Ren was at a loss. He tried reasoning that This couldn't be caused by Corn, as the fairy had no reason to do so, but that didn't seem to help at all. He sat next to the sniffling girl, racking his brain for a way to make her feel better. He couldn't tell her to use the corn stone if she thought the fairy in question was behind this.
"If this is the result of fairy mischief, then I'm glad we're getting through it together instead of alone." Ren finally stated, wanting to show the bright side of things. Kyoko gave another sniffle as she looked to him with watery eyes.
"But... I shouldn't drag you into my magical burden." She whimpered. Ren couldn't help but laugh.
"I really don't think this is something you caused, Mogami-san." He tells her. She looked unsure, but at least she cheered up a bit.
"For someone who doesn't mess with magical dealings often, you're surprisingly calm about all of this." She notes. Always the mature one; she supposed she should have expected him to be the kind of person to take anything in stride. Young Ren looked down at his lap quietly.
"Well... it just seems that way because I've been awake for a while now. I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that I freaked out a bit when I first woke up."
"Acting like there was some natural disaster is more like it." The president interjected. Ren frowned up at the man to show his dissatisfaction at the jab, but the president ignored it and held out a small vile with a tiny label that said 'drink me', reminiscent of a certain rabbit-hole fantasy. Ren eyed the concoction wearily.
"Is it safe?" Young Ren asked, sounding like someone that was being peer pressured into taking some new drug. That might be what this exact situation was, now that he thought about it. The president huffed lightly.
"Please, I would never give you something harmful. I even had Ruto double-check all my work just to make sure I didn't miss anything. This is only a temporary solution though, and it can only suppress whatever magic this is for so long before you'll be transformed into a child again. With that in mind, your schedule will be kept tight and short but it's better than you two simply disappearing without explanation. Yuki and Ruto are currently ensuring that your schedules are set up properly for the next several days. Today will be the hardest, but I have the utmost confidence in you two and your abilities." He says as he hands a second vile to Kyoko. The two eight-year-olds looked down at their respective potions, both trying to map out how this would all work. "We don't know all the effects of this spell and the magic suppressant, but you probably shouldn't drive Ren. Either Yuki or Ruto will make sure you get to and from each of your locations without any trouble, and spare clothes will be kept on hand for both of you with them." He explains, sitting in one of the chairs and watching the two children curiously.
"President, I already said that having your assistant around would draw unwanted attention." Ren reminded him. Lory shook his head with a chuckle.
"He won't be following you around, just acting as a driver occasionally. We'll try to use him as little as possible, though." Ren still didn't seem entirely comfortable with the idea, but he couldn't think of a better plan at the moment. Giving a single hesitant nod, he relented.
XoX XoX XoX XoX
Maria was worried, pouting with uncertainty at her tea that had already grown cold a long while ago. Ren-sama had called fairly early in the morning. Grandfather had been so concerned about whatever news Ren had, and while she couldn't really hear the words, his tone sounded quite distressed. Was he in trouble? Was he hurt? Grandfather had sent his assistant to go fetch him, but she hadn't been able to see him yet. She was pretty sure the two of them were in the head office, but... she was worried about going to see for herself after she had been settled with a cup of tea in the company coffee shop. What if Ren was in some critical state and her entrance caused a distraction? No, maybe that was unlikely. If it was a major health issue, her grandfather would have sent him to the hospital, or at least called a doctor right away. She fiddled with the cup thoughtfully. He had to be picked up, which meant he couldn't drive himself for some reason. Distressed... Maybe he woke up and he was blind?! That also seemed like a situation that would call for a hospital or doctor. Maybe he was in emotional distress? Ren-sama didn't talk about his personal life much, but perhaps he had a family member that was in an accident or passed away or something. She... she could deal with a crying Ren. At least he wouldn't be hurt or crippled or something. Maybe she could even offer to send prayers or something to his loved ones beyond the grave. She had a couple of books on it, she was sure. Happy with the conclusion that Ren was not actually harmed, she finally took a sip of the tea... making a face at the now stale and cold taste it offered. She gave a small apology to the tea she had failed to consume before abandoning it on the table.
The halls seemed to stretch on for forever as she made her way to her Grandfather's office, pushing the door open to find Yashiro and Grandfather's assistant busy on the phone. Yashiro had been acting as big sister's manager as of late, but she recalled that he did still work with Ren when he could. She spotted her Grandfather in his sitting area, smoking one of his cigars as an air purifier tirelessly kept the smoke contained. Approaching, she came to the realization that he was talking to someone she couldn't see.
"Just stay aware of yourself as best you can, and you should be fine. I'm sure a quick act of feeling sick or anemic will let you get away quickly if it seems like you'll be held past your limits." She reached the side of the couch and found herself looking at two children her own age. The girl was a little smaller than her, but not by much, black hair pulled up in a little ponytail and embellished with a bow. She was clutching what looked like a bottle of medicine, eagerly listening to Grandfather's words. Next to her sat a boy with dark brown hair, his eyes focused in his lap as he fiddled with his own medicine bottle. She was pretty sure she had never seen these kids before, but there was something strangely familiar about both of them. The conversation stopped and the girl looked over, amber eyes widening as they landed on Maria.
"M-Maria-chan!" she gasped before jumping down and running over while the boy looked over with shock and uncertainty. Maria took a step back from the slightly smaller girl, watching her excited face slowly turn into a slight pout. "You're taller than me now. This feels weird." she said. The cogs in her mind resisted for a moment before they clicked into alignment, clarity coming to her in a rushing wave.
"O-Onii-san?" she stammered out as Kyoko's face lit up.
"You can still recognize me? As expected of Maria-chan! Magic can't fool you." She giggled. Maria's eyes slid up to the couch where the boy looked like he was trying to find the way out of a very complicated maze.
"Ren-sama?" she asked hesitantly. His brown eyes snapped up to meet hers before he let a small smile pull at his lips, a little uncertain but unmistakably Ren's.
"Hello Maria-chan. Fancy meeting you like this." He tried to joke a little but the laugh quickly died after only two beats. Maria felt elated. Both her big sister AND Ren-sama were miraculously the same age as her! They could finally play together for long hours in the halls of LME, she could have them play her favorite games with her, maybe make dolls together... but something felt off, aside from this strange predicament of them suddenly being eight-year-olds of course. Big sister was a bit unsure about her new situation, but the really weird feelings were coming from Ren. He was being so withdrawn and unsure of himself. It wasn't like him. Before she could ask him about his strange shift in personality, Yashiro came over with a sigh of relief.
"Well, it wasn't exactly easy, but I think we managed to get things mostly sorted out. It was a bit last-minute and somewhat rushed, so people might get curious as to why we suddenly loosened up your schedules so much. The president said we could use him as an excuse, so if anyone asks about your sudden schedule changes, you say it was a demand from the president wanting you to keep to working outside the agency within a certain time limit for a while. Ah, good morning Mari-chan." he greets the new addition to their party. Maria respectfully greeted him back, but her mind was focused on the main topic the manger had brought up. Both of her now-child friends couldn't do their jobs as magically changed children. Was that why Ren was acting like that? It made sense now. He was sad that he couldn't go do his acting jobs, and she knew how passionate he was about acting, everyone at the agency did. It was like his life-blood.
"Can we play?" she asked quickly, already devising a plan to get his mind off the sadness. She had been wanting to play with both of them for so long now anyway. It was taking out two birds with one stone! Yashiro looked at her sympathetically.
"I'm sorry Maria-chan, but this afternoon might be a little hectic. We need to make sure the... potion," he looked to Lory uncertainly only to receive a nod, "that the president made will work properly, as well as figure out the general time limit it has in canceling out this magic before they each turn back into children. On top of that, Ren has his first appointment in a little over an hour, and Kyoko will be going to hers shortly after. They won't really be free until roughly six o'clock. Will that be okay?" he asks. Maria took in all the information, her eyes landing on the little medicine bottles for a moment before she nodded her understanding.
"Okay, six o'clock." she says happily. So Ren-sama and Onii-chan would still get to do the work they loved, if only just for a few hours each day. There was still plenty of time for them to play together afterward, too! Today was feeling really lucky.
XoX XoX XoX XoX
The plan was simple enough. They would go into the changing rooms, strip, and drank the magic-suppressant, then dress in their adult clothes and stash their child clothes in whatever bag was to be carried with them. Once everyone was ready, everyone would then head to where they were needed for whatever job. If there were any weird feelings during the day, it was crucial that they either ensure that it wasn't the potion wearing off, or get out quickly with the excuse of feeling unwell. If they managed to keep their adult form the whole time, then all the better. The time the potion was taken was to be recorded, as well as when it wore off and if they felt anything that might hint at it wearing off in the future. There were a lot of uncertainties, but neither one of them could simply take a whole day off without explanation. Kyoko was just glad that there was only a short script reading assigned for 'The Sacred Lotus in the Mire' today, a couple hours filming for Box R, followed by small love-me jobs back at the agency until their decided time-limit for the day was up. Ren had a bit more packed schedule, though thankfully it was still close to when he had finished his project as Actor X and he hadn't quite picked up a new project yet. He had two short shoots, and there was an application for a part that he wanted to submit, but he was mostly booked for interviews and modeling jobs during their time limit today.
Ren felt nervous as he headed into the private room. He trusted Lory, though he didn't encounter him a whole lot with his magical intentions. The man preferred to stick to his obsessions with 'the magic of love' after all. He eyed the bottle uncertainly before stripping down and opening it, shooting the potion back like a shot of tequila. The room span and he felt it was hard to breath, leaning against the wall as he held his head. Everything felt wobbly and his body started to ache like he had gone too hard at the gym. He slid to the floor and focused on his breathing, letting the sudden onslaught of symptoms slowly ease away. As the room finally settled down from all the moving, Ren looked down at himself and let out a deep sigh of relief. There was still a dull ache, mostly in his back and legs, but it was easily forgotten as he focused on dressing and making himself the image of 'Tsuruga Ren' he was supposed to be. The time was quickly logged along with a text to Yashiro that all was well before he headed to the small sink and mirror. He splashed water on his face and combed his hair into a proper style. Determined to make full use of what few precious hours he had been given today, he exited the changing room.
Kyoko inside her own dressing room instantly noticed that her hair didn't return to its chestnut brown when she took her potion-medicine. She frowned lightly at the mirror. It would likely be done for Momiji, but that wasn't asked of her. If they really wanted Momiji to have black hair, they would probably provide her with a wig. Possible needs for future black hair aside, she had to play as Natsu today. She quickly finished dressing before heading out of the dressing room, spotting Tsuruga-san as he exited his own room. She gave a happy little smile as she held back a giggle
that threatened to rise up. They were basically sharing a little secret, right? It reminded her of when they went under-cover as the heal siblings. Ren smiled back before he tilted his head curiously. "Your hair stayed black." he noted with curiosity. 'That means mine is this way because of Miss Woods dying it this morning,' he concluded silently. Kyoko fiddled with the ends of her black hair, feeling a little shy at him commenting on her appearance. It was innocent and hardly noteworthy, but for some reason she still felt happy over it.
"Yeah, I don't really mind it either way, but I need to film as Natsu-san today..." she explains before trailing off. Ren watched her fondly as Jelly Woods rushed over, sweeping the girl away to the closet full of costume supplies and telling her that they could use a wig for now, then dye Kyoko's hair later when they had more time to treat it properly.
XoX XoX XoX XoX
Ren watched the world roll by as he sat in the front passenger seat of the car. There hadn't been any real complications today, though he did find himself occasionally struggling with his focus and a strong urge to move around more than usual. He found himself glad that the tighter schedule called for less breaks from him. Any time he was sitting for more than a few minutes, his body would tense and he would have to fight down a strange urge to pace or maybe stroll around the building. He quietly pondered how much easier it was to sit in the car. Was it because the world was moving past? Or maybe he was feeling calm because he was headed back to LME, where Kyoko was already waiting for him. Well, she wasn't necessarily waiting for him, but she was there, and they would be spending time together as they played whatever games with Maria.
"Sooooo...," Yashiro started to talk, drawing out his words a bit too much. Ren could already feel the teasing and such he would be bombarded with. "Kyoko-chan is pretty cute as a little kid. Were you surprised with how cute she was? I saw you staring at her a lot." the manager teased. Ren silently wondered at the humor of the situation. He had thought she was cute, sure, but it was a bit difficult to be surprised by something you had already seen before. No, the reason he had been able to stop from staring, was because it had been incredibly nostalgic, yet so jarringly different. She was two years older than she had been when they met all those years ago, and had grown so much in that short span apparently. He wished he had been able to see it. He wished he had been able to stick around as her childhood friend and watch her grow instead of that annoying selfish singer. He recalled that damned photograph the president had showed him about a week ago. His eyebrows scrunched together and he leaned his head against the window.
"That bastard didn't deserve to watch her grow up." he grumbled under his breath. He knew he was being childish again, but it was only Yashiro around now, and he had been quite well behaved all through his work. The manager was shocked for a moment before he found himself understanding Ren's mindset. He might not have an interest in the girl romantically (aside from wanting to get her and Ren together already!), but he still cared for the girl deeply. She could easily fall into the roll of a little sister or niece for him. He wanted to see both his charges happy, and wouldn't she have grown up so much happier with Ren by her side instead of Fuwa? Well..., except for his suspicions that Ren had been quite wild in his youth. Yashiro glanced over to Ren during a red light, trying to recall again what this man had looked like as a child. If he was to really describe it, his appearance had looked more mature even then. Maybe it was the way Miss Woods had styled his hair the same way as he kept it as an adult, but Ren hadn't really looked like a proper eight-year-old. He looked like a kid dressing up as a man. He supposed he wouldn't act the same way as he did when he was actually that young, but it was a little disappointing to think he wouldn't get to see how Ren acted at that age as well.
Maria was playing and joyfully talking to a younger Kyoko when she spotted her big sister's and Ren's manager.
"Ren is back!... huh?" she looked around with a frown when she realized one of her favored people were missing. Yashiro smiled and nodded toward the restrooms, already fully aware that Maria was looking for the taller man.
"He said he felt odd and headed to the restroom. I figured that it was probably about time sense you sent your time-log message a few minutes ago." he explains. So it had lasted a bit longer for Ren. While the three of them passed the time talking about the day, a figure walked past. More accurately, the figure of a young boy speed-walked past while tugging the hood of his jacket half-way down his face. "Wha- Ren! You went right past us!." Yashiro called before rushing over. The boy had paused at his name being called out, but he wasn't turning around and he was pulling his hood down further, his back hunching in his efforts to hide himself. "What are you doing? There's no reason to hide from us. Besides, we've all already seen your cute child-hood face." Yashiro teased as he reached out for the hood. Ren ducked and took several steps back from his manager's hand.
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" he yelled, sounding panicked. He held his breath for a second before tugging the hood even harder, the fabric straining a bit uncomfortably while his hands quivered oh so slightly. Even in the shadow of the hood, they could see his lips curled and teeth clenched. He looked like a cornered animal trying to bare its fangs. "Please... Just, don't look at me right now." he said in a much softer voice before turning and running away as fast as he could. The trio stood there in silence for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.