Author Note: After two of my favorite reviewers told me that one of my stories was too dark and they didn't know whether they wanted to read it anymore, I thought that I might add some more cute and less angsty and dark stories to my collection. I hope you enjoy š
The Lake in the Park
Chapter One ā The Director and His Wife
News was starting to get out about who played the scary BJ in the amazing and jaw dropping 'Tragic Marker' and people were making conspiracies against how such a nice guy as Ren Tsuruga could have played a jerk like Cain Heel as well as someone so terrifyingly psychopathic. Nobody thought that it would have come out so early on, but only a month after the release someone working at one of Japan's biggest headquarters had matched his face with theirs.
It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was, after all Kyoko had managed to just scan the different parts of his body and analyze without a computer that it was him. This man had needed technology to put the pieces together. It was exhausting though.
However, just as he had hoped, this had opened the door both in his heart in his drive to align the two characters within him and in his career. Now he could play dark roles and the heroic roles. People no longer were typecasting him as he had been and the next role took advantage of both those types. He was to start as a noticeable hero, a police officer that was in love with a rich young lady. However, this woman was toying with his heart and in her lived an infectious madness that in the end turned him into a very tragically fallen character.
Not only was this such a deep role for him to play, but the drama was another retelling. This one had started as a very old legend which had been turned into a movie and now was going to be turned into a multi part TV drama. He knew about the material and when he had read through the book had been instantly captivated by the writing style as well as the characters and the world they inhabited.
He had been told that the director had asked for him personally, but that if he were to accept the role he would have to tell the screenwriter and director face to face. It was the president who had told him that which made him even more uncomfortable about it.
Nothing was good when the president himself was so vague about the topic.
So, that was why he had scheduled a time where he could meet with the director and the president at the same time to tell them that he would be honored to be cast in this production. He had even asked Yashiro to wait somewhere so that he could go to the room himself. He felt that it was meant to be a private conversation.
As he stood in the elevator, he heard a voice call out. "Can you hold it!?"
Ren immediately pressed the hold button and his eyes lit up as he saw Kyoko coming towards him. "Hello, Mogami-san," he smiled as she blushed.
"Hello, Tsuruga-san," she replied as she gave a small bow. She tried to hide the way that her face lit up whenever it was him that she had bumped into. The deeper her bow these days was definitely linked to the redness of her cheeks at being with him. She really hoped that he didn't see through her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You needed to go somewhere, am I holding you up?" she worried as he laughed at her and how cute she was.
"Well, you'd better tell me the floor that you're looking for or we'll be riding this elevator up to the top floor together," he laughed. He was glad that it was a late hour, not as many people used the elevator this late in the day. Still, that left him even more suspicious about who this mystery director was.
"Oh, you're going there too?" Kyoko asked before smiling. "It really must be a good drama for you to be cast as the main role?" she asked before looking down. "Maybe I should refuse the part," she said as Ren looked at her.
"You didn't like the story?" he asked her. "I know it's not of a fantasy kingdom or with princesses, but I'm sure that being in 'Dark Moon' and then being in 'The Lake in the Park' would be good for your career. What role did they ask of you, Mogami-san?" he said as he watched her.
Kyoko looked down, "The starring role," she gulped, "Pandora-san. Oh god, they must have gotten me confused with another Kyoko or they might have meant Kanae, yes, Moko-chan should have been given this role. They made a mistake in the file, I should ge-" she reached out to press the open door button and saw Ren block her hand.
"This is wonderful for your career, Mogami-san," he told her. "If you get to the set and don't feel as if you can fulfill your duty as an actress then I will help you turn to the exit whilst not ruining your reputation with this director, but please at least give it a chance," he tried to persuade her as she looked at him.
"I'm just a junior actor, with something like thisā¦" she struggled as Ren shook his head.
"I think that whoever this mysterious director is, they've seen how talented you are. Don't you understand what a strong and able actress that you are, Mogami-san?" he asked. "I'm not going to let you refuse unless you really don't want to do it. Do you want to do it?"
Kyoko nodded before they heard the bell that made the elevator stop at the president's office.
Kuon stepped off of the elevator and smiled weakly at Sebastian as he led the two of them to meet the director. As they got to the office, Ren stepped in and felt his heart plummet as he looked upon the famous 'director' or should he say legendary Japanese actor.
He could feel the warmth and light that Kyoko had burning inside her and was making her almost glow with that light. "Father!" she yelled as she rushed forward to him. Ren was thankful that he managed to check his emotions whilst she was rushing into his arms. He coughed and shot a very quick glare at Lory for putting him in such a position.
"Hey, Kyoko," he said as he looked to her. "Was I hearing rumors that you weren't going to help me make my directing debut something amazing. What did I do to have a son like you?" he said as he put his hands on her cheeks to make him look at her.
"I'm sorry," Kyoko sniffed but she couldn't betray the smile on her face, "Father, did you ask Tsuruga-san to be in the drama too. You must want it to be really good to ask for him personally," she turned around to Ren who had just about got the shock off his face and was now in a deep bow.
"Hizuri-san, I didn't know that you were directing this project," he said trying hard not to let Kyoko see his level of discomfort. He turned towards the president, "I thought it would just have been the three of us at this meeting," he commented before seeing Kyoko's nervousness.
"Did I doā¦" Kyoko said as she looked at Ren trying to figure out if he was angry with her.
"No, Kyoko, you didn't do anything. I thought that I could schedule this time with the two of you so that you could both give Kuu your answer as to whether or not you want to be in this drama," Lory said as he tested him.
"I will do my absolute best, father" Kyoko nodded. "I would love to accept this role. I only hope that I can impress you as an actress. I know that Tsuruga-san wan-"
"I'd like some more time to consider the opportunity," Ren bowed again as Lory realized that having Kyoko and Kuu both in this room with such a casual atmosphere might have been a bad thing.
Lory nodded, "You can definitely have some more time, I don't think Kuu minds."
"Noā¦that'sā¦" Kuu said shakily seeing how broken Ren looked with how he was thinking this over. He had thought that having Kyoko here with them would make Ren stay in character more. Instead he could just see his son's emotions running around his head and then rotating in his heart. "Can you tell me if it's the character that you're having problems with?"
"The character?" Ren asked as he looked down, "I really like the role. Iā¦"
"Does Kuu-sama intimidate you, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko had to ask as she saw that Ren was trying his hardest to not make eye contact with the famous actor. "I know that Father has said some rude things about you in the past, but I don't think that he would bring that to set. I think it would be a lot of fun."
"I just need some more time," Ren said as he looked at his father and shook slightly.
"If you really like the script and the character, then you should do it Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said as she saw a troubled expression on his face. "It would help you with your career and I think the whole show always benefits when you're acting."
"Iā¦" Ren said as his eyes widened before nodding, "I'll definitely consider it," he tried to tell them as Kyoko couldn't understand how awkward he was being or why he was acting this way. Was it just that he was intimidated by Kuu. Surely he should know that right now more people would call him the better actor. Ren had a talent that she admired even more than she did Kuu's but she hadn't wanted to tell Kuu so.
"If you do say yes then it'll mean that you can get very close to achieving your goal," Lory said. "You already are considered a more talented actor than Kuu himself. This will give you the platform you've always wanted, but please only say yes if you can stay committed to the part."
Ren took a deep breath in as he weighed it out. "If certainā¦connections could be kept private then I will accept because of a love for the role. I know that certainā¦matters should be on a need to know basis."
"So is that a yes?" Kuu asked as he looked at the actor before him. Ren could see how hopeful he was about this, about being able to work with him but Ren was definitely scared and wanted to keep his distance.
"It's a yes with conditions," Ren said as Kyoko blinked confused over what they were saying but her mind was reading the situation as something to do with being a higher level professional actor. She had no idea what was really going on between the two actors.
"Good," Kuu grinned. "I'm so excited to have my leads secure and safe, nowā¦I do have to explain that I didn't come to Japan alone this time. I did bringā¦" he started but Kyoko cut him off. Through her excited eyes she never noticed the conflict and horror on Ren's face.
"You brought Julienna-san!?" Kyoko almost screamed she was that excited.
"Yes, well she's a Ren fan," Kuu said. "After seeing Dark Moon she kept talking about how impressive the two of you were. I'd say that other than me, Ren is her favorite actor."
Kyoko smiled. "Can I meet her father?" she asked before looking up to the doorway where a beautiful woman was now standing there. She was trying to stop herself from crying as she stared at the paled and wide eyed Ren Tsuruga. "Oh, wow" Kyoko came over and stood in front of Julienna Hizuri before bowing. "Hello, it's really nice to meet you, I'm Kyoko. I really hope to show you my best form of acting."
"Oh, of course," Julie said. "I'm so excited to meet you. My husband has said so many good things about you. I feel like we could be friends, Kyoko-chan?" she asked before her eyes went to Ren who had stopped moving. Fortunately Kyoko was too distracted to notice the change in him which would obviously show that something was wrong.
"You should sit down, Ren" Lory said. "I'm afraid you're going to pass out."
Ren shot the president a look, "How did you expect that I'd take this?" he whispered as his voice shook. What on earth was this?