Mogami Kyoko and Tsuruga Ren headed out through the front doors of LME after a long day's work, with Yashiro, Ren's manager, trailing absent-mindedly behind them, whilst scribbling furiously in a small notebook. Usually they'd go through the back door, but there was a subway entrance near the front doors, and Mogami planned on taking a train to go visit her best friend, Moko. They'd only just stepped outside when Mogami spotted her, and froze to the spot. She was the last person Mogami had ever thought she'd see again. It felt like all the blood drained from her body, she was cold, and couldn't move. She couldn't even breathe. She may not have seen the woman in years, but how in the world could she possibly not have recognised her?
Ren took one look at Mogami's ashen face, and wide, horrified eyes, and knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. He looked in the direction Mogami was staring in, and saw a woman. She'd seen Mogami's reaction to spotting her too, and she was smirking. Ren instantly disliked her. The woman sauntered up to Mogami, who was still completely frozen, and trembling from head to toe. "Arra! Fancy meeting you here, Kyoko. Aren't you going to greet me? How rude." Mogami could only get a single, shaky word out. "Mother…" Upon hearing just that one word, Ren's eyes flew wide open. He understood right away why Mogami was reacting to the woman in the way that she was. He was also filled with a rage which he hadn't experienced since he'd still been Kuon.
Ren pushed himself between Mogami and her mother. This woman had made Kyoko's childhood a living hell, and then abandoned her when she was still just a little girl. He wasn't about to let her just walk back into Mogami's life, so she could torture and crush her all over again. Enough was enough. "What are you doing here?" Saena just smirked at him. He wanted with every fibre of his being to punch that smirk right off of her face. His 'Tsuruga Ren' act was slipping. Kuon was fighting hard to break out after five years of being shut away. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here to see my daughter. I was ever so surprised when I spotted her name among the credits for Dark Moon. If she didn't want me to find her, the silly girl should have used a stage name, right? Who ever thought that useless little brat would ever actually amount to anything. It was quite a shock for me."
Ren growled, and lunged at the woman. If Yashiro hadn't unexpectedly grabbed him, and pulled him back, he would've broken Saena's jaw. She just laughed at him mockingly. Yashiro had to use all of his skill and strength to keep Ren pinned. Seeing Ren like that was what woke Mogami from her spell. Ren needed her. The darkness in him was winning. Cain needed Setsu, so for him, that was who she would become. She would become Setsu, so she would have the strength to face the woman who had abandoned her little girl so many years ago. "Congratulations, woman. You found me. What did you expect to accomplish by coming here?" Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Just who are you calling 'woman', Kyoko? I'm your mother. You'd better not forget it."
Setsu sneered at her mother. She was neatly dressed, but her clothes looked old, and inexpensive. Obviously life hadn't been easy on her in the last few years. "Don't be a dumbass. I haven't had a mother in years. She's been dead to me ever since she walked out on me. That's not a mother. That's just a useless, trashy woman who happened to make a kid. Karma sure can be a bitch though, can't she? You're looking shabby, Saena." Mogami's mother seethed, but she was soon smirking again. "You might consider me to be dead, but the law doesn't, and you're still a minor. I came here to get what's mine. You wouldn't exist in this world today if it weren't for me, so why should you be successful, earning lots of money, while I suffer in poverty? Kyoko, if you don't give me 50% of everything you earn from now on, I'm going to force the president of LME to fire you.
Sure, you could try to re-enter showbiz after you've turned eighteen, but by then Japan will have forgotten all about you. Instead, they'll be fawning over other, more talented newcomers. You have one week to decide." With that, she turned to walk away. Mogami's eyes blazed, as a fury she'd never felt before warmed her cold body, and set her blood to boiling. "I DON'T OWE YOU A DAMN THING, YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER! IF YOU WANT MY MONEY, YOU'LL HAVE TO DIG IT OUT OF MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!" Everyone within a twenty meter radius froze, and stared at Mogami. It was even enough to snap Ren out of his rage, and stop fighting to get free from Yashiro's vice-like grip.
Saena's smirk just grew crueller, before she turned and she walked away. Setsu fell to her knees and started punching the pavement, hitting it with all her strength, screaming and crying tears of anger. By the time Ren managed to reach her, and stop her, her fists were already bloody. Yashiro helped carry her back into LME. Soon, Setsu sat on Lory's sofa. Her eyes still blazed, tears still leaked from her eyes, and she was clenching her fists tight enough for her nails to draw more blood. Ren just sat next to her. He didn't know what he could say to make things better, so he did only what he could. He picked up Mogami's bag, dug inside it until he found the little purse, took out the stone he'd given Mogami as a child, and offered it to her.