation, the manager tilted his head back towards the door again, "I said Kyoko-chan's been getting a lot more work recently with the release of Dark Moon. We don't get to see her as often anymore."
The quelling look sent his way did nothing to silence the urge to play matchmaker, in fact it did quite the opposite.
With a sigh, Ren relented to Yukihito's determined stare knowing full well that in this frame of mind he was nearly impossible to reason with. It would be better to direct his focus to something more productive, like what they were going to have for lunch.
Now if only he could figure out how to make his stomach growl on command…
Deciding that, for the moment, he had to indulge his manager, he spoke, "It's to be expected when you consider how popular the show has gotten, she was bound to catch someone's eyes…"
Turning back to the keeper of his schedule he froze like a deer caught in the headlights when he came face to face with the infamous puppy-dog eyes.
"Don't you want to see her outside of work just once?"
With a single step Yukihito was in his personal space and managing to somehow leer over him with an expectant air, "Well, Ren?"
As the manager continued to advance on his love-challenged charge with a particular gleam in his gray eyes that spoke of a familiar single-minded focus, Ren felt a shiver trail down his spine.
This did not bode well; the growing grin in seeming answer to his thoughts had him breaking out into a cold sweat. No, this didn't bode well at all…
The pained cries and gurgled pleas to be released had Ran cringing in sympathy and she wasn't even in the same room!
It was even worse when the laughter filtered through the TV, the sound alone sent chills trailing up and down her spine. It didn't matter how much noise she made in the kitchen, the cruelty and sheer pleasure that sound held couldn't be masked under any sound she could make.
"Jeez Sonoko, I didn't think you liked to watch these kinds of shows!"
"Well, normally I don't but…" The television fell silent as Sonoko set the program on pause and then pulled the door to the kitchen open enough that she could see the screen, "You see that girl there, the ringleader?"
Ran nearly froze as she faced that radiant smile, shining in the presence of other people's misery, it was terrifying.
"She's worked with two of my favorite idols in the last year and all of her work has been amazing, if a little disturbing. I was curious to see what else she played in and this came up."
Tearing herself away from the captivating image, Ran turned back to the fish she was preparing.
"All right, so who is she then?"
Sonoko entered the kitchen fully and grabbed the whole vegetables, deciding she could help make lunch by doing at least this much.
"She goes by the stage name Kyouko-chan, she's working in two dramas and she's also worked in a commercial and a PV…"
She pointedly ignored the expectant stare of her best friend, forcing Ran to address her inner fan-girl directly so she could get to the heart of the problem.
"So…?"
In an instant, passionate flames lit her eyes as she pointed back to the kitchen door and the television behind it with her parry knife. "She's worked with both Fuwa Shou and Tsuruga Ren in less than a year!"
The lack of interest in her friend's eyes almost had Sonoko bristling.
"Two of Japan's hottest celebrities have worked with her! I want to know her secrets! Maybe I can use what I learn to attract Kid-sama!"
And there lay the crux of her sudden interests, Ran just barely managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes skyward. Honestly, Sonoko was so single-minded when it came to guys…
"But Sonoko-neechan," Conan peered in from the other room, "isn't Kyouko-san just acting in these shows?"
Sapphire orbs, wise beyond their years peered at her through thick lenses, "How are you going to learn anything from watching a role she's playing?"
As she stood there gaping, Conan concluded that the thought hadn't even occurred to her. Choosing to focus his attention elsewhere while her brain restarted, he turned to Ran only to fall completely still at the intent gaze directed at him.
"Conan-kun…"
Sweating nervously, the grade-schooler watched as her expression slowly darkened.
"Y-yes, Ran-neechan?" He wouldn't admit even to himself, that the look on her face scared the crap out of him.
"Why are you watching Box-R?"
It was a peaceful activity, packing rice into balls, one that was meant to be an easy distraction from reality as she set herself to the task of giving them different unique shapes. Some formed into rabbits and mice, while others took on more creative shapes like birds (doves, she liked to imagine) and gaping fish…
Biting back a giggle, Kuroba Chikage packed the fish shaped ones away quickly so that her son wouldn't see them, she'd save them for lunch while Kaito was at school.
Speaking of Kaito, she could hear him, just beyond the door, whistling a jaunty little tune as he worked on a project with his classmate and best friend, Nakamori Aoko. Occasionally Aoko would interject with some sarcastic comment or a question and then Kaito would answer one way or the other. Having those two in the house brought a feeling of life that seemed to be sorely lacking recently.
Chikage smiled tightly as her thoughts inevitable led down the road she didn't want to travel at the moment.
"Okaa-san, are you sure you don't want any help?"
Leave it to Kaito to drag her out off that train of thought, even when he didn't know where her mind was headed.
Letting loose a light chuckle, she grabbed the tray of onigiri and waltzed into the living room with light steps born from her chosen trade. "I don't think you want to look in there right now, Kaito dear… You might not appreciate what you find."
While her son sported a petulant frown at the casual mention to his phobia, Aoko couldn't suppress the large grin that grew on her face at his mother's words.
The tray settled on the tea-table with a gentle clack before Chikage moved to the winged-back chair by her husband's portrait. Displaying all the grace of a feline, she settled in her chair ready to watch the next couple of hours of entertainment she knew her children, for even if she wasn't her daughter by blood she saw Aoko as her daughter in spirit, would provide her.
At least that was the plan until the phone decided to ring.
No rest for the weary it seems.
Heaving herself back to her feet she marched to the phone, reaching it just as the final ring began. Placing the phone to her ear she greeted the other person on the line with a pleasant, "Kuroba residence, this is Chikage speaking…"
The silence seemed to stretch for a moment before a voice Chikage hadn't heard in years acknowledged her with a simple, "Chikage-chan!"
It took everything she had not to drop the phone in shock.
I'm Alive!
I know this seems like it's jumping around a lot but I do have a method to my madness. For the next couple of chapters you'll be seeing different characters in their lives and it will continue like that until everyone meets. If it gets confusing I'll try and clarify but I want to hold off on a timeline until a certain point in the story otherwise I might give some things away too early…
As a last note, I have a poll in my profile allowing you to decide the schedule of which story gets updated first. I'll leave it up for two weeks and after that I'll clear the votes. The story with the most votes will be the first updated, the story with the second highest amount will be updated three to five days later and so on.
Anyways, this is the first of its kind that I'm aware of which makes me really curious to see what you all will think of it so… Can you please leave me some reviews? Any constructive criticism will be much appreciated and flames will be used to make s'mores for me and KlutzyKat!
Hope you enjoy,
Fates Illusion
Next Chapter:
Chapter 2: Attention Unwarranted