The Best Revenge

Summary: Kyoko returns to Kyoto, the place of her childhood where she experienced so much rejection and pain. What will her reception be, and will she finally be able to take her revenge on those who hurt her? Oneshot.

Part 1: Fanfare

Mogami Kyoko stepped out of the boarding gate to the roar of cheers and applause. The entire terminal was full of fans holding signs and screaming, "We Love You, Kyouko!" She flinched momentarily, still unaccustomed to such fanfare despite the fact that she had risen and remained at the top of Japan's entertainment industry for the last three years. Kyoko began reciting her mantra in her head: Calm, cool, professional… friendly, but just stand-offish enough to discourage the overenthusiastic… an actress who loves her work and loves her fans. Beautiful, classy, elegant… a princess. The rest of the mantra had been provided by her manager, with the assistance of Moko-san, Okaa-san, and Tsuruga Ren… the final part was her own. As usual, the mantra worked and she slipped into character; waving elegantly at her fans, smiling beautifully, gliding regally across the floor.

Her manager, Naseki Mieko saw Kyoko morph into her "public persona," and allowed herself a half-smile. Most entertainers loved the spotlight, but her charge would rather avoid it. It was ironic that the girl who once despised the word love was now loved by tens of thousands. Mieko watched carefully as Kyouko, wrapped in her character, walked the crowd shaking an occasional hand, signing autographs for the children and bowing to the elderly. Occasionally someone, usually male, would try for closer contact, but Nobuta Tiro, Kyoko's bodyguard and shadow, would quickly and politely interpose his muscular body… and nobody ever tried to challenge the man.

Tiro had become necessary within months after Kyoko had turned eighteen, just after the release of The Faerie Clearing, Kyoko's first major movie role. Takarada Lory, the President of LME and a doting pseudo father to the LoveMe girls, had pulled strings to produce the movie. He had known that Kyoko was becoming typecast in bully and bad-girl roles, and this was his graduation present to her. Kyoko always referred to the role "my second-best birthday present ever." It might have been her favorite present, but someone else had given her something which she cherished even more.

The Faerie Clearing had been the story of a young girl who never seemed to fit in. She was rejected, bullied, and despised by her classmates and even by her parents. Then, one bright morning, she wandered into a clearing in a forgotten wooded area, where she met the Prince of the Faeries. The little girl discovered that she was actually half-faerie, and that her parents were not her real parents at all. She grew up and fell in love with the prince. The story began fanciful, but became dramatic when the Mayor of the town tried to level the forest to make way for an industrial park. The half-faerie, played by Kyoko, waged war in both the real and the faerie worlds; trying to save her true home. In the end she almost died, but her real parents reclaimed her and she transformed into her true form. The movie had been a surprise smash-hit. Kyoko had positively glowed through the entire movie, and her true beauty had captivated audiences.

A man in a suit stepped forward and introduced himself as the Mayor's publicity manager. He was a young man, wearing a wedding band, but he still couldn't keep his eyes off of Kyoko. "I went to school with Mogami Kyoko," he said, almost in an awed whisper, "I was three grades ahead of her, but I can't remember her at all." He sounded sad about that missed opportunity. Mieko smirked. From what she knew of Kyoko's past, it was doubtful that many of her schoolmates would remember. Those that knew her either ignored her or bullied her, much like the girl in her debut movie.

Part Two: Those few

Mieko checked her watch moved forward, "Kyoko, we need to go." Kyoko nodded, bowed and gave everyone a departing wave. Airport security and the city police had set up a cordon to the covered loading and unloading area, where a limousine was waiting. The chauffeur, a dignified elderly man, bowed formally as he held the door. "Good morning, Miss Kyouko. It's an honor."

Kyoko smiled genuinely and replied, "Thank you, Ojii-sama. Please take care of me."

The gray-haired man flushed to the neckline and Mieko had to suppress a giggle. Kyoko has no idea how she effects these poor men. They all climbed in to the spacious back of the limo, while the chauffeur climbed into the driver's seat and pulled away. The Mayor's publicity manager sat stiff and nervous, trying not to stare at the beautiful starlet. Kyoko, sensing the man's nervousness, smiled politely and said, "Thank you for coming to meet us. Naseki-san tells me that we went to school together?" With the natural grace she had learned from her pseudo-mother, Julie Hizuri, Kyoko pulled the man out of his nervous state. Soon the two young people were talking animatedly about different teachers, worst and favorite subjects, and practical jokes that they remembered.

Kyoko never mentioned that she was the butt of many of the worst and most humiliating practical jokes, though the thought lingered just below the surface. She remembered this young man. He had been the handsome, athletic, and popular president of his year. More importantly, on two occasions he had put a stop to bullying incidents where Kyoko was the victim. He had simply done that as a part of his job as a prefect, but she was still grateful. She glanced down and noticed the ring on his finger, "Fujimaki-san, are you married?"

He smiled handsomely, "Not yet, I'm engaged. We're getting married next month."

Kyoko glanced over at Mieko, who nodded slightly. They worked well together and Mieko easily picked up on Kyoko's unspoken message. There would be a wedding present from Kyoko at the ceremony. Though Mieko didn't know the details yet, it was clear that Kyoko remembered the young man and that she was grateful. Kyoko had already turned her attention back to the publicity director, "Is your fiancé free today? I would like to meet her."

Fujimaki flushed, "Really! If you wouldn't mind, that would be wonderful! Chitose is one of your biggest fans, and I would score huge points if you…" He stopped suddenly, realizing what he had said. His face became alarmed, but Kyoko only giggled.

"Then we should definitely meet. Anything to help you score… wait! Do you mean Yosana Chitose, from a year ahead of me?"

Fujimaki's smile grew even wider, if that was possible. Kyoko did remember Chitose. She had been the sublimely beautiful older girl who had shared her lunch with Kyoko once when Shoutaro's friends had stolen hers. There had been so few moments of kindness in Kyoko's childhood that she remembered each and every one. "Fujimaki-san, if Chitose-san has the time, I'd be happy if she would spend the day with me. She was kind to me."

Part Three: Sadness

They arrived at the Mayor's office twenty minutes later, only to be greeted by a very nervous and apologetic executive secretary, "I'm so sorry," the lady said with as much dignity as the situation would allow, "There was a fire at an orphanage and Mayor Kuga had to go."

Mieko saw Kyoko's facial expression and tried not to roll her eyes. As she predicted, five minutes later they were on the road heading toward the orphanage. Ever since Kyoko had filmed her second movie, as the young director of a crumbling orphanage who was in over her head, Kyoko had become a staunch advocate for orphanages; sponsoring charity events, collecting clothing and Christmas gifts, and adopting struggling orphanages all over Japan. She might have gone broke in her efforts if Takarada Lory hadn't forced her to create a foundation so that other celebrities could join in.

As they travelled across town for a second time that morning, Kyoko read the Kyoto morning paper. The front section didn't have much of note, but she frowned sadly as she read the Entertainment Section. She skipped over the first article, which was about her, and read the second.

Fuwa Sho Pays $250,000 in Stewart Paternity Case

Fuwa Sho, who dominated Japan's Music charts for three years, lost his New Jersey case after he repeatedly denied having carnal relations with his American fan, Emily Stewart. Emily Stewart, who is currently seven months pregnant with a child she claims belongs to the popular Japanese musician. This case follows two other cases, one in Korea and one in Australia, where Fuwa Sho was accused of inappropriate conduct.

Fuwa Sho first came on the scene as a fifteen year-old rock prodigy. His rebel persona, his racy lyrics, and his rakish good looks quickly propelled him into fame. At the age of seventeen, after facing down a challenge from a copycat group named Vie Guhl, he rose to the top of the charts and held that position almost unchallenged for the next twenty-nine months. His singles "Golden-eyes," "Return to Me," and "I own you, body and soul" each went platinum.

Unfortunately, Fuwa Sho's private activities were not as noteworthy. Although his agency, Akitoki Inc., was able to cover up several indiscretions in Japan, he began running into trouble as soon as he attempted to go international. Fuwa Sho, a wildly popular ladies man with a string of female fans who could circle Tokyo, has earned a reputation as man who disrespects women. In the words of one disenchanted follower, "Sho treats women like his personal playthings, and then he dumps them once he loses interest." Other than the cases mentioned above, there have been many others.

Two scandals in particular have drawn a great amount of public attention: the scandals involving Nanokura Mimori and Kyouko. Nanokura Mimori, the once-popular gravure idol, filed a paternity suit against the musician two years ago. Rumor has it that the case was settled out of court, but Fuwa Sho continues to deny any connection to either mother or child. The case of Kyouko, currently Japan's number one leading lady, was more complicated.

Kyouko, a.k.a. Mogami Kyoko, was revealed last year to be the childhood friend and once live-in roommate of the popular singer. At an interview at LME, Kyouko explained her relationship with Fuwa Sho as "more-or-less a sibling friendship. Shotarou's parents were kind enough to raise me for a portion of my childhood. When Shotarou decided to leave Kyoto to pursue a career, I went along to offer support." When questioned about any romantic involvement, Kyouko coldly replied, "At one time I had a crush of him, but he never had any romantic interest in me." The pair went different ways after a year; Fuwa Sho becoming a successful musician and Kyouko becoming one of Japan's leading stars.

Although they shared the same beginnings, there is little comparison between the pair's on-and-off stage conduct. Kyouko is widely acknowledged by producers, directors, and her fellow actors as "one of the most polite, pleasant, professional and talented young people in the industry." Her personal life and public conduct have been beyond reproach, though there are repeated and persistent rumors that she is in a relationship with Japan's Leading Man, Tsuruga Ren. Fuwa Sho, on the other hand, rose rapidly to stardom and is now plummeting just as quickly, mostly due to his scandalous personal conduct and his unprofessional attitude.

For more about Kyouko, read the headline article on this page titled "Kyouko Returns to Kyoto to Receive the Keys to the City."

Kyoko sighed and closed the newspaper. It saddened her to see her childhood friend falling apart. For a while it had looked like he was beginning to mature. He had even come to her and apologized… and he had asked her to come back to him. Any maturity he had shown had disappeared when she told him that she could never return because she loved Tsuruga Ren. It took three guards to subdue the crazed rocker as he tore her dressing room apart. He had never spoken to her or about her again after that day.

Part Four: A Mother's Praise

On the following morning after receiving the keys to the city, attending a charity event to refurbish the orphanage and find home for the children, and visiting with the young couple who had both once shown her a little kindness, Kyoko visited her mother. She reached back to take the Best Actress trophy from Mieko in order to present it to her mother… and, like always, her mother offered her no words of praise.

Kyoko heard a car pulling up on the road behind her and she instinctively knew who the driver was. She smiled, but kept her eyes closed and her hands together until she finished talking to her mother. Then she gracefully rose from her knees and brushed off her skirt. After one last look at her mother's gravestone, she walked down the path to meet with the man whose blond hair shone in the early morning sun.

Part 5: Her Faerie Prince

Her heart fluttered, just as it always did when she looked at Kuon's handsome face. It had taken him two torturous years, but Tsuruga Ren had finally broken through Kyoko's protective shell. Afterward Kyoko had realized that she had been in love with her ridiculously tall and handsome sempai for most of the two years. She had wanted to marry Ren on the spot, but Takarada Lory and the Hizuri's had interjected their own wise counsel, "Make a name for yourself, Kyoko, before you get married. That way people will never be able to claim that you only succeeded because of your connections with Kuon."

Kuon stepped away from his car and wrapped his much smaller lover in his warm embrace. He had driven down from Tokyo by himself so that they could make the trip back together. He looked at Kyoko now with heartfelt concern, "How are you?" It wasn't a casual question. He knew that this trip, and this early morning visit, had probably been hard on her. Kyoto was the land of her past, a place of hurt and pain and rejection… but it was also the place where she had first met him… which explained his drive through the night. "I'm good, Kuon. I made two friends and the Mayor was very nice. The people were all welcoming, even though I did see several of the people who once bullied me as school children. It's funny, but I didn't even feel any anger or animosity towards them now… it was a long time ago and I'm so happy now that it just doesn't matter."

Kuon gave Kyoko one last squeeze before releasing her and holding his door open. Mieko and Tiro would follow in the rental car. They drove six easy kilometers through tree-lined streets until they came to a parking lot that faced the forest. Hand-in-hand the couple made their way down the once-familiar path. This was the second time they had travelled this path as adults. On the first occasion, on the Christmas morning of Kyoko's eighteenth birthday, Tsuruga Ren had given Kyoko what she described as "The best birthday present ever." He had revealed his true identity and returned Corn to her.

Part Six: The Place of Dreams

Kuon glanced at his beautiful companion as they walked. She had come so far from the angry, hurt sixteen year-old girl who he had helped to throw out of LME on that first day. On that day everyone had assumed that she had come there, like so many others, to pursue him. In the end it hadn't been Kyoko chasing him… it had been him chasing her. He remembered Yashiro's words spoken several months later, "Girls grow up fast, Ren." How true that had been. And what an adventurous chase it had been. So many times he thought that he would lose her for good.

The worst had been on the day he had dragged her back to their clearing and revealed his true identity. Every fiber in his being had fought against his revelation, but it had to be. His parent's patience had worn out and his successes had taken away any excuses. He had to reveal himself, but he had wanted Kyoko to be the first to know. With a trembling soul he had told her the truth, fully anticipating that the end was at-hand. Instead, Kyoko had been almost supernaturally calm. Only then did she admit that she had suspected the truth for months, because the more he had relaxed with her, the more his facial expressions had begun to imitate Corn's. One day she had made a new Ren doll, along with a new face. As she held the face in her hands, she had seen the truth. Only one face could look like that. Tsuruga Ren had to be Corn.

They turned a bend in the path now, stepping back into the clearing that had become the setting for the most defining moment in both of their childhoods. It was just as it had been and it would continue to remain that way. They had purchased the clearing as joint owners on the previous year when they heard that it might be cut down, just as almost happened in Kyoko's movie. Now it would be the setting of another defining moment. Kuon led Kyoko to the rock where they had often sat and talked. He motioned for her to sit, and then he knelt in front of her. Kyoko's eyes grew wide and then almost caressing as she looked into the face of the man who she loved. No words were spoken as he pulled out the ring that had been burning a hole in his pocket and slipped it onto Kyoko's finger.

Part Seven: The Best Revenge

They would return to that clearing again, in two months. That was the first time that they would be able to clear two weeks straight… enough time for both a wedding and a honeymoon. There would be many people there, possibly hundreds, including the girls who had made her childhood more miserable than it already was. Her childhood persecutors would watch in jealous envy as the once plain, nondescript girl of their childhood shone brilliantly and married Japan's Top Actor and Most Desirable Man. More than likely they would gossip and comment behind Kyoko's back. It was privately amusing to Kyoko that the same girls who hated her as a child for being close to Shoutaro now considered her to be a traitor for leaving him to marry another man.

She didn't care, any more than she cared about what Fuwa Sho was thinking as he lurked at the edge of the trees and sneered at the proceedings. Mogami Kyoko had found a career that she loved. She had wonderful friends like her bridesmaids, Kotonami Kanae and Amamiya Chiori. She had people who valued her as a daughter like the Hizuris and the Daruma-ya couple. And most importantly, she had found the prince of her dreams and she was marrying him.

Mogami Kyoko had thrown aside her plans for the revenge long ago, but Julie Hizuri's advice came to her mind regardless. "Kyoko, the best revenge is a life well-lived."

Notes: I had this short story stuck in my head, so I had to get it out so that I can focus of my other stories in-progress.