New School Of Thought

Chapter 1

Twenty women. No less than twenty women had approached her separately, of course, and warned her off of him. Threatened her for her perceived relationship with him, simply for being his Kohai. She did the math in her head. That would make it... at least one new one every four months. She scowled at the thought and realized that the last one had told her it had been four months ago that she had been with him. During her time with him as Setsuka. Then there had been the scandal. Her stomach turned at the thought. The shameless woman had even had the nerve to brag about their sexual escapades to her. What was her name? Kana something. She didn't know who to believe anymore, especially after those photos a few months ago and his behavior towards her.

Kyoko felt physically ill from the thoughts. She literally felt like she was going to vomit. This was the person that she held close to her heart? The feelings that she had nurtured and sheltered from the world? She felt betrayed. She knew she had no right to feel that way, but she just couldn't help but feel like the jilted lover once again; although, it hurt so much more than with Sho and she couldn't piece together why. Did she not actually love Sho? She felt a tear force its way past her barrier. If she didn't lock this down quickly, more would follow.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It had been a gentle touch, but the voice that followed it made her feel used, dirty, betrayed and so very, very angry. "Mogami-san, are you alright?" She flinched and then out of anger she slapped the hand away.

He pulled his hand away and stepped back to give her the space that he felt she needed. "Are you okay?" He asked again, a little confused by her behavior.

She stood up and grabbed a moist towel from the changing room of the LoveMe lounge. She regained her composure after wiping away the salty residue and cooling her eyes. She forced the naive little girl into the box that once held her grudges and pulled something else to the front. "I'm fine Tsuruga-san. What did you need from the LoveMe Section?"

Her posture had relaxed and her voice had taken on an emotionless tone. Her normally, expression filled eyes were distant and unreadable. "Um... I really didn't need anything. I was just wondering if you would like to join me for lunch." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He felt like it was time to fix things once and for all. He really hated the feelings he'd been having away from her, especially since it didn't seem like she was with Fuwa after all.

There was that look again. He desperately wanted to know what she was thinking. "No thank you. I already ate."

He looked down. "How about dinner?"

She looked up at him and something flashed in her eyes momentarily. "No thank you. I won't be off work until late and I need my sleep."

"Can I at least talk to you Mogami-san?" He was starting to get irritated. It seemed as though she was avoiding him.

"No... You may not." She turned to put her bag in her locker.

"May I ask why?" He let a little anger slip in his tone.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eyes. "You really want to know?" She asked calmly.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't, Kyoko." He ground out using her name casually and it lit a fire under her.

"Fine! The latest reason would be Kana, again! Or, how about Aimi, Michelle, Suzette, Alicia or, Kelly? Oh and let's not forget Amber, Sakura, Naomi and Yuko and that's the short list. Trust me I have met more of them and they were more than happy to let me know how little I mean to someone like you. They made sure to point out that I was nowhere near worthy of you, not your type and so far out of your league that I couldn't even be classified as the same species. So I would prefer that you not use my given name and I would appreciate if you keep your thoughts on me protecting my chastity to yourself, thank you very much. I would also prefer that you, Sho, and all the other men like you... Keep your fucking hands and mouths to yourselves and keep your harem on a leash! I'm sick of being the punching bag for loose women that wish to warn me off of men that have no romantic interest in me in the first place!" She slammed her locker door and stormed out leaving a very stunned young man in her wake to ponder all of the female conquest names that she had listed off. Yes, she had finally had enough, and she wasn't going to be the sweet little doormat anymore. Well, she hadn't been in awhile, but that was neither here, nor there. She was just done being nice when she didn't feel like being nice.

The eccentric entertainment mogul pulled his LoveMe #1 aside and into a conference room. He locked the door behind them, motioned for her to sit and took a seat himself. He needed to know what had made her so upset and angry. He had honestly not even seen her this bad when she had first come to LME, and he needed to know the cause. "Kyoko-chan... Is there something you'd like to talk about?" He prodded gently.

She looked away from him and sighed with her arms crossed protectively across her torso. "Not really. However, I think you need to reassign Yashiro-san back to being Tsuruga-san's exclusive manager."

He looked at her thoughtfully. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You need a manager and he's one of the best. I will need a very good reason to do as you ask."

She sighed knowing that she wasn't going to get anywhere with this man until she spilled the beans. "Fine... I've been told by a few people that it would be in the best interest of my health, that I have nothing to do with anyone associated with Tsuruga-san. It has also been brought to my attention that a group of at least twenty of these former interests of his have come to the conclusion that if I don't, they will make certain to take care of it themselves."

He looked at her in shock. "Who are these people?"

She balked at his question. Was this really something she was in the mood to discuss at the moment? She sighed again. "Let's just say it's a few of Tsuruga-san's closest and most ardent admirers. Look Shachou... It's not my place to be involved with the personal life of a man like him, but I do not wish for it to affect me. I had to deal with that situation with Fuwa-san and I prefer not to live in that type of hell again. Especially when I mean nothing to him except his next form of entertainment when he's bored with his current conquest. I would also appreciate it if you let Yashiro-san know that I do not wish to associate with his charge outside of a professional capacity. I don't wish to become another one of the women that wait patiently on the side for little scraps of affection or friendship he may or, may not decide to toss my way. If I am to nurture these feelings like you suggested... I prefer it be with someone that honestly cares about me and returns those feelings. Someone that appreciates me, wants to spend his life with me and respects me enough not to sleep with every female that crosses his path after sending me mixed signals. Especially when this industry can be so one-sided when it comes to these matters." She finished, referring to the most recent scandal in the news of a female star that had been blacklisted because a male star she knew had mentioned something about his relationship with her, bragging to a friend. The poor girl had to end up shaving her head as an apology to his fans, of course nothing was said to the young man and he walked away blameless.

Lory understood. He had been a little worried for some time that Kuon's past would come back to bite him in the ass, but he didn't think it would be this part of his past. Lory sighed he needed to do a little damage control with this one or, Kuon may never be able to even speak to her again and she was his talisman, that just wouldn't do. "Kyoko-chan... Are you really the type of person to hold a person's past against them?"

She looked at him as if he were a complete idiot. "Of course not! However, I'm not referring to the distant past. He claimed that he had a girl that he was in love with over a year ago, yet he continued to sleep with these women until just recently. I cannot understand anyone that has the ability to actually claim that they love someone, and then just go off and do something so intimate with another at the same time. Did he not even think how she would feel if or, when she found out? He doesn't even love me and I feel betrayed." The tears she had been fighting since Kana described her last encounter with him to her, began again.

Lory sat there stunned. This was not something that he expected. Had Kuon actually told her that he had no interest in her? How did she come to the conclusion that he had another lover or, any lover at all and why were these women coming to Kyoko and telling her these things? "Kyoko... I don't know who these women are that you are talking about, but he hasn't been seeing anyone for more than a year."

She chuckled wryly and shook her head. "You know... I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's how it's always been. It was this way with Shotaro's parents, and every adult that I trusted to protect me when I was a kid, and now you." She pulled three small envelopes from her bag and tossed them on the table before him. "If you don't believe me... read my fan mail. Oh and just so you know," She pointed to one with red stains on it, "that one had razor blades in it." She closed up her purse and slung it onto her shoulder. "I refuse to make that kind of sacrifice for someone who clearly has no feelings for me or, isn't prepared to give up other women to be with me. I am finished with that, thank you very much. I've been sent to the hospital more than once by women like this, and I don't intend on making that mistake again."