The Time Yukihito Yashiro Saved the Day
Beware the mild-mannered manager; he is just as dangerous as the Demon Lord. KxR; companion to Not Love. NO LEMON,NOT FOR SHO FANS.
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It was a normal day.
Kyoko's voice rose up the buzzing chatter in a brief shriek of denial, and those wandering around the clearing paused. When no other sounds followed, conversations resumed without hesitation as props handlers moved items around.
As he was saying, it was a normal day.
They were on set for a special episode, and Ren was guest-starring on Kyoko's show. He was to play a rookie cop that became obsessed with Natsu, unwittingly giving her some information to use against a fellow classmate; their affair became known to his resentful superior, who had no love for Ren's character's, and he was black-mailed into resigning from his job (Natsu was underage, after all).
It wasn't a role one would expect Tsuruga Ren to play, and it had landed in his lap by accident, through a series of events that were so random only Takarada Lory could've arranged them. Ren, however, had truly been interested in branching off into characters that were less likeable but still fascinating, and the episode would serve as a starting point to getting people to consider him for roles other than romantic leads, and possibly a spin-off series revolving around the very same character Ren played in this episode. Talks were happening, and Ren was very serious about the opportunity.
The man wanted a challenge. Yashiro could understand that.
He wondered where his charge was now. He scanned the nearby crowd of actors and saw Love-Me No. Three, as he privately called her, talking to the "victim" of the arc, nodding with a thoughtful, serious look on her face. A few other girls in uniforms were surely background members of Natsu's group, and the adults a few paces off, laughing and snacking, were the teachers, also enjoying the break.
Crewmen and women, the director conferring with a young woman with a clipboard…where were they?
The air was just warmer than unpleasantly cold, and the manager wondered if Ren was somewhere with Kyoko , taking advantage of the opportunity to put his jacket around her shoulders to ease the chill no doubt coming through her thin "uniform" costume.
He leaned against the long table hosting snacks and put his hand up, shielding his eyes from the weak sunlight. No sign of the over-tall actor and his favorite kohai.
He perked up as he thought that perhaps they were alone—maybe they were even having a "moment!"
'Hmm.' He grabbed a bottle of water as an excuse to search them out and started off, regretting that people could move so fast in the few minutes it took him to go to the restroom.
Once again he heard Kyoko's voice, as he entered a shady grove and rounded a bend in the path through the trees. Then he froze as he heard a masculine voice that was most decidedly not Ren's.
Fuwa Sho. Did that brat not know how to take a hint? If anyone was ever unwelcome…
He peered around the corner to see Fuwa holding one of Kyoko's hands, and his heart stopped and plummeted into his feet and oozed into the ground like a black stain. 'My life's work—all in vain…'
Then his despairing eyes took note of Kyoko's lifeless expression, which slowly became hard and blank, much like Ren's angry stop-prying-now expression—the one he made when he was dangerously close to saying something that could not be unsaid. She jerked her hand away.
'Good for you, Kyoko-chan!' he cheered mentally, feeling his heart start beating again in its proper place in his chest, even as Kyoko's aura took on a layer of Mio-inspired lethality for a moment that usually made even him want to back away slowly. 'As long as it's directed at him…'
But Fuwa was never one to learn the easy way when he could take the difficult path, dragging as many people up the steep rocky mountain-road with him as he could and pushing a few over the edge along the way. He began yelling at the girl, and then lunged for her.
Brotherly rage coursed through him quick as lightning striking—how dare he try to overpower her—any woman—like that? He stepped forward, but stopped immediately as his quick mind caught up with his body, reminding him that though he could probably hold his own against the idiot boy, adding a brawl into this situation would not do much to help Kyoko. She might even face back-lash from the singer's fans if the boy was injured, and it was somehow construed as her fault.
No. That would not do, at all.
'Where's Ren when you need him…' Well, Ren wasn't here. Yukihito Yashiro would have to manage on his own, but then, that's what managers were for.
'Proof.' He whipped out his phone, hands having remained gloved all day as a precaution around all the electrical devices, and opened his video recorder. It happened to be of excellent quality, since Yashiro had little to spend his money on except new (replacement) gadgets, not having the time for a social life of his own yet, so he always bought the best he could.
This one gave him an excellent view of Fuwa forcing yet another kiss onto Mogami Kyoko. She pushed away and stared him down, shocking the boy, but he only grabbed at her again. If he tried to rip any clothing, Yashiro was going to put this phone down and march over there to kick—
'Ah. Well, she seems to have that covered,' he thought with satisfaction as Kyoko's knee jerked up to impact Fuwa's groin like she was trying to set a world-record for power-punching with her kneecap. He couldn't help but wince, wondering if she'd hurt herself, despite the fact that as a man he should be sympathizing with—
No, he really had it coming to him.
Satisfied, he clicked STOP on the device, and scrolled through his captured scenes. He paused angrily at the one where Kyoko was being turned by Fuwa, and her eyes glinted with alarm for a brief moment before she regained control. Just a second in time, but spoke volumes to Yashiro about how much courage it had taken to stand up to someone who not only was physically stronger than her—for most men were—but someone who had absolutely no respect for her boundaries, feelings, or reputation in his quest for the prize.
"You bastard," he said quietly, venomously, as he approached the singer, who was still on his face, hands clenching protectively and far too late at his lap.
His head jerked up as he noticed Yashiro's presence.
"Good afternoon, Fuwa-san," Yashiro managed in what seemed, for a few seconds, a perfectly normal business-like tone. "It seems you have once again been stalking our little Kyoko-chan."
When the boy shook his head, Yashiro continued. "What I saw was you dragging her into a secluded spot and attempting several times to physically over-power her, at one point attempting to sexually harass her. Luckily, Kyoko-chan has been learning to defend herself for one of her roles. But how would it look to your fans to know you are a sexual deviant?"
He felt a warm, slow rush of dark satisfaction at the wide-eyes, the expression that said the threat was being received.
"I think we can forget about this unfortunate incident," he continued, "provided you agree to stay away from Kyoko-chan from here on out."
"Urgghhh" Sho croaked, face contorting with anger.
Yashiro's facade dropped abruptly and so did he, to one knee as he grabbed Fuwa's chin, forcing him to meet his eyes. "You will not inflict your presence on Kyoko-chan, you will not call her, you will not spread rumors about her, you will not do anything to damage her reputation in any way or pretend to have a relationship with her." Without releasing him, he lifted his cell-phone to show where the boy was grabbing Kyoko's arm.
Sho stopped breathing, shock filling his features. Had the idiot really not understood just how frightening an angry and forceful man could be to a woman?
Well, he would never forget now.
Yashiro let go and stood up, dusting himself off, feeling disgusted to even have had to touch the slime-ball of a boy before him for half a minute. "Now, whenever you get the urge to bother Kyoko-chan, you just think about this video, safe in my hands," he said, mock-pleasantly. "I'll take very good care of it, Fuwa-san, just as I will of Kyoko-chan."
He could see he need not clarify his meaning. The boy would leave her be. Mentally, he brushed his hands off, washing them of the whole affair, ready to move on now that he got what he'd been after.
"Now, do excuse me, Fuwa-san; I was just passing through and have business I must attend to," he said with false cheer, and spun on his heel, continuing on his way and following the direction Kyoko had gone.
He stopped out of sight of both Fuwa and rest of the group, carefully closing his phone after making sure the video was saved and emailed to his home computer. The device's clock showed him it had barely been ten minutes since break had been called. Once he got his anger—and his face—under control, he straightened his already-neat tie just to get back into normal-mode, and walked out to join the others.
He found Ren and Kyoko sitting in a covered area behind the food set out at a smaller round table, having a quiet but lively conversation. Every now and then Ren's eyes darkened briefly, but when Kyoko made a small kicking-motion, looking elated, he gave her a true smile and what were probably congratulations, touching the hand that rested on her knee.
No one else seemed to notice them, secluded but still in partial sight of the main group; after all, Kyoko requesting advice from her sempai was hardly unusual. It wasn't even worth gossip. He approached them cautiously, not wanting to ruin anything or draw attention.
Suddenly, Kyoko's animation faded and she leaned forward, her hands suddenly gripping her knees, arms shaking. Ren echoed the movement, looking worried, and whispered something in her ear. She shook her head, looking pained. Yashiro didn't want to intrude, but if she was suddenly wondering how she could be sure Fuwa would not return, he felt compelled to let her know she needn't worry.
But as he approached, he could barely hear her saying something about…a beagle? He stopped, hidden by an assembly of back-up equipment and chairs piled with boxes, concerned.
Ren seemed to understand the obscure reference, because his arm went around her shoulders as he said, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I know it isn't pleasant for you to remember that other time, either. But I promise you, that I will not allow either of them—or anyone else—to ever hurt you like that again."
His voice was too impassioned for that to just be the care and concern of a mere sempai, but whether Kyoko was biting her lip because of that, or the fear she'd inconvenience him, Yashiro didn't know.
"Besides…next time Setsu won't need her big brother to protect her; apparently she can handle herself now," he teased her gently, bringing a small smile to her lips.
'Who?' Yashiro wondered, shifting his weight as he tried to make sense of the remark.
Kyoko lifted her head to meet his eyes. "She is doing well in her self-defense lessons," she replied with quiet pride. But she studied his face intently, hesitating, and then adding so softly Yashiro almost missed it, "But I think she will always need…her big brother."
Something passed between them suddenly, a knowing look, and an awareness of some hidden reference they didn't dare allude to more clearly in public.
Ren's free hand reached up suddenly in a shockingly intimate gesture, to trace the outline of her face with such ease—and Kyoko didn't even pull away!
Yashiro hastily clapped his hands over his mouth to force back the squeals of delight, and restrained himself from jumping up and down on his toes when Ren spoke again.
"Then they're well-matched; he will always need her, too."
She smiled an oddly dark smile at him, a twisted smirk that even Natsu didn't wear, and leaned into his embrace comfortably. "Good, ni—"
Her words were drowned out by the director's warning call to get back to positions. Cursing inwardly, he hurriedly glanced back but Ren and Kyoko had already separated and standing, Kyoko blushing faintly.
Ren said something to her, gesturing, and she nodded. Yashiro silently backed up, and then walked forward as though he was just now approaching them.
"Ah, Ren! Kyoko-chan!" he said brightly. "I came to bring you some water, but it seems I took too long on my little stroll through the woods."
Ren eyed him with skepticism, glancing down to the single water bottle. "Uh-huh." He clearly believed Yashiro had been merely affording them some alone-time, or the best they could get out here, but he didn't seem to suspect anything more than that.
Kyoko didn't seem to notice the flaw in his story, waving a negating hand. "Oh, no thank-you, Yashiro-san." She paused, briefly stricken. "You didn't…see anyone out there?"
Yashiro pretended confusion, walking alongside her back to their markers. "I saw a few people, Kyoko-chan. There are a lot of people here."
She smoothed her skirt unnecessarily. "Ah, yes. I mean…I heard…Fuwa Sho is working at the recording studio nearby." Ren's expression slipped ever so briefly into that special look of loathing he kept just for the singer.
"Oh, you think he'll be around to bother you? Well, I didn't see him," Yashiro lied as they slowed, catching up with Natsu's group. "I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."
Her face cleared, evidently believing the boy had chosen to leave quietly for once, and nodded at him before he had to head off to get out of the way of filming.
Ren took his place farther off, where he would run into Natsu by "accident" as the girl had arranged for, thus allowing her to further seduce him while her friends hid nearby to serve as witnesses and pick up pointers.
Yashiro, back on the side-lines, touch his phone in his pocket, certain that Fuwa Sho would never darken any set Kyoko was on ever again, and pleased that she would be rid of that arrogant, controlling boy for good. She was like the little sister he'd never had, and he wanted better for her.
He watched her interact with Ren, seeing how professional they were, how easily they portrayed people who were nothing like themselves, and hoped one day soon Kyoko and Ren would allow one another to rescue their hearts from the isolated loneliness they lived in under those perfect masks. If he and his fellow undercover-cupid, Takarada-Shachou, had anything to say about it, it would eventually happen.
But, for now, he felt a little something more like a superhero in disguise, the mild-mannered alter-ego of a sly and clever thwarter of evildoers.
Sure, he had no super-strength, but he had super-smarts, and uncanny timing. It still felt great.
It wasn't very often he got to save the day.
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A/N: Did I get the term for "president" right? Hope so.
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People responded so well to my recent posts I decided to try and write sequels for them. This is the first one that came to me, though it's more of a companion-piece. I thought it was neat—no one expects Yashiro to save the day over Ren, but for once, he did just that. Sho will not be back to bother Kyoko in this fic-verse. Yay! Fyi, Yashiro does not know about Cain and Setsu Heel.
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A/N: If you were wondering, 1) I don't know where Ren was; I haven't decided, so I'm just not going to say and 2) Kyoko was having a bit of a flash-back to the beagle (who I also hate, since he threatened Kyoko's purity and career for no reason other than his entertainment, and I believe would've followed-through had he not been stopped). But Ren wanted her to know he was there for her AND that she wasn't as weak as those idiots wanted her to believe she was, either. (A good partner builds their loved-one up.) And of course, they are both slowly becoming comfortable with the fact that they need each other, through identification with their characters, who are in fact a part of themselves…ya know.