All The World's A Stage
Chapter One
"Congratulations on your relationship with Kusunoki-san. She suits you well." Kyoko told him as she turned and gathered her bag.
"It's not like that." He protested.
She gave him a knowing smile. "Of course it isn't. You did instruct me once to deny something even if it was the truth, and you did point out that you didn't just do that type of thing with any Japanese person, so she must truly be special for you to protect her in such a way." She turned from the stunned man, after using his own words against him, and saw just the man that had called her back to the office. "Ah! Takarada-san, Sawara-san mentioned that you wished to see me."
Lory stood just as stunned as Kuon. Had the boy really said those things to her? What the ever-loving hell was he thinking? "M-Mogami-kun, go on ahead up to my office. I'll be there in a moment."
Her smile was cordial, but empty. He could see the anger and hurt bubbling beneath the surface. Although, he had to admit she did keep her promise. She nodded. "Thank you, Takarada-san. I will see you shortly then."
Lory watched as she walked away. He turned to the two men present. "Dare I even ask what she was referring to? Would it have anything to do with any of your other statements to her?"
Ren furrowed his brow. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."
Lory snorted. "Of course you don't. I'm trying to introduce that girl to true love and you're instructing her to lie about such things, not really leaving yourself any room to deny your relationship with Kusunoki-san, and you've even gone so far as to tell her that you aren't allowed to love anyone." Lory huffed. "If you didn't hold any affection for Mogami-kun, you should have told her clearly, instead of lying to her."
"Why would that even make a difference? She doesn't feel that way about me, so it shouldn't matter." He told him, not realizing that some of the things Lory had just said were said in strict confidence with a certain chicken mascot.
Lory just shook his head, and sighed. "Never mind... It doesn't matter anymore if that's what you truly believe." He turned to walk away. "Tsuruga-kun... I would like to speak to you in my office after my meeting with Kyoko-chan." He said in a very cold, professional tone, stunning both Kuon and Yukihito.
She told him everything. That is, everything that had ever happened between her and Sho, her and Ren, Setsu and Cain, even between her and "Corn". To say that he was angry with the entire situation would be an understatement. Not to mention the fact that he was now livid with Kuon. After all she'd been through that night, he had to treat her that way. Of course Fuwa-san would have come to check on her, he had been friends with her. She was almost a sister to him. Lory could see that, it was a shame that Kuon was so completely blind.
"So what have you decided, Kyoko-chan?" He was saddened that she'd opened herself to the prospect of love and had it tossed to the side like that. It angered him that she had people making her believe that she would never be worthy of something like that.
She sighed out. "I really don't know what to do. Maybe I should just give up. Who would want to be with someone as plain, boring, unappealing like me?"
Lory furrowed his brow. "Mogami-kun, just because you don't suit the tastes of that one person, doesn't mean that others feel the same. Besides, don't you think that what he'd said to you was a bit shallow?"
"I suppose so, but it was my mistake for being so naive to follow him blindly like that. I mean, if my mother can't even love me, why would anyone else?" She asked thoughtfully.
"Mogami-kun... I never really asked, but why exactly did you join LME if not to gain the love of others?" He asked out of genuine curiosity.
She sighed defeatedly. "Initially... It was to prove to Sho that I wasn't the worthless, lovesick maid he claimed I was, but... as I learned how to express myself and find other aspects of myself through acting, I grew to love it more than anything in the world. You see... I've never done anything for myself until this past year. Now, I've seen, felt, and done so many things. More than I have in my entire life and it's all because I wanted to do it, not because someone else wanted me to. It made me happy first and fulfilled. I know that sounds selfish, but for once... I won't apologize for being selfish in that aspect."
Lory sighed. "So, does this mean that you're giving up? That you won't be pulling back that curtain?"
She shook her head. "No, I just think it's time that I find another audience, another acting partner. One that's willing to star with me. One not so completely out of my league, that won't be embarrassed to be with me."
Is that what Kuon had actually made her believe? That he was that much out of her reach? Were people actually telling her things like that or making her feel that inferior? "Mogami-kun, is there anything that would change your mind on this?" He asked hoping that he could at least do this much for his godson. Maybe crack that door open a little bit for him. Of course Kuon would have to repair his own damage and fix the rest of the mess himself, but at least she wouldn't be running as fast as she could in the opposite direction of someone that needed her, someone that she needed.
She shook her head staring at her hands, as she clasped them tightly in her lap. "Deluding myself would only hurt me more. I need to grow up, face the truth, and stop dreaming about fairies, princes, princesses, and happily ever afters. I need to face real life and stop drifting off into my stupid, childish fantasies." And on that note, she'd finally accepted the truth about Guam and her fairy... Corn. The truth that her little grudges had been trying to reveal to her. She pulled out her blue stone and the pink diamond Ren had given her. "Um... Could you make sure those are returned to Tsuruga-san? He'd implied that the first was from a souvenir shop, but the other is far too extravagant for someone he harbors no feelings for and it's inappropriate that I have something like that from him when he's clearly with someone else."
Lory wanted to say something in protest, but if Kuon had actually done and said those things to her, he really couldn't say anything to contradict him. She needed to hear anything that said otherwise, straight from him, and Lory just didn't see that happening after what was briefly discussed in the lobby. "I understand, Mogami-kun. I suppose you should be off. You have rehearsal for Sacred Lotus, correct?"
She nodded. "Yes Sir. We start filming on location next week." She gave a small, sad pout. "I won't be able to see Kotonami-san or Amamiya-san for a few months."
Lory sat back in his seat, staring at the two precious stones she'd entrusted to him to return to their original owner. Something like this truly saddened him. "Well, very well then. Run along. I wouldn't want to be responsible for you missing your commitments."
She stood and bowed deeply to him. "Thank you for your understanding, Sir. I apologize for any inconveniences I may have caused you."
He waved off the apology. He wanted to apologize to her for exposing her to yet another that didn't appreciate her, but he was certain that she would misinterpret it, so he left it. He had seen it many times before and it was always a heartbreaking shame when someone that truly deserved love just walked away from it, and chose to protect themselves instead. He leaned back into his seat and watched the door close. "I suppose that's how things go sometimes." He shook his head and looked up at Ruto. "Is Ren waiting?"
Ruto nodded.
"Go ahead and show him in." He sighed out, poured himself a drink, and lit a cigar.
She'd figured it out. She'd uncovered his lies without him saying a single word. The proof was in the two stones resting in his pocket. One, a stone he'd not held in his possession since the age of ten, and the other a stone that he'd not held for at least three months. The heaviness in his pocket felt like the weight of the world. A childhood destroyed, because of what? Jealousy? The selfish desire to preserve a reputation he didn't even care about, under the advisement of a manager and boss he'd mislead regarding how he felt about her? Was the fact that she'd walked away from him truly worth the cost? What was the point of having so many love you, if you have to wear a mask, if you have to pretend to be something you aren't?
Kyoko had pulled Kuon Hizuri out, and now he didn't want to go back in. He didn't want to be Ren Tsuruga anymore. He didn't want to be told who he could care about by strangers that didn't know him. He didn't want to be told how well someone suited him, by the woman that he loved. As if hovering outside of his own body, he watched as his hand lifted and collided with the wall in the hallway that he stood in, completely ignoring the horrified onlookers. He didn't want this meeting with this bitch. The one that had ruined his life.
"Ren-san? Are you okay?" Kana trembled in fear at his outburst, before they were supposed to enter the office to discuss what was to be done about the scandal, as she, her manager and Yukihito watched the little droplets of red drip from his fist and dribble down the broken, marred plaster.
A voice he'd not recognized as his own, for a very long time, answered low and gravely. "Stay the fuck away from me, you gold-digging fame-whore." The voice spat out in English as he pulled from her touch as if she were some disgusting, disease-ridden vermin. Kuon Hizuri was out and ready to play. "Don't you think you've ruined enough lives? Find another cock to settle on. It won't be mine." He turned and walked away, leaving a stunned manager and a stunned aging starlet in his wake.
His jacket was removed and flung over his shoulder. His look was dark and his contacts had been discarded on the way out. Green eyes stared off into the distance, ignoring all that gasped and passed him by. His ears tuned out the calls of his manager as he stepped onto the elevator and shot his manager the surliest look Yukihito had ever had the misfortune of receiving.
"Oh hell..." Lory murmured after ending his call with Yukihito. "I did not see this coming." He shook his head and turned on a wall-mounted television.
Lory groaned as he saw green eyes staring into the camera and a feral smile on his godson's lips. He wasn't even trying to hide it now. He'd snapped. Lory hoped to any god out there that Fuwa or the vocalist from Vie Ghoul didn't cross his path today. Not after what Kyoko had told him.
"What are my thoughts on Kana Kusunoki-san, you ask?" He narrowed his gaze and sent a wave of shivers through the crowd of paparazzi and fangirls. "What can I say about a using slut that ruined my personal life? Destroyed any chance of me ever being with the woman that I love. Made her lose all respect that she had for me. Made me look like a using, womanizing ass. Proved to her in photos that I couldn't be trusted with her heart." He chuckled wryly, and lifted the stone from his pocket. He flashed the little blue stone to his audience. "I gave this to her when I was ten... Today... She returned it along with the gift that I gave her on her birthday. Because of that woman... I have nothing but a stone that couldn't possibly replace her." His look softened and saddened. "She was my talisman. My light in the dark. My guardian angel and my princess, and now that's been destroyed because of a greedy, washed-up, talentless actress that wanted to use me to stay in the headlines. You ask for my thoughts on her? I try not to think of her, because it causes an anger in me that I have never felt, and reminds me of my loss."
There were murmurs throughout. "Won't she understand once she sees this?"
He turned back to them as he was leaving. "She's been hurt too many times by people like Kusunoki. I wouldn't wish Kuon Hizuri on my worst enemy now, the woman I love deserves someone far better than me. Excuse me, I'm leaving... I'm going home... I have nothing to keep me here any longer."
Alright, Lory had expected something, but this was certainly not the temper tantrum he'd expected. Although, the public confession was quite romantic, and right down Lory's alley as far as confessions went. He'd never expected Kuon to pour his heart out for all the world to see. He thought for sure that something like this would definitely move Mogami-kun if she saw it.