Hello! I'm claraowl, and I'll be writing the first chapter of this lovely fic for you!

So… this first chapter may be more fantasy/romance than humour/romance… humour will come later! This is just the set-up chapter!

Alphabet word: 'Arm.'

Please enjoy!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kyoko smiled, humming as she skipped along the path of the park. Today, she had the opportunity to take part in a commercial for bottled water. The brand was Sparkling Fresh, so the director had opted to shoot in the local park, by the stream. He'd bumped into Kyoko quite literally one day in LME when she was off in la-la land, and had deemed her perfect for the brand. It was, essentially, a dream job for her – she'd been put in a pale blue sundress that was so light she questioned if it existed at all, and then sent out to commune with the faeries. She'd been told that she would be shooting with other people later, and to just react as she saw fit when they arrived on the scene. They'd shoot for a couple of hours straight, and just cut out what scenes they wanted for the commercials – she only needed to do what the faeries demanded. She was, in a phrase, deliriously happy.

The faeries were quite pleased about being in a commercial for thousands of people to see (Kyoko, who was decent at art, had volunteered to draw their portraits for the director so that the CG team could add the faeries for those who weren't fortunate enough to be able to see them). They appeared in even greater numbers than usual, much to Kyoko's delight, and even agreed to drink some of the bottled water from the bright blue cap that she held in her hand. The director, who of course could not see the faeries, thought that this was a beautiful improvisation by the young girl. The camera, lights, and general crewmembers were all growing quickly smitten with the Kyoko – she was, after all, in her happiest mode, spinning and dancing in circles with the faeries, her arms spread open wide, her eyes closed, and her head flung back in laughter. She looked freer than anything that they had ever seen… and they loved her for it.

One of the actors who was to work with her had not had any jobs directly beforehand, and had so arrived when she had, about half an hour before he was needed, and an entire hour before the other gentleman was due on set. Hidehito Kijima gaped at her openly, in a way that might even be considered unflattering. He wasn't after her – after his brief conversation with Tsuruga-kun, he'd determined that it would be far too much trouble to go up against the man for a crush – but still! How much of a chameleon is this girl? She danced happily, playing with something none of them could see – Is she acting, or does she really see something?—with an expression of absolute, innocent joy. Even he had a slight urge to take her and hide her from the world in some clearing like this, never letting anything but the purest light touch her. He shook his head, ridding himself of the notion; that was Tsuruga-kun's job. Rubbing the back of his neck, he watched her among her fantasies; come to think of it, he owed Tsuruga-kun a favor….

"Kijima-san, your cue," the director whispered, and prodded the man forward, into the realm of this girl's fantasies. It was if she was one of them herself, he mused. All they needed to do was add some CG wings, and she'd be a faerie. "Just react to her. The girl's a genius."

Kyoko's la-la land vision changed Kijima into a noble suitor of the faerie realm, and she dropped a curtsy to him. He chuckled lightly at this action, and bowed to her in return. Her eyes were sparkling and dancing with something he couldn't quite grasp; it was as if the faeries were reflected, in her golden orbs, for the world to see. She guided him with the lightest touches of her hands, and he swore, once or twice, that he felt a feather-light touch from something not she. A question appeared in her eyes and gestures: Could he see them? He shook his head sadly, raising his arms as if to explain further. She tapped the pad of her left forefinger against her lips, thinking as she glanced around for a remedy. Light grew stronger in her eyes as she came to a conclusion, and picked up the bottle of water from which the faeries had drunk. She poured, once more, water into the cap, and this time offered it to him. A small smile quirked his lips questioningly as he took it, and she nodded encouragingly. He sipped the water from the shallow lid, closed his eyes, and then opened him.

The faeries cast a glamour over his eyes; he could not quite see them, and instead noticed small balls of light in his peripheral vision… but that was not the main difference. He saw, now, her butterfly wings, spread out behind her, sprouting from the shoulder blades exposed by her blue sundress. He gaped, wondering for one wild moment if her imagination was contagious, before the glamour faded. She beamed at him, sure that for one moment he had seen what she saw so clearly at all times. He stumbled back slightly as she turned again, and laid eyes briefly on the image of a man she knew well, yet not at all. The light illuminated him from behind, and the faeries played a glamour just for their kinswoman, allowing her to see the true colours hidden beneath the dye and contacts. She gasped, and Kijima glanced up, her wings still etched into his mind, into his eyes. The faeries grinned, dancing around him as he got to his feet and noticed the director gesturing to him, to remove himself from the scene. He tapped Kyoko on the shoulder and finally noticed, when she turned, the subtle glitter-and-ink swirls painted over her eyelids and all around her eyes, touching her cheekbones. He bowed to the faerie-girl and offered her his arm.

She took it with a new regality, and noted how he touched her – casually, with little tension in his muscles. He was not of the fae, she noted; he was something of the mortal world, and was aware of this. Today, she was of the fae – the faeries had made her such, by marking her as one of their own by the kisses they had rained upon her eye markings. They had bequeathed upon her a temporary magic, yet one that would settle in her bones to confirm the truth of the touches, and to help her accept, in times to come, what many would work together to help her realize.

Kijima paused at the edge of the cameras, released the girl, and bowed to her once more. She blinked demurely; her head ducked as she curtsied to him. Then he was gone from her eyes, and she was once more surrounded by the thirsty faeries, who wanted to drink from the bottle that the mortal male had. They landed on her arms, vying for the best place to get a drink, and she smiled at them.

Ren, having arrived instants before the faerie-girl had gasped, nearly stumbled from the force of that smile. Kijima came and stood next to him, his voice hoarse when he spoke.

"She has wings. Drink from the bottle cap, and you'll be able to see them."

A stray faerie fluttered over, drawn by the shine of his hair's golden roots, and in her haste cast a temporary glamour over the one in disguise, allowing him to view the faerie-girl in her truest form. His breath caught in his throat. That, then, was why she was so attracted to the faeries… somewhere in her line, she had the capacity for magic. It was a very small capacity, but enough for her wings to be visible to the fae folk. He swallowed forcibly. "I know."

"Hey, I owe you a favour, right?" Kijima asked quietly, at length.

"Yes, I suppose so. Why?" he murmured, distractedly, too entranced by the faerie-girl to even care that his manager was taking photographs of both the girl and his reaction (he had no doubt broken his professional expression by this point).

"From what I've heard, she's refusing love. Want me to help convince her?" Upon seeing the other man's expression, he added, "Of yours. I'm not going to fight you for her."

"That," Ren nodded, considering it, "might be of use, if done properly. But," he dropped his voice, "I must ask: What would you do?"

"I've no clue," the other man shrugged. "If something occurs to me, I'll do it."

Before Ren could respond, the director signalled to him, indicating that he should enter the scene. He nodded, and took up the only role that made sense to him: the role he had first played when he was ten, before he'd taken up his current name, before he really understood that he'd loved her since then – before he'd irrevocably stained any wings he might've had. He did not step into the clearing like he would any other set – he sprang into it, much in the way that she had told him that 'Corn' had the last time that she'd seen him. The risks that accompanied this action were made it utterly worth it by the expression on her face. He did not see the expression of shocked glee on his manager's face when Corn's childish, carefree smile appeared on his face.

The faeries had cast a glamour over both of them, letting Kyoko at once see and not see the true colors of the man before her and letting Ren – Kuon – truly see the faerie magic now running rampant in the girl for whom he had pretended to be of the fae. Half in her faerie daze, she rushed to him, and he lifted her into the air; her wings, now clearly visible, fluttered, making her lighter in his grasp than he ought to be. He beamed at her, and one of the women off-set blushed violently and stumbled back a few paces. Kyoko simply grinned back at him as he set her down, and danced back among the faeries – and then turned, beckoning him to follow. A flash in the air; he caught the bottle of water she had tossed to him. He cracked it open, and followed her lead as she poured some water into the cap and waited.

Faeries a lit on both halves of the heart – as Yashiro had taken to calling them – and began drinking deeply. The cameras caught a flash of Kuon, at once wild and innocent, as his eyes widened at the slight weight of the faeries.

Some faeries landed on Kyoko's shoulder and whispered things to her, some of it nonsense and some utter sense. She, of course, confused these two, as she is Kyoko and therefore dense. They murmured to her stories of his affections, and she stumbled backward in shock. The faeries giggled as she landed harmlessly in the steady trickle of the stream. Their laughter – combined with the looks on everyone's faces – made hers bubble into existence. When he offered a hand up, she and the faeries shared a wicked grin before using a combination of surprise and magic to tug him in after her. When he laughed, she dared for a moment to hope that the forbidden emotion in his eyes was not part of his Corn act, but that it was genuine. He watched, elated and then resigned, as the notion showed and then was hidden from him in her eyes.

She gave him a smile – the same one from Karuizawa, the one that had nearly made his control burst – and then changed it to something mischievous as the fae magic whispered to her brain. The remaining water in her bottle was dumped over his head, and she danced out of the stream, eyes glowing with happy mischief and surrounded by the marks that were no longer merely make-up, but a hidden part of her skin, courtesy of the faeries. They had confirmed her as one of their own, and were determined to help her attain her happiness with this man who was almost fae himself.

The man in question stood in the stream, laughing quietly, and actually dared to catch her to him, careful not to crush her wings. These newest appendages curled around him, encasing him in a haven of glowing light; his arms wrapped around her more tightly. The magic awakened in her veins whispered to her, telling her to trust that what she hoped could be true.

She ignored it, as she is Kyoko and therefore stubborn… but she would not always be able to ignore the truth. The spell riled her blood, and she half pushed, half flew from his arms. She was aloft for a breathtaking second before landing nimbly on her feet and dancing back among the faeries. He grinned, and chased after her – he'd almost caught her –

"CUT!" the director called. "Excellent work, everyone! This should be more than enough for us to work with. We'll let you know if we need you again."

After a chorus of 'good work' on everyone's parts, the director pulled Kyoko aside.

"Be honest with me, please," he said, voice low and conspiratorial. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Kyoko blinked, waving good-bye to her faerie friends, who were retreating to their nests for a good nap.

"Be so realistic about seeing faeries for so long," he replied, still in that same tone.

"But I can see them," she blinked. "They're there. What's difficult about being realistic about it?"

The director gaped for a moment, then congratulated her on her performance and dismissed her. She turned, and ran directly into Ren.

"Good work today, Mogami-san."

"You, too, Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko beamed. "You were acting as Corn, right? To be among the faeries?"

"Yes, though I must confess," he grinned, "that I never expected to be acting across from a real faerie."

Kyoko blinked up at him. "Huh?"

"The faeries showed me your wings," he whispered, tracing one. He felt her shudder at his touch, and wondered if she could read him. "Did you know about them?"

"No," she whispered, still feeling stunned. "They told me today. One of my ancestors was a changeling, so I have a small capacity for fae magic."

"Corn would be happy," he murmured, offering his arm to escort her to the dressing room. "No wonder he showed himself to you. He probably sensed your faerie blood."

She gasped happily, this not having occurred to her before. A few faeries landed on her shoulders, and made it so that she, too, could see her wings for a few seconds. Ren thought that the girl might faint from pleasure, and he felt that he might, too, when she took his arm and began to walk with him. She chattered happily, translating what the faeries were telling her, and accepted before she realized what she'd done when he offered her a ride to LME, with a break for lunch first.

This was indeed magic, he noted, if not the type that she'd suddenly been shown to have in trace amounts, just to have her on his arm. Would the faerie magic show her the truth in his words, the meaning in his touches, the love behind the glances he stole at her?

He hoped so, desperately.

Yashiro grinned, taking picture after picture of the happy couple-to-be and sending them to the president. Kijima simply shrugged at the confused director and retreated to his dressing room. Perhaps Ren wouldn't be needing to call in his favour any-time soon.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Yes… so, while in this chapter, Kijima tried to help Ren out, it was really the faeries. They show up enough to be secondary characters, right? ;)

Well, Kyoko's slight capacity for fae magic has been awakened – and a spell has been cast, letting Ren see her (mostly) non-functional wings and allowing her to slowly start believing people when they tell her that Ren loves her. Let's see how long it takes for her to be convinced!

Please drop a review! I hope that you enjoyed it!