Affection is shown
A/n This takes place after Kyoko meets Ren in his 'Corn' self but without the part about Kyoko's mother so Sho does not appear.
Ren was returning to his life in Japan and it was not a day too soon in the mind of the actor. With the absence of his 'good luck charm' as the president had so aptly called her his 'Cain' persona had become almost completely infused with the darkness that belonged to Kuon. Due to that it was much harder for him to control the persona; it was to the point he was afraid that he would not be able to return to Tsuruga Ren should he have to continue with the act for too much longer .
Tsuruga Ren was a charming gentleman and should the darkness overwhelm that everything that he had worked so hard to hide and overcome would be forfeited. When he returned to Japan he would see to any jobs that his manager had lined up since playing Cain Heel had shifted his schedule quite a bit. Then when he had accomplished that task he would find a way to see Kyoko.
He knew that it was not the wisest of moves that he could make since the more time that he spent with her the closer he came to showing her how he truly felt and scaring her away but he needed her. Seeing her without her acting the role of Setsu would help him maintain himself. When he was with Kyoko he felt as though the mistakes of the past could not touch him and that was something that he desperately needed after completing the role of Cain Heel.
That was all that was on his mind as he boarded the plane back to Japan. Yashiro, ever the dependable manager, was waiting at the airport having driven Ren's car to the airport in order to save time. This made the actor smile because it was not everyday that he saw his manager in a driver's seat. It was no secret that Yashiro did not like to drive the man didn't even own a car preferring and to use public transport when the Ren Express was not operating.
When Yashiro had first become his manager the man had plainly stated that he did not like driving and that was fine because it just so happened that Ren enjoyed it. Ren had never even asked what it was that caused Yashiro to detest driving because it was a topic that seemed to be off limits and Ren respected that.
"Thanks for driving over," he said kindly as he got in the driver's side of the car.
"It was not a problem. I wouldn't want you to be late after all." Yashiro said startling Ren into a laugh.
"What?" asked the manager curiously.
"It's nothing," Ren said chuckling once more. After all he couldn't say that he hadn't been on time on the set of Tragic Marker for most of the time that they were shooting. Of course technically speaking it wasn't him that was late but Cain was his character so in essence it was him that had been late so frequently.
Yashiro looked at him with a stare of disbelief but stopped his questioning since they were arriving at the location for Ren's shoot.
Despite his flawless acting both Ren and Yashiro were still on the set an hour later and it seemed it was going to be a much longer shoot than anyone had anticipated. It was supposed to be a short scenario for a commercial about perfume.
The situation was that he was a man that he walked in a party scene and there was a woman there. In the first shot he was supposed to greet her kindly and then move on. In the next after she applied the perfume he was supposed to greet her and keep talking as though entranced by her scent and ask her to dance with him. It was simple enough and they had already finished the first part of the situation more than a half hour ago thanks, in part, to the speedy crew. The issue was that now in the second half of the shoot the woman was getting really flustered because Ren was paying a lot of attention to her.
On any other day Ren could have been kind and waited it out giving the actress encouragement but today was not just any other day. Today Ren was returning from the long stint of being Cain Heel and he needed to see Kyoko in order to restore his sanity. But at the rate this shoot was going he was going to be too late to catch her at LME today at least, and he had no idea what her schedule was going to be like afterward. It would be simple enough for him to find out under the guise of a concerned sempai but it was another complication that he really wanted to avoid.
Yashiro could sense the tension building in his client after every take that went sour. It was a only due to the fact that Ren was such a good actor that nobody but he was noticing the annoyance that was building up within Ren. Something was wrong and somehow he had to find a way to end this shoot so that Ren could deal with it before his next job tomorrow morning. Ren was an amazing actor but he was still human and humans could only take so much before they lashed out.
"Ren," Yashiro called when the director told them to take five in an exasperated tone.
Ren walked over and remained silent.
"You have to calm down. You have four minutes of break left go do a breathing exercise or something but come back calmer or I will stop this shoot."
Ren looked at his manager with stunned eyes. That was a very serious threat and Yashiro did not ever make it lightly. With a tense nod he headed for the stairwell and thought about what he could do. Most of his pent up frustration was coming as a residual effect of having to act a character that was reminiscent of Kuon. After acting such a role he felt off balance and it was affecting the way that he carried himself. The quick fix would be to see Kyoko but that wasn't an option but he could call her.
Before he could even think of an excuse he was dialing her number and listening to the phone ring.
"This is Mogami speaking," came her voice over the speaker.
For a minute he was silent. He had no clue what to say he had just wanted to hear her voice but naturally he couldn't tell her that.
"Hello? Anyone there?" she asked.
"Sorry Mogami-san. I needed to speak with you on a somewhat personal topic and I am not quite sure how to phrase it." Ren said trying to be as vague as possible so that she wouldn't know that he had no idea what to say.
"Personal? Tsuruga-san is there something wrong? Did I do something that got you in trouble!?"
"No nothing like that Mogami-san. I just- I have to go I called you on my break. I will call you later to discuss the matter further."
"Alright Tsuruga-san, Good luck with work!"
"Thank you," he said and hung up with a sigh. Now he had to come up with something to tell her but it was worth it to hear her voice.
When he returned to the set he was calm enough to pass his manager's inspection and go ahead with the shoot. It took a few more tries but eventually the director got a take that would be usable once it was edited properly.
After dropping Yashiro off at his apartment Ren took out his cell phone and called Kyoko. It was only eight-thirty so he was fairly certain that she wouldn't be asleep.
"Mogami-san," he greeted when she answered her phone. "Do you have so time I finished with work so I'm headed home."
"I'm still at LME I had a LoveMe assignment that ran late so I am just now about to leave."
"Will you wait for me? I will drive you home and we can talk en route."
"Tsuruga-san you don't have to do that! You need to go home, eat, and get some rest!"
"Mogami-san if you remember I wanted to speak with you. Since you mentioned it though I suppose that I should eat after all I can't even remember when I ate last."
"Tsuruga-san! That is really irresponsible! Do you want to end up sick again?!"
Ren smiled at her scolding.
"Tsuruga-san are you listening?!"
"Yes I'm listening. I guess I'm just wary of eating something not made by you because I got used to your cooking during our time as siblings." He said.
"Alright!" she said in an exasperated tone. "I'll wait here for you but we have to make a stop at the store to buy food, sice I know you have nothing edible in your refrigerator, and then I will cook for you. But in return you have to eat a double portion and promise that you will eat at least two good meals a day or I will make you cook for yourself!" She threatened.
He almost gagged having a vision of a certain dish that he had forced himself to consume.
"You have a deal," he said softly.
Soon enough he was at LME and she was waiting out front for him. Thankfully she was not in her pink uniform so she wasn't attracting much attention to herself.
The car ride to his apartment was filled with discussions of trivial matters. Just as they did the other time they got groceries from the shop and Ren paid for it arguing that since she was cooking he should at least buy the ingredients.
Once they were in the apartment Ren went to shower and Kyoko started dinner. By the time he was finished and redressed the food was ready.
As they sat at the table Kyoko asked, "So what was it that you needed to speak with me about Tsuruga-san?"
'Crap' he thought to himself. 'I never came up with a reason.' Suddenly it was all too much. The lying the multiple personalities that he portrayed and Ren just wanted to tell her everything. But the second that he thought that he knew that it was not possible at least not right then. He opened his mouth but no words would come.
"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko said voice saturated with worry.
"Kyoko-chan I," it was only seconds later that he realized his slip of the tongue. But it was too late. Her golden eyes had widened in terror and she had stood. Before he could call out to her she had grabbed her bag and his door was closing behind her.
A/n 2 I have most of this story written and I just have to edit it. It will be Kyoko/Ren like all my Skip Beat fics but be warned it's far less fluffy than my usual stuff. I didn't plan it that way but the story typed itself. For those waiting on To create a path it's going to be a while things won't line up the way I want and I think I am a bit blocked but I'm trying I just want to wait until I can upload something of quality.