As I looked at him I tried to hold it in. We had just arrived at my studio and I could easily give Yashiro-san my thanks and step out of the car, but the things he was saying cut too deep.
"BAKA!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Baka, baka, baka. Tsuruga-san is the biggest baka I know!"
And with that out of my system and tears filling my vision I ran from the car. Never had I been more thankful for Momiji. If anyone ran into me I could push my state off on her. Truly we were one and the same. How could I ever have not loved her?
—-
If life were a cartoon there would have been crickets in the air, but it's not. There was only the tension of two men trying to process and come to terms with what had just happened.
"Should we go after her," Yukihito finally and bravely asked?
"No. I do not want to make trouble for her at work. And besides we need to be going or we will be late," Ren replied in the sort of detached voice that Yukihito remembered from their first years together.
—-
Blessedly she had made it to a bathroom to clean herself up before anyone could see her. She was currently sitting in a makeup chair getting the weave that would give her Momiji's iconic hair.
"Kyoko-san, what's in your hand?"
She looked down at Corn and was reluctant to show him. Her smile was one of heartbreak and joy, "This is Corn, a precious memory that helps me when I'm not at my best."
"Are you nervous for you first movie? They are a bit different from shows!"
"Yes, I am still a newcomer and talento after all."
"That's nonsense! If anything having Kurosaki-san hire you regardless of being a talento proves you'll be fine..."
Kyoko sighed and relaxed a bit more into the chair back, thankful for the cover. The stylist continued the conversation assuring Kyoko that she would be fine, and sewing the extension into her newly dyed hair. Kyoko focused on the pain radiating from her palm. The sharp edges of Corn not cutting as deeply as they once did. She zoned out adding in sounds of agreement where appropriate in the woman's soliloquy. How could he say those things? How could he think so low of her, that she would ever fall for Shotaro's again? What a low blow that was to bring up her mother, and then accuse her of wanting Sho's attack on her lips. She had been so broken in that moment that she wouldn't have been able to fend off any attack from anyone. At that moment she had been dead inside and he accused her of enjoying it.