I do not own Bleach or Skip Beat
Chapter Six – Identity
Ren was shaking, but he tried to hide it from Kyokou. His conversation with Kuon had scared him, and he knew that the monster was right. Ren couldn't keep him under control for much longer. He needed help, and he couldn't rely on Kyokou to bring him back any more. He turned and watched as Kisuke drew a sword out of his cane and faced Ichigo. The orange haired kid was still holding his broken blade as if he could win with it. Surprised, Ren realized that whatever was happening to the boy, it wasn't over. There was still more to watch.
Kisuke struck, whispering threats to the boy who had a look of fear on his face for the first time. The kid began to run, but it was no use. Kisuke was there at every turn, and he was serious about killing Ichigo. After another few minutes, the boy suddenly stopped running. Kisuke paused too, watching him, and then took a stance to attack. Kisuke moved to the defensive as the boy yelled out a name, "Zangetsu!" and turned around to face his opponent. There was a bright flash of light.
"Very good," Kisuke said. "Now that you've managed to draw your Zanpakto, we can finally start lesson three. Are you ready for that?"
Ichigo's sword was huge, and it wasn't shaped like an ordinary sword. Ren watched the boy in awe as he answered Kisuke in a dark tone; "Don't take this the wrong way, Mr. Urahara, but I hope you dodge this. I don't think I can control this yet."
There was another flash of light as Ichigo swung his sword. Kisuke somehow managed to protect himself, but his hat went flying. Ren stared at the scene. What was this power? It was incredible! Is this why Kisuke had been threatening the boy? Perhaps the boy worked best under pressure. Kyokou had that in common with him. However, Kisuke was talking again.
"That wasn't very nice," he said, stooping to pick up his hat. "I do believe you've killed my hat." He placed it back on his head while looking to Ichigo, who knelt with the support of his sword. He seemed to have passed out and was sleeping where he sat. "Ichigo, you are one frightening kid, you know that? Lesson three, cleared."
It wasn't until then that Ren noticed the huge gash across the sand that Ichigo had created with just one swing of his sword. Who is this kid, he thought.
Kisuke turned to face him and Setsu, who had sat frozen by Ren's side through the duration of the battle. "While he rests, it all comes back to you two. Ichigo's a pretty simple kid to understand, but you two are still a total mystery to me. You've just seen what can happen when you learn to control your power. Ready to learn to control yours?"
Before Ren could respond, Setsu stood and faced Kisuke. A dark aura seemed to shroud her as she stood protectively in front of Ren. He tried to grab her hand to pull her back, but she moved her hand out of his reach. "It's time for us to leave," she told Kisuke. "Whatever it is you're offering, we don't want it."
Ren's heart was racing. It was true; he wanted to take Kyokou with him and leave, but at the same time, after seeing what the boy had just gone through, he knew he couldn't leave without learning how to suppress Kuon again. "Setsu," he whispered, reaching for her hand again and taking it. She looked down at him, Kyokou shining through in her eyes. She wasn't worried about herself, Ren realized; she was worried about him.
"Perhaps that's true for you," Kisuke said, squarely meeting Setsu's eyes, "but he won't be okay if he leaves right now. Isn't that right?"
Ren met his gaze for a moment and lowered his head, ashamed.
"Brother?" Setsu asked, concerned.
Ren didn't look up. "I can't leave. That boy . . . Ichigo . . . I need to learn what he learned. I . . ."
"That's what I thought," Kisuke said. "I've never seen anything like the two of you. If my guesses about your abilities are correct, I don't think I'll be able to help you much. However, it's not safe for you to leave."
Ren looked up at the man, feeling ashamed of himself. He could hear Kuon in the back of his head, laughing at his weakness. He didn't want to meet Kyokou's eyes. He had come with the intention to rescue her, but now he would be the one holding her prisoner here. The whole situation made him sick. He didn't understand everything that had happened, but he knew that he couldn't just ignore the things that he had seen. Kyokou was a part of this too; she had some sort of ability that needed to be refined as well.
"Sit tight," Kisuke said, sauntering over to the ladder that led up to the shop. "I need to go research some things, and then I have to make a phone call. If I'm right, they won't be very happy with me."
Ren watched Kisuke vanish up into the shop, then hung his head again, ashamed. "I'm sorry, Kyokou," he whispered.
. . .
Kisuke was staring at his monitors once more, scanning the data he'd been receiving over the past seventy-two hours as Ichigo had been down in the pit. The two siblings didn't want him to know who they really were, and now that he had the information, he understood why. To the world, nobody knew who they were because they were under a well-crafted disguise. The girl's real name was Kyokou Mogami, a rising talent for the LME Company. The boy worked for the same company and had tenure as the well-known actor and model, Ren Tsuruga. They were the stars of LME, and because of Kisuke's interference, they had been missing for four days.
Kisuke looked now at the advertisement for the film that was supposed to be shooting on location here in Karakura town. Neither of their names showed up, but the main role was given to an actor by the name of Cain Heel, a foreigner, who would be playing the part of a blood thirsty Yakuza. Kisuke smiled, remembering how the boy had crashed into his shop. He definitely had a blood thirsty yakuza look about him that night. The fact that "Cain Heel" was a foreigner explained his fluent English. The girl's English wasn't as good as his, but she did well enough to pass as a foreigner too. These kids were good actors; it was no wonder they were the star talents of their agency.
The other data on his screens was more concerning. Ever since the Tsuruga boy had shown up, the girl's unusual spirit pressure had increased and stabilized. However, his spirit pressure had spiked unnaturally when Ichigo had begun the process of hollowfication while down in the pit. This had been Kisuke's biggest concern, and he now had the proof to confirm his suspicions. Both children down below were part hollow, and Ren Tsuruga was on the verge of losing to his inner hollow. The girl wouldn't leave his side, but she had no idea the danger she was in if he lost control. He'd have to speak to the boy again to confirm his newest suspicion, but he had the feeling that the girl had been the one stabilizing Ren as he'd battled with the hollow inside him.
It was time to make the call.
"What do you want?" a bored voice answered after a couple rings.
Kisuke scanned the data again. "I need your help, Shinji. You're group is more suited to the task I have in mind."
"Eh?" Shinji asked, startled. "You're asking for our help? I know we're indebted to you, Kisuke, but I'm not about to risk my group for one of your crazy experiments."
"Give me that!" another voice cried. Hyori took the phone. "You have no right to call us, you jerk face!"
"Nice to hear you too, Hyori," Kisuke said with a small smile. His former lieutenant was the same spit-fire as ever. "I'm not asking you for favors. I've come across a couple of humans . . . and they have hollow powers."
Silence. "That's not possible, Kisuke," Shinji said. He'd taken the phone back. "Humans can't have hollow powers like ours. The hollow would consume them."
"I wish I were wrong, but how often am I wrong?" Kisuke asked.
Silence again. "We're on our way."
. . .
Kyokou looked around to make sure that the others were occupied with Ichigo before she turned back to Ren. "Ren," Kyokou said, trying to get him to look at her, but he wouldn't look up. "Ren! Tell me what's going on! Why can't we leave?"
His voice was thick with shame. "We can't leave." He paused as if he couldn't bring himself to say what came next, "I hate him, but Kisuke was right. What happened to Ichigo down in that pit . . . I don't know how to describe it. I . . ." He stopped and looked up at her with pleading eyes, as if begging her to understand.
"I think. . . I understand." She whispered down to him. She knelt down so she was looking into his eyes. Ren stared back with wide eyes. Kyokou gently grabbed his hands and held them between her two smaller ones. She looked into his eyes to prevent him from looking away. "You've been fighting something ever since we first played the role of the Heel siblings. I knew it, I could feel it, but couldn't help you. The President . . . he wouldn't tell me anything. All I could do was watch."
"President Lory is too observant," Ren muttered breaking eye contact. Lory knew all too well what Kuon was like. He sat there for a couple moments when what she had said at the end finally sunk in. He sat up with a start. He moved his hands so he was holding her as he looked in her eyes. "Kyokou, don't think you didn't help me. You helped me more than I could ever have dreamed of." She looked down to avoid his eyes. He leaned down so that he was looking into her eyes again.
After a couple moments, she looked back at him, meeting his eyes. "What do you mean?" she said in a quiet voice he could barely hear.
"Kyokou . . ." Ren didn't know how to say this without letting his feelings for her escape as well. She couldn't know that he was in love with her. "You . . . naturally bring out the best in people. All those assignments the President gave you as a Love Me Member . . . he was using you. You helped Maria overcome her fears that her father didn't love her. You helped other actors realize their potential on set. You've helped . . ." he stopped. She'd made him human again.
Kyokou laughed shakily. "President Lory uses all of us. Those people you say I've helped . . . I didn't do anything. I wasn't very nice to any of them; I wanted to beat them!"
Ren smiled. That was certainly true. She'd injured her leg further by refusing to be outdone by a whiny actress that had become a problem for everyone the first time Ren had seen her act. Kyokou had been a natural from the start. Her determination was unmatched by anyone. Kyokou liked to win, and she was good at it. However, the last part . . . she'd never been mean to Ren. At least, never when they were working together. She had hated him when they'd first met, but that had changed as she'd set her mind on acting at his level. She refused to believe that she had been acting at his level from the beginning.
"Kyokou, don't short sell yourself. It's because you wanted to beat them that they became better."
Those large brown eyes of hers widened in surprise. "No, that can't be it," she said, shaking her head vigorously.
It was no use trying to convince her. Kyokou would always be the same. "Thank you," he whispered.
"For what?"
He took her hand. "For being Setsu. I didn't want you around at first when the President introduced the idea of using you as a lucky charm, but I'm grateful you've been here for me. I . . . I don't think I would have made it through without you."
Kyokou was watching him with those wide eyes of hers. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her, but he held back. He couldn't have her; he didn't deserve her. Instead, they sat in silence and waited for Kisuke to return.
