Despite the disturbing events that had taken place the night before, the next day was much more bright and optimistic. On this inviting day, most people had begun the workday on a good note.
They had their favorite coffee. There was a decrease in traffic. They even got to work on time.
To those lucky people, it seemed that this was an omen for a good week.
But of course, for every good moment experienced by a person, somewhere in the world someone else experiences a bad moment.
Hideki Isao was one of those people.
Everything that could have happened did happen. He woke up late after his alarm didn't go off. His bike was stolen so he had to run to work. He accidently bumped into an older woman who thought he was being "fresh" and rewarded him with a hard slap across the face.
By the time the young delivery boy made it to his job, he was convinced that the universe hated him and that he was doomed to a life of misfortune. His fellow workers couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
His hair was a mess, he looked worn out from running the whole way and he still had a bright red handprint on his cheek.
Still, Isao had a job to do. He wasn't a quitter! He would put on a smile and perform his task to the best of his abilities. It's not like his day could get any worse, right?
The moment he thought that, it was almost certain that his day would get worse, but he remained unaware of his impending misfortune and picking up the package he was meant to deliver, he left on his way to his destination: LME.
Not far away another girl was experiencing the same misfortunes. Mogami Kyoko had taken on the secret mission of becoming Setsuka Heel and had done quite a good job. At the moment, both actors had been given the previous day off of their respective roles to finish work on their other sets and jobs. They would be meeting back at LME for a secret meeting with President Takarada.
Ren had already arrived on time. Unfortunately, the same didn't seem to be true for his love interest. The girl in question was nowhere to be found.
Keeping in mind that his fan boy manager was walking right beside him, Ren tried not to think about Kyoko or what had happened recently. Yashiro was nosy enough as it was; he absolutely wasn't going to reveal anything that had happened the last few days.
Thinking back to the events that had occurred Ren was uncertain that he could even sort out his thoughts on the matter.
He still grew somber when he thought of his loss of control. Ren was a pro at keeping in character; how else had he made it so far in such a cutthroat business? How else could he keep the façade of Tsuruga Ren each and every day?
But when he had seen those hoodlums targeting Kyoko…wanting to take her somewhere "fun" to "play"…the mask of Kain Heel had begun to crack. The role he maintained had fallen apart when he saw the hoodlum throw Kyoko to the ground as she fought for him.
He had lost it. Kain Heel was nowhere to be found. And Tsuruga Ren was no longer there. For the first time in a long time, his true self was free with no restraints.
Kuon Hizuri was free to run wild and with no hesitation he began to destroy his enemies. He was vicious. He was merciless. And he almost crossed the line.
If she hadn't been there, he had no idea of what the outcome would have been. Actually that would have been a lie…it would have ended badly.
It was funny in a way, he lost composure at the mention of her being harmed in anyway and yet it was her soft plea that brought him back from the darkness he had returned to.
He was glad that she didn't understand the meaning behind that watch. Or behind the time at which it had stopped. The time 2:13 was the day that Kuon Hizuri disappeared. No one had yet to figure out where to.
He never wanted to be Kuon Hizuri again…at least not until he could bring honor to that name and leave behind the monster who he used to be.
It seemed that Kyoko was the only one who could bring out the worst in him and yet pull him back before he crossed the line.
And yet she brought out sides of himself that he never thought about. Not all the emotions were pleasant. Being jealous…making a fool of himself. And still she made it his heart race like it never had before and he felt joy from just being around her.
He also now knew how it felt to want someone. Not just in his mind, but with his body. It seemed that her every touch was electricity. He wanted to kiss her soft pink lips. He thought back to that night in his apartment?
"Would you like me to teach you?"
Somewhere along the line, he had begun to quit acting around her. Without warning even the façade of Tsuruga Ren would crumble and the real him would be left.
"Would you like to join me?"
Truth be told, Ren wasn't embarrassed that Kyoko had walked in on him. He did wonder however just how much she had seen. Sometimes she would look at him and blush and he realized that he was looking at Kyoko, not Setsu.
He had used to wonder quite frequently did she even see him as a man. It was quite worrying especially after the model walk incident. That had cost him quite a bit of his pride as a man.
But after watching her freak out over his kiss, he had decided that she probably did.
He was quite certain now. The day after the incident he would quite often catch her staring while blushing, but if he ever turned around to look at her directly she would instantly slip back into the skin of Setsuka Heel, as if the small moment had never happened.
Mogami Kyoko was good. Each day she only got better and better at her profession. Soon she would have fame equal to that or even greater than Fuwa Sho. But would that be the end of her hatred and revenge?
Ren, Yashiro and many others were suddenly pulled out of their respective thoughts by an unholy wail of sheer horror.
"A DEMON! A DEMON I TELL YOU!"
Both giving each other a look of realization, Yashiro and Ren looked over the upper level's railing to peer into the main lobby. They were met with the sight of a delivery boy shivering and rocking back and forth in the fetal position, muttering of demons and evil. His packages were lying thrown across the floor.
"She…she… had hair like fire and I thought I heard voices. She had soulless eyes and a voice from hell."
The poor guy was crying like a baby.
Yashiro gave a Ren a knowing look, "So Kyoko finally made it in."
Ren nodded, "Most likely."
Yashiro slowly nodded his head. The demon was the adorable girl that Tsuruga Ren had fallen head over heels for. Was that irony or what?
Choosing to ignore the scene happening in the main lobby, the two men parted ways. Yashiro was always quite busy as the King of Cinema's manager and his free time away from Ren was the time to start checking the new offers and contracts that came in frequently.
Ren, on the other hand would be meeting President Takarada, Jelly Woods, and the object of his affections, Kyoko.
Hopefully things wouldn't be awkward.
Kyoko ran through the halls of LME, cursing her luck. She had woken up late this morning. She had fallen down the stairs while rushing to her bicycle and had been horrified to find that her bicycle had been stolen.
She'd sprinted all the way from the Daruma-ya to LME and made it before her meeting had even begun which was an amazing feat for anyone. There was almost no way she would make it if she took the stairs.
Running with all her might she slammed her hand on the elevator button repeatedly, hoping that she'd make it.
Giving a sigh of relief, she smiled as the doors opened. She looked into the occupant's brown eyes frozen with a small blush on her cheeks.
"Good morning, Mogami-san."
Kyoko was glad to be in the President's office now. It gave her a distraction from her sempai. She still cursed herself for not being brave enough to look.
President Takarda coughed slightly and Kyoko was pulled out of her small regrets.
"Kyoko, are you with us now?",he asked. He personally believed that knew why the young actress was spacing out. It could only be a romantic encounter with the loveless idiot sitting next to her.
Blushing with embarrassment, she nodded.
Lory was no fool. His plan was probably working. There is really no way you can place two people with feelings, acknowledged or not in a confined space and almost constant interaction and not have some tension or progress. Not even if one of them refused to love or if the other one was as dumb as a rock when it came to love.
Unfortunately there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Kyoko, why don't you go with Jelly and pick up some more clothes for Setsu?"
Nodding her head, she ran off to the young makeup artist.
All was silent for a second, and then Lory Takarada became serious. Watching Ren carefully, he asked him, "Ren have you noticed anything suspicious around Kyoko lately?"
Ren realizing that something was up replied, "No…is there something I should know?"
Shaking his head, "He replied its nothing. Nothing serious yet. Keep an eye on her Ren. "
Ren nodded his head. Even though he was anxious to know exactly what was going on, he trusted Lory Takarada. He was like an uncle to him. He had given him a new start in life and helped many others.
He had been in the business quite a long time, and though he might have been quite eccentric, he was also quite intuitive. His decisions were usually, if not always, sound.
"You might want to get prepared for your role as Kain Heel, in about two hours you'll be needed on set. I even received word that the director might be interested in giving Kain's little sister a part."
"Thank you, President." And with that, the tall actor left the room.
Lory sat in his fanciful room in deep thought. The room was designed with an upbeat Latin dance them. Lights hung from the ceiling. Vibrant colors were abundant in the spacious office in the form of decorations. The president himself wore the ensemble of a dancer, a light ruffled shirt in deep red with a green sash around the waist and black pants, easy for movement.
All in all, the room was very lively and quite flamboyant. The very definition of Takarada Lory.
But it was quite uncommon that his mood did not match it in the slightest.
His mind was on a much more serious matter at that time. Sensing the silent movement of his most trusted guard, Sebastian, he turned to see the mostly silent man, placing the package that had arrived in LME earlier on his desk.
Nodding his head in thanks, Lory looked at the package again. A letter and a bouquet of roses.
It wasn't unusual to get gifts and letters from fans. Millions came in each day for Japan's most idolized starlets and famous artists. They had a team year round for Tsuruga Ren, because of course he, nor any other star really, had the time to sort through all that mail.
It was the team's job to sort through it all, and to also make sure that it was safe. In a city with millions of people, not all of them were savory. Some of those fans could be rivals, hoping to get revenge, or even more dangerous were those who were crazy. The type of fans who claimed to "know" the star and gave strong implications of being a stalker or any type of threat.
Most times, letters passed under the radar, without much notice. This letter that sat upon Lory's desk however, was not most letters. It had raised alarms that were largely unused and after a thorough bio-check and making sure that the flowers were simply flowers, holding no weapons or devices, it was passed on to Lory's most trusted servant to be seen by the head of LME.
It had been a long time since LME had a stalker situation. Most were not true fanatical and never came close to the star. But it had happened before that a fan had become obsessed.
About two years ago, a woman had fallen in love with Tsuruga Ren and had been determined to make him hers. She became a nuisance, coming to his places of work and holding up production when security had to be called to remove her from the premises. The situation had been dealt with swiftly increasing security and notifying all the sets of her appearance. Finally all seemed well when she seemed to have gotten the message that she was unwanted and more of a bother.
She gave them a reminder though that the human mind when unstable is a frightening thing when she returned a month later. Finally meeting the man of her dreams, she was harshly brought out her erotomanic delusions and back to reality.
The gentleman himself had finally spoken to her, colder than ice and with an air of malice so chilling that she never forgot it.
She might have thought she loved him, but it was clear as day for her to see that she had never really known him. He simply did not love her.
Stalker incidents were kept shrouded in secrecy, away from the prying eyes of the media and to the knowledge of anyone not involved…nonexistent.
There were many accounts of fans that would be willing to break the law to reach the objects of their obsession. Most never escalated to a threat level. Even in the afore mentioned incident, she was merely an annoyance.
The letter on his desk though, was unsettling and if his keen mind had anything to say on the matter, on a different level than most.
Sitting at his desk, He reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a cigar. After lighting it and taking a deep breath, he finally voiced his suspicions aloud.
"Sebastian, in your professional opinion, what would you say about this situation?" Lory trusted Sebastian with his life. The man had been by his side for many years; he always stayed in the shadows and observed before acting, and thus had very sound judgment.
The quiet man stepped out of the shadows and looking down at the piece of paper and the roses, a deep blood red color, he finally looked Lory straight in the eyes.
"In my professional opinion…this will not be the end of these letters. He will either continue until he makes contact or until…one of them is gone."
The ominous words hung in the air, more so than the cigar smoke. Silence overtook the room and the two men were left to think about the situation at hand and the possible outcomes.
A/N: I hope you readers enjoyed this chapter. It's the longest one to date and the hardest one for me to write. This chapter instead of showing creepy moments was more to set the situation and get more into the characters thoughts. It got harder to write this because I couldn't get the latest chapter out of my head. If you guys would feel better about me leaving that out then I will rewrite that part, but if not then on with the story I guess. Any comments, questions, constructive criticisms or ideas, then PM me or review. Reviews make me feel inclined to make longer chapters and faster updates. ;)
By the way if anyone feels any of my grammar could be written better, then again PM me. As hard as I try, I'm only the younger sister of an English major.