Of Fairy Princes & Demon Lords: The Deception

Chapter 1

Lory smiled smugly as he gave the documents another look and straightened them, arranging them in such a way that one wouldn't expect their nature. They were marked His and Hers. In his pile, was a Nondisclosure Agreement for Tragic Marker, another copy of the contract that stipulated the conditions for the premiers and other such events and a couple of nondescript, inane things that meant actually nothing. In her pile were the same things except, her's included a contract for LME that she would be signing due to her emancipation.

This was a risky maneuver on Lory's part, both parties were known to be very thorough when it came to signing contracts. He had to arrange said documents just so and distract both parties sufficiently or it would all be for naught. If he failed in any part of this, he was certain he and their loved ones would be waiting years and years for this.

He clapped his hands together and sat back in his seat. He took a deep breath and pulled out the bottle of 30 year-old scotch and a glass. He poured a double-shot and took out a cigar. He took in a nice deep sniff, savoring the flavor and clipped off the end and lit it. After taking a nice deep drag and a good sip of the scotch, he smiled heartily and chuckled deeply. "They are going to kill me if this doesn't work out." It would work out. They loved each other. They just didn't know yet and that was what he was counting on to make all of this work out in the end. The end result is what really mattered. The happiness of his two favorite LoveME children.

Ren knew there was something strange about how Lory was behaving when he called him to his office to sign his paperwork, but he just couldn't put a finger on it. The man had been far too relaxed. He didn't ask his usual questions about filming. He didn't tease him about the photos he had shown him of Kyoko and that rat. He didn't breathe a word of his non-existent love life and there were no crazy costumes or, decorations. The whole meeting reeked of Lory's meddling, but there was just nothing there that he could see in an obvious way. It was troublesome.

He shook off the suspicions and decided to concentrate on finding his favorite little LoveME female and congratulating her on her new role. She had spent weeks training for it and he was bursting with pride for her accomplishment. He kind of felt a little left out though. She had done it completely without any help from him. The more he thought about it, the more depressing it was. It almost felt like she was drifting away from him.

All of the above is why he found himself sitting quietly on the sofa in the LoveME office, contemplating the last few months. From the time he found the water sapphire at the bottom of the steps, to the night that she happily told him that she was auditioning for Momiji as they stood in front of the Darumaya. He smiled softly at that particular memory. She had so much energy and that adorable look about her. It had taken every fiber of his strength to keep from wrapping her in his arms and never letting her go. Perfect. She was perfect in every way and it frightened him to think what she would think of him if he told her the truth about himself. He would wait a little longer. Wait until he felt more confident. He shook his head at the thought. Japan's number one bachelor lacks confidence with a woman...

It was the strangest thing. Takarada-san called her into his office to sign her contract and a NDA for being Setsuka. Well, that really wasn't the strangest thing, of course. The strangest thing was the lack of costumes, his giddy childish air and the stoic decoration of the office. Perhaps he was just out of ideas. She shook off her suspicions and signed the documents, trustingly. Although, the smile he had on his face had been a bit disturbing.

She thought about many things as she made her way to the LoveME room. Many things that had been plaguing her since the auditions. Her heart was beating painfully in her chest like a hollow drum sounding out its cadence with a spike covered mallet. She felt betrayed, but she realized that she had no right to feel that way. He didn't know that she was in love with him. He didn't know that the mere thought of him loving another left her soul in shreds. She had never told him and she wouldn't. She wasn't what he wanted. It was clear that he wanted someone that was more like the girls that Sho had always been attracted to. Hateful, mean, shallow, spiteful, venomous, and so on.

With all of those painful thoughts she would catalogue them and use them as reference just as Takarada-san had told her on White Day. She would use them to become a better actress. That was a month ago and it was getting more difficult day by day. She wondered when it would ever end.

"It seems as though this would be the perfect opportunity to do this." Lory murmured as he looked over what he had written in haste after submitting certain documents and filing away copies of copies. He pulled out his little black book of contacts and dialed the number.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your call Lory?" Director Anna asked as he stared at the clock on the wall that had just struck 8pm.

Lory smiled into the phone. "Straight to the point as always, Kazu. I need a little help with Kyouko-chan and you are just the man that can do it."

Kazutoyo Anna listened attentively to Lory's request and plans, then sighed. "Do you really think something like that will work? Don't you think they will suspect something?" He sounded a little worried.

Lory laughed. "Are you kidding me? I already snuck past level one of this little game."

Kazu's jaw dropped. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. Are you serious? They didn't even read it? You actually got them to sign it?"

Lory laughed again. "That was the easiest part. I just made sure to annoy them enough to make them want to get the meeting over with and out of my office as quickly as possible."

Kazu shook his head. "Man... You are a god. I envy you for the crap you get away with." He sighed. "Alright, send me the script and I'll look it over. I'll see how we can adjust it to make it a little more believable. Oh... Have you talked to the extras for this yet?"

Lory winced. "Not yet... that one may take awhile. I'll get back to you on the date for it. I know there will at least be a couple of them that want to get their hands dirty for it."

"I'm sure there will be, all things considered. I don't even want to think of what security for something like that will need to be." He commented dryly.

"We'll tie it up nicely like a follow-up episode and the extras will keep the event to themselves." Lory assured him.

"Well, okay. I'll trust you on that one. I'll call you back when I've cleaned up the script. Talk later." They ended the call and Lory was well on his way to his biggest achievement.

He smiled mischievously and started pulling phone numbers and email addresses from several different files. The first one would be the most difficult. Kind of like a boss level. He would keep that one for the morning. He thought that maybe he should make an appointment to conquer this particular boss. He nodded. Yes, that would be the most prudent decision.