Hey there! Sorry for not updating sooner! I'll try to crank out a few more chapters in the next week thanks to spring break (can't afford that PCB2k14, lol) Also, I'd like to apologize. My transition markers have disappeared in the last two chapters. I have no idea what happened to them. Ill double check from now on. anyways, thanks for reading, y'all!
Chapter 3
ReCap:
"Ren, I need to tell you something." Her heart-rate shot up to the highest point in her history. She could feel her heart tighten up as the silence over the phone line grew deeper and deeper
"What is it?"
"Well, I went to the doctor today…" She stopped. She was chickening out. She feared his response. She didn't want him to hate her.
"Kyoko, what's wrong?"
"Ren, I-I'm pregnant."
Her heart felt like it was about to pop out of her chest.
He didn't even know how to respond to what he just heard, or what he thought he had heard from the other end. "Say again?"
"I'm…"he waited through the silence. He just wanted an answer, and he knew that if he said another word at such a sensitive moment he might provoke a lie out of her. He heard a soft sigh.
"Ren, we're having a baby. Or I'm having a baby, and it's yours." She had just said what he thought he had heard.
"Are you still there?"
Kyoko's question snapped Ren out of his trance. "Y-yeah, I am. You're positive?" He didn't even know what to say, or even what he should say.
"I am. I just left the doctor's office twenty minutes ago. Is there something wrong?"
"No! not at all. I just wasn't…you know, expecting that kind of response, but, I mean, how do you feel about it?"
"I, I don't really know. That's why I called you."
Ren felt his heart drop a bit as what she had said sunk in. She was pregnant. With his child, their child. He was at a loss for words. Silence filled the air as neither had anything to say, just thoughts roaming the air.
"Kyoko, I,"
Before he could finish his sentence, and before he could prevent it from happening, his phone had been snatched straight out of his hands.
It seemed as though she was waiting patiently for him to answer, but in all reality, she was nervous as hell. She didn't know what to think much less what to say, so she figured she would just feel the bass-boosted beat that her heart was dropping until he responded. She was scared. He doesn't want it. Or me. After a few moments, his voice pulled her back down to reality. "Kyoko, I-"
"Come on Ren. You said you were driving, and were already fifteen minutes behind. We won't make the reservation on time if we don't leave now. Everyone is counting on you"
"Hello? Ren?" Kyoko tried to get an answer, but just like that the line had gone dead. He had hung up on her. Correction, someone had hung up her. That someone also had a woman's voice, and Kyoko wasn't quite sure how she should feel. Should she cry, or be angry? It seemed like Ren had just hung up on her to be with another woman, but Kyoko knew him better than that. He wouldn't do that. She knew there had to be an explanation; she just didn't know what it was yet.
Just a few hours later, she was walking through the doors of one of her favorite places in all of Japan, LME. She returned greetings to many employees and other talents as she made her way over to the elevator. Her professional exterior didn't buffer, as usual, but after her news this morning, she was having to put in extra effort to keep her façade afloat. As long as she didn't see the president until she got to her office where she could let it all sink in, she would be fine. If the elevator ever got there. She tapped her foot impatiently until one of the four doors opened.
Of course he had his way of making his presence known at the most inopportune times.
"Good morning, Kyoko-chan,"
Kyoko had been so focused on making it to the elevator without being spotted that she had neglected to check the elevator itself, placing herself one on one with the only person more dangerous than the demon lord himself. "Ah, Good morning, Mr. President." She said, smiling and backing herself into the corner nonchalantly.
"Any wedding plans yet, my dear? You know we're all waiting," he teased. He had been almost too supportive of their relationship once he knew that Ren had done it right, told her about his past, and revealed all of his secrets to her. From that point on he couldn't be stopped. He had planned elaborate scenarios for their wedding, each with a theme and guest list bigger than the last.
"Oh, no. we haven't really had the time to. We're both so busy." Looking to the ground, she could feel the sweat beads beginning to form from the anxiety of him staring her down. She tried to let the question roll off her back, but he seemed to be the only person that she couldn't use her skills as an actress on for some reason. After a few seconds without a response, she looked up to see if he had become distracted by something, only to meet eye to eye with Lory. He knew she was hiding something. "Why don't you come see me later today? I need to get caught up on Ren. I haven't heard from him since his temporary manager took over for Yashiro-san."
"Temporary manager?"
"Yashiro-san isn't fluent in English. Even though we all know that Ren is, the director made it clear that he would feel better if he had someone who could manage for him."
"Oh." That could have been who Kyoko had heard when the line went dead earlier. But why wouldn't that be something that she would be told? She had talked to him only last week, and he hadn't said anything about it. "So you'll come see me later," He asked as she stepped out of the enclosed space at her floor. "Of course, sir!" She exclaimed, smiling as she turned and bowed before the doors closed. 'Just what I need' she thought as she turned the key to her office.
Although she was dreading it and kicking herself in the ass for sying that she would meet up with Lory later that day, she was knocking on his grand office doors, secretly wishing that she would be able to change her mind and dash before he made it to the door. She had just been able to accept the fact that this was real life only a few hours before, and now she was going into her boss' office to tell him the news without even a thought into how it could affect her career.
After hearing the cue, she let herself in, and walked over to the desk through the room that was surprisingly normal for the president. She sat in the luxury chair and the awkward small talk resumed. They exchanged greetings, tidbits about their days, and a little about the re-airing of Dark Moon that had just begun. Kyoko had been able to relax a little, relieved that she had not been hounded with questions that she wasn't even sure she knew the answer to.
"So why are you so off today. There's no use lying, I can already tell you're keeping a secret. An eloping, perhaps?" He always knew how to catch her off guard.
Kyoko took a deep breath knowing exactly where this conversation was headed. She could try to weasel her way out of it, but the misery that was not something that was considered worth it to Kyoko at the moment. She just let it out.
"I'm Pregnant. Me and Ren, we're having a baby."
Kyoko couldn't tell what he was thinking. He sat across from her in deep thought, and stared at the calendar on his desk.
"How far are you," He questioned, looking up and meeting eye contact.
"Four weeks and a day."
He nodded, balancing his chin on his finger tips, "How do you feel about this?"
Kyoko broke eye contact, opting to look towards the window instead of allowing him to read her soul like a book. "I don't really know how to feel. I want to be excited and ready, but the only thing I can think about is how I have essentially messed everything up for my career, and Ren's as well. I feel like I'm being a burden, and pulling him down from e-"
"No, Kyoko-chan, I didn't ask about how you felt about Tsuraga-san's position. I asked about how you feel. What are your thoughts about your situation?"
"I want to feel happy about it, but I can't. I can't be comfortable about it until I know how it's going to affect my career, or until I know how Ren feels about it." She looked to her lap. For the first time that day, she felt ashamed. 'Look at the hole you've dug yourself into now. Great job, Kyoko.'
"Your job will be fine. You won't have as much variety in the job offers that you'll get, but you'll still have more than enough to choose from. Have you spoke with Tsuraga-san about this yet?"
She shook her head, refusing to look up. "He knows. I called him as soon as I found out this morning. But I didn't get a clear message on how he feels. He hung up before we could discuss anything. We've been a bit distant since he left, and I get the feeling that I'm just causing trouble for him."
"I'm sure that's not the case, he's probably just extremely busy, and the environment that he's in is familiar, but at the same completely different. I'm sure you'll get a chance to really discuss this soon. I wouldn't worry about it." Lory knew in the back of his head that this wasn't like Ren to just not care about something that involved Kyoko, and for sure not when it came to a subject matter like this. "Go home, and talk it through to yourself, make it all make sense to you. Others don't matter, only you, Ren, and the life that you two have created."
Kyoko looked up, only a few words away from the tears that had pooled up in her eyes dropping, and nodded. "I will. Thank you for understanding." He nodded and smiled, worried about the girl that he still remembered as the spunky, slightly crazed 16 year old holding a radish in one hand and a cleaver in the other. "We all care for you, Kyoko-chan, and I'm here to help you when needed."
"Yes sir. Thank you for taking care of me." She stood, bowed, and left the room in a daze.
Kyoko dropped her bags at the door, removed her shoes and promptly flopped herself on the couch. She replayed the day's events in her head, take a moment to let it all sink in.
There was a child in her. And not just anyone's child, but the number one idol in Japan's child. She tried to sort through her thoughts, but the only thing that she could seem to hold her mind to for more than a minute was Ren, and his feelings on the matter. She needed to hear him, or just even feel her presence. She missed him and at a time like this, she was desperate for that feeling. She grabbed the phone and quickly typed his number, she knew it by heart, and waited through the rings.
She did again.
And one time more.
She hesitated for a fourth attempt, deciding to give up after reasoning that he might be sleeping or doing something important. She wanted more than anything to just find him and figure out everything that was going on. The sketchy shooting schedule, the director, his new temp, and their new child. Before she knew it she had worried herself so much to the point of where she couldn't find the energy to even move from the couch to the bedroom.
So, I hope you liked it. I'll keep doing my best! If you have any questions, please leave a comment or shoot me a message, and I'll be happy to respond! Thanks!
