Special thanks to Katya Malfoy, Cocloud, MaliceArchangela, addenza, charlestonstexan, nju87, sakurahana123, santanaann4524, empress-of-the-lab, lloo161, onliafaze, and lostanddistracted for faving, following, and reviewing the first chapter. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations.
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip-Beat! and its characters.
Chapter 2: No Ill Feelings
She just could not believe what she had heard. Kyoko stared at Lory, still wide-eyed, speech long-forgotten. Sometime later, she shifted her gaze to look at Ren, whose bad mood had come back the moment Lory mentioned the PV, from the corners of her eyes.
So this is why the Demon Lord is present here and now… What in the world is the President thinking?!
Shaking her head, Kyoko returned her gaze to the still smugly smiling Lory. "Err… Sir, about that… Can you please… err… elaborate it further?"
Lory's smile faded a bit. He could sense hesitation from his favorite Love Me member, of what he could not tell. But his best guess was that she was scared of the tall man sitting near her, emitting murderous aura. Damn Ren for ruining the mood for us, he thought, pouting inside his heart.
"So, like I said before, Ren, and I know Sawara-kun had told Mogami-kun this, Fuwa Sho's newest PV, 'True Reflection', is decided to be the collaboration work of Akatoki Agency and us, LME. I had a meeting with Asami-san from Queen Records yesterday about the details, and she is more than happy to meet with you guys later this afternoon about the story and little bits of details of how she wants it done.
However, from what I could take from my meeting with her, the shoot won't begin until Monday next week, giving you plenty of time to think about how to portray your characters. It will take the whole day, so Yashiro-kun, I want you to push back all Ren's work from Monday to other days…"
"Now hold your tongue, Boss," Ren suddenly butted in, his rage taking control that he spoke in perfect American English.
Apparently, his behavior was completely unacceptable for Lory that the president shoot a silencing glare at him, showing superiority in it. "What I haven't told you, Ren, is that I won't accept a 'no' from you. The press is already sniffing that there is bad blood between you, Mogami-kun, and Fuwa. Akatoki has kindly offered this PV as a way of reconciliation between LME and his agency, to show the press that we have a good relationship, and that you and Mogami-kun have no ill feelings towards Fuwa."
No ill feelings, my a**, Ren thought. He has hurt her bad and now he wanted to have her again. And that prick has made all his intentions clear to me, of all things.
Without him noticing, the room had already been filled with not one, but two dark aura. Kyoko's face contorted in a totally visible rage that made Lory and Yashiro to cringe.
What does he mean no ill feelings? My feelings toward him are exactly that of pure hatred! Kyoko screamed in her head. He practically kidnapped me and forced me into his car, then caused me to be in the same room with the angry Ren-san…
Involuntarily, her thoughts strayed to the events occurred that night several months ago after the incident with Sho, when Kyoko was confronted by an unknown personality resting in her senpai while playing Setsu. She had thought that it was not normal for him to break character; so summoning all her courage, she had confronted him that time as Setsu.
"Mogami-kun?"
Lory's deep baritone voice snapped her out of her wandering thoughts. When she lifted her head up, she could see all three men looking at her with worry.
"Did you hear what I was saying just now?" Lory asked again.
Realizing that she had spaced out, Kyoko abruptly stood up and launched herself to the floor on a dogeza. "I am terribly sorry, Sir!" she cried. Lory put a fake offended look while crossing his arms in front of his chest and huffed.
"Apology accepted, young lady. I was asking you whether you were thinking of rejecting this job."
"Ah," Kyoko said in realization of what Lory was planning to convince Ren, "no, President. In fact, I came here because I want the details of this PV before agreeing to the contract."
"So can I take it as a 'yes'?" asked Lory with an eyebrow lifted.
Kyoko smiled and nodded her head. All three pairs of eyes were directed to Ren now, pitting him into a dead end.
Ren cursed quietly in his mind. Damn you, Boss. You know how I can't let her be alone with that damn brat.
And just like that, Tsuruga Ren accepted the job with an exasperated sigh. Yashiro and Lory could not help but smirk.
"Kuon, are you sure about this?" Kyoko asked nervously in a small voice almost like a whisper, sitting next to Ren in their usual family restaurant while waiting for their food and Yashiro to finish pushing Ren's schedule back to further dates.
During Setsu's confrontation with Ren's unknown personality, Kyoko had learned about her senpai's past: about his real identity as Hizuri Kuon, the son of Hizuri Kuu and Juliella Hizuri; about how he was fired several times by numerous directors; about how people had seen him as a talentless riding on his parents' notoriety; about how he had been bullied when he was 15 years old, how he had gain a best friend in Rick, how he had gotten violent, and how he had seen Rick's death right with his own eyes.
He also had told her that time about the time he visited Kyoto with his family when he was 10 years old and his meeting with a sweet pig-tailed 6 years old girl at a clearing not far from where he had stayed. He had told her how happy he had been when he spent his time with the girl; how the girl thought of him as a fairy prince.
Everything had become clear to Kyoko that time. The fact that her senpai, Tsuruga Ren, had been her fairy prince Corn all along. And she, up to this moment, did not know whether she should be happy or angry for that.
The unleashed Kuon had told her about how he extremely loathed Fuwa Sho because the blond singer had hurt her and tossed her away. But when his confession had almost come out of his mouth, Kyoko had cut him off and changed the subject to the next shoot of 'Tragic Marker'.
That time, Ren had understood right away that revealing his past as her Corn would not open her heart to the possibility of love. But nevertheless, he had been glad that she had not condemned him as a murderer, like what Tina had done, but received all of him without judging.
Back to the present, Ren looked at his still unrequited beloved, sighing. "Even if I want to reject it, what can I do about it? You know that the Boss will surely find other ways to force me into it."
Kyoko gave him a small smile.
"And, of course, knowing that you will be in there as well, in the same room as him, how can I stand aside and let him talk to and use you as he see fit?"
Her already small smile faded at that. Ren's displeasure of what had happened seeped through his every being. But only seconds after that, he cleared his throat and the atmosphere became normal again.
He gave her a casual smile of his own. "Let's leave the issue right there. This will be my first time acting in a music PV, so I'll just see this as a chance to broaden my experience. I'm looking forward to working with you again, Kyoko. It has been quite a while after the Heel siblings. I miss working with you."
A joyful smile spread across Kyoko's face. "Yes. I'm looking forward to it, too, Ren-san. Let's do our best!"
Please review :) Thank you!
